Well, I'll be keeping this short and to the point.

As far as I can see, the next few years of my life are going to be crammed with work and things to do, and I'll not be left very much time for gaming. Naturally, this means that I can't continue being an admin on CG, and that my characters will probably peter out from lack of use.
In addition to that, certain interpersonal relationships have boiled over to the point where I can't properly enjoy HL2RP in this community.


Thanks to Rofl for giving me op, and a bigger thanks to all of you who've contributed to my RP experience here. The fun I've had here is second only to what I experienced on BnT's WW3RP before it collapsed some time ago.
I can't really write to everybody who's made my experience fun. You're all so numerous, that I really only have time to write to those few core people who really made this for me. I'll probably end up thanking more people who've come and gone, than are still here. Don't be offended if you're not mentioned. These are the people who did something awe inspiringly important to me.

Col. Avalanche, for first introducing me to CG in the spring of 2010... Even though I didn't actually bother to register on the forums until June 2011!

Jackalantern, for being the best DvL I have seen to date, way back in C18.

Kage Kuro, for helping me see things through a second pair of eyes, and amusing me when things got dull serverside.

Saimon Avatar, for helping me get back into resistance RP after a long dry spell.

Riemer, for being my shenanigan buddy, and helping my factory plans before they got terminated.

Silent, for encouraging me to go through with my 'trader idea', and thus bringing Gorbachev to life.

Loves to my GRID squids who were there while I was HC, even though I didn't do nearly enough for you guys, and half of you probably hated me!

Lastly, one particular thank you to the players of Outlands during this past spring season. Almost all of you have participated in one of my events at one point or another, and I had a blast planning all of them out. A good chunk of you have also interacted with, and helped me define what has to be my most favorite character to date, Gorbachev the Trader. He took a shit load of effort and skill to RP with, but it was sure as hell worth it.


604 has been reassigned to C14, continuing his service there.
John Gatsby is laying low in C45 with his stashes of bomb making paraphernalia.
Florian 'Gorbachev' Dugglewoof is dangerously continuing his travels across the countrysides of Eastern Europe, keeping as low a profile as his considerable girth allows him. He one day hopes to return to the relatively peaceful -and profitable- valley of Ineu Pass.


Some of my favorite music
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm5QxCHbgLA" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm5QxCHbgLA</a>


So long, and thanks for all the fish.

(OOC: This is the story thread for 'Cutlass, Sail and Cannon'. If you wish to participate, please refer to the information thread.)

Ernest Cumberbatch, Port Royal, Governor. Conducting General Management.

Ernest Cumberbatch stands on his balcony, looking out across the harbour of Port Royal. The day was hot and sweltering as the Caribbean sun blazed away in the sky above, daring people to venture out from the shade. From his position on the balcony of the Governor’s Mansion, he could see across the entire island. With a sigh of despondency, he tore his eyes away from the view before him. There was work to be done.
Turning neatly, Ernest strides back indoors and took a seat at his walnut desk.

Standing at 5 foot 9, and sporting a rather large stomach, Ernest was no intimidating man. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and was constantly to be found in the governor’s stately dress.

He sighs as he sits down, inching his chair forward so that his large stomach would come in contact with the table. Before him lay the regular; reports on property damage, reports on embarking and debarking vessels, and the endless assortment of documents that required his signature.

Suddenly, a resounding ‘BANG’ was heard out of his window, ‘Blast, those damned pirates are at it again.’ The Port was home to countless corsairs, buccaneers, privateers, and general scum. At any one point in time, there was some form of combat ensuing, and many more disturbing activities one would never know about.
The sharp ‘tweet’ of a sergeant’s whistle was heard as a squad of Royal Marines was dispatched to handle the issue. If not kept in hand, the pirates inhabiting the town would soon take over.

“Oh, Charlie,” Ernest calls, “Be a dear and shut the window, won’t you?”

“Yes papa!” Charlie shouts, as he waddles into the room.

Charlie, Ernest’s son, was a small boy – Only twelve years old. His size of carriage did little for what height he had, and he easily resembled a penguin because of this. With the same brown hair and eyes that his father possessed, one could easily determine the relationship between them.

Already breathing heavily, Charlie struggles his way over to the window, proceeding to close up the shutters, and tug the window itself into place. He leans against the windowsill, puffing.

Ernest smiles at his son, and gets down to work.

Player Section

Steam Name: Globey
Age: 16
How long have you been Roleplaying? (can be any game): About 3 years.
How long have you been playing Serious GMod RP?: About 2 years.

Character Section

Authorization(s):
- Advanced knowledge of chemistry.
- Advanced knowledge of pyrotechnics.
- Advanced acting ability; To lie flawlessly, impersonate perfectly, etc.
- Knowledge of make-up application and technical theater.

Name: John Gatsby
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Affiliation: Rebellion

Write a detailed in-canon back-story how your character obtained these authorizations.
John Gatsby was born in London, England, in the year of 1982. He had a somewhat unusual upbringing, his father working as an an actor in the movie industry, and his mother in the profession of a cosmetologist. He was an only child, and throughout his life, he found himself pressured to perform at the absolute top standard. During his early childhood, John's mother dedicated every spare ounce of her free time to him. She read to him, played with him, and did her best to interest him in the family's industry. Naturally, she players up the role of cosmetology, and regularly invented games involving make-up.
During the intervening time between jobs, John's father, Alan, played his part as well. Between the two parents, they imparted a lot of knowledge upon him throughout his childhood.

By the time John was 13, he was heavily involved in acting and technical theater lessons; Simply put, all aspects of acting and tech, be it for a movie or theater, had become his life. He took to new elements of the trade with a passion, and he approached them with a determined intent.
And then misfortune struck; His parents, coming to the conclusion that their prospects would be better in North America, decided to move across the Atlantic, to Canada.
John, his heart having been set on acting for so long, almost couldn't bear it. He found all of his connections, all of his friendships, suddenly torn away with the move to Ottawa, Canada. He had a rough fresh start - He was an outsider from the very beginning, and his rigid pursue of theatrical arts earned him few friends, and much teasing. Nevertheless, John persevered, soon finding himself like-minded friends in new acting and technical theater courses run outside of school.
Every cloud has its silver lining; although the move was hard on him, John soon found a new passion, one almost as alluring as theater. Chemistry. Though the curriculum of the science program at his grade did not afford him many details, John knew from the start, that it was going to be a big deal for him.
Time progressed. The New Year found John with Canadian citizenship, and he had fully recovered from his parents' decision. He continued developing his passions, happily living his life.

And then misfortune struck again, just as John was entering high school. John's mother was suddenly promoted to a higher position in her company - She could no longer act as the support and guide John needed, particularly in such a major year. Her presence in the house waned, and she was scarce to be seen on John's first day of grade 10.
The school year ahead was rocky from the very onset. Without his mother to constantly nag him, he quickly fell behind in his subjects -excluding Chemistry and Drama, both of which he was taking at a grade 11 level already.  He simply couldn't find the motivation to keep up on what didn't interest him.
And of course, unsupervised, he quickly fell in with some of the more negative elements at his school. Although he maintained a strict attendance to the subjects he enjoyed, John soon found himself skipping his other courses completely. Matters proceeded to decline from there. One night, his misdeeds reached a climax, when he was peer-pressured into applying his knowledge of chemistry towards arson. A public building burnt to ashes in the middle of the night.
Naturally, this acted as a major wake-up call for both John, and his parents. Due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, he escaped a criminal record that would forever brand him an arsonist, and his mother, out of concern for her baby's welfare, resigned her new post for the old and hurried back to their home to look after her son. With much effort, she marshaled John's life back into order. After a brief consultation, she and her husband also decided that their son 'ought to be given lessons in pyrotechnics by a family friend; after all, John appeared to have an interest in it... And they both knew what that he would pursue it to the end of the world, safely or otherwise - Just as he had chemistry, acting, and tech. Better to have taught it safely and to a legal application, that for him to educate himself.
Contrary to his parent's opinions, John's interest in pyrotechnics wasn't quite developed yet. But it soon came to flourish under his instructor's tuition.

All was well. A few years later found him with his high school diploma, a healthy interest in pyrotechnics, chemistry, as well as theater arts, and many job prospects due to his parent's influence. The year was 2000, John was 18 years old, and he was free to do as he would.
John took up an apprenticeship in pyrotechnics, and attended a few chemistry related courses at a local college. His social life was almost completely abandoned to make room for academics. His education was his life now.
Having completed much of the necessary training in high school, John completed his apprenticeship in two years. Choosing to withdraw from his chemistry related courses, he threw his parents' weight around until he landed a job with a mid-scale movie as the chief pyrotechnic.
At about the same time, the internet was making its rise. It soon became a treasure trove for information about DIY and homemade explosives - One that John was all too happy to exploit on his off time.

Over the proceeding years, John grew in prestige. His first attempt at professional pyrotechnics came off as a resounding success, and he was soon hired for a moderately larger production. And then a larger one, and more even larger still. Eventually, John, not used to having any number of admirers, had enough of the incessant emails to his personal inbox. He decided to start using an alias. John Gatsby would fade from the public's eye, and be all but forgotten in the fickle world of movie production. Using his knowledge of cosmetology, he made himself a new face; James Ghareheart was made.
The plan worked well; John Gatsby faded out of public memory, and was quickly replaced by the talented James Ghareheart.

James continued working over the 2000s, and his prestige earned him many unusual opportunities. In his experience, he was called to perform a multitude of tasks; trigger avalanches, dramatically destroy condemned buildings, and, in general, make things explode. A pack rat by nature, he accumulated various odds and ends over the years - Detonators, propellants, some plastic explosives, plastic mortar casings, and black powder, among other things.


2012
The portal storms hit hard. James was traveling in Eastern Europe with the cast and crew for a large action movie, when the storms first started to ravage the countryside. City slickers by nature, the group made a unanimous decision to head to the nearest city available - What would come to be called City 45. There they were, stranded, with no safe means of transportation to North America, and only the sketchiest of communications with their families. Eventually, the cast and crew dissolved completely; there was no point in sticking around together when the situation was just getting worse. Of the entire technical crew, only the pyrotechnics stuck together, sharing a cramped apartment. Out of concern for looters, James and the other two pyrotechnics, Alan and Jerry, started to conceal the supplies they had across the city.
James soon found a problem - Although he had no shortage of capital, supplies were quickly becoming too expensive to afford - Particularly makeup. Choosing to save what little he had left, James removed his 'disguise' and assumed his old identity; John Gatsby. The change came as a relief to him, after having his personality cooped up for years, but it left him somewhat nervous.  However, it just had to be done.
The work of concealment continued. After two years, the job was almost completed; progress grew ever more slow as more refugees poured into the city.
One day, the most junior assistant, Alan, didn't return from his trip. Later on, John learned that a food riot had occurred in the neighborhood Alan had been working in. John mourned his death, and moved on in life, constantly checking over his shoulder, and making sure not to get wrapped up in anything.
A month later, the concealment was done.
John and Jerry lived on. They huddled up in their little apartment, and kept as low a profile as possible. They made monthly phone calls to their families, and lived as frugally as possible. They constantly searched for signs that the portal storms would let up, even looking for patterns that could spell a safe passage. However, as soon as it seemed that they could escape, some new, unexpected twist would occur. They were trapped.
Not much occurred. Until the Seven Hour War, that is.

Everything went crazy - Citizens were gunned down in the streets alongside the already depleted military. It was 7 hours of hell, right from the very begging. The citizen population dropped, and John and Jerry had to use every hiding spot they knew to survive.
Just after Dr. Breen negotiated surrender, there was a brief period of amnesty. Not willing to risk prosecution, Jerry decided to hand in some of the lower grade materials. John never saw him again.

2016
Life resumed, this time under the totalitarian Universal Union. John felt a simmering rage boiling within him. One of his last remaining friends, dead, and all communication with his relatives cut off. He wasn't active in resisting at first; just remaining passive in the conflicts that occurred. However, unused to being physically punished for mere acts such as running, his anger grew. It grew only larger still, when he realized that he couldn't fight back. He moved to District Six in an attempt to get some more semblance of freedom. It didn't work.
But then he remembered a history class, dealing with the Peninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic War. He quickly realized, that there's more than one means of guerrilla warfare.
And so he planned.

What will these authorizations give your character in regards to perks or defects?
Perks
The ability to create explosives.
A moderate amount of explosives and related supplies stashed across the city. (Not to be used often.)

Defects
A level one verdict, if caught.

What do you plan to do with these perks/defects?
I intend to create the occasional bomb threat in the City - with SA approval, of course.

Will anyone else need these auths? (If so, list OOC and IC name(s))
Nope.

Which server does this apply for?
City

Extra Notes (optional):
Guerrilla warfare, in the form of IEDs, would be a logical course of actions for many rebellious citizens. It stands to reason then, that more characters authorized to do this would benefit roleplay.