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Gang Green: These are punk Irish gangstas in the employ of SAM O’MUIR. They operate almost exclusively in St. Patrick’s. Gavriel, Rep. Dave: A childhood friend of SAM O’MUIR, Gavriel represents a Congressional district that encompasses most of Ravensgate. The young Democrat is serving his fourth term in Congress, although no one can quite figure out what he does there. All they know is that they get a direct-mail bulletin from “Diamond Dave” whenever the Nehalem County area gets another pork project. Which is really surprising—Gavriel favoring pork, that is. Gemini: She is a member of TEAM HYPERION and a martial artist who is so fast, sometimes she’s in two different places at once. Gemini possesses a most-likely mystically-based duplication ability. Capable of running at speeds approaching 90 miles per hour, she is neither physically imposing—that’s Paladin Noir’s or Halitosis’ job—nor particularly strong. Her main tactic is to split in two and tag-team a target. Since the collapse of Team Hyperion in 2002, she has joined COMETPRO as an agent-in-training under its PHASE ALPINE. Goth Underground: Some say these people come out only at night because they’re vampires. This is strictly a local urban legend. Nonetheless, this group has some nebulous ties to the RAVENSGATE CRIME COMMISSION and the Vishenko. See also VLADEK GROZNY. Great Scot! (1939 Astoria Avenue S.E.): This superhero-themed nightclub is popular with the tights-and-cape crowd—and the wannabe tights-and-cape crowd. Only teen sidekicks get carded. Sometimes the owner tends bar himself, but ol’ Clark has a tendency to water down the drinks and keep the TVs tuned to the news. Gregorič, Father Costas, S.J., Ph.D.: The Aurelie Roma Caine Memorial Distinguished Visiting Professor of Comparative Religions at the University of Ravensgate, the father is a consulting religion and philosophy lecturer at COLLEGIUM CAINE. He is also an occult scholar and a survivor of Yugoslavian ethnic cleansing. Grozny, Vladek: This Goth hustler is tied to the Vishenko. If it’s dirty but lucrative, Vladek and his buddies are involved. He’s known to hang out at Club Sanguine, but his haunt nowadays is the Isolation Block at SHERIDAN FEDERAL REGIONAL STRONGHOLD. Vladek hired ABU SCIROCCO, possibly on behalf of the RAVENSGATE CRIME COMMISSION, to kidnap local dignitaries—especially DANIELLE DEVEREAUX—at the AL-AMARJA SHRINE TEMPLE and hold them for billions of dollars in ransom. THE DOE FAMILY foiled Abu Scirocco’s attempt, and this cost Grozny about one-quarter to one-third his GOTH UNDERGROUND posse. The crime that landed Vladek in Sheridan, however, was an attempted theft at a science-fiction convention. He and his crew infiltrated THE USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS, organizers of RavenCon9, in order to gain access to the high-definition data disk of the pilot episode for the sixth Star Trek TV series. THE FOUNDRY foiled their scheme. Gudne, Erik (1964-): This muscle-bound young attorney had the Herculean task of defending the Ravensgate Police Guild from RICO-related charges. Oh, yeah, he was the nephew of MIKEY CIEZNIK, the son of ALEX CIEZNIK and the son-in-law of former District Attorney DELBERT YOAKHAM. [With a pedigreee like this, no wonder the guy used his mother’s maiden surname.] And did we mention he used to be a Checkerhead (Homicide and Special Investigations), but he resigned under “mysterious” circumstances? Yeah, right. An Exalted Pillar of Wisdom in the AL-AMARJA SHRINE TEMPLE until the FOREST CREST raid. Now, he’s in Federal custody on racketeering, murder, rape and kidnapping charges. Gunn, Sean Thomas (Tommy): Longtime SWAT cop and founder of the EXTREME COUNTERMEASURES UNIT, Gunn is a COMETPRO-trained ally of PHILIP SNOW. He now serves the Superintendent of Public Safety as his number-two man, Chief of Operations. Halitosis (Lipshitz, Harald): Leather-clad, make-up wearing, fire-breathing dinosaur rocker Harald Lipshitz is a part-time fixture on TEAM HYPERION. He’s as invulnerable as PALADIN NOIR against extreme heat, is about as tough as CABALLERA, but has limited repertoire outside of breathing 200-foot-long walls of fire. He’s an otherwise capable, if unimaginative, hand-to-hand fighter. Since the collapse of Team Hyperion in 2002, he has mainly emphasized his careers as a heavy-metal musician (as Halitosis) and classical pianist (as Lipshitz). Hannibal's (656 W. Ackerman Avenue): See also SOYLENTE VERDE. “Hawaiians In Jackboots”: See also MAKA’I OHANA, STREET CRIMES UNIT and SHINMEN, MATTHEW. Holmes Park Preparatory Academy (313 S.W. Pershing Place): This 79-year-old prestigious private school has an endowment fund rivaling those of several major universities. Its alumni are a Who’s Who of Ravensgate: anyone named THROCKMORTON born after 1910, WILLY PURVIS, JOSHUA CAINE (’68), JEAN-PIERRE D’AUBAINE (’69), DANIEL DEVEREAUX (’69), AURELIE ROMA CAINE (’70), HARALD “HALITOSIS” LIPSHITZ (’72), JONATHAN NASH (’75), ENRICO BENEZRA (’79), SALOME THROCKMORTON-d’AUBAINE (’90), ALLAN LOCKSLEY (’89), STEPHEN LOCKSLEY (’91), THEO WATKINS (’89), MOSE WATKINS (’90), JOHN HIRONOBU ENDO (’92), and ROMINA “IMP” CASTLE (’94). Homicide & Special Intelligence (HSI): Originally Homicide and Special Investigations, this unit, designed to be the Checkerheads’ major-cases squad, was caught covering up for dirty cops involved in suspicious shootings. Its alumni include MATT SHINMEN, the deceased JAMES SMITHSON, and WILTON FRANKLIN, all of whom were kicked out of the unit or forced into retirement because they wouldn’t sell their badges. After the Police Strike of 2002, PHILIP SNOW reorganized the BUREAU OF PUBLIC SAFETY and consolidated Intelligence and Internal Affairs into Homicide. Franklin returned as a captain in charge of the unit, and the unit was placed under the supervision of SPECIAL OPERATIONS. Homicide & Special Investigations (HSI): See HOMICIDE & SPECIAL INTELLIGENCE, REY ALLEMANDE, ROY SIEGFRIED, JAMES SMITHSON and LEON SPASZNIEWSKI. Hodgson, Howard: Almost as reclusive as ERIC BUTLER, Howard is a student at COLLEGIUM CAINE who studies insects intensively. It is believed he can communicate telepathically with insect hive minds. Imp (Romina Castle): A fixture on the late-1990s TEAM HYPERION, she was a teleporting, acrobatic mentalist with some hand-to-hand combat ability. She once was believed killed in a 1997 confrontation with a giant robot and, in 2002, was exposed as an accomplice of THE SOMNAMBULIST. As of May 2002, she is a “guest” of the SHERIDAN FEDERAL REGIONAL STRONGHOLD, awaiting trial. Imp’s tactics involve establishing eye contact and giving targets “brain freeze” (i.e., locking down voluntary motor functions for a few seconds to a few minutes). Failing that, she can go hand-to-hand. Interpol Justice Force One: These heroes are among the world’s most powerful. With one exception, you will never see them in Ravensgate, as they are busy helping fight the War Against Terrorism. This is just a partial list for background purposes:
Ishii, Inakimoto (Mad Moe): Uncle of MATT SHINMEN, this septuagenarian jurist is the meanest damn judge in town. Often described as two parts Roy Bean and one part John Marshall, Ishii is a veteran of the US Army 442nd Regimental Combat Team (Nisei Battalion) in World War II and a former Marine Corps judge advocate. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and is known to pack large-caliber handguns underneath his robes. Ishii is the chair of the SINCLAIR COMMISSION investigating widespread and entrenched police corruption. J & B Comics (211 Rutgers Avenue E.): The best comic-book store in Ravensgate never runs out of the latest issues of The Guardians of Earth or Dr. Mercury. Unfortunately, Jay will talk your ear off, leaving you wishing his silent partner would quit staring at the VCR. Jeopardy: Member of THE FOUNDRY, this superhero’s exact powers and likeness are unknown. He is believed to be a support member. Jessup, Rep. Hellman (1926-2003): A close friend of DELBERT YOAKHAM who somehow avoided implication in the Great Scandal of 2002, and unemployment in the “VOTE THE BASTARDS OUT!” RECALL CAMPAIGN, Jessup was a plain-spoken ultra-conservative Democrat who had been in Congress since Mark Hatfield was governor (i.e., 1962). A self-proclaimed “Yamhill farm boy born in a barn,” Jessup is a Dixiecrat in Oregonian clothing. He and DAVE GAVRIEL often were on opposite sides of the issues, yet they end up voting for the same pork-barrel projects. Jessup is a graduate of Yamhill-Carlton High School (’43) and Oregon College of Education (’50). He was a Navy radio operator in the European Theatre during World War II and the Korean War. Jessup taught school in sparsely-populated Malheur County during the 1950s and was a civics teacher at Ravensgate’s Central High School when elected to the Nehalem County Commission in 1958. Despite his senili—er, um, seniority—the Democrats relegated Jessup to low-profile committee assignments. His voting record included opposing the MLK national holiday, restoring U.S. citizenship to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and, because he thought they were the Communists, opposing aid to the Nicaraguan contras. He was an Exalted Pillar of Wisdom in the AL-AMARJA SHRINE TEMPLE until the FOREST CREST raid. He died of a heart attack in December 2003 while in custody for racketeering, murder, rape and kidnapping charges. Gov. John Kitzhaber appointed STEPHEN LOCKSLEY to finish Jessup’s term.
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