Second Dawn: Rutledge the White

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This is a reference document for the LARP The Second Dawn.

Charlotte Rutledge/Rutledge the White Player: Michelle B Ageless Commune Leader/“White A.I.” Age: 358/30s

Additional information (read first): Ageless, Cataclysm, Black Science, El Dorado

Background: You were born 31 years before the Cataclysm changed the world. You had gone to school for engineering, and landed a job at a major company in Boston doing “green” city planning. You lived in Providence and were happily married there to a wonderful man, Donald Baxter. You didn’t have much in common career-wise; he was a buyer and seller for corporate America, a middle man in the backbone of capitalism. But the two of you loved each other, and that seemed like enough. When you found out you were pregnant, you were so full of joy you thought you could burst. Nine months later your son was born, a boy whom you named Daniel. But your happiness was not to last. Daniel never thrived. The doctors could not identify it, but you are sure it had to do with some sort of environmental pollutants. A lot of children were getting sick with these mystery ailments. At six months old, Daniel died. That was the beginning of the end between you and Donald. You wanted to *do* something, to take a stand. You thought the two of you should quit your jobs and join the Green movement, join those living outside the cities who fought against the government’s corrupt, destructive dominance. Donald just wanted to just continue on as if nothing had happened. He wanted to stick to a schedule, to do busy work. And he wanted to try again, to have another baby. It was just too painful - you decided you had to leave him. A coworker offered to let you live with her. You told your husband you were going to live with your family down in Texas, so that he wouldn’t try to look you up. It worked - you never did see him again. The first few months were rough. Through your coworker, you met another woman, Kathleen Penland, who was a real godsend to you. She understood your anger and conflicted feelings, and sympathized with your loss. Still, you went ahead with your plans to move out of the cities and join the Green guerilla forces. You spent only a few weeks among them, raiding and striking at cars and airplanes and poorly-defended skyscrapers and factories, before the world overtook you all. When the Cataclysm fell, your place out among the Greens made survival possible; your group was among the hordes ransacking the cities, though you personally grew almost immediately disillusioned. As the Greens lost cohesion in those chaotic weeks that followed, you tried and failed to find any of your old friends or coworkers. It was enough to just survive. Boston was pretty badly hit, and so you made your way down to Providence. Life was rough there too, and you wondered constantly about your family down in Texas. Did they make it? There was no communication, so you just didn’t know. After a few years, just as it began to be clear that you weren’t aging, you decided you would try to make the trek down. Serendipitously, months before you were to leave you ran into your old friend Kathleen. You tried to convince her to come with you, but she didn’t want to leave, though she did help you prepare your trip. You promised you would find some way to write her. The journey to Texas took over two years. When you finally got to your childhood home, a small town on the Gulf Coast called Port Lavaca, the city itself was in ruins and abandoned. On a hunch you went north, always asking after the Rutledge family. You finally found them in Corpus Christi, living in a squalid squatter settlement. Your parents hadn’t made it, but your brother’s family, two of your aunts and many of your cousins were all still alive. You convinced them and several other squatter families to move back to Lavaca. You renamed your new community El Dorado, after the golden sunlight that was to provide you power. You set up giant solar panels to generate enough electricity for lights and low-watt microwaves. You used swimming pools to gather rainwater, and later set up desalination via nanomachines. You grew your own food, cultivating prickly pears and beans. You caught fish, but never too many. Your focus was on sustainability and clean living. You realized that although you were immortal, your family was not. You were worried about politics - would future generations accept you as a leader? You knew small communities were only too susceptible to being torn apart by internal politics. And then you had an ingenious idea. People have always placed more trust in machines than their fellow men – even after the Cataclysm. You decided to pretend to get orders from an artificial intelligence. You ‘discovered’ this ‘AI’, really no more than an impressive looking box with wires. You talked with other members of the community, and everyone agreed that the intelligence should be downloaded into a person. After a vote, it was agreed to be you. Through the generations, this ruse has taken on a mystical quality. You are known as the “White AI” (as opposed to “black science”). It is widely (though falsely) believed that your lack of aging is due to being an AI. Any major conflict is brought to you, and you are relied upon to make fair judgments. Your community is completely peaceful, which is due in no small part to the fact that people implicitly trust your decisions. You certainly have made mistakes, but over the years you have gotten quite good at judging intentions and dealing with all people fairly. You truly love your idyllic community by the sea. Although incredibly slow, over the years it became possible to send letters to the East Coast. You have stayed in contact with your friend Kathleen Penland, who turned out also to be one of the lucky ones that didn’t age. Eighty years ago she visited, and the two of you became lovers. You tried to convince her to stay, but she had set down roots in New Providence, and eventually returned. Her recent letters to you have all been about the Second Dawn. Humanity is going to return to space again. You aren’t sure that people are ready for it. But you have been isolated in El Dorado for several hundred years – you aren’t really sure what life is like in the New Providence. Kathleen has been entreating you to come and see the launch, and you’ve decided to do it. After all, you think she really just wants to see you again, and you know you’d love to continue your relationship. You are worried about leaving your community alone, but you think it is time to see how the rest of the world is faring. You know that most technology is considered “Black Science” now. You have brought some particular pieces of tech that could improve the quality of life for people - most importantly, solar panels and some desalination nanobots, but also gyroscopes (they are fun!). Last year, serendipity made the long travel possible. A woman in a fusion-powered car drove across the desert from the north, and you went out to meet her before she could barge into El Dorado proper. You told her you were a ‘White AI,’ and she told you that she was an explorer and spelunker. You made a deal with her; you gave her some solar cells and showed her around El Dorado a little (though you kept anyone else from meeting her), and in return she explored some nearby underground ruins for you. It turns out those vaults contained the USA’s old Strategic Helium Reserves! With that helium, you and your people built a zeppelin to fly you north. You are also bringing two community members with you - Daniel Rutledge, and Erin Clarkson. Daniel seems to be a bit discontent; you are hoping that seeing the launch will cheer him up. Erin Clarkson is a young idealist who spends a lot of time by the sea. She told you she thinks something about the ocean is changing, although was reticent with details, and specifically requested to come with you. You arrived in New Providence only yesterday, but you’ve been quick to adjust to the rhythms of a large city; your first real shock didn’t come until this very evening. Unbelievably, insanely, Donald Baxter, your ex-husband, is here at the launch. You thought he had died over 300 years ago. You still aren’t sure you are ready to face him and the pain of your long-ago loss.

Roleplaying notes: Your immortality has given you a patience and wisdom you did not possess before the Cataclysm. You love your community and want to apply your ideas to the greater world. Your idealism is well-founded; you have led and improved the quality of life for El Dorado for over three centuries. You are still an engineer at heart - you readily apply technical solutions to problems, although you know little about the technologies now used in most nations.

Goals: 1) Convince leaders of other nations to adopt the El Dorado perspective, lifestyle and technology. 2) Have some sort of reconciliation/confrontation with Donald. 3) Prevent Drake from telling others about El Dorado’s secrets. 4) Find out what Erin thinks is changing, and help her out.

Opinions: Second Dawn: It’s certainly a grand project. You like the idea of humans in space again; but there is so much to do still here on earth. Black Science: People are entirely too suspicious of technology these days. They mistake the method for the result. Nuclear fission and oil burning are dirty and should be illegal, but electronics are perfectly safe and is a huge improvement to quality of life. Tinkers: You don’t know much about these people, but they seem the descendents of scientists. Perhaps they could help spread acceptance of technology. The Watch: People say they’re charged with rooting out black science, and possess both power and superstition in great quantities. Best to minimize contact with them; you’ve no idea how they’ll respond to the proposition of a white-science AI. Religion: You follow Gaian principles of respecting the Earth. Plains: They’ve long lived far off to the north, across an all-but-unpassable desert.

Key Information: •You run El Dorado, a utopian commune in former Texas. Your community believes you to be a “White AI,” but tonight the public ruse is that you (as Rutledge the White) are high priestess of the AI, rather than the AI itself. •If the Watch discovered you were an AI you would be in a good deal of trouble – AIs are very illegal. Of course, you aren’t actually one, but to admit that would make your community feel betrayed. Technically, your solar panels are part of the Path of Power and also illegal, but hopefully no one is savvy enough to realize this. •You left Donald in 2097, less than a year before the Cataclysm, in the bitter aftermath of your child Daniel’s death. You used his name when you were married, but after the Cataclysm you returned to your maiden name, Rutledge. •Most other nations use nuclear fusion for their power needs. While fully clean and renewable, it requires large, central, complex reactors to work, while solar panels can be easily built and distributed. •Last year, the spelunker Jackie Drake showed up at your town’s walls in a fusion car. You gave her some solar cells and a tour of El Dorado in exchange for getting her to explore some nearby underground ruins. Those ruins ended up containing the old US government’s strategic helium reserves, which allowed you to make the zeppelin. •In the last years before the Cataclysm, the daily operation of Boston was slowly but steadily turned over to an AI civic planner. It did a very good job, but it wasn’t programmed with all the priorities you would’ve liked to see.

People (in approximate order of importance): Donald Baxter (Jerry S): You can barely believe it’s him, your ex-husband. You feel torn – you want to know what he’s been doing these years, but you aren’t sure you are ready to face those old demons. Kathleen Penland (Katie G): Your good friend, correspondent for many years, and brief lover. You are happy to see and talk with her again, and hopefully renew your relationship. She encouraged you to come out here for the Second Dawn’s launch, which you suspect was partly a ruse to see you again. Like yourself, she’s grown in wisdom and serenity over the centuries. Daniel Rutledge (Constantine H): A young citizen of El Dorado, he piloted the Zeppelin that brought you here. You are worried that he’s been unhappy. You’re quite find of him; he’s a distant descendant of your brother, and coincidentally bears your dead son’s name. You sometimes think of him as the child you never had. Erin Clarkson (Lauren A): Another young El Dorado citizen, she works in desalination and reminds you of yourself at her age, all those centuries ago. She’s brought a sample of the nanomachines used in the desalination pools, could be useful as a demonstration or trade good. Jackie Drake (Sheyna G): The Spelunker who visited El Dorado last year. You kept anyone from meeting her, but she met you and saw much of the town. You don’t want her giving away your secrets, especially since you told her you were a ‘White AI.’ Best talk to her fast before she starts telling stories. Jonathan Grant, President of the Eastern Union (Ted M): The Second Dawn is his project. If he’s so interested in spaceships, he might be interested in your tech. Richard Truman, Premier of Congress (Alison H): Leader of the Union’s opposition party. If the Capitalists aren’t interested in solar panels, maybe the Socialists will be. Conrad Gaudet (David C): The ambassador to the Maple Kingdom, a fairly large civilization in Canada. He is someone to convince of the value of solar panels. It may be difficult, because the Maple Kingdom is known as being very anti-“black science”; on the other hand, you could make some serious changes in their civilization if they adopted them. Walter Palmer, Ambassador from the Plains States (Ilya M): The Plains have long been a loose confederation of wild people, who could definitely use some organized government. They never come south across the desert to your area these days. Jefferson Lee Wharton, Ambassador from the Appalachian Confederacy (Albert L): Just like you, he is from a small nation, which would make it easier for his people to adopt a more sustainable way of life. Artair Tinker, Minister of Science (Jed S): A Tinker leader, a good person to start with to find out more about Tinker society. Edgar Stafford (Nate F): [You know you’ve never met before. But once you meet him, something about his speech patterns and mannerisms will seem distantly familiar.]

Ratings: Pilot: 0 R: 0 D: 3 G: 3

Nametag Symbols: D, O, T, R*

Attributes: Physical: Defense 3 Pool Rating 2 [] [] Mental: Defense 4 Pool Rating 4 [] [] [] [] Social: Defense 4 Pool Rating 4 [] [] [] []

Recoveries: -Observe someone react in an unqualified positive fashion to the lifestyle or technologies of El Dorado (+1 point, 3/hour) -Offer a wise solution to someone else’s problem or disagreement (+2 points, 1/hour) -Have an emotionally intense exchange with Donald (+3 points, 1/hour)

Abilities: Penetrating insight, attack, charm, suspect, convince, entice, survivor (x1), awe, Evasive (x1), virtual reality

Items: Gyroscope, solar battery (x3), bright-edged knife, piece of jewelry

Virtual Reality System: Recognize an item with the “V” quality as virtual reality gear. You’d really like to get your hands on it and spend some time immersed in the comforts of the good old days, enjoying its best parts without any of its downsides.