"Located in the Yukon wilderness, we're a hidden town where people go to disappear. Residents come here under false names and false histories, and they must stay a minimum of two years. Extensions can stretch that to five years...
"Rockton was born in the 1950s as an exercise in idealism. It's a place for people who needed refuge, and in those earliest years, it was often their ideals that brought them here, fleeing McCarthyism and other political witch hunts. When the town struggled in the late sixties, a few wealthy former residents took over management and organized regular supply drops. That's when the town began evolving from a commune of lost souls into a for-profit institution. While there are still people here who genuinely need sanctuary, there are also white-collar criminals who've bought an escape hatch from the law. And there are an increasing number of hardened criminals that the council sneaks in to increase the profit margin. The council runs Rockton from afar. We've never seen them. We only speak to a council liaison on a satellite phone.
"We live off the grid with no access to the outside world. No roads. No phones. No internet. We're cut off from the world, and we need that to keep everyone safe. You won't find Rockton on any map, and we stay that way with the help of camouflage, both structural and technological. That's easier than it seems when you're in the Yukon -- a northern Canadian territory the size of Texas with fewer than forty thousand people...
"There are also people who live outside our boundaries and our jurisdiction... who choose not to join a settlement... They're twenty-first-century pioneers, living off the land."
-Excerpted from Introduction, The Deepest of Secrets, by Kelley Armstrong
A tiny, rustic, off-the-grid settlement serving as a sort of witness protection program for people on the run from their pasts. A charming, starkly beautiful place of refuge and safety... so long as you don't venture beyond the town's borders and fall prey to a grizzly bear or a hostile mountain man. What could be simpler? But in Rockton, nothing is as simple as it seems.
For one thing, this isn't even the original Rockton.
Two years ago, the council literally dismantled the first Rockton after the town's most influential residents uncovered too many of its secrets, leaving nothing but scorched earth behind. Most of the former inhabitants agreed to be relocated to the abandoned River Valley Resort, pacified by the promises of continued anonymity and modern amenities, while a stubborn few decided to venture into the wilderness to create a new settlement. Unbeknownst to all 170-some displaced souls, the council promptly replaced the board of directors and built an almost exact replica of the original town some 150 kilometers from the original site.
Of course, there is no disguising the fact that there is not a single weathered timber -- or tenured resident -- in a town that was supposedly founded more than 70 years ago, but the council has a quite-logical explanation, of course. As the story goes, the first Rockton was tragically destroyed in a fire caused by a lightning-struck tree, so its financiers had no choice but to relocate to a new site with a more readily accessible source of water. By the time the rebuilt Rockton was ready for habitation, all of the original Rockton’s former residents had "timed out" and returned to civilization, leaving a truly blank slate for a new generation of lost souls seeking asylum.
How convenient.
A secret town. A town of secrets.
Welcome to Rockton, version 2.0.
Rockton Rules:
1. This room is based on the Rockton Novels by Kelley Armstrong and is intended for non-profit entertainment and fan use only. No cannon characters, such as Sheriff Eric Dalton and Detective Casey Duncan, are permitted.
2. All Portal of Dreams site rules apply. The Room Leader’s word is final in all other matters that require resolution.
3. Avatars should be no larger than approximately 600x900, tasteful, and thematically appropriate for a wilderness location. No bare breasts and crotch shots, please. It’s the Yukon. Frostbite is no joke!
4. No name, no role-play, simple as that. Anonymous names will be ignored after a single invitation to take a name. That said, observers with valid names are always welcome.
5. Anyone posing a disruption will be booted by the Room Leader or PoD management after a single warning to cease and desist.
6. Out-of-Character (OOC) chatter will happen but should be kept to a minimum during active role-play. If a role-player asks you to take OOC chatter to p.m., please respect the request or else face being booted for disruption.
7. No drama! If you have a personal issue with another role-player, please place the offending party on ignore and bring the issue to the Room Leader or handle said issue outside the room. If you cannot do so, you will be eaten by a grizzly bear. Oops. So tragic.
8. This is an R-rated room. Although sex happens in a town with few entertainment options besides the brothel and the bar, anything NC-17 and above should be taken to p.m.
9. There are no forced character deaths in Rockton (unless you violate rule #7). Although the Yukon is a wild and dangerous region where violent situations are likely to occur, any deadly interactions must be agreed upon by all parties involved. In any such scenarios, combat will be free-form, and good sportsmanship is expected.
10. You may play as many characters as you wish, of any gender you wish, regardless of how you identify in real life.
11. You are not required to create a character sheet, although this is highly recommended to help everyone keep track of who’s who. However, you must reserve your character model or else risk losing your desired “face” to another role-player. (There will not be multiple Jason Momoas and Jennifer Lawrences in Rockton!) Please note: if you have not been active in the room for a month or more without contacting the Room Leader to indicate that you plan to return, your reserved model(s) will go “back on the market.”
12. No massive damage to permanent structures without Room Leader consent. To you, it’s a meaningless building; to us, it’s a landmark that will be very difficult to replace!
The Basics of Life in Rockton:
1. Rockton is a wilderness survival room with real-world limitations. Although some characters will be more physically fit and adept at off-the-grid living than others, no one will be endowed with superhero powers. Likewise, aliens, vampires, werewolves, zombies, and other supernatural creatures do not exist here. Well, except for maybe Bigfoot…
2. Be creative with your character(s)! Every Rockton resident has a false identity and a reason for being on the run – and not everyone is a “good guy.” Whether you choose to divulge your background or keep your secrets is up to you. Then again, you could be a cave-dwelling settler who trades fresh game and wilderness crafts with Rockton residents, a member of a nature-worshiping commune, or any other sort of survivalist living outside the town.
3. Unlike actual witness protection, no one comes to Rockton with a romantic partner and/or offspring. Every resident must be willing to cut all ties to their previous life, and that includes family and friends. And while romantic relationships may form among residents, pregnancy is strictly prohibited. Rockton is simply not equipped for prenatal care or raising children, so any couple deciding to start a family is given the choice between living outside the town or being deported back to civilization.
4. Every Rockton resident has a job. Are you a deputy, doctor, or psychiatrist? A militia member patrolling the town borders to keep its residents safe from local wildlife of both the animal and the human variety? Hunter, fisher, greenhouse gardener, butcher, baker, brewer, or chef? Carpenter, seamstress, waitress, bartender, or brothel worker? How about the person who chops the firewood, mucks out the horse stable, or empties the latrines? No matter how skilled or how humble, every job is vital to the town’s survival.
5. Rockton operates on a realistic monetary system as well as barter and trade with the “twenty-first century pioneers” who live outside the town. Residents are paid for their work in tokens which they then use to purchase firewood from the lumber shed, ice from the icehouse, food from the various restaurants, supplies from the general store, booze in the bar, companionship in the brothel, and so on. Putting in extra work shifts or undertaking less-desirable tasks such as chopping wood, hauling water, and cleaning the latrines earns extra tokens. There are also cottage industries, such as selling or trading one’s arts and crafts.
6. Everything has a purpose in Rockton, and conservation is key! Recycling is a must; absolutely nothing goes to waste. There are no disposable plates and utensils. Food scraps become compost. Damaged clothing is patched and repaired until it becomes quilting material. A few vital buildings, such as the clinic and the restaurants, are powered by solar panels; otherwise, there is no electricity. Water for showers and laundry is strictly rationed. Think wood stoves, lanterns, candles, gravity fed water tanks that provide lukewarm showers, glorified outhouses – you know, pioneer life with a slight modern twist! Even “pets” have a utilitarian purpose. Horses are for transportation. Dogs are for hunting and tracking, and limited to huskies, Saint Bernards, Newfoundlands and other breeds able to tolerate bitterly cold winters. Cats reduce the vermin population. There are no pet snakes, hamsters, birds, or lizards.
7. Food is high quality – gourmet level, even – but highly dependent on the season. There are a few chickens and goats but no cows or pigs; the climate is too harsh for most domesticated animals to survive. Rather, most eggs and milk are powdered, there is no butter unless it comes from a supply run, and the majority of our meat comes from the lakes, streams, and woods. The menu mainly features fish, venison, rabbit, ptarmigan, and other wild game – even moose and the occasional black bear. Too, when in season, there are berries, mushrooms, and various roots and herbs collected from the wilds. FYI, Yukon Gold potatoes have their name for a reason – yes, they grow here! Our diets are also supplemented by the fruits and vegetables produced in the greenhouses, though quantities are limited. Coffee, cooking oil, sugar, flour, peanut butter, rice, pasta, salt, spices, and other staples are provided by the council’s supply drops, which usually coincide with the delivery of a new resident or the retrieval of a resident who has completed their tenure in Rockton. Do your research on what might realistically be found in a Yukon diet!
8. Although the town features an airstrip and a small airplane, supply runs to Whitehorse or Dawson City are conducted only a few times a year to supplement the council’s supply drops. Get those wish lists ready!
9. There are a few snowmobiles, ATVs, and dirt bikes, but the main forms of transportation are horses, snow shoes, skis, and good ol’ shoe leather. Of course, unless you’re part of law enforcement or the militia, you don’t really need transportation, since the #1 rule is Don’t Go Into the Woods! The woods is where the grizzlies, black bears, cougars, wolves, and crazy mountain men live. (Of course, people are always sneaking into the woods. It’s just human nature.)
10. Just because we’re rustic doesn’t mean we don’t know how to have fun! Isolation can be extremely mentally taxing, so there are regularly scheduled, well-supervised nature outings such as trail riding (both ATV and horseback), hiking, mountain climbing, spelunking, and canoeing and kayaking in the nearby lake. There are also dances, talent shows, bingo nights, poker games, quilting and crafting bees, tabletop role-playing campaigns, board games, and an active book exchange. Rockton really goes all-out on the holidays, particularly Winter Solstice through New Year’s Day. Plus, every Saturday night in the summer, we show a movie on a big screen in the town center. Still feeling bored? Feel free to suggest a town event!
11. Binge-drinking is not a form of entertainment condoned in Rockton. Isolation and alcoholism tend to go hand in hand, therefore residents have a three-drink limit at the brothel and bar, unless the booze is free-flowing for the occasional town festival. Oh, and there is NO SMOKING. Only you can prevent forest fires... and the whole wooden town from going up in flames!
12. And, finally, be mindful of the season. Because the Yukon is located above the Arctic Circle, the Summer Solstice contains over 19 hours of daylight, whereas the Winter Solstice features fewer than six hours of daylight. Role-play accordingly! If you'd like a general idea of current weather conditions, check the weather report for Dawson City, YT, Canada. Rockton is approximately 160 miles northwest of Dawson City, so it's close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades... unless, of course, we decide to drum up a bit of excitement with a major weather event!