Dr. Ivan Zakharov, PhD

Basic Info:

Ivan.jpg
Photograph of Dr. Zakharov reading over his notes.

Player: lurkd

Position: Specialist of Intangant Containment, Investigations, Research, and Solutions

Demeanor: Eccentric, Emotionally Detached, Deadpan, Professional

Nature: Very direct, cold, and trustworthy individual that prefers to work alone.

Description: While on assignment he dawns a heavy wool overcoat to pocket most of his instruments. He wears thick black frame glasses, is commonly seen chain-smoking cigarettes, and always has a bit of bed head. Ivan almost has a lean wiry build to him. He speaks in a heavy accent and tends to not make eye contact when talking. Ivan has a bad habit of questioning the competency of others.

Stats:

Health
  • Physical Health: 7
  • Mental Health: 7
Basic Skills
  • Physical Defense: 4
  • Mental Defense: 6
  • Perception: 5
  • Agility: 2
Pseudo-Specialty Skills
  • Ranged: 5
  • Academics: 5
  • Science: 6
  • Engineering: 3
Specialty Skills:
  • Target Shooting: (3) Ivan has been shooting guns ever since he could pick one up. He's most familiar with pistols but can pick up a rifle when the situation calls for it. Ivan's mantra is to put down the target with one clean shot rather than firing off as many bullets as fast as possible. While moving targets tend to be bothersome, Ivan can usually hit a spider on the wall from a fair distance.
  • Anti-Intangant Methods and Investigation (aka "Ghostbusting"): (5) Basically his life's work up to this point is centered around actual entrapment and suppression of intangants as well as being a world expert in pertinent occult knowledge and mythologies. A pioneering field of study he takes very seriously.
  • Hard Sciences: (4) Mathematics, engineering, chemistry, and physics are Ivan's foundation and what he excels at. He is always seen with the latest edition of some textbook, scribbling equations on a chalk board, or lounging with the latest scientific journal. Ivan tends to shine whenever something can be solved in these respective fields.

Possessions:

Firearms
  • .44 Russian Smith & Wesson Model 3 Revolver w/ Holster (pic)
  • Modified Webley & Scott № 1 Mark "I" Flare Pistol / aka "The Zakharov Device" (pic)
Equipment
  • Pencils and Notepad
  • 12-Volt Flashlight
  • Portable Specially Calibrated Gaussmeter (EMF Reader)
  • Sputnik Stereo Camera
  • Regency TR-1 Transistor Radio
  • Pocket-sized Aneroid Barometer/Thermometer
  • Small Set of Screwdrivers
  • Slide Rule
  • Zippo Lighter
  • Various Talisman Necklaces and Charms
Personal Effects
  • Various Occultist Books and Scrolls on Witchcraft, Demonology, Spiritualism, Religious Mythology, etc.
  • Various Textbooks on Organic Chemistry, Calculus, Nuclear Physics, Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mineralogy, Astrophysics, etc.
  • Personal Collection of Confiscated Reliquaries, Idols, and Other Religiously Significant Artifacts
  • Webster Chicago 81-1 Wire Recorder
  • Incense
  • Large Steamer Trunk w/ Nordic Grave-binding Inscriptions Carved on the Surface
  • Underwood 150 Typewriter
  • Heavy Wool Overcoat
  • Crate of Belomorkanal Brand Cigarettes
  • Bottle of Vodka
Procured Effects
  • Large Assortment of Holistic/Ritualistic Herbs, Resins, Minerals, and Extracts in Various Containers Housed in a Personal Storage Cabinet in the Lab
  • Sealed Container of Ectoplasm
  • Vial of Giant Spider Venom
  • Framed Picture: Balthazaar's Description1
  • A Class-3 Non-Terminal Phantasm (Dead Siberian Huskie | Ecto canis) Named "Sobaka"

Personal History:

Ivan was adopted and raised in Omsk, USSR with a family of farmers before the war. He worked hard in the fields most of his childhood and took up target shooting in his free time. Not fond of the life of agriculture, he went to pursue his love of academics. While in the universities he found his niche in the laboratory running experiments and tests while pursuing a degree in chemistry. It was around this time he was introduced into the underground occultist circles by an estranged relative. From then on his interest in the supernatural was piqued as he now sought to bridge the gap between this unseen universe and known science.

Ivan took this knowledge and tempered it in the university laboratories as he started working on his Masters degrees. Some of his experiments wound up with interesting and surprising results, including the creation of a few unstable anomalous materials and some close encounters with aggressive entities. He pressed on with these distracting experiments until one such test resulted in a "Pandora's Box" scenario that nearly engulfed the entire campus. Not wanting to be blamed for the incident and lose his credibility, he moved to the U.S. to further his studies abroad instead of taking an opportunity of employment with the Soviet GRU Division "P".

While overseas working on his PhD, he decided to take up a permanent residency as a naturalized US citizen to both seek refuge from Nazi occupation and to eventually continue his post-doctoral studies in his new field of paranormal science. After publishing several journals, deemed laughable by the scientific community, on anti-intangant methods he lost his funding. He was recruited by the Foundation as being recognized as an anti-intangant specialist and an expert on occult mythology on the condition that he be allowed to continue his life's work while utilizing their facilities.

Miscellaneous:

Languages: Russian, English, Latin, Gaelic, Old Norse, and Cunieform Script

XP: 22

-22 (Bought Nega-Sobaka)

Tales

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