|
Unnamed Unteroffizier Blog Entry |
|
April 5, 2025, 2:00:19 PM 4/4/25: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Unnamed Unteroffizier (Sergeant). He's a minor character with whom Godfrey Klemper is briefly involved before he breaks Klemper's heart (which isn't too difficult to do, but anyway). There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. TUMBLR EDIT: I toyed with naming this guy, similar to Sgt. Badt, but decided he isn't worth it. He appears only briefly in Klemper's backstory, never in the main story, and disappears pretty quickly so doesn't need the effort of a name. He plays a big enough role in Klemper's cynical worldview however that I felt he does deserve a portrait. This entry will be far more about Klemper--and a big UPDATE to another existing character--than about this nameless sergeant about whom I know pretty much nothing, other than that he's rather an insensitive jerk. But we'll get to that soon. You've (well, my zero readers) seen the long list of woes that is Klemper's life, and he doesn't even make it to age thirty. He's the only successful pregnancy of his mother Agnes, and a bitter disappointment to his father Georg; they're a dirt-poor farming family and although every child is another mouth to feed, every child is also free labor, and Godfrey is runty and rather girly. He's a hard worker though and does his best to earn a rough muss to the top of his head rather than a cuff to his ear. Every other male relationship he has in his life, in one way or another, connects back to his father, the most important person in his life. Unfortunately, Georg falls on hard times and starts drinking, which makes him not just stern but downright mean. During a lull in farm work, young Godfrey befriends a neighboring farm boy named Rolf; as he puts it later, he kisses Rolf, and Rolf likes him. Godfrey is very sheltered, and like ten years old; of course it's never occurred to him that boys aren't supposed to like boys, yet that's how he feels. Georg spots this interaction and flies into a fury...the horrible outcome is described in Georg's entry and Agnes's. Klemper kills his own father at ten years of age. Yes, Georg commits a horrendous act, and Klemper's actions are in defense of his mother, but even as young as he is, he knows Georg wasn't in his right mind, he never would have done such a thing if not for der Flaschendämon, the bottle-demon. Klemper never hates his father and never blames him for what he did; he even helps his mother dig the grave and place a Todesrune atop it, and visits it (and his mother's following grave) later on. The damage is done, however. Klemper keeps getting involved with older men and keeps ending up with his heart broken as he's never what anyone else wants--same as with his father, everyone else is always disappointed in him. In his worldview, in his experience, everyone leaves; no one comes back. Klemper watches his home burn down after returning from digging his mother's grave; he has no way of knowing the party responsible, a rogue Wehrmacht unit that has made a habit of torching citizens' homes for extortion or just for fun. He salvages a few belongings, heads off on foot into the Wald, the vast forest at whose edge the big old farms stand. He takes the helmet off a dying soldier who begs him to put him out of his misery, and steals his ID papers, mocking them up. Crosses some soldiers recruiting for the Wehrmacht; out here in the Wald, they've had poor luck getting men to fulfill their duty to serve the Reich, it's so distant and isolated from the rest of the world that although they're right near the Polish border, at times it's as if the war doesn't even exist here. Still, restless young men with few prospects line up, Klemper among them. Out here they will patrol the border to protect Germany from its enemies. Klemper is thirteen years old but his forged ID says he's of age; the recruiter looks skeptical but waves him through. He's assigned his supplies. Physical checks and training are minimal; out in the Wald you take what you can get, as long as it's good German stock. Klemper joins the Wehrmacht and is assigned to a unit. The unit's Leutnant, Dasch, is a lot like Georg in temperament; he frowns at the puny Klemper and insists he has no room for anyone new. A visiting unit agrees to take Klemper instead, so he heads off with them. The second unit's commanding officer, an older man, takes an interest in him that to Klemper is pure kindness. He soon finds out in the worst possible way it's anything but. The only small mercy is when a sergeant named Badt, who up until now has been inexplicably unfriendly toward Klemper, steps aside to let him go AWOL and doesn't raise the alarm. See Badt's entry; he has his reasons. Klemper races through the Wald for what feels like hours. Finds a stream, strips off his uniform, and sits in the icy water for a good long while, scrubbing his skin raw with sand and sobbing his eyes out. Presses the cold water to his eyes to take away the redness and swelling, dresses himself, sets off again. Wonder of wonders, stumbles across an encampment--Dasch's unit. Dasch is incredibly displeased to take in a deserter, yet Klemper begs and pleads to stay, promises he'll do good, and the other unit members argue for him to stay as well. The situation gets even more awkward when the other unit commander and Badt arrive, the former demanding that Klemper be returned immediately; Dasch hadn't wanted a newbie, yet he HATES being told what to do, so he refuses the demand, just out of spite. Klemper stays, and it isn't long before he wins over Dasch and the entire unit. Throughout the story Dasch is the closest that Klemper comes to a healthy father-figure relationship; there's never any attraction between the two, Dasch makes sure they maintain respectful boundaries, and he provides Klemper with the stability--and occasional positive reinforcement--that he longs for. Klemper's other relationships, however, remain a total mess. He falls in and out of love at the drop of a hat, developing crushes on any older male who shows him the slightest kindness or approval, then finding his hopes dashed when it turns out that's all it was, kindness, nothing more, and the other party moves on. He also grows incredibly cynical and paranoid for someone his age, always expecting to be let down--and the moment he's let down, love turns to instant hatred. Despite it being the Third Reich and such behavior being considered "degenerate" and punishable by incarceration or possibly death, there's no shortage of brief romantic flings to be had whenever the various units camp in the same area and socialize; most of the men opt for whatever pretty young women live nearby in the Wald, though a few opt for each other. Klemper falls for this every time. He quickly comes to regard himself as not just a disappointment, but disposable, forgettable. Unworthy. Even believing this, however, doesn't take away the sting of loneliness, or the pain every time he falls for it yet again. He's stuck in the pattern he learned from his father and doesn't know how to break out, short of just accepting a solitary fate. In steps Unnamed Unteroffizier. He and Klemper cross paths one day and make eye contact; Klemper is young and Aryan and attractive, so Unnamed Unteroffizier smiles. To him, this is a possible brief fling, a way to pass the time. To Klemper, it's like that smile he got from Rolf all those years ago; his heart does a flip. When the sergeant chats him up later on, he's blushy and stuttery like a schoolgirl with her first crush--all the bad experiences and red flags go out the window. Sad to say, he's an easy mark. I don't believe Unnamed Unteroffizier is necessarily a bad guy and I don't believe he ever actively sets out to use or abuse Klemper like so many others; yet he does rather take advantage of his painfully obvious vulnerability. To him, it's never meant to be anything more than a fling. To Klemper, well, there's no such thing. Why settle for something temporary when it's love? Because to Klemper, as starved for affection as he is, everything is love. Why would you not want that to be permanent...? Yeah, Klemper is what you might call intense. The two have their brief relationship. It's decent, Unnamed Unteroffizier treats Klemper well, they get along. His unit ends up needing to head off their own way. He does take the time to wish Klemper farewell, so he doesn't just bail out and leave him hanging. Tearful, Klemper asks if they'll see each other again. By that, he means will they again meet and pick up where they left off...? Unnamed Unteroffizier says he hopes they will. By that, he means he wouldn't mind another fling if they ever happen to cross paths again; keep your options open, and all that. Miscommunication is probably the true culprit here. Klemper sadly watches as the other unit departs, though Unnamed Unteroffizier does cast him a final smile and wave which makes his heart skip, and he spends the next months hoping they'll meet again and resume as things were. As luck would have it, the two units do meet again. There's war business to take care of, so Klemper doesn't get to go talk with Unnamed Unteroffizier right off; when Unnamed Unteroffizier goes striding through the camp with several of his fellows, on his way to do something, Klemper stands off to the side, eyes alight, awaiting a smile or a friendly glance. He receives no acknowledgement whatsoever...Unnamed Unteroffizier completely ignores him as he walks past. An observer, if present, could likely see the barrage of emotions flit through Klemper's eyes--surprise, confusion, hurt, grief...then creeping spite...and hate. I already mentioned how Klemper can go from adoring someone to despising them in the blink of an eye, and that's exactly what happens with Unnamed Unteroffizier. The flame Klemper carried in his heart for him snuffs right out--crushed--trampled--ground into tiniest ashes by bitterness and rage. Klemper says nothing, throws no angry fit, just turns stiffly on his heel and goose-steps back to his own chores. Yet as far as he's concerned, any bridge remaining between the two of them has been firebombed into oblivion, never to be rebuilt. Klemper is thorough with his farewells that way. Unnamed Unteroffizier isn't quite aware of this, however. He ignored Klemper out of necessity--it wouldn't do for them to appear TOO friendly with each other, in such public circumstances--but also, he really does think the two of them can carry on their casual thing. He did notice the hurt on Klemper's face before he walked past, and chalks it up to an emotional kid simply investing too much in something and being disappointed; it happens, a few hurt feelings and you move on, no biggie. He doesn't know how with Klemper, nothing is ever "no biggie," absolutely everything is of monumentous importance. After he finishes with his own things, he decides to seek Klemper out and apologize. He spots Klemper walking by and falls into step beside him a moment, murmuring, "Just let me explain," and he's sincere, he does want to set things right. Klemper is the one to not even bother glancing at him now. "F**k off," he mutters, a cutting edge to his voice, and keeps on walking without a single glance back. Bridge burned, no return. Unnamed Unteroffizier is admittedly caught off guard by this; Klemper's been nothing but sugar and innocent sweetness before now, so to hear him talk like an actual soldier is jarring. He'd expected a bit more forgiveness. Yet this just proves that his impression that Klemper had invested a lot more in this relationship than he had was an accurate one, and maybe he's just dodged a bullet. He stops in his tracks as Klemper keeps walking, and throws up his arms, an exasperated gesture. "Not my fault you expect so much!" he shouts, gets no response, and dismisses Klemper with an angry wave. "Good riddance! Like reasoning with a schoolgirl!" And thus Unnamed Unteroffizier exits the stage, and Klemper's life. The lasting impression is made, though. Just as Klemper had thought: Everyone leaves, no one comes back. He decides to swear off relationships, if everybody is just going to win his trust and then leave. He focuses on his military career. Makes it up to Unteroffizier himself, and Dasch even places him in probationary charge of the unit. While Dasch is away handling business with some other officials, Klemper's unit stumbles across the village of Zierenwald, set in a clearing not far from the edge of the great Wald; the shouts and cries of fearful village folk and angry soldiers draw their attention. They meet another Wehrmacht unit just outside the village gate, a shouting match going on between a sergeant and the village's mayor; Klemper is surprised when the mayor appeals to him for help, from the other unit. It takes some confused arguing back and forth to get things straight--but the army unit apparently threatened the village with destruction if they didn't hand over some partisans they're protecting. The mayor insists there are no partisans and they can even search the village if they like. The other Unteroffizier, Lange, insists that this isn't good enough, the villagers aren't complying with a demand of the Third Reich, and so Zierenwald must be burned to the ground to teach a lesson. This is the same unit that burned down Klemper's own house, and according to rumors has been torching other residences and extorting their owners. Klemper doesn't have time to deal with that, though; he and Lange get into a heated dispute over Zierenwald's fate, Klemper insisting they let a village full of German citizens be, Lange retorting that they're traitors to the Reich and Klemper has no authority over him anyway. Klemper then orders his own unit to fire on Lange's if they attempt to attack the village. Before any firepower can get involved, Dasch arrives, demanding to know what's going on, thinking he misstepped in putting Klemper in charge. Once he learns that Lange is the aggressor, and Klemper is simply trying to keep Zierenwald from being wiped off the map, he orders Lange's unit to stand down and leave the village in peace; he'll also be writing them up for their previous actions. Lange and his unit finally, reluctantly retreat, though the glare he casts back at Klemper--"F**king little upstart!"--makes it clear Klemper's made an enemy today. The mayor and villagers shower Klemper and Dasch with effusive thanks and offers of room, board, anything they need; rather embarrassed by the attention, Klemper declines, and they're eventually allowed to leave. Tiny Zierenwald stands another day. Klemper eventually finds himself in the situation described in Elias Baswitz's entry. Following his rescue, when his comrades find him wounded in the woods and carry him back with them, elated to find him alive, he ends up recuperating in a military hospital. The brief time he spent with Baswitz is the first genuinely positive romantic relationship he's ever had...and he's embittered that he had to let it go. Because now he knows at least some tiny part of him can love and be loved in return, if the other party is only patient and diligent enough to look for it. By now however, he's just been through so much, Baswitz was the exception to the rule, and nobody has the time or motivation to put so much work into a psychological project like Klemper. (Oh, add to all this the fact that Klemper and many of the others in his unit have since gotten addicted to Pervitin, meth, so that only adds to his volatile emotions.) And after being tossed aside and left behind so many times, Klemper sure as hell isn't going to be the one to take the first step. His life then takes an even more drastic downward turn. Authorities, suspicious of his tale of escaping the partisans, start digging, and the truth somehow comes out bit by bit. Klemper's not only disgraced, he's a criminal, possibly even a traitor, and when the SS gets involved things really don't look good. The disappointment in Dasch's eyes when he visits wounds him to the core, yet--"Keep your mouth shut, and let me sort it out from here!" he orders, and Klemper obeys. He spends some time pondering his likely future either doing hard labor in a camp or strung up from a pole by his neck--he thinks he'd prefer the latter, much quicker that way--when disapproving-looking Wehrmacht officials arrive at his bedside. He's being demoted back to Oberschütze--private first class--and there is no more possibility of promotion in the future. He's to cede command of the unit back to Dasch, and will resume his original position in the unit. He's also being placed in a probationary period where his activities will be closely monitored for any signs of anti-state activity; "One more screwup," the official warns, "and you'll be sentenced to internment in a labor camp for re-education purposes, if you're lucky." Oh, and one more thing: They might find some other use for him, besides border patrol, in the meantime. He's to remain in the city for now and await further orders. (Klemper never learns exactly how fortunate he is. Rewind: Dasch has penned a letter to SS officials, begging for leniency on his behalf. He fully expects it to languish unread in some office, another victim of the Byzantine structure of the state system. The letter, in fact, crosses the desk of one of dozens of faceless secretaries in an especially large and complicated office...a secretary who just happens to notice Dasch's mention of Klemper's age when he entered the army. Klemper is an orphan and a child soldier. SS-Captain Otto Himmel was also an orphan and a child soldier, merely a year older than Klemper, when he joined the army to fight in the Great War. Himmel is an exceptional reader, writer, and fact checker; it isn't long before he has Klemper's full file, knows everything about his situation--including how he has become known as the Hero of Zierenwald--and hurries to bring it to his boss's attention. Himmel's boss is SS-Major Ludolf Jäger, and he has lots of connections and is owed many favors. Although perplexed by Himmel's interest in this particular case, and his vehemence that they intervene somehow, he figures Himmel has his reasons, and pulls some strings. A little SS persuasion goes a long way even with the Wehrmacht. Himmel effectively saves Klemper's life AND his military career...though he never once lets this on, not even when he and Klemper finally meet (and Klemper derides him for doing "women's work"). He does, however, once he learns Klemper is the only one in his unit to never receive mail, start writing him letters and sending occasional care packages. Klemper can barely write, but he can read, and although he never understands why Himmel shows this small kindness, it's appreciated. They never discuss the matter, but Himmel becomes another type of positive parental figure in Klemper's short life.) Klemper remains behind in the city as his unit heads back out. His new, part-time assignment comes through: He's to supervise a sniper who's just been recruited by the Wehrmacht to target the Trench Rats, American soldiers illegally occupying German soil. The task perplexes him at first--why does a sniper need supervision?--though the more he learns, the more disgruntled he gets. Oberleutnant "Ratdog," it turns out, isn't a career soldier, in fact he's only just received an honorary position--jumping all the ranks straight to first lieutenant--without a lick of effort. He knows nothing of military life or discipline. And what's more, he has a tendency to drink and sleep around, as rumors claim, with both women and men--and has never faced the threat of punishment like Klemper has. In short, he's pretty much Klemper's opposite, and everything he despises. And now Klemper has to keep an eye on him, keep him out of trouble, and show him the ropes...all while deferring to him due to their ranks. Klemper is disgusted with his assignment but has no choice; still, that doesn't mean he has to pretend to enjoy it. He introduces himself to Ratdog at an officers' function; Ratdog, talking with Jäger and Himmel, looks at him curiously when Klemper claims he's been sent to babysit him. (Jäger looks aghast; Himmel just smirks.) Klemper had intended to insult Ratdog, but Ratdog merely says, "Really...let's go, then." (Also unknown to Klemper, Ratdog is pretty sure there's some shadiness behind his appointment in the Wehrmacht, and Klemper's attitude helps him know exactly where he stands. The others don't consider him one of them, a real soldier, and he prefers Klemper's blunt honesty to otherwise having to jump through hoops to figure out everyone else's motivations. Ratdog isn't overly complicated and he isn't much of a thinker...he ends up letting Klemper do that for both of them.) The relationship between these two is far more complicated than the scope of this entry, though it does begin with outright hostility on Klemper's part; he doesn't even entertain the thought of them getting involved. Ratdog learns the rumors of his misbehavior, and, being the horndog he is, makes a move on Klemper, only to get a punch in return; Klemper calls him a foul name and tells him to keep his hands to himself. Still...he's persistent. Not in a creepy rapey way, just that he can tell there's something more going on that Klemper doesn't talk about. Ratdog knows a broken person when he sees one, because for years he dealt with one himself. He lost that person. He doesn't want to lose another. Klemper ends up letting his guard down and they pass a night together, though the moment he sees Ratdog return the attention of another man who's flirting with him, the rage resurfaces. He again rebuffs Ratdog when he makes a move--seriously confusing him, because Ratdog is just really that dense and isn't sure what he's done wrong--and snaps at him, "You really want to get laid so bad, go to a bar!" Bars are where der Flaschendämon resides and Klemper wants no part of drinking and whoring around. Ratdog can have one or the other; he can't have both. Just out of spite, Ratdog follows the advice. Goes to the bar, gets drunk, lets a friendly sergeant chat him up. He seems interested in accompanying Ratdog back to his military-appointed apartment in the city...yet something about Sgt. Lange feels off to Ratdog. Without knowing why, he declines the offer and heads home alone. Lange isn't the sort who takes no for an answer. He bites his tongue at the rejection, yet steams and stews the rest of the evening, and the moment he sees Ratdog leave, he follows him. Klemper is understandably peeved when Ratdog misses a scheduled meetup the next morning, so goes to his apartment to retrieve him. He's ready, against his better judgment, to give him a tongue lashing when he answers the door, yet the words die in his throat the moment he sees Ratdog's face. Both of the lieutenant's eyes are black and swollen, and the rest of him is battered as well. "What happened...?" is all Klemper can get out; "Bar fight," Ratdog replies, and he knows that's a lie. Ratdog is just as peeved to find that the call he'd made that he wouldn't make it in today was dropped somehow. Klemper picks up small clues as he wanders through his apartment: the sofa askew, a broken glass, an Unteroffizier's collar tab torn loose and lying under the furniture. Klemper doesn't ask for details as he doesn't need them. "Cold water," he tells Ratdog; when Ratdog peers at him, puzzled, he says, "Cold water to bring down the swelling...then heat for the bruise." He's been here before. Klemper takes his role as "babysitter" more seriously now. He was the one to flippantly tell Ratdog to visit a bar; he can't help but feel guilty about the outcome. Ratdog's attitude, too, subtly changes; he engages in far fewer flings (eventually, none), and greatly cuts back his drinking, seeing how uneasy it makes Klemper. He not only becomes a much better marksman than he was already, now that he's working sober, but Klemper even proves to be a decent spotter. The two of them gradually get to know each other; Ratdog learns of Klemper's past life on the farm, and Klemper learns Ratdog had a young son once, who died not too long before they met. Ratdog doesn't seem one inch a family man, yet the look he gets, and the catch in his voice, the rare times he's able to talk about Hans, make it clear how dearly he loved the boy. Ratdog, too, has his wounds to bear. One other detail Ratdog reveals to Klemper: His name is Adel. Klemper asks his last name, but he initially declines to give it, saying that since he's the last of his line, the name dies with him. "Then I'll just call you Adel," says Klemper. Ratdog says he'll call him Götz. They resume their aborted relationship, though it's hesitant and shaky and Klemper is constantly certain that Ratdog will leave him, same as everyone else, no matter how many times Ratdog insists he won't. When Ratdog is called on an errand that separates him from Klemper's unit, and Klemper is set to head out with them, Klemper exclaims that this is it, this is when he leaves and never comes back. Ratdog says everything he can think of, gives every reassurance, that he'll return, but it's to no avail, Klemper's been here before, too: "Everyone leaves! No one comes back." "I promise I will," Ratdog insists, yet Klemper merely turns away and trudges back to his unit. "I promise," Ratdog says again, to himself. Well...Ratdog makes his appointment this time, but it doesn't go as planned. Turns out he's now the one being investigated by the authorities; the general who recruited him, Schavitz, is corrupt, and his assignment in the Wehrmacht wasn't cleared through the proper channels. What's more, nobody can get in touch with Schavitz to clear the matter up--he's effectively hung Ratdog out to dry. Ratdog protests his innocence to no avail as he's shut in a jail cell, cut off from all contact with the outside. He has no idea what to do, figuring nobody has any idea where he even is. After a few days of disconsolate stewing to himself, he receives a visitor: The black-uniformed captain in the Totenkopf hat has a wearily sour look on his face as he whispers to the guard, "Let him out, bitte." The jail officials obey, apologizing profusely for the mixup as they return his belongings, pleading that he put in a good word for them; "Oh, go f**k yourselves!" Ratdog barks, having had about enough; and "You'll be hearing from the authorities, schönen Tag noch," says Captain Himmel as they depart. Ratdog, freed again at last, desperately wants to get back to Klemper and keep his promise, yet he has no idea where his unit even is. Himmel, once more, saves the day; he's made note of the last known location of Dasch's unit and the direction they're headed in. He'll drive Ratdog out to the country via motorcycle, but then he's on his own. Ratdog accepts, they travel out of the city to the edge of the Wald, and part ways; Ratdog heads off on foot, passing various infantry and Panzer units on the outskirts before heading into the trees. He keeps up a steady pace for a day or so before slowing to a wary walk, scanning his surroundings for partisans; when--"Adel!"--he glances back, sees a lone figure standing a distance away. Klemper (who'd been doing lookout duty) is unmistakable festooned in his array of weaponry. "You came back," he says, eyes alight; "you came looking for me and you found me. You found me!" He rushes at Ratdog and throws his arms around him, nearly knocking him down. "You came back!" he exclaims, "You found me!" "I promised I would," Ratdog says, hugging him back. Although the two are inseparable from this point--Klemper vows to follow Ratdog to the ends of the world if he asks--it doesn't mean the relationship is perfect; somebody who's had a life like Klemper's, especially as an addict, doesn't just shed all that baggage. Ratdog always has to deal with his constant insecurity, his crushing sense of worthlessness, the gaping void of a lack of love and stability deep inside him. Klemper never got the chance to properly grow up. He even apologizes, after a brief dissociative break, that he can't seem to clean up his act and pull himself together, even for Ratdog, the way Ratdog did for him; "You came along too late. I'm too broken to fix." Yet Ratdog handles it all without complaint, offering tireless encouragement and patience, never losing his temper or his resolve, insisting that he changed his ways because he wanted to, Klemper doesn't need fixing and isn't obligated to do the same, he loves him no matter how broken he thinks he is. It always hurts that his assurances are never enough, yet he offers them anyway. Eventually, Klemper learns just who in Ratdog's life inspired him to hold fast to Klemper and not let him fall. The unit stumbles across an abandoned castle, the name of its owners long since erased from history, and Ratdog tells him about his sister, Edelgard. Edelgard, Klemper picks up from the tale, was also too broken to fix, through no fault of her own. She was the one to kill their parents, to erase the family name, to wander off into the snow to never be seen again. Adel searched for her for days, then waited for more; he yelled into the frozen forest surrounding the ancient farmland that he would come back to look for her again, that he wouldn't give up on her the way she gave up on herself. And he did return occasionally to the castle as it too succumbed to the cold. Even after he left it and built his own house deep in the Wald, he stopped by, yet Edelgard never returned. He finally had to respect her wish and let her go. He always felt like he failed her...he doesn't want to do that again. Adel, Ratdog, is a Herzog, a hereditary duke. It's a surprise that shouldn't be a surprise, as it's right in his name (Adel = nobility). With the death of Hans, he's the last of a line that goes back over five hundred years, and intends to make good on Edelgard erasing the family name, which by now feels cursed. As well, given the location of his abandoned farm estate, and the location of Klemper's old homestead--along with the fact that Klemper's family, too, stretches back through hundreds of years of peasant-farmers--Ratdog thinks it's highly likely that Klemper's family worked his family's farm ages ago. He'd never cared for anyone to know about this, preferred to just give up his estate and name and keep to himself in his tiny home among the Waldvolk, but the war, and Hans's death, changed things. He asks if this knowledge changes anything between them. Klemper says it doesn't. Important Character Development Update following. The idea for this actually occurred to me some time back, out of the blue, so unexpected yet making so much sense I feared it might be a bit TOO pat, and slept on it. I decided to go through with the update, but didn't get the chance to do so before a massive winter storm system struck my area, resulting in days'-long power outages and extensive property damage. I lay in bed bundled in numerous blankets, freezing in the dark, for two nights straight of ice rain, listening fearfully as transformers blew and giant tree limbs crashed repeatedly against the roof; trees in the woods around us cracked and snapped and shattered, ice fell, bizarre lights I can't explain illuminated the sky. A brief reprieve during the day, then came a third night of snow and high winds and more destruction. As I write this, the power has thankfully been restored (our house got down to 45 degrees inside and would have gone lower if my uncle hadn't brought a propane heater), though there are still scattered outages and power flickers and our cable and Internet are still out, the landline isn't working, my mother's 4G has stopped working on her cell phone, so we've been pretty much cut off from the world for the past week; even the city went down. A falling branch tore down our Internet cable (it's been replaced), our mailbox was destroyed (a neighbor fixed it, another neighbor brought us bottled water as we're the only ones in the neighborhood without a generator), and I still don't know when I'll be able to get back online, GOD do I hope it's soon...but that brief day of reprieve from the storm helped inspire how the rest of this story goes. I tearfully and gingerly ventured outside to feed the birds, dreading the sight of the destruction of all my beloved trees. The trees were still there. Missing limbs which lay all around the yard and roof, but still standing. It had sounded exactly like they had fallen during the night, yet there they were. And when the sunlight hit them later that evening and the next day, it was unbelievable...but I'll just incorporate this into the next part of the entry. Ratdog and Klemper are caught in the Wald, separated from Dasch's unit, when ice rain starts--the thunder and lightning make Klemper especially nervous (he gets hit by lightning earlier in the story...weird scene, yes)--so they take shelter in one of the numerous limestone caverns littering the woods. They pass the night much like I did, huddled in their bedrolls, shivering and flinching at every pop and crack and crash; all night it sounds like the forest is being bombed. They eventually manage to doze off. Ratdog wakes abruptly in the morning, blinking and confused--Klemper is missing. "Götz...?" he says sleepily; then, "Götz--?"--more alarmed to find himself alone. He sits up and casts about wildly but nobody is there--realizing that the only place Klemper could have gone is outside, and flooded with memories of Edelgard walking off into the snow, he pushes himself to his feet and rushes outside. "Götz? Götz--!" he yells in a panic--then spots him standing in the snow not far from the cave entrance, staring into the woods. He hurries to Klemper's side and grasps his arm. "You scared me!" he cries, half accusing, half relieved; yet Klemper simply continues staring up into the trees. "Look at them," he says, voice hushed with awe, and Ratdog follows his gaze. The trees towering over them are strangely bowed, like willows, branches trailing in the air; backlit by the sunrise, they appear to be made of crystal, shining and glittering prismatically. Every time the wind rises, pieces of the ice fall and tinkle like chimes. Ratdog and Klemper feel like part of some sort of ornamental display, two tiny figures in a snowglobe. "I thought after all the noise, when I came out they'd all be gone," Klemper murmurs, "but they're still here. They're all broken, but...they're beautiful." Ratdog stares at the glistening trees for a silent moment. "This must be why they called it 'Zierenwald,'" he muses. "Decorated Forest." It takes a second for Klemper to blink, saying, "Wha..." He turns to Ratdog, frowning. "Zierenwald--?" Ratdog hesitates briefly before saying, "That's what they called all of this, long ago. Not just the village. The Wald. Zierenwald." Klemper's expression shifts; he looks as if he thinks Ratdog must be poking fun at him. "How do you know this?" Ratdog turns away from the sight to go retrieve their belongings from the cave. "I read about it, once." Klemper makes a scoffing noise. "You? Read?" He follows. "Since when do you--" he starts to say, then gasps and ducks into the cave as a huge branch falls right where he'd been standing. Ratdog suggests they remain in the shelter of the cave until the trees thaw out somewhat; Klemper nervously agrees. The news that Ratdog isn't quite the backwoods yokel he tries to present himself as starts to spread; Klemper's fellows in Dasch's unit learn of it, though they don't wag their tongues, yet bits and pieces get out. The only person he confides in about who he actually is is Klemper, who feels almost like it's a sign that they should have met. An important formal function approaches, an event where the former nobility can basically show themselves off and exert their influence among military and state officials who are in positions to grant favors like Jäger. Dasch's unit and others like it could benefit from some influence, and they happen to know a real-life duke. Ratdog really doesn't want to put his abandoned identity out there like that, and Klemper refuses Dasch's suggestion to try to convince him, insisting it's his business and his choice, no one else's. Yet Ratdog realizes he can't just stand back and do nothing; maybe they'll never consider him a soldier like they are, but he can still make use of what he really is. When the formal function begins, a servant announces all the arrivals by their names, according to the new format adopted after the nobility was abolished. Chattering guests half-listen as Grafen and Gräfinnen, Freiherren and Freifrauen, etc., are named; and then comes: "Herr Adel, Herzog von Zierenwald." Chatter dies--all heads turn. Ratdog has changed out his Wehrmacht uniform for traditional Prussian dress; he looks incredibly ill at ease, especially with everyone staring at him. Klemper, at his shoulder, clears his throat; this breaks the spell, and he walks into the room. The impression has been made; he's Somebody Important, so people will listen to him. ...Adel's full name was never intended to be revealed in the story. He tells it to Klemper, but Klemper never shares. Only the title "Herzog" and the "von" are revealed in the castle; I've always referred to him and his family as von NN, the genealogical term for an unknown name. I knew only that it had to be a name so rare that it's about to go extinct; and I didn't trust myself to come up with a convincing German-sounding fictional name that doesn't already exist. Adel's family name was intended to remain an unresolved mystery of the story, something even I don't know. And then the thought process outlined in my side blog HERE occurred. Like I said, it just seemed TOO perfect. But a big theme of this story is all the unexpected ways in which people's lives touch and connect, and this fit. And it felt like it was simply meant to be the answer to the mystery: I ALREADY had a unique, made-up German-sounding name in use! And the likely past relationship between Adel's and Klemper's families had already been separately established, tying them both to land connected to the forest. AND Adel's own, secondary connection to the Wald and its folk had ALSO been established, as well as Klemper's connection to the village of Zierenwald. The ideas that Zierenwald was once the name of a much larger area, the Wald itself, which had shrunk over the centuries; that the von NN lands, which once encompassed all the surrounding farmland and forest before shrinking away, included the Wald; and that this was the basis for Adel's connection to the Wald in which he lives, it once would have belonged to him by birthright...all made sense and fit into place. Yes, maybe a bit too much for literary purists, but I'm not literary. Adel's family owned the (Zieren)Wald, they were of it, the Waldvolk were their folk, so they took their family name from the land: the von Zierenwalds. Needless to say, this is a plot point still heavily under development (including how Ratdog/Adel uses his newfound influence to accomplish things), so some things are subject to change. One of the big mysteries of the story is officially resolved, however, and "von NN" is no more. This change doesn't affect Adel's children Godfrey and Tatiana and Tatiana's son Hans, as Adel again abandons the name after the war, so they take his first name as their surname; just as he told Klemper, he's the last von Zierenwald, and he wants the name to die with him; so it does. Zierenwald itself, though, does not. After his death (another plot change, at the hands of a Volkssturm child soldier), Klemper receives a memorial statue in a clearing not far from the village, called Der Held Von Zierenwald, The Hero Of Zierenwald. "Von Zierenwald" dies out with Adel; Zierenwald lives on because of Klemper. [Unnamed Unteroffizier 2025 [Saturday, April 5, 2025, 2:00:19 PM]] |