The Current PCs
There have always been those willing to stand between the world
of man and the world of The Unknown. Today, there is but
one such entity, The Society. It's brave members skulk
about in the shadows where humanity dare not tread, trying to
save mankind from its own ignorance of The Unknown. The
following are such people . . .
The current PCs comprise a team of Society agents that are
based out of a safe house in north Dallas, TX.
John Brockway
Face man, intrusion expert, company man |
Dr. Sarah Doherty
Field scholar, theologian, ancient languages specialist |
Jeremy "Bud" Johnson
Naturalist, soldier, mechanic, driver, scout, tracker |
Benedict "Bic" Raker
Technician, disguise artist, computer
expert |
Tom Brandt (inactive)
Martial artist |
|
|
John
Brockway (Corey)
Team role(s): Face Man, Intrusion
Expert
Basic concept (in 10 words or less):
John is the unexpected.
Nationality:
U.S.A.
Ethnicity:
Caucasian (Father mixed European, Mother: Lebanese)
Hometown:
Boston, MA
Profession:
CIA: Operations Officer, Energy Analyst; Houston, TX
Age:
35
Gender:
Male
Physical Description:
6' tall, black hair, bluish/green eyes. Average build, 160 lbs.
Creed:
Motto:
Religion:
Atheist
Date he joined The Society:
Why he joined The Society:
Background
John grew up in Boston, MA. His mother, to whom he has a strong
bond, is Lebanese and through his maternal grandparents learned
to speak Arabic fluently. Several summers of his youth were spent
with relatives in a small Lebanese village outside of Beirut.
These trips ended when the country was given up to terrorists
and Islamic fundamentalists. John graduated from a small New England
college at the age of 21 with a degree in Geology and a minor
in Spanish, which he picked up late after spending a semester
studying in Mexico doing undergraduate research. Completely unmotivated
for any sort of real job after college, John took advantage of
an alumni connection in Washington D.C. to get a job as an intern
in a senator's office. The senator was drafting legislation to
protect oil company interests in areas of the country being designated
as wildlife reserves. This particular senator was known for his
underhanded tactics. As an intern John worked with the senator's
staff compiling geological reports commissioned for use in the
legislation being drafted. John also was to run errands delivering
packages and documents. John also found himself entrusted with
destroying documents. Before long he was recruited by the senator
to procure documents and was forced to find interesting ways into
other Senate offices, often in dark of night and more often by
charming a secretary or another intern. This is also when John
began to notice his gift. He began to have daydreams where he
would fade off into oblivion only to awake to a co-worker or friend
shaking him in concern. He dismissed it as nothing until he began
to notice things in life, which he had seen in his dreams. Sometimes
he was able to use this to a professional advantage and he established
a reputation as the go-to guy in pressure situations when the
senator needed information that no one else seemed capable of
getting. It seemed that under high stress John could induce a
dream and discover things. Usually whatever was causing him stress
was the focus of his dreams. John gave the senator 6 years of
loyal service that culminated in his key testimony to a senate
ethics committee. His testimony exonerated the senator and kept
him in office for the remainder of his term. Something about illegal
campaign funds from oil companies.
Tired of "life on the hill" John parlayed his loyalty to the
senator into a position at the State Department. John was assigned
to be an attaché to the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
His connections to the oil industry gave him a working knowledge,
which was considered useful to the ambassador in analyzing Middle
East oil concerns. After two years in Saudi Arabia, John was
recruited into the CIA as an Operations Officer. John was trained
in cartography and was assigned to analyze maps and information
procured by the CIA. Most notably he was looking at information
gathered in conjunction with the UN Weapons Inspection Team
in Iraq following the Gulf War. Again, his 6th sense helped
him to identify where Iraq had hidden much of its illegal weapons
arsenal. As a CIA operative he also found himself using his
attaché position to infiltrate embassies or do surveillance
to procure more information. He often worked for an Energy Analyst
in Washington who was concerned about oil production in the
Middle East. He found that he already had developed skills suitable
for this work in Washington and merely expanded on his available
tactics. However, after 5 years even his 6th sense couldn't
change that he was now a well-known "spook" in the Middle East.
Having lost his effectiveness and strayed from any sort of
diplomatic work, John left the State Department to work for
the CIA full time. John was encouraged to get his masters degree
so that he could become an Energy Analyst himself, a significantly
more important position in the CIA. John spent two years getting
his MS in Geology from the University of Texas where he focused
on research in the petroleum field. John was then reassigned
by the CIA as an Energy Analyst and set up in Houston, TX.
As an Energy Analyst John's job is to follow world energy security
issues involving developments, plans, and capabilities of foreign
countries/regions of strategic concern to the U.S. Particularly
John investigates issues including risk and impact of potential
oil supply disruptions, monitoring the impact of sanctions,
and following energy developments in key countries and regions.
To this end, John still actively collects information as an
Operations Officer, but his time now is more focused on analyzing
information provided by others. He is only called upon to procure
information when he has unique access to an information source.
After only living in Houston for two years, John was relocated
to Dallas. A local agent specializing as an Information Security
Officer was found dead in his home, from an apparent suicide.
The agent, one of John's only “spook” friends, was tracking
the sale of illegal telecommunications equipment to China.
John called in a few favors at headquarters in Langley and now
has the opportunity to hunt down his friend's killer.
Fears
John has a phobia of snakes. It started out as a childhood
fear and developed into a phobia that is almost crippling.
He also gets nervous in open, high places (not as crippling as
vertigo, but enough to make him a little weak in the knees).
Finally, he gets nervous when left alone, without back-up, in
a poorly lit area when there's a good chance of meeting up with
a bad-guy. Not enough to make him run in fear, but enough
to give him an itchy trigger finger.
Relationships
Prior History of Combat and Serious Injuries
Throughout his career John has always preferred to avoid armed/violent
confrontation, but as a CIA operative he was bound to see his
share of conflict. Most of John's combat experience was gained
while working in the Middle East. John has been engaged
in small gunfights and also gunplay at high speeds while in pursuit
or escape with an automobile. John is particularly comfortable
with gunplay in close quarters and with a silenced weapon (i.e.
Inside buildings, large crowds, etc.).
John has a very poor sense of taste and smell resulting from
an accident that occurred during his senior year in college.
While working in lab he and another student were called upon
to analyze some rock samples. This required digesting the rock
in a strong nitric acid solution in a microwave digestion apparatus.
While John worked on one sample the other student, an over zealous
sophomore, hastily prepared another. The student improperly
sealed the digestion containers and upon turning on the apparatus
the intense pressure that built up caused a large explosion.
The foolish student was standing in front of the apparatus and
his body absorbed most of the explosion, this ultimately saved
John's life, but before help arrived the room was filled with
nitric acid fumes which burned at John's sinus and throat destroying
most of his ability to smell/taste.
Personal Life
John works out of a home office furnished and equipped by the
CIA. He puts in a regular 9-5 type workday. John's time is spent
analyzing reports from field agents or documents and compiling
them into a database. He attends conferences, professional meetings,
seminars/lectures in order to keep abreast of developments in
the industry. These often require some amount of travel though
usually nothing that takes him too far away (i.e. Within the region).
When John compiles a report for his superiors in Washington he
is called upon to present the report himself and is required to
travel to Washington D.C. In special cases John actually travels
out in the field to assess a situation first hand. He often travels
to South America where he has connections in the Venezuelan oil
industry or to Saudi Arabia where he still has connections from
his embassy days. If he's not traveling or working on a deadline,
John spends his weekends in the outdoors. He enjoys hiking, camping,
and mountain biking. He also plays in a local soccer league, though
he is notorious for missing games for unknown reasons at the last
minute. John also enjoys working out at a local gym where he spends
at least 3 nights a week. John has a stark personal life.
His is unmarried and not prone to dating unless forced to by a
friend who has arranged a blind date. His friends consist of professionals
he has met in the industry (spy and energy). More often than not
these friends were once people he was getting information from,
but have either retired or changed profession. John enjoys jazz
music and his nights out usually consist of catching a set at
a local coffee house or bar where a band is playing or a lone
musician is performing, otherwise John prefers to stay at home
reading rather than being out on the town. Around the corner
is a bar where he sometimes sneaks out in the evening to grab
a beer and watch a soccer game on the big screen TV. John's
family consists of a sister and his mother. His father died while
he was in college. John has a strong bond with his mother, who
still lives in Boston, and calls her 2-3 times a week and he always
finds a way to visit her 3-4 times a year. John's sister considered
herself an activist in college and finds his job with the CIA
repulsive. She has broken off contact with him almost entirely.
Typical Week
MWF
| 0900-1800 |
Work on reports, research information, collect information |
| 1900-2100 |
Work out at gym |
| 2100- |
Dinner, relax at home or go to jazz bar and/or coffeehouse |
| 2300 |
Sleep |
TTH
| 0900-1600 |
Work on reports, research information, collect information |
| 1650-1800 |
Soccer practice |
| 1800- |
Dinner, relax at home or go to jazz bar and/or coffeehouse |
| 2300 |
Sleep |
Weekends: See “Personal Life”
Vices
John's vice is his car. John has a passion for fast cars
and fast driving.
Hangouts
Ernie's Bar: Where John goes to get a beer and watch soccer
games.
The High Hat: A jazz bar with good drinks and good music.
John can be found here most Saturday nights.
The Empire: Coffee house where John goes to sit, read, relax.
Sometimes brings a laptop and does work here.
Gold's Gym: John workouts 3 times a week and can be found
here when he needs to blow off steam with a good workout.
Home
John has a two bedroom apartment in Dallas. He uses one room as
an office, which is furnished by the CIA. He has a typical home
office with a computer, fax/copier and filing cabinets (heavy
duty with large padlocks securing them). John has a fireproof
safe recessed in a wall behind a picture of the US President (CIA
issue) where he keeps his most classified material and his pistol.
The living room is dominated by his entertainment center, a large
flat screen TV with a Bose surround sound system that John installed
himself. He also has a full component stereo system. John's
taste in furniture is limited to Ikea, Crate and Barrel, or Pier1
Imports and most of the items in his apartment can easily be found
on the show room floor of any of these stores. John prefers to
spend time making sure his audio/video system is just perfect
rather than pick out furniture. There are very few personal items
in the apartment. There are some pictures of John and his mother
and family and very little art on the walls.
Car
Although he has never romanticized his job as a spy and scoffs
at any comparisons between real spies and the James Bond movie
characters he has found that his personal ego and confidence as
a spy is boosted by having a car suitable to a jet set covert
operative. His personal choice is the Audi TT. John fell in love
with the Audi TT as soon as it hit the market. His model is jet
black with a black, leather interior. The audio system is state
of the art Alpine with a 6 CD changer hidden underneath his seat.
One of John's favorite activities is getting in his car and hitting
the wide open Texas highways and letting loose his custom racing
engine which he had built by his local mechanic, a German immigrant
with a high performance motor shop. John can be found at all the
local car shows and often spends days off test-driving new models
of European sports cars. His preference is toward the European
high performance cars to the point of snobbery.
Information Sources
James Shell - Jim works in Dallas for the CIA. He lives
in Richardson with his wife Irma. John met him when John
came to the Dallas office for training in telecommunications intelligence
and counterintelligence. James and John are good friends.
Secretary of Defense William Calhoun (not to be confused with
the real life William Cohen) - John helped with the seedier
aspects of spin control while working on the Secretary's staff
when he was a senator of a new england state. William
knows what John did for him and the danger John could pose if
he wanted to.
|
Dr.
Sarah Doherty (Reema)
Team role(s): Field Scholar,
Theologian, Ancient Languages Specialist
Basic concept (in 10 words or less):
Religious archaeologist that works primarily on church-sponsored
digs.
Nationality: U.S.A.
Ethnicity: Irish-American
Hometown: Richardson, Texas,
U.S.A.
Profession: Field Archaeologist
(funded primarily by religious organizations)
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Physical Description:
Creed:
Motto:
Religion: Protestant
Date she joined The Society:
November, 1999
Why she joined The Society:
She manifested latent Séance Discipline of the Art and
was approached by the Society.
Background
"I was born in Ireland . . . no, I should start with my parents.
My mother, Zuhra, was born in Egypt; she was the only child of
Fareed and Noora Darweesh. Although they were Egyptians,
my mother and grandparents were not treated like most of their
countrymen. You see, they are Christians, and in a land
dominated by Muslims being Christian meant that you were discriminated
against and your life was generally made more difficult.
There came a point when my grandparents had enough abuse and were
ready to move to a new place where they could raise their daughter
in peace. They moved to Greece, where my grandfather's sister
had lived for years. This move was doubly advantageous in
that it served as a great stepping-stone for my mother to pursue
her passion, opera singing. She had loved opera ever since
she could remember. In Greece, she had more opportunities
to advance in this art. I have seen my mother perform in
many prestigious opera houses in Europe; she is absolutely astounding.
"My father, Liam, was born in Ireland, youngest son to Sean
and Katherine Doherty. Like my mother, he faced prejudice
growing up because he was a Protestant. In case you didn't
know, Protestants and Catholics don't get along in Ireland [chuckle].
Other than the occasional bomb threat, my father had a reasonably
normal childhood. His parents were kind and supportive,
and his older siblings gave him a hard time, being the youngest
sibling and all. With his love for assembling building
blocks and drawing buildings, it was no surprise that he became
an architect. After graduating, his first job was to add
another wing to an old opera house in Greece. There, he
met my mother, who routinely practiced at that opera house.
They very quickly fell completely in love with each other.
Six months later they were married, and my mother moved to Ireland.
"After three years of marriage, they felt ready for parenthood.
Because opera singing took all of her time, my mother decided
to perform on a part time basis. She performed all over
Europe and my father attended every performance, but I only
attended those that did not fall on a school night. Nonetheless,
I had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe. When
I couldn't accompany my father, I stayed with Granny Katy; my
grandfather died before I was born. She was a woman of
great faith, but she wasn't one to proselytize. She never
told me that I had committed a sin or that I would go to hell
if I did or didn't do something. She told me bedtime stories,
but instead of Snow White she would tell me about David and
Goliath. Bible stories were my bedtime stories, but they
were told with the same enthusiasm and inflections of normal
bedtime stories. In fact, I didn't know that they were
stories from the bible until I was ten. Granny always
followed the spirit of the bible, not the letter, and in her
opinion, as long as you believe and love god and try your best
to be a good person, then you will go to heaven.
"I loved these stories, and whenever she recited them I would
imagine myself in these stories, helping David pick the pebbles
or standing next to Moses and watching the sea part. I
wanted to be there, I wanted to touch the past and learn everything
about it. You see, I did not regard religious stories
as myths; to me they were part of history, as real as the Roman
Empire. Whenever I visited the various European countries
with my parents, I wanted to go to historical sites to feel
the brick and soil and imagine myself living in those times.
To my dismay, there weren't many known/confirmed sites where
many of these religious stories took place. Many of the
known holy places were in Israel, but my mother never performed
there, but I vowed that one day I would go there and revel in
its history and unlock its mysteries. But until then I
had to survive being Protestant in Ireland.
"Growing up, I never understood why the Catholics and Protestants
hated each other. To me, there were not many differences.
They both had essentially the same stories and morals, so it
made no sense that they were killing each other because of disputes
about details. Although Catholic children ridiculed me
for being a Protestant, I never really understood the depth
of this hate until I was 14. Ever since I was 9, I had
walked from home to school and visa versa. And every day
I would go into Owen's bakery on my way back from school.
Owen's pastries were unmatched to this day. He was a kind
old man, and he always gave me free goodies. A few months
after my fourteenth birthday I was heading to Owen's bakery
as usual, but before I crossed the street to get to his shop
a loud boom went off and Owen's shop, along with the two adjacent
to his, were blown to pieces. I covered my face, but some
glass shards reached my arm and the blast knocked me back a
few feet. When it was over I opened my eyes, and from
across the street I saw rubble, amongst which was a motionless
body. Later I found out that it was Owen's body and that
he was killed because he was a Protestant and nothing more.
After the blast I was taken to a hospital and my parents were
informed. I was not seriously hurt, but my parents realized
that if I had arrived at the bakery a few minutes earlier, I
would have died. This incident terrified my parents enough
that they decided to leave Ireland.
"My father was not able to find a suitable job in Europe, so
he expanded his search to the US. There he came across
a small group of architects in Dallas that were forming their
own firm, and they needed one more partner. My father
had the talent and enough money saved to be the fourth partner.
So we moved to Dallas when I was 15, the age when you start
going to high school. I went to J. J. Pearce High School,
a predominantly white school; in fact, there were only two Hispanics
and four blacks, the rest were white American kids.
"Although I did not have to deal with being teased for being
Protestant, I still stood out. I did not look like an
all American girl; I looked a lot like my mother. I had
thick long wavy jet black hair, black eyebrows and eyelashes,
a rounded face with an olive tan complexion, and light green
eyes (compliments of my father's side of the family).
But what stood out even more was my Irish accent. And
people stared at me whenever I spoke, some people would even
stop me in the hall and ask me to say something just so they
can hear how I sounded. I hated that; I hate being stared
at and being the center of attention. I just wanted to be left
alone, so I became even more introverted and was perceived as
being cold. That was fine by me; I would rather be viewed
as cold than to have my accent be the center of their amusement.
It didn't really affect me because I never really had a lot
of friends; I traveled a lot and spent most of my time site
seeing, reading, and generally spending quality time with my
family. I only had two friends in Ireland, and one in
high school.
"Not having many distractions throughout my high school experience
helped me focus on my studies. I ended up being Valedictorian
and was accepted to the Archeology/Anthropology department in
Harvard. I loved being at Harvard, barring the saturation
of arrogance with which I was inundated; I loved being around
people that had similar interests and that I could have an intelligent
conversation with. But even there I was still different
from the others. You see, most of the Archeology majors
there wanted to excavate sites in Egypt or in Italy and Greece,
some were even interested in American Indian digs. As
for me, I was interested in religious sites. I wanted
to find these places that the bible described. Because
this area of Archeology was not very popular, there was a lot
that was unknown. To me, these stories and locations were
not merely ancient history, but they had a supernatural flair
to them that I was very curious about. The only other
topic that I was interested in was historical ones about witches
and the way magic was used.
"During my studies, I took a few classes on comparative religion,
and the more I looked at Judaism, Christianity, and Islam the
more they seemed like one religion with each one adding to the
big story. These religions were telling a chronological
story about the relationship between god and man. And
when you look at these religions you find a lot of the same
stories with minor variations. I believe that god spoke
to all three people and told them the same thing, but because
the word of god was first relayed by mouth and then written
and re-written hundreds of times, there came to be these differences.
For me personally, I find that each religion is as valid as
the other, and I have spent a lot of time finding the common
threads between them.
"To my dismay, I found out that the more a person was educated,
the less likely they believed in god and especially the supernatural
aspects of religion. I still believe, but I would never
get into a discussion about religion because you either have
faith or you don't. I just think that people without faith
and who can't imagine that there are inexplicable things in
this world and in our history are missing out on a lot of possibilities.
After graduating I took on church-, mosque-, and synagogue-sponsored
digs. But there was a lot of down time between digs, so
I took a part time position teaching history at the University
of Texas at Dallas, with the understanding that I would go on
digs when offered and I would teach in my down time. UTD
also provided me with a small “lab,” a large room really, to
study artifacts that I gathered from my expeditions.
"A year ago, I was invited to give a talk at Harvard.
It was very nice to see my old colleagues and professors again.
After my talk, Dr. James Larson, my old advisor, invited me
and a couple of my colleagues to his house for dinner.
There, Jim told me of a book that was uncovered in a dig in
Salem that was supposedly a witch's book. He could not
make out much about the book, but after examination, I determined
that it was a book of Séance. And being the curious
person that I am, I convinced them to try it out. So we
sat around a table and I started reading from the book.
As I continued, I felt a chill throughout my body. Then
the window swung open, and a violent wind came through.
At some point I thought I heard a voice that was unearthly,
I also thought I saw something. But we all assumed that
the wind made these noises and that what we saw was probably
one of our shadows, and when I tried to do it again immediately
afterwards, nothing happened.
"A few months after this incident, Raji Kumar, an old Harvard
colleague of mine that was present at the séance came
to Dallas to visit me. I was happy to see him again, but
he had a serious matter to discuss. Because he knew of
my beliefs and attitude towards the existence of supernatural
powers, he thought our discussion would go smoothly. He
started out by saying that I had performed a real séance,
that I summoned a powerful spirit but I did not have the ability
to control or communicate with it. To make sure that the
spirit wouldn't harm us, he had put an invisible protective
shield around us. At first I thought he was joking, but
he was very serious. He then proceeded to tell me about
the Society - their goals, accomplishments, and their ability
to help me hone my talent. I was so excited; I wanted
to know more and to join immediately. Raji was very happy
with my reaction and he arranged for me to meet with Society
members to assess if I could join. To make the long story
short, I am now a member of the society. They helped me
hone my ability an even taught me another one. I have
yet to be sent on a mission, but I have only been a member for
seven months. We will see what the future holds for me.
Fears
Standing by helpless while a loved one is being harmed.
Relationships
Friend/Mentor/Patron: Father Mahoney - Protestant priest that
has been like an uncle to me ever since we came to the US.
He has contacts in Rome and Jerusalem. He made sure that
I had an excavation ready for me after I graduated from Harvard
(he had an old friend, Rabbi Hari, that got me my first dig in
Israel)
Prior History of Combat and Serious Injuries
Lightly injured as a child by a terrorist bombing of a bakery
in Ireland.
Vices
Likes drinking Irish whiskey once a week. [Whew, now that's
evil]
Hangouts
- a Blues club (Dallas)
- Concert hall(Downtown)
- West End(Downtown)
- Putt Putt(Plano)
- Irish Pub (Plano)
- Barnes and Nobles and half price books
Home
Townhome (Buying)- extremely organized and clean, 2/2, a living
room, a dining room, a spacious kitchen, and a study that has
bookshelves occupying all the wall space.
Car
A sturdy SUV. [Whew, such excessive detail]
Typical Week
MWF
| 0800-1200 |
Teach |
| 1200-1300 |
Lunch |
| 1300-1600 |
Read articles and converse with colleagues |
| 1600-1900 |
Examine and study artifacts from previous digs |
| 1900-2200 |
Eat, relax, read a book |
| 2230 |
Sleep |
TR
| 0700-0900 |
Speak with religious contacts about possible and ongoing
excavations |
| 0900-1100 |
Office hours |
| 1100-1300 |
Lunch with Father Mahoney |
| 1300-1900 |
Examine and study artifacts from previous digs |
| 1900-2200 |
Eat, relax, read a book |
| 2230 |
Sleep |
S
| 0630 |
Get up, and then go out jogging |
| 0730 |
Get ready and eat a slow breakfast |
| 0900-1200 |
Run errands, do chores, etc. |
| 1200-1800 |
Hang out with friends or colleagues or do some more
research work if necessary |
| 1800-1930 |
Eat dinner with friend or alone |
| 1930-2300 |
Have fun - play pool, go to a Blues club, watch a symphony,
etc. |
| 2330 |
Sleep |
Sunday: spend the day with my parents and maybe get
some work in if needed
Hangouts
Information Source
Father Mahoney (see Relationships above)
Mourad Bashir - Laborer/guide. Sarah always hires him
when she is in the area on a dig. He is a devout muslim
with a loud boisterous personality.
|
Jeremy
"Bud" Johnson (Lars)
Team role(s): Naturalist,
soldier, mechanic, driver.
Basic concept (in 10 words or less):
A good ol' American redneck who gets caught up fighting evil.
Nationality: U. S. of A.
Ethnicity: Far removed European
(i.e. English, Norwegian, and a little Polish).
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia,
U.S.A.
Profession: Mechanic
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Physical Description: Large
sturdy man with thinning blond hair. He obviously works a lot
with his hands and has a solid farmer's tan. His clothing is stereotypical
white trash redneck and is often smeared with some oil or grease.
Creed: He doesn't think much
about morals and ethics. He just has some fun and occasionally
does the right thing.
Motto: "That ain't right."
Religion: Family was Methodist,
but he hasn't gone to church in almost 20 years and doesn't think
about religion much.
Date he joined The Society:
May 31, 2000
Why he joined The Society:
Encounter with beastie in the forest. He exhibited the art while
saving his friend. No one believed what he saw and he's taken
on a bad-ass crusader attitude.
Background
Bud was born Jeremy to a poor family in Richmond, Virginia on
July 9th, 1972. His father was (and still is) a mechanic and his
mother raised Bud and his five siblings. Jeremy was always a spirited
and troublesome kid, getting into fights and bringing home various
strange animals that he would catch in the woods behind their
house. He picked up the nickname "Bud" from kids' games and it's
stuck since. Bud picked up his father's mechanical aptitude, but
joined the army when he was 18 because of a patriotic and adventurous
streak fueled by the footage of the Gulf War.
Bud missed the Gulf War by a couple of months. He spent six
years in the army and just couldn't escape being assigned to
the motorpool as a mechanic. He enjoyed fixing jeeps and tanks,
but disliked being looked down upon by the infantry and being
ordered around. He wrapped up his tour and returned home in
1997 to a waiting job in his father's garage.
Upon returning, Bud met Lou Ann Miller and fell in love. She
was accepted to a beauty academy in Dallas and he decided to
go with her. They had a spur of the moment wedding at the courthouse
and hopped in his pick-up truck for Dallas. For about a year,
they had a decent life. Bud quickly found a job in a garage
in Dallas while Lou Ann attended classes and waited tables on
the side. Bud disliked the city and was hoping to find a small
garage along a trucking route in a more rural area, like his
home on the fringes of Richmond. Lou Ann had not fallen in love
with Bud, but had fallen in love with the dream of marriage.
It quickly faded once they hit hard times. She had an affair
with a salon instructor. He divorced her and swore off marriage
for good.
He has since been working at the Turnstile Stop north of Dallas
on I-75, near McKinney. He keeps to the simple things in life:
trucks, beer, hunting, and wrestling. Slowly his life has been
spiraling into more excesses and more destructive behavior.
Bar fights, gambling, etc.... Hunting was his only escape from
the reality of the real world.
On one of his hunting expeditions, Bud's eyes were opened.
Him, his buddy, Daryl, and his dog, Rex, were hunting deer deep
in the forest near a Native American reservation in Oklahoma.
They left the well marked hunting park to find better game and
encountered some strange creature's den. It was mad when it
awoke. Their rifles scared it away, but Rex tried to protect
his master by growling and barking close to the beast. It swatted
Rex aside, crushing his life him and lumbered away. As it left,
it smashed a tree down on top of Daryl. Bud knew if he tried
to go get help this abomination would return to finish the trapped
prey off. Instead he tapped into some inner power and lifted
the heavy tree trunk off of his friend. The two limped out of
the area. Bud told the encounter to others, but no one believed
him. Even Daryl did not remember the creature, but believed
it to be a large bear or something. Bud was frustrated that
no one would listen and pissed off that Rex would go about unavenged.
Bud tried hunting down the beast a month later, but could not
find any sign of a lair or tracks. He was approached by the
Society a couple months later. He joined thinking this would
give some focus to his life as well as give him a chance to
exact some revenge on the Unknown.
Fears
Bud is not more creeped out by the usual stuff than most people.
He is comfortable in the wilderness and working/living alone.
Night time does not bother him either. He's most bothered by the
unnatural abomination stalking the land. He doesn't know how to
deal with them and that's a bit frightening. In terms of emotional
or psychological issues, Bud is scared about being a failure and
not amounting to anything worthwhile in this life. That's why
he always adopts his bravado macho attitude and has taken up the
Society's cause.
Relationships
Just Lou Ann (see Background, above)
Prior History of Combat and Serious Injuries
He's been in lots of bar fights and some that have turned ugly.
He was involved in a botched robbery attempt of a Dallas convenience
store and traded fire with the gunmen. He shot and killed one,
the other escaped and was apprehended later that night. He took
such drastic measures because he had a bad feeling their weren't
going to let the other three customers live. He's been beat
up pretty bad in bar fights, but never serious. He's usually
on the winning side :-).
Vices
He drinks, chews, smokes, gambles, and has even done some whoring
during some low moments before the forest event. He's straightened
up somewhat now that he has a cause.
Typical Week
MTWRFS
| 0700 |
Wakes up, shakes off any lingering hang-overs, showers,
and dresses. |
| 0730 |
Shows up at Turnstile Stop, the truck stop he works at.
He grabs a
bite to eat at the dinner before going to work. |
| 0815 |
Shows up to work late |
| 0800-1200 |
Working as a mechanic on rigs and other cars that stop
by |
| 1200 |
Gets lunch to go from the dinner |
| 1200-1230 |
Eats lunch on a small bluff overlooking the lot so he
can get some privacy and listen to a small portable radio
playing Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin. When it rains he
eats in the dinner. |
| 1230-1830 |
Work. |
| 1830-1930 |
Unwinds with a couple beers at the dinner with fellow
mechanics
and truckers. |
| 1930 |
Showers at the truck stop and changes out of uniform |
| 2000 |
Heads to the local sports bar (Rudy's) that is close to
his apartment |
| 2000-0000 |
Hangs out watching sports and wrestling. |
| 0000 |
Goes to sleep (Except for Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday
night) |
Sunday - varies, but usually involves hunting trips
or hanging out at a bar (Turnstile Stop or Rudy's).
Sunday night - 2200-0200 watches underground street
fighting at the Bashing Pit. Every now and then he participates,
especially if he is feeling depression-originated self-loathing.
Tuesday night to Wednesday morning - 2230-0300
Poker night at Daryl's place.
Saturday night - Stays up to 0200 drinking and watching
sports at Rudy's.
Hangouts
Turnstile Stop (Truckstop)
Rudy's (Redneck sports bar)
Oshman's (Often ogles various hunting gear)
Bashing Pit (Street Fighting Warehouse)
His apartment is a typical messy bachelor pad. Other guys wouldn't
think twice about, but he makes sure to pick up the empty beer
cans and scattered copies of Field & Stream when he brings
a woman home. There are usually several fast food bags and containers
scattered about the kitchen, but not many dirty dishes since he
rarely eats at home; the ones that are there have probably been
sitting for a week. His furniture is second hand brown plaid 70s
style, which he picked up garage sales and used furniture stores.
He has a well worn lazy boy chair that sees a lot of use. He has
a mounted tenpin buck's head in his living room, which dominates
the place. There is also a couple of sleek posters of motorcycles
and vintage racing cars with scantily clad women modelling them.
The bedroom is always very messy -- bed unkempt and dirty clothes
all over the place. Bud keeps the door closed so that he doesn't
have to do any cleaning when the guys come over. He keeps his
hunting rifle and shotgun in the closet in the bedroom after he
heard about a couple that got killed by a burglar who found a
gun and box of ammo in the entrance closet. He also has begun
keeping a loaded pistol by his bed since the fateful hunting trip
with Daryl (see Background).
Bud's Truck
Bud is living cheap because he bought himself a new F150 pickup
truck two years ago after the divorce as a pick-me-up present.
It is cherry red with black trim. He keeps it well maintained
and washes it once a month. It has stylish nude woman silhouette
mud flaps and a big texas longhorn hood ornament. He drives it
everywhere, usually fast and obnoxiously. |
Benedict
"Bic" Raker (Angelo)
Team role(s): Techie/Computer
jock, with double duty as disguise artist and minor league occultist.
Basic concept (in 10 words or less):
Friendly but socially inept F/X guy in over his head.
Nationality:
Canadian.
Ethnicity:
2nd generation Canadian, family is Romanian.
Hometown:
Toronto, Canada.
Profession:
Special F/X guy for film and some television.
Age:
29
Gender:
Male.
Physical Description:
Tall and thin, around 6'1 and 170 pounds. Dark hair and
eyes, scruffy facial hair. General semi-geeky look, but
not one of the great unwashed. Twitchy, like he's got a
caffeine IV.
Creed:
Never screw over a friend.
Motto:
That is so cool! I bet I could rig that up
myself, if I had the right gear.
Religion:
Agnostic, leaning toward atheist.
Date he joined The Society:
March 9, 2000
Why he joined The Society:
While working on a movie on location in Haiti, he witnessed a
significant occurrence of Unknown activity. Two members
of the Society saved the day, and he thought it was so cool and
interesting that he became obsessed with finding out about them.
Now he feels like he's living out some kind of fantasy RPG, and
he's finally got a chance to do something really good with his
brains and talent.
Background
Benedict is a special effects artist in the movie business.
Although he is fairly young, he has devoted much of his life to
computers and his love of fantasy/sci-fi and horror, especially
movies in the genre. A stereotypical geek through high-school,
he is trying to break that image as an adult, but his boyish enthusiasm
still has a way of making him do and say socially awkward things
at just the wrong time. Still, he is very friendly and loyal
to those he can call his friends.
A few months ago, he was doing special effects for Master of
Zombie Island, a horror movie shot on location in Haiti.
Unknown to the director or anyone else, the propmaster was a
dangerous minion of the Unknown, and arranged for all the right
elements to be in place during one of the scenes to effect an
actual magic ritual. As the actors began reading from
a really authentic looking "magic book" and sprinkling other
actors (slated to be sacrificed to a summoned demon) with odd
smelling "magic powder", things started really happening.
At first everyone thought Benedict had just outdone himself
with the special effects, but he knew better. As matters
got out of hand, panic erupted on the set as smoke began to
come up out of the ground and wailing unearthly voices were
heard. Benedict was just as confused as everyone else
when suddenly everything seemed to get better. When the
smoke cleared, the actors were all unharmed, but the propmaster
was found dead of a knife wound and the film of the incident
was missing. At least, most of the film...
You see, unknown to anyone Benedict works for, he always hides
a video camera in his gear and films the scenes where he does
special effects. He does this for a number of reasons,
including keeping a record of scenes that don't make it into
the movie, keeping his own private scrapbook, learning from
his mistakes, etc. Of course, this violates copyright,
so he never mentions it to anyone he doesn't completely trust.
Anyway, the producers of the movie were too freaked out to continue
it, especially given the fact that they'd have to reshoot scenes
on the missing film, so the production was ended and the film
never finished or released. Benedict was blamed by some for
the weird scene, but he was able to convince his employers that
he wasn't responsible. Nevertheless, Benedict was very
curious to find out what had really happened. He examined
his video tape of the incident, and discovered that when the
weirdness started, several things happened at once, as though
they had been well choreographed by several "extras" on the
set. First, several smoke grenades went off, filling the
area with smoke and causing most people to panic. This
also served to hide from most folks on the scene the weird demonic
form which was starting to materialize. Second, one of
the "extras" closed the "magic book" and cut the sacrifices
free. Third, in the ensuing confusion, another extra,
moving with grim purpose, knocked the cameraman out from behind
and stole the film. Finally, another "extra" was seen
calmly walking in the direction of the prop area. Although
the video tape doesn't show the propmaster being killed, Benedict
made the obvious conclusion.
At first, Benedict didn't know what to do or think about this.
He was a little scared at the implications. but he was also
fascinated and intensely curious. He knew he couldn't
go to the police, but he wasn't sure he wanted to anyway.
He also knew that going to the movie studio would be pointless.
They would assume he had rigged the effects himself, and they
would be none too thrilled about his private filming anyway.
He was also unclear as to what he thought ought to be done.
After all, the "extras" had likely saved his and many other
people's lives. After some thought, he decided that he
would find out as much as he could about what had happened and
who these extras were.
He started off by showing a highly edited version of the tape
to his grandmother. She is a fortune teller and owner
of a magic shop in Quebec, and always had a good relationship
with Benedict, despite his parents trying to keep them apart.
She would fill his head with stories of werewolves and vampires
from the old country, and Benedict's parents never approved.
Anyway, he showed her the piece of the tape showing the demonic
entity, and she immediately got a bit pale and said that he
needed to be very careful because this was the real thing he
was looking at. She didn't go into any detail, but she did give
him a charm to ward off this creature should he encounter it
again.
Since that didn't pan out, he decided to track down the "extras"
if possible. Using his knowledge of computers he managed
to identify one of them and tracked him down. A tense
confrontation ensued during which Benedict was unknowingly close
to being killed for security reasons, but luckily he talked
the "extra", a member of the Society, into giving him a chance
to use his skills as he had seen the agent use his own skills
to save people in need. Benedict was introduced to the
proper people and now is a new recruit in the Society.
Fears
As for fears, Bic has enough ghoulish thoughts in his head to
come up with some pretty horrific special effects for the horror
movies he's done. Although it's not something he thinks
about often, he used to get creeped out at the thought that he
might make someone over into a monster, and they'd actually stay
that way.
A more mundane problem/fear Bic has is a queasiness over sharp
eye trauma. One of his childhood friends got a fishhook
caught in his eye, and ever since then sharp things going into
eyes has made him squirm. In fact, he's used those sorts
of effects in a couple of his movies because he finds it particularly
icky.
Relationships
No serious ones. This is a problem for Bic. He sees
other movie special FX guys with attractive women, and he thinks,
"Why not me?" The difference is that Bic is not skilled
in the social graces. Maybe this experience will help.
Prior History of Combat and Serious Injuries
He's never been in a fight involving weapons and has not had a
fight at all since middle school. He's played LazerTag,
paintball, and way too many hours of first-person shooter computer
games. He tends to try to avoid conflict if possible.
He has never been seriously injured or had his life threatened.
Vices
He plays computer games and hacks. Also, in lieu of an actual
sex life, he surfs a lot of internet porn, but he doesn't do drugs
or anything like that. The closest thing would be a serious
caffeine habit.
Typical Week
M-F (note Thursday below)
| 0900 |
get up, shower, dress, eat etc. |
| 1000 |
get to work (at home or studio) |
| 1300-1400 |
lunch: at home frozen pizza or delivery pizza/Chinese;
otherwise fast food if alone, restaurant if with friends. |
|
work until dinner (with breaks to play/surf on computer) |
| 1900-2000 |
dinner: same as lunch, although may eat with gaming buddies.
He tries harder to eat with a friend at dinner time. |
|
watch TV/movies, play on the computer, online chat, hacking,
etc. |
| 0200-0300 |
go to sleep |
Weekends - sometimes the same as M-F, especially when
he's working on an important project with a deadline.
Other weekends he takes off, to do the sort of domestic things
that everybody needs to do once in a while. On
those occasions, he generally sleeps late, like until 11, as
he also tends to stay up even later, sometimes into the early
morning (ca. 6 AM).
Thursday night - The one scheduled weekly event he rarely
misses is his gaming night. The Conquistadors meet at
the GM's house at 7:00 every Thursday night, usually with fast
food in hand. They play until 11 or 12, occasionally
going as late as 1 if the game calls for it.
When Bic is on location, his schedule is completely dictated
by the production needs, and often involves him getting up as
early as 6 AM or working well into the night. Food is
catered on the set, and hotels are provided for crew.
He always brings his laptop along, as well as his FX gear and
a portable combination TV/VCR.
Hacking - Computer games and movies take up much of
his free time, as does general hacking for fun. He's never
destructive when he hacks, but he does tend to leave his calling
card. It's a bit of animation with his hacker name, Pyro,
burning up into smoke.
Hangouts
Virtual Joe's - A computer / coffee bar a few blocks from his
house. He knows the owner (who knows he's a hacker).
When he's feeling social he sometimes comes down to have a coffee
and hang out / surf. Occasionally, when he doesn't want
to try to hack from home, he goes there and does some poking around.
He figures if there's any problems, he can sign off and Joe (the
owner) has plausible deniability. Of course, he uses throw
away online identities when he does this.
2d10 - A gaming/comic shop. The street address is 1010,
which leads to the name of the shop. There is an ongoing,
virtually unending miniatures game going on on one or more tables
in the shop. Bic doesn't hang here as much as he used
to, but he still occasionally drops in to play for a few hours.
He also drops by to pick up new games.
Ridgeway Uniplex - A small, one-screen art-house theater which
also shows older, classic movies. When a movie comes in
Bic likes, he has been known to see it 4 or 5 nights in a row.
They are right next door (run by the same people) to Play it
Again - a video rental store specializing in classic movies.
Any museums in the Dallas area - Bic appreciates art, and when
he's tired of feeling shut into his house, he can sometimes
be found wandering through any of a number of Dallas museums.
His Family
Benedict is the only child of Vladimir and Antoinette Raker, who
live in Toronto. The family name was Rakov, but Vladimir
changed it before Benedict was born, because he was trying to
become more Western. This was largely to distance himself
from his mother, Mirabella, who still stands by her Gypsy
ways. She runs a fortune teller / magic shop in Quebec,
and currently has more contact with Benedict than she does with
Vlad and Netti, as Benedict's parents are called. This bothers
Bic's parents, as they view Mirabella as a crazy, if not dangerous,
influence on their son. Bic is very fond of Mirabella, and
the way he sees his parents treat her has put a strain on Bic's
relationship with them.
Lifestyle
As for Bic's lifestyle, he lives alone in a good sized home studio,
with a loft and plenty of storage space. His collection
of electronics and computer equipment is matched only by his selection
of games and DVDs. Although he has some like minded friends,
especially his gaming group (The Conquistadors), he mostly hangs
out online or sits around the studio tinkering with his computer
or designing new special effects for movies that haven't even
been proposed yet, never mind written. He sees his new "job"
with the Society as a chance to play out a game for real.
This attitude may change when he or someone he knows gets hurt,
but for now he's overflowing with boyish exuberance at what he
sees as the first really cool thing to happen to him in the last
few years.
Special Effects Gear
Type of gear - This depends greatly on the project.
For some work, it will involve a lot of make-up and costumes,
prosthetics, maybe even motorized puppet parts. For some
work it will involve pyrotechnic equipment. Regardless,
Bic has learned that you never bring just what you think you'll
need. You always bring extra stuff, in case you have to
improvise on the spot. [I'm not expecting to built a space
shuttle from the spare equipment in my van, but I would like a
little gadgeteering potential. :{)}]
At a production site - Bic will usually have about a
studio van full of gear that he uses when on official work projects,
and maybe when on unofficial projects as well.
Ubiquitous gear - He is never without some amount of
electronics, including his cell phone and PDA. He is very
keen on current wireless technology. When convenient,
he carries his laptop with him.
At home - At home he has a LOT of electronics and computer
gear, as well as a full studio for making monsters and the like.
He generally doesn't carry that sort of stuff around, but can
get it easily if necessary.
His Car
Bic used to drive an old Subaru wagon, but last year he traded
it in on a 1999 Ford Explorer. He figured he could carry
gear in it if he wanted, and that it would attract more women.
He was right on the first count. It's usually littered with
fast food wrappers and computer gaming magazines, under which
can often be found a spare laptop, minor electronics projects
he's playing with, a roadside emergency kit, and odds and ends
he doesn't take time to clean out. |
Tom Brandt
(Inactive)
Team role(s):
Martial Artist working on his Kinesiology degree at Collin County
Community College between competitions.
Basic concept (in 10 words or less):
Martial Arts bad ass.
Nationality:
American.
Ethnicity:
German and Belgian, Caucasian.
Hometown:
McKinney, TX.
Profession:
Morgue Attendant and Assistant Martial Arts Instructor.
Trying to break into the martial arts competition circuit.
Age:
20
Gender:
Male.
Physical Description:
Tall and heavily muscled, around 6'2 and 250 pounds. Short
dark hair and brown eyes with a very close cropped goatee and
mustache. He looks physically dangerous.
Creed:
Motto:
Religion:
Protestant, when he is forced to choose.
Date he joined The Society:
Why he joined The Society:
Background
Tom has lived and breathed martial arts since he was a child.
He has a mesomorph body type and finds it very easy to build muscle.
He is good enough to make a living on the martial arts competition
circuit, but he wants to get a degree in Kinesiology.
Fears
Tom fears being permanently physically crippled more than anything.
His hearing is going, but he denies it and does not really care.
Relationships
Tom is usually casually involved with a few young women.
Prior History of Combat and Serious Injuries
Before becoming involved with the Society, he had plenty of bruises,
broken bones, and other physical injuries. He has not been
involved in a gunfight, although he has disarmed a gun man once.
He has been thrust into more than one brawl as his size tends
to draw drunk stupid overconfident morons out of the woodwork.
Vices
Tom has few vices. He is not quite a health nut, but he
does eat a healthy diet and drinks very lightly. When he
does drink it is only when the social environment demands it and
even then usually jsut a beer.
Typical Week
M-F
| 0800-1200 |
Get up, eat, work out (martial arts, weights, running,
biking, swimming, aerobics) |
| 1200-1300 |
Lunch |
| 1300-1700 |
School (classes M-R, study F) |
| 1700-1800 |
Dinner |
| 1800-2000 |
Instructs martial arts at local dojos and privately |
| 2000-2300 |
If not studying, then quite variable; usually either looking
for a new girlfriend at a club, visiting a girlfriend, or
reading (martial arts, philosophy, or medicine). |
Weekend
Tom's weekends are a complete wildcard. If there is a
martial arts competition or tournament within a four hour drive,
he will attend it. Otherwise, he might make some money
in private instruction or helping out at a dojo. Occasionally,
he may spend the weekend with a grilfriend.
Hangouts
Sou Lou's Martial Arts Academy
North Dallas Tae Kwon Do
Black Dragon Ken Po
Martial Arts Supply
Bally's Total Fitness
Library
His Family
Tom's parents live in McKinney, Texas. He has one younger
sister named Donna, who is 17 years old, three years younger than
Tom.
Lifestyle
When Tom explains what he does generally, there is not much to
say. A great deal of his time is spent in physical training.
He is continuing on his path to being a better martial artist.
He lives in small one bedroom apartment that is spartanly furnished.
The dining are is taken up by a body bag, a weight set intrudes
upon his living room, which has a loveseat and a small entertainment
center. His bed is large to accommodate his build and his
frequent companions, but he has little furniture beyond that.
His home is usually very clean. Tom has figured out where
all of the healthiest places to eat in the local area are, but
he still makes some food at home, generally sanwhiches which are
heavy on the vegetables.
His Car
Beacuse of his brush with the Unknown, Tom's beat up old economy
car had to be junked to reduce the trail to him. The Society
replaced it with a brand new Jeep, much to Tom's delight.
It stays somewhat clean. the back seats are usually occupied
by a large gym bag containing his martial arts pads and gear. |
|
