Setting fiction for a Year One superhero game utilizing supernatural-based NPCs and potentially PCs.
For the past decade, the number of supernatural
occurrences has risen. The increase can be traced to the turn of the
millennium. On New Year’s Day of that year, an event [define] occurred in the
public eye, proving the existence of the supernatural to everyone witnessing
the event. News reports ignored the event at first, thinking it a publicity
stunt of sorts. However, reporters covering the police blotter soon realized
the event did occur and it was related to the supernatural.
During the summer of 2013, the city of Miami saw a heavy
increase of crime related to practitioners of supernatural powers. Ken Barton,
president of Barton Security Devices*, worked with local police to develop a
plan to counter the rise in crime. Unfortunately, the police were unable to
provide the information needed by Mr. Barton to formulate an effective plan.
The increase of crime culminated in a riot on South Beach at the end of August.
Investigations after-the-fact and newspaper reports suggest a vampire attack. Local
police were removed from the case and replaced by the FBI within 24 hours of
the occurrence. Local police had no comment on their removal from the case and
the FBI failed to return telephone and email inquiries.
This event resulted in police around the nation taking
the supernatural as a growing problem they were not trained to support.
Multiple requests for assistance to the FBI and Homeland Security resulted in
limited help. These two agencies would slowly gain funds from Congress over the
following decade. Today, they both have (small) departments designed to assist
local law enforcement with handling supernatural cases. The FBI also began
designing a training course for field agents in order to develop their
abilities to solve cases.
Ken Burton did not let the Miami event ruin his
involvement with supernatural investigations. He immediately began developing a
team of individuals with specialties related to the supernatural. Little did he
know, but others were developing similar teams across the nation. These
companies included Cougar Security out of Portland, Gotham Protection of NYC,
and Montrose Safeguard of Chicago. Over the course of the next year, these
companies would develop consultants that could be loaned to local law enforcement
and the judicial system, as experts in the field of paranormal investigations. Many
were called to testify as expert witnesses in the court systems, while others
were loaned to local police to assist on high profile and difficult cases.
It was not long before one of the security companies’ agents
made a dire mistake while on loan to local police. Darren James III, an agent from
Lone Star Rangers Security and Investigations, was on loan to the NOLA police departments’
homicide unit. New Orleans police refused to create a department for cases
which it deemed to be part and parcel of their workload since the introduction
of voodoo into the community. An expert practitioner of magic and rituals, Mr.
James appeared to be the perfect fit for this case. The case involved a series
of murders with elements of ritual sacrifice via magical ritual. In fact, Mr.
James investigations concluded this same information and allowed him to provide
further data to the police. The New Orleans police, however, chose to not act
on Mr. James’ data, which possibly resulted in not stopping the next two deaths
related to the case. When the police continued to refuse to act on Mr. James’
data, he took action himself.
Mr. James allegedly followed the clues to an abandoned
warehouse not used since the Katrina flood. The former owners of the property had
used it as a storehouse for furniture. The entire building and contents were a
complete loss and put the company out of business. Various legal statutes had
the property tied up in court, as the banks tried to decide who owned the
property and who was owed restitution. During that time period, a group of
alleged demon-worshippers began using the warehouse for parties and living quarters.
Mr. James’ arrival on the night of a full moon in November
interrupted one of the parties, which was allegedly a ritual designed to
sacrifice a young lady’s soul for power. Mr. James called the New Orleans
police to report the incident in progress and they refused to send a car out to
look into the matter. With that, Mr. James returned to his car, retrieved his
shotgun, and entered the warehouse where he was met with violent response. Mr. James
responded with more force. He shot and killed each of the alleged cultists who
did not flee the building. In the process, the young lady died from stab wounds
she received during the ensuing conflict.**
The sounds of the gunfight brought police cruisers and
resulted in the arrest of Mr. James. No one else was alive and on-site to be
arrested. All of the cultists on-site were dead or dying, as was the young
lady, Ms. Samantha Toussant. Mr. James’ files were confiscated by the police
and utilized in identifying other members of the Cult of Grrt-Chook.
Newspapers, television news channels, and bloggers descended
upon New Orleans in a fashion not seen since the early 2000s. The public lined
up for the spectacle and remained glued to their televisions for the latest
developments. The case took two years to make it through the local court
systems before it was kicked up to the Louisiana Supreme Court system. A year
later, the case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it is awaiting trial.
This singular case brought immediate attention to the
growing supernatural presence in America. Suddenly, individuals such as the
seers of Cougar Security were under the microscope both publicly and privately.
Newspapers and Congressmen, alike, wanted an accounting of the paranormal investigators
within security companies across the country. Lobbyists representing security
firms began promoting a call for legislation to protect security personnel from
the situation in which Mr. James found himself. Lobbyists for various local and
federal policing agencies wanted legislation that would allow them to develop
their own departments of paranormal affairs or the ability to hire on
contractors that would function as police advisors in the field, complete with
the ability to carry weapons.
Privately, the US Congress wanted nothing to do with the
situation. Publicly, the situation was a quagmire with no good way out. Pressured
by the US Supreme Court and the President of the United States, Congress made a
public statement wherein they placed the ownership of the problem at the local
level. The Department of Homeland Security immediately took action to develop
their own group of investigators with the help of the F.B.I. Cities like New
York and Miami developed a mixture of techniques involving individuals within
the major crime units and homicide units who would work with outside advisors.
Miami-Dade County completely outsourced the problem to Barton Security Devices.
New Orleans and Los Angeles chose to hire individuals with supernatural
abilities and assign them within various departments. As needed, they would hire
outside consultants. Portland, Seattle, and Detroit all developed their own,
tiny sized, departments to handle supernatural cases.
*Barton Security Devices is a Florida-based company
heavily invested in the development of law enforcement equipment and supplying
private security agents to high profile individuals. Ken Barton is a former
U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command officer who served during the
Liberation of Kuwait.
**Per Mr. James own statements to the Times-Picayune in
the September 15th
Coming Soon: Supernaturals in the public eye, who is what
or can do what? Or maybe something else.
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