Ludwig Scheffel

"Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please."
The annals of history are full of fateful moments that historical enthusiast refer to as great ‘points of divergences’, where if only seemingly insignificant events at the time had taken a slight deviation, ripples would have been sent it all directions, altering countless lives and the course of history forever. To have been a key part of one such event in history is rare, to be part of two is almost unheard of.
Born to a family of middling nobility, Ludwig Scheffel was raised from a young age having the traditional values of the East Europan aristocracy instilled into him: The virtues of martial discipline, sacrifice, and most importantly, a sense of duty and honor, in always doing what is right. An idealist at heart, he was a true believer in the Empire’s mission of spreading the light of East Europa to the rest of the world.
When he signed up for the military, due to his highborn status he was quickly selected for officer training. By the start of EW2, he has reached the rank of captain, and was in command of his own infantry company, where he was noted for his ‘Strict but fair’ style of leadership, playing the role of the ‘good lord’ to his mostly lowborn troops, and was greatly respected by his man.
The company was deployed to the Central Gallian front, and on 1935, was part of a forward scouting unit in Kloden Wildwoods where they engaged in a brief skirmish with a Gallian patrol. The two sides broke off contact soon after in the thick woodlands, but when the Imperials took a tally afterwards, they realized that a private, Fritzs, has gone MIA. Not wanting to abandon a wounded soldier under his charge in the middle of hostile territory, the captain ordered the company to be broken up into platoons, and search for the missing soldier.
By sunrise the next day, the platoon personally led by captain Scheffel stumbled upon two Gallians in militia uniform near an abandoned wooden shack. Outside, the platoon found Fritz had died and was buried, his gear and personal effects neatly folded up and laid on top of the grave. While inside the shack, there were signs of medical treatment. It did not take much to deduct what had happened: Just like Fritz, the two Gallians were separated from their unit. The two parties stumbled upon each other, but after a brief stand off, Fritz succumbed to his injuries first. And, despite them being on different sides of the war, the Gallians attempted to save the private’s life, but failed in the end. This was confirmed by the two Gallians, with the second lieutenant in charge stating that while they might be enemies in the war, they are all still human beings with family waiting for them back home.
Captain Scheffel found himself in a true conundrum: His company was a scouting unit and cannot afford to take prisoners as it will slow them down. Standard procedure would have been for the two of them to be terminated, to prevent them from being put back into circulation once they returned to their own lines. However, these two Gallians have displayed mercy and respect towards one of his fallen man. His sense of morality was in conflict with his duty as a soldier to the Empire. In the end, the strong sense of morality distilled into him since youth won out. He cannot bring himself to order his man to kill these two completely unarmed and defenseless Gallians who have displayed such an act of honorable chivalry in cold blood. He allowed the two Gallians to walk away. With the parting words:
“I suppose we will meet again on the battlefield. I am sorry for that. You both seem like good people. For now, so long.”
This single decision ensured the Empire’s defeat in the EW2 Gallian Campaign. As the two militiamen that he allowed to walk away unharmed were Welkin Gunther and Alicia Melchiott, perhaps two of the most important people who will go on to turn the tide of the war. A fact that Captain Scheffel did not learn about until months late when he saw a photograph of them both in a newspaper when the Empire’s ceasefire and withdrawn from the country was announced.
After the end of EW2, like all soldier returning home, his first thought was to see his wife and daughter again. However, with the increasing level of civil unrest that had engulfed the Empire, many of it’s returning veterans were forced to remain on active duty in order to combat the unrest. Like the loyal patriot that captain Scheffel was, he did so without any complaint.
When his unit was called in to deal with the strikers at Zechmeister Armaments manufacturing plant, what he saw was the worker, his own countryman, with demands that were by no means unreasonable: They have all worked tirelessly in long hours and poor conditions to support the Imperial war effort. Only to find themselves not having been paid in months, and their rations getting less every day. They were not calling for the overthrow of the government, only that they be given what was promised.
When orders came in from the radio that his unit was to open fire on the strikers in order to break up their protest, just like in the Kloden Wildwoods, his sense of morality won over his duty as a soldier. He refused to obey the order, and got into an augment with the political officer at the scene. The last thing he remembered was the sound of a gunshot, and then there was darkness….
When Captain Scheffel woke up, he found himself at a hospital bed, blinded in one eye. A few days later, the lieutenant who had served as his second in command since the very beginning came to visit him. Curiously, he was wearing a uniform that the captain does not recognize.
Sitting down next to the hospital bed, the lieutenant explained everything to him: After his was shot, he had been in a coma for 3 years. He then laid out everything that had happened since: The revolution, the exile of the Empire, the new government in power. But for once, captain Scheffel wasn’t interested in all of that. He demanded to see his wife and daughter. At that, the lieutenant could not bring himself to look him in the eyes. After continually demanding to see them, getting more aggressive and agitated each time, the lieutenant gave in and told him the truth: During the initial stages of the revolution, before the provisional government was able to assume control of the country and establish order, gangs of angry mobs took to the streets enacting their own form of ‘people’s justice’. Due to their status of being highborn, his family was targeted and purged by the mob and their mansion was burned down. The lieutenant then handed the former captain his wife’s gold pendant, as it was the only thing from her that they were able to salvage.
Captain Scheffel understandably reacted badly to this information, and nurses had to rush in an injected him with 3 doses of sedatives in order for him to calm down.
The UEESR authorities originally wanted to use him as a propaganda piece: The image of a ‘redeemed aristocrat’ who launched the worker’s revolution when he saw the plight of the working men and understood the errors in his ways. However he proved to be extremely uncooperative: Not only refusing to swear his allegiance to the new government, but will only refer to them as ‘rebels’ and considered himself as a prisoner of war. Every time an official showed up to tried offering him a pardon deal, he refused to sign any documents and will only speak to them repeating his name, rank, serial number, and date of birth. Over and over again, louder each time until they give up and leave.
Finally, the authorities’ patience ran out. The lieutenant showed up one last time to talk some sense into his old captain, telling him that he will not even have to do propaganda for the new regime. All he needs to do was to sign the papers denouncing his old Imperial allegiances, and he can have a normal life as a civilian. The government even agreed to give him his full pension due to all the man who was under his command putting in a good word for him!
But he would have none of it. Sighing deeply, the lieutenant turned around and applogized, before knocking him unconscious. He was then dragged into a car that took him to the docks, where a fishing boat heading to international waters awaits.
Scheffel spent the next 8 years wandering the world as a vagabond, trying to make sense of everything that had happened and his place in the world. Eventually, his travels took him back to Gallia. There, he was able to track down Welkin and Alicia, who has since been married for almost a decade, in their family home in Bruhl.
He was invited it, and the three of them talked in the living room for hours. What they talked about, no one knows, as none of them ever told anyone else about it. But Scheffel did agree to settle down at lease for a while, living in the outskirts of the town as a hermit, with the Gunthers supporting him financially, and paying him occasional visits (For a town that was amongst the first to be overrun by the Empire during EW2, a former Imperial would have been highly unwelcomed. But the fact that the town’s two most prominent citizens vouched for him, and that he mostly keeps to himself, meant that the townspeople were at lease willing to tolerate his presence).
Spending the next few years mostly in solitude, not a single day passed by in which Scheffel did not contemplate suicide. Until one day, it finally struck him: He has neglected his duties to the Empire. Time and time again he has allowed for his weakness and petty morality to get in the way. It was because of his unintended actions that caused the defeat of the country that he has sworn to serve.
To the east, all that is left of true East Europan honor, tradition, and culture is a but a single ember, surrounded by darkness. Led by the craven, torn apart by the greedy, weakened and exposed, forever on the defence. The Empire needs a new leader, one that is strong enough to hold the country together in this dark hour, and make sure that thousands of years worth of monarchical traditions and culture survives in this brave new world. No matter the cost, he will not allow this last ember to be snuffed out.
When 16-year-old Isara returned home from school one day, she found a letter slipped underneath the door. Inside was a beautifully crafted gold pendant, and a letter that read:
“I am returning to my homeland. For too long I have allowed my personal weaknesses to get in the way of my duties as a servant to the Empire. A true son of East Europa never surrenders, never gives up. I am sorry, for I know both of you and that you are good people. I hope we will never meet again, because if we do, this time I will have no choice but to perform my duties with honor. Farewell.”