The Rise of Ridleybank
This article is under construction. Due to the fact that this event happened such a long time ago, and almost all of the relevant information has either been deleted or left on the now removed Desensitised forum, only people who actually participated in the event are welcome to contribute, in order to ensure maximum accuracy. This is a skeleton, using as much detail as possible without stifling the creativity of others who were involved in the event.
| The Rise of Ridleybank | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | Urban Dead | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | 23rd September to Start October 2005 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Ridleybank | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Zombie Holocaust | ||||||||||||||||
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The Rise of Ridleybank was a conflict that lasted a little over a week at the end of September 2005, and resulted in the creation of The Ridleybank Resistance Front and the birth of the zombie homeland. Following its creation, the scattering of ferals destroyed the suburbs of Roachtown and Ketchelbank (both of which had suffered from the detonation of the Shearbank cloud only a week earlier), as well as doing considerable damage to Barrville and Pimbank.
Due to the fact that the horde was spontaneously formed almost entirely of forum going-zombies, and forum-going humans, more than half the actual battle occurred on the Desensitised forums themselves, and resulted in the birth of what came to be zombie culture in the game.
The Beginning
On the 23rd of September, Petrosjko sounded a call to arms on the then new Desensitised forums. He summoned zombies to assist him in retaking Moggridge Place Police Department which had been recently reinfested with humans following the events he had chronicled in his short story (Need URL link to thread where he wrote the story here).
The Police Department held for several days against the increasing zombie assault. On the third day of the assault, however, Petrosjko awoke to find the impromptu proto-horde had wandered over to attack the Whalen Arms. Reasons are sketchy, but believed to be because the zombies were thirsty. This kind of caper would set the tone for the rest of the battle, and for most of the hordes run.
They finally took Moggridge the next day, with a force of nearly 60 zombies present.
A moment of hilarity
Following the fall of Moggridge, Petrosjko called the first meeting of the Book Club, in Caswill Lane School. This became the most one sided "seige" in history, as between sixty and seventy zombies tore into the building to devour the single defender.
Next
- Join us! We have Dental! - A Zombie on the forums.
After the meeting of the Book Club, the zombies assaulted and cleansed St. George's Hospital and the Blackmore Building, before purging Blomfield Grove Police Department.
During all this, the recruiting efforts and general chatter on the forums proceeded apace, building what would come to be zombie culture, based on the notion that zombies were not flesh eating mindless monsters, but flesh eating monsters with hopes, dreams, and feelings.
Jacquie of Axes High created the "Situation in Ridleybank" thread to alert survivors to the fact that what was building up in Ridleybank was more than just the usual spontaneous micro horde. This thread provided updates on the hordes movements and which buildings were being destroyed.
The Birth of a Horde
- Banana gangbang gramma HAR HAR BARHAH! - Petrosjko, declaring hordedom.
Towards the end of September, and part way through the claiming of Ridleybank, Petrosjko officially proclaimed the zombies to be a horde, naming them the Ridleybank Resistance Front.
The Rise of Ridleybank
Following the cleansing of key buildings the young horde spread out in a wave of anarchistic death, liberating harmanz of their oppressive brains and bringing Barhah to all. The barricades and humans that had haunted the suburb like a plague were removed and slaughtered as the zombies claimed their homes, and stepped inside into the warm out of the cold dreary rain. Not as monsters, but as a people.
Securing the Homeland
Intending to secure their freedom from the encroaching harman menace, Petrosjko ordered an assault on Nichols Mall, in what became the least coordinated successful mall seige in history. The plan was simple: Hit the mall with a tidal wave of undead.
Zombies would break in in groups of three or four, but the humans proved almost as inempt at mallcraft as the zombies, neglecting to even close the doors behind the invading undead. Within days the mall crumbled beneath the assault of the undead. The Zombie Homeland was secure.
Impact
This event is indisputably the most important event in the game's history.
The reasons are many and varied:
- It was the birth of the zombie homeland, which has remained nominally in zombie hands ever since (at time of writing, this would be its 33rd month in zombie hands)
- It was the beginning of zombie culture. Before this, zombies were universally seen as mindless beasts by all.
- It was the first time a zombie horde had laid claim to a suburb. Later the Pwotters would claim Stanbury Village and Eastonwood Ferals would claim Eastonwood and create theZombiefied Republic of !zanbah.
- It was the birth of the open-planning horde style of leadership. Another example of a horde that followed this leadership style would be the Drunken Dead.
