[X][LOCATION]China: Begin in China, in the middle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pick one location: Cannot be taken with other locations.
-[X]Nanjing: Iwane Matsui believes that taking the old capital will convince the Republic to seek terms. The Soviet 'volunteers' gather here to defend it with a scratch force of Chinese infantrymen under Tang Shengzhi, and the battle is a foregone conclusion - as is the aftermath. The war will go on, but will you? Begin in the opening phases of the Battle of Nanjing.
[X][FACTION]China: There are quite a few player in China, and none of them here in force save for the Chinese and the Japanese. Who do you serve, in this time and place?
-[X]Soviet Volunteer Group: The Volunteer Group is also at this time a way to dump the more unreliable of the Party's adventurers, and you were among them. You are of the NKVD's 19th Chief Directorate, whose existence is classified for more reasons than just the capitalists.
[X][LOCATION]China: Begin in China, in the middle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pick one location: Cannot be taken with other locations.
-[X]Nanjing: Iwane Matsui believes that taking the old capital will convince the Republic to seek terms. The Soviet 'volunteers' gather here to defend it with a scratch force of Chinese infantrymen under Tang Shengzhi, and the battle is a foregone conclusion - as is the aftermath. The war will go on, but will you? Begin in the opening phases of the Battle of Nanjing.
[X][FACTION]China: There are quite a few player in China, and none of them here in force save for the Chinese and the Japanese. Who do you serve, in this time and place?
-[X]Soviet Volunteer Group: The Volunteer Group is also at this time a way to dump the more unreliable of the Party's adventurers, and you were among them. You are of the NKVD's 19th Chief Directorate, whose existence is classified for more reasons than just the capitalists.
[][LOCATION]India: Army of India command at Delhi covers a great sweep of land from the Afghan border to Thailand, and reaches south to Ceylon from the heights of the Himalayas. Keeping the peace in such a place is a herculean task indeed... -[]Bangalore: Army cantonment and major railway depot, this is a place for reaction forces to assemble for the Deccan and for you to base yourself in South India. A land of temples, hidebound traditions, and of fierce local independence, the writ of established authorities runs thin in these lands.
[][FACTION]India: Part of the British Empire and under the eye of British counterintelligence, there are few other powers that chance their luck here. Yet. -[]Archaeological Survey of India: Originally intended to supervise excavation and cataloguing of artifacts from the subcontinent, it also developed a bit of expertise in dealing with what some artifacts often came with. From curses to guardians, the ASI has seen them all.
[X][LOCATION]Russian Far East: Begin in the Soviet Far East, just prior to Stalin's purges and facing threats from both the IJA and your own in the NKVD. -[X]Vladivostok: The great seaport and naval base of the Soviet Far East, here the substance of Russian imperialism sits atop ancient grudges and wars. Here is the HQ for both Army and NKVD, and you're not sure which is worse.
[X][FACTION]Russian Far East: The Soviet Far East isn't a place where many have a presence, and it's more a choice of who you'll serve in the Union's factional wars than anything else. -[X]White Council: You are one of an endangered breed - wizards in the New Russia, watching the unfolding carnage with more horror than fascination. The ancient defenses and pacts that once shielded the Tsar's subjects are now replaced by the iron fist of the Red Army and the NKVD, and they've made it clear that your presence is tolerated - for now.
[X][LOCATION]India: Army of India command at Delhi covers a great sweep of land from the Afghan border to Thailand, and reaches south to Ceylon from the heights of the Himalayas. Keeping the peace in such a place is a herculean task indeed... -[X]Bangalore: Army cantonment and major railway depot, this is a place for reaction forces to assemble for the Deccan and for you to base yourself in South India. A land of temples, hidebound traditions, and of fierce local independence, the writ of established authorities runs thin in these lands.
[X][FACTION]India: Part of the British Empire and under the eye of British counterintelligence, there are few other powers that chance their luck here. Yet. -[X]Archaeological Survey of India: Originally intended to supervise excavation and cataloguing of artifacts from the subcontinent, it also developed a bit of expertise in dealing with what some artifacts often came with. From curses to guardians, the ASI has seen them all.
[X][LOCATION]China: Begin in China, in the middle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pick one location: Cannot be taken with other locations.
-[X]Nanjing: Iwane Matsui believes that taking the old capital will convince the Republic to seek terms. The Soviet 'volunteers' gather here to defend it with a scratch force of Chinese infantrymen under Tang Shengzhi, and the battle is a foregone conclusion - as is the aftermath. The war will go on, but will you? Begin in the opening phases of the Battle of Nanjing.
[X][FACTION]China: There are quite a few player in China, and none of them here in force save for the Chinese and the Japanese. Who do you serve, in this time and place?
-[X]United States: The US has long had an interest in China. With that interest and with the creation of the Black Chamber came an interest in the world beyond the veil and its influence in the halls of government. You are a Black Chamber agent in China, brought in as a Legation Marine, and yours is the task of seeing what's shot at whom.
[X][LOCATION]China: Begin in China, in the middle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pick one location: Cannot be taken with other locations.
-[X]Nanjing: Iwane Matsui believes that taking the old capital will convince the Republic to seek terms. The Soviet 'volunteers' gather here to defend it with a scratch force of Chinese infantrymen under Tang Shengzhi, and the battle is a foregone conclusion - as is the aftermath. The war will go on, but will you? Begin in the opening phases of the Battle of Nanjing.
[X][FACTION]China: There are quite a few player in China, and none of them here in force save for the Chinese and the Japanese. Who do you serve, in this time and place?
-[X]Soviet Volunteer Group: The Volunteer Group is also at this time a way to dump the more unreliable of the Party's adventurers, and you were among them. You are of the NKVD's 19th Chief Directorate, whose existence is classified for more reasons than just the capitalists.
[X][LOCATION]China: Begin in China, in the middle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pick one location: Cannot be taken with other locations.
-[X]Nanjing: Iwane Matsui believes that taking the old capital will convince the Republic to seek terms. The Soviet 'volunteers' gather here to defend it with a scratch force of Chinese infantrymen under Tang Shengzhi, and the battle is a foregone conclusion - as is the aftermath. The war will go on, but will you? Begin in the opening phases of the Battle of Nanjing.
[X][FACTION]China: There are quite a few player in China, and none of them here in force save for the Chinese and the Japanese. Who do you serve, in this time and place?
-[X] White Council: The Wardens are occupied elsewhere against greater foes, and to the rank and file falls the task of watching the dead. You are one of those that wear the stole and speak the Latin, and as a Wizard of the White Council you have responsibilities in times of war - not least among them guarding the dead.
[X][LOCATION]China: Begin in China, in the middle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pick one location: Cannot be taken with other locations.
-[X]Shanghai: A city both Western and Chinese, there's now a lot of Japanese here as well. To be precise, three battalions of Japanese Marines and the Imperial Navy's Third Fleet facing three of the NRA's 'German' infantry divisions. Begin in the opening phases of the Battle of Shanghai.
[X][FACTION]China: There are quite a few player in China, and none of them here in force save for the Chinese and the Japanese. Who do you serve, in this time and place?
-[X]United States: The US has long had an interest in China. With that interest and with the creation of the Black Chamber came an interest in the world beyond the veil and its influence in the halls of government. You are a Black Chamber agent in China, brought in as a Legation Marine, and yours is the task of seeing what's shot at whom.
AN: THIS IS DEPRECATED AND CHARACTER SELECTION WILL FOLLOW IN THE NEXT THREADMARK DUE TO ISSUES WITH THE VOTE COUNT Character Selection: Sword and Shield
[X]Nanjing
[X]Soviet Volunteer Group
The Soviet Far East is a backwater. As the train rolls into Tomsk and you move to the local Party HQ, all you can think of is what made you say what you did. Party politics is one thing, but backing a losing faction is a death sentence. Even for those of the Nineteenth Directorate, who are normally too valuable to throw away.
Which is why you're headed to China rather than Vorkutlag. Which is why you met with Mikhail Borodin in Moscow no more than two weeks ago, and which is why you're in a GRU uniform with a captain's bars on the shoulders.
The train pulls into station slowly, whistle sounding a mournful toll as the gray skies and gray people give the Siberian city an air of quiet misery. As you leave the carriage the wind howls around you and the scent of chemicals fills the air, people moving with purpose to the platform as you move away.
A car greets you at the station, a black one with a uniformed driver that takes you to the local Party HQ. Where amidst the curling smoke of cheap paper cigarettes and the scent of tea, Colonel Andrei Stok nods at you from behind a steel desk.
The room is gray concrete and no windows, Stok's desk a cluttered mass of paper with a pistol in its holster hanging from a coat-hook on the door's back. You sit in a folding steel chair much as the colonel does, and he nods politely and offers you tea. Very civil, very polite. All very much the spider to the fly.
When he asks what you can do, you pause until the file comes out. Stok is 19th Directorate, and he is now your line manager. He is, in short, your shield against the Party and sword in the bureaucracy. Your lips twitch in the ghost of a smile as you read the mission brief and listen to the colonel, it's a very NKVD metaphor.
Pick one mission profile:
[]Borodin's Apprentice: Mikhail Borodin was once Stalin's point man on the China question, and when he failed to acheive results he was replaced and sent to the wilderness. Not the camps - not yet - but nonetheless not to any major role. You are in effect a second chance for the aging revolutionary, another NKVD agent sent to scout out China for both the Comintern and the 19th Directorate. Borodin has granted you letters of introduction and a thorough education on China, but that comes with a drawback - you will not be looked at with favor by Chiang Kai-Shek. You are in effect a PLA advisor and a counter-supernatural agent, one without a proper support base. You have a chance to change the war - but you will have little time and resources to do so. You are an NKVD counter-supernatural agent, on secondment to the PLA and the Republic's Central Army. Your direct duty is the suppression of enemy supernatural assets while acting in the USSR's interest w.r.t. PRC policy. HQ posting: Shanxi. Flexible perk choice.
[]Hammer of the People You are a counter-preternatural agent of the NKVD, one who's been augmented and trained to fight threats that are built by man rather than those of the moonlit world. You aren't a diplomat, agitator or even a particularly good spy. What you are is the people's hammer in the world beyond the normal, trained to specialize in killing heroes. You've flown in with the Volunteer Group, but your mission lies north to Manchuria. North, to Shiro Ishii. North, and may what luck you can scrape together be with you - for the mad doctor awaits. You are an augmented NKVD assassin skilled in a single branch of magic. You have one mission, and one only - end the IJA bioweapons expert. You are not expected to live past success.
[]Guaranteeing Neutrality: The White Council has agents all throughout China, and is desperately shuttling in the Wardens through the Ways. While the Americans build their great machines and the British aid them in the doing, it falls to the communists to keep these relics of the past honest. You are part of the NKVD special battalion responsible for keeping an eye on the White Council and the other accorded powers as war rages through China. You are one of those that will rein in the moonlit world when things go wrong. Be wary though, for the USSR has not signed the Accords - and you are not entitled to its protections. You are an NKVD minor mage skilled in two branches of magic, part of a Chinese-USSR task force watching the Accorded supernatural entities. You are to ensure that humanity is left alone, whatever the cost. HQ: Chungking.
Yet even with those missions designed to have you six feet underground by the end of '38, there is reason for them. You're not some special bloodline or anything, you have no means of accomplishing the impossible that others do not have. No, what's unique and makes this situation understandable is that you pissed off the wrong people in the Party and the NKVD. Which is enough to get you this one chance at 'redemption', which to be fair is better than Vorkutlag.
Pick one background:
[]NEP Advocate: You made the mistake of backing the New Economic Policy and reading some of Bukharin's essays back when they were still around. While your performance and words kept you safe, that has lasted only so long - now the purges are in high gear. You are labelled a potential reactionary and a capitalist sympathizer - the one perk to all of this is that you understand economics better than most.
[]Ethnic Problems: You aren't Russian. In the Soviet Union that means little on paper and can be overcome, but if you're a non-Russian non-white with abilities that are not normal, things are tougher. You're one of those, an Asian from the Russian Far East with a checkered record in the NKVD. Enough that the chiefs have deemed you a security risk thanks to all the talk of 'divergent preternatural practices' and sent you off to die. The stance of the Japanese and the Nationalists doesn't help your situation, either.
[]Internationalist: You were one of those who worked with Kamenev and Zinoviev in the Comintern back when the heady days of world revolution seemed to be imminent. You were one of the internationalists in the Union's politics. Not a prominent one, but in the small community of the 19th Directorate you didn't need to be - just the short time you spent in that faction was enough. For all that you have contacts in parties around the globe, there is little that you can do to help yourself in Stalin's USSR.
Last: Name and gender:
[]Name
[]Gender Try to make it fit with the backgrounds chosen.
Votes open for 24 hours, feedback welcome. Edited to include name/gender vote.
[X][NAME] Liig Saarta
[X][GENDER] Male [X]Guaranteeing Neutrality:
The White Council has agents all throughout China, and is desperately shuttling in the Wardens through the Ways. While the Americans build their great machines and the British aid them in the doing, it falls to the communists to keep these relics of the past honest. You are part of the NKVD special battalion responsible for keeping an eye on the White Council and the other accorded powers as war rages through China. You are one of those that will rein in the moonlit world when things go wrong. Be wary though, for the USSR has not signed the Accords - and you are not entitled to its protections. You are an NKVD minor mage skilled in two branches of magic, part of a Chinese-USSR task force watching the Accorded supernatural entities. You are to ensure that humanity is left alone, whatever the cost. HQ: Chungking. [X]Internationalist:
You were one of those who worked with Kamenev and Zinoviev in the Comintern back when the heady days of world revolution seemed to be imminent. You were one of the internationalists in the Union's politics. Not a prominent one, but in the small community of the 19th Directorate you didn't need to be - just the short time you spent in that faction was enough. For all that you have contacts in parties around the globe, there is little that you can do to help yourself in Stalin's USSR.
I didn't partition, since there were quite a few with votes outside of Nanjing. For Nanjing I believe it was as above. If you guys want I can wait another hour and rewrite for Black Chamber. Let me know.
I didn't partition, since there were quite a few with votes outside of Nanjing. For Nanjing I believe it was as above. If you guys want I can wait another hour and rewrite for Black Chamber. Let me know.
[X]Guaranteeing Neutrality: The White Council has agents all throughout China, and is desperately shuttling in the Wardens through the Ways. While the Americans build their great machines and the British aid them in the doing, it falls to the communists to keep these relics of the past honest. You are part of the NKVD special battalion responsible for keeping an eye on the White Council and the other accorded powers as war rages through China. You are one of those that will rein in the moonlit world when things go wrong. Be wary though, for the USSR has not signed the Accords - and you are not entitled to its protections. You are an NKVD minor mage skilled in two branches of magic, part of a Chinese-USSR task force watching the Accorded supernatural entities. You are to ensure that humanity is left alone, whatever the cost. HQ: Chungking.
[X]Ethnic Problems: You aren't Russian. In the Soviet Union that means little on paper and can be overcome, but if you're a non-Russian non-white with abilities that are not normal, things are tougher. You're one of those, an Asian from the Russian Far East with a checkered record in the NKVD. Enough that the chiefs have deemed you a security risk thanks to all the talk of 'divergent preternatural practices' and sent you off to die. The stance of the Japanese and the Nationalists doesn't help your situation, either.
I didn't partition, since there were quite a few with votes outside of Nanjing. For Nanjing I believe it was as above. If you guys want I can wait another hour and rewrite for Black Chamber. Let me know.
I vote for soviets, there are few quests with this thematic and many with american one. Lets do something new.
[X]Guaranteeing Neutrality: The White Council has agents all throughout China, and is desperately shuttling in the Wardens through the Ways. While the Americans build their great machines and the British aid them in the doing, it falls to the communists to keep these relics of the past honest. You are part of the NKVD special battalion responsible for keeping an eye on the White Council and the other accorded powers as war rages through China. You are one of those that will rein in the moonlit world when things go wrong. Be wary though, for the USSR has not signed the Accords - and you are not entitled to its protections. You are an NKVD minor mage skilled in two branches of magic, part of a Chinese-USSR task force watching the Accorded supernatural entities. You are to ensure that humanity is left alone, whatever the cost. HQ: Chungking.
[X]Ethnic Problems: You aren't Russian. In the Soviet Union that means little on paper and can be overcome, but if you're a non-Russian non-white with abilities that are not normal, things are tougher. You're one of those, an Asian from the Russian Far East with a checkered record in the NKVD. Enough that the chiefs have deemed you a security risk thanks to all the talk of 'divergent preternatural practices' and sent you off to die. The stance of the Japanese and the Nationalists doesn't help your situation, either.
[X]Borodin's Apprentice: Mikhail Borodin was once Stalin's point man on the China question, and when he failed to acheive results he was replaced and sent to the wilderness. Not the camps - not yet - but nonetheless not to any major role. You are in effect a second chance for the aging revolutionary, another NKVD agent sent to scout out China for both the Comintern and the 19th Directorate. Borodin has granted you letters of introduction and a thorough education on China, but that comes with a drawback - you will not be looked at with favor by Chiang Kai-Shek. You are in effect a PLA advisor and a counter-supernatural agent, one without a proper support base. You have a chance to change the war - but you will have little time and resources to do so. You are an NKVD counter-supernatural agent, on secondment to the PLA and the Republic's Central Army. Your direct duty is the suppression of enemy supernatural assets while acting in the USSR's interest w.r.t. PRC policy. HQ posting: Shanxi. Flexible perk choice.
[X]Ethnic Problems: You aren't Russian. In the Soviet Union that means little on paper and can be overcome, but if you're a non-Russian non-white with abilities that are not normal, things are tougher. You're one of those, an Asian from the Russian Far East with a checkered record in the NKVD. Enough that the chiefs have deemed you a security risk thanks to all the talk of 'divergent preternatural practices' and sent you off to die. The stance of the Japanese and the Nationalists doesn't help your situation, either.
[X]Name: Mian Zolotov
[X]Gender: Female
Really going hard up, Russian-Chinese girl with an impossible job.
I didn't partition, since there were quite a few with votes outside of Nanjing. For Nanjing I believe it was as above. If you guys want I can wait another hour and rewrite for Black Chamber. Let me know.
I didn't partition, since there were quite a few with votes outside of Nanjing. For Nanjing I believe it was as above. If you guys want I can wait another hour and rewrite for Black Chamber. Let me know.
[X]Borodin's Apprentice: Mikhail Borodin was once Stalin's point man on the China question, and when he failed to acheive results he was replaced and sent to the wilderness. Not the camps - not yet - but nonetheless not to any major role. You are in effect a second chance for the aging revolutionary, another NKVD agent sent to scout out China for both the Comintern and the 19th Directorate. Borodin has granted you letters of introduction and a thorough education on China, but that comes with a drawback - you will not be looked at with favor by Chiang Kai-Shek. You are in effect a PLA advisor and a counter-supernatural agent, one without a proper support base. You have a chance to change the war - but you will have little time and resources to do so. You are an NKVD counter-supernatural agent, on secondment to the PLA and the Republic's Central Army. Your direct duty is the suppression of enemy supernatural assets while acting in the USSR's interest w.r.t. PRC policy. HQ posting: Shanxi. Flexible perk choice.
[X]Internationalist: You were one of those who worked with Kamenev and Zinoviev in the Comintern back when the heady days of world revolution seemed to be imminent. You were one of the internationalists in the Union's politics. Not a prominent one, but in the small community of the 19th Directorate you didn't need to be - just the short time you spent in that faction was enough. For all that you have contacts in parties around the globe, there is little that you can do to help yourself in Stalin's USSR.
Fair enough, then. From now on, word of warning - I will not divide votes, and whatever wins in totality is what wins. A revised update will be out probably tomorrow for the Black Chamber start.
To all other players, I apologize for the inconvenience, and I hope that you remain interested in the game. Bear in mind that an American start will not be any less in terms of debuffs, except there's more racial tension and colonialism than outright purging.
[X]Borodin's Apprentice: Mikhail Borodin was once Stalin's point man on the China question, and when he failed to acheive results he was replaced and sent to the wilderness. Not the camps - not yet - but nonetheless not to any major role. You are in effect a second chance for the aging revolutionary, another NKVD agent sent to scout out China for both the Comintern and the 19th Directorate. Borodin has granted you letters of introduction and a thorough education on China, but that comes with a drawback - you will not be looked at with favor by Chiang Kai-Shek. You are in effect a PLA advisor and a counter-supernatural agent, one without a proper support base. You have a chance to change the war - but you will have little time and resources to do so. You are an NKVD counter-supernatural agent, on secondment to the PLA and the Republic's Central Army. Your direct duty is the suppression of enemy supernatural assets while acting in the USSR's interest w.r.t. PRC policy. HQ posting: Shanxi. Flexible perk choice.
[X]Internationalist: You were one of those who worked with Kamenev and Zinoviev in the Comintern back when the heady days of world revolution seemed to be imminent. You were one of the internationalists in the Union's politics. Not a prominent one, but in the small community of the 19th Directorate you didn't need to be - just the short time you spent in that faction was enough. For all that you have contacts in parties around the globe, there is little that you can do to help yourself in Stalin's USSR.
