Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d4, Strength d68, Spirit d4, Vigor d6.

Skills: Climbing d4, Fighting d8, Guts d6, Notice d4, Shooting d8, Stealth d8, Survival d4

• Charisma: 0
• Pace: 6
• Parry: 6
• Toughness: 5

Hindrances: Enemy (Major), Death Wish, Loyal

Edges: Florentine, Alertness, Brawny

ishop began his career under the tutelage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s renowned spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham . From him, he learned the subtle arts of intrigue, and honed his body into a killing machine. He also learned of powers older and darker than the strength of muscle and tissue: the secret cabals, necromantic sorcerers and devil-worshipping witches who lurk behind the sinister plots of powers, principalities, thrones and dominions. Upon Walsingham’s death, Robert Cecil took the old spymaster’s place, and in the place of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, His Majesty King James I now sits upon the throne of England. Where Queen Elizabeth kept magicians like the famous John Dee close to her, His Majesty has little tolerance for witchcraft and magic. Neither does Jack Bishop. So when His Majesty desires to see such dark forces snuffed out, his spymaster, Robert Cecil, turns to Bishop.

Timeline

See also Campaign Timeline

1572

Jack Bishop born in Torkertown.

1587

Solomon Kane retires to the moors near Torkertown, which he finds haunted by a phantom who demands vengeance upon his murderer, the cruel hermit, Ezra. Perhaps jaded by his recent experiences in the Virginia wilderness, Solomon leads the townspeople in his execution, tying him to a tree for the phantom to kill. (“Skulls in the Stars“)

Jack Bishop, now 15, meets Solomon Kane here, and becomes inspired by his example. He leaves Torkertown and heads for London, where Sir Francis Walsingham enlists him as an agent. Bishop proves himself by helping retrieve secret documents from Spanish spies, staying in taverns and inns in London.

1588

Walsingham notes Bishop’s preoccupation with battling witchcraft, and so gives him his first job working against the occult: a robbery of John Dee’s library at Mortlake, to retrieve a specific book one of his agents informed him about. Touching the book affected Bishop deeply, but he succeeded in the heist, causing some general disruption and stealing other books to hide his trail amidst the signs of a general robbery, and returned the book to Walsingham, who proceeded to send Bishop on more missions against the forces of the occult.

1590

Sir Francis Walsingham dies. Jack Bishop, now eighteen, takes orders from Robert Cecil as a specialized agent against the Crown’s occult enemies.

1601

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, longtime favorite of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I, rebels against the queen. Her Majesty’s forces crush the revolt quickly, after Jack Bishop defeats the sorcerer their plot depended on. Thomas West (b. 1577), the son of the second Baron de la Warr, faces charges of supporting Essex’s ill-fated insurrection against Queen Elizabeth, but acquits himself. The siege of Kinsale establishes English rule over Ireland.

1605

Bishop returns to Torkertown, working against a necromancer named Roger Simeon. With the testimony of Simeon’s sole friend, John Redley, Bishop takes the necromancer prisoner.

Solomon Kane returns to England, and in Torkertown hears how John Redley betrayed his friend for the bounty. Kane condemns the man for his treachery and greed, despite his hatred for necromancy. That night, Solomon hears scratching sounds from Redley’s room, and enters in time to see him strangled to death by an animate human hand. The next day, Solomon Kane hears that they indeed hanged Roger Simeon, but only after the execution of his final wish: that they lop off his right hand at the wrist. (“The Right Hand of Doom”)

1610

The Third Supply finally arrives at Jamestown, ending the “Starving Times,” and bringing with it a new governor: Baron de la Warr, who persuaded the colonists not to give up. Along with the governor comes several new colonists, including John White, Solomon Kane, Jack Bishop and Samuell Drake.