The Divided States: Stories from the Second American Civil War
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Various background characters, soldiers and civilians appearing in- or outside of battle. The exact contents of the sides are not as important as the tone and emotional delivery, so feel free to ad-lib and improvise where you see fit.
- all american accents
- adult
[Casual] Baker Charlie Foxtrot, this is, eh… echo one. We’ve got a few tanks broke down along the contact line. We’ve managed to drag them out of the reds’ artillery range, but they won’t move much further than that, copy.
[Sigh] [Very sarcastic] See Daniels, our job is not thinking out the plan but executing it. I assume from the mighty high peaks of New Orleans this brilliant centerpiece of military strategy all makes sense, and we’re about to roll over the RSA’s defensive line in a day. We’ll be home by Christmas!
[Angry] You tell command to man their own damn line if they want that ridgeline so much! I am not sending my men straight into machine gun fire without armor support. Those red bastards are dug in like ticks, the entire city is a goddamn death trap!
Soldiers in intense combat, displaying panic, anger or staying cool under duress
- all american accents
- adult
[Panic] We need to get out! We can’t hold this line much longer! God have mercy they’re all over the place, there are hundreds, they have mortar support and ARGHL-
[Intense stress and loud combat] Richards, Reynolds! Swing left around the city block and try and flank them! Run like hell is on you, you assholes, run!
[Pulling F off body] He’s gone Philips, let it go! LET IT GO!
Not all those who fight are soldiers. Civilian leaders feature prominently in TDS. They organize relief efforts for refugees or form the core of daily life under the stress of civil war. Below are various snippets.
All right, let’s get these folks out of the cold. Carol, can you look in the back and see if we have firewood for these good people? Some of them are wounded too, so get Allison from the medic tent to come down and check if we need anything.
This is ridiculous! The Chairman was set up, set up I’m telling you! This is a disgrace to the Revolution, and if we don’t stop the Sorelians from grabbing power we will slide into totalitarianism like the USSR!
I don’t think much about the war, but the war sure seems to be thinking of me. Soldiers came by, requisitioned my truck and hauler. I’m just lucky I still have animals to plow the fields I reckon. [Mocking] Or perhaps our good president Langdon will plow the fields himself.
Insane, violent and dangerous, the broker is a cunning British mercenary leader. He controls much of the state of Louisiana as a non-state actor funded by European interests. De facto, he rules much of the interior states as a warlord, using brutal force to cow the state governors into giving him anything he wants. To the outside observer, he may appear as nothing more than a vicious warlord. He has a deep care for his own men however, a collection of outcasts and bandits he has trained into a formidable and disciplined personal army called the ‘13th Lancers’. He speaks with a common British cockney accent.
- male adult
- british (cockney)
- adult
Every man you see here: outcasts, rejects, scum of the earth. I built them up. Made them into something. Made them into Lancers! [Turning to crowd] And I promised you all didn’t I? What the world has taken from you, we will take back! [To a chorus of cheers, increasing with each exclamation] You will not just retire rich! Your children will be rich! And your children’s children’s children will be fucking rich!
[Menacing] Answer my riddle, if you will, Emily Faulkner. A man with a gun is facing three important figures. Kill the others! The first one says. I am a land owner and I will reward you handsomely! No says the second one. I am a diplomat - the other two must die, my treaty says so!
[Chuckling, throwing a knife] Tell you what cowboy. You put a single scratch on me – a single goddamn scratch, and I let you all walk free.
The Ottoman is a legendary commander of Turkish and Arabian troops, in service to the Ottoman Empire. This Turkish empire persists into the 1940s in the timeline of TDS, and continues to be a prominent player on the world stage. In the show, he and several specialized united are called to hunt down the protagonists in the deserts North of Texas. He speaks with a Turkish, Armenian or Arabic accent. Fluency in any of these languages is a plus, but not required. He is a devout Muslim, and a warrior poet who styles himself in the likes of Saladin and other old conquerors. In this rough sketch of a scene, he has tea with a German commander to discuss events in the story.
- armenian
- arabic
- male adult
- turkish
It's okay, you are allowed to say it Hauptmann. One must appreciate the irony. The Ottoman Empire stands for six hundred years, and is called the Sick man of Europe. This... republic can't even go fifty years without tearing itself apart. This continent is vast and headless... like a herd without a leader. In this desert, so far from Meccah, God's word feels distant to me. Perhaps it was this distance from God that sent the Americans down the path of excess, and eventual collapse.
[Waves hand, dismissive] I am not learned enough to comment. But perhaps it was the American’s relentless pursuit of freedom that unraveled the core of this society. The Americans believed more freedom, more choice, more excess. The Americans worship freedom like you Germans worship technology.
You Germans rely too much on your gadgets, your planes, your bombs. No amount of technology will keep Vienna ahead of the world. The sands are shifting, Hauptmann, and we must be wary of it all.
The right-hand man is the trusted bruiser of The Broker, appearing as his agent and muscle. He speaks with an Afrikaner accent. He is a personal friend to one of the protagonists and often appears as a voice of compassion and reason. In this mockup scene, he and the protagonist have a heart to heart around the campfire.
- male adult
- south african (johannesburg)
- south african english
This is war, Albert. We had let those men live, they would have come back and done the same to us. You know this. The contract was clear, no witnesses left anywhere. We are Lancers, we complete the job no matter the stakes.
Funny thing that. The people giving the order to us were simply taking the order from someone else. Up and up the chain it goes, yea? Nobody is responsible. Everyone says they just did what they were told…
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