Secrets

Pierre L'estrange

Pierre L'estrange is a quiet man among the many French-Italian immigrants to Louisiana in the nineteenth century. He took up the job of an apothecary's assistant, ferrying supplies from dock storages to the shops, assisting in the compounding of drugs, and delivering goods to purchasers. Pierre seems to be nondescript and unremarkable, if surprisingly stout and well-toned. Few like to look into the man's grey eyes, grim and watchful.

In reality, Pierre is an assassin sent by a secret society known as The Wheel from their Monacan cell in the French Riviera. His purpose has been to look out for persons of interest and new inventions being imported and exported through Louisiana's harbors. He also ensures enemies and victims of The Wheel do not escape either into or out of the new world.

Backstory: Pierre began as the son of a fisherman and became orphan when his parents died of ship fever. He lived on the streets, learning to survive through scavenging and streetfighting. He joined a gang and quickly earned a reputation at being skilled with a knife. The leaders groomed him into an assassin, training him in savate and to work with a stiletto. He did his new job well, becoming known as the gang's misercordia (mercy), which turned into a byword of the area. Gang members would say, "Do you want us to show you mercy?," meaning "Do you want to die at the hands of an assassin?"

The Wheel eventually absorbed the gang into their network of ruffians and rogues they used among the international ports. Pierre's performance became known to them, and they initiated him into The Spark, their war machine. As a member of The Spark, they submitted him to mechanosymbiosis, quickening his cognitive skills and reflexes, as well as giving him a hardened skeleton that provided greater protection to vital organs. They also tuned his anatomy to conceal the tools of his trade, so that he can walk around appearing unarmed. Pierre survived the horrific process and quickly proved the worth of these new abilities through a series of daylight assassinations of French officers and wealthy merchants.

The Wheel: A secret society who claims to have been around when the wheel and the fire were first used. Their goal is to create a technocracy whose arms control every cog and wheel of international societies. The spread of industrialization is but one of their many projects. They seek to have proprietary rights to inventions through coercing or manipulating scientists, tinkerers, innovators, and inventors into their fold. Those that refuse face the calculating wrath of The Wheel.

Mechanosymbiosis: Grafting of mechanical and biological entities into an integrated whole. Mechanosymbios was developed as a ultra clandestine cog of the secret society known as The Wheel, to serve its executive purposes of threat assessment and threat elimination.

Spies and assassins of both human and clockwork design had been in use by The Wheel for years, but each had their own downfall. Clockwork creatures known as mobilé marionettes were at first clumsy and then ultimately too mechanical to pass off as humans. And humans...well, squishy and easily turned. An arm of The Wheel over military research, known as The Spark, sought to reconcile the differences between the two, complementing strengths, which came to be known as the field of mechanosymbiosis.

These new creatures forged of futuristic technology and biological prowess operate live as two quasi creatures--machine and human--which coexist to perform a main function. Most live as spies or assassins, while some have unknown capabilities and functions. Each entity is unique and possesses skills from both its mechanical programming and human hosts. All are capable of intuition (which allows them to blend into society at large), but often lack primal fears, making them appear stoic or indifferent in the face of danger.

Dead Pirate God

Dead God
Slam [Master 10]
Body: 40

Mutelyns

Mutelyns are goblin-like natives of the Silent Swamp. They are known as mutelyns because they ritualistically scar themselves in order to prevent speech. Horrific "coming of age" rituals that consist of pinning or sewing of lips, removal of tongues, and even the removal of voice boxes have been known. They have a habit of collecting endflies, and it has been said that they are, in fact, the keepers and guardians of these unusual creatures. Skills: Capture [Expert, 7 points], Sneak [Expert, 7 points], Camouflage [Expert, 6 points]
Body: 7

Fifolet

The fifolet are the spirits of the swamp that others term will o' the wisps. Ironically, this name refers to only the supernatural fire that these creatures exude, not the creatures themselves. Fifloet are spirit wardens: they instinctively herd and protect wayward spirits. They are a natural enemy of the rougarou, the gluttonous savages who hunt and consume spirits ruthlessly and carelessly. Skills: Spiritfire [Master, 10 points], Invisibility [Expert, 7 points], Spiritguide [Trained, 3 points].
Body: 3

Rougarou

The rougarou are little-known race of swamp-borne shapeshifters, akin to the loup garou or werewolves. However, unlike other lycanthropes, the rougarou are not a bridge from the world of humans to animals, but rather, they span the gap between life and death. They often appear as strong, muscular humans who are the pinnacle of health, with elements of death incorporated into their form: skull faces, skeletal hands or ribcages are the most common... Skills: Touch of Rot [Expert, 7 points], Frightening Appearance [Expert, 6 points], Feral Combat [Expert, 7 points].
Body: 21

Blackwater Pirates

These undead pirates scour the Astral in search of souls that they can intimidate/enslave/press into servitude. They are ruthless to a fault and would think nothing of cheating or killing in order to win or obtain their goals. Skills: Cheating [Expert, 7 points], Lying [Trained, 2 points], Sailing [Master, 10 points], Fighting [Basic Familiarity, 1 point]
Body: 10
NOTE: The Sailing skill listed above is only for sailing on water, not in the Astral. Granted, some of the skills might be similar, so the skill can be used to assist in Astral sailing, but they are not the same.
The name of the Blackwater Pirate's vessel is The Death of Desoto.
The captain of The Death of Desoto is Captain LaCroix.

The name of the character's ship is The Bayou Banshee.

Winepress Automatons

Crafted from the cast-off parts of the Lethe Winepress, these creatures are amalgams of whatever is at hand: cogs, levers, gears, straps, rivets, and stacks: all powered by the preternatural power of the Lethe. No one appears the same as the others, but they all serve the same purpose as their brothers and sisters: destroy anyone who threatens the Winepress. Skills: Slam [Skilled, 4 points], Slice [Skilled, 4 points], Rend [Skilled, 4 points], Blast [Skilled, 4 points], Crush [Skilled, 4 points].
Body: 10

NOTE: Due to the unusual characteristics of the Lethe, there is a 1 in 20 chance that Winepress Automatons can become confused and turn on the Winepress itself. Any direct attempt the characters make in this vein can increase those changes substantially.

Letiche

A massive and imposing creature, the Letiche looks like a horrific cross between an alligator and a human, with odd aberrations and characteristics that belong to something far more demonic than either of its component parts. It stinks of carrion and offal and some say that you can see the forms of the dead embedded in its foul hide. Skills: Maw [Master, 10 points], Sickening Stench [Skilled, 4 points], Tail [Skilled, 4 points], Vibratory Blast [Trained, 2 points].
Body: 40

The tale of the Letiche:
"If you live on the bayou long enough you see some strange things.  Sometimes in the early spring when the air begins to warm but the bayou is still chilly, the clouds will spend the night crouching lightly on the water.  Those clouds huddle together and get so thick with cold bayou water that the cypress along the far side, disappear from view.  You can get lost if you wander into the bayou when the clouds sit low.  It happened to a family that lived right around the bend…a long time ago…

There was a little family who moved into a cabin not so far away.  The man and woman had a young boy-just a toddler really-able to run a short distance before his legs tired and he looked for his mama to carry him home.  It was just before sunrise when the boy looked out the open door and saw those fat clouds resting at the end of the pier.  He ran out to see them and before he knew it, he couldn’t see his house.  He couldn’t see the little pier or the pirogue tied to the stump of the old cypress.  When he yelled for his mama, he couldn’t even hear his own voice.  It was lost in the thick air of the clouds.

He sat down crying for his mama.  He was hungry and cold, tired and lost.  It was a pitiful cry, hoarse with salty tears.  “Ma Ma!  Ma Ma!”  Over and over again.  Nearby, under a submerged log, an alligator guarded her young children. If you live near a bayou any length of time, you’ll notice that alligator mothers raise their young for well over a year.  When the babies need their mama, they call her in grunts.  The alligator mother heard the little boy hoarsely crying for his MaMa, and it sounded like the grunts of her children when they were lost or in trouble.  She swam out from under the log and straight for the frightened little boy.

As I said, the boy was very young.  He had not had time to learn to be afraid of the alligator.  Here was a mother, though nothing like his own, and she was taking him onto her back gently pushing him with her jaws.  He climbed on and she took him further into the bayou, back to her home.

When the fog lifted, the mother and father searched for their little boy.  But the bayou was deep and the trees were thick.  The little boy had not yet learned to swim.  And one who was just learning to run would be no match for the creatures who lived in the bayou.  They found no signs of their sweet little boy and so sadness drove them out of the bayou to live on the prairies far away.

The alligator mother cared for the boy, teaching him to swim and catch fish and turtles to eat just as she taught her alligator babies.  There is magic in alligator holes and strange things happen when humans venture down into them. That magic worked on the boy and soon he grew a tail to steer him through the bayou.  His hands and feet became webbed to propel him as fast as his alligator sisters and brothers.  He grew to stand tall over his four footed mother and soon had learned all that she could teach him. He moved to the other side of the bayou.  There were people there and though he could not remember much about his mother and father…he wondered about them.

 He would swim below the pirogues of the fishermen as they set their traps or fished the bayou.   He looked at them from the murky water and wondered if this one or that one was his father.  He wondered what would happen if he just popped out of the water alongside.  But he never did.

 He was a fun-loving bayou boy and he liked to untie the traps or bump the boat so the unwary fishermen would fall into the water as they leaned over to set the line.  He liked to come near the little bayou cabins when the clouds sat low on the bayou and listen to the sounds of the families waking up and getting ready for their days.  It was his last memory of his little family.  So, he’d crawl up on the bank or onto the long pirogues and look into the lighted windows.  He’d scare the cabin dogs who would start howling when they caught his scent.  But they wouldn’t come near him and he stayed just out of reach.

Slowly, over time, the boy became known as the Letiche, and after his alligator mother died, the boy became bitter. His soul grew darker and darker and over the long years, his outer form changed - growing ever more twisted. After making a deal with a Voodoo Witch for dark majick powers, the Letiche gained access to the fabled Old Orleans, where he made his lair deep beneath its filthy bowels. Dark days lead him to darker places and eventually, the Letiche made a deal with M'su Diable himself. None know the whether's and whyfore's of that deal, but what is known is that the Leitche now consumes the bodies of the dead and from their forms he presses his most potent Lethe wine..."


Tale drawn from here:

Pt1 - The morning after

The characters awaken in various forms of discomfort: heads on the table, laying the floor, having slept all night in a chair, and so forth. They all have terrible hangovers and are bleary-eyed and cotton-mouthed. As they look around, they find themselves in a room that seems somewhat familiar:

It was in this infamous location, the notorious Klib nan Avanturyé that the characters whiled away the evening, enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Now, however, it is time to pay the piper - both in a physical and a literal sense. The place is nearly empty (except for a few snoring prior patrons here and there), and for an unusual looking fellow who sits at their table, grinning and mumbling to himself.

Soon, however, it will be revealed that this fellow is called Gumbo and he is not exactly what he seems. 

Gumbo is shirtless and wears a pair of dirty and tattered pantaloons, he is armed only with a flintlock pistol and a wide, curved saber, which are tucked into a sash at his waist. He is barefooted and his toes appear to be webbed. Gumbo is a fast-talking, wheeling and dealing kinda guy who is as slippery as an eel and three times as dangerous. He speaks with a heavy Cajun accent. Skills: Fast Talker [Skilled, 4 points], Manipulative [Master, 10 points], Saber [Trained, 3 points], Majick [Trained, 3 points]
Body: 20
Gumbo has a face similiar to this fellow:

But a body more akin to this fellow.

Ultimately, it will be revealed that he is actually a Gree-Gree, like:

Gumbo will happily tell the group where they are (New Orleans) and about what happened last night: the fact that they were in a high-stakes poker game with none other than M'su Diable (the Devil). To make matters worse - they lost, and very badly. So badly, in fact, that they are now little more than soulshades - the barest remnant of what remains when a creature has been utterly taken apart by the Great Enemy.

If they want to know how to reverse this fate, Gumbo can tell them - for a price. His price is equal to what he is giving them: when his time comes to be taken by the Great Oblivion, they will have to come and save him, just as they desire to save themselves...if they succeed, of course....

Gumbo can tell them that their beings have been completely divided into their most elemental parts: Body, Mind, Spirit, Memory, Life, Death, and Soul. Gumbo does not know where they have all been taken to, but he can tell them where their body is: Old Orleans, taken by the horrific Letiche, to be crushed into Lethe wine, the finest and most potent wine in the physical realms.

Gumbo will tell them that they are very venerable in their current state: as soulshades, they are tremendously weak but in someways - to somethings - they may experience near invulnerability, however - other things (that they might not expect) may harm them far more than normal. Gumbo will also tell them that he cannot accompany them on their journey, but kicks a black bag towards them as he rises to depart. He tells them not to forget their winnings...

Reaching into the bag is like putting your hand into a deep, dark well - literally - the inside of the bag is filled with water. Only by reaching one's hand as far as possible into the bag can one draw out the treasure, and a treasure it is, indeed:

The item is a mimir, and it can provide answers when asked, although in the most cryptic method possible.

The characters are free to do as they will, but they will now notice that at the table, face down, are seven playing cards. Each card is a regular playing card, with the exception that each of them has a symbol marked in colored ink upon it. Each symbol corresponds to one of the elements that they are missing. They must cipher out which symbol stands for Body and then play the card to be transported to Old Orleans.

Swampsouls - Outline

• Using the FAST Ruleset:  http://www.retroroleplaying.com/other/fastrpg.php
• Character Creation
•  20 skill points available, any level in any said skill(s) avaliable
• Any skill/tech more modern than flintlock/blackpowder must be approved
• All character types allowed, but each non-human character MUST have a skill or item that allows them to appear as human
•  Each character needs to detail three things about their past that they have in common with the other characters (i.e. shared experiences)
• Each character needs to detail three things from their past that they would rather not tell anyone

Order	Item Needed	Symbol	Color	Location	Guardian(s)	Method	Gained
1st	Body	Wine	Purple	Old Orleans	Letiche & Winepress Automatons	Destroy the Lethe Winepress or steal their bodies (back)	Unbreakable Body
2nd	Mind	Wind	Silver	Chimera Bay	Undead Pirates	Outpace the Blackwater Pirates in an Astral race to the corpse of Artemis	Chimeric Mind
3rd	Spirit	Oil	Brown	Bayou Narcisse	Rougarou	Obtaining the Flame of the Fifolet to Light the Oil Lamps of the Ibo IIgbo	Spiritfire
4th	Death	Fire	Red	Silent Swamp	Mutelyns	Burn the endflies to ash using Spiritfire	Endfly Exposure
5th	Life	Water	Blue	HMS Racer during the 1837 Racer Storm	Deep Ones	Find and retrieve the surisculam aquae vitae	Spiritual Anchor
6th	Memory	Cloud	Black	Fungal Forest	Death's Cap	Breathe in the correct memory before they perish	Breathless Life
7th	Soul	Dove	Gold	Bottle Tree	Wraith Lord	Pass through Death's Gate and remove the corks from their bottles on the Bottle Tree	Soul (DUH)

• Once the adventure begins...
• Part 1 - The morning after - Wherein the Characters learn about what has befallen them.
• NOTE: During this Part, the Characters are soulshades with 2 Body and have just their basic skills.
• Part 2 - Beneath Old Orleans - Wherein the Characters combat the Letiche and Winepress Automatons in order to regain their own bodies.
• NOTE: During this Part, the Characters are soulshades with 2 Body and have just their basic skills.
• If the characters survive, they regain their former Body, as well as the skills, Winemaking [Basic Familiarity, 1 point], Clockwork Contraptions [Trained, 2 points], and Unbreakable Body (Magical Armor: -5) 
• Part 3 -  On Chimera Bay
• If the characters survive, they gain the following skills: Astral Navigation [Trained, 2 points], Shipboard Combat [Basic Familiarity, 1 point], and Chimeric Mind (which is the ability to slightly effect reality) [Trained, 2 points]
• NOTE: Nicholas Blanc also gained Favored by a Power [Basic Familiarity, 1 point]
• Part 4 - Down on Bayou Narcisse
• If the characters survive, they gain the following skills: Swampwalker [Trained, 2 points], and Spiritfire [Skilled, 4 points] 
• Part 5 - Stalking the Silent Swamp
• If the characters survive, they gain the following skills: Enhanced Awareness [Trained 2 points] and Endfly Exposure (which is the ability to regenerate Body damage at the rate of 1 point per round) [Basic Familiarity, 1 point]
• Part 6 - Aboard the HMS Racer
• If the characters survive, they gain the following skills: Outsider Exposure [Trained, 2 points], and Spiritual Anchor (which allows you to resist attacks from Outsiders/Possession/Insanity, etc.) [Skilled, 4 points]  
• Part 7 - Lost in the Fungal Forest
• If the characters survive, they gain the following skills: Fungus Familiarity [Basic Familiarity, 2 points], Unusual Orienteering [Trained, 2 points] and Breathless Life (no need to breath to continue living - temporary) [Trained, 2 points]
• Part 8 - The Bottle Tree
• If the characters survive, they regain their souls (DUH).