Re: [HoE] Last Crusaders - Names / And a history lesson. [Shane]

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

>(Grin.) It is. Canticle anyone?
>
>(BTW, I live for this stuff! Thanks for catching it!)

Oh... you want some more Easter Eggs found.....

Warning folks - at some points I go into major spoilers....

Lizard on a Stick?!?  Shouldn't that be an Iguana?

Biletnikoff has been mentioned already.

I suspect HInkleman is one, and at the very least Dorsey Gates is a nod to
Raymond Chandler/Mike Hammer.

I didn't get this one until I saw the tree from Excaliber on page 108 - but
Modeen sounds an awful lot like Mordred doesn't it.


And speaking of pictures -- has anyone else noticed that Cole Ballad has
his badge pinned to his chest?  (page 36 - notice the lack of a shirt).

It's a damn shame about Ronan.  I had this picture of Ronan and Stone
meeting several times throughout history.  
Looks like Stone won, even against Ronan.
.... but given his promotion to Martyr, I can just picture Ronan saying
something along the lines of "If you gun me down I will just become far
more powerful then you can imagine...."

Sgt. York.

I'm sorry Shane, but I'm kinda dissapointed that Sgt York was made a Syker,
and had written him off as a Martyr (because he's a syker) before I came
across him in the book anyway.

It felt it kinda cheapens this guy. (the syker angle that is.)

For those of you not in the know. Sgt. Alvin York was a real person.  His
example is still used in Army Leadership training manuals as the first
example of how important leadership and knowing your men are.

Alvin York was a mountain man.  He liked to hunt and was a farmer.  After a
brief period of being a hellion he gave up drink and gained faith, becoming
a regular church goer for the rest of his life.  
He was an expert hunter, tracker and woodsman.  He had the strength and
patience of a farmer, and both his  grandfathers served in the Civil War.
(Union).

When World War I started, and Alvin got his draft card he started in with
severe doubts - he was torn between his Christianity and his patriotism.
He wouldn't even shoot at the human like target silhouettes but he refused
to sign two chances that would get him out of the Army.  Two officers, a
Major Buxton and a Cpt. Danforth took personal interest in him - and spent
many a night talking to him over his doubts and beliefs.  They helped him
reconcile his doubts, and at some point read from the Bible to him.  (Ezekiel)

He became an ideal soldier - not fighting for glory or honor or out of hate
or bloodlust, but because it was his job and duty.  

And on his first encounter in combat, he flanked and got behind the German
line, captured a few Germans and got into a fight with the main line.  He
picked off over 25 of the enemy (some say 17 dead using 17 rounds, other's
say 25 in 25 rounds)  before a captured German Major talked York into
allowing him to get the others to surrender.

He had only a few men left in the bushes, and was the senior NCO present
(but he was green to combat, the rest were killed just getting in
position.)  He had bluffed the major about the number of men he had and
started getting his POWs back to his line.  He started with about 80 or 90
but had to go through another line of Germans.  He walked the POWs straight
into the line of Germans, with him near the front and the German walking in
front of him. (York kept him covered with his pistol the entire time.)

He made it back to his lines with 132 of 'em, and three of them were
officers.  35 some odd machine guns were captured.

Afterwards, he said the one thing that first captured my attention, and may
have been the foundation for the current Army policy towards movies.  When
Hollywood asked him for the rights to his movie, he said "This uniform
ain't for sale."

Side note - 20 years late when he did sell the rights to Sgt. York (Gary
Cooper), the IRS billed him a huge amount and then doubled it after
interest and fees.  They finally relented and allowed a smaller amount to
be paid - an amount that had to be raised through volunteer contributions.

He served in the 82nd Infantry Division.
Some info can be found at http://www.worldwar1.com/biocyrk.htm

So... yeah  -  I happen to like the guy.  :-)  A bona-fide true hero of a
caliber and quality that is rarely noticed.  

My only problem with him in Last Crusaders is that it doesn't cover his
phenomenal marksmanship.  

The historical Sgt. York.  Saint of Humility.
You already know his background.  Sgt. York is a good example of someone
with the 3 point Pacifist hinderance.  He's another one not to happy with
Simon's way of doing things.  

Deed:  A Templar who does his job to the best of her ability and with
humility can at some point expect a visit by Saint York.  Needless to say,
there will not be any Templars who can call on both Katy Blaze and Sergeant
York.

White:  Aura of honesty.  +4 to one persuading, bluff, or storytelling
roll.  Can be used after the dice have been rolled.

Red:  For Faith in rounds the Templar can spend one round aiming and gain a
+6 bonus to hit.  This takes the place of the normal aiming rules.

Blue:  +4 to any and all Faith and Guts rolls for faith in minutes.  

Legend:  Can call upon on Blessed Miracle or Gift from Fire and Brimstone.
Effects last at most for Faith in minutes.

Vexations:  The same as in the book, with an additional.  Bragging or glory
seeking will cause St. York to turn his eyes away for a week.  To avoid
this, storytelling rolls made by the Templar must either focus on another
party memeber or be made at -2.  (It's harder to tell a good story without
a hero.  Note - the white chip ability will offset this.)

I'm not too happy with the Blue and Legend abilities, but it's approaching
midnight and the alarm clock is set to 5 so......

Night everyone.


-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Kenneth Starr:
In view of President Clinton's dealings with the Tyson Poultry Company, the
matter of the chicken crossing the road is under investigation for its
possible connection with the Whitewater affair.