Second Dawn:Kara Atkinson

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This is a reference document for the LARP The Second Dawn.

Kara Atkinson Player: Hillary K Minister of the Army Age: 50s

Additional Information (read first): Union Government, Seerstones

Background: You were born in Pittsburgh County, on the very western edge of the Eastern Union. In those days, the Warlord of Akron held the other side of the border, keeping the Union as a benign trading partner to his benefit against other warlords farther west. Your parents were a bricklayer and a patrolman. Your two best friends were Walter Palmer and Bradley Hays, each of them a son of one of your parents’ coworkers. You had your youthful adventures, playing Ancients in the dusty creek in the summertime, and all such usual things. As you grew up, the three of you inevitably began to grow apart in some ways, but even as you studied hard to become a local magistrate and your friends began their own apprenticeships in their mid-teens, you still gathered to share stories, beer and good times. You’ll never forget your last night on the edge of Pittsburgh, 18 years old. You were to head up to New Hudson the following morning, on a scholarship as an outstanding magistrate’s apprentice. The three of you gathered for one final night’s party, shooting the nighttime breeze one last time, using your expensive new recording device to take some moving pictures of you three together. It had rained recently, and the creek was full of muddy, fast-moving water. The three of you got in a drunken argument; Walter was dating Brad’s ex-girlfriend, a local girl named Lucy (on whom you’d had a crush yourself), and the mood turned sour once inhibitions were down. There was a little scuffle between the three of you, nothing truly serious until Brad hit his head on a rock when he went down. Both you and Walter panicked and ran; but a minute later, you turned back, realizing you had to help Brad first. There you saw Walter rolling his unmoving body into the creek. You turned and ran away immediately, sick with fear and regret until you were safely on the train. Once you were in New Hudson, you threw your recorder’s seerstone into Manhattan Bay. You never tried to contact Walter again. The scholarship in New Hudson was nice, but you quickly grew restless there. As you made a few contacts, you found out about a far better place to go next; after all, you didn’t want to go back home. The military academy at West Point let you in; you used a few connections to enter, but once there you made sure to earn your place in the class. You loved it there, training and focusing your body as well as mind. You graduated with honors, gained an officership in the 4th Tank Division, and began an illustrious military career. The Union has managed to stay out of wars during your tenure, but you distinguished yourself in small skirmishes with Great Lakes Pirates, and the election nullification in 312. In that latter, the then-Minister of the Army commended you for your restraint, when you convinced other brigade commanders not to fire on a crowd in Jersey County. Over the next five years, he made you his protégé, grooming you to replace him in 317 when he retired. When you became Minister of the Army, Jonothan Grant had recently become president. His great project, the Second Dawn, was still in the design phases. He sold you on the future military applications, especially the nationwide communications network offered by its satellite. With a communications device on every tank, your military would have unprecedented flexibility and mobility, every vehicle and battalion in instantaneous contact. In 322, however, the opposition Socialist party took control of Congress, and began taking money away from the Second Dawn project and the Executive branch’s extensive discretionary funds. Slowly but surely, as the belt tightened, Grant started demanding cuts elsewhere to keep his pet project on schedule. After cutting his own corners, he refused to let the project be delayed or cut back in scope, and he trimmed resources from social services, and from numerous military projects. With the spread of the Warlord of Minneapolis across the Plains States, you knew that this was the time to build up the military, not abandon it, but Grant wouldn’t listen. In the past two years, as Minneapolis’ armies conquered Akron and stood waiting at the Union’s border, Grant has only become more distant, less concerned with the more immediate dangers to the Eastern Union. Your first priority tonight is to find some way to pull the Union’s collective ass out of the proverbial fire. Secret sciences, new weapons, new production means, anything that will allow you to better rebuild your nation’s defenses. You don’t have enough strength now to repel a Plains invasion, and you know it, so the best you can do is work towards the future as fast as you can. That includes finding a damned president who’ll give the nation a stronger military. Even with the Second Dawn project over, you doubt Grant will do it, you doubt he’ll do anything right the way he’s been so distant this last year or two. Capitalist or Socialist, doesn’t matter to you, so long as they care about putting this nation’s military safety as their first priority. In the meantime, you may have to swallow your pride and work with Charles Bazett to prevent a war from breaking out in the near future. It’ll be a tough run; the Maple Kingdom is unhappy, the Plains States look belligerent, and the Appalachian Confederacy is unhelpful. Annoyingly enough, it looks like personal issues may boil up right when you least need them. The first and certainly more pleasant such issue is your relationship with Ivy Pearce, pilot of the Second Dawn. You met her after she passed the piloting tests, and you found her drive and strength of personality fascinating. You arranged to meet again, ostensibly to discuss the mission and Army issues, but soon enough the two of you were romantically involved. Of course, a relationship between someone and their commanding officer is completely unethical, so you’ve had to keep it secret. It’s gone surprisingly well, except she’s gotten worried about the dangers of the flight, and wants to get engaged before she takes off tonight- which would inevitably reveal your relationship and torpedo your career, so as much as you like and adore and probably even love her, you don’t want to get engaged. The second personal issue worries you far far more. Somehow, unimaginably, the new Ambassador from the Plains States is Walter Palmer, whom you haven’t seen since the day he killed Bradley Hays.

Roleplaying Notes: At heart, you are a no-nonsense, tough-minded soldier. You’ve distinguished yourself not by excellence in war, but by your competence and restraint; you have the soldier’s greatest skill, knowing when not to fight. You have little patience for political wheeling and dealing; you often end up having to do such things in this job, and you hate that. You don’t stop to ask whether or not you like the job in total; like everything a soldier does, it’s about duty and service, not enjoyment. In your personal life, you aren’t always good at expressing yourself, but your feelings run true and deep regardless.

Goals: 1) Find ways to increase the Union’s long-term military strength. 2) Prevent any wars from starting in the near future. 3) Keep the nature of your relationship with Captain Pearce secret. 4) Confront your old friend Walter about the death of Bradley Hays.

Opinions: Second Dawn: At first you thought it could be a good thing, but your confidence has waned as Grant has proven his willingness to sacrifice all else for it. That satellite will be a big military boon, though. Black Science: In principle it really is bad and destructive, but you’re willing to turn a blind eye to whatever the Tinkers have to do to help protect the Union. It has a corrupting influence, but the danger can be managed. Religion: You were raised in the Old Faith sect called Judaism, but you never really took to religion. Tinkers: The Union wouldn’t exist without their sciences. Nevertheless, their combination of influence and secrecy worries you; if they did choose to betray the Union, you’d be helpless. Plains States: An aggressive and militarized state, a major threat. You’d be willing to give them anything to prevent them from attacking, so long as it didn’t jeopardize your long-term safety. Appalachian Confederacy: Securing that border is necessary in the short and long term. You want them to allow you to place military bases on their soil. Conquering them and making them part of the Union would be easy, and a good long-term solution, but a distraction in the short term. Maple Kingdom: The Tinkers complain that these foreigners sometimes have sciences the Tinkers don’t. Maybe they have some special science your country needs? The price will be high, if so; you hear relations have soured lately. El Dorado: Foreigners from a faraway land of which you’ve never heard. Those zeppelins would make terrible war machines, too easy to shoot down. Still, perhaps they have some military sciences they’d be willing to trade to the Union! The Watch: Not your jurisdiction, but you’re damned glad they’re out there rooting out enemies spies.

Key Information: •The Flight Division, of which Captain Pearce is a member, is the Union’s biggest secret weapon right now. With a dozen refurbished Ancient airplanes, it’s not large, but air power is otherwise entirely unheard of. Its secrecy has grown uncertain lately, simply by Pearce’s public existence. •You do have a small Navy, but it’s not equipped for major war. Comprising mostly small fast vessels, it’s mainly used for river patrols and protecting inland ports like New Buffalo and Rochester. •New Buffalo is a sort of “Freeport,” where Great Lakes Pirates can land safely if they act nice and don’t hit any ships too close to the city. This isn’t a great arrangement, but it keeps the pirates focusing mostly on the Plains. •Your Ministry is one of the five Cabinet posts that effectively chooses the President. Your political opinions are defined by your desire to keep the nation’s military defenses strong. •Ministers rarely fight directly. If one were to use his or her power to openly thwart the will of the majority, or have another assassinated, that would invite similar measures in return. •The Ministers have resolved to make their decision about the 328 elections tonight. •When you were 18, your friend Walter Palmer killed your friend Bradley Hays after a drunken fight, rolling his unconscious body into the swollen creek. There was a visual record, but you threw it into Manhattan Bay decades ago.

People (in approximate order of importance): Captain Ivy Pearce (Rachel O): The pilot of the Second Dawn, and a member of the elite Flight Division. The only other soldier here, and also your secret lover. You do adore her, but you don’t want to marry her, since your relationship violates military codes of conduct. Jonothan Grant, President of the Eastern Union (Ted M): Once you thought he was a brilliant visionary, now you realize he’s a self-deluded fool. He’s seemed increasingly out of it over the past year, probably stress or early senility. Walter Palmer, Ambassador from the Plains States (Ilya M): You haven’t seen him since he killed your other childhood friend Bradley Hays. You can’t let that rest, but you shouldn’t let it get in the way of the really important things tonight. You’ve no idea how he went from Pittsburgh County to working for the Plains government. Charles Bazett, Minister of the Borders (Paul E): He’s too smart and smooth for you to like him very much; you get the feeling that he thinks he’s superior to the rest of you. Tonight at least, you two will have to work together to keep the foreign armies at bay, however much you dislike him. Luther Gaines, Minister of the Watch (Kyle R): When he took over his post in 322, he grew angry at its budget shortfalls, and successfully fought in the Cabinet for more Executive Branch money. The Watch is a good thing, but didn’t the selfish bastard see that everyone was hurting for money, not just him? Margaret Eisenhower, Minister of the Interior (Abbie P): A wishy-washy weakling, but he’s always tried to be friendly to you, so you resist your contemptuous instincts. You suspect he’s looking to retire, he seems to be under a lot of stress lately. Artair [ARE-ter] Tinker, Minister of Sciences (Jed S): You get along alright with him, for a Tinker. He’s generally a bit too accommodating, you think; he’s certainly let Grant get everything he wants with the Second Dawn. Eleanor Truman, Premier of Congress (Eleanor Truman): Grant’s main competitor for the 328 elections, a young firebrand. You don’t know where she stands on any issue beyond her and popularity, but perhaps you can convince her to shore up the nation’s defenses. Franklin Kennedy, Chief of Staff (Matt W): The most powerful member of the Capitalist party after the President. He’s a smooth and straightforward worker, but you’ve never gotten to know him personally. If Grant can be convinced to step aside, he’ll become a main contender for the presidency. Sydney Monroe, Congresswoman from New Providence (Nitsan B): A moderate member of the Socialist party, she’s long stood out in her support of the Second Dawn.

Ratings: Pilot: 1 R: 0 D: 1 G: 2

Nametag Symbols: E, B, R

Attributes: Physical: Defense 3 Pool Rating 4 [] [] [] [] Mental: Defense 3 Pool Rating 3 [] [] [] Social: Defense 4 Pool Rating 3 [] [] []

Recoveries: -Meet in secret with your lover (+3 points, 1/hour) -Snipe at Bazett while working with him (+1 points, 2/hour) -Express your frustration at the political situation or your involvement in it (+1 point, 2/hour)

Abilities: Penetrating Insight, Attack, Intimidate, a killer’s will, judge and mark, convince, evasive (x1), suspect, very important person, survivor (x1), security clearance

Items: Pistol, Pouch of Coins, Grenade, Piece of Jewelry