The following posts will make liberal use of a rather liberal interpretation of Haitian Vodou. I do not presume to be presenting an "authentic" experience, but am using what I have learned from the ethnography "Mama Lola" by Karen McCarthy Brown and notes I have taken in one of my professor's classes. However, Haitian Vodou is, itself, a religion that, while certainly principled, is inherently flexible with its practices. My interpretation of certain Vodou practices and concepts is geared towards a specific plot device and it should not offend, but I offer my apologies if it does.
Gerard was his name. He was very tall, as muscular as any man who worked hard on a ship and at the docks, and almost as dark of skin as the water at night. This was nothing too unusual in Nouveau Bretagne, with its handful of immigrant communities? but the exotic lay in his behavior. When you talked to Gerard? you were never just talking to Gerard. Sometimes he paused and let someone unseen whisper in his ear, giving him advice on his carefully chosen words. Sometimes, it seemed, he spoke with a different voice altogether. His chosen lwa was normal for him, ever present? but he could connect to distant things in the watery recesses of Guinee and beyond.
The Vodouisant and Alain had been at sea for fifteen days, though they were only supposed to be out for ten. Their vessel was carrying in its hold a variety of medical supplies that had not received government approval, but in each container was two layers of Bibles protecting the illegal goods further down. This was not Alain?s typical line of work, doing a dangerous smuggling run for charity?s sake, but he was pressured into it by Amelie, a woman who dedicated herself to aiding the unfortunate, especially in the middle of a dangerous conflict such as this. And a very close friend to him? ever patient with his behavior, ever trying to convert him to a more righteous path.
It was the final year of the civil war that was now ravaging Nouveau Bretagne. Some areas of the city held a semblance of order, but it would not last for much longer.
Six days ago, the Grand Duchy of Nouveau Bretagne decided that, after many rebel fighters entered the city this way, no more missionary ships would be allowed to come to the city from outside.
Alain was stuck out at sea. Separated from his younger sister Shannon and from the rest of his family, boredom quickly turned to paranoia, and paranoia to desperation? which is why he paid attention when he heard that Gerard was not merely a sailor, but a powerful priest.
Gerard was his name. He was very tall, as muscular as any man who worked hard on a ship and at the docks, and almost as dark of skin as the water at night. This was nothing too unusual in Nouveau Bretagne, with its handful of immigrant communities? but the exotic lay in his behavior. When you talked to Gerard? you were never just talking to Gerard. Sometimes he paused and let someone unseen whisper in his ear, giving him advice on his carefully chosen words. Sometimes, it seemed, he spoke with a different voice altogether. His chosen lwa was normal for him, ever present? but he could connect to distant things in the watery recesses of Guinee and beyond.
The Vodouisant and Alain had been at sea for fifteen days, though they were only supposed to be out for ten. Their vessel was carrying in its hold a variety of medical supplies that had not received government approval, but in each container was two layers of Bibles protecting the illegal goods further down. This was not Alain?s typical line of work, doing a dangerous smuggling run for charity?s sake, but he was pressured into it by Amelie, a woman who dedicated herself to aiding the unfortunate, especially in the middle of a dangerous conflict such as this. And a very close friend to him? ever patient with his behavior, ever trying to convert him to a more righteous path.
It was the final year of the civil war that was now ravaging Nouveau Bretagne. Some areas of the city held a semblance of order, but it would not last for much longer.
Six days ago, the Grand Duchy of Nouveau Bretagne decided that, after many rebel fighters entered the city this way, no more missionary ships would be allowed to come to the city from outside.
Alain was stuck out at sea. Separated from his younger sister Shannon and from the rest of his family, boredom quickly turned to paranoia, and paranoia to desperation? which is why he paid attention when he heard that Gerard was not merely a sailor, but a powerful priest.