The Good Mother Hopi Occupation: Village Wisewoman and Midwife Skills: Magic Use, Herb Lore Motivation: To tend the women of the village Weaknesses: Secretly a witch Mother Hopi is a village midwife and is thought of as a mysterious foreigner, even though she has lived in the village for about twenty years. She is wise in the ways of herbs and poultices and tends to all the women in the area when they are to give birth. Hopi's mother was a Gypsy and her father was a horse thief--they met while trying to steal the same horse. Her mother trained her in the mystic arts and she learned more from an old man, who for some reason only she could see. She holds sway over the wild things, can predict the future and can commands the shades of the dead to answer her questions. But she is far from foolish and does all such things in moderation, keeping her magic a secret for fear of being branded a witch. Hopi travelled about while she was young, but eventually settled down in a village which needed her heating skills. As far as the villagers are concerned she is just a strange old woman who lives in a hut at the edge of the village. Mother Hopi pretends to be older than her forty-one years and she has been known to feign deafness, madness and infirmity when it suited her. She is clever, sly and knows far more than she is willing to tell. Gabriel Feugere Occupation: Kings Musketeer Skills: Sword Play, HTH Combat, Cooking Motivation: To serve the king Weaknesses: Quick Temper One of the King's Musketeers, Gabriel has a reputation of being charming and clever but quick to anger. He is still quite young, only twenty four, and quite popular at court. Howev. er he is ruthless when fighting and it is rumoured that his companions have often had to drag him off opponents before he killed them in his blind rage. He is also an excellent pastry chef but he keeps this aspect of his past to himself. Apprenticed to his father, Henri Feugete, the greatest chef in the land, from the age of four, Gabriel wanted more from life. He ran away from home to become a lawyer but his father petitioned the King to have him brought back to his kitchen. The King was as impressed by the young man's skill with a sword as he was with his cooking and his advocacy skills. He made Gabriel one of his musketeers and he has proved to be quite a favorite at Court. A good looking but hot-headed, wild boy, Gabriel's worst flaw is that he takes insult too readily and he doesn't always think before acting. This has got him into trouble in the past and no doubt will again. Claudette de Chalons Occupation: Lady in Waiting/Highwayman Skills: Horse Riding, Pistol, Etiquette Motivation: To support her family Weaknesses: Secretly a criminal, Soft-hearted Claudette is the youngest daughter of the deChalon family. After their father's death, three years ago, Claudette and her family discovered that their father had gambled heavily and was deeply in debt to many nobles. Claudette's brother, Guillaume was forced to sell their ancestral home and all the estates except for the game keeper's cottage where Claudette, Guillaume and their elderly mother reside. All debts were settled but little wealth remains. Claudette was forced to become a lady- in-waiting to the local lord's wife. However, her family can barely afford to survive on the meagre allowance Claudette receives for her work and so she has been supplementing their income by highway robbery -- she is in fact "Cunning Jacques," the notorious highwayman. She has managed to cut quite a figure in the local folklore by being flamboyant, daring and not harming any of her victims. She is a woman with hidden depths whilst always acting the polite lady in waiting in present company, she is brave and resourceful and would not shy from a fight. She has discovered to her amusement that Cunning Jacques has become somewhat of a romantic figure with the ladies of the region. The Bad Marquise Blanche de Tarieux Bourget Occupation Noble Lady Skills: Magic Use, Literacy, Etiquette, Motivation; Escape from her intolerable situation Weaknesses: Overconfident As the long-suffering wife of the Marquis, Blanche is considered a figure of tragedy. She is believed to be devoted to her family and to the Church and is respected by all. Her "health has been failing" recently and she is not seen often. In reality, Blanche has locked herself away with her studies into the Dark Arts. Blanche, came from a noble wealthy family and was advantageously married while quite young. She has no love left for her husband and for some years has been searching for a way to rid herself him and his cruel ways. To her delight she has recently acquired an old collection of books that deal with hedge magic and other arcane ramblings. She found in them a spell for, summoning demons, and has been attempting to use it, sending them to punish her husband for his selfishness and cruelty. Being untrained, she is not entirely sure about how to use the book properly, but this has not stopped her, despite the fact that it could be incredibly dangerous. Blanche is a strong woman who is sick of playing the victim and has just started discovering how deceit and manipulation of others can make life far more interesting. Her interest in magic is a real one as she sees it as being one of the few means of escape she may have. She would be extremely grateful to anyone who could offer her training in magic use or free her from her unhappy marriage. Doctor Harl Laarsbrocke Occupation: Inquisitor Skills: Interrogation Motivation: To hunt out evil (no what the cost) Weaknesses: Obsessive, judgmental fanatic Doctor Laarsbrocke is immaculately dressed and very well spoken. His every gesture inspires confidence in his medical skills -- he is such a precise and clever man and it is reassuring to to have him around. At the age of fifty six he is a distinguished, reserved, and pious. He is also a fraud: he is a Doctor of Theology, a priest and inquisitor. He lies about being a doctor of medicine as it makes people more willing to trust him -- the Inquisition is feared by all, even other Church members. In fact, Harl is willing to lie about anything if it will advance, his cause. Ten years ago, his destiny was revealed to him in a vision: he must destroy the plague of witchcraft wherever it flourishes. He sought and received the blessing of the Church to join the Crusade - - the Holy War -- against the witches. Armed with his Malleus Maleficarum, Harl has seen many and varied types of evil: he has helped unearth dozens of witches and had them and their evil cohorts confess their sins, and then burned them at the stake. Harl is sure all women are potential witches, and he is constantly on the alert for suspicious behavior and the scent of witchcraft. Most of this is all in his mind, but if he decides a person is guilty, they should try to make good their escape, for they face certain torture and death in his hands. Marquis Phillipe de Tarieux Bourget Occupation. Local Lord Skills: Negotiation, Manipulation Motivation: Greed and Power Weaknesses: Tormented Phillippe is a ruthless, man, driven by his desire for wealth and power. He is respected because of this wealth, but not trusted or liked. He has no respect for anyone else, especially not his family, and it is common gossip that his marriage is not a happy one. Since he treats his family as chattels, this is hardly surprising. The Marquis is married to Blanche and they have a son, Mathieu. He has a habit of "acquiring" estates from those-foolish enough to borrow money from him, when they find they cannot pay him back. Any pleas for compassion or charity only earns the contempt of the Marquis, and he is just as ruthless in dealing with the peasants who dwell on his lands. One of his many sins include ridding himself of the burden of a daughter. Sixteen years ago, his wife gave birth, after a difficult labour, to their second child. The girl was sickly, and not wanting a daughter (they cost too much in dowry), or medical costs, the Marquis thought it would be better to get rid of it; he gave it to a villager to do the task. He told his wife that the child had died. The Marquis has of late been having severe nightmares and has consequently become increasingly superstitious that he is being called to account by supernatural forces. He thinks that perhaps if he finds his lost daughter (if she is still alive) and begs her forgiveness, the nightmares may cease... And The Ugly Yersinia Type: Plague Spirit/Demon Skills: Possession, Cause Illness Motivation: Spread disease Weaknesses: Holy Water The plague demon is a filthy being that desires only to spread its "infection" as far as possible. Yersinia's usual hosts are animals, but it can be passed on to new hosts, including humans, through a bite or scratch. Once the wound has been made, Yersinia enters the body of its next host and leaves its former host who becomes sick and feverish a number of days after they have been "infected": eventually they will die. Yersinia then influences its next host to find another victim and the cycle continues. It can control its host but generally its only demand of them is to be passed to as many hosts as possible. If it decides to try to move to another host body, it will makes its present host cause a flesh wound on that person with their teeth or fingernails. However, it has to be careful as Yersinia can be harmed if it attempts to inhabit the wrong sort of person. If it accidentally tries to possess a exceptionally good or holy person or someone wearing an amulet of protection or vial of holy water, it will be repelled and its former host will be driving temporarily insane with the demons' screaming. Yersinia can be exorcised by holy people or trapped by those wise in the ways of demon lore. Isabeau Type: Ghost Skills: Telepathy, Telekinesis Motivation: To regain corporal form Weaknesses: Incorporeal Isabeau d'Genevrier was a peasant girl killed in a holy crusade over two hundred years ago. She has until recently resided in a spirit realm that seemed to be somewhere between this life and the next. The place was crowded with unhappy spirits looking for a way to escape, and when one spirit was summoned by a magician, Isabeau managed to slip through with it and escape into the corporeal world. Unfortunately, although this is more interesting than the ghostly world she had left behind, she cannot interact with people as they can neither see nor touch her. She has rudimentary forms of telepathy and telekinesis which she has been trying to use to communicate with people but unfortunately voices within peoples' minds and small floating objects tend to scare them away instead. She is looking for someone to befriend and communicate with. Above all else she wants to regain corporeal form. She thinks if she can find an "empty vessel" (a person whose mind has gone) she may be able to possess them, but she has not tried this, and she is not ruthless enough to harm anyone to try out her idea. Vicompte Guillaume de Chalons Occupation: Dispossessed noble Skills: Fencing, Horsemanship, Hunting Motivation: To find 'a cure, acquire wealth Weaknesses: Cursed with lycanthropy Guillaume lost his noble inheritance due to his father's large gambling debts. Only recently he was forced to sell his beloved horse and hounds, to afford a dowry for one of his sisters. He is well liked in the town, although he tends to be a little distant and his noble pride means he takes offence at any perceived slight or offer of charity. He is somewhat moody, some say sullen, and he goes through periods when he is reclusive and hardly ever seen. His reclusiveness is actually due to something far more sinister. To Guillaume's horror he has discovered the only thing he has inherited from his father is a curse -- the men of the deChalons family are stricken with lycanthropy. His mother has told him that according to the family legend it has something to do with a pact with dark forces that was broken by his great-great-grandfather, but Guillaume has been unable to discover any more. He deliberately avoids people so he cannot "inflict his madness" upon them. He hears reports of mutilated cattle that occur at certain times of the month and he is fearful it is his doing but he has few memories of his outings as the wolf. Guillaume has been thinking of leaving home to avoid discovery of his ailment and to try and find a cure. Back to Shadis #21 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com