Re: [HoE] Skinnies [SPOILER] [LONG]

[IronPen@aol.com]

What with Brainburners out and all, I think it's high time to start some
completely inaccurate musings on Lost Colony and the intriguing mystery of the
Skinnies.  Before I go any further, some spoiler space is in order...

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OK.  First of all, let me say that the picture of a skinny on page 16 or
Brainburners is the scariest picture in the entire DL product line (beating
the Hell out of all the creepy stuff in BotD, even).  It's also among the
coolest.  But anyhow, going about this in a logical way, we who have read the
Marshal's sections of Brainburners, Wasted West, and various Deadlands books
know a few things:

1)  Aliens are an integral part of the DL universe, for whatever reason,
beginning with the Fortress of Fear aliens.  Knowing PEG, it's no coincidence
that the DL trilogy will end up back in outer space with Lost Colony.  This
being the case, all materials from all books are fair game for clues.  Heck,
even the poker deck hinted at some things in Hell on Earth (Servitors)!

2)  The relationship between Ghost Rock and Sykolite is key.  Sykolite's
secret is kept in much the same fashion as ghost rock's was, and I suspect
ehy're very similar.  They both whine, produce incredibly useful effects, and
are somehow alive.  From Brainburners, we are told: "...sykers [who use it]
are draining life force [strain] from something else"  Not someONE else,
someTHING else.  I'll bet that's deliberate.  Brainburners also declares:
"...[the sykolite gives off] actual life energy".  We also know that Strain is
life energy.  Finally, we know that they can be recharged, but PEG isn't
saying how.  That means it's important.    I think it's safe to assume that if
there was a way to recharge Ghost Rock, it would be either the exact same way
to recharge Sykolite or the exact opposite.  Ghost Rock gives off a loud moan;
Sykolite gives off a soft one.  Ghost Rock provides energy for vehicles;
Sykolite provides energy for living things.  So, an analogy presents itself:
Feul is to vehicles as [BLANK] is to living things.  Fill in the blank, and I
think it'll be a major clue.

3)  The skinnies themselves are "obviously anouks" (according to Branburners).
They're also incredibly powerful.  It seems, from their various descriptions
throughout that book, that they funciton, more or less, like beefed up sykers.
This is interesting, because sykers use the exact same form of magic as
hucksters, martial artists, and basically all other magic users.  They tap it
directly from the hunting grounds.  Up until now, all of the arcane background
(other than the Blessed) have had to consult a resident of the Hunting Grounds
to get their powers (nature spirits or manitou).  If Ghost Rock and Sykolite
are similar (see #2), then I'd guess that Sykolite contains another denizen of
the Hunting Grounds, which, knowing PEG, we've already been introduced to
somewhere.  The manitou and nature spirits have already been covered, and I
doubt that the various spirits from Ghost Dancers are viable alternatives, as
they seem to have been placed there randomly to make the Hunting Grounds more
interesting.  Whatever powers the Sykolite, unlike the nature spirits and
manitou, it doesn't haggle with the skinny over getting power from the Hunting
Grounds.  So, whatever inhabits the Sykolite is somethign that lives in the
Hunting Grounds but is willing to cooperate with mortals for no compensation
to itself.

4)  The skinnies didn't appear on Banshee (to the humans) until a war broke
out.  Also, unlike human magic users, they appear radically different from
their brethren.  Sykers' hair falls out, but the skinnies appear to be
entirely warped.  Perhaps the Syker hair loss (which is never adequately
explained) is just a minaiture version of what happens to the skinnies, whose
entire bodies become emaciated.  Now, it states in Brainburners that all
anouks have minor powers, similar to the skinnies, but much less potent.  It
also states that syker powers are genetically determined (as in, peopel who
can be sykers have that potential from birth).  If anouks are, as it would
seem, a race that has a genetic code which is much more condusive to syker
powers, then could the skinnies ismply be their verisons of sykers?  I doubt
it.  My guess is that skinnies are the product of living on a planet ripe with
Sykolite, which brings me to my next meandering point...

5)  Banshee is described as incredibly, indescribably old, even by planetary
standards.  This implies that it predates the Earth.  The aliens from Fortress
o' Fear also are very, very old.  The connection has to be there somewhere.
The FoF aliens are definitely aware of Banshee, because the final attack on
the Unity was their doing (I'm almost certain of it, although it's never
overtly stated... but who else lives in outer space in the DL universe?  It's
unlike PEG to throw in a random player in events like this).  I'm going to
guess that these incredibly powerful aliens and the skinnies are somehow
related, and that anouks are also at least distant cousins.  

6)  Now, how does all this tie in to the Reckoning?  To me, this is the
biggest mystery of all.  The rest of the puzzle can be guessed at with what I
hope is some accuracy, but this continues to confound me.  What the Hell are
the Reckoners doing in outer space?  Thus far, they've been pretty Biblical
about the whole process, and the Bible mainly concerns Earth and the heavens.
I doubt that even PEG would allow aliens to inhabit heaven, and Banshee's a
far cry from the afterlife anyhow.  We know that the Reckoners planted Ghost
Rock on faraway to lure the humans there, and that was premeditated.  Why?
Somethign there (other than the skinnies) must spell doom or salvation for the
humans, otherwise the Reckoners wouldn't have bothered to exert so much energy
getting them there.  It has somehting to do with all that Sykolite, but what?
Well, if Ghost Rock is made of tortured souls, then perhaps Sykolite is made
of pure Hunting Grounds-type energy?  That seems a little weak to me.  Any
ideas here?

Well, I think that about wraps it up.  If any of you have seen something I
haven't, please bring it to my (our) attention.  And thanks for sticking with
this rambling and long winded message.

-jesse ("Phew!")