Wardens Backstory

Timeline

• Tempus is freed from his prison by the Zodiac Society. He is brought to live at Taurus House, where Beverly Dawson, the Head of House, raises him as her son.
• As a rambunctious kid, Tempus stole an old Victorian pocket-watch from Foggy while the old Invested was visiting the New York House. Foggy knew he'd done it, however, and reassured him that he could have it, cementing a fatherly relationship that endured as Tempus grew up. (EM22)
• When her connection to the Styx first manifested, AJ got lost wandering its shores, trying to find her way out. She ended up possessed by an old ghost. She then met her mentor, MENTOR who advised her to find the Zodiac Society. The young necromancer finally escaped the underworld, and her mentor's magics brought her to Tempus. (EM48)
• Tempus experienced AJ 's possession and quickly got her to some place with wards: the Taurus House in New York. Though the Society assisted her in finding the name of her possessing ghost and shaking it free, Tempus was reprimanded for endangering Taurus House by bringing a strange sorcerer to it without conferring with the Head of House. Though she loves him, Beverly Dawson was forced to re-assign him to the Leo House in Los Angeles. (EM55)
• CHARLEY is Invested.
• The newly-Invested CHARLEY is taken on a tour of the magical world, including to meet the Iosan Sibyl. They have immediate sexual chemistry, which builds over several encounters. Though they end up dancing closely at Dvavarat one night, the Sibyl puts a stop to it before they kiss: she intimates that there is some greater reason why they cannot do so, but will not say why. (EM15)
• Foggy sends a friend of his to confer with AJ. He does so, and goes on his way, but Foggy contacts her afterward, asking what happened – his friend has disappeared, and she is the last person to have seen him alive. (UT10)
• AJ took DAN to the River Styx. While there, the hideous shade of DAN's beloved crawled up out of the Styx, begging for help. AJ cast the ghost back into the River, discorporating it to send it down the river, but DAN was traumatized by the event. AJ feels tremendous guilt for this. (3)
• CHARLEY, while asleep, is drawn into the underworld in astral form, following the voices of the previous Invested of Salem. They are trying to howl a warning to her, but she becomes lost and is found by AJ. The necromancer gets her to tell her where her slumbering (now dying) body is, so she can call her spirit back to it, saving her. (33)
• Shaitan starts causing problems for CHARLEY in Salem.

Last Year

• DAN is Invested. Foggy shows up in Salem and introduces himself, offering to teach him the ropes and show him the magical world.
• The Sibyl knew that the beloved of DAN was going to die – she all but told him so. She didn't tell him any details, though, and DAN has sworn not to take revenge, because he is above that. (EM20)
• CHARLEY hears that the Zodiac Society has an interest in the doings of Shaitan and contacts them, telling them they are in Salem. She has information for them.
• DAN and CHARLEY are waiting in Salem for Foggy to make the Atlantic crossing by cyst. CHARLEY hears the screams of her previous incarnations, and then the Order of the Hammer hits. The two Invested barely make it out alive, thanks to their combined elemental powers. They get out of town, and CHARLEY sends Foggy and DAN on their way, refusing to cede her town to the Order. Foggy promises to return and help after he's seen DAN to safety. (39)
• CHARLEY finds Shaitan and offers to assist them against the Order of the Hammer. They agree to her doing freelance work for them, in exchange for some magical lore from them. They drive the Order out of Salem even before Foggy can make it back. (11)
• Tempus arrives in Salem, asking about the information about Shaitan. CHARLEY claims she has no real information to give them. (EM13)

This Year

• On a night when Foggy and all the PCs are at Dvaravat (CHARLEY and DAN with Foggy, Tempus with a small group of fellow Zodiac operatives, and AJ with her ghost-mentor), the club is attacked by demons of Kar'Kradas. They cut through the defenders of the establishment, and Chandi is hard-pressed to fight them off, so Foggy and the PCs jump in to help. They are enough to turn the tide and drive away the demons. Chandi is grateful and bestows a membership on all the PCs. (47)
• Everyone of the PCs has a dream about Foggy walking the far bank of the River Styx. He is looking around, confused, and then looks up as though he sees them. He then raises a hand to wave sadly, and vanishes like mist.

Backstory Grid

Individuals

• Foggy, the Invested of London. A man who rose to his powers sometime in the Victorian Era, Foggy is every inch a gentleman's gentleman. Over the years, he has taken it upon himself to help newly Invested find their footing and figure out their abilities.
• The Iosan Sibyl is a seer and prophetess that those of a mystical bent frequently consult when they are in need of insight and wisdom. It is generally agreed that she has her own agenda, though exactly what that is no one can ascertain; despite this, she always speaks the truth as she envisions.

Groups

• The Zodiac Society: SHIELD, if it had been founded by Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. A worldwide organization dedicated to the preservation of world history and to securing the world's esoteric and magical history from mundane eyes.
• Shaitan: An arcane underworld crime syndicate on a global scale. They specialize in providing dark sorcery and summoned horrors for other criminals, cults, and the generally unscrupulous, and in securing arcane relics for their own selfish uses.
• Order of the Hammer: A secular organization with roots in the Inquisition, the Order of the Hammer seeks to eradicate and eliminate all magical use in the world. Modern-day witchhunters, the Order is known to maintain several fronts, including a paramilitary mercenary group, a research think tank, and an espionage branch with roots in the worldwide intelligence community.

Events

• The Blue Fire Days: Three to five years ago, something strange happened to the planar veils, and great rifts opened between the Earthly dimension and the Azure Void in which the Phoros witchlights dwell. As a result, events occurred all over the Earth where Phoros ran amuck and set great fires, and strange blue-violet-green "northern lights" style displays were seen in the sky all over the world. In the days since, sorcerers have worked carefully to help construct the idea that it was Earth passing closely to the tail of a comet that caused the chaos.
• The Walpurgisnacht Conjunction: Last year on Walpurgisnacht, a strange conjunction of stellar bodies created visions and waking nightmares for many of the esoteric entities of Earth. The visions were all dire and dread-inducing, although no one can agree whether it portends something specific or was simply a psychic backlash from the unusual conjunction.
• The Attack on Dvaravat: A force of strange extradimensional entities attacked Dvaravat on what seemed to be a fairly slow night.

Places

• Dvaravat (d-VA-ra VAT): The extradimensional nightclub and lounge for magicians and other esoteric folk, the "Heaven of Many Gates" is a strictly neutral location overseen by the hijra sorceress Chandi. Made up of eight levels, and festooned with countless doors and gateways, Dvaravat is a members-only establishment for one simple reason: to get in, you must have paid for the privilege and been given the Sanskrit sigil that permits one of those doors to open into it.
• The River Styx: A metaphysical underworld realm that manifests itself as a river into which souls are carried away to whatever resolution awaits them. They often appear on the shores and shamble, confused or angry, along that shoreline until they hear the call of the river.