Kembo Ree, A Corporate Problem Solver

2017-03-23

A character illustration for the Shadowrun role-playing game setting but fitting any modern setting quite well too. This is also part of my Through the Ages series in which I investigate one character illustrated in several different settings.

Mr. Ree works for Aizu-Shoto Corporation and his official title is a Senior Consultant. What he does for a living is nauseating for most: he and his team of operatives hunt down persons of interest (PoI) and acquire information from them by (usually) illegal and quite bloody means. Mr. Ree’s team is called to work when the traditional corporate methods are either too slow or have proven ineffective indicating that either the information is of temporal criticality in nature or that the person(s) possessing that information are resistant to conventional and legal methods.

Mr. Ree also happens to enjoy his line of work. The thrill of the hunt and the adrenaline rush of the interrogation are enough to keep his motor running. He likes his job a bit too much at times which has been a concern for his subordinates and those assigning him the jobs alike. But he has a proven track record of results so usually his actions are tolerated.

 

Misha Malinca

2017-03-16

A character illustration for the Shadowrun role-playing game setting.

Misha Malinca is a licensed cybersecurity professional. Or more precisely … she used to be. She lost her license after her involvment was suspected in connection with a serious heist a few years back.  A considerably expensive set of blueprints were stolen from a highly secure vault belonging to Deelon Securities Corporation resulting in the cessation of business for the said corporation which was then later acquired by Aizu-Shoto Megacorporation for pennies of it’s former worth.

Misha has considerable knowledge of high security systems. She knows how to circumvent some of them, how to disable others, how to break into yet others and most importantly what systems are beyond her ability not to even bother. As it happens, she works with several crews associated with Aizu-Shoto’s affiliates doing security planning, security analysis, security testing and the occasional heist.

Baron Egor Malekov

2016-09-25

Name: Baron Egor Malekov
Race: vampire
Location: Tarzhov, Zarnova

One of the ruling vampires of Zarnova, Lord Malekov is also one of the less known and deliberately reclusive of the bunch. He is a member of The Roskov Ring – a ring of ruling lords commanded by the Vampire Queen Anya Voorish. He would rather he wasn’t but his former close alliances with the vampire queen have locked his unlife existence with the fate of her. Lord Malekov seeks no fame and doesn’t really care what history books say about him. He doesn’t share the vampire queens’ thirst for ever more power. He is quite happy living in his remote castle surrounded by restless wild life, untamed sea and fear infused trembling villagers of the nearby villages.

Lord Malekov rarely travels away from his castle near the small town of Tarzhov which is the capital of the barony. And when he does he is most probably going to or from The Castle Roskov where the vampire queen holds meetings for the ruling lords of the land. Lord Malekov holds many enemies – some of his feuds span over centuries and are still active – but his few friends are immensely powerful providing him pretty much free reign in his daily activities. He was a fierce adversary of the country’s former ruler Lich Lord Tomas Vladovych whom Lady Voorish “replaced” and Lord Malekov’s assistance in that coup d’etat was inherently important. However, the former ruler still has a strong following (mainly consisting of a group of his disciples) just watching and waiting for a change at retaliation. Lord Malekov is thus quite uncomfortable while outside the confines of his castle and uses whatever measures required to mask his traveling schedules and identity and always has a few trustworthy aides with him.

Lord Malekov is properly old. He is one of the eldest active vampires in existence and as such possesses amazing powers justifiably feared by the local townsfolk and denizens of nearby villages. His powers easily match and even surpass that of the vampire queen but he has no interest in ruling a country and no desire to attain a position that attracts the attention of foreign nations. In fact, he has an agenda to protect her interests fearing that should she be thrown out of The Castle Roskov, he would be forced to step in.

Many times during the last century the villagers have tried to burn his castle with him inside but somehow he has always been aware of these attempts and subverted them with very rough and brutal punishments to the ones leading the people to these activities. Lord Malekov has always had well paid spies on every village nearby and consider these a clever early warning system against threats both domestic and foreign. He oddly likes to see the villages do well and while of course it is handy to have fresh bodies available to quench the thirst for blood, he also treats the nearby inhabitants much better than he would have to. In fact, by proxies he donates back to the communities some of the taxes he collects and while not all people know of this, many do and those happen to be important individuals with power over the others in their respective communities.

A good strategy to keep human emotions at bay. And he doesn’t actually need the money anyway.