Le Goumier - Bitterness in Victory, Joy in Defeat

[Lanakov]

PREFACE

As some of you may know, one of my delights with Disco is how grounded it all feels. It has managed to sidestep the drudgery of having to keep things realistic, but I've always found the story beats and general atmosphere to feel credible. In that light, I've always ensured to give my roleplay as much credibility as I could, often weaving French traditions and customs into my Gallic characters (and yes, I did things besides Gallia, promise!) and picturing how they might have lived through, evolved and transformed over eight centuries of autarky. Think fermentation, but with ideas and practices instead of bacteria and fungi.

To the point, then : ever since my return, I took time to familiarise myself with Sirius and Gallia as they are now. We can probably agree on calling it a post-war era, with tensions everywhere, localised conflicts (and admittedly a looming threat that looks to be awaking). A period, then, that lends itself well to the examination of those who fought. Not the commanders, leaders and heroes, but the common man and woman, the soldier, the person on the ground and his rifle. What becomes of these millions of combatants that are now superfluous? What is their place in this new world of relative peace, particularly for those whose governments have changed dramatically? What are their options, their choices, their fates?

This is what I have chosen to explore with the story of the Goumier. But it has another purpose, and that is tied to the cultural weaving I exposed earlier : to shed some light and celebrate the troops of the Armée d'Afrique, those citizens of the French colonies across North and Central Africa who fought for France during the first and second World Wars, and in a myriad of conflicts before and after. They have often been left on the wayside of History despite their often heroic contribution, and the extraordinary circumstances of their very participation in those conflicts. I'm particularly attached to France's history of having been using diversity for 2000 years to strengthen itself time and again. To celebrate our diversity in these days where the Far Right is making worrying headway into the French parliament seemed proper.

To that effect, I've chosen to imagine that the Gallic armies stuck to some degree of French military custom and kept around select units rooted in Armée d'Afrique traditions, such as contemporary Spahis. Like their forebears, these Gallic units would have been chiefly employed as light cavalry, reconnaissance and shock troops, mostly ground branch. I will detail these aspects in an upcoming FACTION INFORMATION PAGE YES BIG REVEAL.

The following story is meant to depict the trajectory of a member of one of these units, from his youth to the present day, as a sort of faction prequel. Those of you who've already met Goumier or Spahi in the Taus or Gallia proper should have an idea or two of where I intend to take this. As always, I'm eager to hear your thoughts and ideas either on Discord or on my feedback page, link below. Thank you for your attention, I hope you will enjoy reading the story of the Goumier!

Lana

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Feedback, insults, marriage proposals and declarations of fealty

If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.