Jean Vassi, troubled initiate
Total Points: 60
Appearance: Early 20's, unkempt thick black hair, 5'7", 215 lbs, brown eyes
ST: 11 [10] Swing 1d+1; Thrust 1d-2
DX: 10 [0] Basic Speed 5,
Move 5, Dodge 5
IQ: 12 [20]
HT: 10 [0]
Advantages: Initiation (3rd Level) [40], Empathy (from Initiation) [0]
Disadvantages: Edgy [-5], Fat [-10], Loner [-5], Obsession (rescue mother) [-10], Voices (annoying) [-5]
Quirks: Attentive; Chauvinistic; Incompetence (Carousing); Dislikes dogs; Avid newspaper reader
Skills: Area Knowledge (Hometown)-12 [1]; Area Knowledge (Paris)-11 [0.5]; Bicycling-10 [1]; Brawling-11 [2]; First Aid-12 [1]; Masonry-11 [2]; Mythology (Celtic)-15/9 [1]; Ritual Magic (witchcraft)-13 [12], Sports (Soccer)-8 [0.5]; Symbol Drawing (witchcraft)-10 [1]
Languages: French (native)-12 [0]
Paths and Rituals: Path of Protection-10 [4]; Curse Sanctum-11 [0]; Reversal of Fortune-9 [2]; Path of Healing-10 [4]; Dose-11 [0], Succor-9 [2]
Biography:
Jean Vassi was born in a small town a few miles west of Paris. The first half of his life was fairly normal. His father, Robert, worked as a bricklayer and his mother, Raphaelle, stayed at home, often keeping to herself. Jean tried to fit in at school, but his weight and poor health made him an easy target for bullies.
The day of his tenth birthday, one boy that had been especially hard on Jean lead a group that beat him up on Jean's way home. The boy, Nicolas, continued to kick Jean even as Jean's mother pulled the boys away. In response to Nicolas' laughter, she angrily told him he would never reach his eleventh birthday. Two weeks later, a truck blew a tire and plowed into a sidewalk crowd; everyone escaped with minor injuries except for Nicolas, who was killed instantly.
Shortly after the Vassi household found out about the tragedy, his mother began acting strangely. She kept to herself even more; when she was seen, she was usually either giggling or laughing, both uncontrollably. She would constantly mumble things like "That wasn't what I wanted," "A wicked end for a wicked child," and "No, no more." Eventually she was reduced to sitting in a corner and muttering unintelligible things. Seven weeks after Nicolas' death, she was sent to an asylum.
Since the death, most of the bullies had given Jean a wide berth. Now they turned on him, telling him that his mother was a witch that God had driven mad and would burn in Hell. Jean, who had never resisted the attacks before, started fighting back, even to the point of ambushing some of the boys in and out of school. His father was unsympathetic, blaming the boy for what had happened to Raphaelle. Jean ran away several times but was always found by the police and brought back. By the time he was fourteen, Jean had stopped causing trouble out of fear; not of being punished, but what was starting to happen to him.
He began seeing shadowy figures appear and then vanish wherever he went. Sometimes, even when he was alone, he would hear voices that he could not locate the source of. He told no one, afraid that he would be sent to the asylum, just like his mother. He was constantly in fear of the day that he, too, would snap and end up a babbling lunatic. As time went by, the fear subsided. Relations with his father never improved, even after Jean started doing the same work as his father.
One day, when walking home from work, he saw a group of boys tormenting an old woman, Madame Tournevau. Everyone in town knew about her: an odd woman who lived just outside town who despised the townsfolk and cursed everyone who crossed her path. Enough of those people had bad things befall them that the townsfolk mainly left her alone, so Jean was surprised by the bullying. He started to briskly walk past when one of the boys pushed her down. Before he knew it, he was across the street shoving the boys away.
The group ran, leaving Jean and the old woman alone. He helped her up, excused himself and started to leave. Before he had gotten more than a few steps she said "You have seen them. And heard them. It must be hard to live with what you do not understand." Jean turned and demanded an explanation. She motioned him inside her house. By the time he left the next morning, his life was changed forever.
Jean was now aware of his gift and the true nature of the world around him. He spent every free moment after that training with Madame Tournevau. While he learned a great deal about the Craft in general, he received very little specific instruction in the use of that knowledge. However, he did start to realize that his mother had practiced many of the rituals that he was now learning. He began to believe that she was not really insane, but was being besieged by evil spirits. He begged Madame Tournevau to help get his mother out, but whenever asked, she would shake her head and say that his mother was beyond any help she could give Raphaelle.
For the first time since she had been committed, he tried to see her (his father had forbidden any contact when Jean was younger). However, he was told that his mother had to be kept sedated constantly and she was not allowed any visitors. Unfortunately, Jean does not have the money to hire a lawyer or another doctor to attempt to have her moved to another facility or review her treatment record. Jean then began planning his mother's escape. He has made at least a dozen different plans over the years, but has not attempted any of them, worried that he if he fails his mother will never be rescued. Unfortunately, his working knowledge of the Craft is insufficient to help him in this task, and it almost seems as if Madame Tournevau is intentionally withholding knowledge that would be useful in this effort.
Encountered
Jean mainly stays in his hometown, working as a mason, though sometimes Madame Tournevau sends him into Paris to carry packages to and from her friends in the city.
Canonicality
Jean is fully compatible with normal GURPS® rules, with the exception of the new skill Mythology. GMs may, if they wish, change this to Theology or Occultism.
What if?
The existence of the Lodges, Corruptors and Shadow War have intentionally ben left out to make Jean more useful in non-GURPS Voodoo settings. He works quite well in a modern day horror campaign. With little change, he would fit France of a hundred years ago. He could also be shifted to other nations, if desired.
The background of Madame Tournevau has been left purposely vague. Is she a (fringe) member of one of the Western Lodges (Order of Hecate, most likely), or a hermit? Or is she actually an agent for the Corruptors? Madame Tournevau herself is a Fifth level Initiate worth some 150 points. For a very dark twist, Jean's mother had been a student of hers; Raphaelle then left her mentor, and was driven insane as punishment (who actually killed Nicolas is up to the GM). Madame Tournevau has now decided that if she couldn't succeed with the mother, perhaps she can with the son ...
Some GMs may also want to make something of the father and son both being stonemasons (the Masonic Lodge) ...
Adventure Seeds
A Jail Break Tonight: The party gets word of a sanitarium in France that is being used by the Corruptors (perhaps even the Devourer under Paris) to hold initiates who oppose them or who are neutral. Using their medical cover, they are attempting to brainwash those patients (about 4% of the total) to convert to their side. As they are studying the place, Jean walks up. He asks if they plan to break in; he says he has dozens of plans and he is willing to share them on one condition -- that he be allowed to come so he might rescue his mother. The main problem, of course, is whether or not Jean's mother has been able to hold out for ten years; she could now easily be working for the Corruptors.
Delivery Boy: The party is on the trail of an In-Betweener in Paris. Eventually they track it to a small bookstore on a side street, but aren't sure if it works there or is a customer. While they are watching the store to gather more information, in comes Jean several times over the period of a week, either entering or leaving with a package. He is just running errands for Madame Tournevau, but the PCs won't know that at first. It's up to the GM as to how he plan to handle this -- it the bookstore owner or a customer the In-Betweener? If it is the owner, does Madame Tournevau know this? Is she secretly working for the Corruptors (note the way this could tie in with the previous adventure seed).
New Skill
Mythology (M/H) IQ-6, Theology-2, Occultism-2, History-4
This is a scientific skill representing the systematic collection and study of myths, especially as to how they address the history, ancestors, deities and heroes of a people. This skill does not require a specialization. but the character is -2 (or worse) to remember any specific myths. It has some overlap with Theology, Occultism and History. but is distinct from those skills: Theology deals with the worship of an active religion, Occultism covers creatures and phenomenon that are not part of any specific myths and History deals with what actually happened (or was believed to have happened).