Beginnings

Beginnings are hard, especially something you've not done before. You stumble a bit, but good friends help you up & dust you off. That's how KTDA began--friends stumbling together, wanting to create something special.

What follows is an excerpt from the 1st posts. This intros 3 characters who've remained important to KTDA--practical Arianna, Xeno with an attitude, and I-want-my-motorbike! Prince--as well as Ari's infernal warehouse! Woman, you created something we've all envied & it has lasted! Good show!

"Beginning of Friends and Tribe"

Arianna: *grabs a backpack and pull-behind suitcase and heads out into the street to find someone, anyone*

Savinius: *steps out of the alley and sees a girl in the distance* (She's pretty cute.) *his shyness kicks in and he ducks behind some nearby trashcans*

Mimi: *was at the end of the street and heard some noises and sees two people*

Arianna: *noticing a handsome, rugged older boy* hi, i'm Arianna. what's your name? *turns to see a young girl coming up the street towards them*

Mimi: Hi, i am Mimi.Who are you?

Savinius: *gets up from behind the trashcans* I'm Savinius, and you two are?

Arianna: My name is Arianna. Nice to meet you, Savinius, and you too, Mimi. I've been alone for so long, its good to be with people again.

Xeno: *walks away from his burning house and turns towards the south where he understands his sister is. After some time, he sees the first kids he's seen in hours.* I'm Xeno. Have you seen my sister? Her name is Adear. *shows the photo*

Arianna: *looks at the picture closely, shakes her head* No, I've never seen her before.

Savinius: Sorry, man, I haven't seen your sister.

Prince: *enters town walking his out-of-gas motorbike and spots 4 other teens, and walks over with caution* Hi guys, i'm Prince, do you know where I can get gas for my bike?

Mimi: Not me... *looking at everyone*

Savinius: I don't know about you guys, but I've been having a hard time surviving on my own. Maybe we should band together, maybe even form a Tribe?

Mimi: A tribe sounds like a perfect idea, Savinius.

Prince: I know i've only been here for 2 seconds, but sounds like a great idea, Sav. *playful punch in the arm*

Arianna: A tribe sounds like a wonderful idea. we can help Xeno find his sister and take care of each other. we could be like a family.

Savinius: *rubs his arm where Prince hit him* We could talk about this right here and right now, but I think it might be better to move somewhere safe. There are well established tribes in this area like El Diablo, the Brotherhood and the Lemmings. Does anyone know where we can hide out for a few days and get ourselves set up?

Arianna: i was headed to my uncle's warehouse a few miles from here. *points across the city* Just before my father died, he told me to go there. It should be safe. There is an electric locking system, and I have the code to the door. My father said there might even be stuff i could use to survive.

Prince: Sounds good, Arianna. i got a few supplies we can use in my backpack. all I need is some gas for this...stupid thing. *looks down at his motorbike*

Xeno: How will this help me find my sister? And how do you think this place is safe from the tribes like El Diablo and the Brotherhood, or even the Lemmings?

Savinius: Well Xeno we don't know if it's safe or not. Right now, we just need somewhere and this place might do it.

Xeno: *rolls his eyes* I see none of you have seen her. Maybe I should continue after a night's sleep. *begins to head in the direction indicated then slows down because he has no idea where this warehouse is. Xeno is not angry, he's just in general annoyed with life*

Savinius: *catches up with Xeno and puts his hand on his shoulder* Look man, I didn't mean to ignore your request back there, but we need a safe place to stay before we can find your sister. We'll do this right after we find a place to live and food, I promise.

Arianna: Wait! Shhhh...i just heard something. *looks behind her* its coming from that direction. *walks to the corner and peers around the building then runs back to the others* There is a group of like 50 people standing back there. *looks scared and confused*

Mimi: Arianna, do the people have any markings on their faces?

Savinius: It looks like El Diablos, they've all got devil horns painted on their foreheads.

Arianna: *pulls a sheet of paper out of her pocket and studies it for a second* It's only like 6 block to the warehouse. Follow me. *grabs her backpack, runs down the street quietly*

Prince: *hides his motorbike in a large pile of garbage and runs with Arianna and the others* I'll come back for that later, y'all. We gotta get out of here now!

Arianna: *turns left at the corner then slows down so the others can catch up*

Prince: *stops running* I'm gonna lead the El Diablos in a different direction. I want y'all to go ahead.  i'll catch up in about 10 minutes.

Prince: *goes into a dusty office building and heads to the top of it* (i see the El Diablos now, I'm gonna get them) *he throws an office chair into the center of the group from on top of the building, injuring 8 of the 50. Diablos enter the building to kill the stranger who did this to their tribe. Prince escapes through the mail chute and runs back to his new
family* (Man,that was freakin' raw!)

Xeno: *turns to Prince, grabs the front of his shirt, picks him up and slams him against a wall* WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR? DID THEY DO ANYTHING TO YOU?! YOU JUST ENDANGERED ALL OF US!!!

Prince: *slaps Xeno's hands off him* Ok, ok! Sorry....just trying to buy us a little time.

Savinius: *hastily follows Arianna* Look, maybe we should run ahead of the others. I'll need some time to get the door open.

Arianna: (He is probably right, especially after what Prince just did...) *pulls the paper with the directions out of her pocket, rips off the code* Savinius and i are going to run ahead and get the warehouse door open. Here are the directions to get there. *hands the paper to Mimi* Just follow it. We'll be waiting with the door open for you.

*Savinius and Arianna take off running. Arianna turns right at the corner, runs two blocks down past a gas station, then stops to wait for Savinius to catch up.*

Savinius: *catches up with her, breathing heavily*

Arianna: We have a small problem. *points to the opposite corner* The warehouse is
surrounded by that fence. I'm sorry. *frowns, looks down at the ground*

Saivnius: *puts his arm around Arianna* It's ok, we'll find a way in.

~~~~~~~~
-Chyna

photo source: copyright Cloud 9 "The Tribe"

KTDARPG -- Finding Inspiration

Only a few months, and Keep The Dream Alive role-playing game will celebrate 9 years since the first characters walked out onto the streets of the city that would be Fort River. It's incredible to me--the talented people, amazing characters, awesome plots & exciting moments that have threaded through all those years. We've said good-bye to friends (more than I like to count), and I really hope they've stopped by KTDARPG from time to time to check on us.

After this much time, I have to admit things have slowed down a bit. I think the players with us today (including me) are looking for inspiration. It's been quite a while since the last "Tribe" episodes aired, which was what served as our source of inspiration in the first place. Yes we've latched onto all the blogs, sites, books and even rumors about "Tribe"-related anything to keep our own dreams alive.

Life moves on, and we get older. We're more than what we were in those early days, and that's a good thing! We haven't forgotten each other, or our characters, or "The Tribe."

I don't want to leave KTDARPG behind, so I'm looking for my own inspiration.

Lately I've been finding it in the past. Our past. Going back and re-reading how some of the characters I love were first introduced in the game--and nearly as important, how they left us. It's fun to see these guys with fresh eyes. I think I appreciate them more because I know how much effort went into each one. Birth, life, death...each of those events include defining moments that can truly be inspirational.

I hope you don't mind, but over the next few weeks I'd like to share those moments with you. Arianna, Hawk, Chyna, Xeno, Sid, Krystal, Marionette, Villa, Tyla--there are so many! Hopefully I'll share until the moment my inspiration crystalizes again, and then we'll see KTDARPG take off once more!

I hope you enjoy the walk down remember-lane. Let me know...

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud 9 "The Tribe" 

The Course of Tribe Love

It was just a chance comment from a friend while we were talking... "None of the relationships in The Tribe ever seemed to work out."

Hmmm....

Is that true?

I guess, mostly, yeah. It's true. Check it out...

Start with Season-1, right up front--Trudy. Trudy'd become symbolic of dysfunctional love that would last for 5 seasons. From Bray to Zoot to Bray, to the Guardian, to Jay--not much luck, huh? But a very sweet little baby girl to see her into old age.

As for Bray, same-same. Bray bounced all over the place, way too many to map out here, but he always came back to Amber. Unfortunately that didn't work out either... leaving Amber with a very sweet little baby girl to see her into old age... and maybe Jay. Then again, Amber was all over the place too. Sasha to Bray to Pride to Jay. We have to see how Jay works out.

Salene was another girl who couldn't quite make up her mind. Bray to Ryan to Luke to Ryan to... May? That got verrrrryyyy confusing!

Then there was Lex. Good ole' sexy Lexy--from Zandra to Taisan to Salene to May to Taisan to Siva to Taisan... yep, our boy got around. But he always seemed to land on his feet. Relationships didn't quite mean the same thing to our Lex as they did to other people. That probably saved his sanity on more than one occasion.

Ebony was pretty much the same. She started with Bray but survived with Zoot and constantly chose survival over love. Would she even know love if it bit her? She thought she did, constantly, right up to Jay. But each time she screwed it up, chosing something else--like Ram?--beyond love. Still, she's a survivor. She will survive.

So you think maybe my friend was right? There are a lot of other examples. The course of true love didn't run very smooth for Dani, or Cloe, or Alice, or Pride... so many...

Yet there is one Tribe couple that makes me smile and gives me hope. Have you figured which one yet?  Of course it's Jack & Ellie. From the moment they met, it was on. They thrived on each other, supported each other, and loved each other. No, it didn't run smooth. I guess it never does. But through all the crazies they constantly survived and constantly found each other again. And when that last boat sailed away from the city, they were still together. I like to think they still are.

-Chyna

photo source: copyright Cloud-Nine "The Tribe"

Seeing is Believing, sometimes.

This is something fun to share. One of our KTDA players has a bit of an artistic bent. He--his name's Anthony--offered to try & draw a depiction of any of our game characters. A few people took him up on it, and you're seeing the results here.  As much as KTDA is a mental and word-based game, it's fun to imagine what our characters look like in our city setting. And in case you're interested...

The character at top-left is RIO. He's a pretty dastardly guy at times but he's also our Fort River Power Czar. He figured out a way to get the old water-wheel cranking that brought electricity back to the city. He's got kind of a rep with the ladies--not exactly a good one. In other words, this guy is definitely a work-in-progress.

Top-right is LLYSANDER (which is also one of Anthony's personal characters). Llysander is a conflicted man, in search of a missing sister and desperately wanting relationships and ties but not quite trusting them.

The girl is MAGGIE. Maggie's got a troubled past that includes slavery & a little sister who was lost to dire misfortune. She works at "Home" and is trying desperately to believe in a brighter future. It looked like Maggie & Llysander might hook up...then Llysander went missing. Maggie doesn't have the best of luck with guys, for sure.

The guy at bottom-right is BALTHAZAR. Balthazar recently left Fort River with some of his friends. He made quite an impression while he was in town...and it looked like he might be developing an eye for our own Arianna of the Misfits. Hopefully we'll find out one day how that might end.

We each paint our own pictures in our minds. Still, it's fun to get an image of how someone sees their own character. Makes them seem somehow more...real?

Enjoy!

-Chyna

Art created by KTDA's own Anthony/"Llysander" - thank you!

 

"New World" - A Tribe Book Review

My review of...

The Tribe:  A New World
by A.J. Penn, copyright 2011

For every Tribe fan who was there at the end of the televised Season-5 and cursed for years because there was no more, this is the book you've been waiting for.

They're all there - Amber & Jay, with Bray and baby Bray. Trudy & Brady. Jack & Ellie. May, Salene, Gel, Lottie. Ruby & Slade. Ram & Ebony. Lex. Sammy. And A.J. Penn's new novel picks up right where the show left off.

It's a good-sized novel, 392 pages filled with references to Tribe history & tv-canon to satisfy the most hard-core fan.

It's also an ambitious novel. Twists & turns, the introduction of new back-story & how that affects the Mall Rats' present & future... if anything, the novel is too ambitious. There is just so much introduced for the first time. The author's use of extensive narrative--filling in with exposition rather than letting the characters tell the story--ultimately detracts from the action & interrupts the flow of the story. The author's intentions were good. There's a lot of information he's trying to give you, to align what's happening with the characters to his new history, so he takes shortcuts. Otherwise, this novel could have gone on for 800-1,000 pages.

Would that've been a bad thing? Maybe not. Then again, I'm partial to long novels full of intriguing dialogue & well-written action scenes. This novel is mostly full of narration.

What Penn does give us is dialogue & action true to character. He knows his Tribe characters, for sure, and puts them out there just as we remember them. But in the novel's "new world," readers are dumped in it head first & left to wade through tons of descriptive paragraphs that ultimately give short shrift to what it could have been. That world doesn't come alive as the City & Phoenix Mall were alive in our minds. True, tv helped; Penn had to use words to try to evoke the visuals. Didn't quite hit the mark, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

As I said, an ambitious novel that doesn't exactly live up to its premise... but hey! It's The Tribe! And we haven't had anything to take us back to the places & people we're fascinated with in a very long time!

If you're a Tribe fan, then you pretty much have to get this novel. And I understand another installment is coming soon, so you have to keep up!

Thanks, A.J. At least you tried. We can't wait to see what happens next!

-Chyna

novel cover courtesy of www.tribeworld.com

Role Models

What do you do when the world turns upside down, and you're just 15 years old? Hopefully you remember your parents, older relatives, friends & others who you grew up admiring & wanting to be like.

What do you do when the world turns upside down, and you're only 6 years old? Or even younger? In the chaos & fear, who do you remember? Who do you focus on? Who inspires you to keep going even when times are rough?

What do you do when the world turns upside down, and you're only 6 years old? Or even younger? In the chaos & fear, who do you remember?

Something very rare in The Tribe was role models. Who could the kids to look up to & strive to be like? There were no politicians, no world leaders, doctors, scientists, sports figures or entertainers...just kids. For the littlest ones, if they had dim memories of a loving mother or a protective father, they were the lucky ones.

Who was left for them? Unfortunately, what you see really is what you get. They had to find role models from the people right in front of them. Look who they had to choose from--Zoot. The Guardian. Trudy as Supreme Mother. The Techno-leader Ram or Mega who followed him. In large part, these people loomed threateningly in their lives. They had to deal with them, for good or bad.

The very lucky ones, though, had more common choices. Amber, who tried to do right and be fair. Bray, who cared about the future. Salene, who cared so much she usually put herself 2nd or 3rd behind those she loved. Even Ryan who just tried to protect the people he cared about. There were more examples, and their common link was that they were just good kids doing their best to build a life they could be proud of.

The role models we adopt tend to define the world-view we hold, large or small. They also define our values and those things most important to us.

Who are your role models?

-Chyna

photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

2012 -- Our New Tomorrow

The first day of a new year is special. It's a clean slate. It's full of possibilities & promises & hope.

Whatever you do, don't waste it.

Happy new year, everyone. And for those of you out there who are fans of The Tribe, stay tribal!

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Happy Holidays, Tribe-style

The Official Tribe Site on FaceBook is a total hoot! If you haven't found it yet, you really have to give it a shot.  Here's the url: 

http://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/groups#!/thetribeofficial?sk=wall

It's a great site for all the updated Tribe news, including the newest fiction book that's out now. That's also where I found this great great photo --->

So, wishing all my KTDA and Tribe friends a very happy holiday season. You guys are the best.

-Chyna

photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

KTDA "Tribe Awards": DEE

Welcome to the KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," where we tip our hats to the great show that gave our game its start. For our 7th Anniversary, we're recognizing our game's cast of distinguished PLAYERS, paying tribute to the men & women behind the scenes. All of you are truly worthy of The Tribe originals.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

DEE.   Dee tried to do the right thing. As a Mozzie, she was always loyal to her tribemates. Once she hooked up with the Mallrats, after the Technos came to town, Dee was totally loyal to her new family and friends. This girl also tried to be as brave as she could. She didn't run from the Techno takeover, not until it became clear that running was the only option. Dee had a good heart, a level head on her shoulders, and could even enjoy water-flavored popsicles.
 
MAGGIE is brave. Loyal. With a good heart. Once you know these things about her, you really know all the things most important about her. This girl definitely deserves a popsicle.
 
-Chyna
 
Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

KTDA "Tribe Awards" -- Dal

Welcome to the KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," where we tip our hats to the great show that gave our game its start. For our 7th Anniversary, we're recognizing our game's cast of distinguished PLAYERS, paying tribute to the men & women behind the scenes. All of you are truly worthy of The Tribe originals.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dal.    From some of the earliest scenes in Season-1 of The Tribe, Dal was there right beside Amber. If you knew Dal, you loved him. As a brother. As a friend. He was a brick. Dependable. Helpful. You could always count on him when he was in your corner. "Little trees from acorns grown."

For our rpg, that perfectly describes LOGAN. Logan's friends describe him as one guy they definitely would want on their side through thick or thin. I can't think of a better tribute. 

-Chyna
Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

KTDA "Tribe Awards": CLOE

Welcome to the KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," where we tip our hats to the great show that gave our game its start. For our 7th Anniversary, we're recognizing our game's cast of distinguished PLAYERS, paying tribute to the men & women behind the scenes. All of you are truly worthy of The Tribe originals.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CLOE.   Keeping it real in a futuristic world isn't easy. Sometimes you get so caught up in the "futuristic" part that the "human" part takes a back seat. But not in The Tribe. Cloe was the one who reminded us that these people we were watching really were kids. She also reminded us that being a kid is hard, no matter which world you're in.

We watched Cloe struggle to grow into her own person despite the Virus and the Locos and the shortages and all the rest of the crazies. Some of the little-girl pranks Cloe & Patsy played were really a trip. And her rebellious teen years--frightful!

Among our players, that can only describe CHIDORI. The struggle to be your own person, in game and in life, is one of the biggest challenges a young person can face. It's one challenge our Chidori is definitely winning.

Hugs and congrats, Chidori.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

KTDA "Tribe Awards": AMBER

Welcome to the KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," where we tip our hats to the great show that gave our game its start. For our 7th Anniversary, we're recognizing our game's cast of distinguished PLAYERS, paying tribute to the men & women behind the scenes. All of you are truly worthy of The Tribe originals.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

AMBER.     From her very first appearance, Amber was the perpetual leader. The Responsible One. She was the lingering voice of reason and generally oh so practical. Amber was the one you could always depend on, no matter what.

All of which describes our ARIANNA down to her core. Ari's an original player; she was there at the start and has been a constant for 7 crazy years. (And why she agreed not once but twice to serve as game-mod totally illustrates this girl's heart.)

Arianna truly epitomizes Amber, right down to how important she is to all of us.

Congratulations, my friend. Thanks for being you, staying true. Misfit for Life!

-Chyna

photo source: copyright Cloud 9 "The Tribe"

KTDA's "Tribe Awards": BRAY

Welcome to the KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," where we tip our hats to the great show that gave our game its start.

This is the 7th Anniversary of KTDARPG, so we figured it was time for something truly unique. This time, we're recognizing our game's cast of distinguished PLAYERS, paying tribute to the men a&women behind the scenes. We believe we know you all well enough--our current 17 players--especially through the variety & complexity of the wonderful characters you create. We hope you agree with us! All of you are truly worthy of The Tribe originals.

We're going to present these generally alphabetical, but we'll start with "Bray." Enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BRAY.    Bray was The Tribe's conflicted hero. Despite all the girls vying for his attention, the guys trying to knock him off his pedestal, the enemies he made, at his heart Bray was a genuinely good guy. There were times he lost his way, but his innate sense of decency and what's right always brought him back.

In every way, that describes our SID. Always has, and always will. Sid's had his share of challenges. He's led tribes and fought a lot of battles. He's been in love & lost her, fathered a son & lost him, and for a time pretty much lost his way.

Conflicted hero? Yes. But Sid is working hard to redeem himself. He's dedicated his skills, his fortune and even his life to Fort River, to build something good for our game-world.

Sid is worthy of Bray's courage, dedication and convictions. Congrats, guy!

-Chyna

photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

The Things We Do For Love

Whatever you say about them, kids in The Tribe echoed the kids we know now in an awful lot of ways, especially when it comes to love--first, last or always. Yep, they went hormonal & had to make it through the same crazed situations a lot of us cringe when we think back on. There are waaay too many instances to cover here--believe me, no one was immune--so I'm pulling out a specific example from each season.

The most in-your-face example from Season-1 was Ebony. Her connection with Zoot had to be a craving for power because we know her love-fixation was always on Bray. Did Zoot love her back? Well according to her nightmares it was, "Eat a rat, Ebony. Prove you're worthy." Of course she couldn't, didn't, and then Zoot died & she was back on her own. And it was Trudy who had Zoot's baby. To say the least, Ebony chose poorly.

Season-2? Ahhh, our wayward Salene. She too had a craving for Bray. When Bray finally made everybody understand Amber was the girl for him, Salene did what a lot of people do. She settled for somebody who cared for her. Did it matter she didn't love Ryan? It should have. A lot of pain & anguish could have been avoided if Sal had been honest.

In Season-3 it was the return of Amber & the downfall of Pride. He didn't understand the depth of her feelings for Bray or what it did to her when Bray found her with the Eco-Tribe. So what does our Pride do? He follows Amber to the city. He gets his heart broken. He starts sleeping around & breaking hearts on his own. It wasn't pretty.

Season-4 gave us the Technos & Ram with his mini-harem, Java & Siva. He successfully added Ebony to that harem, but Siva wound up going off & bonding with Lex. When Ram found out Siva stole from him to save her new boy-toy's life, what was Ram to do but throw a fit & punish her? And then throw her out... ah, Ram. Power corrupts, huh?

Then there was Season-5. So many to choose from. Let's go with Ruby. Dear sweet Ruby who agreed to a one-off with Slade. That became a second night... And suddenly Ebony was moving in on her

territory, so Ruby had to sleep with Slade again so she could throw it in Ebony's face & ultimately start this amazing cat-fight. (Which, for the record, Ebony would've won.) Slade wasn't very good with making the choices. It was really a wonder Ebony didn't succeed in killing Ruby when the girls all thought Ruby was pregnant.

Ahh...the things we do for love...

Isn't it great we can get older & conveniently forget most of them? Or at the very least deny we were ever that strange. Unfortunately for our Tribe guys 'n girls, their crazies are forever on film for the world to see.

-Chyna

photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Briefly Off-topic

I can't help this one, guys. Definitely off-topic, but this makes me smile EVERY SINGLE TIME I WATCH IT!

If you haven't seen this Kia Soul commercial - have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/user/KiaMotorsAmerica?v=4zJWA3Vo6TU&feature=pyv&cid=sem&ppc=y

Hamsters... hehe... gotta love 'em.

-Chyna

Moments

Tonight I was reading game posts & remembering moments from The Tribe that really stayed with me. That's the way I am, mostly. I'll watch a movie or a tv series or read a book, and it's like my brain sorts through the highlights & keeps them for my thinking pleasure. Here, I'll share.

A defining moment in Season-1 was when our Lex contracted the Virus. The panic. The desperation. The will to survive in the face of excruciating odds. That was when we really learned the truth about the Virus & what it could do to a person.

Maybe that's it with me--it's the life & death moments that stand out starkly in my mind. In Season-2 it was always the look on Ebony's face as the car pushed & pushed & pushed her into the water off the pier...and maybe to her death.

It was the same with Season-3. A hugely powerful scene was Dal's funeral, but most especially when Jack stopped by the grave to have last words with his old friend before he left the city for parts unknown. Jack was so vulnerable in those moments. Impressive...

Season-4 gave us the Technos. Do you remember your first glimpse of them? Whether it was the plane scene or the trucks or the troops on the ground, the sight of Jay in full Techno gear stayed with me throughout the rest of that season.

Season-5 there were a lot of stark truths. One of the hardest was watching Amber's face when she had Mega search the computer for word of what happened to Bray. Poor Bray...

Moments can be powerful things.

And the moments in our lives? The births, deaths, weddings, first-meetings, loves, lies, fears and joys... treasure them all.

-Chyna

photo credit: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Speculating...

Ok, I can't help myself. I can't keep from speculating what might be in store, in a game-season with the name Guardians of Fort River. You see, Kane did come up with a name, sort of, for his crew as his plot begins to take shape in season 10. He said I should use the word "Guardians."


We all know, Guardian has a definite place in Tribe-lore. And I happen to know my friend Kane is a very big Tribe fan. So...

What have you got coming, Kane?

The Guardian was head of the Chosen, which worshipped Zoot and said he'd be back. Our game doesn't have a Zoot-character -- at least not as far as I can tell ... omg! totally out of the blue this thought just hit me... PLEASE tell me these guys aren't Xeno-worshippers? omg...omg...omg --

Ok, deep breath...calm down, Chyna...

Anyway, the Guardian did all that he did because he thought he was helping people. Helping them to lead better lives. Helping them to have a future. That sounds like a really good thing, doesn't it? I mean, so far Kane has been a "good" character. He's bodyguard to Valentine and really seems to care about her. He also seems to be seriously concerned about The Little Guy, the average city kid who has every need to survive as the rest of us.

And as has been said often, winter is coming. Winter in Fort River isn't the easiest, especially if you're living on the streets with few resources.

The Guardian and his Chosen were often confusing, especially with their Zoot-isms. It always felt like they despised weakness but could find ways to use it. They were intimidated by strength that didn't come from Zoot, which explains why they turned against Bray when he wouldn't help them deify his brother.

What else do we know? Well, the Chosen captured and isolated ALL the city's tribe-leaders. Kane and his friends have been known to make some rather disparaging remarks about Fort River's tribes...and they've made the effort to learn who the tribes are, and who their leaders are.

We also know the Chosen were militant. They didn't have any problem killing whoever got in their way. So far we haven't seen that from Kane & Company, but we do know that they are big and strong and there are a LOT of them. They've set up barricades around the city, so we have to speculate they'd use force to enforce those barricades, hm?

At the end of the day, I just haven't figured this one out yet. It's strange, being game-owner, to be in the dark as much as I am right now -- but I can't say I totally hate it. It's kind of fun, to be able to speculate and plan for what might be coming our way in the game.

I think that's why KTDARPG has lasted so many years and so many seasons. We have GREAT players, and they're wicked creative.

What are you handing us, Kane? Hehe...hope I haven't spoiled anything. Just speculating here, y'know?

-Chyna

photo credit: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

KTDARPG - Season 10 is on the horizon

It's late fall in "Keep The Dream Alive" rpg. Our characters have just finished the blow-out party of the season, our version of a harvest festival before we settle in & settle down for the winter to come.

Adding spice to the game, we're about to embark on a new season & a new scenario that even I'm a bit puzzled about (which is unusual since, game owner? duh?). Because I gave the reins for this plot over to one of our moderators, Kane.

Kane is a huge Tribe fan & tells me he intends the upcoming scenario to take us back to Techno days. That's gonna be interesting since our game has already dealt with the Brotherhood & the Anti-kids. All we've seen so far is the character "Kane" & his buddies. He has a LOT of buddies! As of now, they're bottling up Fort River, blocking the main thoroughfares that take you into & out of the city. Kane tells me the new scenario kicks off in our new game-day coming up, so we'll see!

Hey, Kane? Does your merry band of men have a name? Some cute handle y'all wanna be known by? Just checking...

I figured all this effort deserved a new season, so that's what we'll do.

And I just realized... Wow. Next month will make 7 years since "Keep The Dream Alive" kicked off with those brave few who had a great idea. Seven years + 9 seasons later, I hope we've done your dream proud, my friends!

-Chyna

photo credit: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

I've let this go too long...

I've let this go too long & I'm really sorry. My last post was in May? Now it's September? *sigh* I don't know where the time went. Summer had a few more surprises than I anticipated, and life in general has been...complicated.

That's no excuse. Nope. No excuse at all. There is so much going on in Tribeworld & with fandom, and I'm missing it!

Like for instance, this weekend is Dragon*Con in Atlanta (Georgia, for those not familiar). I'm seriously remembering D*C 2006 & getting a kiss from my favorite "Lex". Ah, yes, us Tribe fans have had plenty of fun at D*C's past.

Tribe fandom on Facebook is really going crazy, especially with the ability to chat with our favorite stars. And who knows what's next?

Our game--KTDARPG is really flying! We're about to embark on a new season & a new plotline that will challenge all of our Tribe-city of Fort River & the people who call her home.

So I promise, I'll try to do better & keep up with the blog & the game & fandom and all. Besides, that's why I started this. :) I don't want to let it go now.

Stay tribal, everybody!

-Chyna

photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"