The Red Hand: Marquis Papers, Volume Two

“I am a fraud. My title, my power, my very name are not my own. How I came to be the most damned of men is set down here as my final confession. In these pages I will tell how I broke bread with Vampires and shared their friendship. In my confession I hope to explain the Great London Fire of 1666, the proliferation of plague deaths in the city, and how I came to murder an Archduke.” An excerpt of the manuscript discovered in 1967 within the false bottom of a rotten sea chest belonging to a Captain C. Johnson.In The Red Hand, we learn of the existence of a secret religious society, The Red Hand. These zealots seek to destroy all vampires, and are willing to pay any cost, including putting settlements to the sword or unleashing undead terror. Tom Hawkins relates his capture, torture, and imprisonment by the Red Hand. His treatment is such that Tom turns away from the human race and casts his lot with his former masters. In the year of our lord 1658, the Albatross was lost with all hands during a hurricane. Stories from merchant sailors describing a shadowy pirate vessel that preyed upon the ill-advised and unlucky have never been confirmed. But in this extraordinary manuscript we have the first proof of its existence, if we are to believe the adventures written by a Tom Hawkins, known to the world as the Marquis de Maintenon.The Marquis Papers detail the exploits of a young boy who finds himself enmeshed in the horrors of 17th century Caribbean society still troubled by creatures we now relegate to fantasy. While he considers himself a failure, he does enlighten us as to the true nature of a number of assassinations and troubling events in the Caribbean. Through it all, Tom maintains his dedication to his own possible salvation even after he has been involved in more villainy than most men dream of. We learn of his despair, terror and determination in the face of the vampire pirates, and his horror at finding himself worse off in the company of fellow mortals. As we move farther into the story, the events detailed are supported by existing historical accounts, though through Tom's eyes the reasons for the battles and fires turns what we know of the world upside down. But Tom's explanations do bring new light to otherwise odd or strange occurrences in the court of Louis XIV. If true, the world owes Tom a debt of gratitude.