King

of Kings

• 

  
  
  Origins: Lucien, Oklahoma
  
  
  Leader: Meredith King, “the King of Kings”
  
  
  Alliances: Swan Hallow, the Legion (Meredith King is the current commander of the Legion forces)
  
  
  Group Size: 43
  
  
  Group Breakdown: 7 children, 20 adult males, 16 adult females
  
  
  Family Ethnicity: Caucasian and Cherokee, with some interracial marriages
  
  
  Genetic Trends: Black hair, blue eyes, mesomorph build, typically very tall
  
  
  Family Heritage: Irish-Cherokee, some exceptions in the youngest generation
  
  
  Location: Home, frequent roaming throughout the South
  
  
  Faction: Extreme Purist
  
  
  Quirks:
  
  - Refusal to rely on technology, a complete regression to medieval-grade technologies, tools and lifestyle.
  
  - Disapproval of plastics, reused old-world goods and scavenging. They will recycle things, such as melting down metal and demolishing buildings for wood, but this must be a process of creating something new out of the old, and cannot involve direct reusing of unchanged scavenged items (e.g. a television may be taken apart for the glass and small pieces of metal, but the plastic cannot be used and the usable pieces will be smelted and/or re-cut).
  
  - Semi-nomadic lifestyle. This revolves around the seasons and ensuring that the South is regularly patrolled and kept secure. These patrols often mix members of the King family with soldiers from the Legion.
  
  
  General Overview:
  
  In the South, the King family are somewhat akin to a noble family. Their presence is a daily reality for those living south of the Spread, as their patrols are frequent and make passing through without alerting them very difficult. They have a fearsome reputation for gratuitous violence and tend to take what they wish. They are allied with Swan Hallow, and lead the Purist militia. Their agreement with the Hallow revolves around an exchange of protection and assistance for women and bolstered numbers.
  
  Whilst Meredith King maintains a strong grip of authority in the South, she has never once argued or disputed the leadership of Grand Cash. The Kings do not interfere with the internal politics of the Hallow and have a very different familial structure and culture to the residents of the suburb. The Kings do not discipline civilians of the Hallow, but their presence and connection to the Cash family tends to act as mutual reinforcement of power.
  
  
  
  Reputation:
  
  The reputation of the Kings varies depending on one's location:
  
  - In the South, particularly Swan Hallow, detailed 'legends' have become prevalent thanks to a combination of local presence and scaremongering that is actively encouraged and participated in by Grand Cash.
  
  - In Fort Cheyenne, the stories vary more. They are known enough to be a familiar name and some of their more vicious exploits are common knowledge, but opinion varies much more. Near-Purists tend to take a different stance to near-Rebels. Due to the relative proximity of the Kings' territory, talk tends to be focused on taking care when travelling south.
  
  - The Rebels may have heard of the Kings, but any real knowledge of them is limited to their military. The general populace likely don't know much about them, if they've heard of them at all, and are less likely to believe them a threat, or that anything they do hear is based on fact.
  
  
  
  History:
  
  Before the Outbreak, the Kings were a well-respected, close-knit family who lived in a series of inherited farm houses near Enid, Oklahoma. Their business was breeding horses, and they were pillars of the local community. They were considered to be wholesome, God-fearing people with a strong moral compass and an interest in the well-being of the people around them.
  
  During the Outbreak, their numbers were all but demolished. The patriarch at the time was a man named Abraham King, whose wife, Evelyn, seemed unusually resistant to the disease. The rest of the family weren't so fortunate. Abraham's military training and ruthless nature combined to ensure that he and the survivors (including some of his prized horses) endured, despite the collapse of the world around them. Abraham's young son, Ezekiel, was fortunate enough to have survived with them.
  
  Abraham opted to move his family when local resources ran out. It was at this point that the Kings adopted two of their primary traits, a nomadic lifestyle and the recognition that relying on the remnants of the old world to survive was a strategy with a limited lifespan. Their abhorrence of "fur-skins" began much earlier, as they became the natural source of blame for so many of their loved ones passing away.
  
  Evelyn gave birth to four more children. Ezekiel was succeeded by three further male children, all healthy and without mutation, named Isaac, Ibrahim and Elias. Their youngest child, Meredith, was the only female in the brood. Like her brothers, her younger years were spent on the road, learning how to survive in a mobile and dangerous environment.
  
  The Kings arrived from the south-east, and upon recognising that the local population were more numerous than they had yet experienced, alongside the veritable lushness of the Cape, they decided to stay.
  
  Abraham King forged an early alliance with Grand Cash when they discovered Swan Hallow. He had begun to age rapidly at that point, and his wife's thus-far enviable health began to deteriorate. Abraham began to prime Ezekiel to take over leadership of the family.
  
  Elias and Meredith were not favoured by their parents. Elias had shown a capacity for compassion that went beyond his father's notion of softness and into weakness, and he was never a particularly outspoken child. Meredith had proven herself to be tomboyish and rebellious. Despite regular, violent discipline, her defiance of her parents' wishes manifested in her early years and strengthened as time went by.
  
  Abraham and Evelyn were both killed in unknown circumstances. The Kings are very close-mouthed about this subject, leading to rumours of illness, mutant attack and even senicide. Upon their death, Ezekiel was automatically granted authority by the family, but he abdicated in favour of his sister, Meredith. He gave the reason that he was too affected by the old world, and was then 32 years old. He believed that the family needed a fresher, more long-lived figurehead.
  
  Meredith King was 17 years old when she began her life as leader. The King family underwent rapid change. Whilst Abraham had been a strong leader with an iron fist, he had never been a progressive thinker. Under Meredith's leadership, the family began to learn a more philosophical way of life; one that valued the future, honoured the past and strove for glory.
  
  Meredith became known as the King of Kings early on. She established patrols and seasonal migrations, and gradually, the family maintained more of a foothold in the south and became a force to be reckoned with.
  
  
  
  Family Culture and Tradition:
  
  
  Social System: Patriarchal
  Despite female leadership, the family dynamic is still very much led by men. Meredith King is an exception, not the rule.
  
  Social Structure: Polygyny
  The practice of males having multiple wives.
  
  
  
  Rites of Passage:
  
  
  For males:
  
  - Their first sexual experience (with a woman), typically arranged for the thirteenth birthday, with the woman being selected by the head of the family. The boy is considered a man afterwards. The woman is not required to be a willing participant.
  
  - Their first fighting scar. This is a monumental day for King males, as it marks the day that they become a warrior. This is eminently more important to them than becoming men.
  
  - Their first kill (of another human, a mutant or a fur-skin). This is considered important because of the psychological impact of the event; the Kings recognise that killing another can initially be a traumatic experience that opens one's eyes to the fragility of life and social rules. A great deal of support is provided to family members after their first kill, in order to generate a sense of camaraderie and to minimise the emotional damage suffered by the killer.
  
  
  - For females:
  
  - Their first period. Unlike many internal cultures, a girl is not considered to be a woman when she loses her virginity, but when she begins to menstruate.
  
  - Their first orgasm. A woman is not permitted to marry a man until he has first proven that he can please her. This system was established to ensure a greater likelihood of pregnancies. Being unable to please one's wife bears a deep social stigma within the family.
  
  - Giving birth. Whether the first or tenth time, giving birth is the most important stage of a King woman's life. It has the potential to be a great joy or a catastrophic wound. The Kings cannot tolerate mutants, and so mutant children must be killed. It is a social expectation that a mother will do this out of kindness towards her offspring. A great deal of social support is offered to the mother at this stage of her life, from both men and women.
  
  
  
  Beliefs:
  
  - The superiority of humanity and the vermin status of 'abominations' (furres and mutants)
  - The shedding of old-world reliance on technology and beginning humanity's rise anew, with greater care for the environment and a more 'realistic' ideology
  - The balance of character to ensure that such things as softness do not become weakness, pleasure doesn't become vice and patience doesn't become apathy
  - The future dominion of their ideology
  - "The Hammer"; this being the forging of a new human identity and the development of greater strength. When a King speaks of 'the hammer coming down', they mean the great purge that they anticipate being necessary to bring 'the Light Eternal' (see below)
  -"Lux Aeterna"; the Light Eternal. This is the philosophy created by Meredith King, that human greatness can only be achieved through purity and crafting the ideal self. This is often used as a battle cry and motivational phrase.
  - Absolute family loyalty. This applies particularly to the head of the family, who must be obeyed in all things, and to supporting and bolstering one another in the pursuit of Lux Aeterna.

• Members

  Members of the King family are playable, please message me if you'd like to do so. It's important that anyone wanting to play a King understands their dynamic and also has a commitment to avoiding godmoding/powerplaying.
  
  
  
  Prominent Members
  
  
  - Meredith King
  
  
  - Ezekiel King
  (NPC, playable)
  
  Alias: Zeek
  
  
  
  Height: 6'4"
  Age: 41
  Hair Colour: Salt 'n' pepper
  Eye Colour: Blue
  Ethnicity: Caucasian/Native American
  Sexuality: Heterosexual
  
  Bio:
  
  The eldest of the King siblings and the most mellow of the five. Wise, patient and flawed, he has a great many demons and has seen a great deal of change. Often privately acts as Meredith's advisor. He has one mutant horse, Caliban, and one wife who is often the envy of the other women in the camp for her fair treatment.
  
  
  - Isaac King
  
  (NPC, playable)
  
  Alias: Zac
  
  
  
  Height: 6'1"
  Age: 35
  Hair Colour: Black
  Eye Colour: Blue
  Ethnicity: Caucasian/Native American
  Sexuality: Bisexual
  
  Bio:
  
  The real rude boy of the Kings, Isaac is hedonistic and sadistic. He has a short temper, little self-control and has been through five wives. His horse is a mare he calls Normandy. He is violently protective of his siblings but often mocking of Elias.
  
  
  - Ibrahim King
  
  (NPC, playable)
  
  Alias: Him
  
  
  
  Height: 6'2"
  Age: 30
  Hair Colour: Black
  Eye Colour: Blue
  Ethnicity: Caucasian/Native American
  Sexuality: Heterosexual
  
  Bio:
  
  A quiet genius, Ibrahim is a very skilled strategist and has a very broad brutal streak. He is closer than close with Meredith and considers her safety to be his responsibility; it is a task he will undertake at any cost. Whilst he is as unpleasant as his siblings, he seems to have more purpose to his actions than self-gratification.
  
  
  - Elias King
  
  (NPC, playable)
  
  Alias: Brown
  
  
  
  Height: 5'10"
  Age: 28
  Hair Colour: Brown
  Eye Colour: Blue
  Ethnicity: Caucasian/Native American
  Sexuality: Heterosexual
  
  Bio:
  
  Elias is a gentle soul forced into a violent world. He struggles with cruelty and is often mocked by his family for it. He suppresses 'impure' urges and thoughts and often asks Meredith to remedy it for him, resulting in a reliance on her abuse and opinion to survive. He is the poster-child for Stockholm Syndrome and is, at heart, a compassionate and open-minded man. His mare is named Epiphany.
  
  - Alice Josephine King, First Wife of Meredith King
  
  (NPC, not playable)
  
  Alias: Worm
  
  
  
  Height: 5'6"
  Age: 29
  Hair Colour: Dark blonde/brown
  Eye Colour: Brown
  Ethnicity: Caucasian
  Sexuality: Heterosexual
  
  Bio:
  
  Alice was found as a child by the Kings as they made their way across Oklahoma. She was adopted by them to bolster their numbers, and became fast friends with Meredith King, whom she married despite lacking a sexual interest in women. She became known as Worm after her heterosexuality was discovered by King, and she has been a changed woman ever since. She is often quiet, has what is described as 'an empty stare', a subservient mode of behaviour and, despite the abuse she has suffered over the years, is one of the most loyal members of the family.