Player: Michael Eshleman
Origins: Paris, France
Religion: Catholic
Character Description: Jacques de la Croix is a large (6' tall) and solidly build man of about twenty years. His features are strongly Gallic, and he keeps his long blond hair in some semblance of a pony tail. Often what more civilized people would call unwashed Jacques is much more comfortable in the outdoors than he is in the confines of a city. Some might consider this strange, given that his youth was spent in the streets of Paris. Jacques dresses in the buckskins of a woodsman, and carries an assortment of 'tools' (large knife, twin hatches and a musket) within easy reach.
Those hearing Jacques speak in broken English, Dutch or Iroquois might assume that he is an uneducated bumpkin. However those conversing with him in French are able to detect the vocabulary and tone that only comes with some measure of education.
He wears a simple wooden crucifix, and carries a belt with a half-dozen waterskins attached.
Background: He was raised from an infant until his thirteenth year by a Jacobin (Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire). This was unusual for such a man, but somehow Jacques' mother extracted an oath from the friar forcing him to look after her son. Who Jacques father was, or how his mother came to give him to Friar Henri are questions that have never been answered. Friar Henri named Jacques in honor of the first French convert to his order. Lacking any surnames the street children whose company Jacques kept (against the objections of his guardian) simply referred to him as 'de la Croix'. Jacques was a wild and rebellious youth who when he became a man set off to find his fortune in the New World. Eventually Jacques learned the ways of the wild and eked out a living as a woodsman and trapper in the vast wilderness of Quebec.
Eventually Jacques' presence was noted by an even older resident of the wild than the animals or Indians with whom he contended. A wendigo caught his scent and relentlessly hunted him for many days. Finally the strain was too much, and an exhausted Jacques laid down to greet his death. As the creature closed in for the kill Jacques (who had never been particularly devout, but still kept the small wooden crucifix his guardian had given him) felt the power of God flow through him. Raising his musket he smote wendigo with the divine power now invested in that weapon. Jacques' eyes were now open to the Invisible World. He follows the visions he receives while he struggles to cope with his newfound faith as well as the agents of the Adversary.
In the wake of his recent experiences, he has also begun to think once again about the unanswered questions of his origin that haunted his childhood.
Sin: Vengeful. Seeing lives cut short by the Adversary's minions fills Jacques with anger, which he is able to control… Most of the time.
Virtue: Courageous. Jacques often leaps into action to save people without thinking about the consequences (or danger to himself).
