Félicie is a secret group inside the French secret services which protects France against cultists, sects and tentacular monstersTM.
Introduction
Félicie is far from an apolitical group. Being former members of the anti-Nazi resistance, having helped in all the dirty wicked tricks during decolonisation and the cold war, its bosses are almost unscrupulous mercenaries (if you know who Bob Denard is, he's exactly the kinda guy), oscillating between Gaullism and right wing extremism. Moreover, Félicie is funded by the highest authorities of the Republic. Fighting the Mythos is their main goal but they have other activities which range from organising a coup d'état to "police actions" to help the big French companies. The organisation is mostly present in the former French colonies and a lot of its agents act like the empire still existed.
For Félicie's members, the destruction of Mythos entities is a priority. They don't really care about being able to study the Mythos and the idea of a "peaceful contact" didn't even came to them. The organisation is not omniscient about the Mythos, with libraries full of Necronomicons. With time, its members have acquired a certain "field knowledge" but that's nearly all. They are able to tell you: "The Sahara is infested with giant blood sucking worms that we nuked back in 1966", but that's far from being able to give details about the Cthonians, or even just name them.
In game terms, Félicie's members are secret agents and mercenaries thus you can forget the library skill and most of the scientific skills! But they all have skills like parachuting, fly airplane, guerilla warfare, explosives, heavy weaponry.
Félicie's identity card
- Born: 1899 in Mauritania, but got officialised on april 17 1901 by President Loubet.
- Original mission: investigation on the "unexplainable" and other sensitive matters.
- Present mission: unchanged.
- Jurisdiction: officially NONE. In reality, all the French ex-colonial empire and "partner countries" (good relations with China since 1969).
- Headquarters: Musée de l'Homme, anthropology division, Paris.
- Personnel: 5 permanent (the 5 branches of the "star"), about 20 agents and hundreds of "friendlies"
- Connections: French Army, Pasteur Institute, 'Grande Bibliothéque de France'(French Great Library), CNRS, CNES, INRA. Relations with French companies with international interests (Roussel-Uclaf, Thomson, Merlin-Guérin, Total-Fina-Elf, IFREMER and several little high-tech companies).
- Annual budget: Officially 2 million, the equivalent of the structural cost of the Élysée Palace, but actually more through connections within the Army and secret services.
- Global Knowledge of the Mythos: 56% on the Mythos in general; 25% on Cyaegha; 63% on Chaugnar Faugn and the Tcho-Tcho; 69% on Cthonians; 74% on Majestic-12, the CEEPS and UFOS (Mi-Go 39%); 51% on the Karotechia; 21% on Russian psychic experiments. Occult 77%. (These numbers represent the chance that a specific information can be located in the organisation's files. It may take up to one week to locate the information though.)
Timeline
1899: Mauritania. Several riots in desert tribes occur, these have been instigated by sorcerers of a previously unknown cult. A militaro-scientific expedition is sent in the Sahara to investigate. Only one of the scientists (Professor Ernest Veroneau) and a caporal (Matthieu Compagnon) come back. They both declare having discovered an ancient city nammed G'harne…. Subsenquently, they found an organisation with a handful of like-minded individuals, which they call "L'Étoile d'Argent" (the Silver Star).
1901: President Loubet officialises l'Étoile d'Argent which becomes an organisation of fight against the "paranormal fraud". It has jurisdiction over the whole French colonial empire, but its sphere of influence goes beyond, to France's allied countries.
1908: The Tsar of Russia asks France to 'lent' him 'les Argents' (the Silvers) in order to study the famous "Tungunska cataclysm". The investigations are stopped by the 1917's Revolution.
From 1910 to 1918: Systematical investigation in any 'strange' affair potentially implying a foreign government. Around two hundred investigations are made…
1924: l'Étoile investigates in a small village of Germany where the inhabitants make human sacrifices to a divinity called Cyaegha…
1936: Le Front Populaire (Popular Front) officialy dissolves l'Étoile d'Argent. Its Members are integrated to the Section of Intelligence Centralisation (Section de Centralisation des Renseignements), and, more precisely, to a paranormal study group: le Bureau S.
Natural death of Pr. Veroneau
From 1921 to 1938: Numerous expeditions in North-Africa and Far-East (ie. Tibet). Discovery of the cult of Chaugnar Faugn and study of a "Indochinese Neolithic population" (Tcho-Tcho).
1940: The S Bureau breaks up. One part follow the Petainist French government, under the impulsion of Matthieu Compagnon (now a full Colonel). Others try to use their Mythos knowledge to fight the Nazis, with disastrous results! A minority gets into a more conventional clandestinity, founding "Félicie" a branch of the Resistant network of the 'Musée de l'Homme'. The colonial Félicies are particularly active in Asia, where they participate in several actions against Research centers of General Shiro Ishii's Unit 731.
1945: Colonel Compagnon is shot dead and what's left of the S Bureau officially dissolved for collaboration with the Enemy.
1946: Over 2000 UFOs are sighted over Scandinavia. They look like missiles with a burning extremity. One of them crashes. Pr. Dumard, member of Félicie, is sent to study the remnants with some europeans collegues. Their analysis shows that the 'phantom rocket' is made of an organic matter alien to Earth.
Creation of the European Comitee of Studies on Stellar Phenonena (CEEPS), a secret european organisation regrouping French, English, Italian, Greek, German and Swiss laboratories. The CEEPS is still active today and pursues Majestic-12 goals (it was infiltrated early on).
1948: General De Gaulle makes Félicie members part of his praetorian guard, the future SAC (Service of Civic Action). Félicie becomes an unofficial network of the presidency.
1952: The French submarine 'La Sybille' disappears in the Meditterranean Sea, south of Spain. Félicie and Delta Green run into each other, monkeywrenching each other, and the investigation aren't conclusive. In the following years, several other boats (French but also Russian or of the NATO) disappear mysteriously in the same area. It seems that there is a Deep Ones dwelling near the Gibraltar Detroit. Nothing has been proven yet.
1954-1971: Félicie investigates the Sovietic experiments on 'mental powers' and over several affairs implicating Majestic-12 (The CEEPS) in Europe.
1954-1975: General De Gaulle (and his succesors) ask Félicie to investigate all the governments of the newly decolonised countries to avoid 'cultist' influence. This results in serial 'coups d'Etat' and 'political' assassinations. It is the golden age of the organisation, which has a real influence on the French foreign policy…
If Félicie as an organisation mostly remains politicaly neutral, isolated elements become part of 'hardcore' anti-decolonisation movements. Nowadays, those have joined the French nationalist movements (possible links to the Karotechia).
On the other hand, a member of Félicie joins the Viet-Minh (and becomes later a member of the Red Khmers and personnal advisor of Pol Pot…) and another becomes part of the FLN (nowadays, under orders of the Algerian government).
1961: The 'Gerboise' Incident. Strange events occur around Reganne (the military center of experimentation on the french atomic bombs located in Sahara). The explosion of an A Bomb (called 'Gerboise Bleue') awakes Cthonians. The terrifying results of Félicie's investigations lead to the use of the Atom Bomb 5 years later on Oct.04 1966; officially it is an atmospheric test-blast, codename 'Aldebaran'.
1969: Félicie investigates on the CIA's actions in Viet-Nam: Not only the CIA has agreements with Chaugnar Faugn adorators (in the purpose of destroying the Viet-Minh) but it has used bacteriological weapons in Cambodge (weapons created by the Unit 731). In order to erase all trace of anything compromising, the US administration orders a 'destructive raid'. It leads into a massacre, 3000 Marines die. It gets covered up by the Great Têt offensive, while Delta Green, the perfect scapegoat, is dissolved.
1976-1979: Research is made to create an airborne device able to detect Cthonian activity. This project will be known later under the nickname: "Sniffing Plane" (Cost: 779 millions of Francs - around $100 millions). This project is a failure and abandonned in 1979.
1977: Creation of the GEPAN (Aerospacial Unidentified Phenomena Study Group) under the CNES (National Center on Spacial Study) by recommandation of the ministry of defense (more precisely the 'Institut des Hautes Études de la Défense Nationale'). Its mission is to monitor the UFO phenomena with the help of the most eminent scientists. This group is actually a branch of Félicie specialised in the UFO phenomena. It is totally independant of the CEEPS (which has been headed by a Majestic-12 agent since the early 60's).
1979: Operation Barracuda. Emperor Bokassa is militarily taken out in Centrafrica. Bokassa, until now supported by France, was actually under the influence of Azathoth worshippers. This affair discredits Félicie because everything indicates that someone intentionnaly misinformed/tricked the organisation for more than 15 years.
January 8, 1981: Trans-en-Provence Incident. Landing of a 'flattened sphere'. The INRA (National Institute on Agronomical Research) discovers that the vegetals around the area have inexplicably aged.
1982: Dissolution of the SAC by President François Mitterand. Without political support, Félicie looses its influence and most of its resources.
June 17, 1983: The INRA scientist who had made the experiments on the Trans-en-Provence samples is found dead in the 'Forêt du Massacre' (Massacre Forest) in the Haut Jura region. He was coming back from a symposium in Geneva.
1983: An article of the "Canard Enchainé" newspaper reveals the story of the 'sniffing planes' to the french public, presenting it as a gigantic fraud. Félicie looses the rest of the very little credibility it still had in the higher spheres. On December 21 1983, the group is officially dissolved by President Mitterand, with the exception of GEPAN. Who leaked the story to the journalists is unknow, but it seems evident that Félicie pays for its Gaullist past.
1984: Félicie becomes a civilian association ("type loi 1901" -ie. non-profit). It will act through its network of friendlies all over the world (mostly through humanitarian entities and NGOs such as Médecins du Monde)
1986: First locust invasion in Madagascar. Since then, new waves appear and disappear mysteriously… (The first representant of the New Great Race???)
1988: The GEPAN is disbanded under strange circonstances. A new organisation takes its place: the SEPRA, under supervision from CNES. Unlike the GEPAN, the SEPRA does not conduct any scientific investigation, it simply gathers and compiles information. The results of this work are then studied to decide if field investigation (made directly by the CNES) is necessary. No ex-Félicie is transfered to the SEPRA.
1989-1991: Between 2000 and 3000 UFO sightings in Belgium.
November 5, 1990: around 400 UFO sightings between 2:30 AM and 11:30 PM (46% around 7PM) in more than 75 French departments, Paris included.
1994: Félicie investigates strange events in the Pyrennean Mountains. It seems there is a Cult of Chaugnar Faugn in the Basque region.
1996: 18 St-Cyr students, and the 3 Legionnaires who were in charge of them, disappear in Guyana during a Commando training. It seems they met a primitive kind of serpent-men…
President Jacques Chirac, influenced by Jacques Foccart (a historical figure of Gaullism and contact of Félicie during the 1920's), reactivates Félicie, integrating it to the anthropology section of the 'Musée de l'Homme'. Mr. Foccart dies soon after of an 'heart attack'. Even if the Musée de l'Homme depends of the Ministry of Education and Research, Félicie answers only to the President; this creates tensions (enmities) between the goverment and the scientific organisations. Even if their resources are handed back to them, Félicie members are now normal citizens who must respect all French laws…
September 21, 1998: A research expedition of ELF Aquitaine is killed in Antartica. A few frames from the video-surveillance tape of the base reveal the truth: a Gnoph-Keh killed them. This is strange since Gnoph-Keh were never sighted outside of Arctica before…
Important individuals
Pr. Ernest Veroneau
Professor Veroneau isn't dead. During his years as head of L'Étoile d'Argent, his sanity slowly went down, until he met someone (that we know today under the name Stephen Alzis) who turned him.
Pr. Veroneau did not fake his death, he was revived by some of his 'new friends' and was given a new identity. He is now a Swiss citizen. During the 60's, Veroneau spent most of his time in Indochina, with his Tcho-Tcho friends. He was behind most of the events that led into Félicie's dissolution.
He and his Tcho-Tcho friends made an attempt to take Chaugnar Faugn back to the Basque Region back in 1999, but this was somehow avoided (to the cost of the lives of four Félicie agents). Veroneau escaped.
The fake death of Pr. Veroneau is now known to Félicie, which places the elimination of its former creator on top of its 'to do' list.
Appendix: The French colonial empire in 1931
North Africa: Algeria, Tunisia (protectorate), Morocco (protectorate)
Americas: Guyana, Guadeloupe (and some other islands), Martinique, St Pierre et Miquelon
Africa: 'French Occidental Africa' (Senegal, Soudan, Mauritania, Niger, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Dahomey), 'French Equatorial Africa' (Gabon, Tchad, part of Congo, Oubangui-Chari), Djibouti, SDN mandates of Cameroun and Togo
Indian Ocean and Antartica: Madagascar, Comores, Réunion, the Scattered Islands and Austral Islands, Terre Adélie
Asia and middle-East: Indochina (Cochinchina, Annam, Tonkin, Cambodge, Laos, Kouang-Tcheou-Wan), French India (Pondichéry, Changernagor, Yanaon, Karikal et Mahé), Mandats du Levant (Syria and libannon), Cheikh Saïd
Pacific Ocean: Oceany (Tahiti and other islands), New Caledonia, New Hebrids (co-government with UK), Wallis and Futuna (protectorate), Vanuatu.
Credits
Félicie and L'Étoile d'Argent are creations of Phillipe Rat.
Translated from French by Nash. Corrected by Fairfield Project contributors.