Book of Stone: Charon

CHARON

A demon (First Born Fell, or nephilim) from prehistoric times, Charon roamed the Earth for millennia, killing innocents and imprisoning their spirits in his enchanted/dark weapon. Charon moved from the body of champion to champion, always looking for new abilities and powers. As such, he could shapechange into any previous form at will. In 2014, Charon was using the body of the centaur Equus and came to America (SS09: Pale Horseman). He eventually, briefly, possessed Josie Winters before being pulled from her body and bound to his staff once more without a host.

For ages, Charon's staff-weapon was his prison. He is anchored to it, and never able  to move more than a  few feet away from it. In a mortal body--gained when someone touches the staff--Charon had the full range of his powers. Without a body, he is limited and ethereal--tied to the staff and only able to move, as an non-corporeal being, a short distance from it. Charon was able to break free of his staff weapon when it was broken by Mark Kenslir, who misunderstood the weapons purpose and used his own powers to negate the binding magic of the staff. Charon was eventually rebound to the staff by Detachment 1039, and the ancient, arcane artifact was buried in the Inferno vault in Nevada. 

Book of Stone: KJ Bowling

Mentioned by several characters in Detachment 1039, Mary Cobbler and the Secret of Frogwarts is a popular middle-grade children's book about a twelve year old witch-in-training who solves mysteries while attending a prestigious wizarding school in England. What most of the Stone Soldiers world doesn’t know is that Kristina “KJ” Bowling actually based the stories in her books on her own experiences as a child—something that very nearly cost her life in the year 2000.

Not long after Mary Cobbler was released in print, the coven of witches running the Blackmoor Academy discovered that the book contained a number of their secrets—all thinly veiled under pseudonyms and parodies. A check of their records revealed that Bowling had herself been a student at Blackmoor, until she was expelled. The coven and their allies set out to immediately quiet Bowling, attempting to assassinate her on multiple occasions until they themselves were eliminated by Detachment 1039 (see Magician of Interest, Shadow Detachment #11, coming Fall of 2018).

Today, Bowling lives in extreme seclusion, carefully watched by the United States military, to whom she continues to feed secrets about Blackmoor and the circle of covens that established it—while also continuing the adventures of her beloved characters in a series of novels that continue to sell around the world.

Book of Stone: Acre

The tiny rainforest nation of Acre lies in the center of South America, bordered by Brazil to the east, Peru to the west, and Bolivia to the southeast. Since the nineteenth century, the small nation has been the territory of all three larger nations and is today still unrecognized by its neighbors.

After decades of conflict, in 1909, a treaty was signed and the territory was made part of the nation of Brazil. In 1980, Acre declared its independence and successfully repelled Brazilian armed forces sent to quell the latest uprising. Today, Acre remains a contested region, but somehow manages to avoid being invaded by occupational forces from any other nation. The borders of the tiny country are heavily patrolled and despite its small size, Acre’s semi-organized militia forces have eliminated all smuggling into or out of the country.

Rumors from the Amazon region abound that Acre is controlled by shamans given power by a supernatural entity that claim is none other than the Incan god Inti. Successful drug and rubber plantations within the borders of Acre have secured significant financial reserves for the country and it is generally accepted the tiny nation preserves its unrecognized-yet-sovereign status through bribes and financial manipulation of its surrounding nations.

Several financial and economic experts in academia have pointed out the drug and rubber trade of the late 20^th Century—the former eradicated by combined United States and Bolivian armed forces—could not account for the tremendous wealth of the tiny nation. This has led to further speculation that the long-lost treasure of the Incan Empire was hidden in Acre and is now used by the rebel government there to preserve the peace. As virtually no outsider journeying into Acre ever returns, the true nature of the country officially remains a mystery.

Look for Acre in Dark Powder, Shadow Detachment #9, releasing the Summer of 2018.