Their Finest Hour- Dragons in the Blitz

Today, we’re wrapping up our examination of Victoriana during World War II with an example of the monstrous magical forces attacking Great Britain. What better way to end the series than combining the most iconic villains of the century with the most iconic monster?

Lindworms

After 1939, new terrors fly over Europe, bringing flaming death to the Allied forces. Tightening the Luftwaffe’s grip on the skies are the lindworms, massive 30-50 foot reptiles with strong leathery wings holding their limbless slithering bodies aloft . Thick scales deflect small arms fire and teeth big enough to take bites out of fighter planes fill their mouths.

Although more might exist, Allied intelligence identified three distinct lindworms and designated each with codenames: “Manny”, “Moe”, and “Black Jack”. “Black Jack” remains in Berlin as symbol of the Reich and as a defender of the Capital, “Manny” and his rider remind Frenchmen in Paris of Germany's might, and “Moe” is a part of Luftflotte 2, the Luftwaffe air fleet tasked with bombing southern England.

Each lindworm wears a small armored platform in front of its wings for its rider and some sort of radio communication device wrapped around its head. Allied intelligence does not know whether they controlled by their rider’s commands through the radio, how smart the lindworms are, or if they willingly follow orders.

Moe’s rider is Hanna Reitsch a former test pilot for the Luftwaffe. Her death-defying daring and incredible flying skill made the 27 year old aviatrix a perfect match for the lindworm’s power and aggression. The Luftwaffe deployed Moe and Hanna to the Battle of Britain as a weapon against the moral of the British people. Moe’s fiery breath and sharp teeth bring nightly devastation to the RAF fighters and civilians below.

Speculation surrounds the awakening of the lindworms. A Belgian refuge claims the restorations at Wewelsburg castle uncovered the creatures, intercepted radio messages suggest the Thule Society brought them back to life from a glacier in Norway, and a captured German spy seems convinced the Lost Ring of Solomon controls the lindworms.

Hanna Reitsch (Test pilot and lindworm rider)

Physical: 8            Initiative: 8

Mental: 6               Health: 14

Social: 7                 Quintessence: 18

AV: Flight Suite (2)

Damage: Pistol (10), Punch (3)

Possible Special Traits:

Fearless Aviatrix+4, Fanatically Devoted to Hitler+3,

Hanna is a small enthusiastic blond woman with blues eyes and pleasant features. Sometimes her singing can be heard above the cacophony of engines, explosions, and gunfire.

Moe (Serpentine death from the sky)

Physical: 20          Initiative: 12

Mental: 9               Health:   42

AV: 8

Damage:

Bite (14, Armor Pierce 4), Fire Breath (11, Intensity 8), Smashing or Squeezing Serpentine Coils (17)

Qualities:

 Flight- (see page 292 of Victoriana 3^rd Edition)

Regeneration- (see page 293 of Victoriana 3^rd Edition)

Greedy- If an immediate chance arises to eat gold or a fresh corpse; either the lindworm or its rider must pass a Mental test with 6 black dice or the lindworm spend a round gorging.

Huge 5- (Health and Physical modifiers are already reflected by stats, for other effects see page 293 of Victoriana 3^rd Edition)

That wraps up this eleven week series. I hope you’ve enjoyed this examination of Victoriana in a more modern setting. I know I’ve had a lot of fun writing it. This won’t be the last post about Their Finest Hour, but next Friday we return to the welcome waters of the 1850s with a very simple silly post about names.