conversations.from: system
conversations.value: "Verdun has become a battle of madmen in the midst of a volcano."   
  
                     -Anonymous Diary Entry May 23, 1916
  
  The Great War....for many it was the defining moment of their lives. It either left them dead in the mud, or with a wound of the spirit. In the four long years that conflict raged on, inviting with it the all the rage and suffering that such warfare entails, man created conditions equal to that of Hell on Earth. Or the closest that we could ever hope to ever see in our lifetimes. 
  
  New technologies would come to the forefront and forever change the face of modern combat. The toll that machine guns, chemical weapons, and massive amounts of artillery inflicted on the men of who faced them is something that is unfathomable. These technologies were combined with negligent commands from old world leadership, to see that millions of people would lose there lives. Yet through dance of death shined some examples of humanity. The Great War was still fought by man, and this would mean that some men would go through great lengths to ensure that their fellow man need not suffer. They created beautiful poetry and art. Such emotional times saw actions on both ends of the moral spectrum, and everywhere between. 
  
  The following is a tale set in the 1916, outside of the French city of Verdun. The little unassuming area would become the site of one of the longest and costliest battles in all of human history. Let it be said that though these characters are fictitious, the many horrific events and episodes described are drawn directly from events that real people experienced. This story is meant to be show how humans react and cope in some of the most extreme conditions ever created. Some fought honorably through the entire affair, some would be haunted by their own actions and some still simply went mad. So please, join us in a very real tale about darkness, death, fear, hope, dark humor, honor, and ultimately the human experience in war time. 
  
  ----------------------------------------
  
  If you wish to know more about the Great War, which is an interest that I hope to spark, or you simply want to brush up on your history before playing or reading, feel free to visit the links below.
  
  http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-50-blueprint-for-armageddon-i/ 
  Dan Carlin hosts an amazingly interesting and down to earth podcast series that offers an overview of the whole war. Plus they are all free!
  
  http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-50-blueprint-for-armageddon-i/ 
  Overview of the battle of Verdun.
  
  http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/
  An amazing collection of diary entries written by the soldiers who actually fought these battles. This link would be very useful for players who want to get the tone right.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The largest and highest fort on the ring of 19 large defensive forts protecting the city of Verdun, France since the 1890s. The Battle of Verdun would see that thousands would call this their final resting place.
conversations.prefix: Fort Douaumont:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The cratered, shell-scared earth that lies between the armies lines. It is a hellscape of twisted metal, sandbags, and rotting corpses. God help whoever finds himself wandering here. 
conversations.prefix: No Man's Land:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Line Infantry troops made up a bulk of the French forces during the first world war. Functioning in the same role as today's rifleman, their main role was combative. They did most of their work with their Berthier rifle and bayonet.
conversations.prefix: Line Infantry:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A member of a section of artillery. The job of the artillery was to rain down shells (sometimes for weeks straight) upon enemy positions in preparation for an infantry offensive, or to provide a protective "walking bombardment."
conversations.prefix: Artillery :
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Field medicine often was administered in ad hoc aid stations set up not far from the fighting. The shear amount of casualties suffered by soldiers saw more and more surgeons being required to perform on them. Many worked tirelessly against a never ending inflow of patients. 
conversations.prefix: Field Surgeon:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A member of a French Engineer unit, you are responsible for the upkeep on everything necessary to keep the war machine grinding on. Fixing roads, bunkers, and digging trenches all fall on your shoulders.
conversations.prefix: Engineer:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Having fought through such offensives as the Second Battle of Champagne, maybe even the Battle of the Frontiers, this war is not new to you. You have weathered the storm before and are determined to do so again.
conversations.prefix: Veteran:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You are numb, and close to close to broken. The nerves are spent and you seldom sleep. You've seen and done too much. How much more shelling will it take before you finally break?
conversations.prefix: Shell Shocked:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: A previous injury saps your strength and is causing you great discomfort. You hope that it will not prove to be detrimental to your abilities in the battles yet to come.
conversations.prefix: Old Wounds:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: This war is not what you thought it would be. This hell is nothing compared to what the papers promised. What can men do in the face of such forces?
conversations.prefix: Scared:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You are fresh off an arriving train, you don't have the years of knowledge and experience that some of the others do. This inexperience will one day get you into a dire situation. 
conversations.prefix: Unblooded:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Your lucky, plain and simple. It's the only to explain you living this long.
conversations.prefix: Lucky:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Constant drill combined with your natural affinity for firearms means that you are a crack shot with your weapon.
conversations.prefix: Sure Shot:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You have know someone in command, whether it be a family member or friend. You always get the best gear and assignments. But how far will that carry you in a battle such as this?
conversations.prefix: Friends in High Places:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: This war has dragged on far to long. You just pray that you see its end.
conversations.prefix: Survival:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You seek either glory or promotion. Someone is going to profit from this conflict, it might as well be you. 
conversations.prefix: Build Your Legacy:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: In true tragic fashion, this war has torn you and your loved one apart. You do what you can to make it seem like the distance between you is shorter than it really is.
conversations.prefix: To See Your Love Again:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: One of the many trains, bound for the Muese front. Departing from Paris, it travels along well worn train tracks with hundreds of soldiers in its belly.
conversations.prefix: A Train Bound Northward:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Soldiers spread rumors like school children. In hushed whispers and loud boasts all discuss what fate awaits you on the frontlines. Some speak of the horrors of the Hun, others speak of the glory that is to be won.
conversations.prefix: Rumors Abound:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Soldiers spread rumors like school children. There are hushed whispers and loud boasts about what awaits you. Some say that horrible death awaits you at the hands of the Hun. Others say this will be their chance for glory.
conversations.prefix: Rumors Abound:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Following the loss of your former lieutenant to a case of influenza, Lt. Durand is your replacement. He seems smart sensible, but he has not been around long enough to be sure. Would it be wise to get to know the man leading you?
conversations.prefix: Lt. Charles Durand:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The regiment is being rotated back to the front to stop a German offensive. This brings all the highs and lows of combat. Are you ready?
conversations.prefix: Back to the Front!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The well worn, dirt road from Chattancourt to the edge of the Foret Domaniale du Mort-Homme.
conversations.prefix: The Road from Chattancourt:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Broken things that were once men come marching out of the forest. They are the true face of warfare in the modern century.
conversations.prefix: The Lost and the Damned:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You see a lone medic struggling to administer aid to one of the wounded men on a stretcher.
conversations.prefix: The Medic:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sitting near the river Meuse lies this forsaken place. Before the start of the war, the heights of Le Mort-Homme were home to a small farming commune. Few would ever imagine the village and the surrounding hills would see some of the wars most bitter fighting.
conversations.prefix: Le Mort-Homme:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The 67th division does not know what to make of you. There is apprehension, and you can feel the tension between your units. Now is your chance to make a good impression or a bad one.
conversations.prefix: Break Bread:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The trench is awful place to be. Filthy, unfit, and falling apart it is not place that men should live. 
conversations.prefix: Trench Life:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You are put to work right away. Another surgery is set to take place, but a fellow nurse needs help cleaning up from the last one.
conversations.prefix: Clean the O.R.:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The enemy has been unusually quite this morning. Their movements also appear quiet strange. Something is not right. 
conversations.prefix: Not So Quiet on the Western Front:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Hot on the heals of the new French nurses, two British women arrive to lend their services to their allies. Not only are they foreign to Le Morte-Homme, they are foreign to France. They will need to quickly fall in line to help save the many lives in their hands.
conversations.prefix: The British are Coming:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: With a high pitch whine, and a sound of thunder the shells begin to fall like rain.
conversations.prefix: Incoming!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Out in no man's land, your chances for survival are slim to none, and artillery drops those chances even further. You have seconds before the shells hit. You need to find over....and fast.
conversations.prefix: Gerard! Take Cover!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Gerard's youth and vigor allow him to move in ways the older, more experienced soldiers cannot. His body has not yet been beaten by the rigors of trench life.
conversations.prefix: Athletic:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: A young French lieutenant colonel ordered a gas shelling to cover the retreat of French forces to the secondary trenches... before the order to retreat was given.
conversations.prefix: Revenge:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Sympathy has long since left him. The war has killed his joys and sorrows, leaving them to fester and rot with hatred. 
conversations.prefix: Cruel:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: He's seen only death. He may be harsh, crude, and a bastard, but deep down, all he wants is to see someone live through this.
conversations.prefix: See Them Live:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: you spent much time speaking with your bishop and praying over everything. you believe you are called to the cause
conversations.prefix: Faith:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: with so much access to books you have learned a decent bit before you came to the feild
conversations.prefix: Knowledge:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A soldier is only as strong as those he stands next to. A good soldier knows how important it is to try and keep spirits high.
conversations.prefix: Comradeship:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Montaigne has lost two brothers to the war, and feels resentment toward the French military command and the other soldiers who have survived.
conversations.prefix: Bitter:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You can be blunt with words and actions and sometimes it offends others
conversations.prefix: Blunt:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Hey! Would you look at that! Not getting shot at! Mostly, anyways. The mud is certainly a downer, but he'll find a spot, make himself a little hovel, and befriend some rats. Home sweet home.
conversations.prefix: Not the Worst:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Nursing as a profession was still in its infancy during the first war, but the Red Cross and other aid organizations sent thousands of volunteers to serve as nurses in France. 
conversations.prefix: Nurse:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You're a volunteer auxiliary, with very little formal training.  What you've learned has been sink-or-swim, and some of the professional medical staff looks down on you.
conversations.prefix: Volunteer:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: It's the war to end war, and the men are out there giving their lives for King and country.  Unpleasant though the field hospitals may be, it's everyone's duty to help out however they can.
conversations.prefix: Do Your Bit:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Rumors have a tendency to spiral out of control...
conversations.prefix: Gossiper:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You don't believe everything you're told. Take everything with a grain of salt.
conversations.prefix: Skeptical:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You've experienced this all before. But it feels worse this time. There's something worse to it all.
conversations.prefix: Harrowed:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You know how to keep cool in a crisis.
conversations.prefix: Calm Head:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: A good hunter always knows to pay close attention to what his ears tell him, a useful skill in battle as well.
conversations.prefix: Acute hearing: