Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Magic!

The Colonies, 1777. For over 200 years the Covenant, a secret organisation using ever increasing powers of witchcraft to manipulate the fate of nations, had turned it’s attentions to the fledgling state fighting for it’s freedom. Its plans to aid Britain achieve global power were under threat and it would stop at nothing to bring the Colonies back under British control.

But among the American troops was Proctor Brown. His mother was a witch and the family had fled persecution in Salem. Although Proctor had inherited some ‘talent’ he knew little of it’s potential and had been taught to keep it a secret. However, as he fought the British at Lexington and Concord he encountered powerful magic and charms that protected British officers from harm, and later curses that robbed the American troops of their strength and will to fight.

During this time he also encountered other witches, helping the cause of Liberty and through the Rev. Emerson he was taken to the Farm, a secret location hidden by magic from prying eyes, where witches from throughout the colonies, passed through to escape persecution, or stayed to learn from other witches. The Farm was home to Elizabeth and her daughter, Deborah, Magdalena, an old German healer, and Cecily, a Virginian woman of some substance and unknown ‘talent’.

As Proctor had been lead to the Farm he had unwittingly aided the escape of an evil witch, known only as Old Nance, and this raised some suspicions as to his true allegiance. After several weeks of hard work on the Farm, Proctor was still trying to prove himself but soon his allegiance would be decided beyond doubt! And so the story begins…

Two nights ago their lives had changed forever. In the middle of the night three men and found their way past the charms that protected the Farm had killed Elizabeth. Proctor had managed to kill them and Deborah’s powers had broken Nance’s charms, but they knew their safe haven was no longer and they would have to flee. After burying the three killers and packing what they could they set off from the Farm. Proctor and Deborah, Ezra the farmhand and his mule, Magdalena and the Rev. Emerson, armed now to defend them all. However, in the chaos of the attack Cecily had disappeared and could not be found anywhere.

Travelling along the road they approached the ford, the Reverend leading the way:

But Deborah suddenly realised that something was wrong and called to Proctor:

The Reverend ran back along the road, hurrying along Ezra as the sound of horses could be heard in approaching:

As they finally crossed the Ford a coach the like of which they had never seen before clattered down the road with but a single driver and no escort:

And as it drew up to the ford and stopped a shadowy figure could be seen inside:

Tensing, not knowing what to expect, Proctor felt the strange tingle he always felt when magic was near, but this sensation was different, wrong and a sense of dread increased as a cold fog descended and something terrible emerged from the woods…

The three horrendous figures shuffled towards them. The three attackers from the Farm, dragged from their graves by a terrible magic!

In the background, they could see Nance, but she was not the source of the magic! Beyond her stood the impeccably dressed figure of Cecily! It was clear now how their charms had failed at the Farm. They had a traitor amongst them!

Soon the fog was lifted as Deborah and Magdalena used their own talent to fight back and battle was joined!

One of the terrible zombies attacked Magdalena but despite her age and infirmity her talent was strong and with Proctor’s help she drove it back!

As Proctor, Deborah and Magdalena focused their power they drove the zombies back across the river and the Reverend pursued them showing no fear!

The power of Nance and Cecily was starting to wane and they sensed that their plans were going awry:

Magdalena faced down Nance and drove them all back to the coach as the zombies were finally driven back in to the woods!

But they still sensed another power, strange, strong and focused on the coach…

And soon Nance, Cecily and their servants crowded around the coach, as if waiting for help or guidance!

But their power was broken and whatever lay hidden in the shadows would not aid them today and they had no choice but to flee back along the road…

…with Nance cursing them to hell and threatening revenge!

Who was the mysterious figure in the carriage? Why had Cecily betrayed them?

To be continued…

---

Background
The idea behind this came from CC Finlay’s Traitor to the Crown trilogy:

The Patriot Witch
A Spell for the Revolution
The Demon Redcoat

which interweave magic (or ‘talent’) and the Covenant with the events and character of the Revolution. I’ve changed the story a little to suit the figures I’d painted, the rivers I’d just received from Mutineer Miniatures and my plans to incorporate the idea in to a future campaign. In the original the Rev. Emerson was actually Deborah’s father and the attack of the zombies took place at the farm. I’ll not say any more in case you read the books! I really enjoyed them and I think the way some events were explained by magic were well thought out. If you like the period and want a light, fun read then give them a go.