Glossary S

>S
-SABLE See REILLY, LAUREN
-SAGEHELM The Eyeless Helmet, weilded by GARRISON NEBEL since 1982. Crafted from white gold infused with many flecks of ENSALIR and ensorcelled by the ELDAR mystic IMTHRIL in the DARTHAN AGE, the helmet revealed Truth, undid harmful spells and restored damaged objects or beings to their natural state.
Sagehelm could shine by channeling the sacred light of the ADALARIN which falls upon ELVEDAL. This light confuses and blinds the Children of the Night.
In a remarkable act of trust, the Eldarin gifted Sagehelm to a HUMAN, GARRISON NEBEL. Blind and possessed of mystic perception of his own, NEBEL brought out all the inherent functions of the helmet. When he at last retired from the Midnight War, he kept the Eyeless Helmet for its next destined wielder. In 2020, he passed Sagehelm to CARLO VENTURA with some guidance on its use.
-SALENGER, MEGAN 'TROM GIRL.' b.1979-d.2022. 5'3" 105 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Brown. Human orphan raised by the TROM Council in New Mexico to be a liaison between the two Races. TEL SHAI KNIGHT and member of KDF SECOND TEAM 2000-2009. Long-term romantic relationship with ARCHIE MCALLISTER. In late 2008, Megan stepped down to Reserve Duty status with the KDF so that she and Archie could buy a house in Queens together and spend more personal time in 'real life.' She died in February 2022 in the TIGER NATION mission.
-SALERNO, LAURA 'THE SCEPTRE' [BMIC, 1940; TSS, 1941] b.1911-d.1956? 5'6" 110lbs Hr:Dark Brown Ey:Brown. Vigilante adventurer during WW II. She was the widow of RAY SALERNO, creator of the SCEPTRE and she called herself that as she used the unique talisman in her exploits. Laura was one of the last of the earlier wave of 'mystery-men' in 1940 who wore increasingly flamboyant outfits as they fought criminals and Axis agents.
Her own disguise consisted of a long straight black wig over her shorter curly hair, a padded bra and bright red lipstick which changed the contours of her mouth. She usually wore a canary-yellow longsleeved jersey to further distract people.
Laura dropped out of sight in 1956. Historians of the Midnight War speculate that she died from effects of having been exposed to the radiation of the OMEGA BLAST four years earlier. The Sceptre was not reported again until it turned up in Evaho in 2000.
-SALERNO, RAYMOND b.1901-d.1939 5'10" 190lbs Hr:Black Ey:Brown. Creator of the SCEPTRE. An explorer, soldier of fortune, and tomb robber in the early 1930s, Salerno accepted commissions from KENNETH DRED to locate MIDNIGHT WAR talismans. On one such assigment,m he returned with a Darthan blasting wand and an Eldar focus gem; not knowing better, he joined the two objects and their incompatible energies exploded to nearly kill him. The resulting device was the SCEPTRE, only one of its kind, able to channel gralic energy into light, heat or concussive force. Following Ray's death in 1939, his widow LAURA SALERNO used the Sceptre in her crusade as a vigilante crime-fighter and named herself after it.
-SALZMANN, GERALD [PRE, 3/1993] Research geneticist who worked on PROJECT REGULUS under the leadership of KARL ELDRITCH. He escaped the destruction of the Project and contacted the three clones who had been set up by JEREMY BANE with new secure lives.
-SAMHAIN [TSM, 1934; LOTPM, 1944; TAM, 10/1992; TOP, 4/1993; MTDIYD, 3/1994; TPFM, 10/2004] b.1911-d.2004 6'1" 185 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Blue. Real name never revealed. A murderous genius with extended longevity and a regenerative healing factor that enabled him to survive many seeming deaths by violence. MARK DRUM fought Samhain in 1951; ANDREW STEEL fought him in 1972. JEREMY BANE fought Samhain more than a half dozen times, usually seeming to destroy the killer (he shoved the killer in front of a Seventh Avenue subway train after the Compass Murders) but Samhain always escaped and regenerated to come back.

Samhain was not a true serial killer by clinical definition. No sex was involved in his crimes, he did not take trophies from the scenes and he was not compelled to repeat his actions. He claimed to be motivated by a philosophy that murder was 'the highest art.' Samhain's killing sprees always involved a theme. The Compass Murders in 1988 involved victims named West, South and North; the White House Killings in 1989 had victims with the same names as lesser-known Presidents like Polk, Buchanan and Tyler; the Astronomy Murders in 1992 chose victims killed by methods related to the various planets. Samhain was finally destroyed by ASHLEY WHITAKER during the PUMPKIN FACE MURDERS in October 2004.

Samhain met Kenneth Dred and Dr Vitarius in 1934 during the SLAVE MAKERS incident. It has never been confirmed but many researchers believe it was Samhain who posed as the patriotic hero VICTORY EAGLE during WW II.
-SAM RYE See HOBWELL FLETCHER
-SANDERS, VICTORIA [SOSR, 1896] Known as 'Queen of the Outlaws.' b.1863-d. 5'7" 125lbs Hr:Dark Blond Ey:Blue. Married to George Elliott but in retirement living under the name Elizabeth Dowling to remain incognito. In 1886, Sanders killed a railroad executive to avenge the murder of her father; she gathered a ragtag band of misfits to help her while she was on the run. They became wanted for train robbery, flight to avoid prosecution and other offenses, and it was during this period that she met JOHNNY PACKARD, the BRIMSTONE KID. Sanders managed to remain at large and settled with Elliot in Cabot City, Colorado to lead a peaceful life.
-SANGUINARIANS [TS, 2/1961] Four occultists who restored youth and vitality by drinking a VELKANDU potion containing Human blood. All were killed in 1961 by DR KOBAL.
-SAN MIGUEL, CARLOS [TOP, 4/2003] Known as CHARLIE PANTERA b.1974-d.2005 5'7" 130 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Dark Brown. Mexican-American serial killer from Texas. His only real murder spree was when he took part in the unofficial TOURNAMENT OF PYSCHOS in the Spring of 1993. Captured by JEREMY BANE and convicted on multiple homicides. Executed by the State after many appeals, 2005.
-SARAH BELLUM [PTBBWYFI, 2018;ONATHNH] True name never revealed. HUMAN brain kept alive and thriving through technology devised by JOHN GRIM, Sarah Bellum became a criminal mastermind aided by LORENZO. ("On a waist-high electronic console sat a rectangular glass tank ten feet high and six feet wide. Aeration bubbles entered the thick greenish liquid in which sat what had once been a human brain. The monstrous organ was larger than a prize-winning pumpkin, and instead of the classic walnut-halves structure, the brain had a half dozen irregular lobes growing out of it. The horrifying object rested in a shallow depression atop what looked like a platform holding diagnostic equipment. Five thin cords ran from that platform to leads which were glued to the brain's surface.") Sarah Bellum perished when her apparatus was accidentally shattered by gunfire from Lorenzo.
-SARIAMENTO [NECTN, 2018] Leader of the HELODERMA, Sariamento was intelligent enough to speak understandable English and to attempt a disguise.
-SCHLEGEL, WILBUR [GWTTE, 1999] b.1940-d. 5'9" 165lbs Hr:Brown Ey:Light Brown. One of JEREMY BANE's network of observers, a skilled researcher and an invaluable source of leads. His daughter had been kidnapped by GOLGORA and when JEREMY BANE brought the girl back unharmed, Schlegel dedicated himself to helping the DIRE WOLF as much as he could.
-SCEPTRE [BMINC; SC, 8/2000, others] Potent talisman made of a foot-long rod of GREMTHOM capped by a blue focus gem from ELVEDAL. The two items were joined together by RAY SALERNO in the 1930s, resulting in an explosion which nearly killed him but which created a powerful talisman. The combination of Darthan and Eldar magick was unprecedented and has not been duplicated since, attempts to do so resulted in tragedy. The SCEPTRE could channel gralic energy into heat, light, concussive force or a combination of those effects. Laura later discovered the Sceptre could affect local gravity as well, giving her the power of flight and to lift objects as heavy as cars.
LAURA SALERNO added a rawhide strap to its flat end to serve as a loop around her wrist, as well as an ivory strip with five round buttons down one side. The buttons did not actually do anything, since the Sceptre worked by will power, but they served to mislead any enemies who might get hold of the device. Laura was not heard from after 1955 and the Sceptre itself seemed lost until it turned up in Evaho in 2000. JEREMY BANE claimed it and the talisman has remained secure in the KDF Vault ever since.
An attempt at crafting a new Sceptre in December 1977 [MBO, 1977] resulted in the death of the person fixing the stone to a blasting wand; a young JEREMY BANE confiscated the lesser talisman and gave it to KENNETH DRED for savekeeping.
-SCROLL OF ULTIMATE TRUTH [TSOUT, 6/1984] Darthan artifact written by TOLLINOR KJE himself, it was a tattered tube of yellowed papyrus three feet long. Each end was capped with a globe of GREMTHOM. Although written in esoteric symbols, the Scroll could easily be read by anyone. Its text used sardonic phrases which invariably predicted the imminent death of the person reading it. Knowing its curse, JEREMY BANE burned the Scroll without opening it in June 1984.
-SEEKING NOOSE Darthan talisman, the Noose was a thirty-two foot length of GREMTHOM wire running through a rope of rough hemp. It responded to the will of its owner, strangling or binding or lashing like a whip. During WW II, the Noose was wielded by HITLER'S HANGMAN.
-SEGAL, HENRY [CTI, 1984] Husband of JESSICA SEGAL, killed by ETHAN PETROV in 1984.
-SEGAL, JESSICA Known as 'JESSICA FROST' [CTI, 1984; ROW, 1986; TCW, 1996] b.1961-d. 5'6" 115lbs Hr:Light Brown (white when using powers) Ey:Brown (light blue when using powers) TEL SHAI KNIGHT and KDF ASSOCIATE MEMBER 1986-1988. A former student at Columbia University, she was married for two years to Henry Segal, an insurance office manager. Tortured and infused with gralic force by the Russian warlock VALENTIN RODCHENKO, witnessing her husband brutally murdered in front of her, she underwent a strange transformation. Jessica gained the gralic ability to siphon away heat from any area within her line of sight, effectively producing sub-zero cold. The metamorphosis muted her feelings to leave her unempathic and remote. She fixated on Bane, who was helping her in her last moments of being fully Human, so felt loyalty only to him. This led her to join both Tel Shai and the KDF in order to repay him.
Frost could numb and disorient an opponent without causing permanent harm by instantly chilling the air around him. She could make metal brittle enough to break by hand, touching it did not harm her. When she used her power at full focus, a thin layer of ice crystals formed over her body.
Frost developed only basic skills at KUMUNDU, seldom fighting hand to hand. She did become a fine CORBY pilot.
When her cold-producing powers abruptly faded in late 1989, she had to resign her membership. Her original appearance and emotional range returned. Moving to Clermont, Vermont, she became half-owner of an antiques and collectibles store called YESTERDAY'S TREASURES.
In 1996, Jessica found her cryonic abilities had returned after an encounter with AVATHOR but she was not inclined to return to the MIDNIGHT WAR and chose a normal anonymous life.
-SENECA [RNABL, 10/1989] True name never revealed b.1958-d.1989 6'3 280 lbs Hr:Brown Ey:Brown. Cursed killer who drew gralir from the lifeforce of his victims for extra strength and longevity. Seneca roamed the Adirondacks wilderness for decades, apparently only venturing into populated areas to kill when his vitality was running low. Decapitated by JEREMY BANE at Bass Lake, NY.
Seneca wore a plain white cotton hood pulled down to cover his entire head. Two thin slits, barely enough to allow vision, had been cut where his eyes were and for some reason he had painted an upward-pointing crescent shaped line over over the bottom half of the mask. It made the hood look grotesquely like a smiley button.
-SEPULCHER [GHF, 8/2002; DIBAD, 10/2011, EFO, 2020] b.1979-d. 6' 155 lbs Hr:Brown Ey:Hazel. True name Henry Lee Howitt. Severely deranged criminal who carried out crime waves and senseless murders for years, Sepulcher was an innocent man wrongly convicted of rape and murder in Texas in February 2001. Something went wrong with the lethal injection at his execution, and although he was declared dead by the doctor, he revived eight minutes later on the autopsy table. After he recovered, proof of his innocence turned up and his conviction was overturned. Although he was released with financial compensation, the man who now called himself Sepulcher was embittered and filled with hatred toward society in general.

After-effects of the botched execution left Sepulchre with the muscles of his face permanent frozen in a mocking grin. He also lost all pain responses and had heightened muscular strength. Sepulcher claimed he had been literally dead but had refused to accept it. He was known to carry five or six handcrafted derringers on his person, guns no larger than a pencil which fired .18 bullets.

Surprisingly, although Sepulcher clashed inconclusively with the KDF SECOND TEAM in August 2002, JEREMY BANE himself did not cross paths with Sepulcher directly until October 2011. In 2020, Sepulcher's face was restored to normalcy by SAGEHELM and he meekly allowed himself to be taken in custody.
-SERAPH See DOMINCETTI, FULVIO.
-SERPENT-HEAD SWORD [TSHS, 1213 DR] Cursed DARTHAN weapon of the DARTHAN AGE. The Serpent-Head Sword was made of GREMTHOM. The basket hilt which completely enclosed the man's forearm was shaped like a wide head of a serpent and the flat double-edged protruded from that snake-shaped hilt like a long vicious tongue. The eyes on the snake head were two glittering red gems. ("The strange weapon swung from side to side as if alive and dragging the man's arm behind it. Even the gems set in the eyesockets appeared to focus on the Mongrel with eagerness. The effect that the Serpent-Head Sword was alive and malicious seemed inescapable.")
-SEVEN RACES First mentioned in the DARTHAN AGE, the Seven Races were a traditional grouping based on numbers and influence, rather any biological classification. The Seven were HUMANS (Danarin), SNAKE MEN (Gamadim), ELDARIN, DARTHIM, TROLLS, TROM and GELYDRIM. Less numerous or active sub-species such as the MELGARIN or NEKROSIM were often called COUSINS OF MEN.
-SHAI TAZAM Known as 'Brightbolt' [BB, 12/1986] One of the most potent talismans in the Midnight War, Shai Tazam was a spear crafted and ensorcelled by the MELGARIN mystic MALBERON in the DARTHAN AGE. A six foot oak shaft, flat on one end and capped with a sharp barbed blade of steel edged with ENSALIR on the other, its gralic charge made it nearly indestructible. The blade was wide as a spread hand, and engraved with the outline of a rearing horse. The Ensalir on the edges of the blade shone in the presence of danger, disrupted malevolent spells and was effective against creatures of the night, even slaying ANGRDROS himself.
When thrown, the spear accelerated by itself in flight, could swerve on its own if its target tried to dodge away, and returned to its wielder's hand. The far end and half way up the shaft were wrapped in leather strips to provide a better grip.
Following the INVASION OF MAROCH, Shai Tazam was confiscated by BASILOR of the DAWN FOLK, but in 1986, it was reclaimed by PRINCESS VALERA, who has used it ever since.
-SHAMBASI, NJIMI [TMHA, 8/1988] Member of the MONGOOSE CULT, 1983-1992. Wrestler from DANARAK.
-SHAR, CIR'WILLA. Known as VENOM [TMHA, TVOKE, 3/1980, TFTOWL] b.1907-d. 6' 180lbs Hr:Black Ey:Dark Brown. Top AMRATH assassin and soldier for the SNAKE EMPIRE, Venom had lifelong martial arts training in addition to his inborn speed and venomous fangs. He was a peer in unarmed combat to both JEREMY BANE and SHIRO MITSURU.
Venom was a member of AREM KAMENDE's short-lived group DARK CLOUD.
-SHENG, MO-YUAN Known as ARGENT. b 1980-d. 5'5" 155 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Dark Brown. Double eyelid fold. Native of CHUJIR, he became a TEL SHAI KNIGHT and member of the KDF SECOND TEAM 2000-2010, then stepped down to Reserve status to open his FIST FOR HIRE Agency. His office was on the third floor of the Hartwicke Building on Lower Canal Street. The building had two gift shops with Asian and pseudo-Asian merchandise on the ground floor, as well as the manager's office. The top two floors were rented out as apartments for senior citizens. The second floor had an insurance company and the SUNNY DAY massage spa. Most nights, UNCLE PAO could be found helping out at Sheng's office.
Sheng drove a bright-red Ferrari 458 Italia which he kept at the IMPERIAL GARAGE at 40th Street and Third Avenue (the same garage where JEREMY BANE and MEGAN SALENGER housed their vehicles).
Sheng's unique ability was to channel gralic force into his body. He could become stronger, faster or more resistant to harm as long as he concentrated, but he could only create one effect at a time. At his most durable, Sheng was bulletproof and resistant to flame but he was not completely indestructible and sufficient trauma such as explosions could still harm him; he also still needed to breathe and could be affected by toxic or anesthetic fumes. Despite his best efforts, he was never able to use gralic force to enhance his senses as SABLE did.
Sheng had taken the war name Argent, because his family name meant "silver" in Chujiran and was pronounced "arjin" in the old school, and he had found the coincidence interesting.
-SHENG, PAO-WANG 'UNCLE PAO' [DDMC, 8/20210; following] b.1938-d. 5'3" 110lbs Hr:White Ey:Dark Brown. Glasses with heavy prescription. Chinese man living in New York City on a pension, Uncle Pao became an aide to SHENG MO-YUAN, nagging as much as helping. He had no fighting abilities nor clerical skill, but Pao did possess a keen understanding of human nature and a sharp sense of when clients were lying. Watching the office, taking messages, cooking meals were ways in which Uncle Pao made himself useful.
Pao met Sheng Mo-Yuan by chance in early 2010, then became caught up in an investigation and immediately insisted that they were related. Sheng did not reveal that, since he had come from the ADJACENT REALM CHUJIR, he could not have any living relatives in the world. Instead, Sheng quickly accepted Uncle Pao, allowed the old man to start helping out at the FIST FOR HIRE offices and treated Pao as a genuine uncle. Maybe it only meant that Sheng missed having a family, since his teammates at the KDF were so unlike him culturally. In many ways, Uncle Pao resembled members of Sheng's real clan back in Chujir, both in appearance and in mannerisms. And he had learned enough Cantonese over the years to be able to converse easily with Pao. They were two lonely men who welcomed each other's company.
Only once did Uncle Pao hint that he realized he and Sheng were not related by blood, when he confided to MEGAN SALENGER: ("Sheng lost his parents in a flood in Chujir when he was a toddler, I was separated from my father and mother when the Communists took power and I was smuggled into Kowloon without so much as a spare shirt. I never found out what happened to them, I became a live-in servant for a wealthy magazine publisher. When... when Sheng and I met, it was not only that we shared the same name that connected us.")
-SHERWOOD, FONDA [DOQ, 4/1988] Known as PERIL. b.1962-d. 5'7" 130lbs Hr:Black Ey:Green. Originally a college student named Kristin Tierney, she was the only survivor of the PERIL PROJECT performed by ADVANCED SECURITY RESEARCH. After the extensive plastic surgery, mental deconstruction and rebuilding, she regretted that there was "not much of Kristin left anymore." The agency even killed her immediate family and arranged it to seem like a traffic accident so that she would not have any ties to her previous life. Now code named 'Peril,' she was infused with synthetic enzyme that ramped up her healing factor to TEL SHAI range. She was to be the first of a squad of canalized agents with no distractions and with complete loyalty.
As part of her transformation, Peril was extensively trained by many experts in combat both armed and unarmed. In combat situations, Peril dressed in a tight black jumpsuit with calf-high boots. A belt hanging low on one hip supported a holster and a pair of nunchaku was strapped diagonally across her back; her forearms had wide cuffs with metal strips running from wrist to elbow. These pointed strips could be slid out and thrown as blades. The nunchaku were gimmicked to extend a blade ten inches long from the lower end.
Peril's sidearm was a handcrafted semi-automatic pistol with silencer and flash suppressor of advanced design. It fired what were actually subminiature bombs-- cartridges filled with thiny shell shot in liquid suspension. When the shell pierced a victim, it exploded and dozens of the pellets ricocheted around inside the body. Adding to the lethality, the liquid inside the cartridges was a snake venom distillate.
At some point, Peril's essential humanity surfaced and she rebelled. Fleeing the agency, she went on the run and killed any ASR agents sent to retrieve her. With the help of CHEVAL, BAKWANGA KWALI and CHEN WONG-LAI, she escaped entirely. JEREMY BANE established her in a new identity with a good-paying but quiet job somewhere in the United States. Over time, her abilities faded and her new life became her final real one.
-SHIP OF SKULLS [TSOS, 5/1987] A flying ship that glided over land as well as sea, with a crew of two hundred pirates and renegades of many Races. Ninety feet from keel to prow, made of some black wood with iron strips reinforcing it, the hurtling vessel had no sails or oars. Along its sides and fastened to a central pillar where its mast should be weree hundreds of skulls. Skulls of mortal Men, Trolls, Eldarin, Dwarves, even beasts such as the Speaking Apes of Okali.
The Ship's flying function and haze of harmful gralic force came from the OBANCHU imprisoned within it. KHANG slew this monster at the end of the battle.
-SHOGRENS [TSEC, 2/1943] Inexplicable Norwegian family apparently of recent Asian ancestry. A number of the women accompanied EGIL SHOGREN to New York in 1943 as part of his borderland research
-SHOGREN, EGIL Known as 'Baron Shogren' [TSEC, 2/1943] b.1869-d.2022. 5'1" 105lbs Hr:Black Ey:Brown. Rogue scientific genius who in 1943 opened his spurious SHOGREN EXHILIRATION CLINIC. His research enabled him to partially power up a rare ZHUNE artifact, the DIVULGER. Shogren was forced to flee and his clinic burned down by the GREEN DEVIL.
His last project was the TIGER NATION, infusing tiger DNA into Human volunteers, who then became vicious obligate carnivores who could extend claws and fangs at will. All but one of the Tiger Nation were destroyed by the KDF in February 2022, when Shogren was also killed by DEMRAK JIN. ("The man stood only an inch over feet tall, well-dressed in a tan suit with a matching vest although his tie was loosened and the top button of his shirt undone. Thick bristly white hair and a white brush mustache would have demanded more attention, but this man wore a pair of rubber goggles which thick lenses through which his eyes could not be seen and those goggles distracted from everything else.")
-SICKLE HARBOR [HOTS:GI, 2002] Home of JACK THE PEG, CANOLA SUE and CADGER. Protruding from the Northern California coast was a strip of land that curved into a semi-circular shape irresistably reminiscent of a sickle complete with handle. For more than a hundred years, boats had docked here and a small town had grown up, just under the size where it would get its own post office.
-SIGNARM. ADJACENT REALM of HUMANS. Signarm was best known as the home of the SILVER SKULL. It was a roughly rectangular area spanning 180 miles from East to West at the widest point and 220 miles North to South. In recent times, population has averaged 700,000 citizens. A few thousand Mountain Trolls are estimated to live in the Mountains where Cyr is located. Most land is given over to intensive farming. Signarm exports wheat, tobacco and corn (maize) to other realms including ANDROVAL, EVAHO, ELVEDAL and CHYL. More than thirty Barons rule in their territories; the King has limited powers in practice and largely concerns himself with pitting the Barons against each other in constant skirmishes and border conflics.
-SILK TIGERS [TST, 7/2014] Three professional top-level thieves who operated in Europe and the United States. Clashed with and killed AVATHOR. In 2014, their members were Hideko Suragiri, Sylvia Giacomo and Borjona Poznan.
-SHU SHEN Known as the SCHOLAR [BNOS, 3/2013]. d.2013 Chinese ALCHEMIST who tried to use SABLE to obtain and use the BRONZE NEEDLES OF SUFFERING.
-SHY ANNE [FLKNB, 2014] b.1978-d. 5'8" 110lbs Hr:Black Ey:Dark Brown. Wife and accomplice to retired warlock ANTON BELARIC, mother of BENNY and OCTOBER.
-SIERRA [WANLHM, 2012] b.1983-d. 5'8" 122lbs Hr:Blonde Ey:Blue. Stripper and escort who manipulated the doting HOLDEN MAGROIN to get a life of luxury. When he found the truth about her, Holden was crushed emotionaklly bjut counselled to accept his gift by JEREMY BANE. Sierra was not punished and went about life in her usual grifting way.
-S-I-G. [JAC]The STRATEGIC INTERVENTION GROUP, led by HAROLD CROFT. He framed JEREMY BANE for murder.
-SILVER HAMMER OF MALBERON [AG 1/1997] Talisman forged and ensorcelled by MALBERON during the ancient DARTHAN AGE. It seemed to have a sentient urge to kill and twisted away from a weilder's grip to strike. Confiscated by JEREMY BANE January 1997.
-SILVER SKULL. Heroic role begun in the DARTHAN AGE and still active today. The Skull wore a black leather uniform including boots and gloves; also a breastplate, round buckler, helmet and a twenty-six inch long straight sword made of steel by HUMANS of SIGNARM but incorporating slivers of ENSALIR enchanted by the ELDARIN. The sword was called CHALCEMAR and was ensorcelled to push harmlessly through a victim's body to shock them into unconsciousness without causing permanent harm in most cases. Against hopeless sociopaths or Snake men, the blade became a deadly weapon. This was known as the Judgement of the Sword. The helmet protected against mind control and allowed the bearer to receive advice and knowledge from previous Skulls in the form of telepathic whispers. All the accoutrements could be summoned to instantly appear on the Skull's body at will, no matter how far away they were. The best known Silver Skull was DR LAWRENCE TAPER, a founding KDF member and TEL SHAI knight.
-SIMEK, SAM. [TAM, 10/1992] Private Investigator who ran an agency with his cousin ARTIE ROSEN. Both men were reliable, experienced detectives and JEREMY BANE hired them many times to help on his cases. BANE first met them when they were working for his KDF teammate MICHAEL HAWK. In fact, Simek and Rosen had helped train the young Dire Wolf and had helped him get his own PI license.
-SIMMONS, SARAH [RF, 8/2008] 5'3" 125 lbs Hr:Light Brown Ey:Brown Sarah was a fourteen-year-old girl who developed an unreasonable infatuation with JEREMY BANE after being rescued by him as a child. Sarah became a runaway to trail around stalking the infuriated Bane, getting involved with the RATFACE incident and being fortunate to escape alive with only a facial scar.
-SINCLAIR, HERBERT LEWIS 'COGITUS'. [TMOTJM, 1943; TSBS, 20126] b.1867-d. 5'4" 115 lbs Hr:Brown Ey:Brown. Enlarged cranium from his own serum ("a forehead twice the normal height and the frontal lobes bulged outward in an expanse of bare skin under a hairline that had been left behind") Criminal mastermind and Midnight War threat for over a hundred years. A record level genius with PhDs in a half dozen fields... applied biochemistry, mechanical engineering, linguistics, quantum physics and xenobiology, Sinclair's academic career was stalled by the way he argued and feuded with every scientist he met. He was also accused of swiping research.
In 1943, Cogitus was taken prisoner by GALVAN and the GREEN DEVIl to be handed over as a prisoner to DR VITARIUS. By 2014, he was not more than five feet high, slightly built to the point of seeming fragile, Sinclair wore a breastplate, gauntlets and greaves of dark green plastic which were part of a sophisticated exoskeleton that allowed him movement. He bore a synthetic heart of his own design. His nervous system was enhanced by experimental proteins he himself developed. It was while experimenting with SUB-SPACE that he unleashed the INSECTOIDS; in a confrontation with the KDF team, Sinclair was himself thrown into SUB-SPACE.
-SIRION. Greatest MELGAR Champion.
-SIRIUS ONE [PRI:TPB, 11/1988; PRIV:TCONL, 12/1991] Sole survivor of the dozens of Sirius clones, he escaped the destruction of PROJECT REGULUS to live on the run with his fellows DENEB, ARCTURUS, RIGEL and ANTARES. Like the other Sirius clones, Sirius One was small and frail, not much over five feet tall, with narrow shoulders and delicate bone structure. His most startling feature was the size of their heads. Above a wizened elderly face, his forehead rose twice as high as normal, with only a fringe of feathery white hair around the ears and nape. Sirius One had intelligence in the genius level regarding technology and biochemistry.
-SISTERHOOD OF THE ALL-SEEING EYE [SOTASE, 6/2009] A MYRRWHAN cult led by DUVINA. The Sisterhood used gralic means to physically steal an eyeball out of a victim's head and transplant it into the palm of a cult member, where it survived. Within a day or so, the victim came under the mental dominance of the Sisterhood member who had stolen the eye. The cult came to the world in 2009 and was broken up by KARINA and JEREMY BANE.
-SITHGAR [tco, 1212 DR] Venomous constrictors found in the jungles of southern KHEBIR during the DARTHAN AGE. They grew up to seven feet long.
-SKANDOR. ADJACENT REALM of HUMANS in the DARTHAN AGE still existing today. Pop:80,600 (most recent).
-SKORG [BTCOM, 11/2002] TROLL with unusual characteristics. He became a Fighting Troll but stopped within Human dimensions, only slightly over six feet tall and under three hundred pounds. This made him quick and agile as well as strong. With his mentor GREM, he came to the world for Human victims but was beaten by JEREMY BANE and VALERA.
-SKULL BENEATH THE SKIN. Book of poems written by decadent artist BOUCHARD. First edition, Rue Blanc Press, 1922.
-SKULL-FACE See MARGIL
-SKULLHUNTERS [TBOS, 2000] HUMAN tribes inhabiting OKALI, in conflict with the MOUNTAIN MEN and the SPEAKING APES.
-SKULL MUG OF TI-YUAN [TSMOTY, 9/1989] A lacquered Human skull belonging to a warlock named Ti-Yuan, hollowed out with the top open to use as a drinking vessel. It was ensorcelled so that anyone who drank from it experienced visions of the near future but, according to legend, they always regretted doing so. The lower jaw was wired on. In the empty eye sockets could sometimes be seen a faint flicker of red light that was inexplicable.
-SLADE, LEONARD [AOTBC, 1957, following] b.1901-d.1990 6"1" 190 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Brown. A TROM MONITOR, TEL SHAI KNIGHT and member of the KDF FIRST TEAM. From 1956 until his death, he served as Director of Special Projects at the HUMAN CAPABILITY ENHANCEMENT Project. In 1964, he helped the newly idependent ANDREW STEEL begin his mission. In 1968, he aided KENNETH DRED in the hunt for CHRISTOPHER LINCOLN. Slade's main duties were as liaison between the Trom and Humans. He arranged for the KDF to have limited access to Trom technology in exchange for his being accepted as a TEL SHAI student. Slade died in the FINAL HALLOWEEN, 1990.

As a Monitor, Slade had been modified from the norm. He could trigger preconditioned combat reflexes, his system could discharge stimulants into his circulatory system. In moments of danger, tough transparent lids covered his eyeballs. At all times, he worked at fifty per cent above Human speed and seventy per cent above Human strength. If exposed to poison gas or excessive smoke, he could close his lungs and draw on a reserve air bladder good for several minutes. Although he was reportedly almost ninety at the time of his death, Slade still appeared to be in his early thirties most of his life. It was not revealed how long his lifespan would be, nor if other Trom shared this longevity.
-SLAUGHTERMAN See RICHARD MOORE DORSETT
-SLEET See ROBBINS, SHANNON
SLOOP, WESTON 'SPACEY' [ROPS, 2008] 5'10" 155lbs Hr:Black Ey:Light Brown. Student of PROFESSOR SLACK and friend of DEVIL PIE.
-SMALL RIDER See EMIL JORIK
-SNAKE MEN. Known as 'Gamadim.' One of the SEVEN RACES, known as GAMADIM. Advanced reptiles mimicking mammals in many ways, Snake men would be exposed by X-Rays or blood work; if taken to hospital, care is taken to change the results and if necessary to kill any Human doctors stumbling upon the secret. They had retractable envenomed canines which ended in sharp points. Most Snake men wore detachable enamel caps to give their fangs a normal appearance. Their jaws were hinged to gape open wider than a true Human's could.
The spines of Snake men contained some cartilage instead of bone and could bend further than usual. The eyes could be covered with a transparent protective scale if exposed to hazards. Snake men are less adaptive to temperature extremes than Humans are; they become sluggish and dim-thinking if exposed to heat or cold too far from temperate conditions.
Snake men were faster than normal Humans and could endure severe punishment. AMRATHS were a specialized variety of Snake men has been bred for ages to have increased toxicity and greater fighting capabilities. The most active AMRATH in the MIDNIGHT WAR was CIR'WILLA SHAR, known as VENOM.
Following the break-up of the SNAKE EMPIRE, individuals remained as dangerous adversaries but the Race was not longer the insidious threat they once were.
-SNAKE EMPIRE For millenia since the DARTHAN AGE, SNAKE MEN ran a worldwide organization more influential and more insidious than any cabal run by true Humans. Wars without obvious purpose, massive upheavals and economic depressions, feuds and vendettas that served no one... all were strategies that benefitted the Snake Empire. They were the most evil cabal in history, source of many seemingly far-fetched conspiracy theories. In 1983, JEREMY BANE led the KDF and all their available allies in a campaign to break the Snake organization. Hundreds of key Snake men leaders were killed at their headquarters outside Rome. Isolated packets of Snake men remain scattered around the world, still working for the Mafia or the Triads or the White Web, but with their organization was broken up, they were not the worldwide threat they once were.
-SNAKE WAR Events of 1983, when JEREMY BANE led the KDF and all their available allies in an all-out assault on the SNAKE EMPIRE. Hundreds of key Snake leaders were killed at their headquarters outside Rome, breaking the vast worldwide influence of the SNAKE EMPIRE. During the battle, several heroes lost their lives, including MICHAEL HAWK and GITANO.
-SNARKS [ROPS, 2006] Gralic manifestations which become semi-aware physical beings. ("three spirals of dark red smoke swirkling in front of the guru. They were only four feet high, growing more solid and taking clearer form. Features emerged quickly, every detail became clear and three of the Snarks materialized to stand there as vividly as if they had been flesh and blood beings born in the normal manner. The strange little men were all wrapped in beige raincoats that reached their feet. They had full heads of spiky black hair that stood straight up, they had long tubular noses and wide toothy grins.") Snarks often contented themselves with teasing and tormenting people but were known to attack kneecaps with ballpeen hammers.
-SOLAR KNIGHTS [SOTM, 3/1982] Project involving powered armor suits with flight capability and heavy weaponry, devised by JOHN GRIM. Despite Grim's claims to have developed the suits by himself, they incorporated advanced technology created by the TROM. Solar Knights were used heavily in Grim's war with the empire of WU LUNG.
SONG SOO LIN b.1926-d.1953. Former assassin of the WHITE WEB, married to MITSURU TAMAKYO. After they robbed the Shanghai treasury of their organization, they went on the run for fourteen years. Their son SHIRO grew up as a fugitive learning as many martial arts as possible.
-SPACEY SLOOP Disciple of PROFESSOR SLACK
-SPHINX [ANATM, 1993; IM, 1999; TWBTW:A, 2/2006] b.1931-d.2006 5'11" 250lbs Hr:Black (head shaven) Ey:Dark Brown. Flat leonine nose. Minor mystic and international criminal, former disciple of MENEKARTES. Born in Khebir, the Sphinx posed as a modern Egyptian. His true name seems to have been Bilal Hajjir but he often used the alias Nefu-Sobek. He did not have gralic energy powers but was known to use various Alchemical poisons; his favorite was Imnefer, 'the Mummy Dust of Death.' The Sphinx acquired mystic talismans when he could but his criminal activity was usually of a mundane nature like drug smuggling, human trafficking and extortion. He committed many murders and assaults. One of his last misdeeds was forcibly claiming the homeless fugitive JOCELYN GARIMIRA to use her as a sex toy and her RED SPECTRE as a weapon. The Sphinx was killed by JEREMY BANE in the struggle over the THREE SLEEPERS in February 2006.
-SPIEGEL, ERIC [AWOM, 2012] b.1977-d. 6' 185lbs Hr:Black. Ey:Blue. Field agent for the MANDATE with outstanding record despite his frequent womanizing and heavy drinking. ("A tall man with crisp black hair sat up... There was no mistaking that good-looking face with its long nose and thin-lipped cruel mouth. Even the faint scar on the right side of the forehead.")
-SPINNER OF WEBS Title used by ALCHEMIST SHIHZU WANG, and then by his daughter OLIVIA after his death.
-STARVE GOAT ISLAND [7/2011] Barren piece of rock one mile across in the Atlantic Ocean where a secret GHOUL cult led by Captain JACK MODEST sometimes met to devour their victims. It had a firepit and evidence of earlier feasts. The cult was wiped out by JEREMY BANE working together with ESPERANZA RIVAS and her partner TROY.
-STEEL, ANDREW [CNP, 1985] b.1964-d.1989 6'1" 340lbs Hr:White Ey:Grey. Unique advanced cyborg-robot created by the TROM, Steel unexpectedly developed self-awareness and self-determination. The Trom were unable to duplicate Steel and could not explain his independent mind. A layer of living Human skin and hair covered Steel's surface, kept healthy by nutrients circulated within minute tubes, allowing him to pass as Human even on close examination. Steel altered his appearance to the grey motif and began a decades long career of crimefighting, advocating social change helping TEL SHAI knights in the MIDNIGHT WAR.

Steel employed several personal aides including SUN CHONG-KYU (1971 to 1982) and SHIRO MITSURU (1982 to 1989), FRED HOGARTY and JENNIFER ROSS.
On missions, Steel wore a field suit of boots, slacks and a waist-length high-collar jacket with a front flap open on both sides. In pockets on the inside of that flap were kept various tools and weapons. Steel frequently sprayed from within his cuff a spray of the anesthetic used by the KDF in their dart guns. He was never known to use a firearm.
The public never learned what had happened to Andrew Steel. The man in grey had evidently just dropped out of sight and his partner Shiro Mitsuru had simply released a statement that Steel had fallen in action and would not be seen again. Only a few knew what had happened. In 1989, John Grim had captured Steel, disassembled him and learned the secrets of his construction. Although researchers working under John Grim did develop MEGAVAC, that was another one-time occurrence which could not be duplicated.
-STIGMA [TMFIA, 8/2006] Established circa 1972. Loose alliance of various independent criminal organizations. Each had its own little empire, whether involved in espionage or gambling or drugrunning. STIGMA was set up to eliminate friction when the member's affairs intersect and to pool their resources as needed. Affiliated with STIGMA were the organizations of CHIANG SURIGATA, JOHN GRIM, WU LUNG, COBALT JACK.
-STING See HAWK, ROBERT
-STIVALETTO, ERNESTO and THERESA. [TBP, 2010) A married couple in their late 80s, the Stivalletos had been members of THOSE WHO REMEMBER. In 2010, they used a DARTHAN spell to siphon calcium from their victims into their own bodies, attempting to rebuild their bones. This was the infamous BONELESS PLAGUE. Despite their commanding a TARGHUL, the Stivalletos were destroyed by JEREMY BANE and COUGAR JONES.
-STOCKBRIDGE, MICHAEL. 'COMMIE BUSTER.' b.1920-d.2013. 6'2" 220 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Blue. During WW II, Stockbridge had served in the Marines in the Pacific and had gone into intelligence work after the war ended. When the CIA had been founded, Stockbridge had established himself as a dedicated agent who was at his best in the field. After a spectacular gunfight with a KGB man near the Pentagon, Stockbridge picked up the nickname "Commie Buster" which he loved.
Working with a team of four support agents, Stockbridge fought KGB spies for ten years. His most persistent adversary was NATALIA KOTYCHENCKO, the RED WIDOW. Both were placed in stasis by the MANDATE in 1954, to only be revived in 2013 to conclude their feud. Stockbridge was tortured to death and Kotychenko's own men were tricked into shooting her by JEREMY BANE.
-STONE MAN See COHEN, SIMON
-STORMGREN FAMILY. Criminal gang belonging to STIGMA. ("The clan of Alfhild Stormgren. They styled themselves the descendants of Vikings and berserkers. They operated entirely in Northern Europe, stealing industrial secrets and sabotaging law-enforcement efforts to break up sex trafficking or drug smuggling. Nothing subtle about the Stormgrens.")
-STRATEGIC INTERVENTION GROUP [JAC, 1993] Covert unit of the MANDATE, working without records or official authorization. Headed by HAROLD CRAFT in 1993. The SIG did not normally commit assassinarions, its duties including disgracing people, adbucting wanted criminals from countries without extradition and infiltrating terrorist cells.
-STRICKLER, GARY [TTM, 4/2008] Private Investigator and Notary Public working in Forlorn Corners, Minnesota. He helped JEREMY BANE solve the TRICERATOPS MURDERS.
SUDLOW, DREW Known as 'THE HAUNT' [ROTRE, 1982] b.1954-d.1980 6'2" 190lbs Hr:Black Ey:Blue
In 1980, while trying to apprehend WESLEY GORSLINE the RESURRECTOR, Sudlow was shot three times in the chest and lay steeping overnight in a vat of the Alchemical formula. He revived as a higher grade Zombie to begin his HAUNT career. ("I found out I didn't have much of a pulse and I only breathed when I made an effort to do so. I wasn't hungry at all. I had no sense of smell or taste. Eventually it sank in what I was. I had been floating in Gorsline's reanimation serum all night and it had soaked into my body. I was one of the Undead... I don't feel pain at all. Wounds just sort of close up and vanish in a day or so. I guess I absorbed so much of the reanimation fluid that it keeps resurrecting me.")
-SULAK b.1909-d. 6'3" 250 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Blue. MELGAR Champion and Heir to the LEGACY OF MALBERON. As Champion beginning in 1926, he was a ward of KING HOLMIR and was given rank and privileges of Prince although he was not eligible for succession to the throne. Sulak led the MELGAR invasion of ULGOR in 1929, then partnered with ROBERT HAWK and CHEN LEE SUN during WW II. He was a TEL SHAI KNIGHT and KDF Associate member beginning 1986.
Upon reaching adulthood, the permanent gralic charge settling in Sulak's body gave him superhuman strength. He was never tested for maximum lifting ability, as this was considered distasteful. Sulak was documented ripping oaks four feet across out by the roots, punching through stone walls and throwing cars across a city street.
Aside from his strength and durability, Sulak was highly skilled in MELGAR Boxing, which includes use of elbows. In light contact bouts, he consistently won against top opponents.
Sulak's charge of gralic force gave him a high degree of resistance to injury from bladed weapons or blunt force. He routinely shrugged off gunfire or sword attacks, survived landslides and being hit by a train. Temperature extremes did not harm him, he could stand in open flame without discomfort. He was not literally invulnerable, though. Gralic blasts from a master like WU LUNG or a DARTHAN KJE could harm or kill him. He could be wounded or slain by major talismans like HELLSPAWN or SHAI TAZAM< Although he was barely affected by poisons, he did need to breathe, and to eat and drink.
As Champion, when on official missions including TEL SHAI actions, he was supposed to wear his arena suit. This consisted of a tight long-sleeved tunic and pants of Royal blue cotton, with white leather boots and gloves, and a white sash around his waist into which he tucked personal items. For formal ceremonies, a silk version of this uniform was substituted. A white mantle reached from shoulder to shoulder, marked by vertical red bars in front to denote rank. In Sulak's case, this was a single bar.
-SULEIMAN [NP, 1995] b.1951-d. 6'4" 270lbs Hr:Black Ey:Dark Brown. Vigilante who traveled with and helped HENRY PAIGE as THE JUDGEMENT. Suleiman served both as a valet and as a warrior. ("Suleiman was dark-skinned, with straight glossy black hair, a bristly beard and a prominent beaklike nose with two fierce dark eyes on either side... He claimed he was an Afghan from a tribe that had been wiped out by the Russians, but he sure didn't look like an Afghan. He looked like someone from northern India... a Sikh, perhaps. But he never wore a turban or mentioned his religion. Suleiman was both fast and merciless with the long knives he carried strapped to his back with their hilts up for easy access.")
-SULLA CHUN According to TEL SHAI lore, the Sulla Chun were incarnate gralic spirits, the result of concerted will by the ADALARIN and ADALARIM. The Sulla Chun revealed THIRTEEN FORBIDDEN ARTS to mortal mystics on ULGOR at the CORRUPTION, beginning the DARTHAN AGE. In the cataclysm which sank ULGOR, one of the Sulla Chun was injured and taken prisoner to ULGOR by TOLLINOR KJE; this was the CAPTIVE, whose energy powered Darthan spells ever since. The other Sulla Chun were imprisoned by JORDYN in 'the space between spaces.'
-SUN, CHONG KYU [TKITC, 3/1973; GS, 8/1986] Known as GOLDEN SUN. b.1941-d. 5'6" 165 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Dark Brown. Korean-born TIGER FURY master of KUMUNDU and TEL SHAI KNIGHT, beginning in 1964. Partnered with ANDREW STEEL 1971 to 1982 before joining the Chujiran resistance movement against invaders from CHYL. ("Not more than five feet six inches tall and stocky, he had a wide face and a nose that had been broken at some point. The man was in his late forties and weathered, his head was almost shaven with just a black bristle covering it. Sun wore boots and leggings of soft leather, but his loosely-sashed tunic was of a beautiful gold silk that glimmered in the late afternoon sunlight. In black on the back of his tunic were those Chujiran ideograms for 'gold' and 'sun.'")
-SUNG, KIM CHU [TMHA, 8/1988] Member of the MONGOOSE CULT 1980-1987. Tournament champion in Hapkido and skilled in Tae Kwon Do.
-SURIGATA, CHIANG. [TMFIA, 8/2006] b.1945-d.2006 6'1" 165 lbs Hr:Black Ey:Green Head of Asian-American crime ring affiliated with STIGMA. Used Burmese dacoits and strange experimental animals such as flying jellyfish. Decapitated with his own sword by CRICKET HARKINS.
SU TZE-KYU [TOFOFB 6/1998, TWW 10/2006] b.1923-d.2006 5'1" 100 lbs Hr:Grey Ey:Dark brown Last known teacher of the FURIOUS BUDDHA style, killed by his own student STANLEY PODIOLKA.
-SWAPAL [SC, 8/2000] Leader of the COJOBE resistance against the LEAGUE OF PREDATORS.