From: [p f strack] at [gibbs.oit.unc.edu] (Paul Strack) Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf Subject: Alternate New Orleans: Glossary and Stories Date: 9 Jun 1994 16:12:59 GMT WARNING: Lots and lots of little bitty spoilers ALTERNATE NEW ORLEANS by Paul Strack and Stacey Lawless CHAPTER SIXTEEN: GLOSSARY AND STORIES LOCAL SPEECH Banquette: (bawn-KETTE). The sidewalk. Krewe: A social club that puts on functions during Mardi Gras. Many are quite exclusive. Crawfish: The New Orleans spelling and pronunciation of "crayfish". Praline: (PRAW-leen). A candy made from cane sugar and pecans. Gris-gris: (GREE-gree) A Voudoun spell, amulet, or talisman. Rex: The King of Mardi Gras. Also, the krewe associated with Rex. La Ville: "The town"; Cajun nickname for New Orleans. Lagnappe: (LAWN-yahp). More, a little more. Used to ask for something that one has neither paid for, nor deserves, like the 13th doughnut in a baker's dozen. Some Place Names and their Pronunciation Metairie: (MET-ree) An autonomous suburb of New Orleans. Also, one of the graveyards. Conti Street: (CON-teye) Burgundy Street: (Bur-GUN-dee) Carondelet Street: (Car-ONDE-let) Calliope Street: (CAL-i-ope) Chartres Street: (Charters) Iberville Street: (EYE-bur-vill) Orleans Street: (Or-LEENS); however New Orleans: New OR-lyuns, New OR-luns, or NOR-luns Kindred Speech, Common Parlance Creole: A Toreador or Ventrue, particularly an elder, many of whom were Creoles in life. Gris-gris: A generic term for spells, talismans, and amulets. Kindred may encounter many more kinds of magic than humans often do, but since the Tremere in this city are mostly former Voudouns, the term is often appropriate. Houngan: A Voudoun with power. Used indiscriminately of gender. Kaintuck: A Gangrel, Brujah or Caitiff, rarely Nosferatu. The term was first used by (mortal) Creoles as a generic term for the American flatboat crews who plied the Mississippi before steamboats came about. The Kaintucks were notorious for being brutish, crude, obnoxious, and violent, and the Creole Kindred thought it a fitting term for the Gangrel and Brujah. The term has filtered into the common parlance, and some of the Kaintucks themselves use it proudly. The Krewe of Janus: The Krewe of Janus, an organisation of Masquerade police. In keeping with mortal krewe traditions, they keep their membership a secret. Although any vampire who has a good grasp of the city's population can easily figure out who is in The Krewe and who isn't, many of the young Kindred, especially the Anarchs, have not yet had the chance to find out. Many weird rumors fly about The Krewe, and to the Anarchs it often seems like half-bogeyman, half-Big Brother. 'tite krewe, or Krewe: A coterie. Loup-garou: Lupine. (the plural form is loup-garoux.) Oddly, few if any of the city's Kindred are aware how close this word comes to the Lupine's own name for themselves. Mosquito: A Caitiff. (They're little, annoying, and they suck blood, right?) Storyville: The Rack. Storyville was New Orleans' famed quasi-legal red-light district, closed down by an officer of the Navy in 1917. It was the birthplace of jazz and, of course, a major hunting ground for the elders of New Orleans, who got into the habit of using the name and kept it after Storyville closed down. It trickled down through the ancillae and into general Kindred usage. Vieux Carre: Elysium. Actually the word is another name for the French Quarter. The buildings along Jackson Square, plus certain others, are Elysium; the rest of the Quarter has been reserved by the elders for their own use, but is not actually Elysium. (though heaven help the Anarch who gets caught hunting there). Vulgar argot Cottonmouth: A Setite Crashing the party: Hunting along Bourbon Street, which is the exclusive preserve of the elders. Crawfish: Kindred who spend a lot of time in the bayous, where it is assumed they must sleep in the mud. Gangrel and Nosferatu. Hoodoo: Weird magic, supposed wierd magic, strange and mysterious occurrences. Not to be confused with Voodoo or Voudoun; hoodoo is a generic term, while Voudou is a specific religion and magic system. Lestats: Blood Dolls and other vampire wannabes. Loops: Lupines. Ol' Muddy: The Mississippi River. Praline: A particularly tasty, attractive, or alcoholic Vessel. Rex: The Shadow Prince. Ricers: Blood Dolls and other vampire wannabes. STORY SEEDS The following are a random assortment of story ideas. They range from the least disruptive to the campaign to the most. The Prince's Ball: Every year at the end of Marde Gras, the prince of the city holds a magnificent ball. Nearly all the vampires of the city attend (even the Anarchs), and there are many guests from other cities as well. It is a cosmopolitan event, much anticipated each year. A truce is strictly enforced by the Janus Krewe, who police Mardi Gras in general. The prince, unfortunately, always seems to be busy during ball, but he is represented by Lieutenant, Accou. Traditionally, the assembled vampires choose a King and Queen of the ball to preside in the princes absence. The royalty are always important vampires from another city, often Princes in their own rights. Another tradition is that new kindred are presented to the King and Queen of the ball, in the absence of the prince. The royalty require the neonate make the usual oaths to uphold the laws of the Camarilla. Accou then welcomes to the city, as the representative of the prince. There atmosphere of the ball is very lavish. The vampires rent an entire large hotel, specially prepared so that any guests can sleep through the next day. There are many Dominate vessels available. One large room is set aside for this purpose, with two sections: Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic. The Alcoholic vessel are commanded to drink various liquors, while the Non-Alcoholic vessels are forbidden to do so. Every year the Krewe of Janus presents a new artistic piece, usually a performance of some sort, and often based on Kindred history. The performance are usually somewhat controversial, and occasionally scandalous, but the Toreador would not dare to miss it. All in all, this is an excellent opportunity to meet the Kindred of New Orleans. Many elders are more accessible at this time that they are for the rest of the year. It would make an excellent introductory scenario. A Little Help From Their Friends: The characters run into a pair of friendly Kindred who do their damnedest to get in good the group. These vampires are actually young Setites, and they will do whatever it takes to get the characters in their debt and corrupt them. They are under the control of the Tonton Macoute, and will try to use the players to whittle away at Lafitte's power base. Wrecking Ball: The Wrecking Krewe attempt to recruit player Gangrel, and possibly Brujah as well. Anyone who joins the Krewe will be up for wild nights of wrecking equipment in safe, eco-friendly ways ("Don't smash that panel. You'll dump all the sludge out!"), dodging police, workers and security, and breaking into corporate plants and labs to scout them out. They'll also be stretching the Masquerade to the breaking point, but hey, it'll be fun. You never know what you might find at those Pentex-owned factories. Snakes in the Grass: The Snake Hunters attempt to recruit the players, perhaps just after the group has had a nasty run-in with the Setites. Anyone who joins will find themselves up to their ears in detective work, ambushes, subtle maneuvers and desperate midnight battles. There are many forces at work here, and the players might well be enmeshed in a three way battle between the Sabbat, Camarilla and the Snakes, with plenty of internally bickering on each side to keep things messy. Rice-a-Roni: A group of Ricers notice a character during Mardi Gras and realizes the character is a vampire. The Ricers follow the character, and soon learn the identity (and possibly havens) of some of the others in the group as well. The Ricers just want to find out as much as they can about these wondrous creatures, and may eventually approach the group to ask for the embrace. If the group treats the Ricers badly, or the Ricers see the group do something brutal, messy or heinous, they may decide to make the vampires' unlives difficult. Blood Dolls can make extremely effective hunters, since they can easily get close to their prey, and few vampires take them seriously at all. Deep Waters: A character is out on the Mississippi in a small boat one night (perhaps disposing of a kill), when something rams the boat and the character is thrown in the water. A large shark then attacks the character, and takes a few chunks off before the character can escape. If there is an NPC vampire with the character, perhaps they are killed, causing more problems. It becomes clear that the Mississippi is swarming with sharks this spring (yes, there are some sharks who can live in fresh water), and people are warned not to swim in Lake Ponchatrain. Any Kindred who make their havens on or near the water are having problems with random shark attacks. Is something in the water attracting all the sharks? Perhaps too many bodies are being dumped in the river. Is some vampire controlling the sharks as part of a strange plot? Rumors are flying that this or that vampire hasn't been seen for several nights, and they were last seen near the docks. Is someone taking advantage of the situation to eliminate some enemies? Are the Rokea (were-sharks) involved, either controlling the sharks or attracted by the same thing? How will the Rokea and the kindred interact? What will the other shifters in the Bayou think about the situation? A Wolf In The Fold: Beagle has the last pair of Tasmanian wolves in the world, whom he preserves by feeding them his blood. Unknown to him, they are both Bunyip kinfolk, a lost tribe of werewolves. Were the Garou to learn of this, they would be desperate to recover the wolves. If the two wolves were to mate, their child would have a good chance of being a Garou, the last of the Bunyip tribe. What effect the century of vampiric blood would have on the young werewolf is uncertain. A Visitor from the North: The Brujah Tyler (from Chicago by Night) somehow finds out Alejandro is still alive. She remembers him from his days with the Sabbat. She travels to New Orleans, and either calls in a favor or blackmails him. Tyler is having problems with the Sabbat herself, and want Alejandro to send a few expendable pawns upriver to eliminate an annoying pack. Could this all be a ploy on the part of older vampires to draw New Orleans into the conflicts of Chicago? Homecoming: Along the lines of the above, there a pair of vampires in Chicago that are originally from New Orleans: Raymond and Nathaniel Bordruff. Were either of them to return, the city would swarm like a hornet's nest. Many other vampires travel through New Orleans as well, and there are many cross-over possibilities. Return of the Iron Fist: The Camarilla decides for a second time to try to bring the city under control, and sends another Justicar, one with more political savvy. This time there are no Anarchs to balance him. The elders of the city jockey for position, trying to best take advantage of the situation. To complicate matters, the old Gangrel Alexis also returns to the city. Though he is no longer a Justicar, he is still powerful. Is he out for revenge, or is he loathe to see another Justicar succeed where he had failed? The Walls Come Crumbling Down: Someone is moving about the city, revealing the secrets of the kindred. The city is moved to the verge of open war, as things best left hidden are unearthed. Is it a ploy of Alejandro to take over the city? Is it a move by the Setites? Is it the work of some as-yet-unrevealed Methusalah? Regardless of who is spreading the rumors, the city will never be the same afterwards. ======================================================================== Voila! There it is! The last of it. Some (brief) commentary to follow. -- paul strack <[p f strack] at [email.unc.edu]> "Angst is the mandate of our generation."