December 4, 1944, in the forests in South-East Poland.
Some mood music

The Russians were getting closer, Anna - and the rest of the Leśni ludzie, literally "forest people" - could tell. The Germans were getting more and more nervous. But where in the past this has resulted in mass executions and visits from the Einsatzgruppen, now they were retreating, blowing up bridges and burning supplies where possible.

Like the Russians had done three years ago, the Germans tried to leave nothing but scorched earth for the enemy soldiers. Damn the starving civilians in the middle.

Their leader, a former post office clerk, Mendel had gathered them around, and climbed up on top of a tree stump, waiting for everyone to settle down and listen.

"My fraynd, the Russians are in fast pursuit of the Germans. Their next attack will be coming soon. When Spring is here, they might already be in Crakow!"


There was a murmured response, some shaking their heads at so much optimism. Mendel waited for the noise to subside. "We still don't have established communications with STAVKA, but we got some friends in the Red Army and among other partisan groups. And from what we hear, the Russians will come through this region. But the Nazis won't just roll over."

Well, that wasn't surprising. The Wehrmacht and even more so the SS had conducted a fighting retreat, stubbornly fighting as long as they could. They made the Soviets bleed for every city, just like the Soviets had done to them during Barbarossa.

"David, tell the others what you told me"

David stood up, a boy of 15 years. Just a teenager in another world, but here, in this place, in this time, already a veteran.
"The Germans have set up a camp at Castle Kamieniec, with heavy artillery and all."

Mendel nodded. "That will keep the Russians back and we need them to march as quickly as possible. I say we attack and make sure the Red Army can proceed unhindered. That will put us in their good graces."

That was... suprising. Mendel didn't advocate for open combat. But Anna knew that supplies were running out. They were, indeed, desperate.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 19:57, Fri 17 Sept 2021.

Anna takes one last drag from her cigarette before stomping it out on the ground. The news had sparked a fire in Anna’s bloodshot eyes. If the Germans are holing up this close then the Russians aren’t far behind. And with the Americans in the west it’s starting to feel like it’s no longer “if” the Third Reich will fall, it’s “when.”

Yet she is conflicted. Mendel is one who tamps down her belligerence, but even she would not suggest a target like this one. They hit the Nazis where they’re weak, and here they’re strong. She trusts Mendel, but for him to bear a risk like this one . . . Still, if this is what Mendel wants then she’s behind him all the way.

“So the time has come to be more than a thorn in the Nazis’ side?” she rhetorically exclaims as she takes a few steps forward. “Then let us be a knife in their throat!” Her arms stretch wide while she sweeps her gaze across the rest of the group. This is a foolhardy proposition and she wants to help rally them around their leader

“Does the LWP know this as well?” she asks with a nod in David’s direction while removing a tin containing pre-rolled cigarettes from a jacket pocket.

They would need to coordinate with as many allies as possible for an assault like this one, and the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie—the Polish People’s Army—is the most powerful option she can think of. After all, it had absorbed many local Soviet partisans and there is no point even mentioning anyone but communists at this point. The Polish underground is still a formidable force to her knowledge, which gets less accurate by the day, but they might as well be the Wehrmacht to Russian eyes nowadays.

There are some cheers, from maybe half the members of the group. The youngest ones, Anna notices. The older ones, especially those with children, seem more reluctant.

Mendel nodded. "The LWP knows, but they focus on clearing the minefields and help the approach to Crakow."
He nodded slightly at Anna, thanking her for her support, then looked at the others.
"Mordechai and Adam have played in the ruins of Kamieniec most of their lives. They know every stone, every tree. Every secret path."

Most turned to look at the two brothers. Adam looked at his older brother, who nodded and grimly said: "S'iz rikhtig. But back then, we ran into bats and foxes, not SS.

"What is your plan, Mendel?" Old Shimon asked, scratching his bald head. Shimon often asked the questions on everyone's mind, focusing them on what's important.

"Tomorrow, we climb up to the ruin. Adam and Mordechai lead the way. The moon will provide us enough light. Then we throw grenades into the ruin's yard and kill them all!"

No matter how long the war drags on, the Jews plant the seeds and the communists reap the harvest. For some reason it felt like things may be different when it came to a veritable Nazi stronghold. Still, a little bitterness is nothing in the face of killing Nazis and the Soviets are the biggest game in town.

Lighting a fresh cigarette hides a wince as Mendel explains his plan. Narishkeyt! she silently shouts, feeling more than a little ashamed. It’s looking more and more like a suicide mission. There is no better way to go, but she can’t afford to die until the Germans are paid their due in full. Luckily, David has given her something to work with.

“Why stop at a few Stielhandgranaten?” The Karabiner 98k is slung off her back and she plants its butt on the ground. “The Germans brought me this rifle.” Some eyes roll at the common boast. “And, didn’t we hear David? They’ve brought us their cannons!” She pauses for a second to let the preposterous image of artillery turned the wrong way around sink in. This bombast is unusual for her, but she wants to modify the objective without seeming to undercut their leader. They all know she’s rigged her fair share of bombs, so hopefully that helps.

“Those need shells, and the Nazis need a place to store them. I say we blow that magazine they’re sitting on!” Her experience with explosives doesn’t extent to artillery, but high-explosive shells are supposed to be pretty common and odds are they aren’t too difficult to detonate.

“No matter how many survive, Ivan will surely like the sight of Mörser with no ammunition. That, and a castle with a new coat of natsisblut.” Her speech ends in a murderous wink and she cedes the discussion with a gesture toward Mendel, her frame slightly hunching as she leans on her Kar98k.

Mendel nodded, enthusiastically.

"Yes! Yes! Throwing grenades will just be the start. It will catch them by surprise and then we can mop up the rest."

There are still some doubtful looks, but the plan seems to be set.

Anna gives a small nod despite her misgivings. She really isn’t a fan of the grenade plan. And the whole thing is overambitious to start with, but “mop up the rest”? Hit-and-run is all she knows: so blow up some Nazis, set off the magazine, and be gone before the survivors get their bearings. But it’s not her call, so her job is to give them the best chance to pull this off and live to kill again.

And to do that she goes to speak with Mendel at the first opportunity.

It doesn't take much longer for the little meeting to be over and the crowd disperses, going after their various tasks in the tent. Mendel speaks with a few men, among them young David, before these too wander of to fulfill their tasks - leaving you alone with Mendel.

The nub of her current cigarette is discarded as she approaches their leader. Offering a slight dip of the head in greeting, she cuts straight to the chase. She’s in a hurry.

“I want to take Adam and head out now, scout out Kamieniec before you arrive.” This would leave her without much rest, but good intelligence is worth any price. Besides, it’s not like she ever sleeps well to begin with.

Afterward she leans in and mutters, “And, please, tell the ones who stay to go west if we don’t come back. The Germans are distracted, slip past and find the Americans.” This mission is different. They have noncombatants and if they fail most of the group could easy wind up dead. The request feels presumptuous, maybe even insulting, but the the Red Army is on their doorstep and thought of the women in Russian hands . . .
This message was last edited by the player at 14:00, Mon 20 Sept 2021.

Mendel takes off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Anna..." he starts, then stops. He looks so much older than she first met him, aged two decades in three years. He obviously hasn't slept a lot, either.

"We won't be able to outrun Russian tanks and trucks. There is no way to make it to the US lines. The last word we had was that they're still fighting in France. They're not even in Germany yet. The Russians will be there long before them. That's why we have to show them we aren't just peasants. Our only hope is to show them that we can take the fight to the Nazis."
He shrugged.
"And there may be food and other supplies there, too. Raizel's baby needs milk, so Raizel needs to eat. And there won't be anything left in a matter of days."

He sits down on a tree stump and grabs his knees. "We're at the end, Anna. We have almost made it through, now we need to hold on, just for a few more days, one last desperate attack and a victory that will make the Russians take notice and then be taken in by them. That is all we can hope for."

He doesn't say it, but... if the attack fails and a sizeable portion of your little troop gets killed, the remaining supplies will last longer for the survivors, too.

She covers her eyes for a moment and nods for several seconds. “Yes, of course, you’re right. It is easy to forget . . .” that humans are never the only danger. The Einsatzgruppen has that effect. And, in truth, she hadn’t the faintest clue where the Americans are. Or whether they’re even any better than the Russians. But they have to be, right?

“Forgive my wavering.” Her gaze isn’t lowered anymore. It’s not a question of what they have to lose so why fret about it? “The end is nigh,” can be a pretty good pep talk.

“So, ehh, would you like me to make for Kamieniec?”

Mendel nods. "Take Adam and Mordechai. Do you want to take anybody else?"

“No, they’re all I need,” She shakes her head. “Them, and the rest of our dynamite.

“I promised the Russians natsisblut, and if you want to give them every last drop then the three of us will prepare the abattoir.” It is liberating to think that the goal is extermination at any cost. She may vent her wrath with abandon and play Einsatzkommando for a night. Even if her people end up collateral damage.

The three of you make your way toward the ruins of Kamieniec. The brothers tell you a few stories about the castle, but eventually start arguing about several details - who built the castle, when, and what major battles had been fought there or not.

The three of you travel by horse wagon and you make good progress. In the distance, you can hear artillery, but it's so far off that it's hard to tell if there's a battle raging or just some preliminary probing attacks.

The last leg of the journey you complete by foot and the brothers soon take you off the main road into the forest. The three of you rest in a ditch until night falls, the full moon barely giving enough light for you to see. But the brothers seem to know truly every stone and every root, leading you up the incline. It's a two-hour walk, the progress slow to prevent noises, but then, finally, Adam points upwards and you realize that there's a stone structure over your head.

Adam points up toward what must have been the privy and grins. "Drekz house", Mordechai explains.

The peal of cannons is music to her ears. That is the sound of the Eastern Front back on Polish soil. That means, for the first time, she’s actually going to fight in the war if you think about it.

“Good place to find Nazis.” Lame joke, but someone had to make it. She squats next to the pair, picks up a stick, and points it toward each of them in turn. “All right, my brave zelnerlekh, you two are going to win this for us.” As patronizing as that may sound, she’s being quite sincere.

She brushes away some leaves to expose a patch of dirt then uses the stick to scrape a line parallel to the ‘drekz house.’

“Can you draw what you remember?” she asks, holding out the makeshift writing utensil. It may be dark, but they can always move their faces as close to the ground as needed.

With some quick scratches and whispered discussions, the two brothers drag a sketch into the mud:

https://images.kanka.io/user/-...gBF2ECJVBEglyBzW.png

"We're here." He points at the X. "Everything here is open, there are some small remains of the wall, but it's open ground, more or less. These," he points at the squares, "are some houses, possibly sleeping quarters and over there is the tower. Not sure if the tower could support the weigth, but it would be a good place to put some artillery, I guess."

There really would be no hope of success without the brothers. And she correctly predicted the greatest problem with that mediocre grenade plan: there will be Germans inside structures.

Armed with the rough layout, she needs to see some of the ruins for herself. Just two more questions before they move.

“Where do you intend to climb up?

“Do you have any guesses for where they might store the shells?”

Adam pointed at the X and Mordechai nodded. "Through the drekz house. Adam can get up and lower some rope. He's done it before..

His little brother nodded, emphatically.
"The shells..." he scratched his head and looked at Adam, who shrugged, then, hesitantly pointed at the square in the middle bottom.
"Yeah, that would make sense."

Assuming no one falls that’s a decent point of entry. At least on the approach there doesn’t seem to be any risk of getting spotted.

“I want to get a good look at the castle with my own eyes. Is that a good position?” She jerks her head upward.

"Sure, but can you climb up there?"

Adam stands up and points at himself, then upward, then at you, and shrugs.

((That would be an Athletics roll, Adam would assist you by climbing ahead and you could try and follow. Based on Adam's roll, you might get a bonus to your roll. Want to try that?))

“Think so.” Anna discards everything but her rifle, bayonet, field glasses, and crowbar. Everything else is dead weight. And, while she makes a habit of properly securing her gear for noiselessness, all the preparation in the world can’t account for bad luck.

While the Seitengewehr 42 is more tool than weapon for her, the rifle is assuredly not and is almost left behind as well. Any violence will sabotage the assault, but if that becomes necessary then the damage is basically done. Of course, armed or not, she will almost surely die in short order.

15:33, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 4,5 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5.  Athletics.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:37, Wed 22 Sept 2021.

((Excellent))

Adam climbs ahead and you, keeping a close eye on where he puts his feet and hands follow after him, with Mordechai remaining at the bottom, standing guard. It's tougher than you expected, but you make it to the top and crawl through the hole, Adam pulling you up the last few inches.

The privy is missing half a wall and the door has long rotted away, but you're hidden enough if you stay low and crouched down.

There are a few things you can easily spot - there is indeed artillery on the tower, and something that looks like a large mortar in the yard. There are various crates and sandbags set up for firing positions, with an MG nest guarding the main approach to the ruins. The remains of two small camp fires are glowing in the dark. And, as Mordechai indicated, there are two stone houses, the worst damage mended by makeshift repairs to keep the cold out.

((For more, a Notice roll, if you please))

16:21, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 7,3 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,3.  Notice.

First two rolls of the game and the virtual dice have been kind to poor Anna.

Edit: Anna pulls out her service glasses to help survey the ruins and its occupants.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:54, Wed 22 Sept 2021.

((Don't jinx it.))

You can make out some light seeping out through the cracks in the upper stone building, the smaller of the two. There are at least four guards that you can see wandering around the ruins, trying to stay warm, and you can hear some laughter and other noises from the larger building.
Two of the guards are at the top of the tower, where the artillery piece is. The gun is massive and you wonder how this beast could be fired even once without collapsing the tower under it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...-_Anzio_(2-2187).jpg

The gun in the yard is smaller, with multiple barrels, like an oversized revolver lacking the barrel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...d,_Raketenwerfer.jpg

There are several wooden crates close to each piece, most likely the ammunition.

Getting a grenade near that ordnance in the courtyard before the Germans take cover could be useful. It seems far, but maybe their strongest thrower could land one close enough?

Yet it’s the tower that really captures her attention. Setting off the shells up there could easily collapse the structure. But dynamite at the wall behind the cannon might be able to drive the gun tumbling down the length of the castle. The first problem is how to get there without being seen. Or at least in one piece.

The second is this could easily be a one-way trip. The Germans can’t have time to react and the whole point is making the largest possible explosion. Still, if it works, what’s one life compared to the many this could save? It’s her plan so she should be the one to do it. Even if it wasn’t, she would happily take this risk herself.

But . . . she isn’t the one most likely to succeed. She rubs her eyes and steels herself.

“Say, zelnerl, do you think you could climb to the tower without being seen?”

A Nebelwerfer! My favorite word to say aloud.

Adam raised his head, looked over the wall, then back at Anna.
He shrugged, then nodded.

“Vunderlekh. You’ll sneak over with our dynamite. All of it.” One stick she’ll keep for herself, just in case. “When the grenades go off and the cannoneers are distracted you put it behind the cannon. All it needs to be is inside the wall. Inside, that’s important. That bomb should send the beast toppling down the hill and over all the Nazis in its way.”

Which might be their only hope. The Germans are so spread out. And then there’s that machine gun. The debris may make good cover if they manage to turn it around. Now that she has seen the situation it looks more and more like many of them will die here. A fact she is going to keep to herself. This isn’t the Warsaw ghetto. This isn’t a final act of proud defiance, it’s a battle for their future on a battlefield of their own choosing.

The question is, should she tell Adam his chance of surviving this mission?

“But this must happen fast.” She holds up an index finger. “One minute. That’s all I can give you.” And if he is forced to drop the bundle the impact alone could detonate it, but she doesn’t mention that. Here, caution may breed failure. Youth makes one foolhardy but that’s not a gamble she is willing to take.

She tilts her head down and to the side. “I won’t lie, Adam, you may not escape the blast. But remember Samson, who crushed three-thousand of his enemies beneath their own walls.” She gestures toward the tower. “All he needed to do was break the pillars.”

Now that she thinks about it that story is a pretty much perfect fit. Samson, a man known mostly for carnage, is a common figure to invoke these days. Especially for using the jawbone of an ass as an improvised weapon. But it is certainly easier to make this story sound inspiring than hitting people with a mandible. Or setting a bunch of foxes on fire.

Anna attempts repurpose some rifle cartridges for a trick she has used dozens of times, prying out the bullets and cinching the cases closed. Next she scrapes out a few smidgeons of dynamite before inserting the blasting caps and dabs some of the material on a thin scrap of cloth. The makeshift “squibs” are wrapped up tight and firmly secured inside some padding.

08:05, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 7,10 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,(6+4)10.  McGyver.

Adam nods, grimly, and disappears into the darkness.

You count the seconds, imagine him scampering across the ancient walls and then hear a commotion behind and below you, somebody climbing up.

"What is taking you so long?"

"Get it in place a half-minute after the signal. Either this going off-" Anna holds up the packet of jury-rigged squibs, "-or them sounding the alarm." Nothing is as important as that bomb going off. So if she gets spotted she'll resort to getting in cover as fast as she can and hope she doesn't get crushed or shot in the process.

---

Anna scans the walls in search of Adam, tightly gripping her field glasses and desperately trying to keep her sweaty hands steady. If or when she sees him in place she turns her attention to that peculiar piece of artillery in the middle of the courtyard.

She impatiently waits for the wandering soldiers to get as far from it as they're likely to be. Once she sees an opening she attempts to sneak toward it, moving fast and low.

((Give me a Notice and a Stealth roll))

10:53, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 6,1 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,1.  Notice.

10:53, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 6,8 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,(6+2)8.  Stealth.

Phew! I was almost as worried as Anna about that stealth roll.

Oops. I just realized I completely skipped past Mordechai's pestering . . .

Retroactively reply or keep moving forward?

Edit: I seriously have no idea why I did that. It was all that happened in the post! The only possible explanation is my brain being so overeager at the thought of an enormous explosion that it elided the entire subject.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:06, Thu 30 Sept 2021.

((You can go ahead and edit!))

While waiting for Adam

---

Anna instinctively reaches for her bayonetted rifle before it registers that source of the noise is obviously Mordechai climbing up.

"Sha!" she hisses while shifting over to help him into the nook, hushing the boy despite the fact that he didn't particularly need it. And if she is taking her people's future into her own mutinous hands he deserves to know before the ruins are well and truly gone.

"Plan has changed. I am not waiting for the others." She briefly explains the plan, again omitting the possibility of the dynamite detonating if dropped from a height on its own.

"The more of us here, the easier we are to spot. And the more mishpokhe pointlessly broken beneath the same walls as the Germans." Pointlessly being the operative word.

"Are you meshugge? We can't take on the Germans all by ourselves!"

Adam is in place, or about to be, just a few more steps for him. There are no guards seen around the large gun, so he should be save in the shadows.

Two Germans are standing next to the Nebelwerfer, chatting with each other. One drops the cigarette he's smoking and stomps it out, then turns around and walks away. The second lingers a bit more, stretching his arms, then walks away in the opposite direction, towards Anna and disappears from view as he gets closer to the wall.

"Can or can't, we are committed." It's too late to call it off even if she wanted to. Which she does not. Since it's also too late for Mordechai to escape safely she may as well find a use for him.

"So the three of us simply will. It's time: I am going to try to get there." She points to the smaller ordnance then passes the squib sack. "Here. After they raise the alarm or I manage to fire that gun you throw this down hard." She turns to look him in the eye.

"Then, you fall right to the ground and cover your head. Teykef! Keep your face down and squeeze your eyes shut." Those are for his own protection. They don't have anything to do with the following instruction. "And no matter what the Germans may do to me you let them, Mordechai. I don't care if you think you can help, I only care about the Nazis' fate. Mine doesn't matter."

The moment she put that bomb in Adam's hand it had crystallized that this night has little to do with the living. Sure, she is going to try to give the rest of her people the best shot at subsisting. Sure, this is probably the best way to do it. But this is about the dead. The brothers weren't allowed a say. She turned Adam into their weapon with Mordechai little more than a bystander. So the only dignity she can lay claim to consists of the number of Nazi corpses. And only failure can deprive her of that.

Fortunately, her command concerns physical wounds. After all, these Germans are still fighting for their own nauseous living and the panicked mind doesn't have much room for sadism. If she has her way then the only malice that remains in Kamieniec will be Jewish malice.

"After Adam razes the castle . . . well . . ." If he isn't trapped under rubble he'll be trapped uphill of any survivors. Or dead. Or  "All I know is many Nazis will be dead or dying. And the cliff-face may no longer be stable. Like I said, we are committed."

And with those parting words she rises into a crouch. She had almost blurted out a "stay safe," but that would be truly perverse in this moment. To abandon her is the only such direction she could give in good faith.

She begins skulking toward her destination, taking a path along the wall. Losing sight of the soldier that had been heading her way was truly unfortunate. Hopefully she will need neither bullet nor bayonet during her approach, but if she does then it is best the German die before he notices any danger. Of course, if she fires a shot then the alarm can safely be considered raised.

20:02, Today: Warmaster, on behalf of SS-Infantry, rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2.  Guard Notice.

Mordechai starts a protest, but you're out of reach before he can even utter a single word. Then you hear a whistled rendition of Lili Marleen, followed and then underscored by what sounds like water splashing against the wall. The noise is coming from just a few feet directly under you.

Where is she in relation to the whistler and/or Nebelwerfer? And would this be around where that soldier she lost sight may have been headed?

((The whistler and the out-of-sight guard should be the very same. You're above the whistler, the Nebelwerfer is a just a quick run away))
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:37, Mon 04 Oct 2021.

It is convenient that she kept Mordechai from getting a word in edgewise. He doesn't have any cause to speak, only listen, and she had said all she needed to. Anything more is just wasted time. That, and it's painful to even look at him. She is swallowing her guilt and the less they interact the easier it is to keep down.

And it turns out she was right to hurry. This soldier could begin meandering back the way he came any second now. Circumcision doesn't seem to affect this particular task. HaShem should've thought of that!

Which matters because reaching that artillery piece undetected won't matter if she can't get at least a few moments without interruption after arriving. So her course of action is clear: drop down behind him and impale him on her bayonet in an attempt to kill him more-or-less silently, taking advantage of his noise and distraction.

It may not be easy to keep a wounded man from at the very least least crying out, but she is merely aiming to do as much damage as she can manage in the quiet before everything gets very, very loud.

((Ok, You're about 4 yards above him, so 2".
Roll Atheltics to jump down without taking damage, then Fighting to take him down. You do get the Drop on the Fighting roll if you manage the Athletics roll. If you don't, then you take 1d6+1 damage, and don't get the Drop.))
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:04, Tue 05 Oct 2021.

09:55, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 7,9 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,(6+3)9.  Athletics.

09:59, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 15,9 using 1d8+4,1d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of (8+3)11,5.  Fighting with The Drop.

10:03, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 8 using 2d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3.  Damage.

*8+4=12 damage (forgot The Drop)

---

10:43, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 10 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10.  Bonus Damage.

**12+10=22 damage

Edit: I noticed that I can see the SS-Infantry's parry and therefore know definitively whether there was a raise on the attack roll.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Wed 06 Oct 2021.

Anna drops down and falls into a crouch. The SS man, alerted by the noise, turns around, his pants still open. His eyes go wide once he sees Anna, but before he can either pull up his zipper, yell an alarm or ready his weapon, she has already run her bayonet through his belly into his lungs. All the dying man manages is a wheezing sigh as he staggers back against the wall and drops down to the floor.

Anna checks the fallen soldier's insignia as she pries the blade from his body. Siegrunen. Beautiful. Killing Germans is always gratifying, but the sight of an SS corpse elicits an extra tingle that the Wehrmacht lack. To ensure he doesn't escape his fate she spears his throat before returning her attention to the artillery piece. She surveys the courtyard to see if her approach is still clear, and if so attempts to finally reach it.

The court seems to be clear. As she looks around, Anna spots Adam placing the satchel with dynamite at the foot of the cannon.

One minute. He didn't wait for a signal, but he got it in place undetected which is all that really matters. It is time to get the Nazis riled up then get the hell to cover.

She promptly shoulders her rifle and fires it in the general direction of the densest number of Germans. Assuming he follows her instructions that should cue Mordechai amplifying that "stand up and find out what's going on."

Next she removes her stick of dynamite, counts to fifteen, and hurls it toward the crates near that gun. Whether it gets particularly close or even detonates on impact aren't as important as getting this thing as far away from herself as possible before the main bomb goes off. She intends to dive in the opposite direction just in case, then scramble to where she ultimately plans to hide.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:47, Thu 07 Oct 2021.

((Alright, give me an Athletics roll at -2 to land it at the spot. Then I'll resolve the whole mess a bit later :-))

Anna intends shut her eyes and cover her ears while taking shelter underneath the nearby dead or dying soldier, exposed SS-shlang and all.

12:00, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 0,2 using 1d8-2,1d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4.  Athletics.

12:08, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 2,5 using 1d8-2,1d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+1)7.  Benny: Athletics.

I have been looking forward to whatever is about to happen for so long!

It't still dark and quiet, with no soldier in sight, so Anna opts for firing off a shot at the closest house, the bullet certainly ineffective against the stone walls, but the noise of the gunshot echoes magnificently through the ruin. She throws her stick of dynamite  and dives into cover.
She can't see it, but the *thud* of something heavy getting dropped and then the squids go off in a cacaphony of sound. She throws a glance at Adam and sees him fumbling with a grenade he apparently had carried with him.

Then a lot of things happen at once. The door of both houses open and German soldiers are piling out, yelling and shouting. From the courtyard that's opening to the mountain, fast and heavy footsteps approach.

A massive explosion thunders through the ruins, the ground shaking as the walls crumble and the cannon is lifted into the air, then thuds down again, toppling backwards into the house below it. Burning embers rain down. There's no sign of Adam right now, but again there's yelling and screaming, but now there is more pain and panic than before.

Ann coughs into an arm while rolling the dead Germans off of herself, slick with his rapidly-cooling blood. Her ears are ringing and her eyes sting from rock dust, but she has to make best use of her senses regardless. She pushes herself up into a crouch and tries to make out what she can of her surroundings. No matter how many Nazis survived it's on her to put them down. If either of the brothers are still alive she hopes they will be thinking the same thing. Even being a mere distraction could prove invaluable, though that grenade of Adam's certainly would have been more handy after the explosions rather than before them.

Edit: Since soldiers are, well, soldiers she also gives her late body shield a once-over, looking for anything that might be useful.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:35, Sat 09 Oct 2021.

A the skewered SS-man has a belt with ammo strapped to him and his rifle - a fancy repeating rifle Gewehr 43 - leans against the wall, next to the puddle of piss.

What about the state of the battlefield? I suspect things may have changed quite a bit since the last overview. Another Notice roll as well?

And what would happen if Anna were to sling the bayonetted Kar98k on her back? She will switch to the Gewehr 43, but since it evidently lacked a bayonet lug it could be nice to have the option to toss it aside should she see more value in a knife at the end of her boomstick. (I can't believe that detail took less than a minute's worth of research. Gun nerds who take to the internet can make such things so absurdly trivial.)
This message was last edited by the player at 11:56, Sun 10 Oct 2021.

((Sure, give me a Notice roll))

The outer wall of the tower, that had housed the cannon, has crumbled, covering the stairways with debris. The cannon itself has tumbled down the two platforms and crashed into the upper house, taking out the wall facing the tower, bringing down the roof. Whoever is left inside is either dead, wounded or stuck. There are about half a dozen men stumbling through the rubble and debris.

The lower house has fared better - while burning debris has rained down on the ground and the house, it hasn't caught on fire. About a dozen more men have left that house, half of them yelling and looking for the attacker in the darkness, while the other half are stomping on the burning patches, with two men rushing towards the Nebelwerfer to make sure there's nothing burning there.

Anna rips off her coat. The owner of the SS-shlang has something Anna needs. Not his rifle—if she gets into a firefight with this many soldiers it wouldn't be much of an improvement over her own. But his uniform might help her reach a weapon that could enable her to kill more than just a few Nazis before her own probable death.

She yanks the jacket off the corpse and messily pulls it around herself. It's way too large for her small frame, but then these disguises always are. Perhaps she could find a decent fit on an older Pimpf, but she hasn't had the good fortune to put a bullet in any of the younger Nazis yet. And now it's looking like she never will.

If he has a helmet or hat that might stay on her head she pilfers that as well. Her goal is the machine gun, and she'll take whatever edge she can get to reach the nest in one piece.

10:20, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 1,4 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4.  Notice.

There's no helmet, but a felt hat. It would be nice against the cold, but it's a bit too large for you.

There's no sign of Adam, but nobody seems to pay you any mind. You notice one of the SS men taking charge, shouting orders and shoving a few men around.
Already you can see the men calming down.

((Stealth roll to get to the MG42))

16:54, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 1,3 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,3.  Stealth.

16:54, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 6,21 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,(6+6+6+3)21.  Benny: Stealth.

Jesus, that reroll. Can I just sneak the whole Red Army in?

((Well, how 'bout...))

As you approach the MG, the two men seem to argue over something. One of them notices you and yells: "Steiner, come over, you take the MG42, we'll help with the search. Fucking partisans! We'll fucking skin whoever did this and feed their guts to the wolves!"

"While they're still alive, those fucking maggots!" The other agrees.

Half of her had been hoping the nest would be abandoned to search for infiltrators, but these soldiers seem disciplined enough to remain at their post even with enemies at their backs. Long enough for 'Steiner' to relieve them, anyhow.

Glancing at the soldiers' insignia, Anna nonverbally acknowledges the request in a way that seems appropriate given her own pilfered rank. She tries to hustle to the MG as slowly as possible while giving the two partisan-hunters as poor a look at her as she can manage casually.

The two don't pay you any further mind and run toward the officer shouting orders.

Anna is dumbstruck at how effortless it had been to commandeer the MG42, all without having to risk so much as a grunt. Her voice may have the rasp of an exceptionally heavy smoker, but that has not stripped away its feminine timbre. The thought makes her crave a final cigarette more than almost anything, yet she resists the temptation. Muzzle flash far outshines an ember but she simply can't spare the time. The Germans are calming down more and more with each passing second.

However, that doesn't mean she should open fire immediately. While the pair has left her a perfectly good MG nest, it's facing the wrong way. So she attempts to hastily slap together one of her own by cannibalizing the existing fortifications.

Once she decides that shooting Nazis a better use of her time than shielding herself from them she settles into her makeshift nest. Without artillery Castle Kamieniec is no longer a significant obstacle to the Red Army in her estimation, but that wasn't really her mission now was it? She's here to clear out its Nazi infestation and there are still a lot left standing. The commanding officer is by far the biggest problem, so she starts by putting him in her sights.

21:36, Today: Anna Friedman rolled 1,4 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4.  McGyver.

Spend turn Aiming at officer

Barring any major developments, this is now pretty much "fight until dead or out of ammunition." Then "switch to Kar98k, rinse and repeat."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:44, Tue 12 Oct 2021.

((All right. Montage time.))

It took some effort, but Anna managed to swing the MG42 around and put it down with another heavy *thump*. That made a couple of SS-men turn in her direction.

One of them yelled "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DO..", but before he can finish, Anna pulled the trigger, and a whirlwind of bullets mowed down the men in front of her. The noise is deafening and the MG isn't placed as well as it could be, giving Anna a lot of trouble keeping it steadily aimed.
Empty shells fly out the side as she swiveled it from left to right, then lifted it slightly up to fire at the few men on the higher platforms.

Anna was not a trained gunner and was continuously firing and going left to right and left again, swerving up and down, looking for and finding targets, bullets ricochetting off the walls, turning the tight quarters of the ruins into a cauldron of death.

Then she ran out of bullets. The barrel of the MG gave off a wave of heat. Her throat hurt without her knowing why. Then she realized she must have been screaming while firing.

The ruins fell silent.

((I'll give you a chance to add to that and then I'll wrap it up.))
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:25, Wed 13 Oct 2021.

A strange weariness sets in as Anna stares at the orange glow emanating from the barrel of the MG42. There is something inexplicably hypnotic in the stillness blanketing the ruins. After a listless half-minute she jerks her head side-to-side, coming to her senses. There is no time to relax. Feeling as overheated as the machine gun she rips off Steiner's jacket, relishing the freezing air of the Polish winter. She's going to regret this decision in a minute or two, but it shouldn't be hard to find another coat to pillage. Another parallel to the Samson legend.

She grabs her rifle and stands up, using the weapon as a support. Her job is to exterminate each and every Nazi, a job that is not nearly done. Just because it is quiet right now doesn't mean all of the Germans are out-of-action. So the battle may not be over. And when it is she'll need to carefully scour the castle and slash open the throat of each and every last body. No reason to waste a good bullet when a bayonet will do.

There is a sense in the back of her mind that Adam and Mordechai should take priority. What if they need medical attention? Even her paltry knowledge could potentially save their lives. But that's not going to happen. Nothing matters until she is satisfied that the massacre is complete. Then she'll locate the brothers. Even if only to confirm their deaths and give the group something to bury.

After all of that is done with she'll move on to her own personal ritual: destroying and scattering anything that could be used to identify the corpses, down to slicing off SS blood group tattoos. A spiteful endeavor to deny their loved ones the same peace of mind that finding the brothers will give her own. She suspects that the Soviets will leave the bodies where they lie, but it never hurts to be sure.

Finally, she'll smoke Nazi cigarettes and drink Nazi spirits while keeping watch until her brothers-in-arms arrive tomorrow night. Who knows how they'll react? Obviously her success will be a relief, but even if it was the right call it wasn't hers to make. She kind of hopes Mendel will publicly chew her out for taking this risk alone in order to reassert his authority. And she'd do her best to help it stick.

Obviously most of this will be deprecated if Nazi werewolves or something pop out of the shadows. Either way, this was a fun little prelude!

Anna goes about her gruesome task methodically, in many cases opening another wound on a corpse, but there were a few wounded or dazed Nazis whose life she ended.

Then she heard a deep growl. Her hairs stood up on the back of her neck and she turned around. A few feet away from her, hunkered down on a large rock was another nazi, in a captain's uniform. He was crouching atop the rock, his left hand down for balance, his right hand half raised. He cocked his head and then he growled again, a deep, grumbling noise that sounded as if it came from the depths of hell itself

And then he changed.

His uniform tore open over his swelling arms and legs, fingers lengthened, hair sprouted from his face - and this face grow larger and longer, his bared teeth showing elongated canines.

17:22, Today: Warmaster, on behalf of Anna Friedman, rolled 2,-1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1.  Spirit v. fear.
17:24, Today: Warmaster, on behalf of Anna Friedman, rolled 7 using 1d20+2, rerolling max with rolls of 5.  Fear Table

Anna is Vulnerable! The Wehrwolf has +2 to attack and damage until her next turn.



Anna froze, her eyes wide. She wanted to scream, but all she could manage was a tiny squeak. Something inside of her yelled Shoot it! at her, something else "RUN!", but the loudest voice in her head whimpered "I don't want to die" over and over again.

The wolfman launched himself from the rock and sprinted toward her. Somehow she managed to bring up her rifle and fire a shot, but either she missed or the creature didn't mind. He - it? - slammed into her, claws tearing through her coat and into her side.

"Ⱥղժ ղօա į'ӀӀ ҽąէ վօմ" the thing growled into her face, and opened his mouth wide. All Anna could see was teeth.


Then the weight was gone from her.
"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!" Mordechai was there, swinging one of the discarded rifles like a bat, slamming it into the thing's head and upper body, again and again and again.

Something else grabbed her and Anna turned around - and saw Adam. Wounded, clearly, his left arm hanging limp and at a weird angle, his face covered in cuts and bruises, his eyes pleading for her to come with him.

Later, she would recall that it had been that look on Adam's face that snapped her out of it. She scrambled to her feet, just in time to see the creature duck under another swing of Mordechai, then it was upon him. It didn't waste time announcing its intentions, closing its jaws around Mordechai's neck, blood spraying everywhere.
Mordechai started to scream, but then it turned into a sickening gurgling sound and he fell to the ground.

Now it was Anna's time to grab Adam.
"RUN!"
And they did. Anna didn't know where to run to, but she just ran into the darkness, Adam stumbling behind her, whimpering from the pain he must have felt from his broken arm.
Her first instinct was to go back to the camp, but no, too dangerous, the beast might slay them all. There would have to be some other way. They kept running downhill, as fast as they could.

She couldn't hear it, but felt it in her heart. The wolfman hunted them now, it was after them, playing with them. Then she heard the howl. Triumphant, gleeful. And close. So very close.

She fell against a tree out of breath. Adam stopped next to her an instant later. In the light of the full moon, she could see his face pale. He bent over and vomited over a tree stump, then slumped down. He pulled a grenade from his coat and nodded his chin at her.

Anna shook her head, but again he nodded and pointed for her to go on.

Another howl, it sounded as if it came from the trees just behind them.

Adam readied the grenade and gave her a grim look.

Anna pressed her lips together and ran into the darkness, further down. Moments later, she heard a loud scream of pain and defiance, followed by an explosion. But she kept running, not looking back.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:55, Wed 13 Oct 2021.

((You can wrap it up with a lost post about how you made it back to Mendel and the others, otherwise, this Prelude is now closed.))

First Aid

---

Another fall. She has no clue how long it's been, but Anna is consumed by a single thought: run. Once again she pushes herself upward to get on her feet and continue fleeing, but this time her quivering arms fail her.

. . . come on . . . not now . . . not yet . . . move . . . broch . . . is it? . . . what if? . . . where? . . . move . . . come on . . .

The struggle continues for several minutes until she is eventually forced to concede defeat. Collapsed on the forest floor, she drags herself to a tree and claws her way into a sitting position. She pulls out a cigarette and rope lighter. First things first -- she's going to smoke. If the thing smells her then it smells her. Yet her trembling hands can't produce a spark, so after several attempts she drops the makeshift device on the ground and resorts to a match.

. . . should be me . . . I told him . . . leave me . . . I told him . . . I told him . . . I told him . . . I told him . . . I told him . . .

She closes her eyes and achieves a few beats of silent relief with nothing in her mind but the rhythmic flow of smoke through her lungs. Her blissful meditation is interrupted by the sensation of something oozing down the back of her neck. She fights through overwhelming lethargy to touch the liquid and examine the smear on her palm. Blood. Did she fall on her back at some point?

. . . coward. . . paskudnika . . . worthless . . . schande . . . pitiful . . . parshivets . . . wretch . . . kharpe . . . disgrace . . .

While attempting to focus on puzzling out why there is blood on her neck she becomes aware of something jabbing into her spine. She sluggishly reaches behind her to feel for what the object might be and it doesn't take long to realize what happened. At some point she had the wherewithal to sling her rifle with the bayonet still attached, which must have sliced through her scalp during that final fall or when she was twisting her body to lean against the tree.

gottze dank! if it's alive I can . . . maybe . . . if it . . . I don't want to die . . . I don't want to die . . . I don't want to die . . .

If her shot had landed, and she's pretty sure it did, then the thing didn't seem to mind. Maybe bullets just don't do anything? Still, she would ra- Wait. Is there something she's forgetting?

blood . . . wound . . . blood . . . gash . . . kurve

She hadn't needed to look in order to retrieve her cigarettes, but now she steels herself to do exactly that. Blood. Blood everywhere. Blood soaked through her coat. Blood soaked through her pants. A few dry heaves later and she snaps to her senses. There's no room for emotion right now, least of all terror. As despicable as it was, it had helped her survive, but it's no longer useful. And she can wallow in shame, self-pity, and survivor's guilt later. And, while she has witnessed plenty of horrors, she can't even begin to process that new one at the moment.

Wincing, she pulls back her coat. The coat and pants may have looked bad, but those are nothing compared to the shirt. How is she even alive? Her current cigarette is extinguished in preparation for the next step: getting a look at the wound itself. It's only half-finished but, much to her chagrin, tobacco is no longer a priority.

A scream is barely stifled while she lifts her shirt. Four massive tears through the left side of her abdomen. And they're still bleeding. Sprinting and tumbling through the woods couldn't have helped. A few more dry heaves. These hurt way more than the first few. The pain is exponentially worse now that she's seen the extent of the damage.

She'll grow weaker with every drop of blood lost so she acts quickly. This is not her area of expertise, but she thinks that getting pressure on the wound under is the best course of action if she wants to prevent exsanguination. Maybe she'll die of an infection, but not immediately. Every shred of clothing is invaluable in this cold so the fabric of her pack is used for raw materials. She is going to need to travel as light as possible anyway, so she is only planning on keeping her weapon, ammunition, and canteen. Since there was a decent chance she was going to die she didn't bring any food, instead leaving it for the noncombatants, a decision she is seriously regretting.

Fortunately she can spare some water to rinse the gashes, for all the good that will do. Upon completing the improvised dressing she shoves some cloth into her mouth. Gagging herself is probably the only way to muffle the inevitable wailing. Which was a good idea. She nearly fainted from the pain, but luck was on her side with that particular disaster.

She dresses the incision on her head then bundles back up and rests for a while, slowly chain smoking and taking small sips of water. After all, a fair amount of the liquid in her body is now on the ground and inside her clothing. At last, she hears cracks of artillery fire in the distance. She has no clue where she is or how to get back to the road she arrived on, but she at least remembers the relative direction of those guns. As appealing as it sounds to stay planted right here, the time has come to get moving. It's not just her own survival at stake. It might be her people's as well.

Odds are Adam killed that thing, but even if he didn't she can't imagine it is going to remain in the vicinity of Kamieniec. It was giving orders to Germans in an SS officer's uniform and could still talk after it metamorphosed, so it's probably got better things to do than loiter around some especially ruined ruins. Maybe it'd hunt her down or eat some of the bodies or something, but that's not a chance she is willing to take. She doesn't know what to say or how honest she should be, but she can't allow any of them to get anywhere near that castle under any circumstance.

Grunting, she uses the tree to stand back up. Using her rifle for support, she locates a branch that will make a better walking stick and starts limping away.