Boris Ivanovich Trotsky

Boris Ivanovich Trotsky

Serzhant Boris Ivanovich Trotsky is Dave's Character in our East Front Campaign. He's done a bit of inquiry into this, which is real cool. Another clever thing he's done is made Boris the son of his role from our Realms of Cthulhu Campaign!? Boris is another survivor. He's been round for more games than Virgilovsky (Though Virgilovsky has been round since the very first game, Rick missed a few games.

.). Serzhant Boris Trotsky - Wild Card - DaveAg d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d4, Vg d10,Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 8Skills: Fighting d6, Shooting d8, Notice d6, Stealth d6, Throwing d6, Intimidation d6Edges: Quick, Rank (NCO), Nerves of Steel, Rock`n`Roll, Fleet FootedHindrances: Phobia (minor): NKVD, Enemy (Minor)Gear: Ppsh SMG (Range: 10/20/40, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto)Early Family HistoryThe Trotsky family had lived in the Odessa area for generations. Boris`s grandfather Jozef Trotsky was natural in 1869 to peasant farmers and was the just one of 11 siblings that didn`t stay on the farm. At the age of twenty-four, his decision to follow in the city led him to a job as a hold at the Odessa prison. He enjoyed being a guard, he enjoyed the power, and he enjoyed taking bribes. Often, the data he got from the prisoners was worth more than the money or food. All of it helped to pad his moderate income, and fit in well with his motto of "Family first."With his wife Paraskevia, Jozef had six children that survived early childhood. Third oldest was Ivan, born August 20, 1890, the low boy-child and Jozef`s pride. As Ivan grew, Jozef would accept him to the prison to see the prisoners, and to demonstrate how big a man his mother was. Ivan would sit with his mother and see the secrets the prisoners would whisper in substitution for a small extra food, or a little easier work detail. Ivan would oftentimes be enlisted to help turn those secrets into money and food for the family, learning how to go and expand in the hell of crime and political intrigue.Jozef`s most notorious prisoner was Lev Davidovich Bronstein who was a political prisoner at the slammer in 1898. Eight-year-old Ivan loved to hear Bronstein talk; he stirred the heart of the former men in the prison, at least until he was sentenced to Siberia in 1900. When Bronstein escaped from Siberia in 1902, he obviously took Jozef`s last call for his own, becoming Leon Trotsky, a leader of the Russian Revolution and second but to Lenin in the Red army.Boris`s ChildhoodIvan grew up and married Katerina in the form of 1912, and after numerous miscarriages, Katerina gave birth to Boris Ivanovich Trotsky on July 15, 1918 during the top of the Russian Civil War. Complications during childbirth prevented Katerina from having further children, so Boris ended up as an only child. Boris`s father Ivan was a "businessman" (international smuggler/black marketeer), and traveled extensively, specializing in antiquities. Starting when Boris was 3 days old, Ivan was mostly abroad, often in England, returning only occasionally to Katerina and little Boris. His connections to the underworld through Boris`s prison-guard grandfather, and the convenient Black Sea port location, gave him easy access to outside markets. Ivan became known as somebody who could "get what you needed."Boris was elevated by his mother, often not recognizing his mother when he returned for brief stays. His mother Katerina seemed to be actively involved with the business, and discretely received many visitors, some with dark skin and exotic accents, when Ivan was away. His parents provided "services and supplies" to both sides in the Civil War but never actively fought. Boris never knew precisely what his parents did, but he was frequently sent around the metropolis on deliveries and other simple missions, where a kid would not be suspected.As Stalin came to power, the Trotsky name was not an asset, but the household business and their power to prevent their heads down generally saw them through without incident. As the food shortages increased, their connections helped the family survive, though they were careful never to look too well fed. Boris became sneaky, and his developing stealth helped him avoid undue attention. "You Must Survive, Surviving is Everything" his parents repeated, and little Boris adopted that philosophy with a passion. The Trotsky`s were not above reporting potential troublemakers to the NKVD - anything to help avoid trouble, and live a little longer. As a resolution of their systematic self-protection and the many shady dealings of the home business, young Boris acquired numerous Enemies, most of whom were alien to him.On August 7, 1932 Stalin passed a law that all food was state property - mere ownership of nutrient was evidence of a crime. Fourteen year old Boris was among the most enthusiastic enforcers of the law, and fanned out into the countryside with his youth brigade in range to keep the "stealing" of state property. He reinforced his strength helping to construct watchtowers (over 700 were built in the Odessa region alone) to see that no peasants took food home from the fields. The youth brigades lived off the land, eating what they confiscated from the peasants, developing their active and throwing skills, often pelting the peasants with rocks. His young enthusiasm was dampened on the day his brigade were sent to confiscate the texture and cattle from an uncle`s farm. His comrades humiliated his aunt and uncle, burned their house, and strained the starving cousins to cringe and bark like dogs. But he had learned his parents` lessons well, joined in the persecution, and kept his views to himself.In the elevation of the famine, most of Boris`s extended family perished in the countryside or were deported and never heard from again - it was not a full time to be a peasant farmer in the Ukraine. Boris`s aging grandparents also died of disease during the famines of 1932-33. Despite the unfortunate Trotsky name and the severe famine, Boris`s immediate family survived intact, and survival became the impulsive force for Boris, more crucial than honour, politics, friends, or even family. Though a Communist Party member, and publicly supportive of Stalin, Trotsky`s only loyalty was to himself, and to survival. He had no use for religion.Military ServiceBoris joined the Soviet Army on his 21st birthday in the summer of 1939 and was soon posted to the Winter War in Finland. Much of the war was spent freezing, starving, with terrible sanitary conditions, and with the guerrilla tactics of the Finns decimating the Russian infantry. Still, Boris had tough hide and survived the war, proving himself as a hero and survivor.On August 20, 1940, Boris Ivanovich Trotsky was promoted to Serzhant, coincidentally the same day the enemy-of-the-people Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico on Stalin`s orders, and 50 years to the day since Boris`s father Ivan Trotsky was born. Serzhant Trotsky was sent to Eastern Poland and was stationed in Bialystok as function of the Russian occupation army. In the final letter he received before the German invasion of Poland in June 1941, his father was in full health in Odessa, and expressed pride in his promotion. As usual, his mother was abroad. At the sentence of the German invasion, Trotsky was 22 years old.After the invasion, Boris was capable to escape the encircling Germans and fought with partisan forces as he attempted to repay the Russian armies in the East. Though his "scandalous retreat" resulted in serious questioning by the NKVD, his selection and successes on a few subsequent suicide missions took the political heat off him, for a time. Still, his discourse at the men of the NKVD left a care of the NKVD bordering on phobia, affecting his performance when under close NKVD scrutiny. In most situations though, his experience with surviving famine, criminal interactions, political upheaval, and the unwanted attention from the Trotsky name, combined with his fierce determination to survive, can make him quite an Intimidating character. Boris works better when commanding a flock of conscripts, whom he considers useful but disposable in battle. Boris does not pause to use his troops for his own protection - after all "Surviving is Everything!" He`s given up on preparation for the future, and his imagination is modified to living the war at all costs.