After the Church of Dagon and the Dark Confederacy, I thought it was about time that I introduced some characters who might, with a considerable amount of generosity, be described as the good guys of Dracula’s America. Of course, good and evil are rather flexible concepts in a world ruled by Dracula, populated by the walking dead and littered with secret societies pursuing their own supernatural ambitions, so perhaps it is safer to say that the Salem Sisterhood are at least fighting on the right side most of the time. My new posse is built around the three witches required to form a Salem Coven, the Maiden, Mother and Crone, together with the Guardian who has sworn to protect them, and I wanted them to have an identity that distinguished them immediately from the rather more conventionally sinister inhabitants of my growing Dracula’s America collection.

That identity became The Crimson Coven of Salem. Rather than dressing the three witches in the traditional black so readily associated with witchcraft and mourning, I decided to paint them in a deep Khorne Red, and the colour quickly suggested a story of its own. Within the Coven, crimson is worn deliberately as a remembrance of the blood shed during the Salem persecutions and of those who suffered because accusation, fear and superstition proved more powerful than reason or justice. It is also a declaration that these witches have no intention of hiding themselves beneath the black robes expected of them, for Abigail Hawthorne, Mercy Blackwood and Temperance Crowe belong to a generation prepared to confront the supernatural horrors of Dracula’s America openly rather than disappear quietly into its shadows.

The three women who form the Crimson Coven could scarcely be more different, although that difference is central to what makes them effective together. Abigail Hawthorne, the Crone, carries the accumulated experience and caution of the Coven and has learned how to turn fortune against those who threaten it. Mercy Blackwood, the Mother, stands at its centre as protector and practical conscience, using her abilities to shield the others while attempting to restrain the more adventurous instincts of her younger companion. Temperance Crowe, the Maiden, represents curiosity and possibility, possessing considerably more enthusiasm for discovering the limits of witchcraft than either Abigail or Mercy considers entirely sensible. Each begins with only a small measure of supernatural knowledge, but together their different abilities and personalities make the Coven considerably more formidable than any one of them would be alone.

Standing beside them is Elias Ward, the Guardian, whose presence has nothing to do with enchantment or supernatural coercion. His family carries its own uncomfortable connection with the Salem persecutions, but Elias does not protect the witches because he believes himself personally responsible for the actions of a long dead ancestor. He does so because he believes in their cause and because the possibility that his own daughter may one day display supernatural abilities has made the struggle intensely personal. When danger threatens the Coven, Elias is therefore prepared to put himself between the Sisters and whatever is coming their way, whether that happens to be a charging monster, an enemy gunman or something considerably less easily explained.

Together they are The Crimson Coven of Salem, three witches and their Guardian travelling through an America in which the distinction between monster and hero has become increasingly difficult to identify. They may not always be good in the conventional sense, and their methods are unlikely to satisfy everyone they encounter, but compared with Dracula, the Dark Confederacy and the devotees of Dagon, they are at least making a respectable attempt.

The Salem Sisterhood are an ancient society of white witches whose presence in America dates back to the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers. Hidden among the early colonists was a coven of female Arcanists drawn from particular hereditary bloodlines. While the women wielded magic, trusted male relatives served as their Guardians, protecting the witches from both supernatural enemies and the persecution of ordinary people.

The Posse

Despite being feared and hunted as witches, the Sisterhood remained loyal to its original purpose: protecting humanity, preserving the natural balance of Arcane power and guarding dangerous relics that must never fall into the wrong hands. Of particular importance is something known only as Washington’s Secret, which generations of the Sisterhood have sworn to protect. The published material deliberately leaves the precise nature of this secret unexplained, making it an excellent basis for campaigns and individual posse histories.

By 1875, Dracula has seized control of the United States and declared himself President for life. His rule has disturbed the Arcane balance and encouraged vampires, cultists, necromancers and other occult powers to emerge throughout the country. The Sisterhood can no longer remain hidden. Small covens now travel into the American West and the Deep South, recovering forbidden relics, opposing those who misuse magic and preventing rival supernatural factions from gaining still greater power.

The Gunslingers

A Salem Sisterhood posse is centred upon three witches representing the traditional stages of womanhood:

• The Maiden, generally the youngest and most impulsive member of the coven
• The Mother, the mature guiding presence who holds the coven together
• The Crone, the eldest and most knowledgeable keeper of its secrets
• The Guardian, a trusted male relative sworn to defend the three witches

They are accompanied by ordinary gunfighters, retainers and family members who may know something of the Sisterhood’s true purpose, although they probably understand very little of its oldest mysteries. Individually the witches are vulnerable, but when the three work together their command of Arcane power increases enormously.

The Coven

In essence, the Salem Sisterhood are not servants of Dracula and they are not wicked witches seeking personal power. They are secretive protectors of humanity who believe that magic must remain balanced and that certain knowledge is too dangerous to be freely used. This naturally places them in opposition to Dracula’s Red Hand Coven, the necromancers of the Dark Confederacy and, particularly, the Church of Dagon, whose efforts to summon ancient powers threaten everything the Sisterhood has protected since colonial times.

The Guardian

They are a logical next choice especially given their close geographical proximity to the centre of the Church of Dagon’s power in Innsmouth.