CAPÍTULO II. MARCO REFERENCIAL
2.1 Ingeniería Industrial
2.1.2 El Ingeniero Industrial como Ingeniero del Factor Humano
The Caymans have a large population of crocodiles, but not many permanent human occupants. Technically claimed by the English under the Governor of Jamaica, they are more commonly home to careening pirates than settlers. Occasionally
colonists of one nationality or another try to establish a home here, but pirates kill them within a year or two at most. Fishing is good, and the sea turtles that have become the pirates’ staple food can also be found here in numbers.
Produce: Nothing Demand: None
Scenario Hook: Various ships have reported some odd stories about the Caymans. A few sailors have recently sworn that they’ve seen crocodiles that “walk upright”. While most dismiss this as sailor nonsense, a number of colonists have vanished without a trace. Some countries may wish to get to the bottom of just what is going on here and they’ll need some formidable lads to send in on a “fact finding”
expedition.
C OZUMEL (M AYAN )
Cozumel’s culture is a lot more like that of the nearby Yucatan Peninsula than most of the other Caribbean islands. It is populated entirely by Mayans: although the Spanish consider it to be under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Mexico, they have not bothered to colonize it. It is of great significance to pirates, since the Spanish supply fleet has to pass near here en route to Vera Cruz. Cozumel has many coves for pirates to hide in, and several reefs to make navigation difficult for sailors who are unfamiliar with the area. It is also of particular import to the Mayans, being the religious center for worship of their moon goddess Ixchel, whose temple is in the northeast
of the island.
Produce: Fish, Rope Demand: Nothing
Scenario Hook: The Catholic Church has decided that the worship of Ixchel has to stop. They are soon to send a punitive force to “wipe out the heathens once and for all”. When it comes to dealing with heretics, the Church tends to become
“open-minded” in its hiring practices. A group of pirates could find themselves helping to persecute the savages or defending the noble native underdogs against the might of Spain.
C UBA (S PANISH )
Cuba is a huge island with a population of around 80,000 in total, about half of whom are white, with the black population being about 35,000 slaves and 3,000 free. The remainder are Arawak natives in the highest mountain valleys. There are few natives left, after a couple of centuries of ill treatment at the hands of the Spanish. Most of the whites are bandits, smugglers and prostitutes. Even Cuba’s merchants and planters are happy to trade with pirates, smugglers and anyone else offering a good deal, despite what laws and regulations may demand. Many of the plantation owners and merchants feel a growing resentment towards Spain and particularly its mercantilism; it is likely that this resentment will erupt into open revolt before too long.
Havana, the main town of Cuba, is major military center for Spain in the Indies. It is surrounded by fortifications, including the monstrously powerful castle of El Morro. As a shipbuilding center, it is also likely to have several small warships and merchantmen in its harbor at any time, more during the winter when the Spanish galeones and flota shelter here. It has a good natural defense in addition to the various castles—almost the entire northern coast of Cuba is surrounded by a vast complex of treacherous reefs, rocks and islands known as the Great Bahama Bank. Attempting to navigate the Bank would be suicidal for any ship without detailed charts, and dangerous enough even with charts and a local pilot. Over the years, the Spaniards have laboriously mapped the Bank, but even now only a few of the most senior
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-officers in the Spanish navy have either the charts or the first-hand experience to sail through the various safe channels of the Bank. Trinidad is a smaller town on the south coast, protected by only a single fort and of more economic than military importance—it is a center for the trade of beef, cattle and sugar in particular.
Nearly two centuries ago, a Hispaniolan Arawak named Hatuey led a rebellion against the Spanish here and was captured and burned at the stake.
Offered baptism and absolution by a friar, he replied,
“If the Spaniards go to heaven, then I certainly do
not want to go there, so do not baptize me, I would prefer to go to hell!” These words created a legend, and his execution site, Yara, is a place of pilgrimage for all those who seek to defeat the white colonists of Cuba. It is said that if the proper ceremonies are performed, the “Light of Yara” will descend, granting greatly increased strength and fortitude for the battle against the Europeans.
Produce: Tobacco, Copper, Sugar, Meat (Beef ) Demand: Slaves
Scenario Hook: An English spy approaches the group and offers to pay them a small fortune (500 guineas each) if they will disguise themselves as Spanish fishermen and make a detailed map of the Great Bahama Bank. They have to take the spy with them to ensure they do a proper job, and of course they will need a fishing boat and Spanish-style clothing, which the spy is unable to provide.
C URACAO (D UTCH )
Curacao is the main Dutch trading center for slaves, and supplies not just other Dutch islands but also most of the Spanish colonies on the Main and in the Caribbean. Its biggest town and port, Amsterdam, is in one of the best-protected harbors in the Caribbean: it is set deep in a narrow bay, with both sides of the bay overlooked by heavily armed forts. Amsterdam
is effectively one huge market, full of merchants, warehouses, and shops.
Produce: Fruit, Fish, Slaves, Maize, Meat (duck, goat, and iguana)
Demand: Slaves
Scenario Hook: This place abounds with intrigue and a group of sharp lads will find many leads and various offers of employment here as well. The Dutch need crews willing to waylay their competitors as well as escort their ships on occasion. Who better to protect a ship from pirates than pirates?
D OMINICA (C ARIB )
The southernmost of the Leeward Islands, Dominica is the largest island to remain effectively under the rulership of the native Caribs, although both England and France have attempted to colonize it and no doubt will do so again despite their agreement to leave it “neutral”. The natives make full use of the mountainous and heavily forested terrain of the island to defeat any would-be conquerors.
Produce: Nothing Demand: None
Scenario Hooks: Either an English or French spy contacts the group and offers them a large sum of money to make a detailed map of Dominica, with particular reference to Carib settlements and defenses.
It is no accident that the natives of Dominica have constantly repelled all invaders. One of the last five members of the Scintillant Counsel, an ancient group of Couatl that once held dominion over much of the Caribbean and South America, makes her lair here. She
advises the local Carib leaders on how best to thwart the French and English. A group of “decent” pirates could do worse than to have her as a patron. Her human pronounceable name is Esselio.
G RENADA (F RENCH )
The southernmost of the Windward Isles, its French colonists know Grenada as La Grenade. Grenada’s terrain is varied, with mountainous, volcanic areas, crater lakes, dwarf forests, rainforest, mixed woodland, mangrove, beaches and coral reefs. It is occupied by just 250 whites (almost all French), 500 black slaves, and 50 free blacks. Almost all of the population is clustered around the port of St. Louis. Fort St. Louis and Fort Royal protect the harbor from both sides. Two smaller islands just north of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique, are presently uninhabited.
The French conquered the island only half a century ago. Earlier attempts to take it by various English parties ended in disaster, with the local Caribs beating them off. The French colonists who finally defeated the Caribs forced them to the edge of the
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-island, where they jumped into the sea over the cliff, which is still known as Caribs Leap. Caribs Leap has an evil, cursed reputation: it is said that the spirits of the dead Caribs lurk there still, nursing a powerful hatred for the white invaders.
Produce: Spices (Nutmeg, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves), Cocoa, Tobacco, Indigo
Demand: Slaves
Scenario Hook: Bokor and hougans find that the veil between worlds is indeed thin at Carib’s Leap. Feats of legendary potency are possible here on spiritually significant nights and a group of pirates may find themselves employed as security for a powerful magic worker.
G RENADINES (C ARIB )
This archipelago of tiny islands is unclaimed by Europeans.
Fiercely hostile Caribs occupy many of the islands, and pirates often hide here or use the islands as a temporary base for preying on the Spanish Main. They are also a favorite site for pirates to careen their ships.
Produce: Nothing Demand: None
Scenario Hook: PC pirates may flee here after an unsuccessful raid. Can they repair their ship before the Caribs find them?
G UADELOUPE (F RENCH )
Guadeloupe is actually twin islands, separated by a narrow channel of seawater known as the Rivière Salée. A wide stone bridge crosses this ‘salt river’. The west island, Basse-Terre, is rugged and hilly, with high waterfalls and dense rainforest.
Basse-Terre is of volcanic origin, with its highest peak, Sufriere, being an active volcano. Grand-Terre in the east is low and flat, with fertile soil. It is here that most of Guadeloupe’s crops are grown.
Guadeloupe is the center of French sugar production, and was the first French island to grow sugar at all. Dutch colonists fled their settlements in Brazil after a Spanish attack, coming here and bringing the secrets of sugar cultivation with them. There are around 4,000 white settlers and servants here, most of them French, and 7,000 black slaves. The island has long been coveted by the English, who regularly attack and invade it. So far the French have retained control of Guadeloupe, but have fought several tough battles to do so, most of them at Fort Louis Delgres. This huge and sturdy stronghold protects Basse-Terre’s main port, which is also called Basse-Terre.
Just to the south of Guadeloupe is a smaller island named Marie-Galante which has a few French settlers, and four tiny isles known as Les Saintes which are occupied by a few Caribs. A few small, uninhabited islands can also be found to the north, east and west of Guadeloupe, including La Désirade, Pigeon Island and the Isles de la Petite Terre.
Produce: Sugar, Coffee, Cocoa Demand: Slaves, Meat
Scenario Hook: There has always been a bridge here. Always. When the first European settlers arrived here, they found a bridge whose complex construction seemed beyond the natives of the region. Some bokor whisper that it is more than a passage between islands; they say it is a road between worlds.
H ISPANIOLA (F RENCH /S PANISH )
Since 1697, Hispaniola has been divided into St. Domingue (French) on the Western side (equivalent to modern Haiti), and Santo Domingo (Spanish) on the Eastern side. See the separate entries for St. Domingue and Santo Domingo.
J AMAICA (E NGLISH )
Recently conquered from the Spanish, this fertile and sunny island is already beginning to be significant to the English economy, particularly as its new inhabitants devote more and more land to growing sugar. The English colonists originally tried to grow cocoa, as the Spanish had done, but the crops failed. Slaves who had been left behind by the Spanish claim that this is because the English are ignorant of the bizarre magical ceremonies that the Spanish performed to make the cocoa grow.
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-Produce: Meat (Beef ), Sugar, Coffee, Cotton, Spices (Ginger) Demand: Iron, Manufactured Goods, Wool, Slaves
Scenario Hook: Escaped slaves, known as the Maroons, have banded together in the northwest of the island. They are led by the fierce and charismatic Cudjoe, and their hideouts are on the rugged mountain plateaus known as the Cockpits.
The Barbadian authorities have been at war with the Maroons for decades, but do not seem able to wipe them out, and the Maroons constantly raid plantations and attack travelers. Many of the original Maroons are former Spanish slaves who escaped in the confusion of the English invasion, but further escapees since have joined them. There are 3,500 white colonists and 20,000 black slaves on the island, plus a few hundred Maroons.
M ARGARITA (S PANISH )
A small island off the coast of the Spanish Main, just north of Cumana, Margarita is named for the Spanish word for Pearl.
Its pearl oysters are unrivalled in the Caribbean, as is its beauty. The island is protected from pirates and other foes by several sturdy fortresses of Spanish construction. Spaniards, black slaves, and Guaqueri Indians inhabit it. The hill of Matasiete, on
the northeast of the island, is a stronghold of the Guaqueri against the Spanish invaders. One of the most famous
sights on Margarita is El Angel, a natural rock formation resembling a praying angel and said to be a place where magical and divine energies are strong.
Produce: Pearls, Fish, Game (Venison, Wild Goat) Demand: None
Scenario Hook: The Spanish have more than forts to protect their investment here. A Dragon Turtle protects the pearl beds. Captains that are in the know always have one or two heads of cattle to throw overboard in case Fuegara, as they call her, should show up. Pirates may be hired by one of Spain’s many enemies to put Fuegara down in preparation for a raid.
M ARTINIQUE (F RENCH )
Columbus, who called it “the most fertile, most delightful and most charming land in the world,” first discovered this northernmost of the Windward Islands. Martinique is still a little unstable after two attempted revolts in 1665 due to the colonists’ opposition to the French Exclusive, which severely restricts their trade opportunities. Its volcano, Mount Pelée, is still active, emitting ominous vapors and rumbles. The population is around 7,000 whites and 23,000 black slaves.
Martinique’s main town, Fort-de-France, is on the west coast.
It is defended by Fort Saint-Louis, a sturdy structure built on a rocky outcrop of land extending out into the bay and surrounded on three sides by water. Saint-Pierre, the second town, is also on the west coast and has its own fort, Fort Saint-Pierre.
Produce: Nothing Demand: Nothing
Scenario Hook: A group of bokor is working to force another eruption of Mount Pelée, hoping to gain magical power beyond anything mortals have ever known by sacrificing the entire population.
M ONTSERRAT (E NGLISH )
Although it is nominally an English settlement, many of the colonists on Montserrat are Irish Catholics whose families were deported here by Cromwell. There is some religious tension here, as the English government requires anyone applying for a land grant to swear allegiance to the Anglican Church. The tense political situation in the Caribbean as a whole has been caused by repeated tit-for-tat raids by the English and French on one another’s islands, which means that the Irish are even more marginalized, since the English suspect they may welcome a French invasion. The English have good reasons for those suspicions; the Irish population here was recently swelled by the deportation of a number of Irish rebels from St. Christopher, who had sided with the French there. The population is around 1,500 white (mostly Irish), and 3,500 black (mostly slaves).
The English colonists are, as might be expected, wealthy sugar planters.
The island is volcanic. Although the cone is now long since covered over with earth and grass, hot volcanic springs known as “soufrieres”
can be found throughout the island, indicating that the volcano is still active, and the island’s beaches are black sand. A sulphurous volcanic spring near the northeast coast of the island is known as Hell’s Gate for its stench of brimstone and threatening appearance.
The mountain is populated by large frogs, which the colonists hunt as a delicacy and refer to as mountain chicken. Forts at Plymouth and Kinsale, and coastal batteries at Bransby Bay, Old Road Bay, and Carr’s Bay defend Montserrat. Whether the predominantly Irish militia would be prepared to man them in the case of an attack is another matter.
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-Produce: Sugar Demand: Slaves
Scenario Hook: Hell’s Gate acquired its name from more than simply a stench of brimstone. Bokor will find that extremely powerful but darkly aspected Djab are easily summoned here. Bokor will also find that the local Irish Catholic priests are aware of this, have a Bearer among them, and deal harshly with heretics.
N EVIS (E NGLISH )
As well as producing a surprising quantity of sugar for such a small volcanic island, Nevis is an important stopping-place and trading town for ships traveling to and from Europe, partly because it is such a pleasant place to stop. Inevitably this brings in a great deal of wealth, and recently the inhabitants have begun to build forts to protect that wealth. Charles Fort
defends the capital, Charles Town. Several smaller fortifications are under construction around the island, because the wealth its sugar plantations
and commerce bring regularly attracts pirate raids and attacks by the French, Spanish and Dutch. Charles Town has a large Jewish community and perhaps the only synagogue in the Caribbean at this time.
The island is still volcanically active, although there have been no real eruptions in living memory; it is also particularly exposed to hurricanes. Like Barbadoes, Nevis is a central distribution point for the slave trade. Its total population is 3,000 whites and 5,000 black slaves, and was recently reduced when several thousand whites and blacks died in a devastating epidemic of fever.
Produce: Fish, Meat (Pork), Sugar, Tobacco Demand: Slaves
Scenario Hook: An overly zealous group of Catholic priests have decided to drive the Jews from the New World. Their first step is to hire a group of pirates to kidnap and kill the rabbi of the synagogue. The PCs can either be the group hired to kidnap him, or maybe they could be hired to protect the synagogue. Due to the nature of this adventure, it is recommended for mature players.