Rilasciare: A review of the second Secret Society Book for 7th Sea

by Elisa Ford

When I got my grubby little meat hooks on this supplement, I had high hopes. I had become bored with my twice-blooded, Ussuran fate witch character and was hoping for some tips on creating my own version of the Robin Hood/Zorro archtype: the outlaw hero who champions the little guy and constantly vexes the abusive nobility.

Perhaps I set my standards a bit high. In my opinion, the Rilasciare as a secret society are nothing but an anarchist's guild of brat nobles and disgruntled, dangerous peasants with access to bombs and assassins. The book is worth its price as a GM's reference, but I would be hesitant to let even my best player's PC actually join the society.

To sum up the beliefs of the Rilasciare, or at least the common ground for the many factions that exist under this organization, magic is bad. People with magic are part of a demonic pact bent on destroying the world. Power, which is often connected to magic, is bad too. Peasants always suffer under an unequal distribution of power, so nobles, clergy, and so forth, are written down in their book of evil as well. The Rilasciare are working to eliminate both magic and monarchy, hoping to bring a better, more egalitarian life to all.

It sounds great until you add in the belief that the ends justify the means, so despite the society's supposed dislike of violence, any amount of killing is accepted if it supports the cause. The Rilasciare are responsible for the death of the First Prophet, believing that a martyred religious figure would be more useful than a living street preacher. They pride themselves on using poisons, explosives and mass murder to get their way, and their biggest victory to date was the slaughter of the von Drachens to rid Eisen of Zerstorung, or decay magic. And any dedicated Seventh Sea player sees immediately just how much Eisen has benefited from the death of their most powerful noble family and only native form of magic, having deteriorated into a massive wasteland ruled by mercenary bands. The road to Legion, it seems, is paved with good intentions.

Curiously, many members of the Rilasciare are nobility despite the society's stance against power. Many young, over-privileged lords and ladies join, either out of idealism or rebellion against the parents and society they resent. The Rilasciare, in return for compromising these basic principles, can afford to exist. Without the young nobles' support, combined with proceeds from the Liverationists, their in-house thieves, the Rilasciare would have no money whatsoever.

If you need more reasons to refrain from letting your PCs be Rilasciare, other than conflicting policies and violent tendencies, then their lack of heroics is another sore point. Bombs, poisons and garrotes, introduced for the first time in this book, are all the weapons of cowards and do not belong in any Hero's arsenal. Bombs are destructive on a
massive scale and the resulting blast, regardless of the rules listed in the book, is usually deadly not only to the intended target, but also to innocent bystanders hit by shrapnel. Garrotes, while depicted in the sourcebook as weapons of strangulation, were more often than not used to slit the throat of an unsuspecting victim from behind. Poisons need no
explanation. They're simply out of the question for a gamemaster trying to maintain the swashbuckling, righteous ideals of a heroic Seventh Sea game.

So what can you use this book for?

Villains.

The following are some ideas that might help you use the Rilasciare to flesh out villainous motivations and start some society-driven plots rolling.

I'm Only Doing This For Your Own Good

The Rilasciare is a great haven for idealistic and delusional villains. If you want Utopia, you can't let a few bodies stop you from attaining perfection, right? Here's an example:

Lucette, or Lucy as her small charges call her, is a devoted nurse and midwife for the well-to-do. She's also a member of the Rilasciare with innocent blood on her hands. Behind the smiling, tender façade is a woman determined to stop Porte magic from continuing to the next generation. While most infants in her care are carefully tended, those few unlucky enough to be born of two parents gifted with Porte are killed, as they pose the greatest chance for carrying the Legion's curse. The death of a newborn rarely draws attention, as even among nobles infant mortality is high, and Lucette has already been able to get away with dozens of murders. She feels no guilt, seeing herself as a savior to these little souls, sending them back before they can taint their spirits with sorcery and harm this world.

Lucette is a sick woman, killing babies on the off chance they might practice Porte someday (or Sorte, or Pyeryem, or whatever is most inconvenient for your PCs). She can be brought into your game when concerned parents beg the heroes to find a cure for the "curse" on all their infants, as the source of a mysterious "disease" striking down all children in a particular village, or even as a dedicated nurse for a PC's own (magically gifted) niece or nephew.

Zerstorung Isn't Dead, It's Just Resting.

There is no convincing reason given in this book for why the Rilasciare are so confident that they wiped Zerstorung completely off the face of the earth. Powerful nobles often keep mistresses, or have countless affairs with servants, jennys and the like. There is no way the secret society could track down every illegitimate von Drachen. That means that there are a few practitioners wandering about Eisen even now, most of whom have little training and even less understanding of the dark art. Please note that I'm talking about NPCs; Zerstorung is a nasty discipline, with gruesome, flesh-decaying abilities at master level. But that doesn't mean it can't be part of a good story:

Rumors of an evil imp spreading pestilence to already dwindling crops and forests in Eisen lead the characters to a scared runaway hiding in the woods. Zerstorung flows in the little girl's blood, yet she has no idea what has happened that makes plants suddenly wither at her touch. She ran away from home when outsiders started showing up in her home village asking questions about her. They knew her name, how old she was, even the name of the father she hasn't seen since her birth. So far, she's managed to keep to rocky caves and streams where the decay won't give her away, but she knows the strangers followed, and are combing the woods mile by mile until they find her.

Will the PCs defend this innocent child from the pursuing Rilasciare despite her dark gift, or will they turn her over, knowing it means her certain death?

In Over Your Head

If you prefer to keep the Rilasciare as NPCs, but have one player who insists on seeking the society out to join, try this. Tell the PC that he has indeed been admitted into the Rilasciare. Run him through lessons or training if you'd like, pumping him full of ideology of how they're helping the peasantry, building Utopia, and other high-minded garbage. Then send him on his first mission. Have him deliver a bomb and describe in vivid details what he sees in the aftermath, as the lifeless bodies of women and children
are dragged from the rubble. Rub it in. Dock the PC some Reputation points. He did, after all, just commit mass murder.

Don't end it there. Get nasty. Make him regret ever joining. When he tries to leave, the NPCs tell him he can't. You're a Rilasciare for life. If he doesn't try to escape, pile on more abuse. Continue subtracting Reputation points for each villainous act he is forced to carry out. If it becomes known that other members are friends of his, make his Reputation suffer for what they do. Pretty soon, when he comes into town, people start crossing the street when they see him, asking the other PCs for protection...in short, treating him like a villain, not a hero. If he leaves the society for good, he gains the Hunted Arcana, when his former friends decide they can't trust him not to spill their society's secrets.

This scenario takes quite a bit of time, talking one-on-one with the PC away from most of the party, but it's perfect if a player needs to take a brief hiatus from regular gaming.

The Great Conspiracy

The book claims in several places that no one knows about the Rilasciare. I find this dubious, considering that a cell's only means of communication is through Couriers. In all their existence, not a single letter has been lost or a Courier killed before reaching their destination, or so the book would have the reader think. Finding a lost letter or the body of a Courier might be a great way to give the heroes a hint that the society exists, and begin a campaign centered around breaking open the Rilasciare conspiracy.

In conclusion, the Rilasciare make an interesting conspiracy, but a flawed society. Dead Couriers, imaginary societies that nobody believes in and secret codes all make for a good bit of swashbuckling paranoia, but one that could quickly turn dark instead of heroic if the PCs want in.