The Bledsons are a Fomori family.
This large family makes their home deep in the Cumberland Mountains, not far from the Cumberland Gap. Not far from their sorry collection of ramshackle cabins and broken-down trailers is a forest clearing. In the clearing's center, a trash-choked stream empties into a pond of foul, black, oily-looking water. In the Umbra, this pool is the site of a Hellhole occupied by a number of Banes under the control of a perverse parody of Uktena. Every Bledson male. upon reaching his 16th birthday, is conducted by the other men in the clan to this place, where they are presented to the spirit in the pond. The ceremony, a perverse rite of passage, involves binding and blindfolding the hapless youth and leading him to the area before the pool. He is then told to jump into the water. If he refuses, he is doused with tainted moonshine and set ablaze; most of the time, the agonized victim jumps. The waters of the pool not only douse the flames (despite their oily appearance), they also act as a conduit for a Bane waiting to possess the individual.
What emerges from the pool is no longer fully human. Though he is still a member of the Bledson family and can, for a time at least, sire children on human females, the survivor of this unholy baptism is transformed into one of the fomori.
History[]
The Bledson menfolk consist of the oldest living male, Hiram Bledson, and his brothers Lowell, "Red," Scooter, Zeke, Eugene and Kyle. Their youngest brother, Micah, has not yet "gone to the pond," so he is still as human as they come. The Bledsons have been living in the same isolated hollow for five generations, raising their brood and brewing a potent brand of moonshine given a distinctive "kick" by using the water from the slow-moving, sluggish stream near the pond. The Bledsons make regular runs through the Cumberland Gap into Tennessee and North Carolina, where their Blackfire Whiskey is in demand among a select clientele. Occasionally, one or the other of the Bledson boys will get a "hunch" from the creature in the pond. They have learned to go heavily armed when following those hunches, which usually lead them into battle with Garou and other protectors of the land.
Image[]
Younger Bledson makes and all Bledson women appear to be (and are) typical Appalachians in appearance. The family tends towards mousy brown to dark blond hair, angular features, and wiry bodies. Some of the women are fairly attractive if you overlook their bruises. The Bledson children are a pack of scrawny, underfed, neglected mountain urchins. Baths are not a favorite pastime in the Bledson households.
Stats[]
Physical: Strength 4+, Dexterity 3+, Stamina 5+
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 3, Appearance 1
Mental: Perception 3+, Intelligence 2, Wits 4+
Talents: Alertness 2, Brawl 4, Dodge 2, Intimidation 3
Skills: Drive 1, Firearms 2, Melee 2, Stealth 3, Survival 4
Knowledges: Area Knowledge (local Cumberland Mountains) 3, Brewing 3, Poisons 2, Wilderness Lore 3
Backgrounds: Allies 3, Consecrated 2, Resources 2
Powers: Claws or Fangs (choose one), Exoskeleton (+1 Strength and Stamina), Immunity to the Delirium, Regeneration (as Garou)
Taints: Addiction (to their own moonshine; must have a drink once per day), Breed Prejudice (other fomori are uncomfortable around the Bledsons), Doomed (because of their regenerative capabilities, some Bledson fomori die of cancer within five years of their transformation), or The Fading (other Bledson fomori slowly go utterly mad)
Willpower: 6
Equipment: Shotgun, hunting knife, club
References[]
- WTA: Rage Across Appalachia, p. 119