John Alden

**John Alden** was a stubborn pragmatic man who was considered a rabblerouser and a loose cannon by the Puritans of Salem, Massachusetts. However, his bravery and unwavering belief in right and wrong often saw him acting in concert with their best interests.

## History

### Early Life

John Alden was the firstborn son of John Alden Sr. and Sarah Alden. His father, having been one of the founders of the town of Salem and a member of the selectmen board, was quite a large shadow to grow up under but the two had a loving relationship -- if the young John did not always live up to expectations. One particular disappointment came from John's choice to join the militia rather than study scripture or attend university.

As a young man, John began a romantic relationship with Mary Walcott and the two quickly fell into passionate love with one another. On the night of September 21, 1685 CE, John was sent to fight in the French and Indian War. He vowed to Mary that he would return for her, breaking a silver coin in half to seal the promise, and giving half of it to Mary.

During the war, John was wounded in battle and left for dead. He was found by members of the Mohawk tribe, who nursed him back to health and treated him with tremendous kindness. While he was with them, John learned a great deal of their ways and their language. One day while he was out hunting with the Mohawk warriors, the village was attacked by white men who killed everyone including the women and children. John sought vengeance on all those responsible -- hunting them down and murdering them, with the exception of William Hooke.

### Return to Salem

In 1692 CE, John returned to Salem in time to see the bodies of the three first victims of the Salem Witch Trials hanging outside of the town. He quickly learned how much the town had changed in the seven years he had been away from it -- particularly that Mary had married George Sibley and become the wealthiest, most influential woman in the town. He was initially skeptical of the witch panic that gripped the town, and determined to leave again immediately until Isaac Walton took him into the woods to bear witness to a ritual performed by members of the Essex Hive. Now unable to deny that some supernatural evil was among the people of Salem, and furious that the panic took the life of his friend Giles Corey, John determined to stay and fight for the town his father had founded.

To that end, he told Cotton Mather what he and Isaac had witnessed in the woods. Before he could show him, however, he was arrested for threatening the selectmen. Mary Sibley saw to his release, warning him to leave Salem or he would be hanged. Instead, he stayed and attempted to defend Bridget Bishop when she was accused of witchcraft. When this failed, largely due to his lack of political influence, John Alden decided to join the board of selectmen.

As he continued his own investigation into the witches of Salem, John followed John Hale into the woods to Petrus' hut. Although he did not know what transpired there, and found neither Hale or Petrus inside, he was attacked by one of Petrus' familiars -- and only saved by John Hale, who did his best to explain what had happened. The following day, Hale accused Isaac of witchcraft and John Alden found himself at odds with his most recent savior. When he turned to Mary for help saving Isaac, she asked him to stall Isaac's questioning until she could attempt to intervene. Alden did so by physically fighting the members of the militia outside Isaac's cell.

Over the course of these events, John grew suspicious that John Hale might be a witch and began to investigate. To protect himself, Hale attempted to earn Alden's trust, initially by holding a soiree to welcome him to the board of selectmen. Alden was still suspicious, but eventually was convinced that Hale had not placed a spell on his own daughter. At about this time, Tituba came to him -- asking him to stop William Hooke from retrieving a package from a ship that Mary Sibley had placed under quarantine, claiming it was to protect her from accusations of an affair. Alden agreed to help, and finally killed Hooke as he left the ship -- discovering the package he carried contained an unusual cube with strange markings on it. Unbeknownst to John Alden, this was the Malum. With great effort, he managed to open the box and hold the Malum -- experiencing a vision of the witch pox. Panicked, he brought the box to Cotton and from this, they discovered the Grand Rite was underway. Determined to finally get ahead of the witches, John laid a trap by the Malum in his home -- in which they captured Rose Browning.

With Cotton convinced that they might learn more of what the witches intended, the two dragged Rose into the woods -- planning to interrogate her under Saturn's planetary alignment and then kill her. Though they learned the Grand Rite had begun, they gleaned little else before she escaped and cast a spell to raise the dead from the Crags as zombies. The undead horde collapsed, freeing the two witch hunters, upon Rose's death at the hands of Mercy Lewis elsewhere in the woods.

Now fearful of the witches, John hid the Malum in a grave he had dug for Giles Corey. Unfortunately, Mary -- in her determination to learn its whereabouts -- began dream walking into John's mind.