Even monsters must have rules and The Chain is the covert agency tasked to ensuring those rules are obeyed. Agents of The Chain maintain the balance between the various supernatural forces that prey on humanity. No one group or individual is allowed to grow in power to the point where they might truly threaten humanity’s status quo.

Formed out self-interest rather than altruism, The Chain was originally founded by a group of monsters that took a look at mankind and knew how to spot a good scam when they saw one. Why seek to wipe-out humanity or bring about Ragnarok when you’ve got a few billion little meals and playthings just wandering around obliviously?

All agents of The Chain wear a shackle – an enchanted iron manacle that forms part of a mystical network, allowing communication between agents in the field. The shackle also serves a more sinister purpose, permanently binding each monster to the service of the agency and preventing the more unhinged members from acting out during missions.

Gravehouse

Jonathon Gravehouse looked too long and too hard into the dark places of the world. Until something looked back that left him forever changed. Human frailty consumed by terrible secrets, an inhuman presence now resides within the shell of Jonathon Gravehouse. A presence able to drive a normal man to madness and death with just a whisper of the forbidden knowledge it contains.

A longstanding agent of The Chain, Gravehouse declared himself retired seven years ago and has spent the time since in seclusion at his lake-side manor in New England. Events are about to conspire to cut his retirement much shorter than he intended.

Charlotte Hatred

Once the daughter of the governor of Hong Kong, Charlotte died an unnatural death at the age of seventeen. She’s haunted the mirrors and shadows of Hong Kong ever since, a pale young English rose with long black hair that hangs across her face and hides her eyes from view. To see Charlotte’s grinning reflection in your mirror is to know fear; to see into her eyes is to know instant, horrific death.

As an agent of The Chain, Charlotte’s ability to travel through mirrors makes her a valuable espionage asset. Seven years ago she was part of a team of agents operating under Gravehouse’s command, alongside Cowboy 13 and Creeping Henry.

Cowboy 13

An unstoppable psychopath in a zipped-shut gimp mask and cowboy hat. And we do mean unstoppable – the residents of Granbury, Texas have tried just about everything on Cowboy 13 over the years. They’ve decapitated him, burned him, drowned him, electrocuted him (twice) and he just keeps coming back.

The Cowboy never speaks, but he will communicate when pressed through simple hand gestures. It thus remains unclear whether he works for The Chain of his own free will or purely under the coercion of his shackle. At any rate, Cowboy 13 gets to kill new people in interesting places and for now this seems to be enough to keep him happy.

Creeping Tuesday

The daughter of Creeping Henry, a famous dream-stalker who long terrorised the town of Oakwood, Massachusetts before finally being dispatched to Hell by a group of meddling teenagers. Tuesday has inherited her father’s ability to enter the dreams of her victims and kill them as they sleep. A young black woman with piercing eyes, in dreams Tuesday becomes a twisted, dark reflection of her waking form.

Creeping Tuesday is the newest and most reluctant member of The Chain, shackled into service by Gravehouse to replace her missing father. She’s also the most sympathetic of our monsters, having only used her abilities up till now against the absolute worst dregs of humanity.

Black Hat Jack

A timeless English gent with a fondness for the straight razor and women’s necks.

Jack is Gravehouse’s handler and superior within The Chain. Even monsters need someone to deliver their exposition.