Character notes for "Rainshadow Road"

[ysabetwordsmith]

These are the character notes for "Rainshadow Road."

The Fairchildren
The Fairchildren are an armey made of youth survivors from the Fairchild Air Force Base near the eastern border of former Washington.  The base was bombed directly with explosives and Grunge.  The only known survivors were youth.  A group of tween and teen boys had been on a wilderness camp exercise outside the base and were not exposed initially.  After the bombing, some of them went into the ruins to search for survivors, and came back with several small children and infants, but the oldest of the searchers soon died of the Grunge.  The oldest surviving member was Fivestar, who was 15 at the End; and the youngest was Maggot, born shortly before the End.  By 15 A.E. the Fairchildren have added a few women as camp followers, called armey wives, although they effectively have a group marriage instead of couples.  The culture is militaristic and macho, but the boys are all strongly attached to each other and consider themselves brothers.  They patrol the drylands of the Columbia Basin on foot, with wardogs for packing and protection.  The dogs are a landrace descended primarily from German Shepherd, Rottweiler, and Doberman Pinscher stock from Fairchild Air Force Base with more recent additions from Northern California Black Mouth Cur.

Fivestar -- He has tawny skin, brown eyes, and shaggy brown hair with a short scruff of mustache and beard.  His heritage is American; he speaks English and is mostly literate.  He is 30 years old in 15 A.E. and was 15 at the End.  He is the oldest surviving member and the leader of the Fairchildren, an armey that formed from youth survivors of the former Fairchild Air Force Base.  They patrol the drylands of the Columbia Basin on foot, with wardogs for packing and protection.  Fivestar's favorite weapon is the Bowie knife; he is formidable both hunting and fighting.  Everyone looks up to him.

Fivestar shares his tent with a few other officers.  It's also used to store some of the armey's weapons and other supplies, as well as providing sheltered space for meetings.

Cherry -- She has toasted skin, almond-shaped brown eyes, and loosely nappy brown hair to her shoulders.  She is petite with shallow curves.  She is mixed-race with heritage including American, African, Hispanic, Asian, and Cayuse.  She speaks English and Spanish; she is somewhat literate in both.  She is 16 years old in 15 A.E. and was 1 at the End.  Cherry belongs to the Fairchildren, an armey that formed from youth survivors of the former Fairchild Air Force Base.  They patrol the drylands of the Columbia Basin on foot, with wardogs for packing and protection.  Cherry is an armey wife who recently joined them and typically sleeps with the younger members.  She is learning medical skills and is already good at treating trauma, although she doesn't know much about illnesses or midwifery yet.

The Cayuse are a tribe in Washington.


[To be continued ...]