[OOC] Thy Fearful Symmetry [Lovecraftian WW2 Battle of Britain RP]

Looking for a co-GM!

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Tiger Tiger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

– William Blake

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Great Britain, July 1940. The lone British war machine is reeling from the military disaster of Dunkirk, where only 20,000 troops of the British Expeditionary Force escaped from France and the rest dead or taken prisoner by the advancing Wehrmacht. Now, the German Luftwaffe prepares to launch a crushing air superiority campaign across the English Channel, with British factories, seaports, and civilian centers all newly designated targets of Operation Sealion. With the great empires of the United States and the Soviet Union infuriatingly neutral, the United Kingdom braces for a final death struggle against the Nazi menace.

But how could it have come to this? How could have hope dissipated so quickly?

As far as you are concerned, you will never know. The 20,000 survivors of Dunkirk and their rescuers in the various branches of the Royal Armed Forces have been prevented from contacting their families and forced to remain on their respective bases. New recruits to the Royal Army, Navy, or Air Force, for now, have been directed to other bases of operation.

You are a newly minted aircraftman in the British Royal Air Force. The first thing you are greeted by as you arrive on your first base of duty is an empty airfield and around five to seven other fresh recruits just as confused as you are. However, you have certainly heard rumors about what transpired in the last few months in France - that the Germans have developed a secret weapon that made our men literally lose their minds, that the dead in Dunkirk were slain not by the Wehrmacht but by their fellow soldiers, that the survivors on base have been indefinitely confined to mental institutions, robbed of their sanity, their rationality, and their hope.

But, of course, those are just rumors. High Command will release pertinent information when it can.

Meanwhile, you are one of the lucky few aircraftmen in the RAF who have been assigned to Turin Squadron, a special detachment of the Royal Air Force that, for all intents and purposes, does not exist. You have been especially chosen for your supposed 'fortitude of mind', whatever that means. The only thing you have been told at the briefing is that you will play a special part in the defense of the British Isles against the Luftwaffe assault. As far as anyone else in the force is concerned, you are part of other, officially recognized squadrons. You are not told of the exact nature of your missions, only that your first will start in forty-eight hours.

You attempt to sleep peacefully after the briefing, pushing out of your conscience the nagging feeling that you have absolutely no idea what you have gotten yourself into.

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Recent Events

• Starting from May 28 onwards, the British public has received little to no information regarding the Battle of Dunkirk and the initial French campaign.

• Only 20,000 troops of the British Expeditionary Force were able to be rescued in Operation Dynamo. The 380,000 men left in France have all been listed as missing in action.

• The 20,000 BEF troops, the crew of twenty Royal Navy battleships out of the forty-two involved in Dynamo, and the 850 RAF airmen who provided aerial support at Dynamo have all been ‘quarantined for smallpox’ at several bases in the Midlands. They have been prevented from writing to their families or coming into contact with the locals. It is rumored that they are all being transferred to New Zealand.

• There are rumors that the survivors of Dunkirk have been literally driven mad by their experience.

• Turin Squadron, a 12-plane all-fighter RAF combat squadron, was newly formed on July 5, 1940. It does not appear on official RAF records.

• Turin Squadron is based at RAF Carrington, a RAF airbase located in the Duchy of Cornwall. RAF Carrington is officially listed as abandoned and scheduled for demolition.

• You are a recently graduated airman in the Royal Air Force. Your first assignment has been Turin Squadron.

MI-16 Special Evaluation Dossier

Name:
Rank: You are most likely a Flying Officer, since you are a recent graduate noted for outstanding performance. If you are another rank for whatever reason, refer to this link for more info.
Serial Number: This is a random 8-digit number.
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth: Anzacs, Americans, French, and even Polish pilots participated in the Battle for Britain.
Physical Appearance: Short but sweet.
Aircraft: As an elite pilot, you'll most likely be flying a Spitfire, but if you're comfortable with a Hurricane it's fine - just somewhat discouraged.
Callsign: There are three 'flights' in Turin Squadron - Green, Gold, and Ghost, composed of four planes each. Refer to the squadron roster in the Characters Tab. If you want to be a flight leader, ask a GM.

Psychological Evaluation:

This is a semi-important part. You can’t be diminutive or weak-willed in nature. You have been especially chosen for your perceived ‘fortitude of mind’, which means you’re somewhat more resistant to mentally stressful or straining situations than the average soldier. In addition, you have been run through a series of several psychological batteries that examine:

Your opinions on the meaning of life, God, the existence of extraterrestrials, the vastness of the universe and the (in)significance of man,

Your ability to comprehend basic non-Euclidean geometrical shapes,

Your ability to maintain a certain level of mental composure when exposed to particularly graphic or harrowing stimuli, e.g human bodies metamorphosing into grotesque insectoids, pictures of (supposedly theoretical) monstrous and terrifying underwater sea beasts,

And most importantly, your worst fears. These could range from slight discomforts to all out phobias (though not too much of the latter - you don't want your character to be a nervous wreck).

History: Discuss how your background has shaped your personality, especially in terms of being mentally ‘tough’ and worldly.

[BingTheWing]

- reserved?

[Oak7ree]

I would be interested on this RP. Here's my work-in-progress character sheet.

Arthur Howell

Name: Arthur Howell
Rank: Flight Lieutenant.
Serial Number: 354-78-113.
Date of Birth: 6.6.1916
Place of Birth: Cardiff, Wales.
Physical Appearance: Arthur Howell is a slim, tall and young Welshman, red headed and clean shaven. He is about 184 centimetres tall and weighs about 77 kilograms, or about six feet and 180 pounds. He has a lively, though lean face and high cheekbones and short hair. His body is more wiry than muscular.
Craft: Spitfire.
Callsign: Gold Leader

Psychological Evaluation:

Flight Lieutenant Arthur Howell, aged 24, born on June 6th, 1916. Father Francis Howell deceased at the age of 31 at Somme. Mother Sarah Howell (née Clark), aged 52, alive and well. F/O Howell has served His Majesty for five years with impeccable service record. Graduated from flight school with flying colours. Physically, Howell appears in top shape for a man of his age with top notch vision. His character hints at humorous nature, and he a polite, good mannered officer, although his remarks contain sarcastic tones at times.

Howell is an Anglican, but also an agnostic in his views. When questioned if he believes there's life beyond Earth, he politely said "There's life on the bottom of the sea, and on the Poles, so why there couldn't be life on other planets? They might not be familiar in form or function, but there might be life." It seemed he was keen on conversing on the subject, but we had to continue the evaluation.

Howell responded well into the images and non-euclidean geometry, and showed little difficulty of handling such shapes. "I have imagined worse creatures", Howell pointed out and referred to few horror writers I hadn't heard of.

Howell's service records show that he can handle stress quite well. He pushed himself more than others did during the flight training, and showed quick reflexes and thinking in combat training and simulations. He could outmaneuver most of his comrades and superiors in simulated dogfights in most of the occasions, and has shown himself as a capable, and a tough but fair instructor. He doesn't yet have combat experience, but if his records can give any hint, he should make a formidable opponent for the BF-109 pilots in his Spitfire.

He seems to be a sportsman, giving his comrades and trainees sound advice, but also asking them to pull their weight for the team. Howell is not going to give up easily.

According to Howell, his worst fears include the fear of leaving a wingman behind, being burnt to death, and vampires. He noted the last part was due to one Bram Stoker. I can recommend him for frontline duty in the Turin Squadron.

History:

Born in Wales during the First World War into a upper middle class family, Arthur's father Francis, a manager and an engineer in a factory died soon after his birth in the battle of Somme in France. Arthur was thus raised mostly by his mother Sarah, but also by countless uncles, aunts and other family members. He did well in school, especially in history and religion, and was quite average in natural sciences, though he had an interest in aerial vehicles and machines. Arthur, for example, had a collection of toy planes, and he followed the development of planes and aircraft quite closely and keenly. He also had an interest on horror literature.

Arthur has liked reading Dracula, and many other horror and science fiction stories. For example, H.G. Wells books, especially War of the Worlds, The Island of Doctor Moreau and The Time Machine have fueled his curiosity on space and sciences. While he's not a scientist, Arthur has talked about aliens with a couple of his childhood friends, who've become physicists. Thanks to reading Dracula at a young age, Arthur is afraid of vampires, even if his family insists they don't really exist.

When he was sixteen, Arthur started to play rugby. Although he was quite slim for the sport, he was more agile and faster runner than most of team mates. Arthur has always been more wiry and lean than outright muscular, making a good runner.

When Arthur turned 19 in 1935, Arthur applied for RAF, and entered the fighter pilot training. Arthur was bullied for his red hair, and nicknamed "Thirteen", often seen as an unlucky charm by some aristocratic cadets. Arthur was undeterred, and was motivated to show his comrades and superiors he could become the best pilot of the bunch. He became the cadet with some of the best grades during his training, and before the war, Arthur has spent most of his time in the Air Force as an instructor and adviser. As the things turned ugly in France, he was taken into active combat duty and recommended for the Turin Squadron as a potential candidate.

[BingTheWing]

Hi everyone, sorry about the sloppy and extremely rushed OOC. I added in a callsign field in the CS: please refer to the Characters Tab for available callsigns. I will probably be editing further in the future.

@Oak7ree Great so far, though unfortunately we can't use Arthur's cool nickname during missions for the reasons stated above. Remember to explain where your character's mental fortitude came from in his history.

[Oak7ree]

@BingTheWing Roger that, I'll be writing and refining the character later today. And I would like to volunteer as the leader for Ghost. Would you then mind if there was a red thirteen painted on Arthur's plane, or would that violate the secretive nature of the squadron?

[Dusty]

I’m really excited to get started with my CS, but first I would like to point out how unlikely it would be for an elite squadron to be made up entirely of fresh graduates. Wouldn’t it make sense to have some characters with combat experience, or will those roles be taken entirely by NPCs?

[PrinceAlexus]

Do I need to know anything about lovecroft to join?

Generally know that Gaint ass tentacle monasters, chaos powerful ernough to cause madness, general mind destroying powers. General shenanigans that make most monsters look like ready bears?

[Oak7ree]

@PrinceAlexus Well, sometimes, even knowing about the Lovecraftian monsters or aliens can cause insanity.

[Dusty]

@BingtheWing
I tried to do something a little different with this CS, and it didn't come out just how I wanted, so it'll be a WIP for now. Please let me know if you want me to change it to a more traditional CS or just change anything in general.

Johnathan Shapiro

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Subject's Name: Johnathan Hilmore Shapiro
Rank: F/O
Serial Number: 545-12-454
Date of Birth: 1-5-1918
Place of Birth: Marion, OH. USA Toronto, ON. Canada
Physical Appearance: Subject is a Caucasian male standing 170cm and weighing 75kg. Hair color is black. Eye color is brown. Subject has no notable scars, tattoos or markings.
Aircraft: Spitfire
Assigned Callsign: Green Leader

Psychological Evaluation:

During customary physical and mental examinations the subject passed all presented evaluations displaying an acceptable level of coolheaded confidence and high intelligence. Throughout examination process the subject proved to be strong willed and honest (Command Project Overlook; Permission Granted) answering every question within reasonable doubt to recommend 2.7-9.8.

Examiner's Grade: Pass, Recommended for Turin Project

• 1.1 Subject espoused Orthodox Jewish Faith and shows strong signs of belief in God and religious conviction for the destiny of humanity. When questioned on extraterrestrials the subject showed little interest, answering; "Dunno, maybe."
• 1.2 The subject showed a rudimentary understanding of the material, though showed confusion as to why the test was necessary.
• 1.3 The subject is a self proclaimed killer at heart. However when exposed to certain stimuli involving chemical burns, gaseous exposure of a harmful nature, and gruesome battlefield imagery the subject displayed negative reactions. Examiner's Note: Utilize for proceeding tests in final examination. The Subject however showed great interest in metamorphous images and monstrous creatures commenting on the skilled artwork involved.
• 1.4 During proceeding examinations (reference to note in test 1.3) the subject showed increasing signs of mental distress at deaths related to chemical accidents, or weapons of a similar nature used during the Great War. Extended evaluation concluded a strong fear of death in general from the subject and a desire to control death through killing the enemy of which he has a great desire. Further tests revealed a slight fear of deep water and being run over by a train.

Examiner's Grade: Pass, Recommended for Turin Project

History: The subject grew up in the city of Toronto, Canada. His father worked as a lawyer in order to support a family of four. Johnathan is the younger sibling to his sister Margret. Upon reaching age sixteen O/F Shapiro entered the University of Toronto early, receiving higher education for a law degree in order to follow in his father's footsteps. His schooling was cut short by the beginning of the war, when Johnathan showed interest in the war effort, later joining the RAF through the Canadian Dominion. He was found adept at flying small fighter craft and was transferred to the British Isles for further instruction. Due to O/F Shapiro's intelligence and resourcefulness he was recommended by his superiors for Project Turin.

Classified

The Following information has been deemed Classified by Project Overlook.

Johnathan Hilmore Shapiro grew up in Marion Ohio USA with his mother, father, and older sister Margret. His father worked as a lawyer giving the family a fairly decent life even during the depression, and at sixteen Johnathan did indeed leave home to travel to Toronto Canada wishing to achieve a higher education in law. Shapiro was always a fighter at heart and was well known for getting into scuffles during grade and high school. His wild demeanor dulled slightly while in Toronto university, however the old vigor was reignited with the heightening tensions in world politics. In 1939 Shapiro graduated from his major in law, but instead of returning home he signed on with the Canadian military.

Despite the illegality of his actions, even with a degree in law hanging over his head, Shapiro joined the RAF in early 1939, completing his basic training later that year. Noting his particular skill in small fighter planes Shapiro's commanders transferred him to Great Briton to have him train to become a Spitfire pilot. Once there he finished his instruction with flying colors, and several new unexplainable tests before receiving orders to join the need-to-know Turin Squadron

[BingTheWing]

@Dusty You have a very valid point, and I struggled a lot with that when I first made the concept. However, most veteran pilots would have been assigned to the Dunkirk evacuation, where even those who survived physically did not mentally. That's a majority of the experienced section of the RAF out of service. In addition, many new pilots were recruited specifically for the Battle of Britain itself. A severe shortage of pilots led to many new recruits entering battle with only ten hours of flight time - your character graduating from a proper flying school with a sufficient number of hours, let alone with honors, is already an elite achievement by the standards of the time.

Important note for all: your character could have graduated years ago, but have never been sent into actual combat.

Also, Dunkirk was the first major military operation in WW2 for the British - I don't see where else your character could have had pre-WW2 experience except in a far-off desert colony or two.

Plus, knowing what happened at Dunkirk would significantly take away from the first half of the RP - there is an element of mystery within all of Lovecraft's tales, after all.

Your CS is excellent as of now - your Psych Evaluation is exactly what I was looking for. However, you can only go up to Green Three for a callsign.

I will get to everyone else's questions when I have more time.

[BingTheWing]

@Oak7ree Whoops, I forgot to say that my character will be Ghost Leader, so sorry about that :( but you can be Gold or Green Leader. I just need to see your CS first. And I think it's best that you refrain from any unusual markings on your plane, for secrecy purposes and for other shenanigans later

@PrinceAlexus There are a lot more interesting nuances and tidbits if you study the mythos itself, but for the most part you're all set.

[Dusty]

@BingTheWing I suppose that makes sense considering the situation.

I'll go ahead and bump myself up to Green Leader if that's okay. I'm guessing the positions are going Green Leader, Green 1, Green 2, and Green 3? I only wanted to be Green 4 because of the nifty little call sign that could've been with the Roman Numerals.

[BingTheWing]

@Dusty Just a clarification - is your CS final? Also, the aversion to chemical wounds thing is a bit of a red flag for your eligibility as leader. We're going to see some nasty stuff in battle, and as wing leader you're supposed to keep your cool through the icky and gory things when nobody else is. You could remedy this by elaborating on how your character is a self-proclaimed killer, seeing as he hasn't actually killed anyone before, given his bio.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: I am looking for a co-GM or two, in case I have any sudden bouts of inactivity.

[Dusty]

Well, it wasn't necessarily a final CS in case you wanted me to modify anything.

As for Johnathan's disposition against chemicals and gasses isn't so much a phobia but a strong fear of that particular kind of death. He'll keep his cool through most of it and just be very disturbed, unless it gets really bad.

As for his self proclaimed "killer" status, that's mostly just hot air. A surprising number of people join the infantry and other combat roles wanting to cause death, pain, and destruction, at least in my experience. Shapiro's feral desires were strong enough to deny a posh life in Ohio and risk his citizenship in the US just because of his eagerness to fight.

[BingTheWing]

The thing is, where did he get his feral desires? Did he grow up in an abusive family? Has he ever killed a living being, even an animal? He's going to have to be a slight cut above the average gung-ho bloodthirsty country bumpkin if he's going to go up against literal god-spawn of Cthulhu the dark lord himself really spooky eldritch horrors.

[BurningCold]

I've been hungering for something mind-rending as of recent. I shall endeavor to put a character sheet up! Should time and circumstance allow.

[Voltus_Ventus]

Would a non-British pilot in the RAF have experienced any of the horrors that the evacuated personnel from Dunkirk would have? A Polish or French pilot that might have somehow slipped through the cracks of the quarantine, or taken into a separate quarantine after their country fell to German occupations? And what's going on in the Far East, or Austrailia and New Zealand?

[Oak7ree]

@BingTheWing Arthur Howell would be ready.

[Dusty]

The thing is, where did he get his feral desires? Did he grow up in an abusive family? Has he ever killed a living being, even an animal? He's going to have to be a slight cut above the average gung-ho bloodthirsty country bumpkin if he's going to go up against literal god-spawn of Cthulhu the dark lord himself really spooky eldritch horrors.

@BingTheWing

Haha
Well I imagine he signed on to kill Germans not the god-spawn of Cthulhu... That one might come as a bit of a shocker to anyone, no matter how mentally strong they are.

Also I thought I explained his disposition in his character sheet, in this line "Extended evaluation concluded a strong fear of death in general from the subject and a desire to control death through killing the enemy, of which he has a great desire"

I understand that's kinda vague but due to they CS style it was the best I could do. Anyway, the mental condition he has is prescribed in Ernest Becker's book The Denial of Death as one of the ways certain people deal with the inevitability of death. Its nothing more than the product of Johnathan's fears and him trying to control it.

Anyway I can drop him down a billet if you want me too.

[PrinceAlexus]

Il have to see if I can create a charecter and see what the creative juices mix up.

[BingTheWing]

@Dusty That's fine. Your CS is pretty good as is, and the format of your Psych Evaluation is a stellar example of how I wanted it to be, though I may have to drop him down to Green One. Lob it into the CS tab.

@Voltus_Ventus Most of the French that happened to be rescued at Dunkirk were quarantined. If your character is French or Polish, he could have fled to the UK pre-Dunkirk and witnessed a little of what the Germans had released (you can PM me for further details). An important note: Polish pilots were some of the most experienced in the war, having had hundreds of flying hours and defending the German invasion in 1939 (where your character could have experienced a smattering of eldritch shenanigans).

And as for what's going on in the other colonies, as with the real world timeline nothing much though the Japs could be up to something.