As for anyone willing to read on, get your boots on, because we're going to be knee-deep in pulp.
The name of the sorceress de Belleville is spoken in fearful whispers throughout the islands. But when she was born, she was named Joséphine. Her mother was Marie, a slave on the plantation Éden, surrounded on all sides by swamps and thick jungles and owned by Joséphine's father, the marquis de Belleville who paid no heed to his illegitimate daughter, beget not of love nor lust, but of ownership.
Joséphine grew, working the fields as soon as she could walk while Marie and her brother Toussaint stood watch over Joséphine as much as they could, teaching her what little they knew of the songs and the words of protection of the old country.
When Joséphine was eight years old, her uncle dropped a cask of expensive port he was carrying, shattering it. Seeing this, marquis de Belleville flew into a rage and ordered the slave to be flogged, refusing to give the order to stop while strips of flesh were torn from Toussaint's bleeding back.
Crying, Marie threw herself at the marquis de Belleville's feet, begging for the life of his brother as well as the uncle of the marquis' daughter. But her words only fueled de Belleville's anger, for he did not appreciate the mention of his blood coursing through the veins of a slave's offspring.
When the marquis threatened to have Joséphine put to death, Marie grabbed her daughter and ran. The escape from the plantation was easy, for they were close to the swamp's edge, and none of the guards were very eager to follow them. The hostile surroundings of the plantation were an effective deterrent to escaping, for they were filled with hostile wildlife and travel on the treacherous ground was slow and exhausting.
After several hours, as night was beginning to fall, it finally looked as if mother and daughter were about to reach firmer land. Then, wading through shallow water, Marie suddenly screamed in pain. Joséphine turned to watch in horror as her mother fell face first into the water while her leg was pulled back by the teeth of an enormous alligator that were sunk into Marie's shin. The terrified girl tried in vain to hold onto her mother's hand as she was pulled deeper, her screams dying under the murky waters.
Suddenly alone and lost, Joséphine lay down under a large magnolia, hoping never to get up again. The predators in the night would surely have made sure that Joséphine had found her final resting place, had her mother's screams not attracted the attention of Bagnamanay, a medicine man far from his village out gathering healing herbs and poisonous frogs.
Bagnamanay took the catatonic girl back to his village and with the help of his witch doctor colleagues slowly nursed her back to the land of the living. Joséphine was taken into the tribe, learning their ways and speech. As she grew, it became apparent to Bagnamanay that the girl possessed the potential for great power of sorcery and the shamen taught her the ancient chants and herbal brews of the jungles and her growing abilities as a healer and a soothsayer benefited the tribe.
But the day of her mother's death never left Joséphine's mind, and often wandering in the woods, she lent her ear to the whispers of the dead and the unborn lingering under the waters of the bog and amidst the roots of the trees of the jungle. Her fear found a kindred in the fear of the spirits, her anger in their anger, her hate in their hate and her bitterness in their bitterness.
The secrets Joséphine learnt from the ghosts and the demons gave her powers she could not have imagined before. The village was her home and the tribe her family, and she began to guard them jealously. The young sorceress punished anyone she saw as threat to her family, be they strangers or not. With vile witchcraft Joséphine bent the minds and bodies of her enemies to her will. Soon the witch ruled the tribe unopposed, a queen against whose wishes none dared to speak.
With the might now in her hands, Joséphine took the warriors of the tribe and her dark minions and marched to Éden to exact revenge on the marquis de Belleville, only to discover that the plantation had already been abandoned a year before, after two hurricanes and an outbreak of cholera had made living in the malaria-ridden conditions unbearable, and more importantly, financially unsustainable.
Her lust for revenge unsated, the witch queen swore to find the marquis. She would take everything he possessed, not out of greed, but by birthright, and would visit torment and agony on the man fate had cruelly made her father. To herald her coming triumph over the source of her misfortune, Joséphine took on the name of the most frightful demon she had encountered and soon a mention of mambo asogwe de Belleville would cause the most callous cutthroats to hastily cross themselves and to look fearfully over their shoulders.
Now, through portents and spies, the sorceress de Belleville has learned that the marquis de Belleville is searching for the fabled treasure of Great Bonanza. Interestingly, it has come to the witch's attention that the pirate captain Red João is also on Great Bonanza's trail, and that the pirate has also found the means of locating the legendary prize. A perfect chance to beat the marquis to the goal and to set a trap..
The loin cloth: As purple as my prose.
A lovely mini from Reaper by Julie Guthrie. She's a great sculptor. Not necessarily the best in the world, but I have a special fondness for her style because the first minis I ever bought were her sculpts.
The mini came with a voodoo mask that would fit on her face, I used it as the standard for the zombis.
I think the paint job looks better in real life. I really should build a proper light box to get better pictures.
Not really related:
Despite the rocking title, seems like a terrible movie. I found a condensed 10 minute version on Youtube, and got too bored to watch it halfway through.
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