Resistance: A Story in an Alt-History Version World War II Occupied Europe

[Urbanzorro]

I.C.

For the vast majority of World War II the outcome of the conflict was anything but certain it took many good decisions on the part of allied leadership, bad decisions on the part of the Axis leaders, and more than a fair share of luck for World War II to end the way it did....  But history is a fragile thing, a thin chain of events with each link entirely dependent on the last and equally vital to all that will follow. Any change, any break in the chain, no matter how small can have drastic, far reaching, and near limitless consequences.

This story will be set in a reality where just such a change has occurred, where the chain of historical events as we know it has been irrecoverably broken. Where the outcome of World War II and the fate of the entire world is no longer set in stone. The following is an abbreviated and simplified timeline of major events that have taken place in this timeline.

The When

July 1940
Events have thus far transpired in an identical manner to our world's timeline.

August 1940
24: Clear skies insure that all German bombing missions strike their intended targets there are no bombs dropped on Coventry or any other major British population center.
Luftwaffe air operations continue to be targeted at RAF airfields and fighter wings.
30: With RAF fighter command strained to the breaking point Winston Churchill orders the bombing of Berlin as a desperate gambit to goad Hitler into changing the focus of his air campaign and give RAF fighter command much needed time to regain its footing.


September 1940
7: Hermann Goring manages to dissuade Hitler from making a major misjudgement and shifting the Luftwaffe's focus from the RAF airfields to London. His success means that the RAF's airfields and fighter wings remain the Luftwaffe's primary targets in the Battle  of Britain.
8-17: The Luftwaffe continues to pressure RAF fighter command the number of British Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters, as well as the pilots and airports needed for them continues to drop daily. In desperation the RAF begins to refit and modify its remaining bombers and air transports in the hopes of using them as flying anti-aircraft batteries.
18: The Luftwaffe launches a massive air raid aimed at destroying the final RAF airbases still in working order and wiping out the RAF fighter wings once and for all.  Three hours of near continuous air combat ensues.  When the dust finally settles the RAF is not completely destroyed but its numbers are so small that it no longer poses a strategic threat to German air operations.
19: Preparation of forces for Operation Sea Lion, the Nazi plan for the invasion of Britain, begins. Churchill declares that Britain will "Never fall."
21: In order for it to take part in the upcoming offensive, the battleship Tirpitz,  is pushed into early completion at the cost of some minor combat systems and much of the ships planned crew accommodations. Alongside it's sister ship, the Bismarck, the Tripitz and its escort fleet make for German held French ports near the English Channel. 
22-24: Allied spies report ever growing numbers of German soldiers in Bruges, Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne,  Cherbourg, and Le Havre

23: Reacting to word that Germany's two largest battleships are making way for the coast of France the Royal Navy sends several battleships including the HMS Hood to attempt to intercept them.
24: Royal Navy ships attempt to engage and sink the Bismark and Tripitz roughly 30 nautical miles off the coast of France. The HMS Hood, and HMS Prince of Wales are sunk during the engagement. Enjoying heavy fighter cover from nearby airfields the German battleships are un-phased by the horribly out of date torpedo bombers launched from several RAF carriers.
26: Operation Sea Lion takes place one day ahead of schedule in order to take advantage of exceptionally good weather. Landings are made near Ramsgate, Dover, Bexhill, Brighton, Ventnor, and Lyme Regis.
29: Despite determined fighting by British and Allied land forces, and a nearly successful attack on the German beachheads by the Royal Navy the German invasion continues to gain ground


October 1940
4: The first advance elements of German Army Group A enter London's Suburbs. The British government begins to prepare to evacuate London
17: Under the protection of The Royal Navy, British transport and cargo ships begin to evacuate as much of Britain's population as possible.
24: The final elements of the Allied ground forces in Britain have either evacuated, surrendered, or been defeated
30: The British, Free French, Polish, Belgian, and other Allied governments in exile seek and find sanctuary within the United States

November 1940
1: With winter quickly approaching and the possibility of any real counter attack unlikely Germany begins to fortify its new holdings.

December 1940-February 1947
Years pass, while technically at war, the United States and Germany both seem unwilling to launch a major offensive action. The Atlantic proves thus far to simply be too large an obstacle to overcome. A time of near Cold War envelops the globe. As the United States and the Allies attempting to regroup and prepare for what will undoubtedly be a massive undertaking. Germany solidifies its hold on Western Europe crushing all but the most stubborn and inconsequential resistance within all of the occupied countries. And the Soviet Union frantically attempts to prepare for the time when Germany will turn its eyes to the East and they will be forced to defend the Motherland.

March 1947
5: Germany initiates Operation Barbarossa, thousands of German soldiers storm across the Soviet Border and their campaign shows no signs of being stopped
23: With news of the war in the East hope begins to form in occupied Europe that the Allies will choose this time to strike and liberate Europe from the Nazis. With this hope comes the first whispers of once again forming organized resistance to the Nazi occupation.

The Where

Nazi Occupied Paris

Once the city of lights, love, and art, Paris is now the central headquarters for all German occupation forces within western Europe. Second only to Berlin in it's importance to Germany's chain of command. Under the Nazis and their puppet French government have Paris has turned into a nightmarish vision of soldiers, guns, tanks, jackboots, and Nazi banners.

The sight of SS and Wehrmacht troops walking the streets of Paris is now a common one. The sounds of raids on the houses of 'anti-party agitators' can be heard in many corners of the city on an almost daily basis.  And  news of the disappearance of anyone but the most staunch Nazi supporter can only mean that they will never be seen or heard from again. 

In the time that they have occupied Paris, the Nazis have turned it into a city of the fearful ruled by evil.

[Urbanzorro]

O.O.C.
Ok, so if you're reading this then I'm guessing you either A. read through the entire IC post and are interested or B. Skipped ahead to this post. Either way I'll go ahead and state a few things about what sort of game this will be upfront before going into things like character sheets, necessary numbers for game start, ect.

1. This game will be set in an alternate reality where a very different version of world events has taken place.
2. This game will be freeform
3. This game will focus on the freedom fighters and resistance fighters in occupied Paris with the possibility of players being allowed to take the role of Nazis in another theater of the occupation should enough interest in that aspect of the idea be shown.
4.  Ideally I'm looking for between 4-8 players but I'm open for more if I can have some help from someone who is willing to be an assistant GM

Well...now that we got THAT mess out of the way I'll move on to some more interesting details, after you read what follows you should have a very firm idea of whether this game is for you or not ;D


The Setting
Obviously the game is set in an altered version of the past. That having been said when I started writing this up and planning it out I was very torn between taking an extremely realistic approach to the story or taking things in a more Inglorious Bastards/Drive In Movie sort of feel. What finally came out is something that I hope takes the good aspects of both possibilities while leaving out the bad.

With that in mind you should know right now that your characters may encounter 'super weapons' and byproducts of Nazi experiments such as genetically engineered doomtroopers, 'wonder weapons,' ect. BUT they will also encounter many of the real world aspects of Germany's occupation of Europe. Such as gestapo agents, and even real world historical figures such as General Montgomery, General Erwin Rommel, ect.   

It should also be noted that the actions your character's take will have strong effects on the world around them. I.E. if your character and those around them develop a reputation for brutality German soldiers will begin to fear them, and perhaps special units will be deployed to hunt them down or other events may take place.


Player Characters
As far as what I'm looking for when it comes to player characters' back stories I'm very open to almost any kind of character back story you can come up with so long as it is realistic and fits in with the setting. I reserve the right to ask for any changes to player characters that I may deem necessary (don't worry odds are it won't come up).

Each player character will be part of a cell of the resistance movement each cell will consist of about 10-15 men/women strong with between 2-4 of them being player characters and the others being player controlled minor characters who are pretty much nameless/faceless NPCs under player control rather than the GM.  My reason for doing this is to allow players a bit of flexibility as far as what their characters do/what campaigns they take part in. I'll allow the cells to be lead by a player character should anyone want to be a leader and if not I'll NPC those spots. Once we get a list of players/characters I'll allow players to form cells/decide who they want to be cellmates(superpun!) with.

Unless this game turns out much larger than I think it will we will most likely only have 1 or 2 cells.


Interacting with the World
In order to balance out having an overarching story as well as allowing players a bit of freedom I'm going to try something a bit different than my normal games.

There will be three 'campaigns' each one focused on a different aspect of the German occupation. Without giving too much away I can say that the first will focus on attempting to disrupt the war against Russia, the second will focus on weakening the Nazi hold on western Europe, and the third will focus on unearthing several secret projects being run by the Nazis. When players are taking part in the campaigns I (as the GM) and any assistant GMs will be the only ones to control the German/Nazi forces player character's encounter. In order to keep things orderly and to keep us from having to edit over and over I ask that when player characters take action towards the Germans/Nazis during the 'campaigns' they state what their character does ONLY. I.E. stick to statements such as "my character shoots at the German soldier, aiming for his head" rather than "My character shoots and hits the German soldier in his head" If there are any questions about this feel free to ask.

When characters are not taking part in one of the 'campaigns' there will be another thread or two (depending on the number of players) set aside purely for player character interaction. Such as two characters becoming lovers and enjoying this fact in between missions. When playing in this area players are allowed a bit of control over the Germans/Nazis around them in order to help craft scenes/side stories/ect. So long as players don't add new types of German soldiers/control large amounts of them/do other things that would disrupt or alter the setting.


Death
I haven't decided whether or not I want to allow player character death. I'll be accepting votes on this during the game's recruiting phase (see character sheets)

Realism

I'd like to stress that I'm going for an air of realism here. That doesn't mean that your character's wont encounter weapons and enemies that scientifically can't exist but it does mean that your characters should act like real people and have the limitations of real people. I.E. if your character finds them self holding only a pistol and surrounded by an entire squad of German soldiers they should not be able to shoot their way out and unless they are truly bloodthirsty and don't care about dying they probably wouldn't try. Surrendering to the Germans doesn't mean that your character is out of the game nor does it mean that the game ends for you until others free you. It just means your character's story takes a slightly different path for a time.


If you've read all of the above and you're still interested feel free to say so on the thread. Anyone interested in playing a Nazi/German can say so here too. Also if anyone is interested in taking on an assistant GM roll please send me a pm.

[Urbanzorro]

Here is the character sheet and I hope to see your character soon!!

Code Select Expand


[b]Image:[/b] It can be a picture, painting, drawing, or anything else
[b]Details:[/b] Anything not shown in the image that you would like to include in your character's looks
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Biography:[/b] Who is your character? I'm not going to set limits on how long this can be but please bear in mind that I'd like to see some effort and that if there turn out to be more applications than there are open slots I'll choose characters/players on who I think will fit best in the game.
[b]Personality:[/b] How does your character treat others? What are their quirks? Ect.
[b]Player Limits:[/b] What you under no circumstances want to have happen to your character
[b]Death?[/b] Do you vote for death being a possibility? All you need to do is simply answer yes or no, but if you want to explain your answer it would also be quite welcome.


[RubySlippers]

Image:

Details: Has a natural pubic mound and has a small book of the biblical book of proverbs and psalms in her pocket a compact book of fine leather in the French language.

Name: Rosemond St.Marie

Age: 21

Biography: A woman born in France of both German and French heritage, her father is currently an officer in the German military in the Vichy France mechanized infantry a General of some respect on the German side. Her mother is an elected official overseeing the education system in Paris through the transition. Her two brothers work in the French factories as skilled tradesman deemed to important to draft both being master machinists. Rosemond a new university graduate under the Nazi regime joined the French Nazi Party and  took a postion in the government overseeing proper education of French children being well regarded for her work although she herself is a professed pacifist, she has no issue serving in a non-military capacity. She in public is the ideal of the ideals of the German government a French citizen openly loyal to the new regime, educated properly and one that adapted to the new system. The fact her family serves in key roles and are good French allies are noted as well in fact her fathers position provides many advantages for her. In private she supports though the liberation of her nation and is far from a pacifist although she is not the part of the armed resistance her ability to move in the elite circles and regard she has makes her a fine informant. American military intelligence classifies her a major asset and the cell she is in knows of her work feeding valuable information to the allies. She is fluent in English, German, Russian and naturally French plus Latin part of her very classical education.

Personality: In public is a good Nazi of the French wing of the party, loyal, devoted to the new society and a fine public speaker she is the face of the German policy makers to the young people of France. She is openly a pacifist although not to anger the superiors she just notes her personal conviction is violent war is socially negative but until there is a one world government under the German ideals, peace is not something to be striving for but an end to violence. Kind of simple message you can only have peace by there being no further opposition in the world and Communism and Capitalism are both failed systems to the superiority of the Fascist ideal. In private she is all for blowing the German invaders and the Nazi Rregime off the face of the planet but as a social asset is not likely to risk combat herself being content as the role of imformation collector (she has made friends in the German military and even the Gestopo when she fed them information on traitors - planted evidence on real collaborators to get them eliminated). She is a homosexual but hides that not that anyone would go after her, thankfully she is for now useful to the Germans and very discrete plus among the elite of the government families (its good as an example to the rest of the French of the benefits of joining the German side and the puppet government).

Player Limits: Ummmm, not sure going to a death camp wouldn't be fun for me.

Death? No.

Just to add a note if anyone wants to play a Jewish woman she would likely pay for her work from the German Government it was not unheard of in return for work in her home and being her sexual outlet, and it would give you an excuse to be operating in Paris and not relocated. Your papers would show you work for her and is legal. Yes you can also be in the Resistance just not in her cell, that could make things interesting odds are one cell would not know she is not a collaborator, likely she would look like one and a major one. Just a possibility of one wants a bit of extra roleplaying as a challenge.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

I am giddy at the weird synchronicity of this, as I was gently trying to nudge an undirected 'let's do something spylike' game elsewhere towards a Maquis/Resistance setting...And the last time I mentioned Maquis to a group of gamers I got asked why I was bringing 'Star Trek' into a WW2 setting.  :'(

For purposes of developing a character history, may I ask if the Spanish Civil War went relatively 'historically' in your setting? Including the participation/interference of Germany and Russia?

[Flash Gorden]

This sounds absolutely fantastic... Maybe this time I can be in one of your RPs and actually have it work out, Urbanzorro. I'll work on a character sheet soon.

[Kendra]

The attention to detail is great and I am definitely throwing my interest cap in.
Will sort through a character sheet as soon as I can and post it up.
Awesome idea ;)

[MagicalPen]

I'll throw my hat in on this one too. I spent 10 years on a WW2 Forum and once ran a very successful WW2 Game (a fictional attack on a Sicilian town by the 82nd PIR - with heavy casualties thanks to some Panzergrenadiers) and have had a few WW2 themed games on here.

Are we just sticking to those 3 theatres - Russia, France, and Secret Projects? I was thinking of creating some sort of Scottish/Irish or English character...

[TheGlyphstone]

This does look like it could be a lot of fun, though it's the 'weirdness' aspect that draws me most...I like alt-histories that involve the supernatural. You said such things wouldn't necessarily be front and center, but would it be possible to play a character tied to the supernatural? A Gypsy fortune-teller/seer/soothsayer, for example, possessing actual precognitive powers of some degree and/or other mystical talents. Or an ex-pat German scientist, who abandoned the Nazis after discovering the horrific rituals they were invoking and joined the Resistance as shelter against being hunted and killed for his knowledge.

[Urbanzorro]

@ RubySlippers: Character approved ;D

@CarnivalOfTheGoat: Yes the Spanish civil war did take place in accordance with reality's timeline

@Flash Gorden: Can't wait to see your character

@Kendra: Can't wait to see yours too ;D

@Eeyore: All 3 campaigns will actually be taking place in occupied France with a focus on Paris. That having been said there are dozens and dozens of reasons why an Irishman or a Scotsman would have been in Paris when the Germans attacked. 

@ TheGlyphstone: I'm thinking that the former German scientist would fit in quite well, though a gypsy might work to if done right

[Question Mark]

Details: Average height and healthy build.  Not too muscular or strong, but very fast.

Name: Adolf L Müller

Age: 31

Biography: Adolf was born in the Spring of 1916 in the heart of Berlin.  His parents worked an independent business building and repairing farm equipment, but had been drafted into weapons manufacture by the German government to support the war effort.  His mother was killed in the worker riots several months after he was born, and his father was put out of work, unable to hire a replacement with the military controlled labor forces.  Adolf grew up in poverty, living in a small town on the outskirts of Berlin.  In his teenage years, Adolf earned some renown as a long-distance runner.  He competed in several foot races in Berlin to help support his father and brothers.

He was employed as a factory worker as a young adult, still cultivating his running in his free time.  When Hitler first began campaigning for government positions, he visited one of Adolf's races as a publicity event.  Adolf ended up coming in second after tripping in the last hundred meters.  Nonetheless, Hitler congratulated him in person, using his tenacity as a runner as an allegory for the German people.  For many years, Adolf would remember that day as the pinnacle of his life.

Some years later, with the Third Reich in power and the shadow of war looming on the horizon, Adolf eagerly quit his factory and joined the German army, training as infantry.  He was stationed in Paris, often carrying messages between military checkpoints, or serving as military police, keeping the peace and breaking up cells.  He was rotated out and served in the Spanish Invasion, living on a major base some miles north of occupied Madrid.  Several years later, Adolf requests to be sent back to Paris were finally accommodated.  He was sent back to Paris in the fall of 1946.

Personality: TBD.

Player Limits: None.  I wouldn't join a RP if I had limits.

Death? Yes, obviously!  If you're going for a realistic approach, PC death should not only be allowed, it should be expected.  Maybe not immediately, but we're not exactly frolicking in a sorority house.  This is occupation.  People die.

[TheGlyphstone]

@ TheGlyphstone: I'm thinking that the former German scientist would fit in quite well, though a gypsy might work to if done right

Well, with two German characters already submitted, that might not be such a good idea. Howbout, instead, a Soviet spy infiltrated into Paris to link up with the Resistance and help cause havoc? Do the other factions (Allies, Soviets, etc.) have Weird Stuff of their own, resulting in some sort of minor mystical trinket/artifact that this agent provocateur could have been issued?

[EvilEye]

Details: She is 5'0ft tall and weighs barley 100pounds, her clothing style is more vintage comfort or at times vintage punk.

Name:Blue Smith

Age:19

Biography: Blue was born to her french mother and American dad in the USA, her mom was Jewish and raised Blue to be that way until her dad died when Blue was 3, a year later her mom committed suicide. She was then taken in by her Aunt Jen, a Jewish spy on the Allies side. By the time the Blue was 8 she had mastered basic spy skills. When Blue was 10 her and her Aunt moved to France, Blue was a christian at this point even though her Aunt wasn't, and Blue went to church every Sunday. Somehow German soldiers found out that Jenalen White (Blue's Aunt) was a spy and Blue had to run to her Aunts friend and fellow Spy. Mr. Johnson, he became her dad and for the past nine years lived peacefully while going to school and becoming one of the youngest full fledged spys.

Personality: Blue is a very shy person by nature and often jumps very easily but she is kind, sweet and innocent. When she get angry she has no problem hitting someone, When she is sad she wont cry but her eyes and body language becomes lifeless. She lives by the motto 'treat others how you want to be treated, unless they are German killers then deceive.' so she is protective, sweet, kind, and honorable to most and to Germans she is cold and polite but never outright mean.

Player Limits: There isn't anything I can think of.

Death? Yes, but not right away give it time.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Details:
She is 5'1, of mixed French and Castilian Spanish ancestry, weighs perhaps a hundred-fifteen pounds but doesn't look it (muscle is dense)

Name:
Monique Chevalier-de Calderón

Age:
26

Biography:
Born in Paris in 1920, Monique is a product of a highly moralistic and socialist upbringing. Her uncle on her mother's side, Lope Aguilar, took her to her first ComIntern meeting when she was twelve, and she has been a member of the Young Communist International ever since. An avid student, she was raised speaking French and Castilian Spanish and learned passable English at an early age. She was always something of a tomboy, being an avid tree climber, swimmer and occasional brawler, much to her parents' chagrin.

In July of 1936, her uncle Lope, concerned about the decaying situation, returned to Spain to visit Monique's Grandmother. Monique, in an impressive display of disobedience even given her known precociousness, managed to sneak out and convince him to take her along. Monique's Grandmother was a member of the Spanish branch of the Comintern (SRI) and had already volunteered as a nurse. They arrived at her Grandmother's house in Madrid just in time to accompany the elderly lady to a local SRI rally. The mood of the rally was electric, tense with awareness that open revolution was imminent. Monique had been raised in a Red family, but this was the first time that she really felt she could see the future of the Party, and the way towards the better world which her parents had always talked about.

The Coup began the next day, and, it was clear that there would be no train back to Paris. Lope joined other men of the Comintern and Republican-supporters when Giral gave the order for the opening of the armories and the distribution of weapons among the civilian population. Monique's Grandmother had registered with the IRA (ComIntern red cross) as a nurse, and Monique refused to be left behind, and once at the aid station her grandmother was appointed to, Monique set about making herself useful.

Unfortunately, the aid stations did see immediate use. When the newly armed civilian Republican loyalists put down the Nationalist troop insurrection in Madrid that week, Lope was killed. Monique found herself accompanying her grandmother (a woman whose stubborness may well have been the source of Monique's own) when the sixty-year old woman joined other members of the ComIntern, bandaging the wounded and ministering to the dying.

The Republicans controlled most of the Southwest of Spain but were barely holding onto Madrid. In the night, the sound of cannon in the distance never truly ceased. Rumors came that the Nationalists were about to invade, food became scarce in the city and several units were mustered by various Republican groups including anarchist and communist regiments. As the month wore on, Monique's grandmother appeared to become convinced (as many residents did) that the fall of Madrid was imminent. She encouraged Monique to find a way out.

On July 31st the SRI ComIntern announced the formation of the Batallón Femenino del 5th Regimiento de Milicias Populares - the Fifth People's Militia Regiment's Women's Battalion. Monique was far from the only fifteen-year old girl that day who lied about her age and received a uniform and a rifle. The women were trained alongside the men, receiving the same drills and the same weapons, and within a month Monique found herself in the front lines, bitterly holding to the shallow trenches West of the city, and by the end of the year falling back into the city itself, contesting the Nationalists and their German and Italian Fascista allies street by street and house by house. Monique had discovered a new skill; she was an exceptionally calm and collected rifle shot, and while never trained in the art of sniping she became a fairly successful self-taught hunter of Nationalist officers. Some evenings, she received permission to visit her weary grandmother. The elderly woman was being worn down even as the city was. There were too many deaths at the stations; the bodies were stacking up, and medical supplies were few and far between.

By the end of the year, Monique was a dedicated veteran of the Spanish Red Army, so used to the grindingly incessant combat and the never-ending exchange of gunfire along the trenches of the front line that she could sleep through a German air raid or an artillery salvo. The city of Madrid was divided and surrounded, and would remain so until the end of the war. Monique celebrated her sixteenth and seventeenth birthdays among her comrades in the trenches.

By 1938, the majority of the Batallón Femenino had broken up and become interspersed with other Red brigades (as had many other units due to casualties). Although she held no official rank, Monique became an outspoken and recognized representative of the Communist International Brigades and local SRI fighters in her zone, frequently traveling back and forth between the front and the Salamanca district where the Republican army headquarters were located. She spoke often on behalf of other troops left leaderless in the chaotic tangle created by the absorption of the myriad different international and militia units and the loss of officers during the long siege. Her grandmother, who had been in the ComIntern since its founding, wrote several letters to the immediate staff, urging them to give more attention to integrating the fragmented brigades, and Monique, who delivered the letters, found herself sharing in some of the respect which her grandmother's name and Party rank commanded in the ComIntern.

In this,she was particularly fortunate. When the ComIntern evacuated its officers from Madrid in the spring of 1939, she accompanied the Socialist Prime Minister Negrín and his Russian advisors on one of the last flights out of the doomed city. While Negrín stayed in France, he urged her to go on with his advisors who were returning to Russia. France, he said, would soon face the same struggles as Spain, and if Monique truly wished to serve the Party, she would learn more in Moscow than she ever had in Madrid.

Moscow was amazing and terrible. Monique narrowly avoided being made a public hero of the Party, but Negrín's erstwhile advisors, now her guardian angels, suggested that to do so would ruin her for the work they had in mind. She was carefully questioned. The Party was in the process of being strengthened against the needful work to come. Loyalty was an issue. More than a quarter of the Congress of the ComIntern itself had been found disloyal for numerous reasons. Antisocialists, subversives, saboteurs, Trotskyites and factionalists. Did she know any of these people? Not in her Party, Comrade. She had fought among honest workers, loyal to the death, and killed Fascists. One of the other survivors of the 5th Regiment was its Commissar, and he supported her, to her credit.

After several weeks the questioners and their questions suddenly became different. What did she want to do now? Did she wish to return to Paris? Would Monique accept further training to aid the Party? The GRU had smoothly stepped in and snatched her from the jaws of the NKVD wolf, and now proposed that she repay them by undertaking to become one of the new stalwarts of the Party, trained not only to better aid her comrades in the event of Fascist attack upon France, but also to ensure their loyalty by careful communication with Moscow. Her new teachers carefully established for her which doctrines and behaviors were signs of the Trotskyite, the spy, and the subversive. She was educated in the use of dead drops, encryption and decryption, hidden signals and the use and repair of radio-telegraphy sets. She was assigned to the tutelage of men who refined her shooting skills, not only with the rifle but also with the pistol, who taught her the use of the knife and tricks of sabotage. She became moderately capable of expressing herself in Russian but still frequently had to fall back to French. That was fine, they said. It would be just as well if she were not to add a Muscovite accent to her Parisienne French.

Monique returned to France in July of 1939, and promptly found herself all but ousted from the Parti Communiste Français. They were quite aware of where she had been, and (quite rightly) suspicious that her coming heralded a Stalinist interest in the French communist political scene. She was gently isolated from all but the most set-piece events and carefully fed only those elements of PCF policy and discussion which her handlers felt Moscow would want to hear.

Due to this mistrust, when the Wehrmacht invaded France, Monique was not assigned to any of the PCF groups, and continues to be shunned by them. She has rather sulkily determined exactly where she stands, but is determined to do right by the Party and has simply tried to find other members of the Resistance who would accept her aid and assistance.

Monique has been employed now for four years as 'Monique Boucher' (who has a fairly well-established identity now, with correct papers), a waitress at the restaurant in Hôtel Meurice. She is careful to not learn too much German, and is getting fairly good at being just competent enough to avoid being fired without standing out as either too smooth or too clumsy. Alas, the Wehrmacht guarding the Hôtel do not make her life easier, being careful to ensure that she enters only the restaurant and not the Hôtel. She has effectively decided that, despite the immediate proximity of Paris' Wehrmacht headquarters, pending some hour of great need, her 'work' must be kept entirely separate from her 'vocation'.

Personality:
Monique is a passionate, if somewhat stubborn and willful young woman who is far more concerned with results than with appearing ladylike. She can be a firebrand when the mood is on her, but she is capable of biting her lip and swallowing her pride in order to do what the Party requires of her. (She's rather given to lip-biting, particularly when flustered. It might even be considered cute so long as people don't realize that she's not hesitant or unsure but rather is restraining herself.) Her experience makes her an asset to any resistance cell that will tolerate her, but of course there is that little business of her trip to Russia...Something that, should it come to German attention along with her correct name, would most likely result in extensive interrogation followed by a bullet.

Player Limits:
I'd prefer it if she was excused from any sort of painful torture or abuse scenes happening on-screen. I'm not against mixing a bit of pain with pleasures...not at all! But under the circumstances I fear that it would be all the former and none of the latter.

Death?:
Cake!

Er...I'm not opposed to death, but as someone else has already mentioned, would prefer if it didn't happen straight out of the starting gate.

Oh my head this is huge. I'm sorry. I think I got carried away.

[Urbanzorro]

@Question Mark: I assume your character is meant to be part of the resistance?
@EvilEye: Character Approved
@CarnivalOfTheGoat: Character approved and I'd rather have carried away then not interested any day ;D
@TheGlyphstone: What sort of trinket do you have in mind?

[TheGlyphstone]

@TheGlyphstone: What sort of trinket do you have in mind?

Honestly, I have no idea. Something small but useful, but I'm more concerned with not dragging in something you hadn't intended on the Weird Side out of the blue. If, say, the Soviets are pursuing Tesla's lightning-bolt weaponry tech, there'd be very different stuff coming out of their WR&D than if they were training sorcerers to conjure old Russian myths into life to defend them. It'd be something relatively minor in any case - say, a hollow egg with an endless supply of smoke inside, like a reusable smoke grenade - but I was more concerned with making it Russian-appropriate for this version of the setting. I've got a fairly good vision of the character in my head aside from this bit, but I wanted to get it hammered out first.

[Question Mark]

@Question Mark: I assume your character is meant to be part of the resistance?

Haven't really figured it out yet.  I've been waiting to see what other characters join and their inclinations, as well as where and how the RP starts, before trying to nail down Adolf's persuasions.  Either way though, he'll obviously have strong interactions with the resistance....   Whether he's persecuting or helping depends, like I said, entirely on how the RP starts and what the character composition is like.

[MagicalPen]

Details: Conner is Black Irish - Black hair, pale skin, and freckles. A toned, athletic body completes his 5'11" height. He has no distinguishing marks or tattoos.

Name:Conner O'Fearghail

Age: 23 years old

Biography: Conner heralds from Cork, in Ireland. He became interested in Cars from a very early age along with Irish Independence. It was as he was training as a Car Mechanic that he was also trained in the use of explosives and sabotage, meeting with some shady characters in Ireland. With the Spanish Civil War in full swing, he decided to see if he could see some action, traveling to France as part of a race-car showcase. He snuck over the border into Spain and managed to get some first hand experience before slipping back over into France.

Continuing in Southern France with his group, he was caught unawares when hostilities broke out. Deciding it was time to head home before the War came to France, Conner headed back towards Northern France. But the German Advance was far too swift - far quicker then anyone could have expected - and Conner found himself stuck in France. Since he was a virtual nobody, there was no hope for him to get aboard a ship to head for the coast of England.

Stuck in France, he's decided to put his recently acquired skills to use against the German kind of Nazis (as opposed to the Spanish). It didn't take long for him to find some like minded individuals.

Personality: Conner likes his drink and good times, but not nearly as much as he likes cars and blowing things up. He knows he needs to play it cool and has recently started to look at things in a long-term goal kind of way.

Player Limits: There isn't anything I can think of.

Death? Yes, but not right away give it time.

[Urbanzorro]

@Everyone: all the characters look great and we should be hitting game start soon, so I'm asking if anyone wants to be the leader of a cell, if not I've got some npcs ready to fill said slots ;D

@Eeyore: character approved

@TheGlyphstone: I should have some info for you soon

[TheGlyphstone]

Okeydoke.

[Urbanzorro]

@Everyone: Below are the three leaders of the resistance. Each one will focus on a different campaign with Leonard focusing on disrupting supply lines to the Russian front, Helen focusing on eliminating Nazi research projects, and Christophe focusing on weakening the Nazi grip on occupied Europe.  Also, given the number of player characters I'm thinking that 2 cells will be a good number. SO I'm asking if anyone wants to be the leader of one of the cells and what cell they'd like to be a part of. So everyone please post up here saying if you want to be in cell 1 or 2 and if you want to be a cell's leader or not. Also please try and keep an even split of the number of players in each cell.
-Thanks




Resistance Leadership


Leonard Lanester: There is nothing more crippling to the human spirit then life under Fascism
Age: 24
When Leonard speaks there is only one word that pops into the minds of those who hear him. "Idealist" Which Leonard is through and through. He firmly believes that the Nazi regime and Fascism itself are evil ideas and should not be allowed to grow in any corner of the world.  With that thought firmly in his mind Leonard tends to be involved in any actions focused on stopping the spread of Fascism. 



Helen: The monsters will pay...they will pay until you, I, and everyone else they wronged are satisfied.
Age: Unknown, Late 20's-Early 30's
Even though she says she's just a French born Jewish woman, Helen's accent speaks of Central European heritage and the small string of numbers tattooed on the inside of her right wrist speaks of time spent in places best not thought of. Unsurprisingly enough Helen is a woman with hard cold eyes and a willingness to do anything needed to achieve her goals. She seems to have no mercy for any Nazis she encounters and harbors a special hatred for the SS, cells under her command have been known to target Nazi prisons, research labs, and other facilities that may be committing crimes against humanity.



Christophe Landry: This is our home! They have no right!
Age: 57
There are many words that Christophe could use to describe himself but one you will never hear escape his lips is "old."  Christophe was a Colonel in the French Army during The Great War and served with both honor and distinction. When the Nazis invaded France Christophe was actually on the SS death-squad lists because Nazi High Command feared he would prove to be a rallying point for resistance. When the SS teams arrived at Christophe's house to take him away all they found were empty rooms. Ever since that day Christophe and those under his command have been focused on one thing above all others. Removing the German occupation from their homeland.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

SO I'm asking if anyone wants to be the leader of one of the cells and what cell they'd like to be a part of. So everyone please post up here saying if you want to be in cell 1 or 2 and if you want to be a cell's leader or not. Also please try and keep an even split of the number of players in each cell.
-Thanks

I'm not sure if (given the three NPCs) you meant either of the two cells to be attached to any particular NPC. It'd seem unlikely (given her background) for Monique to be in a leadership role, though she would likely make a very strong lieutenant to another leader.

In terms of 'shared goals' I think she'd most likely be aligned to Christophe and possibly Helen. RL, the ComIntern actually activated most of the Soviet-aligned resistance cells as a way to force Germany to keep invested in France and even try to draw off troops from the Russian Front to keep the peace in France. It's debatable as to how well that worked, of course! But in any case, that would provide some possible tie-in to Leonard's goals...In short, Monique is malleable.

Yes, I know, it's like trying to get a group of people to decide on where to go to dinner and being told 'Oh, no preference! I can eat anything.'

[Urbanzorro]

I'm not asking to align with the npcs, right now I'm just asking playersto form two groups amongst themselvs, the npcs I listed are going to be the characters you interact with to gain info on new missions:) so for the sake of simplicity everyone pleas choose either group A or group B

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Thanks for clearing that up!

I suppose I'll start out group A then!

[CrazyIvan]

Image:
Details: He stands at around 6'-0" and weighs in at around 178lbs of mostly muscle. Has a burn mark/scar on his left arm from when his plane caught on fire and the engined burned his arm. Has a necklace that he always wears under his shirt that has two rings around it his wedding ring and his wife's wedding ring. Has a pipe on him that has several names carved into it as well as an American flag and a French flag.
Name: Richard "Ace" Chevalier (Nickname of "Wolf", was his call sign as a pilot, or "Old Dog" to some members of the resistance.)
Age: Mid to late 40s
Biography: Richard was born in American around the beginning of the 1900s, according to him, his records would say that he was born sometime in 1897, though it is likely they are a lie. He spent his first years in America growing up a son of french emigrant, father, and natural born American, mother. They lived near New York just outside of the city where his father worked at one of the factories. He spent his childhood learning both English and French, and can speak both perfectly, as well as both of their respective cultures. Though his father left France he was still a loyal Frenchman and loved his home country very much and only left because of his family. So Richard grew up swelling with pride both for America and France, so it was no surprise to his parents when he left America to go over to France when the World War 1 started, even though he did it without their permission.

He enlisted in the French Air Force, as his father worked on planes and he had learned a bit about them, lying about his age saying he was 19 years old so he was allowed to join. It took a few months of convincing, lying, and forgery to get them to agree to let him in and allow him to serve as a French soldier, it took even longer to become an air man. The training wasn't long or hard, the hard part was once again talking his way into it saying he had some experience at it. Eventually his hard work paid off and he was allowed to train with the other Frenchmen to become an airplane pilot. Even though he had no experience at it due to watching his father work on them he was a bit better then the rest and could actually fly and land without crashing.

He started out as a part of a squadron of escort fighter pilots that were used to cover ground movement and to stop bombers from hitting French soil. He was so excited at first to be part of the war effort and to be making a difference, but by the end of the 3rd encounter all the disillusion of war was gone and the cold, harsh realities of it were setting in. His squadron had already lost around half of the starting airplanes and the new recruits they kept getting lasted shorter and shorter, some didn't even make it through training. Eventually around his 10th mission he was an put in charge of his own squadron due to his skill, his experience, total flight time, and lack of personnel. He made his squad train harder then the rest to try and give them a fighting chance, still he lost men that he trusted and had bonds with on missions. By the end of the war he was an ace many times over and had been award several awards for his bravery, skill, and helping to save troops more then once on the ground. When he left he had two things to show for it once his scar on his left arm and two a pipe with the name of the living members of his air force squad engraved on it with both an American and French flag on it.

He was a still quite a young man at the end of the first world war, or has it was called then the great war or the war to end all others, and during his time had fallen in love with a French woman. The French government knew he was originally from America, but he was also have French and a war hero, and allowed him to stay and become a true French citizen. A few years later he married to a woman name Chloe, who he loved very much, and settled down working for the French Government and Air Force. It was hard for him to settle back down into the life of a civilian the horrors of war stick with you and shade everything you do for the rest of his life, and he was always thankful that Chloe was always by his side.

Though peace had fallen on Europe something was unsettling to him and he still paid close attention to the news, as there were those who said the war wasn't over merely on pause. During this time he also kept in touch with his parents back in America telling them of his new life and what was going on, turns out they had heard of him back there as he was in a newspaper. They were glad he was happy, wished him the best, and always reminded him to keep in touch and have some kids. His parents wishes would be granted two years later when Charles, named after his grandfather, was born and two more years later Eliane, named after Chloe's mother, was born. It seemed for awhile everything was going great and nothing could go wrong.

His children grew up without the horrors of war and old sometimes heard stories about the first one from their father. Richard also still kept in touch with both his old squad mates and other old war buddies he had made during the first war. He didn't think another could come, but he was always ready for it, ready to defend his homeland and more important his wife and kids. Though the signs of another conflict on the horizon grew strong as 1930 rolled around and he watched the news roll out of Germany.

He knew what might come and began preparing for the worst and even urged his kids, in around 1936~37, that they should go off and stay with their grandparents in America for awhile. It took some convincing on his part to get them to see his reasons and if nothing else do it to reassure him, but eventually they left for America in late 1937. He stayed behind along with Chloe to prepare for the worst that was coming and started pulling some strings in the government and with some of his old friends to get some things ready. The government was head strong and thought nothing would break through the their defensive line towards the Germany, but they hadn't expected the Germans to come from around. France didn't have a chance as Germany quickly enter and swept over France, Richard was anger but waited for the right time and got in contact with his friends to help start a resistance, turns out one was already forming and they were glad to have him.

Over the next years he helped out in ways he could still remain out of things directly, not wanting to endanger his life or his wife's anymore then it had to be, as he was already watched. In 1943 however the SS tracked him down and took his wife in an attempt to force him out of hiding and force her to talk against him, though she never did and died loyal to him. He tried his best to rescue her, but failed and watched as she was shoot in the head be a Nazi soldier, all her has left of her is his memories and his ring. He now is actively involved in the French Resistance and wants to see the Nazi Pigs driven out of his homeland and pay for what they did to his wife.
Personality: He is cool and somewhat cold to others as he has lost a lot of people in his life and doesn't want to get close to others. He is wise and has a lot of experience fighting and can teach much to those who want to listen. He has given up on trying to constantly correct what people do wrong in fights as they will either listen and live or dying an stubborn fool. He is surprisingly willing to change and adapt to new things and loves to learn and experience new things. He loves to read; play music, mostly classical on his violin; and do quiet things by himself. He is hard to scare and can be very commanding when he wants to be, which isn't very often. He is plagued by nightmares and talks/screams lightly in his sleep and sometimes shakes while awake when he remembers certain things. Very rarely talks about his past or anything personal very down to business kind of guy.
Player Limits: Can't think of any at the moment
Death? Dying is easy, living is hard. So yes, adds more depth, risk, and realize to all the actions we do or encounter.


As a side note is I know Christophe Landry and tell me if my character needs work.

[EvilEye]

Group B! just because I can :)

[Urbanzorro]

@Crazy Ivan: Character approved, feel free to decide on a group for you to be part of.

[MagicalPen]

I will hop into Group A also. Not quite sure I'd make a good leader of the Cell, but will take the role if no one else will.

[CrazyIvan]

Well I guess I will go with Group B, since two others are in Group A and there is only one in Group B. As for a leader of a cell I think my character might make a good leader, so I will volunteer if no one else wants it as I would prefer someone else to be it. I have some internet restrictions right now and if the leader needs to post a lot I might have small delays, if that is fine then if no one else wants it I am okay with taking it.

[TheGlyphstone]

Details: Missing his left ear, has numerous small scars and burn marks along his arms. On one hand, he sometimes wears a heavy leather gauntlet lined with strips of metal and bearing small iron coils across the knuckles and back of the hand, that hums and crackles with energy.

Name: Sergei Soyuzovich

Age: 36

Biography: Sergei was born in Moscow, though to whom he or anyone else never knew. From birth, he was a ward of the state, growing up in one of Russia's many state-run orphanages. He was noted to be an unusually quiet child by the nuns who staffed the home, less prone to outbursts of crying or screaming than many children of his age, but was otherwise unremarkable. He was barely six years old when the great Red Revolution occurred and the Tsar was deposed in favor of a socialist republic, a political change which had close to no bearing on the young Sergei's life; as the child of unknown peasants, he and his peers were spared the horrors visited upon the youth of the nobility. Nonetheless, the change occurred just as the boy was beginning to develop an awareness of the world outside his home's walls, and so he grew into a boy, and then a man, instilled to the core with an unbreakable loyalty to the People and the State.

Fiercely, almost zealously patriotic, he enlisted in the army the day he turned sixteen and was officially an adult, choosing the surname 'Soyuzovich' (Son of the Union) to openly declare what he concerned to be his lineage and legacy. Again, he proved strangely unremarkable, to where the enlistment officer was on the verge of closing for the evening when he noticed the silent, red-bearded young man waiting in the corner. Originally assigned to an infantry battalion, Sergei lasted barely a year before a grim-faced and gruff man in a long black coat visited him one night after training, and asked if he wanted to truly serve the People on guard against enemies an army could not defeat. That was his introduction into the NKVD, becoming one of the Soviet Union's feared secret political enforcers, and he waged that war as energetically as he had drilled with his rifle. Again, he earned no promotions, seemingly forgotten or ignored by both superiors and potential rivals, until the Allied Powers went to war with Germany for the second time. While Hitler had nominally signed a non-aggression pact with the Stalin, the latter's paranoia had him convinced that the Nazi leader would eventually betray their pact, and so the Red Army began to mobilize once again.

While Poland dissolved into blood and rubble, and Germany systematically destroyed the Allied holdings in Europe and England, the Soviets continued to build, and the NKVD built alongside it. The State would need loyal sons and daughters, who would infiltrate Nazi territory and wait for the time when the inevitable German treachery was revealed, and those children of the Union with treason in their hearts would reveal themselves. They would need to be inconspicuous, disguisable and forgettable - all traits Sergei Soyuzovich had in spades, and so he enlisted again as a forward foreign agent, deployed deep into the heart of Nazi-ruled France where resistance groups still struggled loudly but often futilely against the occupation. In the guise of a GRU agent, he had barely been there a year, just starting to establish reliable ties with local insurgent groups, when Operation Barbarossa hit like a thunderbolt and proved Josef Stalin all too right. Now he works alongside one of the Parisian resistance cells, assisting them in their operations as a physically symbolic promise of potential Soviet aid to their cause once the Germans had been driven back or stalled.

Personality: Sergei prefers to listen than talk, taking in the words of others but valuing his own counsel primarily. He does not advertise it or admit to it, but unlike those he works alongside, he has no particular antipathy for the Nazis or Gestapo. As much as he considers their purge of the harmless Jews to be a waste of time and resources, his long indoctrination and service as a secret police enforcer against dissidents of his own nation temper any outrage he might muster for the German occupying forces. They are enemies and opponents, threats to his own nation that he will dispatch as quickly and brutally as any foe, but he does not hate them. What he hates, unquestionably, are traitors. To a man almost literally raised on the milk of loyalty and comradery, betrayal of one's friends and allies is a far greater crime than the worst physical atrocities. Anyone proven, or suspected, of being a mole among the Resistance would be lucky to escape him with just a bullet to the head - his training in the NKVD included a variety of harsh interrogation techniques, which he has no qualms or compulsions against using should it be necessary.

Player Limits: Not much that I can think of, though I reserve the right to change my mind later.

Death: If it means something - taking a random sniper bullet to the head would kinda suck, but I wouldn't refuse a semi-heroic sacrifice, or being killed by the inevitable mole/double agent, or anything else that'd contribute to the story beyond 'he's dead'.

[TheGlyphstone]

Since the groups are even right now, I'm fine with either one, but I'd much prefer whichever cell I end up with to be the one assigned to disrupting the German invasion of Russia (for obvious reasons). Since Carnival's character is in Cell A already, I'll pick that one; we can collectively drown out the protestations of the capitalist pig against working to defend the Union. ;D

Absolutely not a cell leader though.

[Kaiten]

Still looking for people? Cause WWII is one of my particular interest points.

[Kendra]

Urban I am so sorry - I'm going to have to pull my interest for now and hopefully will check in on it again when RL and other posts are so overwhelming.
Good luck with the game, I'll be lurking when I get a spare moment to see how it's going ;)

*hugs*

[RubySlippers]

I have no preference as to the cell but my character is heavily into the social and soft intelligence gathering side and would be bad in combat operations, that and if wounded having to explain to everyone where she got shot would be problematic. Her main mission is to feel intelligence to the allies and keep them apprised of goings on in the city, her connections to a cell would be supportive of that.

[Urbanzorro]

@Kaiten: I'm sorry to hear that, I know that RL can be quite hectic.

@Kendra: Sure ;D I'm still accepting but the deadline (once I get the start up threads posted) is approaching so I'd suggest you hurry

@RubySlippers: I've gone ahead and put you in group B so that things can be balanced. That doesn't mean that either group A or B will be more combat oriented. I'll be posting up a more in depth explanation of how the cells will work along with other stuff once I get the startup threads done ;D

@Question Mark: I'm going to have to ask that you align your character with the resistance simply because there is not enough interest in playing on the German side for it to be worth while to expand the game to encompass that as well. Thanks!

@ Everyone: Here's our player list & the Group A/B split as it is so far. I'd say we have enough players for start up so I'll begin working on the opening threads now. If anyone hasn't chosen a group by the time they go up I'll just add you into one or the other. ;D

Group A:
Monique Chevalier-de Calderón(CarnivalOfTheGoat)
Conner O'Fearghail(Eeyore)
Sergei Soyuzovich(TheGlyphstone)

Group B:
Blue Smith(EvilEye)
Richard "Ace" Chevalier(Sergei Soyuzovich(TheGlyphstone)
Rosemond St.Marie(RubySlippers)

Undecided
Adolf L Müller(Question Mark)

[TheGlyphstone]

I'm apparently Wolverine, because you've assigned me to both groups. :)

[CrazyIvan]

and my character is not controlled by me, but by another character played by another person. :)

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

and my character is not controlled by me, but by another character played by another person. :)

And he's not even your senior officer or handler, to crown the indignity!

[Kaiten]

Details: Tends to stay in civilian clothes most of the time, even during missions.
Name: Marcus Sorne
Age: 33
Biography: When speaking of his childhood years, Marcus tends to say "Simple, and that's all". Simple was truly the word as his childhood was certainly a plain one. He spent his early days on a farm in the American Mid-west. His days were spent farming, playing with his friends and tinkering with farm equipment and other things that his family had lying around. It was a pleasant life, which, unfortunately could not last forever. The country soon fell into ruin, and over time, even the farmers suffered, as their lands became plagued with horrible droughts. Marcus's family in particular was hit particularly hard as their entire land was left completely useless, forcing the family to flee with what little possessions they had left.

With little money and little ability to grant himself a job, Mrcus decided that it was better to leave, than just be another mouth to feed for his still struggling family. He turned to petty crime and made too many mistakes forcing him to continually evade the law, before he became desperate enough that he had to stow away on a cargo ship bound for Europe, as his only true means of escape.

Europe of course was no better. The great depression had been quite hard on the world, and Europe was not different in any way. He struggled hard to get whatever jobs he could to stay afloat, with the vain hope that he could do it, but the language barrier in many countries was hard to overcome. He eventually did overcome it, and even used it as a means to lie to employers who seemed to favor those of their own specific ethnicity. The depression however did not change, and eventually he didn't want to take anymore chances, and vied for a more permanent source of income rather than going from job to job.

So, through careful deliberation, and through some well versed lying, corroborated by fake papers, he headed to Britain and signed up with the army. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but soon he lived to regret it as war soon broke out. In his time in the British armed forces he had learned the power of the RAF. So when he heard of their bases falling, one by one, he knew that the fight would be a hard one. Though wary, he stayed determined to fight as hard as he could. It would not come to pass, as after a particularly gruesome battle against the invading Germans, he took a shrapnel burst to the leg and was taken captive, hauled off to a German POW camp to sit out the war. And sit out he did as news of Europe falling under the hammer of Nazi Germany soon spread throughout the land, fed to him and his compatriots to lower their morale.

Unable to take the abuse, he and a few others escaped, but were attacked midway by guards, leaving Marcus the only one to barely escape with his life. Using his lying skills and wit to blend into the occupied countries, he soon found himself in paris, carving out a small niche for himself and even dipping into criminal activities with a moderate inn as a front. Though he was now surviving, living with the survivor guilt of both the POW camp and the fall of Europe, soon festered a grudge within him. At his inn he would entertain any Nazi soldiers that would come knocking, but at other times, would often use his enterprise to target military installments, doing little true harm but enough to calm his nerves.

Though not truly connected to him by the Nazis, he was however discovered by an OSS agent... who saw him as a prime candidate. Considering the loathing he had for the Nazis, he soon accepted and his criminal enterprise, soon turned into a small scale espionage operation. Of course, at that point he mostly had to work alone, but soon gained a reputation, using his inn to supply and take care of injured resistance members, as well as a specialty in interrogation, using rather off means in order to get information.

Personality: Marcus is a rather confusing individual. He smiles and is gracious to those around him, but during operations that kind smile becomes more of anomaly, as in such a situation, it usually doesn't warrant that kind of smile. He has little care for his enemy and uses any means necessary in order to gain what he wants and isn't averted to A-moral activities.

Player Limits: I don't really have any limits, but I agree with TheGlyphstone's idea that a random quick death is a bit off.
Death? I think I might be ok with that.

I certainly wouldn't mind if he became a cell leader, since most people seem to just say that they will do it if noone else wants to.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Nice, Kaiten! OSS get all the really cool toys.

[NiceTexasGuy]

Wow, interesting concept.  I don't know how I missed this earlier.  Absolutely loved the background reading.

If you have room for one more character, I have an idea that is pretty much ready to go.  If not, I understand if you don't want things to get too unwieldy.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Heya NTG! Nice to see you again.

I think per UZ's response above that there may still be space open, but of course I can't speak for him. I do know he said:

the deadline (once I get the start up threads posted) is approaching so I'd suggest you hurry.

...two days ago. So IMHO you might, might want to just riff up a quick concept rather than waiting. Not because of any sillyness about forgiveness/permission but rather to show you have a character in mind and will be ready to go in time if the character is accepted.

[TheGlyphstone]

Minor note, but I'd kinda forgotten about the GRU being the foreign arm of the Soviet intelligence (I'd thought the NKVD was external while the KGB was internal, rather than them both being internal). So I changed up my backstory a smidgen...he's still NKVD, but with a second set of impeccable false documents identifying him as a GRU agent, in addition to his primary set of false identity papers that I haven't decided on yet. Maybe a Georgian nationalist who fled to Paris after the 1924 revolt was crushed...

[NiceTexasGuy]

Hello yourself, CotG, and thanks, nice to see you here also.  Don't worry, I'm not going to try to play Oddball the tank guy in this one, too.   ;D

Anyway, Senor Zorro, here's my character for your consideration:

*******

Image:

Details:

Name: Pyotr Illyich Chekhov (aka: "Peter" or Father Peter)

Age: 36 years old (in 1947)

Biography: The short version:  Pyotr is a Russian Orthodox priest, born and reared in the U.S.A. and educated in Paris.  He was studying in Paris when the Germans came and has lived there ever since.  He is vehemently anticommunist, but isn't too fond of the fascists either.

The longer version:  Pyotr's father is a Russian Orthodox priest, who left Russia for America long before the revolution. His mother is the product of a marginally Lutheran German father and a devout Roman Catholic French mother.  Pyotr's father went to America in response to a calling from his church, while the mother accompanied her family in search of opportunity.  They met in San Francisco which is where they made their home.  They never mastered each others language(s) and communicated via English in the home, but also retained ties to their respective ethnic communities within the big city.  By necessity, of course, Mom learned a bit of Russian when she converted to Orthodoxy (to marry Dad) and Peter grew up with a working knowledge of them all (English, Russian, German, and French) -- Russian because of his involvement in the Church, French and German because of his mother and visits to those countries during his youth.

He speaks English and Russian like a native, and is fluent in French, though he could never pass for a native.  Nor could he pass for a native German in most situations, but might get by for the short term if he faked a cold.  Thanks to the Spanish heritage of his native California and its relationship to French, he also knows a bit of Spanish, but not enough to be considered literate in that language.  Pyotr spent a great deal of his childhood in Europe visiting relatives in France and Germany. He, and everyone in his family, hates communism. Despite his many trips to Europe, he has never been to his father's native Russia.

Just because it was planned he would follow in his father's footsteps and enter the priesthood doesn't mean he couldn't be a typical boy.  Peter enjoyed the typical American sports (baseball, basketball, football (of the oval variety) and swimming.  He could hold his own, but didn't particularly excel in any of them.  Summers spent in Europe also introduced him to the other version of football (aka: soccer).  He detested piano lessons but parental prerogative forced him to persevere.  He would also take dares at the drop of a hat, and has the scars to prove it.

In addition to sports and girls, he grew up with a love of sailing, and spent many a weekend on San Francisco Bay in his youth.

On graduation from high school, Peter enrolled in San Francisco State Teachers College, majoring in History.  While seeing all the turmoil going on in the world, he began to have doubts about the contribution he could make as a priest in the Orthodox Church, and enrolled in ROTC.  Due to his language skills, he was commissioned into the Intelligence branch of the U.S. Army and spent his entire time at Ft Detrick, Maryland and Washington, DC.  Oh his release from active duty, he remained in the inactive reserves and resumed his quest to become an ordained priest in the Russian Orthodox Church.  As there were no (Russian Orthodox) seminaries in the USA for him to attend, he found himself in Paris at the Institut de théologie orthodoxe Saint-Serge, or St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute. This is where he was when the Germans entered Paris.

At the beginning of the war, as an American citizen (whose country was not yet at war with Germany) and an ordained deacon, he was walking more than one fine line by getting involved with the resistance movement.  He decided he could live with that.  After the U.S. entered the war, he found further justification in the fact he was still a reserve officer in the U.S. Army.  Though circumstances would preclude him being called back to active duty, Peter reasoned that said circumstances justified his taking the initiative by involving himself in the struggle.  Though he has not shared this information with anyone, he has secretly put together a U.S. Army uniform, complete with shoulder patches and collar insignia, which he keeps hidden.  He is now a priest whom the Germans classify as an enemy alien and not allowing him to return to his native country.  His Gestapo dossier might contain information on his army background.

Personality: Peter is a bit of an idealist, so naturally sees the resistance as an agent of good opposing evil.  He isn't so naive as to believe that nasty things don't happen in war, and he has had to make compromises.  Though he has picked up a weapon and used it on occasion, he prefers his contribution be through gathering or dissemination of intelligence and sabotage... and of course in trying to meet the spiritual needs of his comrads -- a sort of "unit chaplain" if you will.  He is also an optimist, and believes that someday the war will be over and they can start rebuilding their societies and their lives, though he is prone to discouragement from time to time also.  Mainly, he feels that as a clergyman, he has the burden of setting the example of maintaining a positive attitude.
 
Player Limits: All's fair in love and war, though I would prefer he not be raped by SS Zombie tentacle-monsters.

Death? yes

*******

(OOC Note:)  First, I fully understand that this character may not fit in with what you were looking for.  If this is the case, no hard feelings, and I had much of this written up for another game which never got off the ground, so it wasn't a waste of my time.

I am not Eastern Orthodox and know oh-so-little about the church.  Like many people, I find the eastern churches, their beliefs and practices, to be quite alien to that which I'm accustomed.  It might not seem so alien to me if I were Catholic, but I'm not.  Still, I have a great deal of respect for their history and the way in which they worship, and have wanted to delve more deeply into what they believe and how they do things and why. This could be an opportunity to do so.  At the same time, it should be understood that I'm hardly the expert on the tenants of my character's religious beliefs and practices, and even much of the terminology is ... (sorry, I can't resist) ... Greek to me. 

Still, I'd like to give this a shot, and I want to emphasize to my fellow players that if you are more familiar with the Orthodox way of doing things and see I'm doing something not consistant with my character's education and background, please feel free to let me know.

[Urbanzorro]

@Everyone: Ok the threads are all up and the game is now open/started. Also the recruitment phase has ended so please no more character sheets until/unless I wind up re-opening the recruiting phase.

Here is the link to the OOC thread which will have the links to all other threads.
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=114546.msg4981829#msg4981829

@NiceTexasGuy: I'm going to go ahead and accept you as a player, but I haven't gotten a chance to review your character sheet just yet (what I'm about to start doing) So you're approved as a player pending character approval.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Still, I'd like to give this a shot, and I want to emphasize to my fellow players that if you are more familiar with the Orthodox way of doing things and see I'm doing something not consistant with my character's education and background, please feel free to let me know.

I'm only familiar in the most miniscule fashion but I commend you (and this may go out to several people in this thread since they might not have SAID they were playing something unfamiliar!) on playing something outside of your knowledge base/comfort zone. I feel digging up background elements for historical characters and trying to place them 'in context' is an awesome way to learn things. Monique is admittedly a cheat for me: I did a paper on milicianas (female militia soldiers) in the Spanish Civil War.

EO is considered a branch sect of Christianity and apparently it is commonly considered to be closer to Roman Catholicism than, say, Protestantism or the Anglican church. Wiki has a (possibly too ecclesiastic) run-down on the difference between the two here. Which might or might not be of use depending on how much you know about Catholicism.

[TheGlyphstone]

Heck, my character research all came out of Wikipedia.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Minor note, but I'd kinda forgotten about the GRU being the foreign arm of the Soviet intelligence (I'd thought the NKVD was external while the KGB was internal, rather than them both being internal). So I changed up my backstory a smidgen...he's still NKVD, but with a second set of impeccable false documents identifying him as a GRU agent, in addition to his primary set of false identity papers that I haven't decided on yet. Maybe a Georgian nationalist who fled to Paris after the 1924 revolt was crushed...

Sergei works okay either way. The NKVD definitely DID conduct foreign espionage and assassination...And so did its twin/sibling the KGB. The GRU is the military foreign arm, while the KGB and NKVD were nominally civilian and nominally internal (in reality, both services picked up tons of military operatives...And the supposedly foreign-oriented GRU maintained lots of armed interior personnel and meddled about with anyone who they considered to be doing 'less than their utmost' to support the military). There were several Soviet civilian and military intelligence organizations in competition with each other, raised by various people with various goals and they merged and divided and re-merged again SO MUCH that there's an entire wiki page devoted just to the chronology of how they divided and rejoined. In the early 40s, the KGB split out of the NKVD and then rejoined it again. To make matters even more convoluted, there are hints of splinter groups and 'loyalist' groups to various directors which may or may not have been informed of certain departmental changes in a timely fashion, particularly in regard to agents in the field, AND there are recurring usages in later documentation of terms relating to agencies which were long-'extinct' by that time period, such as the Cheka and Okhrana.

During WW2 various ComIntern groups (overt and covert) were manipulated by/under control of the GRU, the NKVD and the NKGB, and it wasn't unheard of for a single cell to have covert representation of all three Ministries.

There's a hat-tip to that in Monique's bg where she's brought into Russia as a ComIntern veteran, interrogated by the NKVD, and then co-opted by the GRU...So she considers herself to be working for the GRU, but she's hardly in a position to tell an NKVD or NKGB Kommissar where to get off since technically they're all in service of the Party. And to make matters worse, they all tend to deal with foreign ComIntern similarly: "What have you done for the State lately? Mmmhm. Very remiss, comrade. Very. I suppose we shall give you one more chance to redeem yourself."

All this means, should you choose to play it that way, that Sergei can lean on Monique fairly hard no matter WHICH set of documentation he chooses to bring up.

Wiki's really helpful on short notice. It isn't always the most accurate source, but it's usually adequate. :)

[NiceTexasGuy]

CotG, thank you.  I generally keep Wikipedia open when I roleplay and refer to it frequently. 

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Also, I apologize if anyone is bothered by my posting all of this. I'm putting up stuff about things which people have manifested some question about or suggested they were unsure of in their character backgroundss, in the hope it will be helpful to them.

I'm NOT going to jump down ANYONE'S throat and be all 'Oh hell no, that wasn't that way.' We've got an alternate history setting here, after all. :)

But I dig on espionage history and all its offshoots (including superweapon programs and the like...I track FOIA on things like Project Azorian...Such a geek.) so if I CAN help I am very happy to!

[TheGlyphstone]

You won't need to be jumping down my throat, I'll be trying to swallow you whole for your deliciously useful 'setting' knowledge.

[Kaiten]

I don't wanna be a bother Urban, but I think I was skipped over.

My bad, I see my character in the OOC, so I guess it was a silent approval ^^

[AlexStone]

Pardon my asking, but is the game filled?  I wasn't looking at the forum for a bit, and this came along.  Like a lot of people, this is rather in an area of interest and knowledge for me, so if there is room, I'd love to get involved.