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Winnie Thrall

Species | Dragon
Pronouns | She/HerInterests | Socialising, snacking, collecting.
Job | Material & information salvager.
Hobbies | Streaming, gaming, politicking.Strengths | Smart, agile, charming.
Flaws | Secretive, selfish, easily bored.Loves | Power, money, attention.
Hates | Cops, negativity, being poor.

Childhood

Winnie grew up experiencing poverty in a society that claimed to be post-scarcity. Missing opportunities afforded to her more influential peers, Winnie made it her sole desire in life to never be poor or vulnerable again. After the death of her mother, she sought out the Agate family for a loan to support herself and her younger sibling.
The Agates quickly put her to work...

Shiverworks

The work for the Agates was illegal, secretive and extremely dangerous, trawling the upper zones of their zombie infested mega structure home for rare and valuable loot. Winnie's agility and quick thinking kept her alive long enough to encounter Atlas, a fellow teen unlawfully exploring amongst the restless dead. Together, they founded Shiverworks; their very own business providing a needed public service and their personal freedom.

Present Day

Business is booming and life has never been better for Winnie, but her troubles are far from over. Even with her crushing debt paid off, Winnie is still not free from under the Agates' thumb. Blackmail and threats against her loved ones means Winnie is indentured for life- routinely providing information and contraband to her Masters, all while trying desperately to keep her secret from surfacing...

Overworld Origins

Still here? Well then, let's get deeper...Winnie's home planet 'Kassia' is a lot like Earth. There's an atmosphere, land and of course deep, deep oceans. There's even people. Ohh, yes, her planet is a lot like Earth. Except...
Kassia had a unified Government and things like poverty, starvation and suffering had all been conquered hundreds of years ago. But that is not the world Winnie was born into.200 years before Winnie began her life, her home planet's sky turned from it's natural lilac to a shocking orange in the span of one day. The air tasted different and the properties now within it were alien and completely unfamiliar. Researching it would take time they did not have.The flora folk were the first to get sick. The alien contaminant polluting their sky was killing them; slowly at first and then it came faster. Forced into the end stage of a flora's life cycle, they began to bloom en masse- some decades earlier than expected. The phenomenon was labelled 'the Bloom', and in time the contaminant itself was given the same name.The flora were treated as lepers- cast out of society for being 'dirty' and bad omens- a prejudice that stubbornly survived even as other species of intelligent life fell to the Bloom. It seemed no one was immune and the sickness was getting more aggressive and constantly mutating. People lost hope, billions dying- discord lasting decades with people cowering in air tight facilities, isolated and unable to acquire resources or help.With 2 thirds of the planet's population dead, Kassia's desperate government pooled every available resource into the most ambitious project ever attempted in their history.

Across the planet thousands of gigantic gantries were erected. Every available hand was called on to participate in the construction of over a thousand different long term habitats of incredible size. History tells of mass revolts that broke out on every continent against the government's idea, but they pressed on for over 50 years until their project was completed. Records are a little hazy, but hundreds of habitats were completed and launched.Several generation ships were launched into space with the mission to find help out there in the endless void. Some were built on and under land. Most however, were ocean bound. Built on land in sections and assembled at sea, the ocean habitats were the most sought after Bloom refuge. Appealing in design and concept, the ocean mechs offered something the others did not. The Bloom could not survive in water.Kassia's greatest minds devised a plan to make every habitat unique in structure and function hoping that if one failed, others would continue. Behemoths all, modelled after native animals and all of them untethered, moving through the water. Each habitat a functional faraday cage, incapable of sending or receiving signals with the exception of isolated radio towers near the surface. Corruption possible only from within.The mechs were piloted both manually and automatically; the work shared by the inhabitants and the computer. The computer was given a different designation and avatar design based on the physical structure itself. Its job was overseeing the function of every door, every light, every replicator, every system, device, person and panel. The air, the water, the power, the food, the heating. Everything was safely held in the digital custodian's hands. Your very life.Days to months, years to decades- countless people sheltered in the cold dark sea as scientists worked hurriedly to cure Kassia's atmosphere of the Bloom. 50 years and no word of salvation from any other habitat, no change in the air quality, no vaccine for the Bloom sickness. The Kassidians were trapped and running out of time as their homes slowly ground themselves into obsolescence.

We don't know what became of the other habitats.
As if overnight, more than 40 thousand souls fell deathly ill aboard Shiver. Contamination had breached their sanctuary through the now insufficiently filtered water systems. The Bloom had adapted, mutated beyond what anyone had been prepared for. Death was guaranteed after contraction. A 100% probable outcome, and it only got worse from there.The dead awakened with a hunger.
Friends unrecognisable and violent, family unreachable and voracious. Living fell to the starving horde, only adding to their overwhelming numbers. With nowhere to go, survivors fled down into the guts of the mech and away from the terrifyingly fast undead. They found refuge in the midnight zone of the habitat, which seemed to be the only area aboard unaffected by the outbreak. Direct sunlight sustained the new strain and it withered in the dark.Days to months, years to decades- society continued. 100 years later and few remember the sight or touch of the sun; some certain it's but a myth only children believe in. The Shiver habitat swims in an endless circle, unintelligent and no longer capable of overseeing its own extensive degradation. Shiver's computer maintains itself less effectively every day, and only one neurotic person aboard seems to notice the concerning downward trend.
A democratically elected council presides over all things in the midnight zone, enforcing strict law that no denizen leave the midnight zone for any purpose, lest they join the rotting army above.Ignoring this law is unwise but Winnie doesn't have much choice. She roams the upper levels working and collecting, careful to not disturb the Bloom patrol.
But is she fast enough?

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