Welcome to Nova

Character age: 45

Character birthday: December 21st

Gender identity: ciswoman

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Character face-claim: Ruth Connell

Clan of origin: Sylvania

Occupation at Nova: Structural Engineer

Bio: Terpsichore was raised a dutiful member of Sylvanian culture. Support each other. Learn to defend yourself so you can defend others. Find your niche. Much like a beehive, Sylvanians knew their intricate relationships to nature and to other members of the clan.

Sichore was more studious than her older siblings. She was the only one of four children to graduate from the school system, and combined with her "frivolous" talent for art, found her way into engineering. Over time, she designed some of the most important buildings in Sylvania - from granaries to homes, from bunkers to safehouses. Soon she was teaching others her ways, her designs, her style. 

She also became one of the few people with the closest connection to the Fall. Her grandparents lived through it in a way that most of the population, young as they were, were only told stories of it. And the virus was present in her life - it claimed her oldest brother Hector, who, in turn, killed their father during his transformation. 

When Nova was announced, she was asked to apply by the elders of the clan. Buildings would need designing in the new colony, and impressing Sylvanian style and culture into the new world appealed to them. Perhaps traveling into a new world wasn't Sichore's first and favorite choice, but she was being assigned a mission, and like a dutiful bee, she would go.

Known around town as a bit of a "free thinker," Terpsichore had never quite fit in with the perfect drumbeat of the hive. Perhaps it was the sudden tragedy of Hector and her father, perhaps it was the love of her life disappearing on a hunting trip, or perhaps it was the feeling that she was being pressured to leave a space she had helped build, now that they had a host of architects and engineers she had trained. But something about Sylvania was pressed into her skull, and the idea of Nova wasn't a way out - it was the knife she was being told to fall on.

Age: 24

Birthday: June 21

Gender identity: female

Pronouns: she/her

Character face-claim: Florence Pugh

Clan of origin: South Plains

Occupation at Nova: Guard

Bio: 

Born under the heavy black clouds of a brewing summer tornado, Greer’s family should’ve taken it as an omen of who their little girl would be. While most people on the plains appreciated life at its slowest, Greer never could stop herself from seeing the fun in causing a little trouble. She was one of five kids, just eleven months younger than her older brother, Callahan– both sandwiched right in the middle of the brood. The two were inseparable middle children with a perpetual eye roll and a lack of responsibility. 

When they were small, Greer and Cal could often be found among the goats their family was tasked with raising or out catching feral cats they weren’t ever allowed to keep. As they got older, they were more often found stealing home brewed liquor and staying out with friends until well after the sun dipped below the horizon, despite their mother’s pleading that they get home before dark. She knew that the South Plains was too scattered of a clan to maintain as well organized of a guard as many other clans. She knew that responsibility meant a winter without starvation. She knew the stories of what might lurk in the shadows as evening moved to night, or how quickly weather could change, but she never could bring herself to make these dangers a priority. “When are you going to grow up?’ Her parents would ask, but Greer always believed that with any luck, she might never let her life grow dry and boring like everyone around her.

It wasn’t until one night Greer and Callahan returned home after curfew like they’d done dozens of times before that they realized how quickly things could change. Their family had come under attack from a small group of the undead that had gotten by the clan’s guard. It was unexpected, and they were unprepared, and it was already too late by the time Greer and Cal made it home; their family was already gone. Greer took the hunting rifle that was slung over her shoulder and annihilated the remaining undead that had breached the clan’s territory. It was on this day that Greer finally grew up.

With word of a second wave spreading, Greer joined the South Plain’s guard and found that she was quite the marksman. She knew what kind of damage even a small group of undead could do when you weren’t ready, and she wasn’t going to let her clan be unprepared if a second wave did spread. In the next few years, Greer became an incredible asset to the team, so it was no surprise that she was one of the fifty invited to Nova. Greer almost didn’t go, as she was reluctant to leave the only family she still had left, but it was Callahan who convinced her that going to Nova was important, and she was needed there more than in South Plains. 

Today, Greer is not necessarily an easy person to get to know. In one way or another, she’s lost every part of her family she’s ever had, and she’s not eager to grow close to anyone at Nova. Glimpses of the fun-loving person she once was can be seen from time to time, but Greer would rather hide them in favor of the more serious version of herself that she’s become– she knows too well what happens when you don’t take life as seriously as it deserves.

Character age: 36

Character birthday: August 11

Gender identity: Male

Pronouns: He/him

Character face-claim: Sebastian Stan

Clan of origin: Blue Ridge – now Southern Plains

Occupation at Nova: Leadership

Bio:

He was born Gabriel Hunt.

The Hunt family, or so he was told, went all the way back in the area, well before Blue Ridge or the cataclysm or Old World. They’d been there for hundreds of years, Blue Ridge was rightfully always going to be theirs, and they’d held control of the chief position for generations.

He grew up as all Hunt children did, groomed for leadership from early age alongside his brothers, Michael, the eldest, and the two younger than him, Zacharaiah and Elijah. He killed his first mountain lion at eleven. Went on his first raid at twelve. Led his first command by sixteen. 

The rules at Blue Ridge were known and simple. To break those rules was to face death. He’d seen a few executions in his childhood. They all did. It was a grim reminder of the cost of disobedience, and though macabre, it was effective. 

They grew. Each year he took a higher command, more tattoos were added to his arm. There were more raids, always the raids. They came home, they celebrated, they ate and drank.

Their father passed. A disease nobody could heal. His ashes were scattered at the peak of the nearest mountain, where they’d scattered their mother not days after Elijah’s birth.

Michael was made chief, as he’d been born to do. 

Two more years passed, and when Gabriel was nineteen, Elijah was added under his command, fourteen and eager to follow in the footsteps of his brothers. Many raids went well, until one did not. It had been an accident. Gabriel returned home, blood on his hands and Elijah’s body in his arms.

It was an accident.

Elijah’s ashes were scattered with his parents, or so he heard.

An accident.

The tattoos were burned off his arms. He was issued a sentence more humiliating, more dishonorable than death: exile.

There was the rough in-between time, the wandering. Gabriel could, of course, take care of himself, but it was a difficult way of living, and winter was quickly hurtling toward him and he pushed further south to avoid the creeping frost. The solitude, the emptiness of this existence, however, felt deserved. He thought a few times that perhaps he should let nature run its course, surrender to it.

Still, he pressed on. When he reached the border of a little settlement that considered itself part of the Southern Plains, a grouping of not more than forty, he was thin, dirty, half-starved. He didn’t even remember being asked if he wanted help before he was set in front of a fire with a thick bowl of stew. 

His main rescuer, a gentle woman who kept a respectful distance, started to ask questions when his bowl was empty, he sat in stubborn silence.

After a few minutes of probing, she sighed, and finally asked, “Can I have your name, at least?” He didn’t know what possessed him, but he only knew he wanted to begin again. He could no longer be Gabriel Hunt, he’d died too. 

“Elijah.”

He began again, living for his brother. Or as his brother. He wasn’t sure which, sometimes. For a couple of years, he stayed with the woman, hardly speaking, but working hard to help maintain her farm alongside her handful of children. She probed for his last name repeatedly over the years, but he never gave it up– and out of frustration or compassion (he wasn’t sure which), she  finally sighed one day and said he might as well take theirs, he was enough of family.

Elijah Gray grew into a man, and eventually started his own farm out on the plains. He lived and worked alone, but again, the solitude felt purifying. He worked hard to do good in penance for his brother’s death, to perhaps rebalance some cosmic scales, though it hardly ever felt enough. In his thirty-six years of life, no kindness or altruism seemed to ever scrub his hands clean of Elijah’s blood. Maybe he didn’t deserve that.

Still, when the Nova Project was announced, an opportunity to help people, save lives, he couldn’t turn it down, even if it meant facing his people again, and eventually his brothers. If they were even still alive. Much to his surprise, when the initial fifty gathered prior to departure from all around the Southern Plains, he was elected by vote to be one of the three representing the Southern Plains on the council. He’d only decided to run at all because it felt like what a good person would do.

He now works to negotiate his new leadership role at Nova after over a decade of solitude and facing a people who would likely remember his very public exile for his brother’s death, whose name he’s now taken. But it’s the right thing to do. It’s the selfless thing to do. And if not him, who else? When he’s not trying to survive council meetings, he still finds himself in the barns or greenhouses, tending to chickens or watering tomatoes to soothe himself.

Elijah is selfless, thoughtful, and hard-working, but can be withdrawn, difficult, and serious.

Character age: 34

Character birthday: April 4

Gender identity: cismale

Pronouns: he/him

Character face-claim: Ben Barnes

Clan of origin: Blue Ridge

Occupation at Nova: Council Member / Guard

Bio: Blue Ridge wasn't a good place to grow up, but then again, few people would call Montgomery Cannon "good." Blue Ridge - and the Cannon family by extension - were known for militant rigidity, and as the eldest son of the family, Monty was the shining example.

Montgomery quickly worked his way up in the military of Blue Ridge, becoming infamous for his aggressive push for more territory and seeming joy in battle. Everything funneled back home to his family, of course, but he was in his element with a weapon in hand and land to conquer. Blue Ridge was the clan that had the best shot at surviving in the long run, anyway; everyone knew it. So why should they be restrained to their small mountains? Why shouldn't they expand?

This is a theme that follows Montgomery across many aspects of his life. What is new on the horizon to be conquered? What lists can he complete, what territory to seize? Competitive by nature and a bit ruthless by upbringing, Montgomery was well on his way to climbing the political ladders of Blue Ridge with the help of his family's money and prestige.

Montgomery fancied himself his parents' favorite child, though you would have to ask them to confirm that. He took it upon himself to raise his younger siblings in the right, Blue Ridgidic way, though only Lilliana seemed to take the lessons to heart. Augustus was a constant thorn in Monty's side - the soft heart who would rather sing a song than work for the community's betterment. When Lilliana died, though, it left only him and Auggie, with a cavern of broken bridges between the two.

Augustus surprised the family by applying to the Nova experiment, and Monty does not do well with surprises. Also, there was no way he was going to allow his little brother to be the sole representation of the Cannon family to the whole world. A short political campaign led to Montgomery's election to represent Blue Ridge as a council member in the new colony, and Monty will serve the position with pride. After all, if the valley is as fertile as they say, Blue Ridge should have someone there, able to stake claim to it if the other clans can't compete.

Age: 25

Birthday: March 18th

Gender identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Face-claim: Timothee Chalamet

Clan of origin: Falls Lake

Occupation at Nova: Doctor

Bio:

tw: drowning, child death

Sebastian Brooks was born in the Clan of Falls Lake. Growing up, his father was the lead man of the fishermen. He was an expert at all things fishing and everyone came to him with any questions they may have for tips and good location to find fish. His father took so much pride in his work, he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Sebastian was taken out on the boat with his father everyday at the young age of six. As much as Sebastian tried to enjoy it, he couldn’t feel any more bored of it. Even when his father caught a fish, he didn’t have the same joyful expression that his father had on his face. As Sebastian grew up, he really started to question whether he had belonged in Falls Lake. Most of all, he was terrified of water which felt like a big issue since his family home was propped up on stilts in the water. Every night in bed, Sebastian would toss and turn. The terrors of the water and stress from his father kept him up at night. He knew he wanted to do something other than become a fisherman, but he just didn't know what since the options really were limited.

When Sebastian was ten years old, he was the boat with his father helping him fish. As Sebastian went to cast the line of fishing pole, the hook grazed his right eye, immediately causing it to bleed and his vision blurred. Sebastian screamed out in pain and covered his eye as his father quickly rushed them to shore. He was rushed to the infirmary where he had met a kind doctor who treated him. Unfortunately they weren't able to save his vision in that eye, but the doctor was able to keep it from getting any worse. After those couple of days in the infirmary, Sebastian knew exactly what he was going to be when he got older. A doctor.

Immediately after that, Sebastian began spending his days at the infirmary working with the doctor. He quickly learned medical terms and took medical books to help him study at night. And as soon as he was old enough, Sebastian became a doctor for Falls Lake.

Everything in Sebastian's life was going amazing. He was a doctor and really enjoying it. He also fell in love and got married. They even had a daughter and everything felt right in the world. All of his life, he had felt he didn't belong, but now that he was older, he felt he had just stressed over silly stuff when he was younger. But, one thing that Sebastian knew, once you felt too comfortable, something bad was right around the corner.

One day while Sebastian was at work his wife came running in in a panic. Her words were jumbled up and confusing but Sebastian was finally able to understand what she was trying to say; their daughter had been swooped up by the current of the lake and was never to be seen again. After that happened, Sebastian was completely broken. He and his wife had separated and he spent all day every day in the infirmary. But, it wasn’t all bad. Sebastian had made friends with the patients and was slowly gaining his happiness back. As long as he was focused on work at least.

 When there was an announcement made about Nova and fifty people needed to be sent there, Sebastian didn’t know what to think. He knew that fifty wasn’t a lot and his chances were slim with there being nine hundred and fifty other people in the Clan. But, the head doctor came up to Sebastian and told him he thought it was a good idea for Seb to go. They needed a doctor to go with them and he was the newest doctor. Sebastian also had a good personality which could be useful when dealing with the other clans. He also is great at helping patients out with mental health.

Even though Sebastian is excited to be moving to a new land, he couldn’t help but feel anxious about Nova. He didn’t know what to expect, especially with meeting people from the New Pittsburg Clan. His plan at the beginning is to stay close to other people from Falls Lake before getting to know the other citizens. Also, the threat of the Second Wave terrified him. Was he really prepared enough to treat those infected by it?

Sebastian's personality really can go two different directions. There is the quiet side of Sebastian where he likes to be left alone and not speak to anyone. Then, there is the friendly, kind side of Sebastian that comes with being a doctor. His goal is to make sure everyone leaves the infirmary healthy and feeling better than ever. Three of Sebastian’s positive traits are he is caring, protective, and kind. Three negative traits are he questions himself, he can be a loner, and he can be nervous.

Character age: 19

Character birthday: 18/07

Gender identity: Male

Pronouns: he/him

Character face-claim: Barry Keoghan

Clan of origin: Sylvania

Occupation at Nova: Hunter 

Bio:

Born to one of the largest families in Sylvania, Bear was number four out of a total of nine children. His mother a hunter, father a lumberjack, both occupied for long hours during the day, the children were mostly left to fend for themselves, and this is how Bear learned to be the trouble-maker he is today. The Frazier offspring were not neglected, but life was tough in Sylvania, and adults were expected to work as much as they could to provide for not only their own families, but for the clan entirely. As they grew, and the house filled, the siblings became a unit within themselves, even at a young age, they became self sufficient, only relying on their parents to bring food home in the evenings.

Bear was born a trickster, forever tormenting his siblings, using his slight stature to hide in small spaces, jump scaring, pranking and just completely infuriating every single one of them. The family is close, each member contributing something essential so that the wheels keep spinning. Birdie took care of the cooking, Lynx the laundry, Kitty the bathrooms, and so on. Bear has two roles, provide the entertainment, a self-appointed job, even if it’s not always welcomed--  but more importantly, as he has gotten older, he has joined his mother on some of her hunting adventures. 

On their first trip out, Bear showed instant skill, and the more he hunted, the more this became apparent to the entire clan as a whole. He took after his mother, she was one of the best in the clan. He never missed, not once, his aim impeccable, and with that knowledge known to every person in Sylvania, it was almost written in stone that they would send him to Nova as a part of the first 50 when it all came about. His family are devastated, because as annoying as he might be, he’s part of that spinning wheel, and they fear everything might just crumble in his absence. 

Bear is in two minds about leaving his family, he is used to the hustle and bustle of his cramped house, used to fighting for the bathroom in the morning, used to rooting through his brother’s drawers for clean underwear to wear. He is also excited, even though he’d never admit it, he’s excited that he was chosen, that his talents are being rewarded, he’s excited for change, excited for freedom, excited to be someone other than the seventh Frazier. 

Although the family were upset that Bear was leaving, and he upset to leave them-- they understood the urgency of it all, they feared a second wave more than anything else, and they were happy to contribute to this new life being built, mostly in hope that they would follow him to Nova sooner rather than later. The Frazier’s were quite loyal to their clan, and they had always embedded this into their children, so Bear will have some reservations to others outside of Sylvania.

Difficult might be the best word to describe Bear, because trying to pick just one identifying word was difficult in itself. He is complex, kind, caring and smart on the one hand, but also conniving, roguish and impulsive on the other. Most find him hard to read, and other than people being in awe of his gift, he doesn’t have many friends.

Character name: Allegra Castillo Character age: 30 Character birthday: November 13 Gender identity: CIS Female  Pronouns: She/Her Character face-claim: Adria Arjona Clan of origin: New Pittsburgh Occupation at Nova: Civil Engineer

Bio:

Growing up in New Pittsburgh, her earliest memories were always being too hungry or fighting off the conditions of the small, tiny apartment that they lived in. But, despite the less fortunate beginnings she was a noy to her parents and older sister, a charming and creative girl who blew them away with her imagination. Her parents worked themselves literally to death, her mother dying when she was 8, when delivering her youngest sibling. Her father lasted three more winters, passing away just after her 11th birthday. From then on, the responsibility of her family fell on herself and her older sisters shoulders, and they raised their youngest sibling, and often Allegra wondered if they would ever survive. 

The regimented order of New Pittsburgh was a comfort to her and she didn’t know how to live her life without the same order, and soon enough her intelligence brought her to the attention of some of the decision makers in the colony. She was always keen on building design, the shape and construction and amazed that, whilst they were far from perfect, the buildings in New Pittsburgh were a testament of what buildings could go through and still stand the test of time. She began training and studying as a civil engineer, little did she know it would soon enough rip her from her family. 

She was working on improving some of the government buildings in New Pittsburgh when she was informed that she had been selected to join a new colony, a combination of the other clans that would be the beginning of a new era for the human race. At first, she was excited. She began to think of the things that she could do, and how exciting it would be to be a part of history. When she asked about arrangements for her siblings, she soon lost that excitement, informed that it would be just her that would be going to Nova. 

Whilst they were all grown up, with her younger sibling now in their 20s and working, they had become a tight unit of three and the idea of leaving them behind wasn’t something she was fond of. In fact, she was adamant against going. Until her older sister sat her down to tell her to go, that she had a duty and obligation to both herself, and to the future. After all, they would be able to join her one day perhaps, if things worked out. She could do this. Whilst she is terrified at being apart from them for the first time in her life, she knows she needs to do this. 

But Nova itself is a new challenge in ways she didn’t expect. After 30 years of regimented living, and having the entire day to the millisecond planned, she’s adrift. She’s with people who do not necessarily understand, or like, the idea of knowing what’s coming. The culture clash from the other clans, which had once fascinated her, now confront her and she’s finding herself longing for the comfort and familiarity of New Pittsburgh and her family. Part of her wants to escape and run back home, especially if the Second Wave comes, knowing that if they were going to die she would want to be with her family when they did.