Strange Aeons: Captain Reid

Captain Reid, Canadian Militia

I didn't have any luck procuring a Mountie in miniature for my Strange Aeons game.  I had tried to order a Reaper Chronoscope model that fit the bill nicely but came up empty with the suppliers that I order through.  If either restock Dirk Goodspeed comes into I'll pick him up or maybe place an order for some of Bob Murch's excellent pulp sculpts.  As much as I would like to paint up a classic Mountie for my CORD team I realize that finding an alternative swiftly would keep the project going.

Still haven't got my man :( .

I was able to order a Captain John Carter model from RAFM's 7th edition Call of Cthulhu range.  He is a simple and well sculpted model with a peaked cap, revolver, backpack. He is brandishing a key in his left hand but investigators find strange artifacts in their adventures so I didn't remove or modify it.  His outfit might vaguely resemble pieces of interwar service dress but let's take some creative liberty and assume our hero wears comfortable and practical adventuring wear inspired by his uniform.

Reid with, "Nell" at his back.

One feature that caught my eye and gave me a basis for the character I created was the entrenching tool strapped to the backpack.  At that point I decided that Captain Reid would have spent some of Great War as a trench raider and had become quite attached to the lifesaving sharpened implement; I decided that he named it, "Nell". 

A sanitized report on the action at grid I-7 mentioned in despatches.

Name:  Avery Melroy Reid
D.O.B:  April 11, 1893
Township Of Birth:  Pinkerton, Ontario, Dominion of Canada
Religion:  Presbyterian
Occupation:  Captain, Canadian Militia

Avery Reid enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force shortly after war was declared.  Prior to his service he had been a school teacher in his native Pinkerton becoming master at the school he had graduated some years before.  He joined 3rd Battalion as an infantry man and at some point during his time in Europe was commissioned from the ranks to Lieutenant.

It was during the final push in the Fall of 1918 that Reid lead lead a night raid into the German lines.  The small band of men were able to attack with the element of surprise.  One of the enemy wounded might have been a cultist or dabbler prior to his service.  As lifeblood flowed from the man and shock of impending death clouded his mind his incoherent utterances made the thin walls of reality fall like rotted plaster.  Something not of this world stalked the German trenches as dawn drew nearing.  Horrifying screams of dying men and the report of weapon that had little effect on their target carried across no man's land and down the German lines.  An uneasy alliance was formed between the enemy forces as both groups of men realized the unspeakable horror of what came before them.  Reid lured the fiend to an ammo depot within the earthworks with a trail of his own blood.  A German engineer gave his life to detonate the ordinance and destroy the fiend in an explosion heard across the battlefield .

 The truth of what happened at I-7 was disbelieved and eventually suppressed.  There were theories of a gas attack that had blown into the trenches and caused mass hysteria.  The ferocity of the night attack and later PTSD were also suggested.  Many of the survivors were interred in their nation's asylums following the armistice.  Reid did quite well for himself.  Though traumatized by what he has seen he had physical wounds and a heroic story to protect him from stigma.  He was cited for bravery and promoted to Captain.  After his convalescence Reid returned to Canada and rather than being mustered out of service was retained in the Interwar Canadian Militia reformed Toronto Regiment.  He busied himself with development of training regimens within the regiment until he was approached by a representative of the Prime Minister's Office.

Will the key or Webley open more doors?