Lieutenant Willard Leighton

Lt. Willard Leighton, a British expatriate and former officer in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, is the regional supervisor of the Territorial Rangers in the northeast portion of New Mexico including Ranger Jared Rockwell. He is also the brother of former Explorer's Society, Brimstone Chapter head Captain August Leighton.

The Lieutenant is currently residing as a guest at Cross Bar Ranch, a small ranch 25 miles southwest of Brimstone. This location has been agreed upon by both the Territorial Rangers and the Agency as “neutral ground” for the purposes of secret Twilight Legion meetings.

The Leighton brothers hail from the city of Colchester in Essex County, England. Their family was wealthy and aristocratic, however they were both avid hunters and in their twenties became career soldiers in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. Willard was very analytical from a young age, and August was more emotional and easily riled. Even though August was six years older, the boys were always intensely competitive in everything they did. In the early 1870s they were stationed in South Africa, August as a Captain and Willard as a Lieutenant, and fought in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. During the conflict, both of them saw something entirely strange that completely changed their worldview. After the war, they both requested dischargement from the Army and relocated to the American Southwest, so they could more freely explore the strange and unknown.

In 1880 the brothers were hired by the Explorer’s Society branch in Santa Fe, NM. They became reliable employees and helped to document and hunt the strange creatures in the desert for over a year, traveling to other towns in New Mexico and elsewhere in the West. However, during this time Willard became intensely aware of the lawlessness of the region, how acts of justice were few and far between, and how the critters they were studying often preyed on innocent townspeople. He approached the leadership of the Society with his complaints, and surprisingly they let him in on a powerful secret: the Society is merely a front for the Twilight Legion, which seeks out and eliminates supernatural threats. They offered both brothers full positions within the Society so they could continue to do their work in the region. August agreed, but Willard declined, moving instead to the Territorial Rangers so he could more directly combat threats.

After three years, Willard had attained the rank of Lieutenant in the Rangers (the same rank as his Royal Army designation) and was stationed near Brimstone, NM. He was given charge of the local Rangers chapter and moved his operations to Cross Bar Ranch which is 25 miles southwest of the town, after helping the ranch owners with some local trouble.