Creating this Character
Related Links
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Basic Concept
Basically, the concept is a guy that grew up in the Louisiana
bayou, surrounded by magic. He felt a calling to fight the
predators of the world. He joined the New Orleans police
force for a short while, but his lack of corporate savvy and his
computer illiteracy made the job too tedious for him, so he left.
He turned to bounty hunting and found his true calling.
Went to Seattle chasing a bounty, stayed there in his Uncle Jean
Baptiste's home for a while after the bounty was captured.
His cash started to disappear, but he did not know enough about
the streets to work bounties in Seattle just yet. He put
out an ad for a partner. Only one man worth spit responded,
Rolf Badden, a Wolf Shaman (the other PC). They worked together
for a year before the game started and at least trust each other
to watch their backs.
I wanted him to be quick and good at unarmed combat, but magical,
so I went for an Adept. However, I figured that an Adept
without spell defense would not last long hunting down magical
criminals, so I made him a Magician Adept. I wavered between
Mongoose and Gator as Totems, but finally settled on Mongoose,
a totem I created (see his Magic page).
"Because mongooses can outrun most snakes, they don't usually
have to kill snakes in self-defense. However, sometimes they
kill snakes for food. A snake makes a meaty meal for a mongoose,
but it is a dangerous meal to catch. As a result, mongooses
won't eat snakes as much as they'll eat small mammals or bird
and reptile eggs.
How does the mongoose kill a snake?
Let's pretend we're watching a mongoose-cobra fight:
As soon as it sees the cobra, the mongoose begins to jump around,
its hair and tail bristling. When the snake moves closer, the
mongoose stretches out its body and presses close to the ground.
Then it scrunches up its body.
The cobra behaves differently, moving more smoothly and changing
speed and direction slowly. Then, it lifts its head and upper
body, spreading its hood. It fixes its eyes on the mongoose
and follows the mongoose's movements with its head. Next, it
strikes at the mongoose, which jumps back, out of the cobra's
reach.
The snake and the mongoose advance and retreat several times,
until the snake begins to tire. Then the mongoose moves close
to the cobra's open jaws. The cobra retreats and quickly prepares
to strike again. As soon as the snake lowers its head, the mongoose
opens its mouth, grabs the cobra's head, and bites hard, crushing
the cobra's skull.
Even if the cobra strikes the mongoose, the snake may not hurt
it. When a mongoose fights, its hair stands up and the animal
appears to be twice its normal size. So the snake may get only
a mouthful of bristly hair."
- Ranger Rick web page, http://www.nwf.org/nwf/rrick/1998/jan98/mongoo.html
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Brief Cajun History
The following info was taken directly from "Acadian"
entry on the Écu Media Design web site, © 1997:
"Acadians are the ancestors of present-day Cajuns.
In the seventeenth century they settled in what are today the
Maritime Provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and
Prince Edward Island), then called Acadia, or Acadie
in French. Although the colony was founded in 1604, the
French government neglected it until the 1630s, when the Treaty
of St. Germain-en-Laye affirmed French control. In July
1632 three hundred French settlers arrived in Acadia to carve
out frontier homes near the community of Port Royal. Fifty-five
percent of these Acadian "first families" hailed from the Centre-Ouest
region of France (Poitou, Aunis, Angoumois, and Saintonge);
of these, eighty-five percent came from the La Chausée
area of Poitou. These families included Doucet, Bourgeois,
Boudrot (Boudreaux), Terriault (Theriot), Richard, LeBlanc,
Thibodeaux, Comeau(x), Cormier, Hébert, Brault (Breaux),
Granger, and Girouard. Most of these and later Acadian
settlers derived from Old World peasant stock, shared similar
cultural traits, and on the frontier developed a common Acadian
identity. According to historian Carl A. Brasseaux, the
Acadian pioneers were characterized by individualism, adaptability,
pragmatism, industriousness, egalitarian principles, and an
ability to pull together when threatened. They also possessed
extended families, and distinctive language and speech patterns.
The Acadians were also typically non-materialistic, seeking
only economic independence and a decent standard of living through
an agrarian way of life. Some ethnic diversity did
exist among the Acadians, however: a few were of English, Scottish,
Irish, Spanish, Basque, and even American Indian origin.
Those of French origin, however, dominated the cultural landscape,
and as intermarriage occurred the Acadian population quickly
became homogenized. Studies indicate that between 1654
and 1755 the Acadian population grew from 300-350 colonists
to about 12,000-15,000 (despite a fifty-percent child mortality
rate). By the mid-eighteenth century thousands occupied
not only the Acadian peninsula, but also the Chignecto Isthmus
(connecting the peninsula to the Canadian mainland), Ile St.
Jean (now Prince Edward Island), Ile Royale (now Cape Breton
Island), and the coastal region of present-day New Brunswick.
In 1710 Acadia passed from France to England as a prize of war,
and for the next forty-five years the Acadians lived in relative
peace under British administrators. But in 1755 the British
expelled the Acadians by force in what came to be known as Le
Grand Dérangement ("the Great Disturbance").
Contrary to popular belief, the British deported only about
6,050 Acadians by ship, the remainder seeking refuge in nearby
territories. Regardless, some sources claim that about
half the pre-expulsion Acadian population died during the expulsion.
After years of wandering, about 2,600 to 3,000 Acadians (roughly
15 to 25 percent of the pre-expulsion population) sailed to
Louisiana between 1765 and 1785 to begin their lives anew.
On this subtropical frontier, the Acadian exiles and their descendants
intermarried with other ethnic groups (mainly French, Spanish,
German, and Anglo-American settlers), and in the process evolved
into a new ethnic group: the Cajuns. Meanwhile,
other Acadian exiles found refuge in present-day Canada and
abroad; those in Canada still describe themselves as Acadians.
The word is used less commonly in Louisiana because of the popularity
of Cajun, which generally is not considered synonymous
with Acadian. In addition, it is believed that
some 20,000 persons of Acadian ancestry reside in the New England
states (1980 estimate), particularly Maine, which directly borders
Canada’s Maritime Provinces. It is estimated that
today there are between 700,000 and 1,500,000 Acadians worldwide
(including Cajuns).
Sources: Ancelet et al., Cajun Country; Brasseaux, Acadian
to Cajun; Brasseaux, "Scattered to the Wind"; Domengeaux,
"Native-Born Acadians"; Dormon, People Called Cajuns.
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Name
Well, his family are original descendants of the Acadian family
Boudreaux. They are a bilingual family, speaking English
and Cajun French. So I chose a first name from the French
language, Etienne. I seem to recall Etienne being the French
analog for "Steven." I wanted a historical name for his
middle name, something pretentious, and some of my own ancestors
had the name Napoleon, but I don't know how the Acadians felt
about him. At a loss, I went with Chauvin, a fictional character
in a French play so renowned for his patriotism and devotion that
his reputation spawned the English word chauvinism:
Main Entry: chau·vin·ism
Pronunciation: 'shO-v&-"ni-z&m
Function: noun
Etymology: French chauvinisme, from Nicolas Chauvin,
character noted for his excessive patriotism and devotion
to Napoleon in Théodore and Hippolyte Cogniard's play
La Cocarde tricolore (1831)
Date: 1870
1 : excessive or blind patriotism -- compare JINGOISM
2 : undue partiality or attachment to a group
or place to which one belongs or has belonged
3 : an attitude of superiority toward members
of the opposite sex; also : behavior expressive
of such an attitude
- chau·vin·ist /-v&-nist/
noun or adjective
- chau·vin·is·tic /"shO-v&-'nis-tik/
adjective
- chau·vin·is·ti·cal·ly
/-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb
The above was taken from the online Merriam-Webster
Dictionary.
Voila! Etienne Chauvin Boudreaux
|
Background
Etienne looks sidelong at you, seemingly amused at your query
into his background. He pauses momentarily then answers,
"Eh? You wan' know 'bout me mon ami?" He reaches up
and tips his hat back slightly as he reclines and puts his foot
on the table, his leg cocked as if ready to kick the table across
the room. He scratches his chin and looks off in no particular
direction.
"Hmmm, well I was born on de bayou and raised by a big mama
gator who wuz married to dis grande gorilla. Mah mama,
she taught me beaucoup 'bout speed. Papa, he beat me up
every day to toughen me up, called me 'T chien,' little dog.
When I grew up to be bonne homme, I made mah way to a ship and
stowed away to foreign lands, where I learned to wrestle cobras
and track prey. I was tres bien.
"I swam back home across de Atlantic ocean, stopping to rest
in Bermuda. She is one tres grande ocean, no? Anyway,
I visited mama gator and papa gorrilla, but dey no longer recognized
me and tried to make a meal outta me, so I had to kill dem,
you know? It was very tragic, but I made de lemonade as
you say. I made a fine set of boots from momma gator and
I stuffed daddy gorilla and sold him to le musee for safe keeping.
Etienne's deadpan is disconcerting, but it finally fades and
he breaks into a loud peal of laughter. "Damn! It
get better with each telling if I do say so mahself ami.
Before you pass a slap and go yelling 'Dit mon la verite!' lemme
tell you de real story 'bout me here."
"Seriously, ami. I am 100% cajun boy. Mah ancestors,
de Boudreaux family, were some of de original Acadian exiles
from Nova Scotia." Etienne looks closer at you with a
discerning expression. "You no couyon, so I guess your
expression means you don't know much 'bout Cajuns do you?"
Etienne is laying the accent on thicker than usual, but that
always seems to happen when he gets the attention he desires.
"Eh, well, I make de short story. French settlers go
to Novia Scotia, dey settle, everybody 'appy. British
come 'long an' expel dem, Le Grand Dérangement.
Dey sail to Lousiana: bonjour monsieur Indian, monsieur Negro,
signor Spaniard, let's be friends and make babies. Voila!
De Cajuns are born!
"I mahself was born on de bayou, Bayou LaFourche bein' precise.
I got family, but you don't have de time to hear all 'bout dem.
I wasn't pulling your leg too hard when I say mah momma was
a gator and mah papa was a gorilla. She was a hot-blooded
young cajun girl when she had me, and tres jolie. Mah
pappa was a black man, direct descendant of de original creoles
of color, no less. No I don't look much like mah papa.
Fact is, not even mah momma knows who mah real father is.
Ya see, momma was not de most faithful of women. She always
said she had too much woman in her for one man. Papa didn'
mind much, because he had a similar problem; he had too much
man in him. So dey played 'round, beaucoup hanky panky.
"Most likely, mah real father was a young strappin' white fella
visiting New Orleans for de Mardi Gras. She always lost
track of de faces during de festivals. She especially
liked de Awakened tourists. Everyone know dat when your
Awakened, sex is tres magnifique." He winks knowingly
at you.
"Anyway, I getting sidetracked. Mah papa he work down
at de docks in Nawleans. Dat how 'e got so big.
'e took me down der to work with 'im at de docks when I was
a 'tit boy, and I got big myself. Momma she kept de house
mostly, but in her spare time she made talismans, an' such.
She even made dis little armband for me. It bring me good
luck." He gestures to the thick leather bracer in his
arm with some frames carved into of scenes from a cobra and
mongoose fighting. The eyes of the Cobra and Mongoose
are represented by lustrous bronze beads and glimmering brown
stones, respectively. [see Talisman
details]
"I did all right in school, but I was restless. I spen'
a lotta time in de bayou with Mama Tina. She was a big,
tough-as-nails woman dat lived in de swamp. Mama Tina,
she mah mamere on mah daddy's side. Her skin it blacker dan
a faut carot. She looks mean, but she's real nice.
She taught me about de conjags [spells], ouangas [magic charms],
weevils [evil spirits], and de bayou.
"When I started to fill mah shoes, Mongoose showed up.
I had always been faster than mah cozins, an' I could track
better 'n grandpere's hounds. I was good at fighting and
mah papa taught me to use a gun soon as I could walk.
But Mongoose taught me how to truly incapacitate mah foes with
mah hands." He holds up his clenched fists, the muscles
in his arm tensing. He realxes his arms at his side and
you notice Etienne's accent easing up a little as well, betraying
the hillbilly cajun facade he is trying to portray to you.
"Not long after, I found some people preying on mah kin.
Mongoose I took care of dem. I learned to kill with a
touch."
"Mama Tina wuz real proud of me, but she worried that I was
getting into voodoo. I spent some close time with her
and she met Mongoose. After that she told me she walked
with Gator. She was worried dat mah path had started with
too much blood, so she taught me how to heal with magic.
She knew I was worried about hurting innocent people, so she
helped me learn how to safely incapacitate people at a distance.
She didn't teach me how to conjure up de spirits dough.
She said I wasn't ready, said dey didn't want to listen to me
jus' yet.
"De itch to take down de predators of man, so I became a cop.
I was part of a special unit to deal with zombi and such.
Dings was ok for awhile. Dey saw I had an eye for detail
so they send me off to school for awhile where I learn 'bout
forensics. I taught dem a thing or two, I tell you now.
Dey all books and no common sense der. I hunted down de
zombi and der masters, de magical critters, spirits and such,
and I was tres bien. However, der always came de paperwork
and de politics. I was never very good with suits or computers,
and all de cops gotta deal with dat. I had a cousin that
knew computers real well. He helped me get by, but I was
going crazy der. I got where I was fighting de paperwork
and keyboards instead of de criminals. So I left.
Me and mah lieutenant were both 'appy with de decision, you
bet.
"De police an' me, we got along okay after that. I became
a bounty hunter and I was good at it. I had a podna, named
Jean-Claude, that could handle a gun and work a computer.
Dings were pretty good. We lined 'em up and brought 'em
in. We took de magic jobs because I was pretty good with
mah spells, but den we went after Raffee, a voudon. It
was pretty tough, but we did all right. We took care of
his spirits and thugs and ran him to ground. It was a
trap.
"I turned 'round and we were surrounded by zombis. Jean-Claude
weren't real good with his hands, and before I could finish
off de ones coming after me, dey had torn him to bits.
I got real mad den ami. I killed de rest of dem and burned
everything Raffee owned. I beat everyone he knew until
dey gave me de information to find him. Find him I did.
De bastard had gone to Seattle. I jumped in Antoinette,
mah sturdy old patrack, and I didn't stop driving until I hit
Seattle. I had a noncle, Jean Baptiste Boudreaux, dere.
He had some people watch for his arrival and track his movements.
Some of Jean-Claude's cousins showed up to help me out.
Raffee's warrant was dead or alive, we took option one, thank
you very much." Etienne smiles grimly, a brutal coldness
in his eyes. Within a few seconds, he breathes deeply
and his smiling visage returns again, the fire of life in his
eyes.
"Anyway, me patrack Antoinette died, leaving me sorta stranded,
and noncle Jean was a real good host. Anyway, I stayed
here with mah nonk Jean. He own a restaurant called 'De
Cajun Cocodrie;' it's si bon. It's on Upper Queen Anne
Hill in de Seattle Central district. It ain' cheap, but
it's worth it. None of that damn nasty soy in deir food
dere. Ech! Soy! Mauvais gout." Etienne
adopts and expression of disgust. Then he smiles and continues,
"Nonck Jean he got it all: andouille, etouffe, jambalaya, dirty
rice, gumbo, mudbugs, you name it ami! An' it all hot
hot!"
Etienne tilts his head slightly to the side and shrugs his
shoulders, " So I become a lazy little saleau. It
was not long before mah money ran out and Mongoose an' I got
de each to seek out de predators once more. My full security
permit ran out too an'I pawned mah big guns, so sad. Anyway,
I knew a li'l bit 'bout de downtown Seattle, but I had mostly
spent my time having fun so I only really knew where de Awakened
folks hung out, but I knew dat pretty well. Nonk Jean
was a Gator shaman and he was quite de Ladies' man among de
Awakened. Like I said, Awakened sex is de bes' sex, you
can take dat to de bank."
"When I tracked Raffee to Seattle here, I coordinated with
de FBI. Lucky me my contact was a 'tit femme, Consuela
Guevara. I tell you, de Latin American women appreciate
de hot-blooded cajun man. Lots of women jus' can't take
de heat. She was a wage mage with de FBI. She handled
interstate criminal traces, especially de Awakened ones.
She and I hit it off pretty good. Did I mention Awakened
sex is de best kind?" Etienne smiles lewdly with a sidelong
glance and a wink.
"Anyway she point me in de right direction and I put out an
ad for a partner. I shorely did not know Seattle well
enough to pick up and start hunting. Seattle ain' no bayou,
I'm telling you now, ami. Well, I promised to make de
short story for you, so I be brief. A good number of people
answered, but dey were all small-minded saleaus looking for
a quick buck or a thrill. Den my podna Rolf over der,
he answered. He was all confrontational and askin' dis
and dat 'bout what kinda bounty hunter I was and what I knew.
He seemed to know his city pretty well, even if he didn't know
de Awakened community all dat well. He was a 'tit better
den I with de computers, course I got little use for dem.
He ain' no Jean-Claude, but den Jean-Claude was no Rolf.
Seemed like a match made in, well, somewhere. Beside he
runs with de Wolf, so he understand de hunt and I can't say
that about many bounty hunters, sad to say.
"I slowly started to recover mah gear. I paid some mechanic
to ressurect ol' Antoinette, so I suppose dat make her some
sorta zombi truck, non?" Etienne lets out a short chuckle.
"I got mah guns, but I haven't saved up de cred to renew mah
full security permit. C'est tragic, eh? I still
carry dis clunky ol' Predator 'round for now." He points
to the holstered Ares Preadator on a shoulder holster.
"Hunting predators with a Predator, poetic is it not?
Anyway, ol' Rolf an me, we gonna turn up the heat on those bad
men and pull in some serious cred. It's time for Mongoose
to kick him some ass, ami!
Etiene drains his bottle of Blackened Voodoo and slams in on
the table, signals for another, then launches into a tall tale
about the bayou. Rolf shakes his head and smiles behind
his beer as the cajun's voice and accent become more pronounced.
|
Crunching the Numbers
|
Starting Stats
Attributes, Figured Characteristics, & Pools
| Body |
5
|
| Quickness |
5
|
| Strength |
5
|
| Intelligence |
7
|
| Willpower |
6
|
| Charisma |
2
|
|
|
| Reaction |
8
|
| Initiative |
2d6
|
| Essence |
5.5
|
| Magic |
6/5*
|
| Combat Pool |
9
|
| Spell Pool |
6
|
| Karma Pool |
1
|
| Good Karma |
0/0
|
*- 6 Power Points, Magical Power 5
|
Edges & Flaws
| Bonus Attribute Point +2 BPs (SR Companion) : +1 to
Intelligence. This does not affect the Racial Max
or Racial Modified Limit. Etienne is a quick thinker
and very perceptive, even though he is not very formally
educated.. |
| Lewd -2 BPs (custom) : Etienne likes sex and he doesn't
mind advertising it. He tends to measure up all
women he encouters as potential mates and if they have
a male escort, he assesses the threat. This incurs
a +1 penalty to social targets of uninterested women and
he has to make a successful Willpower (woman's Charisma)
test to avoid hitting on a particular woman, regardless
of her level of interest. :{)} |
| Computer Illiterate -3 BPs (SR Companion) : You can
use icon-based stuff OK, but you are basically spoiled
by gee whiz user interfaces or you have little experience
with computers. You're the person that keeps forgetting
how to reply to just one person in the e-mail and such.
Etienne does not get along with computers out of sheer
stubbornness. Once he has been shown how to do a
computer-related task, he can functionally accomplish
it, but only simple tasks. He is a little immature
when dealing with the topic and dismisses such abilities
as the domain of egg heads and pencil necks if pressed
about it. In the bayou, this was less of a problem,
but even he has to admit that in Seattle being computer
savvy is advantageous. It may not be long before
he get some education, but it will be slow and subtle
so that he does not appear to be acquiescing to technology. |
Adept Powers*
| Adept Power |
Cost
|
| Reflexes Level 1 (+2 Reaction, +1d6 Initiative) |
2
|
| Improved Sense: Thermographic |
0.25
|
| Magical Power 5 (Incantation
Geas)* |
3.75
|
| * - Etienne also has an involuntary Talisman
geas to offset his Essence loss to cyberware. |
Spells
| Spell |
Rating
|
Type
|
Target
|
Duration |
Range
|
Drain
|
| Death Touch |
6
|
M
|
W(R)
|
I
|
T
|
(DL-1)
|
| Stun Touch |
6
|
M
|
W(R)
|
I
|
T
|
-1(DL-1)
|
| Stun Bolt |
6
|
M
|
W(R)
|
I
|
LOS
|
-1(DL)
|
| Stun Ball |
6
|
M
|
W(R)
|
I
|
LOS
|
-1(DL+1)
|
| Heal |
6
|
M
|
10-Ess(V) |
P
|
T
|
(DL)
|
Active Skills
| Active Skill |
Rating
|
| Athletics |
4
|
| Intimidation |
4
|
| Magical Etiquette |
4
|
| Shotguns |
6
|
| Sorcery |
6
|
| Stealth |
4
|
| Unarmed Combat |
6
|
Knowledge Skills
| Knowledge Skill |
Rating
|
| Awakened Hangouts |
4
|
| Cajun Cooking |
4
|
| Downtown Seattle |
4
|
| Forensics |
4
|
| Louisiana Bayou |
4
|
| Magical Background |
6
|
| Magical Threats |
4
|
| Psychology |
5
|
Language Skills
| Language Skill |
Rating
|
| English (Cajun) |
3(5)
|
| French |
3
|
| Spanish |
3
|
Weapons and Equipment
Weapons
Ares Predator (Personalized safety system, integral smartlink)
6 full clips of ammo (3 reg,
3 gel)
Concealable holster
Mossberg CMDT-SM (Personalized safety system, GV3)
6 full clips of ammo (3 reg,
3 gel)
Shock glove |
Explosives
None yet . . . |
Clothing & Armor
Secure Jacket |
Electronics
Wrist phone with flip-up screen |
Tools
Firearms kit |
Surveillance and Security
Binoculars
Flashlight, Large
Flashlight, Pocket |
Surveillance Measures & Countermeasures
Wire clippers |
Security Devices & Countermeasures
Ultrasound detector
Plasteel restraints (5) |
Survival Gear
Grapple gun (100 m of line)
Ascent/descent harness
Rappelling gloves |
| Skillsofts and Chips |
| Cyberwear |
Biotech Gear
Medkit |
| Magical Equipment |
Lifestyle
Low lifestyle
Antoinette, Etienne's patrack (a crappy old truck)
Rust color from layers of primer;
crude ramplate/bar in front; old and dirty;
Obviously seen years of hard
use; frame is badly rusted;
Some parts of the body have rusted
through, leaving holes in the frame.
Bdy: 3, Spd: 90, Accel: 6, Han:
5/4 (Suspension a little worn)
Autonav: (No longer works), Pilot:
0 , Sensor: 0
Barely passed inspection |
Nuyen Remaining
290 ¥ |
Contacts & Buddy
| Contact: Jean Baptiste Boudreaux, Gator Shaman
Restaurateur. Jean is Etienne's Uncle or "Noncle."
Jean owns a cajun restaurant in the Upper Queen Anne Hill
neighborhood just northwest of downtown Seattle.
He lets Etienne stay in a loft apartment above the restaurant.
Uncle Jean served in the army and mustered out of nearby
Ft. Lewis. He knew a couple of friends with money
to invest so decided to set up house in Seattle and open
up his restaurant. His business is doing very well.
The abundance of soyless items on the menu brings in a
lot of high class clientele that are eager to throw off
the shackles of fashion, put on a plastic bib, and sit
down to a steaming tub of crawfish in a relaxed atmosphere.
Jean likes his nephew Etienne, but he does have a family
and a business to look after. |
| Contact: Consuela Guevara, FBI Wage Mage.
Consuela trained for field work as an Awakened investigator
with the FBI. Although she has done some field work,
she was assigned to the Seattle FBI department responsible
for coordinating interstate fugitive pursuits in the Seattle
area. She has established a good working rapport
with the local police and security agencies. She
met Etienne when he was pursuing Raffee into Seattle across
state and international borders. She and Etienne
hit it off pretty well and they have had some passionate
encounters, but the relationship is still extremely casual,
which suits them both. |
|
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