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Story Elements

The following section outlines key events, figures and places within the setting of PSI. The Key Events section lays the groundwork for some of the oddities that live within the world of PSI. Things can get even weirder depending on what turns out to be true or not true. In the Key Figures and Key Places are people who have had rather unbelievable lives, some truly fantastic. These have been left nebulous enough that the group, or GM can decide the level of strangeness in their world. 

Key Events 

Overall the world of PSI follows the same timeline as the real world. However,this section will highlight some events that fit within the fiction of  this universe. The list includes a number of famous hauntings, but these are simply examples, and there may be many more that prove to be true in the world of PSI.  

• The Ghost of Tu-po
• The Dwarf in Uxmal
• The Chained Man of Ancient Athens 
• The prophecies of Nostradamus 
• The creation of, or rediscovery of, Enochian
• The Bell Witch
• The Miracle Of The Sun
• The Exorcism of Roland Doe
• The Amityville Haunting
• The Haunting of Room 428, Ohio University
• The Russian ESP Studies 
• Project Stargate 
• MK Ultra 
• The Teleporting Man of Russia 

Key Figures 

This section focuses on members of, or people associated with the Institute. There are other interesting people listed in the Key Places section, each tied to a specific location. . 

Emily Boroughs, Investigator: Brought to PEAR at age four, Emily is one of the most powerful cases for reincarnation. Emily demonstrated knowledge of people and places she had never visited and who had passed away. One of the most remarkable aspects of Emily’s memories was her mastery of multiple languages. Linguists were able to verify that her dialect changed from language to language, and that they correspond with the regions of her past lives. Emily was nine when the Institute was founded. She arrived at the Institute’s offices despite not being informed of the transition. When researchers found her she said the following: Time is not a line. This has happened before, and will happen again. Emily spoke in an old Romanian dialect she had never used before, and passed out afterward. At twenty two, Emily is working towards her masters in Linguistic Anthropology and a researcher for the Institute. She has never been able to pull memories from Romania, but as she grew older, recalling any past life memories became increasingly difficult. The Institute maintains a series of Emily’s journals that chronicle all of her collected memories from each life.  

Dr. Akemi Duke, Institute Founder: Born in Japan, of Japanese and African American parents, Duke moved to the United States at age three when her father rotated home in 1978. In 1984 she lost both parents in a car accident and was hospitalized for three months. In that time, Duke suffered from visions of souls leaving the bodies of the dead. Doctors advised that this may be her mind trying to cope with the trauma. However, this encouraged her to pursue degrees in both Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology. After finding out about Dr Johnson’s research she transferred to Princeton as part of the psychology department, joining PEAR. Since joining PEAR, Duke has focused on working with mediums. In the years that followed, Duke has also worked on rediscovering her ghost sight. Unfortunately, while she can articulate what she sees, Duke has not been able to communicate or interact with these spirits. For this reason, she is unwilling to classify her experiences as paranormal, or hallucinatory. Conversely, she is also adamant about investigators’ mental health, and addressing trauma from field research. 

Dr. Robert S Johnson PHD., Institute Founder: Born in 1951, Johnson served as a medic during the last years of the Vietnam war. This was where he first experienced supernatural phenomena. This is as much as Johnson has ever disclosed about what they saw in Vietnam. After the war ended, Johnson returned to academia shifting his studies to parapsychology. Joining Project Stargate, Johnson studied the electromagnetic patterns of the brain when exerting psionic force. Since Project Stargate, Johnson has shown a continued interest in identifying psionic potential, training, and practical application. However, since those early Project Stargate days Johnson has avoided government interaction, or military application. 

Frank Linder, Investigator: It’s difficult to classify Frank’s abilities because of the discrepancy between his claims and testing results. Frank tests too high with Zener cards to discount his ability. At the same time, other abilities seem to come and go. Dr. Duke has noted more than once, that Frank seems to be a skilled cold reader, and coupled with some degree of extra sensory perception allows him to appear far more talented than he really is, however these talents make him a valuable field asset as he is able to solicit information with the ease of a master chaliton. It is important to monitor Frank while in the field, deploy only with experienced agents who can observe him as well as other subjects. Do not deploy Linder and Boroughs together. Correction: Do not allow Linder to associate with Boroughs. 

Dr. Jayaprakash “Jay” Mavalankar PHD., Institute Founder: A religious scholar and world traveller, Dr. Jay is the oldest member of the Institute and serves as a repository of historical knowledge from the 1930s forward. He has lived all throughout India, the UK, Iran, post war Germany, and Poland. Some members of the Institute fondly refer to him as the living library. Dr. Jay will often talk for hours if someone let’s him. Dr. Jay met the members of PEAR while at a symposium on spiritual phenomena in Iceland, and joined Princeton as the director of Theology three years later. Within PEAR, and later the Institute, Dr. Jay’s focus has primarily been the overlap between spiritualism and psychic phenomena. 

Marnie Orr, Independent: Marnie hit PEAR’s radar in the early 2000’s. A hairdresser by day. Marnie is a natural medium, and provides consultations out of the beauty shop at night. She has worked with Dr. Duke in several studies concerning non-corporeal entities. Despite positive interactions with Dr. Duke, she has opted not to join the Institute, although she is happy to consult depending on the case. When pushed, Marnie has said there is a cloud that floats over the Institute that she can’t explain, but she worries that something is wrong with what they are doing. This has not prevented her from consulting when she takes an interest in a case. This can be Investigators coming to her, although she has simply shown up to warn an Institute member, or provide a cryptic message just before or as a case emerges. 

Lindsey Perez, Case Study: Since first being brought to the Institute, Lindsey has spent progressively more time with the researchers. Lindsey displays strong pyrokinetic abilities that seem to grow in strength as she gets older. When Lindsey turned eleven the Perez family legally enrolled her in private tutors, Institute researchers, to remove her from school after an “accident” that left two girls severely injured with first and second degree burns. The Institute helped to cover up the incident and paid all associated medical costs. Lindsey is thirteen now, and only leaves the Institute for supervised visits with her parents. 

Key Places 

The following section outlines places investigators may find themselves before doing any field research. These locations assume the Campaign has a central location of New York, particularly Manhattan. However, these places can be transplanted to almost any major city with few adjustments. 

Main Office, The Institute: The thirteenth floor of the Spiral (66 Hudson Blvd) is leased by the Institute. Only easily accessible by the stairs, or the service elevator, it is marked as floor M. There are doors to the floor from the main elevators, but one will need to use the emergency stop between floors twelve and fourteen then press the door open button. Because of the issues with the thirteenth floor, first time guests are met in the ground floor lobby and brought up. 

The lobby is a mostly plain affair with no artwork, although it keeps with the Spiral’s open window aesthetic. In the lobby is a large glass sign, behind the reception desk, that reads Institute for Paranormal Special Investigations, with an eye below it. There are four doors in the lobby, two that lead to the east and west staircases, and two that go into the Institute itself. 

Accessible from the lobby is the testing room. A large open area, tables are set up for researchers and is stocked with Zenner cards, a host of small objects from feathers to cobblestones. The room is also equipped with a number of fire extinguishers, just in case, along with equipment for reading electromagnetic signals and other more esoteric tools. Off the main testing room as several smaller rooms for private or blind testing. There are often at least a handful of people that can be found in the testing area. 

Also accessible from the lobby is the main office area. This part of the Institute looks much like any other cube farm, albeit with a higher quantity of books on the desks. There are several meeting rooms with glass walls facing the office. Despite this open appearance, the meeting rooms are sound proofed, and include sliding blinds for privacy. 

Jake Doytle, Receptionist: Behind the desk is a man of indeterminate age. Somewhere between thirty and sixty with a face that would land him a role as mature heartthrob, to caring father. Jake took the receptionist job when it first opened, and has been with the Institute since the split with Princeton. Despite the appearance of loyalty, he actually couldn’t care less about the job, and holds more than a small bit of resentment that he still works as a receptionist. Like a number of other New York transplants, he landed in the city with big dreams, only to find out that the best singing voice in his hometown wasn’t worth a call back, off, off Broadway. Despite having gotten just that little bit older, he still holds onto the dream of someday making it big, and tells himself he’s going to move to L.A. next where it’s more about acting than singing. What he doesn’t tell anyone, including himself, is that in the fifteen years since he moved to the city, the Institute is the only stable job he’s kept, and he’s good at it so he’s become complacent. 

Oddities Branch, New York Public Library: Located two blocks from the main branch, below the Pershing Square bridge is one of the country’s largest collections of rare print books removed from circulation for safe keeping. Do not look for it on a map, or in the records, like the books they keep, the Oddities Branch is not advertised, although, strangely available to the public, if you know where to look, and how to get in. The door to the branch is unmarked, and located in a subway access tunnel. Each book is kept separate, using protective whaps, or kept under glass. Most require handling or supervision by a librarian. For the privacy and protection of the books, readers are taken to private reading rooms, where the librarian will assist with page turning, or watching as the book is reviewed. 

Heroes with an Area of Influence: Public Libraries, or Occult Circles may know about the Oddities Branch. Librarian Contacts can assist with research or information rolls on any occult, religious, or fringe scientific theories. 

Dr. Candice Drought, Head Librarian: The New York Public Library opened in 1895. Dr. Drought was old before then, or so the joke goes. She likes to kid about what it was like when the library first opened. She will occasionally reminanress about leaving Coventry, and then jokes about  boat ride to the colonies. In addition to her wit, her knowledge of the books in the Oddities Branch  is legendary. She holds the books in her branch with reverence, not because of any perceived arcane or mystic properties, but for the fact that many of the volumes she curates are one of a kind, and once gone, lost forever. 

Troll Market: Once a month, under the new moon, for three days a market opens for three hours each night. Gatherings happen between Midnight and 3 A.M. with vendors arriving around an hour earlier. The location varies each month, but it is always held under a bridge. It’s unclear who organizes the Troll Market, but those in the know come to exchange goods, services, and stories. The arcane elite from across the tri-state area can be found at the Troll Market, at some point. Sellers will offer everything from classes or books to magical tinctures, or spells (results may vary). While the Institute puts very little into the value of arcane tradition, generally researchers see it as a means to explain psychic phenomena, the Troll Market is a valuable resource for information gathering for certain cases.  

Heroes with an Area of Influence: Occult Circles may know about the Troll Market. Troll Market Contacts can assist with research or information rolls on any occult, or religious, particularly around mythology, and help sourcing arcane artifacts or relics. 

Dunker: An older man, Dunker stands with a slight hunch, giving him a looming appearance due to his height. His face is marred deeply by pox scars, framing jaundiced eyes. It is all but impossible to find Dunker without alcohol on his breath, if not a bottle in his hands. Despite, or perhaps because of, his constant state of inebriation, slurred speech, and occasional loss of bodily functions, Dunker is an icon of the Troll Market. Somehow Dunker is always at the Troll Market, if asked he’ll say he just knows where to go. Actually, if asked about most things, Dunker is a fascinating storyteller, and can regale audiences for hours, so long as there is alcohol, or a pretty face available. (Dunker has no gender preference but will coo at any affection.) Surprisingly well versed in Scandinavian lore and appropriately enough troll myths, he will occasionally tell the story of his name sake. A troll who kidnapped a maiden, or at least that’s how she told the story. Dunker recounts them eloping after a night of drinking, that turned into a week of drinking, before she got cold feet, tricked him and ran back to her family. Of course in her version, Dunker dies, but he claims the troll simply passed out, and spent years recovering from a broken heart.