Episode 13: The Lesson

The Teacher. He is an enigmatic figure believed to be part of “The Enlightenment”, a secretive organization of unknown purpose and origin … and he has a particular interest in Rikard Greystone. According to Honqi Pang, leader of the Red Hand Triad and disciple of the Teacher, the mysterious man was responsible for the death of Greystone’s parents. Honqi stated this had been Rikard’s first lesson … and that others would follow. Continue reading Episode 13: The Lesson

A blue potion inside a small vial, with a steel chain trailing off to the left.

Tears of St. Bernadette

The Tears of St. Bernadette is a powerful divine potion capable of healing grievous wounds.

Tears glow with a soft, soothing blue light; when consumed the individual makes a Spellcasting d12 check. A success heals a wound; every raise heals an additional one. The Tears are typically found in a small vial, the entire contents of which must be consumed for the relic to be effective.

The process for creating the Tears was discovered by the Reverend Sir Arthur Boundless, and died with him.

Episode 12: Dreams of the Purple Lotus

Jian Zao (“Sword of Morning”) of the Red Hand Triad was desperate. His brother, Jian Zhang, had fallen under the sway of opium, and had become a frequent customer at the Green Dragon Opium Den.

The den, an uncommon sight in New York City in the 1930s, was opened by Ling Si, a Chinese herbalist, drug trafficker, and sorcerer in October 1937. Within weeks the den had captured dozens with its opium-tainted dreams.

Jian Zao could not rely on his own resources to save his brother, having been warned by his leader to leave the den alone. Desperate to save his brother, he approached Wardens Richard Shen and Andrew Buchanan to see if they could help.

It was the beginning of a very strange trip.

The two men stocked up on antitoxin at the Warden HQ, and then went to the Green Dragon. Unfortunately they never had a chance to use it.  They were escorted into a waiting room by a matronly woman named Mrs. Lilly, and then suddenly found that room flooded with a noxious dust. Everything went black, and the next thing they knew they were in Antarctica looking out at the H.M.S Centaurus

Continue reading Episode 12: Dreams of the Purple Lotus

“Just remember what ol’Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol’ storm right square in the eye and he says, ‘Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it.'” — Jack Burton, Big Trouble in Little China

Richard Shen

Richard Shen

  • Chinese healer and investigator of the Unusual

Sai-fon Richard Shen was born in 1896 to one of the wealthiest families in Hong Kong. For generations the Shen family ran one of the largest import/export businesses of Chinese herbs and spices. The family traces it’s lineage back healers and alchemists who worked for the earliest emperors.

However, as with most families of this time, Richard’s older brother is the heir to the family business. So from an early age Richard was taught by his uncle the ways of the secret family legacy: Chinese medicine, sorcery, and the occult.

After years of training Richard began to adventure with his uncle. They saw many things across China. Eventually his uncle left to find his own way. He traveled with many investigators across China, until meeting the Wardens. Through them he has begun to travel further, using his abilities to assist the cause.

Episode 11: The Hopping Doom

It was January 19, 1938. Just days Benny Goodman was the talk of New York City as he and his orchestra became the first jazz musicians to headline a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.  Overseas  China was still reeling form the Rape of Nanking, in which Japan sacked the Chinese Nationalist capital and killed tens of thousands of civilians.

For the Wardens though, it has been a quiet time.  After defeating the Terror in the Woods and helping clean up the aftermath back in November 1937, they returned to the Horta Quadrangle for some much needed rest. The holidays passed without drama, and while the New Year saw renewed anxiety about the war in Europe and Asia there were no mystical complications.

That was about to change. Continue reading Episode 11: The Hopping Doom

Frederick Cartwright, Head Mechanic

Frederick Cartwright is responsible for the Wardens’ New York Headquarters fleet of cars and its two limos (one armored, one conventional). He’s quite possessive of the cars, and takes it personally when one comes back with the slightest ding or scratch.

Cartwright is an expert mechanic and fix almost any mechanical issue with an automobile, and will work for 24 hours straight restoring a vehicle to perfection. He’s also been known to improvise, adding small, temporary refinements (ejector seats, machine guns, caltrops) to vehicles.

Continue reading Frederick Cartwright, Head Mechanic

The Wardens Against the Twilight of Humanity

The Wardens, formally known as the Wardens Against the Twilight of Humanity, are a loosely-knit secret society with offices in Bombay, Cairo, New York, London, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. It is an organization comprised of men and women of action — troubleshooters, adventurers, and mystics — who have sworn an oath to protect the innocent from threats both mundane and magical. Continue reading The Wardens Against the Twilight of Humanity