Joseph "Shlomo" Kahn

Concept: The Numbers Man

AKA: Joseph’s only nickname is the one above.

Desc:  He’s like a living Drew Friedman drawing. Great big black frame glasses perched atop a remarkable bulbous nose. He had some work done on his teeth, so he’s got a decent smile. He’s lost most of his hair but for a bit of fringe. He dresses comfortably for a man who would prefer it’s a few degrees warmer than it is and tends to shuffle rather than stroll. On colder days, he walks with a cane.

History: Joseph was a smart young man growing up. His mother thought he might be a doctor, a lawyer, or even a respected rabbi.  But sometimes, when you grow up in a rough neighborhood, you turn your intellect to more pragmatic pursuits.  Especially if your best bud is Frankie Pentangelli.

      So maybe you grow up hard. and maybe you make a few hard choices along the way. You take a little advice from your best friend and you set yourself up in business.  You start out as a shylock, and you’re a decent earner because you understand that there are more ways to motivate someone to pay the vig than to break legs or throw acid in a child’s face.

   Joseph had a true gift for mathematics, maybe not the high-end calculus requiring serious proofs. But still, a gift for running the numbers and percentages and be able to do it in his head. An ability to look at a spreadsheet and “feel” irregularities. And as he grew older, an ability to apply his knowledge of people in an almost mathematical way.  To the point that when Joseph turns to Francis and says, “There’s a 27% chance that Tony Cannavale is skimming more than 6 percent off the top of his earnings. We can absorb about 6% percent without too much trouble. But if he’s getting greedy, then he’s getting stupid.”  Francis hears that, and Tony has a whole slew of new troubles in his life.

So, while he runs the entire financial side of the Don’s business, he is also effectively the Don’s Consiglieri. He’s still the only one that Francis knows he can talk straight with. It’s a good thing that Joseph knows the sorts of things that he knows otherwise he’d be in some monster’s pocket.  In addition, to his other skills, Joseph is a practitioner of Gematria and Kabbalah. Between him and the specialists they hire from the Vermillion House, Francis and Joseph, and their inner circle, stay well protected.

Attitude: “I’ve done some bad things. I’ve killed guys and I’ve hurt people. Nothing really balances that. But I’ve got my loyalty. I know who I stand with. I’ve built a life for myself and my wife and my children. and if I’m called on to do bad things in the service of all of that. I’ll do it.”

Skills: Physically, Shlomo is an old man, and creaky like an old man is. He’s nothing in a fight except he’s  familiar with a firearm and in a fight for his life, he’s not above using an automatic weapon. His hands shake a bit, though. Socially, he’s fairly soft spoken and he’s never been exactly a social machine. He’s got a pretty good bullshit detector.  Mentally, Well...Let’s put it this way. He’s a genius. Intelligence of at least 4. He’s got 4 dots of Academics with specialties in Mathematics, Psychology, and Hebrew.  He’s got pretty decent dots in occult as well with specs in Gematria, Kabbalism, Sacred Geometry, and Geomancy.  He’ll have one of the Hedge Magician templates from Second Sight (Probably the Ceremonial magician template.)  On top of all that, He’s got Trained Observer as one of his merits. It’s HARD to slide things by him.

Gear: Joseph doesn’t have too much on his person that he bothers with regularly. He favors a leather wallet that he was given by his father at his bar mitzvah. He like wild cherry life savers. He has about a dozen little pocket knives, (He keeps misplacing them, so now he buys them in batches.) He has them professionally sharpened because you never know when you might have to cut a guy’s throat. His bodyguard keeps his phone which, is pretty gee-whizzy and top of the line.

Home: Joseph researched the land, bought and paid for it, and then designed his own house. It’s particularly well aspected in a Geomantic sense and is optimized for feng shui potential. Most supernaturals can’t come anywhere near the place. (If you like, you can make his home into a largish geomantic nexus from the Ordo Dracul book.)   He also has an upscale summer home in Boca Raton and a yacht that his bodyguard Walter can pilot.

Circle: He and Madeleine still get along for the most part. Loves all 4 of his kids, (although Chaim tests him somewhat fiercely)  He’s got people that he works with that he’s friendly with and a few people he knows at Temple.  He tends to keep his circle small out of necessity. 

Story Uses:

“He’s a good man I think, and I think he’s likely to keep his mouth shut...But why take a chance?”

Francis has a large and robust organization and it deals with numerous dynamic situations. This means occasionally, decisions have to be made. Hard decisions. Decisions that may affect people that your characters know and love.

“If I were you I would hold off on having the sit-down with the Chinese until 4:30 on Thursday. The numbers are better then...”

Occasionally, the numbers do odd and unexpected things. So it might be that players will find Joseph an unusual and unexpected ally in some things where their interests connect.

Connections:

* Obviously we've got to talk about Don Pentangelli. Each owes the other their life at least a couple of times over. As much as two mob guys can ever trust one another, these guys trust each other.

* The Vermillion House While formally a member of the House, Joseph doesn't tend to go in for those sorts of reindeer games. So, he only goes for the formal events, tends to go home early and isn't much for the decadence. He's more interested in getting things done on the golf course.

* Holmes, Gillis, Baker, Savage, North, and Dean On speed dial.

* Selma Collins In the rolodex Captain Roy Gunderson too.

* John Joseph Staglione Knows him from the old neighborhood. Rock solid.

* Detective Marty Bennetti is useful for certain things. Joseph does sort of understand Marty, they've talked a bit. Joseph understands there's a line that can't be crossed with him.

* As far as Paul Castellamarese goes, Joseph sees him coming a mile off. He's talked with Francis about this...But Francis doesn't really see him as much of a threat.

The Persoff Building

It started, like many things do, with a deceptively simple question.

“So what exactly does “Negative Chi” mean?”

It was said snidely by one of those Invictus vampire dudes.  It had to do with some question of zoning and re-districting. The Ordo Dracul were all upset about a particular change that was going to jack up the ley lines. If it doesn’t appear on a ledger, it isn’t real to those dudes.  Naturally, there was a lot of agita over that particular piece of real estate and a lot of bad noise in Elysium over it for months.

But the question remained. Is there some way to quantify the effect of negative chi on a place? Something that you can put in front of a bunch of Invictus dickheads that is statistical and hard to ignore.

When you have a question like that, An experiment is called for.

So, a study group was assembled. Assets and resources were marshaled. Some thinking was done about experimental controls. And a plan was put in place.

And that was about 50 years ago. Give the Ordo credit. They know how to think long term.

Two building were built. Decisions were made at the beginning to find a place in the city where the ley lines were very auspicious for the placement of both buildings. Feng Shui experts from within the covenant were consulted on the most efficacious architectural choices to enhance each of the experiments. Each building was bought and paid for through a dizzying array of holding companies and omnibus stock accounts that would make it impossible to trace back to the Ordo.  The Ordo even went to the lengths of consulting the local mages and in exchange for leaving the experiment alone, there was a promise to share data.  The Consilium at the time thought about it and shrugged and said, “Ok. Sure.”

The other building is the Neimoller building. Over across town. It’s that one in the nice neighborhood. The main business in that building is a software company that makes predictive psychological modeling software. They’re doing really well. Defense department contracts, stock prices are up and everyone who works there loves the place.  I may talk about the Neimoller building another time.

But the Persoff building is the one I’m talking about today. And the Persoff Building is not a nice place to work.

It’s 16 floors of pure brutalist angularity on the outside.  Not only that, but there are large specifically machined iron ingots that have been placed in the foundation of the building. The shape of building, those iron deposits, and the actual topography of land that the building sits on combine to make for a truly spectacular flow of negative chi.  The ingots actually help to localize the effect of the negative chi within the building and a 2-3 block radius. Negative chi is DRAWN here.

The Ordo wanted Statistics and they got them.  They set their study group to gather intel on the Neimoller building and a number of other corporate concerns they had their hooks into, in order to have a control group. they discovered the following:

*36% more sick days taken than the average.

*14% more instances of employee having “Episodes” or mental breakdowns.

*8% more suicides.

*13 recorded instance of people in the building going completely missing. including at least one member of the original Ordo Dracul study group.  After this took place, the decision was made to move the group off-site and do the research remotely.

*11 Recorded instances of employees at various companies becoming supernatural in some way. Most of them deeply unpleasant.  (As opposed to the Neimoller building which has recorded a whopping 26 people that have become supernatural, most of them full magi.)

*3 recorded incidents involving dimensional breaches of some sort. Usually during high cyclical activity. The Avernian Gate however is persistent, stable, and resists being removed.

* The entire building is a strong geomantic nexus (3+) and the energies it most closely allies itself with is the skill Intimidation. (No mental skills appear to be enhanced.)  This seems to show itself in a great tendency to overbearing managerial styles in the various companies that do business here.

* The sorts of businesses that tend to have offices in the Persoff building tend to be businesses that either thrive on stress or have high turnover.  Call centers, divorce lawyers, the Burgerhoid District managers office. At least one boiler room stock operation (they ended up burning some Invictus dudes, and while there was chuckling around the Chapterhouse, they ended up serving them up, and now those guys are all doing time on securities and exchange fraud.)  At no point in the life of the building has the occupancy of the building been over 77%

* While ghostly activity seems to be completely unaffected, Other spiritual entities actively avoid the place. even the sort of baneful entities that would ordinarily bask in that sort of energy. Spirits that have been interviewed about this indicate that while the energy is pleasant, there is a spiritual “undertow”. Smaller and weaker spirits are probably swallowed whole by it. Even the more powerful spirits, say that they feel the tugging.  This has the pleasant side effect, of making the building unimportant to the local Uratha.

* There appear to be at least 14 distinct and separate hauntings. None of them are particularly benign, but none of them appear to be particularly powerful either. (Although, there is a suspicion that at least one of the hauntings is more powerful than she lets on.)

* Vermin and insect infestations tend to be cyclical and intense. There is also a creeping mold problem which contributes to the sick days.

* A Corporate law firm that was moved from the Persoff to the Neimoller building (as part of a controlled experiment) reported an uptick in business of over 40%

* Employees in the various firms report feeling enervated, that the Fluorescent lights in the hallways seems to trigger migraines, and feeling symptoms of clinical depression. (This intel gathered under the cover of a health-care professional firm during an investigation into “Sick Building Syndrome”.)

This generated a fat file. A fat file that’s been copied and sent to other chapter houses so that when some Invictus says that there’s no evidence that bad chi will harm business, they can whack them pretty hard with it.

Connections:

* Tim Deacon and Charlie both avoid the Persoff building and the surrounding neighborhood. It makes both of them itchy.

*Before she came to work at Holmes, Gillis, Baker, Savage, North, and Dean Victoria North used to work in a little firm in the Persoff building.  Whenever she's under stress, she dreams she's lost in the corridors and all the doors are locked.

* Lewis Flowers used to work in the building as a claims adjuster before he became something of a hermit.

* John Patmos has an office in the building. He's rarely there of course. He's probably the only person who smiles in the elevator.

* The Paraphysical Research Society has been to the building a number of times to investigate numerous stories. They never stay long. Miss Virgie Hawkins has a bad reaction to the place each time and usually an upset stomach to go with it.

* Christine Horowitz worked at a defense firm right out of school that was in the Persoff building. She was acutely miserable and the stress gave her a case of hives.

* Selma Collins attempted to burn out a business on the 12th floor for an insurance scam, the fire refused to catch completely. It was the only time she was never able to cash out.

* Rosalie Prescott had a gig as a commercial artist for a little tiny firm in the building. The guy who ran it was an erratic genius she knew from school. Unfortunately, the place made him more erratic and the company folded.

* Bartholomew Reines's school is about a block from the building. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

* The Insurance company that screwed over William Lee Travis was headquartered here. 

The Temple of Athens

4 out of 5 restaurants go out of business every year. Mostly, it's because they're undercapitalized and under planned. Even established restaurants have to deal with the fact that the business is stressful and prone to the vagueries of economic weather.

   But even though anyone can get fed at Burgerhoid, or Dickies, or Shark Island, or any other fast food place. White Tablecloth operations will never go out of business.

Dimitrios Karanikas is a lucky man in some ways. He's got a brother who props him up when things are lean. he's got a family that he can lean on for manpower. He's got a relatively stable clientele of the small Greek community in this town. And his restaurant sits squarely on a crossed pair of ley lines. It really is all about location.

 Sure, it's caused a problem or two. Spirits seem to congregate. (people say the place is haunted.) There have been a couple of new hires who turned out to be a bit more psychically active than was healthy for them. There have been a number of weird incidents and Magi, Sin Eaters, and Werewolves have taken to keeping an eye on the place. Some to police the spirits, others to transact business with them. There are even a few who have taken to eating there regularly. Because if ANYTHING is true, Dimitrios runs a damn fine restaurant.

The Neighborhood:

The Temple is in one of those sections of town where it seems that most of the restaurants are being kept. There's a healthy mix of fast food and a few other sit-down restaurants. There is a big-box store nearby, (S-mart, if I'm recalling correctly.) which anchors the whole commerce district. The general ambiance of the neighborhood is one of barely restrained energy. Perhaps this is as a result of ley-line leakage.  This tends to come out in little ways, Of the restaurant staff that works around here, there is a greater tendency towards cocaine abuse. Diners are impatient as a general rule, and there once was a situation where a guy got out of his car over at the Dickies drive through and shot another guy who was ordering for his entire office.

The Place.

ToA is a stand-alone. The décor is in faux ancient greek. Dimitrios once read years ago that ethnic styled restaurants don’t do very well if they don’t have ethnic decor. One of those quirks of psychology. So the exterior has fake-ass columns, and the interior is all terra-cotta with fake olive branches twisting around everything. One of the many Karanikas’s is a painter and so, she got press-ganged into service creating murals of scenes from greek mythology. This was terribly annoying until a local art collector asked about the artist, Dimitrios gave the collector his cousin’s contact information and now she’s got a good job doing large reproductions. While the wall stuff is all fake, Dimitrios and two friends did all the flooring and tile themselves. (He’s handy that way)

The front is like any standard double glass door foyer you’ll see in any chain place. There is, however, a coat check area about the size of a postage stamp. His sullen Grand-Niece Justina holds court here. She brings her laptop and a portable hot-spot with her because Great Uncle Dimitrios is a fucking dinosaur who has yet to join the 21st century. First timers here don’t know what to make of her, and her purple hair, and the dead eyes she gives most customers.  The Regulars just shrug and say, “That’s just her way.”  Justina takes a while to warm up to people. Tips help.

Stepping through the doors, one is likely on most evenings, to encounter Rhea Aristides-Karanikas. Normally she is manning the hostess station. There have been other hostesses over the years but none of them have ever really been up to the challenge of this business and Rhea is fast to point this out to them...Until it’s a near constant drumbeat. Those few who have been able to handle the business up to her exacting standards (and the far less exacting standards of everyone else on the staff...) have inevitably fallen into the problem of Rhea suspecting that they are trying to steal her husband.

While Dimitrios is not a bad looking man at all, He’s simply too busy and this is more of a reflection of the fact that Rhea has put on 3 pounds every single year she and Dimitrios have been married and is quietly freaking out about it. (Again, There's nothing wrong with the way Rhea looks either. She not unpretty and Dimitrios likes her curves.)  Rhea is one of those poor souls who, for one reason or another, requires a certain amount of tension and drama to surround her world at all times.  It’s the only way she knows how to interact with people really. Needless to say, that on the nights that she has off, or any evening where she might actually be ill and stay home, the restaurant is a great deal more relaxed as a general rule.  Weirdly, the customers love her. They think she’s colorful and seem to enjoy when she freaks out on their behalf because of some perceived problem with the food or the service.

From the Hostess stand there is a section off to the right where the bar and restrooms are, and to the right and straight back all the way to the far wall of the place is an open space of dining room. The place is sectioned off a bit by 5 foot high walls, but if the place is full, the walls don’t really absorb much sound and it can be hard to hear yourself think.

There are three entrance/exits to the Kitchen area and a second set of restrooms on the far side of the place. Out the back door is loading dock about the size of a large deep freeze, and a ramp down towards the fenced off dumpster.

The Staff:

They are your usual typical restaurant staff. Young. Poor. Preternaturally horny. Afflicted with the sorts of problems that would make a top-flight soap opera. Ramped up on stimulants to get through the shift, and then drunk to take the edge off, or studying until daybreak. or both. The kids that work here know that anyone who has an actual greek surname is likely a relative, and they can fuck up as many times as they want without getting fired permanently. But it has also been noticed that workers who are NOT family and show a certain amount of responsibility will often be promoted over family. Dimitrios learned the hard way to NEVER allow any of his relatives to be the head bartender. He still won’t talk to Lukas at family gatherings.  That’s how bad it was.  It is instructive to note that most of Dimitrios's hard core line cooks never cooked a greek dish before working here.   This doesn’t bother Dimitrios. But for some reason, it does bother Rhea.  Most of the line cooks have learned that the best way to deal with Rhea is to go into “Freeze” mode.  They stop working and give her the thousand yard stare until finally she stops yapping at them and goes away. Dimitrios only wishes he could get away with that.

The Shadow:

There seems to be a LOT of energy that runs through this place. Not like GLASTONBURY or anything like that, but still noticeable. There has been some idle talk amongst some of the night-folk about whether something ought to be done to divert the flow or leave it be and let nature correct. Naturally, each of the various groups have their own agendas, but at present nobody has wanted to upset the applecart as there is a LOT of attention on the place. Any person or group who made Dimitrios an offer (He won’t sell) or tries to coerce him, would have a lot of night-folk talking.  There is at least one greek Uratha who claims the area as his territory.  Giorgio loves this place. He may even be a relative. Nobody seems to be sure.

Connections:

* Sheriff Hank Settles Go figure. A simply ask, to keep an eye on the place, evolved into a love of greek cuisine and a desire to eat there at least once a week. Which was fortunate, because Hank was in there one night when some nut with a 22 revolver tried to hold the place up.  As a result, Dimitrios says the Sheriff Hank's money is no good here. While Hank doesn't sweat having a free meal from his favorite restaurant, he does see how it affects the Mrs. So he made an agreement with her. He eats for free, but only comes once a week and if he drinks, he pays for the drinks. This made Rhea very happy. As a result, Sheriff Hank is now considered a family friend.

* Rosalie Prescott Rosalie's store is in the same section of town. And since Dimitrios works long nights, he's gotten to know her some. He's one of her regulars.

* John Patmos If he's in town, and needs to take a meeting which involves a meal, He'll have it here. Patmos doesn't NEED to eat. but he can, and on those occasions when he must do so for appearance sake. He'd just as soon have comfort food.

*Lambrose Karanikas Any client who steps into Lambrose's limo and says, "Take me to the finest restaurant in town" get's brought here of course. Some get annoyed. Most try it out, Many are pleasantly surprised.

*Milo Karanikas Most people in the family are aware that Milo is making money doing something shady. Mostly, this doesn't bother them. But if someone needs to film a commercial, he's the first one they turn to, and his commercials LOOK professional grade. Dimitrios has however had a strong talk with Milo about chatting with the young women in his employ. A meat cleaver was involved in that discussion. Milo doesn't trouble the waitresses here. Nope.