Deadlands Noir - Dramatis Personae

I've been somewhat preoccupied with work since the start of the year, hence little activity on this blog or indeed much gaming of any nature at all in January. It is now sadly almost over. As outlined in my ambitions for 2016, I am planning to finish my Deadlands campaign at some point this year! As part of that, herewith an outline of some of the important NPCs that have crossed the players' paths in the course of the campaign, which seems to go in stops and starts.

Some of these characters are of my own invention, some come from the Deadlands Noir core book, either appearing as they are in the book, or slightly re-written to fit my own purposes. In the interests of avoiding spoilers, I'm not saying which is which!

The Living

Barbeau, Wayne ' The Battler' (aka the Bayou Bantam) - escapee from a secret government super soldier program, now embarked on a boxing career in New York.

Braddock, Nate - New Orleans correspondent for the Tombstone Epitaph.

Cisek, Daniel - owner of the voodoo store, The Emporium; he is seeking the masks of Baron LeCroix for his own purposes. He has offered the player characters $300 for a mask in their possession.

Dauphin, Davison - tramp encountered near the docks on the south side of the river, likes rats, does not like cats.

Dauterive, Andrew - Texas Ranger

Hayes, Kathleen 'Kitty' - wealthy socialite, hired the detectives to find her missing poodle Lucy.

Hebert, General Jean - old army buddy of Colonel Dashiel Hayes, now retired and living at Camp Nicholls Veterans Home. Seems to have connections with the military and the Texas Rangers.

Long, Huey (aka The Kingfish) - senator for Louisiana and former governor; known to be continuing to influence the political scene in New Orleans.

Martine, Laurelie 'Mammy' - famed New Orleans spiritualist, also a senior member of the Red Sect; former friend of Tammy Portunate and mother of Bon Bon Lescartier.

McKendrew, Andrew - mayor of New Orleans following a surprise election win in 1934.

Phillips, Gavin - private detective, acquaintance of Lee DeVille; organised a raid involving Irish gangsters and a giant robot (!) on a warehouse in the old Algiers naval base.

Sanderson, Hetty - current owner of the Yellow Sign book store and love interest of Professor Gordon; helped the detectives to exorcise a demon from a house in Bayou St John.

Torobelli, Art - trainer of successful boxers, links to the Black Hand. Currently in New York.

Tournier, Oliver - butler to Kitty Hayes

Townsend, Lieutenant - homicide detective with the New Orleans PD; investigated the murder of Father McNelis.

Waller, Fat Dan - owner of the Absinthe House bar and hotel; former Texas Ranger and friend of Andrew Dauterive.

Whelan, Mike 'The Stick' - half Irish, half Sicilian capo with the Black Hand, also owns Sanzone's Italian restaurant. He seems favourably disposed to the detectives at the moment.

The Dead

Duchamps, Ann-Marie - singer and member of the McNelis cabal, executed by Lee DeVille / DeVille's manitou, depending on who you believe.

James, William, aka The Jazzman - mob assassin and member of the McNelis cabal, tossed off a roof by Le Ralf.

Lescartier, Bon Bon - a bokkor active in the Red Sect; stole a brandy shipment from the Black Hand; gunned down by the player characters in a firefight. There is currently a $5000 reward out from the Red Sect for the identity of his killers.

McNelis, Father Joseph - priest and lecturer at Loyola University, founder of a demonic cabal on the side, murdered by the Jazzman.

Sanderson, Matthew - owner of the Yellow Sign book store, member of the McNelis cabal, killed by the Jazzman.

Whelan, Herman - former butler of Col Dashiel Hayes, uncle of Mike ' The Stick' Whelan, killed by the detectives (shooting blamed on the Red Sect, which further soured relations between the Black Hand and the Red Sect).

The Missing (or perhaps Un-dead?)

Bascon, Jean-Michel - a Creole driver for the Black Hand, implicated in a plot to steal a shipment of French brandy; handed over to the Black Hand by the player characters.

Braddock, Michael - former journalist and author of a biography on Baron LeCroix. Father of Nate Braddock. Thought to have left town in 1911 after threats from the Red Sect.

Hayes, Colonel Dashiel - retired army officer and husband of Kathleen Hayes, reported missing during a fishing trip in the bayou in 1933; was responsible for security at Fort 51 during the 1914-18 war.

LeCroix, Baron Simone - Haitian founder of the Bayou Vermilion railway in the 1870s, former leader of the Red Sect and rumoured to have been a powerful bokkor; father of Mammy Martine; vanished in the 1880s.

LeCroix, Marie-Louise - albino daughter of Baron Simon LeCroix; led the Red Sect for a short while before vanishing circa 1890. Rumoured to have been edged out by her sister Laurelie Martine.

Marburg, Harry - political fixer and election campaign manager for Mayor Andrew McKendrew in 1934 - now thought to be in hiding.

Portunate, Tammy - sister-in-law of Doc LeBoeuf, thought to be missing in the Hunting Grounds.

Zlonim, Basil (codename - 'Zane') - Union spy operating in New Orleans, involved in an effort to acquire a secret weapon from Colonel Hayes. He was apprehended by the detectives and handed over to Andrew Dauterive.