Virgil Hammersmith, Magician and Monster Hunter

Virgil Hammersmith is an odd fellow. He lives in 1880's Boston - a town booming post-Civil War - and a country that is racing toward modern times. However, Virgil's gift is something out of Medieval Europe. Virgil is the latest in a long line of Magicians that stretch back to Merlin himself and he uses his power to fight off the mystical and magical creatures that have a tendency to bumble into the city or enter our realm through the misdeeds of lesser magicians. Yes, Virgil wields an impressive power and holds a special place in a world where the average citizen doesn't know magic exists but knows for a fact that there are monsters in the woods.

He also hates his job.

Well, hate may be a strong word. He's upset that he even needs to do anything. Virgil isn't a fan of using magic. He knows that he has a responsibility to the world to make sure the creatures that populate our nightmares and terrorize our darkened city streets be kept in check but he also loathes the task. His big problem with untrained magicians - he can't dare bring himself to call them "purveyors of magic" - are that they make his job harder. These amateur men and women, woefully unskilled in the magical arts, attempt to give Bostonians their wildest desires only to see their poor magic fail time and time again. Each miscast spell forces Virgil into action, be it to reverse an ill-advised revenge spell or to remove a Tampaniwik slug from the heart of some lovelorn fool. While his rivals fight to bring magic into the light, Virgil does everything he can to keep it in the shadows.

Rounding out his cast of Victorian-era monster hunters is old friend and Civil War marksmen Roan Kelly and Moses Thaxton, a former slave with his own unique brand of magic. Collectively, these three men take on cases every week and do their best to rid the city of creatures and ghouls that haunt the shadows. That would normally be enough but, unbeknownst to Virgil, an ancient family rival has arrived in Boston with every intention of destroying Virgil and the Hammersmith legacy.