Erickson, The Last Of His Kind

[Das_Uberman]

This is the story of High Speaker Erickson: Priest, wanderer, protector.

To understand the story of Scott Erickson, you must first know the history of The Remnant. Much like the New Canaanites, The Remnant was a religious organization rooted in the old world. Located in what used to be the American Midwest, The Remnant took upon itself the duty of collecting and safeguarding knowledge for a time when it could be used wisely, and aid in the rebuilding of the world. This was not their sole duty however, they also protected wasters so that they may aid in the restoration of civilization.

Scott Erickson was born some forty-seven years ago into The Remnant. He was part of a powerful bloodline. Every high speaker for the past four generations had been part of his bloodline, including his father. Even as a small child Scott showed discipline and intelligence. It would seem he was destined to follow in his father's footsteps. His father recognized this, and started grooming him to become the next high speaker from a very early age.

At age seven Scott -like all children of his age- started his education. His education consisted of mathematics, language arts, and The Remnant's version of history. He excelled in all aspects. He also started studying the texts The Remnant collected outside of his regular classes. He was allowed to do this because his father was the high speaker, the leader of The Remnant.

When Scott came to the age of ten, he, like all children his age chose one of three paths. The first path was that of the observer, they studied to become defenders, The Remnant's fighting forces. The second path was that of the whisperer, they studied to join the ranks of the speakers, the religious and government leaders of The Remnant. The final path was that of the listener, they were the The Remnant's working forces, not many choose this path. Scott of course chose the path of the whisperer.

As a whisperer Scott's education was more centered around religion and The Remnant's inner workings. He soon found he had little time for play, or outside studies. In the years to come he and his fellows read through all the religious texts of The Remnant and discussed them at length. They also gained an in-depth knowledge of how The Remnant functioned. All these studies were accompanied by physical education, so that speakers could protect themselves should the defenders ever fall.

It wasn't five summers before Scott became a full-fledged speaker. He was very involved with religious theory. He often pondered the implications of specific parts of The Remnant's faith. Such as: "If god saved The Remnant from the Great War to rebuild humanity, why were others spared? Did they too have a purpose?" These were the type of questions that crossed his mind on a daily basis. Scott remained vigilent, always recording what he was thinking about in his journal, a habit he would keep for the rest of his life. He spent his days pondering his faith, splitting wood with his trusty axe, and even venturing out on the occasional mission trip.

This continued much in the same way for five years. At age twenty Scott met a girl. Her name was Joan and she was beautiful. Joan was a defender, a tough one at that. She was the best in her class when she was an observer, and earned the respect of her peers. While cold and distant with most people, with Scott she was a whole different person. She let her guard down around him, and trusted him deeply. In less than a year they were happily married, and about a year after that they had a beautiful baby girl. Scott was as happy as he could ever be.

Alas his happiness was not to last. Word of The Remnant had spread through many parts of the wasteland, and eventually reached the ear of the Enclave. The vast collection of pre-war knowledge was a great prize. They dispatched a team to destroy The Remnant, and secure the pre-war knowledge for later extraction. The quiet whir of vertibirds taking off signalled the beginning of the end.

It was dawn when the Enclave attacked. They rushed the outer defences and overwhelmed them with ease, but not fast enough to stop the alarm from triggering. The alarm jolted Scott awake. He left his wife and child in his home and ventured outside to see what was happening. He weaved in and out of the people running away from the attack. He got a ways before he glimpsed the metal clad soldiers, and ran back towards his home in a panic. He had to get his family to safety. He had made it half way home before the bombings started, and he was forced to stay down until the vertibirds passed over.

After the coast was clear he continued his sprint back to his home. He is forced to leap over the dead bodies of the people he knew. He would mourn them later. As he gets close he hears the whir of a vertibird overhead, but he keeps going. He is meters from the house when...

Boom! His home explodes in a shower of wood splinters. Scott is blasted back off his feet and slammed against nearby shed. He gets up in a daze, looking around. He feels a pain him his leg, and looks down. His left pant leg is torn open, and he has a nasty cut on his calf from the blast. Right, the blast. What happened returns to him, and his eyes flood with tears. The sound of approaching soldiers forces him to move, but not before grabbing his trusty axe.

That day changed Scott Erickson forever. It is still unclear whether or not his wife and daughter were in the house when it exploded, they could be out there somewhere. The entrance to the knowledge vault collapsed during the attack due to some sloppy bombing. The pilot responsible didn't live to see tomorrow. Scott waited for nightfall inside a shack that had survived, and snuck away in the darkness. It is believed that Erickson was the sole survivor. The last of his kind.

Erickson travelled through the wastes for two days before crossing paths with a travelling caravan. The caravaneers took him in. They gave him food and water, as well as letting him travel with them. Scott travelled with them for a while, before settling in a town along their route. Here he began his new life, he had saved a few things from the attack, namely his axe, some religious texts, some clothes, and a picture of his family, which he kept on him at all time, and looked at it often.

As the years passed by Scott stopped using his first name, just going by Erickson. He tried to rebuild The Remnant on multiple occasions, but they all failed. It would seem he was destined to be The last of The Remnant. He eventually gave up on trying to enilighten wasters, and instead took upon himself the job of eliminating those who commited acts of evil. He wanders the wastes, in search of his old family, or perhaps a new one. He hopes for the day he can return to his birthplace, and excavate the knowledge vault. He hopes to spread the knowledge throughout the wasteland and bring about a new beginning. But for now he remains as he is, a silent observer. Scott Erickson, the last speaker.

Recent evens coming soon...