Rayn-What happens when the rain doesn't stop?

[blackmage]

I need help with the creation of a new world. During our last Visual Adjectives meeting while we were talking, I came up with an intriguing concept that has been eating at me for the last week.

I am at a handicap with the development of it, so I thought that I would look to some of the creators here for help...

"What happens when the rain doesn't stop?"

Rayn is an apocalyptic story in which a solar flare from the sun crossed the Earth’s path on the far side of the moon.

The results from its effects were the opposite of that predicted by scientists. The ozone layer surrounding the Earth not only healed itself rapidly but increased in density over certain regions impacting the weather patterns of the entire Earth.

Temperature became extreme and storms became exponentially more violent. The exact history of the era was lost.

When the solar flare passed the moon it created a global EMP pulse which destroyed nearly all electronics on the planet. During the four year lightning storms across the planet, more EMP pulses were experienced which destroyed most of the few pieces of electronics that survived the initial flare.

After the four year lightning storms subsided, the true rain storms started.

The storms created floods that swallowed cities and hurricanes that covered multiple states at once. In some regions. the earthquakes were so violent, entire continents became reshaped and islands vanished. The sea level rose to uncharted levels and mountain tops became rainforests.

The scientists said that the rain would continue for the next 10,000 years.

During the first year that it fell people disagreed and contested their calculations. The fifth year of the rain along with a worldwide population of less than 100 million people, made more of the disbelievers think.

On the tenth year, disbelief was near extinct, for the remaining 10 million people... worldwide.

They knew not dry touch or sunshine...
They knew not dry land or peace...
They knew not abundance or hope...

For all they had was the never ending rain.

(notes)
I need help figuring out the culture of thirteen years of rain on any group of people. How does this new apocalyptic world deal with life? What is it like? What technology are they using?

What is an average day like in this world in which the sea levels, in some areas, have risen to that of half the height of a ten story building?


I... I think I need... The Muse!!!

[The Muse]

Three words.....Movie..WATER WORLD!

[The Muse]

This should answer your question.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0114898/

[The Muse]

www.imdb.com/title/tt0114898/synopsis

[blackmage]

Here's the catch... it's not a world with no land. Its the world we live in with constant rain.

The deepest place (areas below sea level) are up to 5 stories deep, not oceans deep.

Imagine tomorrow... it rains. Not only does it rain... it storms!!! It storms harder than you've ever seen and lightning start to strike all around, starting at a distance then closing in to your front yard.

The 'crack' is so great your ears hurt and your neighbor (who wandered outside) ears bleed.

Imagine going inside and sleeping until the storm is over... and yet you wake up and it is as intense as when you went to bed. Imagine your car exploding from the bolt that blinds you, then just as your vision returns... you catch a glimpse at hundreds of lightning bolts striking down in your neighborhood alone.

Imagine opening your front door and braving the walk out into your front yard only to discover the burned corpse of your neighbor caught up in their driveway frozen in anguish as char and bone with water running over them as they are eternally locked in fear.

The water isn't deep, it is that it won't stop.

Imagine not hearing his children call for help because of the constant burst of lightning bolts striking anything higher on the ground than a simple gas can.

Imagine this going on beyond tomorrow, next week, next month, next year... and four additional years strong.

Imagine the shingles on the house becoming heavy for being waterlogged and all electronics in the house not working.

Imagine how you wouldn't want to believe that this is happening...

[The Muse]

That is the kind of thing that would drive people to insanity. Constant fear if dying would lead to all kinds of paranoia's. Then there would be the desperate fight for survival, the fight for food, shelter. People would become barbaric...society would devolve....

[delta]

I imagine lots and lots of lightning rods. Large pools of standing water would be deathtraps since they would electrocute anything in contact with them. Trees would be obliterated and wood scarce. Building materials would be limited to stone. Buildings would need to be elevated to keep them above the water. Extensive drainage systems would be created to minimize water build-up. What crops would grow in such conditions. Most would die off. Non-aquatic animals would have to quickly adapt or die. I know that some animals have hoof problems if they are wet too long. The safest places after the quakes end would be caves above the waterline. Whenever resources are drastically limited, especially suddenly, civil behavior soon disappears as survival takes precedence. Wars would take place adding to the devastation.

All of this is off the top of my head brainstorming. It’s an interesting line of thought.

[delta]

The dark clouds outside my office are looking very threatening.

Paranoia from a synopsis: I'm afraid to read the actual story.

[blackmage]

My first entry:

It’s been a month since the lightning storms and equally as long since we’ve seen another person. Fatboy has been quiet since yesterday – I think he’s mad at me. I don’t know what I did, but I can tell when he’s angry… He pokes his lip out and trips on stuff when he walks through the puddles.

I was the first one awake this morning in the Food Mart. Normally I fall off the shelves when we sleep on top of them, but this morning I woke up from my wet-bag-of-charcoal pillow and I was still on the shelf with Fatboy. He didn’t say anything, but I know he noticed. Ha!!!

We started out early because he said that the storm was going to pick up later. He showed me the black clouds in the distance they were bordering the gray ones blowing the rain against the store windows. They looked like demons crawling across the sky. The thunder was their roar.

I still didn’t see anyone else outside. It’s so spooky.

We split a can of corn-beef hash that he found behind the counter in the water for breakfast and collected all the plastic that we could find. Fatboy is so smart. He showed me how to keep one set of my clothes wrapped in plastic to keep them dry during our travels each day. He got me some water proof shoes from a department store we found and he gave me his poncho when I lost mine escaping some snakes down by the courthouse building last week.

He’s like a big brother to me.

He reminds me of my brother a lot.

He…

I miss you, David.

I miss you, Mommy. I miss you Daddy.

Today is my eleventh birthday and I’m almost a full-grown woman, Fatboy says… so I gotta start acting like it. I carry my own things now and he gave me pocket knife with a can-opener on it. I’m not going to let him down. I told him that I want to be as strong as him when I become his age but four years seem so far away now. The rain won’t stop and animals keep attacking us when we travel. We rarely see other people and not all of them are good. Maybe I should just be happy making it until my next birthday.

“Surprise, Rayn!”

“Hunh? What are you doing Fatboy?”

“Happy Birthday!!”

“What’s this?”

“It’s a backpack. I found it last night in the back when you were sleep.”

“Uh.”

“Open it!”

“WOW!! A tablet with dry paper… and PENS!!”

“Open the front pocket, Rayn!”

“A – A toy pony. It’s yellow like the way the sun used to look, Fatboy.”

“I know, Rayn… because you’re my best friend and my sunshine. You don’t have to be in a rush to grow up. Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you, Fatboy.”

-Rayn

[delta]

Blackmage,

I had a thought about religions. What would people make of the fact that steeples, towers and minarets are constantly bombarded from lighting strikes? Is it a sign of their god’s displeasure? If the lightning rods carry it away it might be a sign of their god’s power and mercy.

In following this line of thought, older New England Churches are built in a style that has you going up stairs to get to the sanctuary and are almost always equipped with lighting rods. Provided that they don’t collapse in the quakes (or until they do) they would be natural sites for people to collect in. People often seek solace in their religion when things get tough and the congregation is a preexisting community.

I was also wondering how much time people would have to be able to adapt their buildings. Would they be able to raise homes above the waterline and install lightning rods? Would they build giant Faraday cages to live in? Conductive wire to create them would become very, very expensive and I’m sure theft and raids to get the materials would become commonplace. I’m not a metallurgist but how long would the metal last in these conditions.

Boats, barges and rafts would also become more commonplace. I could see a barge covered with a roof and filled with dirt being used to grow food that might rot in the new normal conditions. Would they be able to power grow-lights powered by windmills? plants would suffer in low light conditions. I bet eating mushrooms, fish and seaweed would be the new norm.

Delta – Be the change

[Michelle]

Nice introduction of the characters. It was very short and I instantly got an image of a little black haired girl with mud smeared on her face and in her tangled hair.

Since they are in the city, I am seeing them as city kids. Raised in a big city so they know where to go to get supplies and food.

Fatboy, I actually don't see him as being 'fat' from weight, but I see him as being called Fatboy because he always talks about one day getting his hands on a Harley-Davidson Fatboy, one like his dad use to have, when the rain first started. I also imagine he use to carry so much stuff on the motorcycle, such as supplies, food, weapons, and such. That is also where he learned his survival skills.

As for the ozone layer, I can imagine a solar flare and the earth's magnetic field interacting in some strange way that can essentially push the ozone layer around the earth causing it to redistribute itself. Almost like mixing paint that's been sitting too long.

[blackmage]

Mar 14, 2012 11:21:46 GMT -5 delta said:

Blackmage,

I had a thought about religions. What would people make of the fact that steeples, towers and minarets are constantly bombarded from lighting strikes? Is it a sign of their god’s displeasure? If the lightning rods carry it away it might be a sign of their god’s power and mercy.

In following this line of thought, older New England Churches are built in a style that has you going up stairs to get to the sanctuary and are almost always equipped with lighting rods. Provided that they don’t collapse in the quakes (or until they do) they would be natural sites for people to collect in. People often seek solace in their religion when things get tough and the congregation is a preexisting community.

I was also wondering how much time people would have to be able to adapt their buildings. Would they be able to raise homes above the waterline and install lightning rods? Would they build giant Faraday cages to live in? Conductive wire to create them would become very, very expensive and I’m sure theft and raids to get the materials would become commonplace. I’m not a metallurgist but how long would the metal last in these conditions.

Boats, barges and rafts would also become more commonplace. I could see a barge covered with a roof and filled with dirt being used to grow food that might rot in the new normal conditions. Would they be able to power grow-lights powered by windmills? plants would suffer in low light conditions. I bet eating mushrooms, fish and seaweed would be the new norm.

Delta – Be the change

These are some DANG great ideas!!! What you would be introducing is the birth of new mythology amongst the survivors as well as the new generation of youth. Some would view these 'old world' stories and tales as the basis for their faith and new religions... or would it be more of an evolution of religion?

The intense lightning storms only occured for the first four years which resulted in most of the deaths around the globe. After that the rain became the main nemesis with occasional lightning storms based on the heat. They would often occur during the storms with black clouds.

The question I ask is, would a person stay at home or leave? What happens to society in the small town as compared to the remnants of a city?

Swamps would over flow into neighborhoods bringing snakes, fish, and rodents into dwellings. Vine growth would be overwhelming in warmer regions while snow would constantly fall in the north.

What type of impact would it have in your area? How would it affect your lifestyle? And how many 'truly' have the knowledge to survive long term in a world of constant rain?

[The Muse]

delta~~I concur with Blackmage. I LOVE your ideas.

blackmage~~Im liking this story quite well...at first I didnt realize this was about a little girl, I was thinking it was a little boy. But I too, like Michelle, imagined a dirty faced little waif who was struggling to be tough and who idolized the older kid. I cant say for certain how I pictured Fatboy.
I like Michelles idea of the motorcycle influence. The only problem is that with so much flooding in the world, perhaps some other mode of transport would be necessary....but it should somehow be reminiscent of a motorcycle....hmmm.....

[John Reid]

In such a scenario 90% of the world's human and animal population would become extinct as has happened in the past extinctions. Governments would be obliterated and we would be talking about a Mad Max kind of world of the survival of the fittest. Only instead of a dry world we are talking about a wet one.

As for those who do manage to survive, civilization would just be a memory. One that they try and instill in their children. The children however would be growing up in the only world they have ever known. Children always play no matter the circumstances. Only the older adults would be depressed and suicidal.

It wouldn't take long for roving gangs to try and take whatever they pleased. We would revert to hunters and gatherers and a stone age mentality. How would children get educated? They wouldn't be able to. The only ones who would know how to even work any machines that survived would be the old people.

Albert Einstein was asked once what sort of weapons would be used in WWIII? He replied, "I don't know but WWIV will be fought with sticks and stones.

A global disaster of the magnitude that you are discribing would wipe civilization as we know it from the map. Humanity would have to begin again. Rape, robbery and murder would be common place without laws. Even language itself would be lost as roving bands of feral children would have to create their own?
People would have to learn to eat a lot of fish as crops would rot in such an environment. Other problems 90% of our oxygen come from trees. A lot of trees would die from lack of sunlight, but not all. Non stop rain and clouds would mean the melting of the polar ice caps as humidity in the air holds heat. Not until the skies cleared would the ice caps return. Which means serious land loss. All new coast lines miles inward on both coasts. Florida, all islands like Hawaii, cuba and the philipines would be under water as the seas rise 20-30 feet at least. Central America would be gone and the continents of North and South America would be isolated from each other. Rivers like the Amazon would double in size.

The only ones not effected as much would be the most primitive tribes who currently occupy the deepest rain forrests. They would continue and hunt although game would be harder to come by. They have always endured long rainy seasons and short dry ones. The only change would be non stop rainy seasons to them. They would still hunt and gather and their adaption would be far less severe than modern city dwellers.

With Government gone power would shift to organized crime. No doubt rival gangs would war constantly for control of their small turfs. Each seeking to impose their might on whatever survivors are caught in the middle.

Evolution would move on. Animals that could not adapt would die off and be replaced by other animals and plants who will thrive in such wet condtions.

It's going to be a hard book to write as you might have to contact university professors and ask them what animals would survive in such conditions? Certain insects would survive. Ants burrow deep underground and already make their chambers flood proof. They would survive. Cockroachs would survive simply because they breed so fast and can eat anything. Grasshoppers would turn into plagues of locusts eating whatever plant material was left. Sea birds would survive, dessert animals and birds would die or evolve.
This is just off the top of my head of course, but it certainly is a thought provoking scenario indeed.
Knight-Hood

[The Muse]

Well, actually 50-85% of the earths oxygen comes from phytoplankton in the oceans. There are a lot of types of vegetation that grow in the form of algae and kelp that can be (and are) eaten. Rice requires flooded land to grow. Wild rice, which is actually a type of grass seed, requires similar conditions. Cattail roots are edible as well.

Seals, sea lions and other ocean going mammals could provide meats, along with fish and sea birds. Turtles would be a source of protien.

Water reeds could be bundled and used to make boats, so wood wouldnt necessarily be vital. This has been done for centuries in Kuwait, Bolivia, Easter Island, Peru, Ethiopia, and until recently Corfu. So this would make travel over distances possible with a form of transportation that would not act as a lightning rod.

[blackmage]

Birthday +2: School Lunch

Yesterday wasn’t so bad. The rain eased up into a light storm by afternoon and we could walk through the flood water. Although it was pretty dirty, there were a lot of cool things floating around that kept things exciting as we moved through town. I saw a baby doll arm that kept bobbling up and down as it went down the street looking for someone to give it a ‘high-five’ hand slap. There seemed to be entire wardrobes of clothing caught in every corner that slowed the flow of water down. I found a pretty pair of red shorts that would look good when we find the place that the sun is hidden and the rain stops.

I didn’t let Fatboy see me grab them. They’ll be my secret.

Over on some high mounds near the parking lot I saw a bunch of dead rats. Even through the pouring rain, the stench was overwhelming. They were crowded up with the rotten food from a tipped-over trash can and broken car parts. Fatboy kept tugging on me and telling me not to look… I couldn’t help it.

We passed a small school and sat in the cafeteria to eat lunch, now THAT was cool! Fatboy sang me an ‘old-world’ song that he knew while we ate some canned sardines and ravioli. His voice echoed off the walls as he told me how school was before the lightning storms. I was just turning six years old when everything went crazy so I didn’t remember school very well.

He said that they got to go on the playground on sunny days. They had art classes and music classes in which they all sung together. They learned about lands and people all around the world as well as studied the stars up above.

Fatboy must’ve been the most awesome kid ever! He said that he could skip a bar when swinging on the monkey bars and jump the furthest from his swing when swinging against his friends on the swing-sets. I could barely contain myself when he started dancing from puddle to puddle on the stage at the front of the cafeteria acting out the way things were. He made me laugh all afternoon!

When we left the school we saw a church in the distance that had people standing around outside with their hands up in the rain shouting. Fatboy said they were praying… they look like they were shouting to me. We don’t go around church people, they tend to be trouble. They don’t like people that don’t believe things the way that they do and they look for reasons to call you bad and say that you don’t fit in. The last time we crossed church people, they tried to split me and Fatboy up.

They didn’t know that Fatboy would never leave me and I would always go where he goes. He is my very best friend and he needs me to take care of him. I will never turn on him… he said that I was his sunshine!

It sucked though, because they were the first people we’ve seen in the last month. Oh well…

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!!

P.S. I’m so glad that Fatboy got me this tablet. I keep it dry and write at night when we camp. He lets me use one glowstick an evening to write so I’m going to write until each page is full!!

-Rayn

[The Muse]

Rayn's loyalty to Fatboy is touching. I love how children are the same, the world over, no matter the situation life puts them in. Well...until they are twisted by adult thinking, reasoning and predjudices.

[blackmage]

It seems that the deep thinking has truly begun!! You all have brought up many of the challenges that this new world would have to face. Although, one of the wildcards that I threw in here was the mix-up in what scientists 'thought' as compared to the unexpected that occured.

It is the unexpected that pushes this entire story into the realm of arguable fiction. The ozone thickening in certain areas, is a wildcard which threw the global weather patterns into a postions in which calculations could not predict the effects.

Precipitation is the beast in this tale. In the north, the snow didn't melt as expected from global warming... instead, blizzards became a daily occurance and slush, daily madness, as one journeys south towards the equator.

The sea-level didn't explode unto the height of a skyscraper but merely to the depth of a small building. Yes, the sea would reach further inland, but while many islands in the Caribbean would vanish, new peaks would be found in small towns and states bordering the edges of the ocean.

Floods would be a constant and rodents a serious nuisance.

The goal is to offer a world a little less than the most extreme but alien enough to create wonder within us.

Now, how do we survive in this new mess-of-a-world..?

hmm...

[The Muse]

one day at a time.

[John Reid]

Oh yes, you're right about the oxygen. One other thing, with constant cloud cover, the sun, moon and stars would not be able to be seen. Generations later they will become myths passed down. Perhaps taking on religious significance. Perhaps when the little girl becomes an old lady the skies just might start to clear and the sun might be seen for the first time. This could cause a panic and even be interpreted as the end of the world, with people committing suicide and rioting.

This idea is not original though as I read a sci fi tale years ago when I was a boy about a planet with two suns which had perpetual daylight. Stars were never seen but once ever 10,000 years when their suns lined up with their moon and they had an eclipse. Stars became mythological and heralded the end of the world in mythology. When it actually happened it became a self fulfilling prophecy as riots ensued and people destroyed themselves.

[delta]

Knight-Hood's comment about the lack of stars makes me think about navigation. The GPS system would be shot by any solar flares that powerful. Would the magnetic fields used for orienteering by compass be messed up as well? The ancient fallback of navigating by the stars would be useless due to the clouds.

I remember hearing about a flood my dad was involved in. He was rowing a boat over submerged cars. It makes me think about towns where people are using the second floors and above. It would seem like a much less romantic version of Venice.

[The Muse]

Quite possibly they would have to revert to the old way of mapping out travel by means of "landmarks". Since not everything would be submerged, what was left above the water would necessarily become the means by which you would navigate. If you were going to go any significant distance, you would have to depend on landmarks you had only heard of. Think of the explorers who "discovered" the new world...they had nothing to go by... but those that followed them used their routes. So it would seem natural that there will need to be some "EXPLORERS" in this story...

[blackmage]

Chapter 3 – Follow the Worms

The storm blew a little less angry than normal making travel just a few more steps easier and vision just clear enough to see the edge of town. Fatboy and Rayn made it a point never to stay in one location longer than three days and traversing this town had been a test as each night camping made it increasingly difficult to journey forward the proceeding day. It’s been so long since the duo had seen a friendly face.

“Step on a crack and break your mama’s back!” yelped Rayn as she hopped along the lightly flooded sidewalk gleaming with a smile. The water jumped from each of her landings and splashed against Fatboy’s legs which were already soaked from the constant downpour. He strived to maintain his seriousness and awareness, but made it a subtle point to miss the cracks in the sidewalk.

“The rains shifting,” he said while pausing beside a bent stop sign.

“Fatboy, look… on the back of the sign!” shouted Rayn while moving her gloved fingers along some letters etched onto the back of it. “It’s like the other one we found.”

“Yep,” responded Fatboy, “Read it. What does it say?”

“Uhm… ‘Headed to Under-Mall.’ It has an arrow scratched beside it.” Said Rayn.

“It’s the same person that left the sign last week. He’s headed to the same place as us, Rayn.”

Rayn jumped up and down splashing harder while laughing, “YEA!!! There are others!! There are others!!!” Fatboy allowed his youth to rival his maturity for a moment and joined in the happiness with Rayn, “This is SO cool!!! I hope this guy is friendly!! I know he’ll be friendly!! I hope he’s with a group!!!”
Suddenly, the storm increased strength and the thunder grumbled in the distance.

“Crap! Side-rain is blowing in!! We gotta find shelter, Rayn!” cried out Fatboy while holding his hand up against the onslaught of wind and hard droplets.

The duo cuts through a small side street that led to a series of back roads. They were no longer in the heart of downtown, they were lost within the flooded sections of the neighborhoods. The surges of knee-deep water tugged at their weary legs in hopes to engulf them. Fatboy wouldn’t allow it.

“Rayn, come here!!” He commanded as he grabbed her tightly and hugged her in his jacket while looking further down the road. “Relax and pull your legs up!!”

The little girl grasped onto her guardian with all her might and relaxed her legs as he did the same. The water surged over both of their heads as it pulled them across the street and into the side top of a large sports utility vehicle turned on its side. The duo slammed into it with a ‘THUD’ leaving Fatboy breathless from absorbing the impact; his grip on her weakened instantly.

“Fatboy!!” She shouted while grabbing the vehicle and locking her legs around his. The water gushed over each of their faces as the winds acted as an introduction for the lightning starting to strike in the heart of downtown where they just exited.

Coming to his senses, Fatboy recovered from the splashes of water to his face, and instinctively called out to Rayn while trying to reorient himself, “We need high ground, Rayn!! We need high ground!” Desperate to save Fatboy, she pulled herself up to the top-side of the SUV and braved the oncoming lightning to search the driveways in the neighborhoods during the bright flashes provided by each striking bolt.

“WORMS!! Fatboy, I see worms!! That house right there!! They’ve got worms on the driveway!!” She yelled out while pointing to the house next to them.

“Good, let’s move!!” replied Fatboy while pushing against the water to the backend of the vehicle. “Gimmie, your hand, Rayn! Don’t let go!!”

The eleven year old clutched her fifteen year old best friend and peered into the evening gloom only to discover his determined eyes. Dark and without doubt he stared at her, “I’ll die before I let you go, Rayn.” She knew that he was telling the truth.

“I know, Fatboy.” She replied.

The storm’s outcry forced another surge of flooding water just as the duo pushed from the vehicle into its wake. They held their breaths and grabbed onto anything they could in the street as they powered their way from the tremendous strength and yet shallow depths of their nemesis.

Minutes seemed like a lifetime un-promised as the Rayn burst onto the rising slope of the driveway first gasping for air. Fatboy pulled himself up next welcoming the sight of the dead worms gathered in the corners of the driveway. The two eased further up the driveway then sat to collect themselves in the foyer of the home while watching the flooding water stream by filled with debris.

“I don’t know how you did it, Rayn, but I’m glad you saw the worms.” Said Fatboy.

“I remember what you said… worms always find the highest ground during a storm.” Replied Rayn while pulling off her backpack. “What now, Fatboy?”

While peeking out from the foyer to gauge the coming lightning, the youth also studied the home they were at. He normally tried to stay away from homes and keep to city-centers and stores. He hated to see personal pictures and items which reminded him of his home. He hated to see bedrooms and toys that reminded him of his family. He hated to see the bodies of those that lived there, it reminded him of his reality.

In this situation, Fatboy didn’t have a choice. He picked the lock on the door with his pocket knife and paused in the doorway.

We’re going to stay here tonight, Rayn.

[The Muse]

O.o

OK...I've been OFFICIALLY sucked in!!! Cant wait for the next episode!

[blackmage]

I am working to integrate many of the ideas and concepts that you all have mentioned. I am doing it bit-by-bit knowing that many aspects will be revisited as their adventure grows.

In this one, I wanted to bring attention to the navigational challenges that you all presented. I realized that the stars couldn't and wouldn't be seen except on rare occasions and GPS's were useless. Good old fashion vision and markings would prevail.

I also realized that paint was dang near useless and anything corrosion-prone would fair no better. Street signs would become much needed resources for direction in this world, as they are designed to survive weather and corrosion.

Keep the ideas coming, guys!!!

-Blackmage