The Covenant of the Enlightened may not yet fully understand the Shadow War, they are making headway. The larger population of the Enlightened may even be unaware of the goings on in service to the powers at the heart of this secret struggle for power. One cell that does is the Hook and Ladder Club, known colloquially as the Soul Hunters. The sponsor of the club, Lord Buckland, has been handing tasks to Auger Hudson that often seem to put them at odds against the other players of this mysterious game.
Auger Hudson and his associates have been piecing together parts of the puzzle and learning more about the goings on in the Shadow War and attempting to force empirical meaning onto the strange and unusual things they encounter. Jocasta Tobin and Erin Meltzer, both valued members of the Hook and Ladder Club and well educated scientists in their own right, have been documenting their progress. Attempting to describe some of the more esoteric events in purely scientific terms has been a challenge but they are developing further ideas about such things as aether, phlogiston and even the space that is travelled between portals.
Unfortunately they are often brought into conflict with other groups and entities with their own agendas. Auger Warwick is starting to wonder if Lord Buckland has ulterior motives for sending the Hook and Ladder Club members across the world. The eldritch things they’ve seen and horrors they’ve had to put down are becoming more and more commonplace in their missions. Scientific progress was never meant to be this violent.
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>
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.
Mr Ears (WEX101115008)
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>
The Soul Hunters (WEX101099006)
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.
