User:Gunnar Matheson

Basic Statistics
Name: Gunnar Matheson

Sex: Male

Age: 27

Height: 6'6"

Weight: 200 lb

Build: Lanky

Interests: Jagermaltz, Piano

Mental Condition: Somewhat Withdrawn

Historical Background
Gunnar is a largely unknown quantity, having only recently arrived in the region in his family's heirloom CR-4P. The 88th Junker to roll off the Hoover lines, the Feral Unicorn purportedly achieved numerous victories against pirates when previously piloted by his father in defense of his homeland. It was quite a blow to the young pilot to discover recently that metal fatigue had finally caught up with the aircraft, making further repairs unfeasible. Gunnar took great care in transferring the Unicorn's nose art first to his replacement Phantom, and thereafter to the Cyclops, Hades and Dauntless which have since taken the Unicorn name. In this way, he believes, he has thus preserved the "soul" of his father's plane.

Though he clearly prefers to earn a peaceful living in trade, he is known to seek out anti-piracy missions at each port of call and appears to consider defense of the civilized regions to be a personal obligation.

Beyond that, Gunnar is known to frequent the Rotor and Prop tavern, where he has displayed an affection for the mint liquor Jagermaltz* and also a prediliction for playing the house piano. He has a distinctly unusual Teutonic accent which some have suggested is an Uurwerken dialect, and which appears to completely disappear when he sings.

He is also known for his version of Percival Polonius and his Red Balloon, a childhood tale favored by most skylanders.


 * Jagermaltz is a rare beverage in the Skylands, best thought of as a cross between quality vodka and peppermint schnapps. Its powerful kick and strong fumes make it an excellent choice for nightcaps and clearing stuffy sinuses. Until recently, only limited quantities could be found, and then only on Uurwerk, causing its few adherents to insist it is an Uurwerken beverage. Gunnar himself, however, claims it originates in his home skyland, which supposedly has limited trade with Uurwerk. His ability to produce the occasional planeload from seemingly nowhere, outstripping all other Jagermaltz trade combined, would seem to support his boast.

NOTES ON REICHLAND (NOT IN-GAME CANON)
Reichland is a trio of closely-packed mountains surrounded by hills that taper off to open plains --- it's so huge and heavy that its bottom tenth is still submerged in the ocean, with the plateau about 1km above sea level.

Reichland's topsoil has always been poor, so from an early date the decision was made to burrow into the rock below for housing and industrial needs. This also led to a fascistic form of government obsessed with all the things that can possibly go wrong with the economy, and therefore similarly obsessed with micromanaging it.

As a result, Reichland is hyper-efficient at doing what it can with what it has. Its government never, however, considered the idea of building aircraft, and so were amazed when explorers from Uurwerk discovered their huge skyland. With the establishment of trade for the rare metals so necessary to Uurwerken industry, pirates preying on that trade swiftly became a problem.

The skyland's defenses began with the importation and study of gunnery from Uurwerk. Multiple rings of air-defense batteries were built atop the plateau between the hardscrabble farms, with heavy anti-shipping guns installed in hardened bays protruding from its sides. After enough raids had proven ground-based gunnery could not stop the raiding of farms and the theft or destruction of their precious produce, policy shifted: the scrap collected from downed raiders was studied, and eventually Reichland began to field its own air force.

Reichland's air force is still relatively new, with only one past generation of dedicated flyers. They have become adept at reconstructing and refitting existing stock models commonly found amongst pirate wings, but have no home-built designs as yet. Current policy is that, on the theory that it preserves the limited number of functioning craft, emphasis should be placed on heavy armor and guns to the exclusion of speed and manueverability. Range is utterly sacrificed since all craft are meant for local defense and short cargo runs.

The development of domestic air industry, however, also meant expansion: numerous nearby skylets were seized both to exterminate the pirates there and to obtain new farmlands. Much more arable than home, these skylets became Reichland's bread-baskets...as well as an outlet for the newly-expanding population that the extra foodstuffs made possible. Most of these became prison-labor farms, which also assisted the government in maintaining order as the population increased.

Now, the skylets are virtually the only source of food while Reichland itself advanced its industry...another control on the public, which could be starved into submission at need.

Gunnar's initial "Hamburger Express" runs upset that balance. Many old farmhouses had tunnels to the main caverns below, serving as routes for smuggling the rare and prized meats (Reichland had never had a significant cattle industry). As the meat flowed in, harsher measures were taken to secure the topland and maintain order below.

Things came to a head when, in a surprise raid, Gunnar and Ellington smashed their way through to the main cavern gates and blew them open with forty crates of high explosive, following up with more crates of guns, munitions and pamphlets on guerilla war for the swarming hordes of political prisoners escaping to the surface.

The rebels quickly seized the topland and began infiltrating below, leading the people in revolt. After a series of see-saw battles through the dungeonlike maze of corridors, things stabilized with about a third of the downbelow including fighter bays and external gunnery points being held by the freedom fighters.

Liberation of the prison farms, both for food and recruits, was the next step. Savage dogfights erupted for hundreds of kilometers around. The government forces, despite having more combat experience, found themselves spread thin fighting over dozens of skylets at once. It was not (and is not) uncommon for one pilot in one plane to make the difference in any given battle...in those cases where there's actually more than one plane on each side.

About half the farms are controlled by each side at this time.

With the rest of the civil war falling into a certain level of stability and the underground holdings of each side being nearly impregnable to direct assault, the topside has become the front of choice. Its poor farmland is actually very worthwhile for temporary airstrips, expanding the flexibility of both air forces.

In turn, these airfields are bitterly fought over; trench warfare complete with artillery bombardments and barbed wire is punctuated with sharp, brief massed charges by either side that either pile up the number of dead...or create breakthroughs leading to the seizure of this or that glorified strip of macadam. "Blutenfeldt", a central site, has been fought over so often in the last month alone that it is rumored the blood of the dead is soaking through the rock to form gory stalactites in caverns below.

Into this intense style of warfare came Manik and his breeds of coffee...which both sides consider war-winning "secret weapons" capable of poisoning the enemy and invigorating one's own troops. Some of his less-well-known breeds have been used for rather darker affairs.