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Old 06-18-2019, 09:51 AM   #43
Icelander
 
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default Re: Afsaneh Rabiei and CMF Research

Quote:
Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
I found a more complete bio for her here. Looks like she was in Tehran until 1994 (working in industry after getting her Bachelor's), which was when she moved to Japan for her PhD. She was in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2003 (and was in Boston, where IIRC you had some rather spooky things occur in a previous campaign, in 2002), then went to the University of North Carolina.

With that in mind, her experiencing the supernatural in Tehran was certainly possible, but probably not terribly likely, as it was in the early days of the supernatural. Additionally, I'm not certain an Iranian Supernatural Secret Society would be entirely welcoming of a female member, and as an aspiring scientist she wouldn't want to get branded as crazy, so I'd imagine even if she did have a supernatural encounter, she kept it largely to herself. Also maybe, I dunno, moved halfway around the world to get away from it. While in Japan, the supernatural was more likely to have interrupted into her life, but as you note she would have been too much of an outsider while there to join a secret society. The earliest she would have joined such would have been in Massachusetts. Her research seems to have an altruistic bent to it - medical implants, materials to protect against natural and man-made disasters, etc - so I feel it would be appropriate for her to be part of a group that she at least thinks has good intentions.

There's also this little paragraph from her MAE (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, her department at NCSU) Bio: This makes me feel she would be appropriate as either the leader of a small independent group (which may learn of and ally with Kessler, as he similarly appears to have altruistic goals) or, perhaps more likely, is a high-ranking member of (and recruiter for) an international group of some sort. Ideally one based (or with tendrils in) Massachusetts, as I feel that would be the most likely area where she would have been initially recruited.
Yes, that's nice.

The surviving PCs from the campaign there that ran from 2009-2011 ended up as leaders in the supernatural scene in New England. The PC who was a former-MP, former cop and current PI got involved in occult cases and because he was altruistic, Charitable and resourceful, word got around among people involved with the supernatural in Boston, then later Massachussetts and later still, all New England, that if you had a problem that the police couldn't help you with, you could take it to Mike O'Connor.

There eventually developed a sort of informal network of occultists, conspiracy theorists, paranormal reserchers and believers in general that both served to keep O'Connor informed and provided a constant stream of requests for help from him.* As O'Connor was a Knight of Columbus, with a lot of cop, fitefighter and veteran friends, and the other PCs were well-connected and diplomatically adept, Massachussetts and New England in general has a sort of codified peace between the unaware human society and the various occult factions. This peace is enforced through an allegiance brokered by the PCs, between the local Catholic dioesces, a local criminal syndicate led by vampires and the various smaller groups.

Breaking the simple rules that allow co-existence results in 'Sheriff' Mike O'Connor rounding up a posse of those who support the accords and dealing with the offender. So far, that has mostly consisted of rounding up Iraq and Afghan vets among the Knights of Columbus and breaking rogue occultist heads or burning out a nest of 'unauthorized' monsters.

As any formal organization post-dates the end of actual play, we haven't named the accords or the informal organization of human occultists, but I know I want the name to make use of the term 'Mystic', i.e. the river and the name of the campaign 'Boston Mystic'.

Ms. Rabiei's small group could fit under the 'Mystic Society' umbrella.

*Yes, very much like the Dresden Files ParaNet.
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