It is Massachusetts in the 1600s, and early last year there were tales about witches sprouting up in the far off town of Salem, and how the townspeople tried to defend their homes against the servants of the devil. Eventually, the threat was contained, but over time, stories of witches have spread across Massachusetts, as more and more witches are being discovered due to the heigtened state of awareness, and now there is talk of witches in your own town! The talk began to get more and more prevalent over the previous month and just last week murders of various people, often with satanic symbols at the scene. The governor of Massachusetts has decided to take the innitiative and appoint a committee to deal with the witches. You are a part of that committee.
The group waits outside the tavern room where the governor is staying, waiting for his permission to enter and be briefed on the situation. You wait for several minutes untill Thomas eventually blurts out "I'm not waiting for this guy any longer! Governor or not, he has no right to keep us waiting just so we think he's important." and rams the door with his shoulder, but the door is not only unlocked, but slightly ajay, which none of you have noticed before. What lies before you is a startling, and slightly sickening, sight. The governor is laying on his bed with his limbs sprawled out around him, his previously round stomach torn open to reveal the organs beneath. A stunned silence envelops the room, pierced only by Margaret's bloodcurdling shriek.
Suddenly, the door slams shut, and a red glow fills the room.What is more concerning is a even brighter red light coming from the pentagram in the center of the wooden floor, which appears to be drawn in the governor's own blood. The red glow takes the shape of a huge man, nearly eight feet tall, untill both the red glow and the red light in the pentagram is gone, leaving a huge, shirtless man covered with soot with a scraggly beard extending to his abs, and hefting a huge axe over his right shoulder. For the longest while, nobody says anything, for the man is filling you with an unexpalainable sense of dread, which the strange man seems to be quite amused with.
"Welcome, mortals." The large man says calmly, breaking the silence. "I am what many of you know as 'the black man', or, as all of you humans know me, Satan."
This revelation doesn nothing to promote talking among the committee, instead causing your legs to shake. Seeing this, the black man decides that the time is right to continue talking.
"Do none of you have anything to say? Very well then, let me explain what you see before you. What you see is the sacrifice that my servants have made to me, as a result of the governor's foolishness. This is not to say that his appointing a committee to expose and kill my servants was foolish, however, for I approve of his approach. What is foolish is that he unknowingly appointed four of my own to your number, and it was they who committed this sacrifice! But don't worry, I admire your confidence, and perhaps eagerness, to kill those who you deem as wrong, so I have decided to make a little game, and your lives are the prizes. If you can discover and kill all of my servants, then I shall allow you to leave. Don't think I will let you off that easily, though. The witches have a right to defend themselves, and so it is a matter of who kills who first... have fun!" he says, and he slowly fades away, taking the pentagram with him, untill all that is left is his sinister smirk, which remains there for several seconds unitll fading as well.
The only thing left to do is to kill those who you thought you have known your entire life, in order to save yours. You take in everyone around you, appreciating for the first time the differences among you.
Abigail Waters- Woman in her mid-30s who never leaves her house unless she needs to buy food, which leaves her with the personality of a recluse.
Artemis Jacobson- Man who owns a shack in the nearby swamp. He has a gruff personality and doesn't talk much, but when he does, he is straight to the point.
Charles Clifford- The local priest, has a very friendly personality and never has a bad word to say about "God's servants"
Jaques Lorraine- French hunter/trapper who will occasionaly stop in at the town to sell furs, and most likely wouldn't be there at all if the governor hadn't asked him to be on the committee personally.
Joseph Turner- Recently arrived here from England with a mysterious past. Nobody knows much about him at all.
Margaret Beecher- Common church goer with a bubbly attitude, never seen without wearing her cross around her neck.
Patrick Cooke- Irish Immigrant who frequents church. Many suspect he is at church so often to atone for his sins, namely his heavy drinking.
Phillip Crane- Mayor of your town, appointed to the committee mostly because of his position. He has been exremely successful in his political career, currently being the youngest Mayor in Massachusetts, which has caused him to be slightly arrogant.
Stephen Samson- Owner of Samson's Dry Goods, the local general store. He knows everybody in town by name, but is too shy to ask about their personal lives.
Thomas Beecher- Margaret's brother, although he could not have had a more different personality. He is rude to almost everyone, with the exception of his sister. He has often been heard insulting and complaining about the local church and it's power.
William Smith- A man who makes a living off of hunting various kinds of game in the woods. He is a very frienly, if slightly innapropriate, man who spends most of his time in the woods.
William Jacobson- Both Artemis's brother, and his total opposite. He leads an active socia life, but spends most of his time at the local pub with Patrick.
