Monster of the Week: South of the Border

The monsters stalking the Mexican nights are born from a cornucopia of Indio oral traditions and syncretic Spanish Catholicism.  Native monsters stalk the night, serving the Black Sun, and often consist of leftovers from previously crashed epochs; while the Spanish colonial evils are a mishmash of betrayals and spirits. 

Cihuateteo - The ancient Aztecs viewed every thing as an object of war and every task a battle.  Men went out to take life while women brought life into the world.  Women who died in the throes of childbirth were honored as fallen warriors, their remains strengthened warriors in life, and their spirits accompanied the setting sun westward as the feared cihuateteo.  Haunting crossroads, spreading madness, stealing children and tempting men to sexual misbehaviour.  They possess skull-like faces and eagle talons for hands.  They are servants of the nocturnal deities Tezcatlipoca and Tlazolteotl.  They gestate the stolen seed of victims to birth surrogate monsters.
Monster Breeder

Powers
Hypnotic, Immortal, Creature of the Night, Shapeshifter - cloud of bats
Harm- Grime encrusted talons deals 2-harm and unstable, messy Armor: The Smoking Mirror's favor grants 2 armor Health: 9 Health
Unique Move
Gather the Seed - hunters that get close to the cihuateteo find themselves drawn into her embrace, until another hunter deals 4 points of harm the victim is unable to get free.  After three moves, if the hunter hasn't been freed the cihuateteo releases them and retreats.  Its belly full of stolen essence, pregnant with surrogate child.

El Cucuy- A Latin American twist on the Tonton Macoute.  El Cucuy differs because it has adapted to the times, taking the shape of a faceless sicario or DEA operator.  Rather than the large iconic sack favored by his cousins Cucuy prefers the smaller, discrete black bags forced over his victims heads.

Monster: Devourer

Powers

Terrifiyingly Fast, Incredibly Stealthy, Phasing

Harm: Frozen grasp deals 2 harm, ignores armor Armor: Ethereal, can only be affected by magic Health: 11 health

Unique Move

Black Bag. - El Cucuy throttles the character and attempts to slip his bag over their head.  these are either two separate soft moves or one hard move.  Either way the bagged character suffers -1 forward and takes 1 harm every player's move.

La Llorona- A beautiful woman named Maria drowned her children in a rage, a red handed revenge against her husband who left her for a younger woman.  Realizing what she'd done, she leaped into the river and drowned with them.
Questioned at the Gates of Heaven as to the wherabouts of her children, she is barred from the afterlife until she gathers them.  Trapped between the physical and spiritual world, she is forced to wander in search of her sodden babies.  He incessant weeping giving her the name "La Llorona" - the Weeping Woman.
Monster Torturer

Powers
Weight of Grief, Phasing
Harm- Piercing Cry 2 harm Armor: Ethereal, cannot be harmed except by magic Health: 8 Health
Unique Move
Am I Your Mother? - Whenever the hunter opens themselves to a soft move, La Llorona tears open psychic wounds of maternal abuse and becomes the wire mother.  The hunter suffers -1 forward and becomes unstable.  If its a hard move, she becomes the comfort mother.  The hunter canot harm her and will protect her against others.

Cueyatl- Born from the blood of Tlatecuhtl, the primoridal frogmother, mingling with the life giving waters of el Ombligo de la Luna.  These batrachian horrors stalk the museums and bloodlines enshrining the divinity of the Fifth Sun seeking the resurrection of their mother beast.  They tend to appear in large groups of 6 - 11.
Monster Beast

Powers
Rubbery Flesh, Toxic Touch, Sticky Tongue, Amphibious

Harm- Barbed Tongue 1 harm, strips equipment Armor: 1 armor Health: 9 Health

 

 Next we'll re-visit African rootwork, the Invisible Ones, sympathetic magic, and the Big Easy.