Andre Arquette
Andre Arquette was an anthropologist from the University of Mayonne. He published a number of articles and publications under the university press, but he had gained fame and notoriety for his publication of Monsters of Moreaux Island about the Mundaguk people of Moreaux Island.
Early Life 🔗
Andre was very sickly in his younger years, often diagnosed with fever and malaise. His poor health had forced his parents to homeschool the child, hiring a number of different tutors depending on his need. By all accounts, he was a fantastic student, with his tutors often impressed with the amount of progress he made, especially in his language subjects. He had special interest in history, however, and was often interested in the unfolding of history and how people played their roles in shaping it.
When he turned 16, one tutor had shown him that recent developments in historiography had made it clear that traditional histories often left out how ethnic groups and their peculiarities have shaped how such events unfolded, and thus began his overwhelming interest in Anthropology.
University 🔗
His first years in the University of Mayonne were difficult for young Andre. He was not used to social interaction due to his sheltered and secluded childhood. Even though is health was much better at this point than it was in his younger days, he often faced bullying from some of his peers because of how much smaller and thinner he was than the average.
He used the experience to publish his own work though, called A Study of the Dynamic of the Body Academic (sometimes shortened to Body Academic), which was a personal effort to make sense of the first two years of his university life. The negative portrayal of certain sections of the student body and the faculty had caused derision in many cases, but the quality of the work had also brought admiration to many.
UoM's College of Anthropology had chosen to accelerate his career by including him in various field studies of indigenous groups. He was brought in as an intern in a joint study in the grammar and evolution of the Baraonian Language.
The Cannibal moniker 🔗
Following the publication of Body Academic, Arquette was called out by a fellow named Marcus Pillorante for allegedly describing an individual who shared some of his distinct features, and equating him to a monkey-in-heat. Lacking much physical strength in his arms, when it came to blows, he chose to defend himself by using his teeth. He bit off Pillorante's ear, and in some accounts, he chewed on the piece and swallowed. The event quickly frightened Pillorante, who was rushed to a nearby clinic.
Pillorante brought the matter up to the Office of the Rector, but the case was dismissed due to overwhelming evidence that he had instigated the fight. Pillorante was quite popular though, and many of his friends began referring to Arquette as the Campus Cannibal.
Discovery and Mission to Moreaux Island 🔗
In 1269 AI, Arquette joined an expedition to document the various ethnic sub-groups in and around the islands of L'Illes Apgarie. Reports of a subset of ethnically Estregan people have thrived, even on some of the smallest islets and platorms in the area, and have survived by providing services to pirates and privateers who used the waters around the islands to dodge Seneran Navy patrols.
Their expedition was cut short, however, when they were caught in between a confrontation between the Senerans and a vessel bearing the Bouillard family crest. Their ship survived the damage they had received, but they were forced to land on an uncharted island surrounded by mangroves. The island, to their surprise, was populated by a number of people who spoke a language similar to the Estregan Language.
By general consensus by the survivors, they dedicated the island to the voyage's deceased captain, Marvin Moreaux when they publish their reports on it. The natives called themselves the Mundaguk, meaning "Men at the edge of the world". The Mundaguk practiced a form of gerontophagic ritual cannibalism.
The ritual is undergone when an individual member of the community reaches a certain age, and is without obvious signs of disease. First the island shamans prepare a certain mushroom, called the Moreaux mushroom by the survivors, to be consumed by the family members of said individual. This mushroom somehow stimulates the senses of the person's family, that they are able to consume the person in their entirety, completely raw.
Shortly after their return to Mayonne, Arquette wrote and published Monsters of Moreaux Island. The book so fascinated the people of Apgar, that a number of plays and songs were made, inspired by the source material. They took many liberties, however, which led to the popular misconception of Mundaguk cannibalism.
Addiction to the Moreaux Mushroom 🔗
Andre Arquette took a number of raw Moreaux Mushrooms to Mayonne with him, with the intention of further research on its effects. Upon his return however, he was beset by curiosity, and decided to eat one raw. Its effects were immediate. His muscles bulged to unbelievable proportions, and his appetite for human flesh was uncontrollable. He destroyed the door to his dorm room and ran to the nearest scent of human. Coincidentally, he encountered Marcus Pillorante. In the morning, Arquette was found in Pillorante's room, lying next to his victim's almost completely consumed body. Only the man's head and extremities were uneaten.
Attempts were made to hide the incident, but eventually the University of Mayonne was forced to dismiss him from his professorship. Arquette still had a number of mushrooms in his possession though. The fact that his first victim was a man that persecuted him for most of his public life had emboldened him to try it more, believing that he could direct his Moreaux Monster to be a force for good.
A play called Cowl of the Moonlight was in the works based on the Moreaux Monster and his exploits. This had brought the attention of Paula Abdul to him, right as he was running out of the mushroom, and suffering withdrawal as he rationed them. She offered to find him more mushrooms in return of doing errands for her. These errands often involved, eating specific individuals for her.
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