Stefan Janofski

Concept: Dead Cop

AKA: Stefan used to be referred to by his siblings as “Choirboy” because (A) he WAS in the choir, and (B) he was the only one of the Janofski kids to embrace the Catholic Faith.

Desc: In life, Stefan Janofski was a real specimen. 6’5” blond and blue-eyed. Strong-jawed and broadly framed.  He was the kind of fellow in the Police academy that they call, “A Gazelle”   Many times when a person dies there are marks left on them, like some residual stain on them. Stefan doesn’t have that except that his skin is darker than it was in life. As if it were charred.

History: Like his dad before him, Stefan ALWAYS wanted to be a cop. He wanted to be like his father because his father was a superhero in his eyes. Don Janofski would just shake his head and smile and say, “Kid. Be better than me.  Be BIGGER than me.”

Don died in the line of duty, and even as the Janofski kids stood around the casket, each made their own promises about being cops. Not all of them came true.

On his birthday, Stefan applied to the academy. He breezed through the physical part as everyone knew he would. But he struggled with the classwork as everyone who knew him knew he would. Stefan’s never been a strong reader. But he’s never been one to quit either. So he did everything he could. He got a tutor. He listened to his sister’s advice. Did subliminal videos on Youtube to help with memory retention.  You name it. He did it. and it worked.  He came through with flying colors...Well ok, he did alright.  

Unlike his sibs, Stefan LOVED being a street cop. The test for Detective had him totally intimidated anyway. He was a likable guy though, could play the political game and made a number of friends in the department pretty fast.  He was brave. He was mostly honest. and he had the decorations to prove it.

But he never took a nickel that wasn’t his. He didn’t begrudge anyone else doing it. It wasn’t his way to question that. He understood that times were hard and that cops have rough lives. He never so much as gave any of his friends a sour look.  He just never took any for himself.

And it made them nervous. Never so much as a peep to his family, as near as anyone could tell. Maybe even saved their lives as there was a LOT of money involved. But one night as he started up his personal ride, it exploded killing him instantly.

So, Stefan’s been off the count for a while now. He keeps an eye on his old friends because he suspects a number of them. He keeps an eye on his younger brother and sister and deals with the occasional swells of Pride/Jealousy that goes along with that. And he keeps a paternal eye on the rest of the department as best he can...

But he still itches to know who pulled the trigger and who gave the order. Maybe Heaven still is there for a good Catholic boy if he can just figure out how to solve his own murder...from beyond his own grave.

Attitude:  “C’mon Grieder. You’re the smartest cop I know. Surely you can see these cops are dirty as fuck. Jesus, I wish I could talk to you direct.

Skills: Physically, he’s something of a beast and fairly well trained in various forms of combat arts. Unless you’re on THIS side of the divide, that’s unlikely to come up.

Socially, He’s pretty strong. Always likable and easy to talk to, He’s been working on becoming a better and keener student of human psychology and watching over his little brother’s shoulder. His sister’s too if he’s honest with himself.

Mentally, Well... He’s NOT stupid. He DOES have some low-grade learning disabilities. But does LISTEN better than he reads. It’s not out of line for him to have a couple of dots in Occult (Spec: Catholicism) and investigation picked up from work on the streets. 

On the Ghostly side of things he’s got the following Numina:

Drain: Which he’s used more than once to chill out a suspect or two 

Emotional Aura: Which he’s ALSO used more than once to chill someone out. He’s also been working over some of his former friends with guilt and the occasional bout of Pre-psychotic rage.

Implant Mission: Which he’s used on at least a few people to get them to look into his own murder. (There really isn’t much in the way of evidence.) But he’s also used it like, “Dude’s I don’t know why, But we need to find Waldauer right fucking now!”

Sign: He’s just learned this one, He’s trying to figure out a way to use it subtly. If someone twigs to the fact that there are ghosts in the precinct house it could be bad.

Gear: Ghost. No gear really.

Home: Stefan is lucky insofar as he has a LOT of Anchors. Both of his Sibs, His “Friends”, His old car and it’s various constituent parts. and the precinct house.  As such, he gets around a bit more than many ghosts do. Sometimes, he posts up on the roof of the Precinct House. It’s peaceful...if there isn’t an argument with Murphy.

Circle: Stefan knows a few ghosts. He’s had a conversation or two with a mage but getting those people to do anything is like trying to nail Jello to a tree.  He’s seen a Beast or two.

And he’s heard of Sin Eaters but he’s yet to run into one. He’s not sure he wants to.

Story Uses:

“C’mon kid use your head. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

As I said, he takes a certain proprietorial attitude towards his fellow officers. Your first encounter with him might be something like him having to talk down some kid with PTSD and reflexes that are too fast for his own good.

“Look, I don’t have much time and I know you can hear me...”

Stefan can rest if his murder is solved.  He’s been on the prod to do just that but the cover-up was pretty good and it’s a cold case by now. His brother and sister obviously still work it a bit. But if he got a new player on the board with abilities that his siblings DON’T have, it might get it rolling again.

Connections:

* Officer Karl Richter "This guy. He should NOT have walked away from that. What the fuck?"

* Detective Nell Wesley  "Nell's Ok. She's going to get killed...but she's ok.

* Detective Marty Bennetti "Pretty sure THIS fucker had something to do with me being deceased. Can't BELIEVE he's a dick now."

* Detective Dana Crowley "I'm fairly sure that if I can get evidence into her hands... She'll make sure that it gets dealt with."

* Chris Murphy "My debate partner. I get why he's angry. I do. Sometimes though...He can be a bit hard to take."

* Miss Virgie Hawkins "I think she can sense me, but I don't think she can actually hear or see me. Kills me, because I could really use her advice right now."

* Officer Wesley Ullman "Sooner or later, this man is going to kill someone"

* Detective Bob Greider  "You know, for a while there I thought Bob could figure all of this out, so I bothered him some. It's not really in his hands though. Still...I do enjoy watching the man work his magic."