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To the common man, the Covenant of the Enlightened are little more than an exclusive club of intellectuals and aristocrats who sit in grand drawing rooms talking much and doing little. While the Covenant are at great pains to show that the reality is far removed from this, it must be acknowledged that there are some groups within the Enlightened who more closely resemble this stereotype than they would like to admit. One such group of these is the Hook and Ladder Club in New York City, so named due to their premises being located in a building that was originally destined for the nascent Fire Department. The club members specialise in the emergent field of parapsychology, a subject that the common man might call supernatural.

Associate members of the Covenant of the Enlightened do not enjoy the respect or prestige that Covenant Peers do, but they are often the ones who do most of the leg work. In order to be officially recognised as an associate of a Peer, an individual will have to put in hours of thankless research and errand running for their sponsoring Peer. Of course like all who are drawn to the Enlightened, being in possession of a keen mind and a drive to push the boundaries of human understanding is a prerequisite. But associates often lack the opportunity or financial means to secure an actual Peerage in the Covenant.<p>Girauld Eres was one such associate, a Parisian naturalist who had developed into a minor celebrity as he toured Paris society with his collection of primates. Girauld's real passion lay in animal physiology and his personal menagerie was home to some impressive specimens. Showing a talent for specimen capture, he was approached by Warwick Hudson and earned a sponsorship into the Covenant as an associate following his collaboration on the spectral containment technology with Hudson and Katherine Holst.</p>