The Salem Sisterhood starter pack I received from North Star Miniatures came with a second Maiden miniature, and at first I had intended to use only one, with Abigail Hawthorne becoming the established Maiden of the Crimson Coven. When North Star didn’t want me to return it, the second figure was too useful to leave unused, and rather than paint her as a simple duplicate I decided to bring her into the story as a separate character with her own relationship to the Coven.
That became Anna Ward, daughter of Elias Ward. Making her part of the story also gave Elias a stronger personal connection to the Sisterhood while allowing the second Maiden miniature to represent something different from Abigail. Anna carries her own doll, Mercy, but her developing Arcane abilities are distinct from Abigail and Patience, giving the two young witches their own identities while still creating a deliberate visual and narrative link between them.
Anna does not yet wear the crimson dress that has become the unofficial uniform of the Crimson Coven, because Prudence insists that such recognition must be earned rather than assumed. Until Anna has proved herself worthy of full acceptance among the Sisters, she wears the cream clothing traditionally associated with a novice, marking her as one who has entered the Coven’s circle but is still learning its disciplines, responsibilities and dangers. The distinction is deliberately visible, reminding both Anna and those around her that she belongs with the Coven without yet standing as the equal of its fully recognised witches.
Anna Ward and Mercy
Anna Ward grew up knowing that her father carried a debt he could never fully repay. Elias Ward rarely spoke about Salem when she was young, but Anna understood that the family name carried a history of persecution and fear. As Elias became Guardian to the Crimson Coven, Anna grew up around Prudence Blackwood, Rebecca Crowe and Abigail Hawthorne, gradually becoming familiar with a world that most people would have regarded with suspicion.
Her own Arcane abilities appeared slowly through small incidents that were easy to dismiss at first. Candles guttered when she became angry, dreams occasionally revealed events before they happened, and she sometimes knew who stood behind a closed door before anyone knocked. Elias hoped these things were imagination, while Prudence recognised the signs of emerging Arcane sensitivity and began teaching Anna the discipline needed to control it.
Anna’s constant companion is a small doll named Mercy, an old family possession given to her by Elias. Unlike Abigail’s Patience, Mercy does not appear to possess an independent spirit, but she acts as a focus for Anna’s abilities. Anna often claims that Mercy has warned her of danger, identified hidden threats or revealed things that should have remained unseen, although Prudence believes that the doll simply gives form to Anna’s own developing instincts.
This immediately created a strong bond between Anna and Abigail. Both young women carry dolls and are frequently underestimated because of their age, yet their abilities are quite different. Abigail reaches outward through Summoning, while Anna senses concealed influence, emotional residue and traces of Arcane activity that others overlook. Abigail can open doors, while Anna is often the first to realise that a door should not exist at all.
For Elias, Anna’s awakening forced him to reconsider what being a Guardian truly meant. He could hardly claim to defend the freedom of the Sisters while denying his own daughter the right to follow the same path because he feared for her safety. When Anna asked to accompany the Coven into the field, Prudence insisted that she first learn discipline, weapons and judgement, and only after proving herself was she allowed to join them.
Elias marked that acceptance by giving Anna the pistol that had once belonged to her grandmother, a well cared for revolver that carried considerably more family history than decoration. Until her Arcane abilities developed far enough for Prudence to recognise her formally as a witch, Anna would travel with the Coven as a gunfighter, learning how to survive alongside the others while contributing in a role that demanded judgement rather than raw supernatural power. For Elias the gift represented more than a weapon, because handing it to his daughter acknowledged that protecting her could no longer mean keeping her from danger, but instead preparing her to face it on her own terms.
Anna now travels with the Crimson Coven as its youngest developing witch, usually with Mercy tucked beneath one arm and a pistol carried beneath the other. Strangers tend to see a quiet young woman with a battered doll standing close to her father, but those who know the Coven have learned to pay attention whenever Mercy appears to be looking at something nobody else can see.
