Twilight: 2000 | Poland - Burning Horizon - Alchemy VTT

PCs Lieutenant Commander "Doc" Moreno General Practitioner • Negotiator Humpty Dumpty. They tried to put him back together again. You try to do that every day, but all the broken limbs and broken minds are just too much to fix. So, you triage. On the field. In life. You do what you can, making hard choices. Deciding who is too far gone. You have nightmares about the blood. Whole lakes of it. If you added up all you’ve seen spilled, a lake might not cover it. People hurt. War is pain. You try to heal. You try to mend. It is all you can do in the face of complete absurdity. He ran a hospital in Kalisz, until the artillery was hitting the next block. He is wondering how a group of wounded orphaned children are doing, that the group's Medic, Specialist Reyes, rescued from a Children's clinic in Kalisz. They Dropped thie kids off at a Chapel-turned Hospital with a Polish Priest and a nun, with the promise to return with supplies. The Russians are pressing too hard, now, so they had to move on. The group encountered an old Polish survivor in the woods with Typhoid Fever, dying. Nothing for it. He suggested to the other stragglers that they could get help in Pleszew. Pressed into an ambush, his one single shot was to kill an RPK gunner with a soht to the heart, with a scoped hunting rifle. ----- Master Sergeant Darius “Tex” Morgan — Texas National Guard Sniper • Recon Tex grew up preparing for collapse long before it arrived. A Texas National Guard soldier with survivalist instincts, Tex understands fieldcraft, tracking, concealment, and long-range overwatch. He prefers distance — from threats, from emotional entanglement, from chaos. His rifle is kept clean, his movements minimal. He fires rarely, but decisively. Tex speaks little, but when he does, it’s practical. He scouts routes, identifies ambush points, and advises restraint. He is most comfortable when alone on the perimeter. Emotionally, Tex is controlled grief. He doesn’t dwell on loss — he contains it, because dwelling gets people killed. ----- Sergeant First Class Chris “Chili” Pepper — U.S. Army Recon Sniper • Long-Range Overwatch • Navigation Height: 5’10” – 6’0” Weight: 175–190 lbs Age: 38 Build: Lean, rangy, sinewy muscle — no bulk Hands: Calloused, scarred knuckles. Face: Sun-leathered skin. Permanent squint from glassing terrain. Crow’s feet Chili came to Poland with a unit and a mission. When the lines broke, he stayed because leaving wasn’t an option. A career infantryman turned recon sniper, "Chili" has spent most of the war on the margins—watching roads, denying approaches, and choosing when a single action mattered more than a hundred rushed ones. He works from distance and patience. Chili reads terrain the way others read books, favoring overwatch, clean fields of fire, and deliberate movement. He’s calm under pressure, sparing with ammunition, and precise with words. When Chili speaks, it’s usually because something important needs to be done—and done right. Rumor has it he was part of a relief operation near Kalisz that went badly, with heavy indirect fire forcing units to scatter and operate independently. What’s obvious is that he’s still mission-focused, still professional, and still trying to act like the world can be navigated one careful step at a time—even now. ----- Sergeant Jake "Jawa" Warren, U.S. Army Airborne Ranger Ranger • Mechanic • Marksman He is elite. When he joined up, he was a vehicle mechanic, but wanted more. He practiced at the range at home, and was noted for his discipline, and ability to be cool under pressure. He made enough rank, and realized, he wanted to go all the way. To be the best. Now he is. One of the best in the world and trained in all kinds of elite operations from raids to capturing high value targets. You have done your country proud. When the shit hits the fan, everyone looks to you. You’ll lead them to safety, no matter the risk. Right now, the goal is to Keep the team alive and get back home. This land is lost. Your own country needs you now more than ever.You and your unit were the first into this godforsaken country. Looks like you’ll be the last out, too. It’s fine. As long as nobody gets left behind. Everybody goes home. ----- Private First Class Max "Treat" Hopkins, U.S. Marine Corps Grunt • Rifleman • Ammo Carrier Max is a grunt. A ground-pounder, humping 30 kilos of gear up to hell and back hoping to stay alive. His life was monotony punctuated by moments of sheer terror. His unit came ashore in the Baltic, and he was on a mission to the rear when the Chinook went down in some Polish forest, some time back. Some of his buddies burned up in the fire, others were chopped in half when the rotors shattered, like his mind. Now, in the aftermath, it’s just a muddy, gray hell. He was the only survivor. No officers, no resupply. He gathishered up what he could, and walked, sleeping beneath his poncho, toward the sunset, eating worms and mushrooms from the forest. He walked until he found a church. They let him stay, because he was quiet, and strong. Two months on his own, then these people came. they had a Devil Dog who was Moto, and squared away. They had rides, and food. Trust doesn’t come easily, but he is learning how to live again, one damn day at a time. Mostly he sleeps when he can. ----- Isaiah "Izzy" Carter Civilian Luis • Oilfield Hand • Reluctant Rifleman/Hunter Izzy Carter isn’t military. He never wanted to be. He’s a Houston oilfield repair tech who came to Poland on contract before the war—good pay, short rotation, keep the rigs running. When the shooting started, the work didn’t stop. Fuel was too important. Everyone knew it. A few days ago, marauders hit the pumping station where Izzy was working—looking for fuel, generators, anything that would still burn. He resisted just long enough to get shot and left bleeding in the mud when they thought he was dead. They didn’t check closely enough. Sgt. LaKeisha “Abe” Lincoln and Cpl. Darius “Tex” Morgan found him hours later—barely alive, soaked in blood and diesel. They patched him up, dragged him out, and kept moving as Kalisz began to burn behind them. Izzy has been with them ever since. He knows fuel systems, storage tanks, improvised repairs, and how to make broken machinery work just a little longer than it should. He carries a scoped civilian rifle. He’s not looking to be a hero—he’s looking to stay alive, get home, and not lose what’s left of his humanity along the way. ----- NPCs Officer Leutenant Ernst Schmitt, Bundeswehr NATO Liaison • Tactical Leader • Comms & Navigation Schmitt was trained for coalition warfare, not abandonment. A German-American NATO liaison officer, Born to American Parents, he was called back to Germany to serve. His role was coordination: radios, navigation, translating intent between fractured command structures. He understands doctrine deeply — not as theory, but as survival math. When higher command vanished, Schmitt didn’t collapse. He doubled down. He keeps logs no one will read, monitors dead frequencies, and insists on formations even when manpower barely supports them. This isn’t denial — it’s resistance against entropy. His leadership is methodical rather than charismatic. He asks opinions before ordering. He explains routes. He shares information freely. Emotionally, Schmitt is shaken but functional. He fears irrelevance more than death, and clings to structure because structure once saved lives — including his own. ----- Staff Sgt. LaKeisha “Abe” Lincoln — USMC Military Police Shotgunner • Close-Quarters Battle • Tactics "Abe" Lincoln is discipline under fire. Trained as a Marine Corps MP, she knows how to impose order and take charge of a scene—crowds, corridors, chaos. She favors the shotgun because it hits hard. She doesn’t posture or shout. She acts. Her authority comes from consistency, not volume. Scarred, worn, and always alert, Abe moves like someone who expects violence and plans for it. She watches exits, controls spaces, and instinctively places herself between danger and the group. Grenades are close. Her gear is dirty from months on the move. Combat Medical Specialist Jordan Reyes, U.S. Army Combat Medic • Former Veterinarian Reyes was born in East LA. Before the war, Reyes treated animals. That background makes them an unusually effective medic: comfortable with anatomy, blood, pain, and improvisation. They understand bodies as systems — how shock works, how injuries cascade, how fear worsens outcomes. Reyes carries the group’s medical bag: bandages, iodine, aspirin, vodka, sewing kit, hacksaw — and the quiet dread of when it will be needed. Emotionally, Reyes is haunted but functional. He remembers patients who didn’t make it. He speak softly to the wounded. He will always try to preserve dignity even when survival demands brutality, and believes that humanity is worth saving — even if it hurts. ----- Janeska “Mouse” Kowalczyk Civilian • Forager • Camp Cook • Scout Before the war, Janeska lived a narrow life that demanded constant motion: part-time waitress, full-time cook, scraping by in a small Polish town where everyone knew your business and nobody had enough. She worked ovens, counters, and closing shifts — learning patience, efficiency, and how to read people quickly. When the bombs came, her town tried to stay neutral. “Don’t aid soldiers,” they said. Janeska broke that rule when the Russians killed her parents. They said it was a mistake, an unfortunate event of war. But she knew better than to complain. Life went on, until she saw Americans starving, and made food for them. The town turned on her, fearing reprisals from the Russians. The group didn’t, and mostly accepted her, despite her broken English. She carries civilian habits into war: rationing food carefully, repairing clothing, watching morale. She bakes when she can — even improvising a clay oven by a riverbank — because food is memory, and memory is resistance. Janeska’s AKSU is functional, not beloved. Her father’s compass matters more. She keeps a diary and sketches scenes obsessively, afraid that if she doesn’t record what’s happening, it will swallow her whole. She has no rank, no training, and no illusions. What she has is stubborn dignity — and the refusal to be pushed aside again.