Stephen Rayne is a self-employed gunsmith in Shaumburg, IL. He owns a small gun shop with an apartment above it. For most of his career, business was barely enough to support himself, but at least he was doing what he loved.

He was included in what becomes his family business of hunting supernatural terrors. With his cousins, and his uncle, they begin paying attention to the less believable rumors they run across. They fight zombies, vampires, and witches in their tour of duty as supernatural private detectives. His uncle, Ben, is actually a licensed PI, which gives him a few advantages in the investigation industry. Stephen has a federal gun dealer license and license to carry.

After several cases and about three years of the paranormal, Stephan finds a room under the family manor's library containing his parents special lab. This room contains all sorts of alchemical components and books on the occult and ... magic!

Immediatly, Stephen begins spending a lot of time in the lab, studying book after book on magic. He finds books on what is called the Acanthus path. This path is essentially the study of enchantments. Stephen thinks that this would be highly useful for enchanting and enhancing the weapons and armor he and his group. Not all of what he learns is applicable to enchanting guns and such, but all of them is useful.

After being out of contact for a couple of days, Stephen's girlfriend Julie tracks him down and he lets her in on the secret of what he's found. With her help, he is able to track down the necessary information to fully take advantage of Mage blood he has discovered is in his heritage. Apparently his parents were both Mages and many of his ancestors were too.

Julie took all of this amazingly in stride. Stephen was shocked when he realized Julie wasn't having any problem with any of the information to which she's being exposed. This strikes him as very fortunate. He's managed to find a woman that isn't easily freaked out by his world.

The future definitely looks interesting.

Journal Entry 1