FAQ Version 1.01 Last Updated: Wed Oct 10 18:43:01 CDT 2001 HEART OF DARKNESS (Dates indicate last time the file corresponding to that section was modified) I. Introductory Material 1. About the setting 2. Introduction to the Congo II. Source Materials 1. Book List (Sep 13, 2001) 2. Film List (Dec 28, 2000) III. Frequently Asked Questions about Heart of Darkness 1. What Garou and Bastet tribes are encouraged on Heart of Darkness? 2. Why have you picked these tribes? 3. Why so few tribes? 4. Can I play another tribe? 5. This place seems perfect for a Fury Freebooter, yet Furies are not in the list of encouraged tribes. What gives? 6. What is the time period, again? 7. What if I don't know anything about this time period or this setting? 8. So what about the conflict between the Bete and Garou? How do you envision that playing out? 9. What if we don't wanna go out and buy the Wild West source book? Is it necessary to play here? 10. Are you planning to run stories with players submitting feature ideas and running with them? 11. I'm contemplating a European character, what's my character's motivation? 12. Why might people be around here? Is it okay to contrive reasons? What about infrastructure for base camps like roads, towns, potable water, etc.? 13. Is there a caern here? Is it active? Is it full of Garou? Can we know these things? (January 3, 2001) 14. Describe the size of Leopoldville? 15. So, where does the railroad go now? 16. How does someone get around? 17. What about the French territories across the river? 18. Where are the characters going to be centered? 19. What languages are spoken here? 20. Where is this game set, exactly? 21. Can you explain the role of the International African Association? (October 10, 2001) 22. Can you explain the general economy of the colony? (October 3, 2001) 23. How does one acquire land and title in the Congo? (October 3, 2001) 24. What is the specific process to obtain new land? (October 3, 2001) 25. What kind of medical treatment exists in town? (October 3, 2001) 26. What is the general goal of the Association for Leopoldville? (October 3, 2001) I. Introductory Material I.1. About the Setting Heart of Darkness is set in the Congo Basin in west central Africa during the late 1880s and 1890s. This time period saw a significant increase in colonial expansion all over the African continent, and is often referred to as the "Scramble for Africa." British, Dutch, Belgian, French, German, Portuguese, and Russian interests -- after centuries of disinterest -- rapidly expanded their influence into the Dark Continent. Here, many of the native tribes are kinfolk to the local Bastet: Bagheera, Simba and Swara. European Garou arrive in the company of their own kin, Shadow Lords for Belgium, Get of Fenris for Germany, the Fianna for Britain. The attitudes of European Garou oftentimes mirrored those of the Colonial powers. Much as it was the 'White Man's Burden' to bring commerce, Christianity and civilization to the savages of Africa, the European Garou suffer from a mixture of a belief in Social Darwinism and condescending sympathy towards their African cousins. I.2. Introduction to the Congo Joseph Conrad's short story _Heart of Darkness_ serves as the most obvious and accessible introduction into our setting. It is not long, only a hundred pages. It is set in this very place and at this very time, written by a man who was in fact here at this place and time, and while it isn't a World of Darkness story, it has a lot of the atmosphere that we're looking for. We highly recommend it both for playing this game and as a piece of good literature you might have forgotten from High School. II. Source Materials II.1. Book List Fiction Achebe, Chinua, _Things Fall Apart_. Knopf, 1958. -- This is Chinua Achebe's masterpiece and it is often compared to the great Greek tragedies. A simple story of a "strong man" whose life is dominated by fear and anger, _Things Fall Apart_ is written with remarkable economy and subtle irony. Uniquely and richly African, at the same time it reveals Achebe's keen awareness of the human qualities common to men of all times and places. Conrad, Joseph, "Heart of Darkness." In _Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories_. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1902. -- The quintessential sourcebook for this game. Bowen, Elenore Smith, _Return to Laughter: An Anthropological Novel_. Harper and Brothers, 1954. -- In the 1950s Elenore Smith Bowen spent a year living among and alongside a native tribe in West Africa. Her observations are fictionalized into this gripping account. Kingsolver, Barbara, _The Poisonwood Bible_ Harperperennial Library, 1999. -- Oprah Book Club Selection, June 2000: The year is 1959 and the place is the Belgian Congo. Nathan, a Baptist preacher, has come to spread the Word in a remote village reachable only by airplane. To say that he and his family are woefully unprepared would be an understatement. Non-Fiction Ascherson, Neal. _The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo_. London: Granta Books, 1963. This dense discussion of the socio-political forces at work in shaping the Congo Free State focusses particularly on the European situation, and the position of the Belgian Crown within it. Significant attention is paid to Leopold's family, personality and social circle. Achebe, Chinua. "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'" Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text, background and Sources Criticism. 1961. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough, London: W. W Norton and Co., 1988, pp.251-261 -- A blistering critique of Joseph Conrad's short novel which underlines many of the fundamental tensions of the setting. Hochschild, Adam, _King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa_. New York: Mariner Books, 1998. -- Adam Hochschild's spell-binding account of imperial machinations and how these led to the first major human-rights movement of this century presents a dynamic story. Largely forgotten now, its very obscurity suggests the success of the monarch's role-playing in his day. Pakenham, Thomas, _The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912_. New York: Avon Books, 1992. -- The acclaimed author of _The Boer War_ delivers a sweeping narrative history of the European scramble for control of Africa that took place in the late 1800s. Vivid, colorful, and breathtaking, this is the first full-scale history of the conquest, called "a valuable single-volume reference guide to its wonderfully complicated and fascinating subject" by The Wall Street Journal. Illustrated. II.2. Film List _The African Queen_: This 1951 classic takes place during World War I in German East Africa. It's about 3 decades off from our time period but the setting and the plot -- particularly the cantankerous old steamer and her captain -- are good additions. And not insignificantly, it's Bogart and Hepburn. _Apocalypse Now_: Francis Ford Coppola recruits Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando to retell Joseph Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness" in the setting of the Vietnam War. _Congo_: An expedition to the African Congo ends in disaster, and a new team is assembled to find out what went wrong. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton. The story is weak, the special effects weaker, but some of the cinematography is amazing. _Ghost and the Darkness, The_: Set in 1898, this movie is based on the true story of two lions in Africa that killed 130 people over a nine month period, while a bridge engineer (Val Kilmer) and an experienced old hunter (Michael Douglas) tried to kill them. -- If you're ever in Chicago, the bodies of these two lions are on display at the Field Museum. _Medicine Man_: An eccentric scientist working for a large drug company is working on a research project in the Amazon jungle. Wrong continent, but the shots of the jungle are breathtaking. _Mountains of the Moon_: The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire. The film tells the story of their meeting, their friendship emerging amidst hardship, and then dissolving after their journey. _Shaka Zulu_: South African director William C. Faure (who died in 1994) originally created Shaka Zulu as a 1983 miniseries broadcast in the U.K. Later released for theaters, this is the best-known biography of, and certainly one of the longest narratives about, the legendary Zulu warrior-king, Shaka. -- While not strictly Congolese, it provides a measure of information about the Zulu people which have some in common with the Bantu tribes in the area. III. Frequently Asked Questions about Heart of Darkness III.1. What Garou and Bastet tribes are encouraged on Heart of Darkness? We encourage the following Garou tribes: For the Europeans, Children of Gaia, Fianna, Get of Fenris, and Shadow Lords. For native Africans, the Silent Striders. We encourage the following Bastet tribes: Bagheera (were-leopards), related to the forest and Savannah-dwelling natives Bubasti (Egyptian sorcerer-cats) Simba (were-lions), related to the savannah-dwelling natives Swara (were-cheetah), related to the savannah-dwelling natives III.2. Why have you picked the tribes you have as the desired tribes? We are asking for these particular tribes for racial, thematic and playability reasons. The European population down here is largely continental, which is going to mean Get of Fenris and Shadow Lords, etc. Fianna are also good. We are looking for rather fewer Silver Fangs, first because we think that Shadow Lords are more interesting than Silver Fangs, and second because we imagine that while Shadow Lords would see the Dark Continent as a nice plum, the Silver Fangs would be too high and mighty to dirty their hands with the muddy bits of the white man's burden. Let the Get and the Fianna build the roads, and come down when the beds are made. And the Coggies are fine for high-minded evangelizers, civilizers, explorers and scientists, etc. We'll also be looking for some Silent Striders to be associated with the native population and the Bete. If you decide to play, and would rather not play a European. We'll look at most any combination within the range. It takes all kinds, and we want people to have fun. III.3. Why so few tribes? We think that for the purposes of tribal RP, it might be better to have more members of fewer tribes rather than fewer members of more tribes. It might mean that we'll occasionally be encouraging people to adjust their concepts, but it should really pay off in terms of the diversity and activity within tribes. III.4. Can I play another tribe? We are not saying you cannot play Fangs (or Iron Riders or lupus, or some of the other tribes listed in 'news features'). We're just saying that we thought it might be fun to have larger number of players in a smaller number of tribes, rather than having everyone strung out over the full thirteen, and we thought the Shadow Lords made the most sense. III.5. This place seems perfect for a Fury Freebooter, yet Furies are not in the list of encouraged tribes. What gives? As for the Black Furies, we have plans for the Black Furies. III.6. What is the time period, again? The game opens in late 1887, and follows the calendar year, progressing forward at the same rate as the actual calendar. That is, if it is November 9th, 2000, the date on the game will be November 9th, 1887. On January 1st, 2001, it will be January 1st, 1888 on the game. III.7. What if I don't know anything about this time period or this setting? We can offer the comfort that we are looking mainly for the spirit of the thing; there will not be any tests. Look, or look again, at Joseph Conrad's short story _Heart of Darkness_. It is not long, it's set in this very place and at this very time, written by a man who was in fact here at this place and time, and while it isn't a World of Darkness story, it has a lot of the atmosphere that we're looking for. You will pick up a bit of practical knowledge without much effort, and you will be able to gauge whether you are likely to get excited about the setting. III.8. So what about the conflict between the Bete and Garou? How do you envision that playing out? On the Bete/Garou issue, or more broadly the Native/European issue, I think we're hoping for a happy (unhappy?) medium between Peace and Love Among Shifters and Second War of Rage. If Native and European shifters swiftly unite against the common cause of the Wyrm, things are going to get dull fast. On the other hand, if they're all killing each other on sight, it'll be hard to keep things going. I myself would like to see 'uneasy truce mixed with genuine misunderstanding and occasional bouts of violence.' Ideally the Silent Striders will function as go-betweens to keep things from getting out of hand, as they're moderately acceptable to both sides. III.9. What if we don't wanna go out and buy the Wild West source book? Is it necessary to play here? No, not at all. Wild West has the time period down with regard to tech levels and the Storm Umbra. But that can easily be covered in news and bbposts and just general 'culture' of the game. -- The mechanics of Wild West are extremely close to Werewolf 2nd. Some gifts and rites are different, but we would expect to handle that via on-game resources. III.10. Are you planning to run stories with players submitting feature ideas and running with them? Yes. It is not our desire to serve as Storytellers for the whole game. We want to set a stage wherein the players can be both players and GMs in their own stories within that framework we've constructed. We think we have an interesting one with lots of internal conflicts that will not be easy to unravel. III.11. I'm a European, what's my motivation? From the European Garou's perspective, these folks need serious help. Mokole are Wyrmspawn. No one's quite sure what the Bastet are up to. The Umbra's a mess, the spirits are peculiar. Without some proper Garou looking out for this place, the Wyrm is going to have a field day. And one needn't be Belgian, by the way, to live and work in the Belgian Congo. Technically, King Leopold of Belgium is administrating this territory on his own as a sort of philanthropic project-- it doesn't belong to the Belgian Government-- and contracting with all sorts of European businesses and philanthropic organizations that want to help natives in various ways. In point of fact, he's pitching most of the real plums to Belgians, but that isn't the party line. III.12. Why might people be around here? Is it okay to contrive reasons? What about infrastructure for base camps like roads, towns, potable water, etc. I think it's okay to contrive reasons, but there are plenty. Most importantly, the Europeans are down here to get goods on the cheap-- ivory, rubber, oils, gold and gems. That involves infrastructure work, which is in its infancy; steamboats and rowboats on the Congo are the lifeline. Horses die down here, so when people travel overland, they tend to walk, and their stuff is carried by native 'servants.' Which is, yes, slow, dangerous, and a pain in the butt. There's a railroad going in between the main settlement and one closer to the coast, but it's in its infancy. Besides trade, people come down here on evangelizing and civilizing missions -- churches, philanthropic societies, etc. -- and for scientific purposes -- explorers, anthropologists, self-styled adventurers, crazy people. III.13. Is there a caern here? Is it active? Is it full of Garou? Can we know these things? There is not a European Garou caern here, although setting one up will, I imagine, be a priority for the Europeans. You're real trailblazers; there are European Garou down here who know about one another, but they're really in the early stages of the game. Perhaps they've found a promising site, but have yet to do the deed. That said, there is a caern on the game controlled by the Simba. It is a rare and precious resource for the cats, as it allows them access to the Umbra. Bastet characters could know of this caern and may even have a history with it. III.14. Describe the size of Leopoldville? We're playing in what was at one time western Zaire, formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, and now the Democratic Republic of Congo. And there's a native settlement there, but at this point Leopoldville is still pretty piss-poor. Still, it's the biggest European settlement going for some ways around. Leopoldville's population blossoms when the railroad is completed in the 1890s. -- In 1887 the towns of Boma and Matadi near the coast are bigger. III.15. So, where is the railroad go now? Nowhere. There is a railroad under construction from Matadi to Leopoldville. It takes about 10 years to build. III.16. How does someone get around? One gets around by river steamer, Mark Twain style. Between Leopoldville and the upper Congo, anyway. What makes Leopoldville an important location is that it's just above a series of falls that block river traffic between here and Matadi. From Leopoldville, things have to go down overland for some distance. Which is slow, and dangerous, and a pain. From here on up, the river is navigable for a good long ways. III.17. What about the French territories across the river? Across the river is the French Congo, under a different government. I don't think we'll be doing too much with them, as they aren't developing their territory anywhere near as aggressively as the Belgians. When we open the town across the river from Leopoldville -- what will eventually become Brazzaville - is pretty much still the lil' native town of Ncuna. III.18. Where are the characters going to be centered? Some in the town, some in the forest and savannah beyond. We're going to be unashamedly fuzzy on travel times, within reason. Much of the interesting stuff for Europeans is around Leopoldville, getting more exotic the farther up and out you go. III.19. What languages are spoken here? More than 200 languages are spoken in the Congo Basin. French is the official language of both the French Congo and the Congo Free State. Four African languages are also widely spoken: Kikongo in the area between Leopoldville and the coast, Tshiluba in the south, and Lingala along the Congo River. Literacy, both among the Europeans and the native peoples is not particularly high, however most individuals are able to speak multiple languages with some degree of fluency. Swahili, in particular, serves as a form of lingua-franca within the African interior. III.20. Where is this game set, exactly? The Congo River Basin sits in the center of the African continent, and covers almost all of the modern-day countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, eastern Zambia, northern Angola, and parts of Cameroon and Tanzania. The game is centered around the Congo River, the heart of this basin, and follows the river's course from Stanley Falls to Stanley Pool. Two colonial outposts anchor the river at either end. Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) sits at the downstream end. Stanley Fall Station (now Kisangani) marks the uppermost point of the game. Much of the river basin is equatorial rainforest, and to the south of this forest lies an expanse of tropical savannah. The game contains a broad swath of savannah extending eastward from Stanley Pool towards the Kasai River. This area of Africa has gone by many different names. Much of it was claimed as the Kingdom of Kongo up until the 15th Century. The territory was known as the Congo Free State (l'Etat Indépendant du Congo) during the period we're playing. When the colony was ceded to Belgium in 1908, the name changed to the Belgian Congo. The name changed again when the colony achieved independence from Belgium; it was called Zaire. In 1997, president Mobutu died and the country has fallen into civil war. It is currently known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. III.21. Can you explain the role of the International African Association? Okay. The Association is something like the predecessor to a modern holding company, with diversified interests. The Association, through its officers, is in involved in acquisition and negotiation of valuables: mostly ivory and some rubber. It is the body responsible for the organization of teams to acquire, hire, buy, ship and barter for those things Leopold II wants to export from the Congo. It is responsible for the recommendations, specification, and purchase of those items desired or required to improve the situation. Infrastructure upgrades, implementation of social institutions. It is something like a regional government run for profit. Leopoldville is being developed as the regional office for the western section of the Congo. Currently those offices are in Boma. Leopold II directs most activities from the Colonial office in Brussels. In true ninetheenth-century fashion, the administrative structure of the IAA is tight and rationally hierarchical, with initiative coming down from the top and information and advice passing back up from the bottom, where more decisions are then made. But this rational administrative structure has been plopped down in an environment where staggering distances and difficulties of communication and execution are involved, so that anyone who tries to go by the book will find their operations grinding to a halt. So. Alongside this 'official' structure, in many places, has evolved a de facto structure involving strong local control, graft, misinformation, et cetera, Just as a way of getting things done. III.22. Can you explain the general economy of the colony? There are three separate economies, generally speaking. There is the import/export business. Buying Ivory from the natives. Or hiring (equipping) men to steal ivory. Paying for transport by porters and riverboat and ocean-going ships. There's the native economy: Market, and trade and barter among the various natives and tribes. Cassava, cloth, iron, cowries. That sort of thing. And then there's the black market. Contraband, shipping in things that are too difficult (or of a significantly unique nature) to get into the Congo by normal channels. Rifles for natives. Drugs. Fine wines. Clothing. Certain foodstuffs. Luxury items. Musical instruments. Supplying natives with money. Then tend to operate more-or-less independently from one another. The Association fits into the legitimate import/export economy, but as a concerned party. -- It is the biggest mover and shaker in the market, in Leopoldville, but there are other players: other trading companies with commissions to operate in the Congo, and even rival elements within the Association. The Association does not really fit into the second two economies. -- When Association agents make purchases for the Association, they can influence the price of goods in that market considerably. Agents may also be operating for their own interests as well as those of the organization. But there are other people playing in the market. Native traders. (The Teke,most particularly) who might try and bypass the Association presence in Leopoldville , and sell directly in Matadi. Local 'agents' (some white, mostly black) buying, and likely they're stealing, or keeping some of the profits of the trade for themselves. Part of the 'costs' to the Association will have to contend with this graft and bribery. III.23. How does one acquire land and title in the Congo? The land of the Congo is traditionally owned by the native tribes that live here. When Stanley came through in the 1870s, he extracted treaties from these natives that signed over the rights to the land to King Leopold II. Leopold, in turn, administers the land from Belgium, and has a Colonial Office there to oversee his investment. Individuals wishing to trade in Colony, or own property, need to purchase a concession from the King in order to do so. Generally these take the form of a private corporation, and often Leopold will place loyal men on the Board of Directors, as well as invest significantly in such foreign companies himself -- often through agents and dummy organizations. The International African Association serves as the colonial 'arm' of this bureaucracy. Individuals in the Congo would write a petition to the IAA, which would then be sent to Brussels for approval. All of this red tape takes time, and most of it is subject to the various influences of the day: bribes, favors, connections. Which can either expedite of impede a given request. Private property can be either purchased outright (fairly expensive) or leased (on something like a 99-year term fairly cheaply). Outpost #7 is an example of a lease. Taxes and duties on all companies in the colony are collected by the Association, either here, or more likely in Brussels as part of the ongoing cost of the concession. Individuals in Leopoldville, however, should probably not get terribly worked up about the letter of the law in this matter, as the bureaucracy moves slowly. III.24. What is the specific process to obtain new land? The concerned party writes a petition to His Majesty, through the auspices of the Colonial Association. This then goes to Brussels for approval. Once approved, the title is registered with the Association. -- The IAA would collect taxes on that land. -- And probably some grease to smooth things along. What is the general goal of the Association for Leopoldville? The association is trying to develop the presence at the Pool. Because of its geographic position, it's uniquely situated as a place to trade for those goods in the colony that are of worth in Europe: ivory and rubber. Also, the Association is using Leopoldville as a base location to expand its presence throughout the basin. III.25. What kind of medical treatment exists in town? Currently, the player character, Robert, is the Association doctor in Leopoldville, and is the only colonial medical practioner in Leopoldville. There are plenty of native folks who have some kind of medical skill, although no European would likely acknowledge the fact. III.26. What is the general goal of the Association for Leopoldville? The association is trying to develop the presence at the Pool. Because of its geographic position, it's uniquely situated as a place to trade for those goods in the colony that are of worth in Europe: ivory and rubber. Also, the Association is using Leopoldville as a base location to expand its presence throughout the basin.