Anyone want to help me brainstorm? I have a Cultist game with a plethora of conspiracies. You can find out more in the link if you want…
But the main thing I want to talk about is the Gondoliers. The badass Folk/Suave Ghost Busters / Whispers who make Rail Jacks look like amateurs. The Players are set up on Gondolier’s turf. In the starting situation we asked the question of whether or not the Gondoliers would get involved in the criminal/occult underworld.
In order to push that question more I need to come up with a more active agenda to pursue. They are anti-Church of Flesh which is great but I need something a bit more. The worry here is if I don’t think of something specific i’m going to default to this weird altruistic community service organization. Which feels out of place in Duskwall and also doesn’t stand a chance in hell of coexisting with the players.
I know there is an esoteric line about dusk in the book. So maybe their goal is to bring back the sun perhaps?
So far in play, all the ghosts they’ve summoned have been nautical characters of some sort. They recently ceremonially executed the leader of the Fog Hounds for the crime of killing a Gondolier. [The Fog Hound leader knew she was framed for this crime but in order to spare her crew was willing to take the fall] After the execution they captured her ghost. It had the feel of Carnival Justice like from the show ‘Carnivale’.
Anyways any ideas of what the Gondoliers are up to? The weirder and more esoteric the better their odds of surviving contact with the players.
Thinking…
I think the link I put up there is weird. This might work better. whoops.
docs.google.com – Cult Conspiracies.
Weird Occult Ideas for the Gondoliers:
1. The Gondoliers are descendants of the the followers of a particularly powerful hero famed for escorting his charges across a monster/ghost filled terrain
1.2 One of the heroes is a descendant of said hero, or bears an uncanny resemblance. The Gondoliers, being made up of competent adults, aren’t going to follow the guy (looks go only so far) but are willing to look the other way.
2. One of the Gondoliers is the father/mother/uncle/aunt/what have you of a Scoundrel
3. The Gondoliers are sprinkling evil dust under their boats, lining the canals with magic dust. THey have been at it for centuries, and have to move slowly so not to tip their hands to the powerful forces. The dust is there to turn the whole city into a giant ward against…
3.1 …Lord Scurlock
3.2 …all ghosts, destroying or repelling them from city limits. This would make several groups very mad (Dimmer Sisters, etc) and render the Spirit Wardens pointless.
3.4 …demons, who are just now beginning to get the idea something is up
4. The Gondoliers do not destroy the ghosts, but trap them into their boats. The boat operators slowly drink the energies to extend their lives and empower their bodies.
5. There is a Leviathan trapped under the city, and the Gondoliers are its worshipers. The ghosts they capture and occasionally “lost” fare are delivered to the monster as food.
5.1 The Leviathan can’t leave because the water level is too low, and the Gondoliers are working to sink the city for their demon god. This will put the Leviathan back into the ocean and make the Gondoliers very important to the now flooded city.
5.2 The titanic monster is still growing, and needs more and more food to sustain itself. The plan is to summon and Leviathan to beach itself on the shore (or on the city) and let its blood soak through the streets and canals before entering the Gondoliers’ leviathan’s chamber.
the church of flesh has secret rituals where they are trying to make man-made demons. I had assumed that meant the Gondoliers would be anti-demons, but what if it was the other way around. The gondoliers know the secrets of ascension and guard them fiercely. They judge the church of flesh unworthy and seek to stop them…
Makes me wonder about the organization of the gondoliers… Strict Hierarchy? Neutral enforcers of their philosophical law? Or some more disorderly individual advocating… maybe something like taoism?
I do like the idea of them being worshippers of the Leviathans. Puts them nicely at odds with the rest of the city. I wonder if Seterra the demon’s plot is at cross purposes with the Gondoliers? Hmm. Great stuff John Williams!
The Gondoliers descend from the priesthood of the Ferryman, he who was left without purpose when the Gates of Death were breached.
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