The witches of the Crimson Coven of Salem understand that arcane power alone will not keep them alive in the dangerous world of Dracula’s America. Magic can accomplish remarkable things, but it attracts attention, carries risks of its own and is not always the answer when an enemy appears suddenly with a pistol already drawn. The Coven therefore accepts the assistance of a small number of outsiders who believe sufficiently in its cause to place themselves between the witches and those who would destroy them.

Among these are two gunslingers whose paths have brought them into the company of the Coven for very different reasons. Jonas Cade is a seasoned gunman who has seen enough genuine evil to recognise that the witches of Salem are not responsible for the darkness spreading across America, while Clara Bell joined simply as another pistol for hire before discovering that her connection with the Coven might run considerably deeper than she expected.

Jonas Cade, Gunslinger

Jonas Cade has spent most of his adult life discovering that a reputation with a pistol is considerably easier to acquire than it is to escape. He has worked as a trail guard, hired gun and occasional bounty hunter, drifting from one employer to another while becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the sort of men prepared to pay well for violence. His association with the Crimson Coven began when he was hired to escort several travellers through hostile country and discovered only after accepting the money that his passengers were witches fleeing men who intended to hang them.

Cade could have walked away, but instead stayed and fought, an act that cost him several former friends and earned him the trust of the Coven. He makes no claim to understand witchcraft and has little interest in learning, but he has seen enough of the darkness abroad in America to know that the women of Salem are not its cause. Cade now hires his pistols to the Coven for considerably less than they are worth, although he becomes distinctly irritated whenever anyone suggests that this means he has finally developed principles.

Clara Bell, Gunslinger

Clara Bell learned to shoot because the world had repeatedly demonstrated that relying upon somebody else for protection was a poor survival strategy. Quick with a pistol and possessed of an unnerving calm when violence begins, she originally joined the Coven as hired protection, expecting nothing more mysterious than guarding three witches while they travelled. Instead she discovered that she could sometimes sense their workings before a spell was cast, feeling the gathering of arcane power as a faint pressure behind her eyes and occasionally knowing that something unnatural was nearby before any of the witches themselves had spoken.

The Coven believes Clara possesses a small but genuine latent arcane talent, although whether it will ever develop into something useful remains uncertain. Clara has consequently begun learning the rudiments of witchcraft whenever circumstances allow, approaching the subject with considerably more caution than enthusiasm. She has no intention of abandoning her pistols for spell books, nor does she imagine herself becoming a great witch, but in Dracula’s America it seems sensible to have another weapon available. Just in case.

Pistols and Witchcraft

Neither Jonas nor Clara would describe themselves as members of the Crimson Coven in quite the same way as the witches themselves. Jonas remains suspicious of magic even while defending those who practise it, while Clara is beginning to wonder whether she has been standing outside the circle only because nobody, including herself, realised that she belonged somewhere within it. What they share is the understanding that the Coven has made powerful enemies and that those enemies are unlikely to be impressed by good intentions.

For the witches, the two gunslingers provide something equally valuable. Jonas brings experience, a steady hand and the willingness to stand his ground when sensible people would already be riding in the opposite direction, while Clara offers much the same with the intriguing possibility of something more. When the arcane powers of the Coven are insufficient, there are therefore two additional answers close at hand, usually loaded, holstered and ready to be drawn.