Ephraim Haart

Founder and current President of Paragon Group, a specialist in human augmentation.

Ephraim is a tall, handsome man in 40s. He’s charming and quick to smile, with a voice like velvet. He originally hails from Ireland, but has been living in Moscow for over twenty years. Usually to be found in expensive, tailored suits. He is a member of the secret group the Di Inferi, and also makes use of the shadowy Network to procure and sell information.

Secretly he dislikes channelers, feeling great resentment for their natural born gifts and longevity. Paragon is a prestigious and highly regarded company, producing state of the art tech despite its frivolous beginnings. It offers generous terms of compensation for participants of its trials, and protects itself with extensive contracts. Everything public is above board; respected even. It is perhaps interesting to note that its secret forays into nonconsensual experimentation always involve those with unusual “abilities.”

It would seen Ephraim is only prepared to experiment on “supernatural” individuals, begging the question of whether he truly sees them as human.

Little is known publicly about Ephraim’s family or relationships. He is married to Genevre Marquis, a high fashion designer and CEO of Zalya Fashions. They are thought to share a son. Even less well known is the fact they also have a daughter.

He also has a sister called Oleander, however the two are estranged.

Public Associates

• Seven: a consultant hired by Paragon (The Height of Rumour)
• Zhenya Disir: CEO of security company Liniya Pervaya (The Height of Rumour)

Family

• Genevre Marquis; wife, CEO of Zalya Fashion, a high end fashion designer.
• Liam Haart Marquis; son, hacker, works for the company in order to keep him out of trouble
• Callista Haart; daughter, disowned when the joined the Brotherhood
• Oleander Haart; sister, estranged after a disagreement many years passed.

Experiments

Visha

The half-naga who came into his possession via his niece Oleander. On the one hand he treats her like a daughter, often spoiling her with attention and gifts. On the other he has authorised ruthless experimentation on her since she was a child. Visha knows no different. The results of this are ongoing, and still yielding new data. Ephraim believes Visha may be the key to immortality, due to the strange way her cells work.

Sören

“We’re friends, Sören. I gave you your sight back, and a lot more besides, and in return I get data. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find viable specimens? It’s a commendable service to the cause.”

Ephraim, | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 |

Despite a long-time association through the Network, when Paragon replaced Sören’s injured eye, Ephraim authorised additional technology capable of rendering great pain. The test was to observe in a real world setting the effects of pain on a channeler’s ability to channel. It is likely that Ephraim also intended it as a method of control.

Raffe

Despite being a channeler, Raffe came to Paragon by respectable means following a referral from Ezekiel. He joined a trial testing a cure for the Sickness, which ultimately failed. As a result he received a highly experimental treatment harvested from Visha, which did in fact cure his Sickness, but severed him from the power in the process.