ONE YEAR AGO...

Contagion broke out in Gotham City. This virulent strain of Ebola Gulf-A, also known as the "Apocolypse Virus" or "the Clench," mutated its victims, killing them twelve hours after the first symptoms appeared. Tens of thousands of Gothamites died during the plague, and though Batman and his compatriots managed to find a cure, entire city blocks were left mostly abandoned as many of those who survived the Clench fled the city.

SIX MONTHS AGO...

Picking up right where it's predecessor had left off, the Apocolypse Virus struck again, starting with those who were cured in the virus' first run through the city and jumping to those unfortunate enough to get too close. Batman and his team were again able to stop the plague - and prevent it from being released on a larger world stage - but despite how fast the new cure was found, the Clench's second attack took it's toll.

YESTERDAY:

The Cataclysm. A 7.5 on the Richter Scale, this earthquake toppled the already beleaguered Gotham City in a moment, leaving thousands dead and missing. Plunged immediately into a state of emergency, Gotham doesn't have the ability to recover from this disaster on its own. Gotham needs help.

But will it get it?

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Gotham: Abandoned is a comics-based Batman/DCU Intermediate-Advanced roleplay that takes place in the days after the Cataclysm and those leading up to and through No Man's Land. It is canon-compliant up to the point where the Cataclysm first hits, and players are free to develop the story in whichever way they choose past that. 

While most of the action will be taking place inside of a mostly-closed Gotham City, players are encouraged to explore what is happening outside of it, as well. Who will help, and how will they do it? Who will try to use NML for their own personal gain?

This is a chance to experience one of Batman's most legendary storylines in a whole new way.

Can you survive the No Man's Land?

Overview

Gotham's been through a lot in the last couple years. A massive Arkham breakout was followed by the criminal warlord Bane announcing that he'd taken over the city. The year after that? The Clench: a terrifying ebola virus that swept through the city, killing tens of thousands and leaving entire city blocks empty. The virus made a reappearance six months later, becoming active again in those thought cured during the first wave and killing hundreds more before being stopped again. And in between: Gotham's usual highest-murder-rate-in-the-country crime rate.

The city recovered, though. Yes, most of those city blocks were still empty - not a lot of people, unsurprisingly, were moving into Gotham from outside the city anymore, and current residents proved equally reluctant to spread out into the buildings emptied by the plague - but the rest of Gotham got back on its feet. The populated areas cleaned up and repaired the damage done by the rioters and looters, people went back to work and school and got on with their lives. Including, unfortunately, the criminals. But with the GCPD (and the urban legend of Batman) in full swing again, Gotham was no more dangerous than it had ever been. Not saying much, maybe, but Gotham wasn't all bad.

Wayne Enterprises and many of it's subsidiaries call Gotham home, as do many of the other companies with headquarters in and around the Financial District, making the city into one of the great economic centers of the East Coast. Programs such as the Gotham Art Museum and Gotham Theatre have made sure that it's no slouch in the arts, either, and any fashionista (or fashionista want-to-be) would have been kept in magnificent style by the fashion scene and available shopping.

So what if it was a little too dangerous to walk through Robinson Park at night? It was magnificent and perfectly safe during the day. And if avoiding dark alley was the best thing to do no matter what the time, well, that was good common sense in any city, wasn't it? As for the atmosphere, well - the abundant gothic architecture gave Gotham character and a sense of dark beauty. Atmosphere could be a good thing anyway.

This was Gotham.

Until the quake hit, anyway. 

Just past noon on an otherwise beautiful, sunny day, a 7.5 earthquake hits Gotham City, leveling almost everything and trapping and killing thousands in under five minutes.

This is Gotham City now.



Where were you? Did you feel the ground shake, drop out from underneath you? Did you hear about the disaster on the news?

More importantly: what are you going to do now?