RPGaDay 2026 Day 6: Reach

 Now we come to a female character and a Ruin that has previously been unexplored.

The prompt of Reach makes me think of the psychic overlords of Crescent City and their ability to project their minds over the city. But that mind is so diluted by controlling so many people that the populace is reduced to a zombie-like existence.

There is a temptation to put a face on one of the psychic overlords that dominate the minds of the populace, whether that's the overlord themselves or some sort of remote-controlled proxy. But that would require them to want to have some peaceable interaction with the outside world, which is not what Ruins do.

So perhaps an enemy of the overlords that might request assistance from an adventuring party, enabling missions into the Ruin.

Rebecca is a former zombie. As two overlords dueled over her consciousness, she broke free from both and regained her own faculties. She was likely born in Crescent City and may have had no conscious thought of her own for nearly her entire life. As soon as she could walk, she would shamble along with her mentally dominated parents.

Being freed meant that she had to figure out how to survive on her own without guidance or protection from an overlord. She stole from the supplies that the overlords use to keep their slaves fed. She hid in schools and libraries, since the overlords had no use for either. That's where she learned to read and chose her name.

She doesn't know if she is now immune to the control of the overlords or if they have simply forgotten about her. In either case, her goal is to stay off their radar as much as possible. If the overlords realize that their control can be broken, they will send wave after wave of mindless zombies after her.

Having spent many years reading to stave off her loneliness, Rebecca will take advantage of the opportunity to interact with other people and perhaps even seek romance. She is already smitten with someone within the Ruin, but I'm not sure if it's a zombie that she hopes to separate from their overlord, or perhaps a fellow freed zombie that she can only have remote interactions with while remaining out of the overlords' perceptions.

Name: Rebecca

Appearance: An unkempt young woman with stringy blonde hair. Her eyes are wide and move rapidly, taking in as much of her surroundings as possible.

Quote: "Let us not worry about the my-newt-ya."

Roleplaying: She is well read, but has had no one to really talk to. She is comfortable using large words, but is prone to mispronouncing them. Her manners are either nonexistent or grandiloquent, or some mix of both.

Background: She escaped from mental bondage by accident and has had to learn how to live her own life based on vague memories of her life under domination and books that she taught herself to read.

Key Info:

Rebecca knows Crescent City better than anyone and can guide you anywhere you need to go.
Rebecca wants human connection and will want to keep the party close to her.
Rebecca desires a person in the Ruin and will request help communicating with them (if a fellow former zombie) or freeing them (if a current zombie)

Stat Block: