Once, we roamed the world in freedom. We protected the humans from worse threats, even as they denied our existence as some sort of horror. Perhaps we stole chickens or even sheep from time to time, but we hated those of our kind that preyed on humanity as much as the humans did.
Humanity went from caves to cities, and we rejoiced along with them. No longer did we have to struggle for food, and even though the vampires were at home in the cities, we kept our peace as long as they didn't kill their charges. It was a lycanthrope botanist that first discovered plasma fruits, or so we were told - we were not enemies of the blood people.
But something went wrong. We do not know how it happened. Perhaps one of the humans fusion bombs. Perhaps a magical experiment gone wrong. Perhaps our ectoplasmic brothers rent the veil between this world and the next.
We only know it changed us. From our perspective we went to bed as a child, dreaming of some cartoon we had seen on the television, and perhaps worried about our arithmetic test with Mrs Thomas in the morning. We awoke to find not only the world changed, but ourself changed too - an adult, with no memory of the past many years. Perhaps it is for the best; perhaps what we did in those years we should not try to remember.
The military came. They shot at us at first, thinking we were some feral dog, but when we assumed our human form they immediately recruited us for Project Lazarus - an ambitious project that we were to play a vital role in. Our primal nature gave us some resistance to the harsh environment. They worried that we were too old to begin the programme, but they had little choice in the end. We were inducted, and our story began.
This is not the beginning. But it is a beginning.
Humanity went from caves to cities, and we rejoiced along with them. No longer did we have to struggle for food, and even though the vampires were at home in the cities, we kept our peace as long as they didn't kill their charges. It was a lycanthrope botanist that first discovered plasma fruits, or so we were told - we were not enemies of the blood people.
But something went wrong. We do not know how it happened. Perhaps one of the humans fusion bombs. Perhaps a magical experiment gone wrong. Perhaps our ectoplasmic brothers rent the veil between this world and the next.
We only know it changed us. From our perspective we went to bed as a child, dreaming of some cartoon we had seen on the television, and perhaps worried about our arithmetic test with Mrs Thomas in the morning. We awoke to find not only the world changed, but ourself changed too - an adult, with no memory of the past many years. Perhaps it is for the best; perhaps what we did in those years we should not try to remember.
The military came. They shot at us at first, thinking we were some feral dog, but when we assumed our human form they immediately recruited us for Project Lazarus - an ambitious project that we were to play a vital role in. Our primal nature gave us some resistance to the harsh environment. They worried that we were too old to begin the programme, but they had little choice in the end. We were inducted, and our story began.
This is not the beginning. But it is a beginning.
Welcome to one of my Sims 3 Apocalypse Challenge blogs. This is for the May 2015 tournament; you can follow the progress on Facebook here and check out the rules here.
This time, I'm using a Prestige Werewolf with the Prestige Start No University option. I have a male founder - Benedict Primal. He has the traits Ambitious, Athletic, Genius, Slob, and Workaholic - as I have no idea what job he'll get, this seemed a fair choice, but I may regret Athletic instead of Charismatic or Friendly. His lifetime wish is Heartbreaker (about the only one I think might be feasible to lift in time). Favourite food is PB&J, favourite music Soul, and favourite colour Spice Brown. He's a Taurus.
I'm using Sunset Valley. His home lot is 2350 Pinochle Point; I place him on the lot and then lower funds to $8308 (as it's only a 30x30 lot). I placed a few other families around as well, just to make sure there's a breeding pool.
The career roll is a 5. Normally Forensics would be a terrible choice, but I am a Genius, which means I have to at least consider it. While Culinary and Symphonic are both objectively better lifts, Forensics (via Law Enforcement) makes use of my Genius trait, comes with a car, and potentially extends my useful mating life by allowing me to be a controllable elder. It's important not to get too bogged down by things like tiers, and consider each case on its merits - for this attempt, with this Sim, Forensics actually strikes me as the best bet, so I go ahead and put him into the Law Enforcement career. I then construct his house, and end up with a total of $63 left over after buying everything he will immediately need, including a driveway under the house for his eventual cop car. I'll need to get an easel, too, but that can wait for the first pay check.
This time, I'm using a Prestige Werewolf with the Prestige Start No University option. I have a male founder - Benedict Primal. He has the traits Ambitious, Athletic, Genius, Slob, and Workaholic - as I have no idea what job he'll get, this seemed a fair choice, but I may regret Athletic instead of Charismatic or Friendly. His lifetime wish is Heartbreaker (about the only one I think might be feasible to lift in time). Favourite food is PB&J, favourite music Soul, and favourite colour Spice Brown. He's a Taurus.
I'm using Sunset Valley. His home lot is 2350 Pinochle Point; I place him on the lot and then lower funds to $8308 (as it's only a 30x30 lot). I placed a few other families around as well, just to make sure there's a breeding pool.
The career roll is a 5. Normally Forensics would be a terrible choice, but I am a Genius, which means I have to at least consider it. While Culinary and Symphonic are both objectively better lifts, Forensics (via Law Enforcement) makes use of my Genius trait, comes with a car, and potentially extends my useful mating life by allowing me to be a controllable elder. It's important not to get too bogged down by things like tiers, and consider each case on its merits - for this attempt, with this Sim, Forensics actually strikes me as the best bet, so I go ahead and put him into the Law Enforcement career. I then construct his house, and end up with a total of $63 left over after buying everything he will immediately need, including a driveway under the house for his eventual cop car. I'll need to get an easel, too, but that can wait for the first pay check.
Our enhanced senses were thought to be the trait that was deemed most useful. There was a problem with premature senility, thought to be caused by some sort of aerial toxin, we was assigned to local law enforcement to try and help them track down the source of this toxin and perhaps create some sort of antidote.
But we perceived the law enforcement had bigger problems. Even we, as a member of the police, were shaken down by criminals. We tore out the throat of the first, but the second and third used tasers and we were overcome, our strength enfeebled in the harsh environment, and reluctantly we paid, vowing vengeance.
We joined other investigations, branching out from our eventual goal, and became friendly with our partner. We were promoted rapidly, although our application for a vehicle got lost in bureaucratic red tape. We studied by night, at our chess table, as our adversary with the toxin (and we were sure now it was a deliberate poisoning) was tricky, and apparently always a move ahead of us. The great detectives Alekhine and Fischer guided us to greater insight, and we felt ourselves grow ever closer to our prey.
We are reminded - we did not introduce ourselves. Our mother would be so ashamed of us - as would Mrs Thomas, who we have not managed to find in this strange new world. We are Benedict. We do not have last names amongst our people, but you may call us Benedict Primal if you need to, for ours is the primal force of nature that is needed to restore the world to what it was - or at least, what it could have been.
We learned field medicine, in our desire to learn more about toxins, and we were even offered a chance to become a healer ourselves. We decided against it; it is a noble path, but we were not to be denied our prey after so many years. We stayed the course.
The toxin had many effects, we discovered. Not only did it affect the mind, but it affected the body also. We watched humans age prematurely, their bodies too decrepit to house them. Even our own lifespan was affected - though not to the extent that the humans suffered. We had little contact with the blood people, or the winged folk, or our ectoplasmic brothers, or even the servants of the elements - but from what little we could gather, they too were affected. There were more than half serious efforts devoted to seeing if humanity could not be perhaps turned into some sort of plant creatures, but even were that to bear fruit - you will forgive us our little pun - we thought it largely hopeless, since the Sun shone only dimly in the blackened sky.
The spirit suffered also. Our own powers were largely intact, but we found evidence that the servants of the elements could barely use any of their powers. To our horror we discovered that even others of the primal folk were affected, and sadly we determined that we could never choose our mates from such stock, lest our line become tainted.
Our body still confused us. We still felt of ourselves as a child, but we had urges that were decidedly more mature. Perhaps we were foolish, perhaps because of our lack of experience, but we wanted many mates, even though we were disloyal and deserved much less. A charitable explanation was that we wanted to get it out of our system, so we could devote ourselves to our life partner, but we are not sure our intentions were so noble.
We seduced our targets as part of our police duties; we became a honey trap and collected information on the populace. We are not proud of this period of our lives, but the world was a harsh place, and it frowned on weakness. We did what we wished, because we saw little future. Depression was rife throughout our community, and what little we heard from the outside world was not encouraging. Someone had to be a beacon - to restore hope to the world.
It shames us that it took us so long to realise that we could be that beacon. It shames us even more to acknowledge the part we played in spreading despair. We are sorry. We know that this is insufficient, but it is all we can offer.
But we perceived the law enforcement had bigger problems. Even we, as a member of the police, were shaken down by criminals. We tore out the throat of the first, but the second and third used tasers and we were overcome, our strength enfeebled in the harsh environment, and reluctantly we paid, vowing vengeance.
We joined other investigations, branching out from our eventual goal, and became friendly with our partner. We were promoted rapidly, although our application for a vehicle got lost in bureaucratic red tape. We studied by night, at our chess table, as our adversary with the toxin (and we were sure now it was a deliberate poisoning) was tricky, and apparently always a move ahead of us. The great detectives Alekhine and Fischer guided us to greater insight, and we felt ourselves grow ever closer to our prey.
We are reminded - we did not introduce ourselves. Our mother would be so ashamed of us - as would Mrs Thomas, who we have not managed to find in this strange new world. We are Benedict. We do not have last names amongst our people, but you may call us Benedict Primal if you need to, for ours is the primal force of nature that is needed to restore the world to what it was - or at least, what it could have been.
We learned field medicine, in our desire to learn more about toxins, and we were even offered a chance to become a healer ourselves. We decided against it; it is a noble path, but we were not to be denied our prey after so many years. We stayed the course.
The toxin had many effects, we discovered. Not only did it affect the mind, but it affected the body also. We watched humans age prematurely, their bodies too decrepit to house them. Even our own lifespan was affected - though not to the extent that the humans suffered. We had little contact with the blood people, or the winged folk, or our ectoplasmic brothers, or even the servants of the elements - but from what little we could gather, they too were affected. There were more than half serious efforts devoted to seeing if humanity could not be perhaps turned into some sort of plant creatures, but even were that to bear fruit - you will forgive us our little pun - we thought it largely hopeless, since the Sun shone only dimly in the blackened sky.
The spirit suffered also. Our own powers were largely intact, but we found evidence that the servants of the elements could barely use any of their powers. To our horror we discovered that even others of the primal folk were affected, and sadly we determined that we could never choose our mates from such stock, lest our line become tainted.
Our body still confused us. We still felt of ourselves as a child, but we had urges that were decidedly more mature. Perhaps we were foolish, perhaps because of our lack of experience, but we wanted many mates, even though we were disloyal and deserved much less. A charitable explanation was that we wanted to get it out of our system, so we could devote ourselves to our life partner, but we are not sure our intentions were so noble.
We seduced our targets as part of our police duties; we became a honey trap and collected information on the populace. We are not proud of this period of our lives, but the world was a harsh place, and it frowned on weakness. We did what we wished, because we saw little future. Depression was rife throughout our community, and what little we heard from the outside world was not encouraging. Someone had to be a beacon - to restore hope to the world.
It shames us that it took us so long to realise that we could be that beacon. It shames us even more to acknowledge the part we played in spreading despair. We are sorry. We know that this is insufficient, but it is all we can offer.
I hit the chess table to start with. I get almost 3 points of Logic before he's too tired to continue. Then I send him to bed for a couple of hours, before getting up to finish off that last point of Logic (for full green on Logic). Then back to bed again.
Normally, the first day of work I try to use to get a relationship with the boss. Unfortunately, Law Enforcement doesn't have such an interaction - only the partner - so instead I used Work Hard and then a bit of Chat with Partner. Benedict did meet the boss, though, so after he returned from work (as a Desk Jockey) I had him war dial the boss after buying an easel and zeroing the funds. I didn't quite get to friend status - wishing now I'd taken Friendly instead of Athletic.
I moderated my expectations for the next day; because of the war dialling, I was going in to it with slightly too low Logic and Partner ratings. Unfortunately it was only about an hour to go when it became clear that Work Hard wasn't going to be quite enough; had I known that, I would have switched to Chat With Partner earlier, but couldn't be helped.
I haven't been buying any new items - mainly because I don't see any place to put them, and I have everything I desperately need.
Wednesday brought the next promotion to Traffic Cop, which comes with the car. I am also Friends with my partner now. However, the car didn't appear - which may be a bug, or maybe it comes at level 4, or maybe it comes the day after you make Traffic Cop. Hmm...
The next day, I have the "do you help out your partner?" question. I chose not to, and now the boss is a friend while the partner isn't any more. But it's a Thursday, so as soon as work finished I war dialled to fix that up. Even with that hit, I still got the promotion to Patrol Officer. Still no car, but a quick check on Carl's site says that is actually level 5.
Now Reports is a new metric; no time to get any on Thursday though, so Friday I will not get promoted. That's fine, I still have plenty of time. After work, I put Benedict to sleep for a while and then hit the mirror to get his first Charisma point - if I'm going to be getting Reports, I might as well be building Charisma at the same time, and it will certainly help with Heartbreaker.
With the weekend arrived, I set the network as Bachelor House, Keaton House, Gain House, Maywood Glen, City Hall, and the Library. The weekend is spent filing reports and learning to paint (not quite yet). He has Charisma 3, Logic 4, and Handiness 1 (from fixing the toilet).
Monday brings the next promotion (Lieutenant) and finally the car. I started the second story of the house, paid the bills, and zeroed the funds.
After Tuesday's promotion I'm in the Forensics branch proper. I have 14 days until aging up; it will be tight, but it looks doable. I will have to make sure I become friends with the boss again on Thursday (it has decayed now) so that I can ask for a promotion where needed. But as it turns out, even though my Reports record is only just smiling, I manage a promotion on Wednesday anyway (to Crime Scene Technician), which makes it basically certain I will make it.
Thursday brings a dilemma. I am offered the option to switch to Medical 8. The argument comes down to this: while this is a level higher, and will probably get lifted faster, it means I then have a tight time frame to find a mate and I can kiss the LTW goodbye. After some deliberation, I turned it down; my Forensics choice will be seen through to the end.
With the help of Ask For Promotion I get promoted to Sketch Artist on Thursday. Just 2 to go. Friday goes by, and I spent the rest of Friday after work and all of Saturday interviewing the Bachelors, to compile reports on them on Sunday. There is also some painting involved to try and improve that too.
Monday brings the promotion to 3D Crime Scene Modeler, and I have to desperately try and get my Logic and Painting up.
But it actually turns out to be way easier than that.
Normally, the first day of work I try to use to get a relationship with the boss. Unfortunately, Law Enforcement doesn't have such an interaction - only the partner - so instead I used Work Hard and then a bit of Chat with Partner. Benedict did meet the boss, though, so after he returned from work (as a Desk Jockey) I had him war dial the boss after buying an easel and zeroing the funds. I didn't quite get to friend status - wishing now I'd taken Friendly instead of Athletic.
I moderated my expectations for the next day; because of the war dialling, I was going in to it with slightly too low Logic and Partner ratings. Unfortunately it was only about an hour to go when it became clear that Work Hard wasn't going to be quite enough; had I known that, I would have switched to Chat With Partner earlier, but couldn't be helped.
I haven't been buying any new items - mainly because I don't see any place to put them, and I have everything I desperately need.
Wednesday brought the next promotion to Traffic Cop, which comes with the car. I am also Friends with my partner now. However, the car didn't appear - which may be a bug, or maybe it comes at level 4, or maybe it comes the day after you make Traffic Cop. Hmm...
The next day, I have the "do you help out your partner?" question. I chose not to, and now the boss is a friend while the partner isn't any more. But it's a Thursday, so as soon as work finished I war dialled to fix that up. Even with that hit, I still got the promotion to Patrol Officer. Still no car, but a quick check on Carl's site says that is actually level 5.
Now Reports is a new metric; no time to get any on Thursday though, so Friday I will not get promoted. That's fine, I still have plenty of time. After work, I put Benedict to sleep for a while and then hit the mirror to get his first Charisma point - if I'm going to be getting Reports, I might as well be building Charisma at the same time, and it will certainly help with Heartbreaker.
With the weekend arrived, I set the network as Bachelor House, Keaton House, Gain House, Maywood Glen, City Hall, and the Library. The weekend is spent filing reports and learning to paint (not quite yet). He has Charisma 3, Logic 4, and Handiness 1 (from fixing the toilet).
Monday brings the next promotion (Lieutenant) and finally the car. I started the second story of the house, paid the bills, and zeroed the funds.
After Tuesday's promotion I'm in the Forensics branch proper. I have 14 days until aging up; it will be tight, but it looks doable. I will have to make sure I become friends with the boss again on Thursday (it has decayed now) so that I can ask for a promotion where needed. But as it turns out, even though my Reports record is only just smiling, I manage a promotion on Wednesday anyway (to Crime Scene Technician), which makes it basically certain I will make it.
Thursday brings a dilemma. I am offered the option to switch to Medical 8. The argument comes down to this: while this is a level higher, and will probably get lifted faster, it means I then have a tight time frame to find a mate and I can kiss the LTW goodbye. After some deliberation, I turned it down; my Forensics choice will be seen through to the end.
With the help of Ask For Promotion I get promoted to Sketch Artist on Thursday. Just 2 to go. Friday goes by, and I spent the rest of Friday after work and all of Saturday interviewing the Bachelors, to compile reports on them on Sunday. There is also some painting involved to try and improve that too.
Monday brings the promotion to 3D Crime Scene Modeler, and I have to desperately try and get my Logic and Painting up.
But it actually turns out to be way easier than that.
It took us time. But when we finally found the scent, we tracked it to its lair. The villain had left, of course, but we found a sample of the toxin, and even the villain's notes on a cure. This will require more investigation by our children. But for now, the antidote's release into the water supply returned hope to the community, and I began my search for a mate.
With 8 days to go before he becomes an elder, Benedict has lifted Hopelessness and Forensics. And I really don't have any time restriction of consequence now, since I can control him as an elder. Next time, I'll pursue his Heartbreaker LTW and find him a wife - possibly not in that order, depending on how I feel. :)
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