Description:
Full Name and Position: Sergeant Jason Bartholomew Chambers

KOSA Position: Field Agent

Gender: Male

Age: 31

Species: Human (Hunter)

Specialty: Anti-Supernatural tactics. Jason is by far the most experienced and proficient field agent in the agency. When negotiations fail, he’s the man to call.

About Hunters: 
Hunters, as they call themselves, are a select group of humans that have been granted the power to see and fight back against the supernatural world around them. This power is said to be a gift by “The Messengers”, as Hunters refer to the power that instructs them in their cause. All Hunters are imbued during a time of crisis, at which time they receive some kind of message- be it visual, audible, or otherwise- that lifts the veil and reveals to them the supernatural world. It also instructs them on how to use the gifts they are granted at this time to combat these beings. As they continue to grow in strength and face off against stronger foes, some are granted more abilities, often referred to as "Edges", by these same Messengers as their cause continues.

Hunters are still human, unfortunately, and their human brains have quite a problem dealing with the sudden revelation that they are not alone in this world, and that the monsters they’ve heard stories about since they were children are, in fact, quite real. Throughout their careers as Hunters they are subjected to a wide range of stressors that often induce psychotic episodes and mental breakdowns, between trying to cope with the supernatural world while at the same time fighting to keep their knowledge of it a secret.

Appearance:
Jason Chambers is a walking mass of sinew and fury. His body bulges in ways that seem impossible for anyone but an animated character from a child’s video game, with a deep tan that displays a penchant for spending most of his work-out time in the outdoors rather than a cramped gym. The man’s hands are massive, usually covered in black, studded fingerless gloves or cloth wraps. Often times a brown or black leather jacket conceals all or at least a majority of his firearms, with skin-tight black Underarmor beneath. Usually in the field, this is also covered by body armor and a tactical vest. Strangely, his eyes are a surprisingly warm brown for a man of such violence. Below the waist he often wears a pair of loose-legged jeans for better mobility, or sometimes cargo pants to contain more ammunition. These are usually complemented by a sturdy leather belt and a pair of brown low-cut boots.


Personality:
Traumatic shock to the system such as Jason underwent during his imbuing is usually more than enough for anyone to pull a complete 180. Such is what happened with Jason Chambers. After witnessing a psychotic tribe of werewolves rend his 7-months pregnant wife limb from limb and leaving her remains on the floor of the woods, any semblance of his former self was wiped from his brain, instead replaced by cold, calculating vengeance.

Since those early days of his career, he has been forced to see that not all supernatural creatures are evil, not all seek to harm humanity, and therefore his psyche has been forced to adjust, to soften, as difficult as it makes his work. While he’s no longer the same killer he was in the past, it’s not difficult for him to call up the same blinding rage that has overtaken him so many times in the past to deal with overwhelming circumstances.

He is by no means a perfectly sane person. He struggles every night with the night terrors that keep him from a peaceful night’s sleep. The medication helps, but his anxiety often creeps up on him on times of intense stress. Without treatment and medication, it doesn’t take long for the visions to creep into his brain and psychotic episodes aren’t far behind.

Abilities:
Before his Hunter career ever began, Jason Chambers was a collegiate swimming champion and graduated with a degree in data systems analysis and a minor in business. He’d always been a fan of fast cars and motorcycles, and had been able to drive both with incredible agility. However, after his imbuing, he sought out the skills he thought necessary to take on the evil world of the supernatural. Training his body to the peak of human perfection, Chambers also developed incredible hand-to-hand combat prowess, training with fighters and military combat veterans alike, throwing out what would be useless against his foe and putting to rote muscle memory what would be most effective. Jason developed an incredible throwing arm and a very keen eye, able to put a knife in a bull’s eye at 80 yards. Firearms were also a necessity to develop, and he became an excellent marksman with all kinds of weapons, working with ex-special forces snipers as well as champion target shooters. An affinity for pistols, with their mobility and diverse applications, insured that he always kept several on him at all times.

With all of these combat skills came a kind of aura that permanently surrounds him, making him seem very dangerous even to those that haven’t seen him break a werewolf’s neck with a punch. His senses and his intuition also gradually sharpened, saving his life more than once.

After being recruited by the Key of Solomon Agency, Jason was trained in further anti-supernatural combat tactics and taught more about these creatures than he thought there was to know. Still, their information database is incomplete.

Edges:
Second Sight
This is the one power that all Hunters have in common. Second sight reveals to a Hunter supernaturals around them. It may not tell them exactly what is unusual about the target, but it does tell them that any supernatural they are looking at is “wrong” in some way. It also protects them from any kind of mind control or influence and makes them immune to any kind of fear, as well as reveals many other illusions not noticeable by the mortal eye.

Fury
During his imbuing, Jason’s rage exploded. His frustration with his helplessness as he watched his wife get torn to shreds erupted into glowing hot fists of fury. Now whenever he calls upon that same anger, his hands give off an angry red glow and add that much destructive power to his unarmed attacks. However this glow is only visible to other supernaturals and Hunters

Smoke
While tailing a creature that threatens to get away from his sight, Jason is able to simply touch the creature- an innocent jostle or a bump- and attach a trail of smoke visible only to him that extends from the target’s body as it moves and allows Jason to follow it up to a day later.

Smokescreen
Inhaling sharply in time of need, Jason is able to exhale a small cloud of smoke to conceal himself and anyone else within 60 cubic feet. Any Hunter inside this smoke is able to see through it without a problem, however anyone looking from the outside can’t even make out shapes within. Furthermore, it acts as a silencer of types, downplaying the sound of a shotgun blast to that of a finger snap.

Firewalk
With sheer force of will, Jason Chambers is able to make his entire body immune to the effects of fire and even smoke inhalation. This does not hold true for any equipment or clothing he carries, but his body and hair are completely unharmed by any level of fire.

Eagle Eyes
Activating this power with a slight bit of concentration, Jason’s eyes immediately become sharper than a hawk’s and are also drawn to details reserved specifically for supernaturals. For example, he’s able to tell from a distance that a vampire’s pupils may not be dilated, or his chest may not be expanding with breath.

Ward
By simply willing it, Jason is able to set up an invisible sphere of protection around him and anyone within 10 yards that protects anyone inside from any supernatural creature outside. This doesn’t mean that normal projectiles (such as a bullet, or a thrown chair) used by attacked supernatural creatures can’t get through, but it does stop all but the most determined supernatural creatures from getting in… Most of the time. Any creature seeking to get through suffers a sharp electric jolt as soon as they touch the field. If the creator chooses, or makes the stupid mistake, a creature can be forced into the field, simply by using the field to back the creature up against a wall or other surface with the field.

Like all Hunters, Jason is immune to the bite of a vampire and similar effects and illusions from other supernatural creatures.

Jason also has a few other powers related to his enthrallment to the demon Avoreth.

Mental link
At any given time, Avoreth or Jason can contact each other mentally regardless of distance. Avoreth has a direct connection to Jason's mind and is able to navigate his thoughts and experiences as well as see through his eyes.

Mental Defense
In exchange for the Faith he grants Avoreth every day, Jason was allowed a choice of supernatural abilities, and was granted an immunity to all but the strongest psychic abilities. His mind is impenetrable to almost any psychic suggestion or penetration except from Avoreth or an incredibly powerful psychic.

Equipment:
Jason's standard arsenal, which means the weapons and equipment he carries out into the field on a typical mission, without especially equipping something for a particular target or objective, is as follows.

KOSA Badge

Weapons
2x Para Ordnance 14-45 pistols
Caliber- .45 ACP
Capacity- 14+1
Muzzle Velocity- 1140 FPS
Effective Range- 75 yards
Usually loaded with- Talon rounds that reveal spring-loaded spines that extended after leaving the barrel, ripping and tearing flesh on impact.

2x H&K UCP pistols
Caliber- 4.46x30mm
Capacity- 20+1
Muzzle Velocity- 2250 FPS
Effective Range- 100 yards
Usually loaded with- armor piercing explosive rounds, set to explode after penetration.

1x S&W M500
Caliber- .500 Magnum
Capacity- 5
Muzzle Velocity- 1975 FPS
Effective Range- 200 yards
Loaded with- Talon rounds (see above)

2x 6" throwing spikes kept in spring loaded holsters on Jason's forearms usually concealed by the sleeves of his jacket

2x 5" throwing knives, one kept in a sheath along the bottom of each of his calves, usually concealed by his boots and pant legs

2x leather half-finger gloves with spiked studs built into the knuckles, most often steel, though he carries a spare supply of silver spikes on him that he can swap out when going up against lycanthropes

His load-out is often determined by the mission at hand. He very rarely carries melee weaponry, as his fists are far more powerful to him than any sword or club.

History:
Jason Bartholomew Chambers was a swimmer. He swam competitively since he was in elementary school all the way up until he graduated college at the age of 23. It was the mainstay in his life between the other usual adolescent male interests, like cars and girls. He was born to a surprisingly normal upper-middle class family with both of his original parents and one younger brother. He lived in the same city his entire life, living in a nice house in the suburbs. His passion for swimming helped earn him a scholarship to several universities, but he finally settled on an in-state college only a few hours from home.

In college he led a typical athlete’s life, balancing girls, books, swimming, and family. He maintained a modest GPA while achieving a degree in computer data systems analysis with a minor in business and earned national championships his last two years at school, setting three school records. His junior year he met and fell in love with a beautiful nursing major named Katherine Bishop. The two dated for the better part of two years before moving in together right after graduation. Katherine started as a nurse at a local hospital while Jason was offered a lucrative job with some tech company. They’d been approved for a house in a quiet developing suburb and were married the next summer. Four months after the wedding, Katherine learned she was pregnant and they began planning for the arrival of their first daughter. Everything seemed to be going perfectly for the happy couple.

Unbeknownst to Jason, the road destiny had laid out for him was about to turn from the yellow brick road into a dark sinister alley. There was a faint glimmer of light at the end, a salvation, but the road was incredibly long, and filled with impossible gaps and potholes, not to mention the sinister elements that lurked in the shadows.

While Jason was unable to foresee what his future held, others could. Black Spiral Dancers, impossibly insane creatures of the Wyrm, had learned of Jason’s path. They had learned that his path had been forged by the Wyld, by Gaia, and by those heralds that would seek to protect humanity from creatures such as themselves. Jason’s destiny was instrumental in the downfall of the Wyrm’s diabolical scheme. Thus, they decided that in order to secure their own dominance in the future, they would torture and kill this mortal as an example to Gaia that they would not be stopped and as an example of the fate of any that opposed them.

One evening, Jason was driving on the freeway home, weaving gradually through rush hour traffic. Katherine was seven months pregnant and every visit they made to her OB/GYN indicated a healthy, normal baby. They were ecstatic at the possibilities that laid ahead for them. Jason reached for his phone to call her from the car, to ask if there was anything she wanted him to pick up for dinner. As he leaned over, however, a large white SUV suddenly swerved in front of him, forcing him to stomp on his brakes and curse wildly. Leaning on his horn, he reached out of the window to flip the offending vehicle the bird, when he felt his heart stop. Through the back window of the vehicle he could see Katherine, bound and gagged, with tears of terror streaming down her cheeks. Sitting next to her with a knife held across his wife’s throat was a main in a suit and tie and sunglasses, staring through the window right back at him.

As Jason locked eyes with his wife’s abductor, three more vehicles moved in, one closing in on each side while another boxed him in from the rear. Chambers shook himself from the trance of horror he was held in and reached for his phone to dial 911. At the same time, the vehicle on his left swerved towards him, beeping its horn. When he looked over, he saw a man with a gun in the vehicle’s passenger seat, indicating for him to throw his cell phone out the window. Reluctantly, with the safety of his wife and unborn daughter at stake, he threw the cell phone from the speeding vehicle, dashing it to pieces against the pavement. He then followed the bevy of white suburbans to an off-ramp and onto an obscure side road that gradually turned to gravel. Thirty minutes of driving brought them to the outskirts of a heavily wooded forest, where the convoy stopped.

As soon as he threw his blue Mazda RX-8 into park, two burly men stood waiting for him on either side of the car. When he opened the door, the first one grabbed him roughly under his arm, while the other came around to carry him by the other. His protests and demands fell on deaf ears, earning him only a sharp blow to the ribs. He was sure he felt a few bones crack under the force, and spent the rest of the walk trying to catch his breath. There were eight more men walking with them, and he saw two of them manhandling Katherine in the same manner that his escorts hauled him through the brush and foliage, dragging the two of them further into the dense woods. Jason tried calling out to his wife, who turned to glance back at him with horrified eyes, and shouted around her gag, but both of them were then punished; Jason with another uppercut to his solar plexus while Katherine suffered a hard fist across her cheek, cutting her open just beneath her right eye. They continued stumbling along in silence, their captors not volunteering a single word the entire time.

After fifteen minutes of walking, they finally stopped, holding Jason securely while a group of the black-suited men in sun-glasses lashed Katherine to a large oak. Her back was held to the tree while her arms were stretched outward, with cords tied around her wrists binding her. Jason demanded to know the meaning of their actions, but he received no reply as the men tore his wife’s clothes from her body. The next three hours were the worst of Jason’s life as he watched these men brutalize his wife, a vision reserved for only the most perverse nightmare. He struggled and tugged against his captors, who merely laughed as they hit him over and over again, always pulling him back to watch, helpless, as they committed unspeakable acts upon the future mother of his child.

Finally, bruised and bleeding, barely still conscious, Katherine tried to mumble through a broken jaw for mercy, for them to stop, asking them in painful, garbled words what they wanted. This time they replied, one of them reaching out with an intricate, vicious blade of some kind, holding its curved edge to the woman’s throat, then slowly dragging it down her bare body to hold it against her bulging stomach, threatening her womb.

They explained to Jason that they wanted everything, asking for bank account numbers to all of his assets, demanding that everything he could give them be theirs. He gladly gave them all they wanted and more, anything to get them out of here alive. At this point it was all he could hang on to, and in his head still seemed like a realistic ending to this whole thing. Those hopeful thoughts flew out the window as an ominous voice spoke directly into his head. This voice told him to brace himself, for it could not grant him the ability to save his wife, but that he may be able to save himself. As soon as he heard these words, he watched each of the ten men surrounding he and his wife suddenly transform, bursting through their clothing as they shot up to nearly nine feet, each of them growing thick, bristling fur all over their body as their faces warped into ugly, violent visages, with fangs and eyes that spoke of fury and violence like Jason had only begun to witness.

Jason realized his hopes were lost, that they were no longer going to let them live. This became obvious as he saw each of them grow claws from their now-massive hands that looked like they were capable of carving through steel. Each of them began to laugh some hideous mixture of a human chuckle with the growling of some ferocious animal. Their size, strength, and numbers made it clear that there was no way he could save himself or his wife from this situation. Rage began to boil deep within him, heating him from the inside out, starting at this stomach and flowing outward to his extremities and his head. His whole body shook in frustration and anger, but he had no idea where to direct it. There was absolutely no explanation for any of this, none of it made sense. It was as if someone had conjured up a nightmare for him, because none of this was within the range of his imagination.

The voice then rang out in his head once more explaining that it would grant him the power to express his anger against his captors, but that it would still not save his wife and child. Jason didn’t care, he knew he was going to die, and his beloved with him, probably before him, but he wanted to somehow let the pressure building inside explode against his captors. When he looked down at his hands, he saw them balled up, and burning red. They felt warm, hot even, but they didn’t burn. He could feel the heat coming off of them and chose to move.

His captors were caught completely off-guard, but even with the element of surprise and this new-found weapon on his side, he was only able to take down two of them before he was again overwhelmed. The entire group was shocked by the display; he had put a fist-sized hole completely through one of the beasts and destroyed the other’s lower jaw with a single, leaping blow. Realizing that they had a situation on their hands, they moved quickly.

Three of the creatures had him face down in the dirt, holding him securely while one of them grabbed him by the jaw and forced his face up, making him watch as the remaining five began to converge on his helpless wife. The leader- or what Jason gathered to be their leader, as he had been the one to ask the questions and had been the first to move while others followed- held the blade that had just been used to threaten Jason into giving them everything they’d asked for once more against Katherine’s stomach. This time he pulled on the blade, slicing the almost-mother’s stomach open and spilling much more than just her own entrails onto the ground. That seemed to be the signal for the rest of the pack, as they all suddenly leapt upon her. Screams of pain, suffering, and loss echoed throughout the woods, and Jason had a hard time telling the difference between his voice and his wife’s. Then it all went black.

Jason had no idea how long he was unconscious, or whether it had been a sharp blow that had put him out, or if the stress of the situation had just become too much for him to bear any longer. When he finally awoke his feet were dangling over the floor with his arms bound together over his head, chained to a hook from the ceiling. Standing in front of him were the same monstrous creatures that Jason had hoped had been part of a horrific nightmare caused by indigestion and too many late-night horror films on TV. The sight of them confirmed that his experiences of the previous day had not been a nightmare, that he was living through something his brain couldn’t put together to make sense of.

Chambers asked what the creatures wanted of him, but was only rewarded with a sharp blow to the face, sending the room reeling again. He promptly vomited at the feet of his attacker, who growled fiercely and flashed its claws in front of his face, seeming to ponder on whether or not to decapitate its helpless prisoner or not.

In almost the same instant, Jason heard the sound of breaking glass, and a roar of shouts from a room just out of sight. Suddenly a blast went off, blinding and deafening him. He vomited once more, but no longer had any sense of his surroundings. Something must have released him, because he felt himself fall free of his restraints, hitting the ground as a lump of dead weight and driving all of his breath from him. Disoriented and unable to breathe, he struggled to get to his feet, only to collapse once more. His hearing began to return and he was able to make out gunshots, shouts, and various growls, howls, and roars from those things that had captured him.

Through the confusion, he felt someone pick him up, a human this time, and he felt himself rushed outside, where the cool night air brushed against his face. He was in and out of consciousness again throughout the whole experience, but he was able to make out faces here and there, hovering over him as he rode in the back seat of a vehicle. They were talking and shouting in different tones, and Jason had no idea what they were discussing, but he didn’t care anymore, he just wanted something to make sense.

Later he learned that he’d been rescued by a group of Hunters, other people who had heard the voice, been granted the gifts, and had been able to use them to fight the creatures that had kidnapped him, and many others. When he was strong again, they told him everything they knew. That they had been imbued by the voice with special gifts in the presence of supernatural evil, and that they had spent years using these abilities to protect humanity from these evils, though some vehemently contested the methods used, which at times led to internal strife in the group, they all agreed that normal people needed to be protected and kept unaware of these monsters.

Jason stayed with them as he tried to piece his life back together, but there was nothing left of what he once knew. His house had been burned to the ground; an electrical fire, he’d been told, his car had been stolen, and his bank account was empty. The police didn’t take long to declare that he was dead, his body cut to pieces and strewn about the woods by some horrific serial murderer that they were now searching for. The only thing Jason had going for him was his substantial life insurance policy. With the death of his wife, it went next to his younger brother, who had recently turned 21 and was pursuing an engineering degree.

A month after his death, Jason visited his little brother at his apartment. It took a substantial amount of time and explaining and even some evidence, not only of his abilities, but also of the existence of monsters (the group of hunters had several supernatural allies, including a werewolf that had been outcast from his tribe and was willing to help) before Stephen calmed down and began to talk rationally with his older brother. As soon as he was brought up to speed and had forced his brain to cope with the existence of supernatural creatures, it didn’t take long for him to agree to help Jason. The insurance policy paid out a very substantial amount, more than enough to pay for Stephen’s college and living expenses for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, what he didn’t need would go to Jason to help alleviate hunting expenses. Excited now after his initial shock, Jason’s little brother also agreed to use his engineering genius to help modify and customize weapons and tools to meet Jason’s needs.

Not able to work with a group that was constantly bickering amongst themselves, Jason thanked the team that had rescued him and left to hunt alone, always keeping a low profile.

Almost three years later, Jason was in the middle of a hunt when he ran into a group of heavily armed men tracking down the same target. There was no time in the middle of what turned into an ambush for him to find out what they were doing there, and before the end of the fight, he’d been rendered unconscious. When he came to he was in a hospital bed, hooked to an IV, with a cast on his leg.

Panic began to immediately set in, hoping that no one would realize who he actually was. He began to look around for a means of escape when two men in black suits entered the room. They flashed him badges and explained that they were Agents Heller and Kent, of the Key of Solomon Agency. They were the only official line of defense between the world’s citizens and the dark things that went “Bump!” in the night.

While Jason was not so hot about working for someone else’s agenda, he did appreciate the resources and protection this group could offer. He didn’t need to think long to accept their proposal and begin training as an official agent.

Several years and dozens of cases later, Jason was partnered with a demon, Avoreth, and a Khan (Weretiger) Fiona, along with his usual partner, Jaysin, though she was more a support element than a field agent. They were assigned to a mission in the Appalachians to investigate a series of
kidnappings that had been popping up in a small mountain community.

Through investigation they discovered an ancient, powerful Tzimisce vampire had been sacrificing the children to create abominable monstrosities through Vicissitude, the vampiric art of Fleshcraft. Jason and his field team were able to destroy the giant golem that had been the focus of the children’s sacrifice, but the vampire himself and his ghouls escaped.

Setting a trap by auctioning off his ancient possessions, they were able to track down and once more pursue him, this time holed up in a mountain stronghold. The fighting was incredibly fierce, and all three members of the team were up against him in the final conflict. Halfway through the fight, Jason was disabled by the same Vicissitude displacing his spine, rendering him completely paralyzed. So desperate was he to finish the fight, he took the only help anyone on the team could offer, and agreed to be Avoreth’s thrall in exchange for restoration. It was not something she offered lightly, because she herself knew how significant of an agreement it was to grant your faith to a demon, to allow them to draw power from you and allow them such a strong connection. But it was the only way available at the time.

His full abilities restored, Jason re-entered the fray and with the help of Fiona and Avoreth, was able to strike a monumental blow. But their victory was not to be, for the vampire shifted forms and fled, escaping through a small pipeline to the outside.

Having spent every ounce of his conviction as a Hunter to destroy this creature only to have him escape was too much for Jason. Especially knowing that he offered himself as a thrall on top of that and still was unable to finish the beast. He withdrew into a Hunter’s depression, common among Hunters that suffer similar circumstances. Many times they never came out.

Hooked up to an IV in a hospital bed, Jason refused to eat, and wouldn’t engage with anyone. Avoreth stayed with him most nights, aware of their connection being the strongest bond he had with anyone currently alive.

Weeks went by with no change, until one night Jason dreamed. In this dream he was greeted by the spirit of his wife, Katherine. She existed on the other side of life as a wraith, tied to this world by her love for him, and had spent most of her unlife helping protect him. She explained she’d been getting stronger as a wraith, and gotten more experience at developing her abilities, including one that allowed her to cross-over in various ways. She had just mastered appearing to him in his dreams, though she was unable to insure that he would remember their encounters, but all the same, she planned on spending every moment she could with him in his dreams.

The next morning he woke up smiling, satisfied, and began talking more with Avoreth. Every day after that he seemed to get a little better, he’d smile a little more, be a little more talkative, and even laugh now and then.

After a month or progress, Jason woke up one morning and remembered his dream from the night before with perfect clarity. More than just remember, he believed. His wife was able to do something that made him conscious of his dream, allowing him to carry it with him even after he awoke. She warned him not to waste the day trying to look for her in his sleep, but that she would come to him at night when she could.

Jason made great strides in returning to his old self after that, being put back on duty no more than a week and a half later. Unfortunately his first duty was to begin looking through applications and put together a new team, as many of his former teammates were being transferred to other branches that needed their experience. Only Jaysin was left with him in London. Saddened at the loss of Avoreth, whom he had just recently begin to grow close to, Jason was forced to accept it and move forward with his work.

• The Key Of Soloman Agency