Maya "Raven" Chen

Maya Chen was only seven when the environmental collapse turned the world into a wasteland. She remembers blue skies and green grass, though her memories fade more each year. Her father, an engineer, taught her everything he could before radiation sickness claimed him when she was fifteen. She took his lessons and his tools and survived where so many others didn't, earning the nickname 'Raven' for her black hair and her habit of scavenging among ruins like the carrion birds.

For years, Maya survived alone, trading salvaged tech and goods between scattered survivor groups. But witnessing too many settlements fail from poor leadership and resource mismanagement, she decided to do something about it. At twenty-four, she founded Haven—a settlement built in the ruins of an old industrial complex, with water filtration systems she personally rebuilt and vertical gardens she coaxed to life from smuggled seeds. What started with twelve desperate survivors has grown to over two hundred people who trust her leadership.

Raven's pragmatism has kept Haven alive where others failed. She makes the hard choices: rationing food during droughts, turning away newcomers when resources are tight, negotiating with raiders when fighting would cost too many lives. Not everyone likes her decisions, but they respect that she never asks anyone to do something she wouldn't do herself. She still leads scavenging runs into the most dangerous ruins, believing a leader should face the same risks as her people.

Despite her success, Maya carries the weight of every person Haven couldn't save, every hard choice that cost lives. She keeps her father's multi-tool close, a reminder of the world that was lost and the hope that something better can be built from its ashes. She's building more than just a settlement—she's trying to prove that humanity can learn from its mistakes, that cooperation can triumph over chaos. Some days she believes it. Other days, looking out at the toxic wastelands, she wonders if she's just delaying the inevitable. But she'll keep fighting either way, because that's what Ravens do—they survive.