Name: Nathan Bishop
AKA: (Former) Detective Bishop, Nate, The Phantom PI
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Race: Human - Spirit Host
Position: Investigator
Appearance: An african-american of relatively average physical build and only just evening out at 5’10, Nate was probably the less imposing one of the two when he and Gabe were partners in the LAPD. In line with his cop days, he’s kept his hair fairly short whilst doing the same for any facial hair that dares crop up without his consent, leaving his face nicely smooth and clean-shaven and going well with his calm, hazel eyes.

As a throwback to his detective days (and as a partial consequence of picking up some of Gabe’s mannerisms) he usually wears a shirt with matching pants and work shoes, often wearing a tie and occasionally even a coat in the process, depending on the circumstances. When he carries his S&W .38 special, he usually keeps it in a shoulder holster which, conveniently enough, also tucks neatly under his coat when it needs to.
Abilities: Nate's connection to a spirit allows him to immediately distinguish whether or not an individual or object is mundane or supernatural in nature. It’s akin to being able to see in colour in a colourblind environment, so to speak. This also gives Nate, to a certain degree, a sixth sense - allowing him to sense anything out of the ordinary in his environment.

Finally, this connection serves as a two-way street; basically, if he were to suffer a life threatening injury, whilst this won't heal him or give him a get-out-of-jail free ticket it'll certainly give his body a jumpstart and slightly tip the odds in his favour, as Gabe’s spirit helps anchor his own in this world.

Of course, there’s a certain side-effect to this connection; Nate’s occasionally picked up one or two mannerisms and ‘aspects’ off of Gabe due to their spiritual bond, to the point he’s gained fondness for things he once had nothing to do with (a newly acquired taste for scotch and tequila are examples) or, more noticeably and alarmingly, the colour of his eyes briefly changing to match Nate’s.

Backstory:

Nathan 'Nate' Bishop was once an up-and-coming detective among many working for Los Angeles' finest with a career path that seemed to be headed to the top. Partnered with and mentored by one Gabriel Ward, a senior detective who saw something in the kid, the two made a fine duo, cracking cases left and right together. Yet there was one case that had for many months proved impossible to crack, despite a wealth of information - a series of ritual murders that seemed to be linked to something far more sinister in the City of Angels' seedy underbelly. Whoever, or whatever was behind it seemed.... unearthly. Something beyond the mundane world.

Gabe took a particular interest in the case due to its similarity to a similar cold case from the earliest days of his career, even going so far as to chase up his own leads outside of work in an attempt to find out what the hell was going on. It proved to be his undoing - a few days later, Nate received a phone call in the early hours of the morning - one that he promptly hung up on and took off in his car to disprove. Arriving at the scene, he found his partner dead - killed via the same disturbing, ritualistic method as all the others. Another good man dead because of this monster.

Despite being told by his superiors to let it go, Nate refused to allow the trail to go cold and spent months sifting through case files and evidence lockers, desperate for any lead even if it meant he hardly ate or slept because of it. Eventually Nate's superior ordered him on a paid suspension for several weeks to stop him from working himself to death, yet even that didn't deter him - instead he went and chased up his own leads as Gabe had, ignoring the immense risk he was taking.

Out of options, he tried visiting where they'd found Gabe's body - the scene of the last murder. It occurred to Nate that there had to be some kind of connection that he could grab onto here, if only small, yet instead of a lead he found something better. For a moment, he'd have sworn he heard a familiar voice - was he losing it? He thought so, yet the voice spoke again and he recognised who it was. He turned around to face the voice and found a familiar, albeit ethereal face. Gabe.

For a moment Nate thought he'd finally lost it, or that his lack of sleep had took a toll. He panicked and made a sharp entry yet on the way out he forgot to look before he crossed the road and wound up having a disagreement with a station wagon as it turned around the corner. Blacking out for a few minutes, when he woke up he found two people standing over him - one was obviously the driver of the station wagon, the other was Gabe. Seemingly unharmed by the encounter, he quickly dismissed the driver of the station wagon and went for a long walk - hoping to shake whatever it was off. It was only when Gabe finally spoke again and this time explained his predicament:

The grisly method of execution the killer had enacted upon him was a ritual which left his spirit bound to the crime scene. Since Nate was the only one who had such a close connection with him, Gabe was able to appear - if only for a brief moment - and would've tried to explain the circumstances had it not been for the former running off. That knock on the head he'd took from the car had almost killed him, enough to briefly separate his spirit from his body if only for a few seconds. With that window of opportunity, Gabe had jumped onboard Nate's body like a passenger in a car, jumpstarting his body up in the process and pulling the two of them into a new world.

Aside from teaching Nate that the world was nowhere near as mundane as it seemed - their ritualistic killer was just an example of what the supernatural world has to offer - Gabe’s presence had bestowed him with a number of tricks, one of which was the ability to immediately distinguish between the mundane and supernatural.

Under (literal) spiritual guidance, Nate used his newly-found perspective to track down his old partner’s killer - a vampire who restrained his victims and then used precise incisions with a ritual knife to drain their blood into a container below, using it to mark a series of symbols as some kind of tribute to an ancient deity, trapping the spirits of the dead at their respective murder scenes as a side effect of this tribute. Forced to act in urgence, Nate was forced to stake the killer in the heart with their own ritual knife.

Case cracked, Nate assumed that this meant Gabe would join the rest of the killer’s victims in finding a peace in the afterlife - yet it seems the senior of the two had other plans. Being an honest-to-god cop through and through, Gabe had left this earthly plain with plenty of unfinished business - thinking of all the unsolved cases still out there. Instead he told the kid he planned on sticking around.

From there, the two continued their partnership - albeit differently. Leaving LA and the department behind, they found themselves drawn to Pine Hollow and wound up joining the Supernatural Investigation Agency.

Other notes:

• Nate drives a '72 Imperial LeBaron, again as a throwback to his LAPD days as it was the car he bought shortly after his promotion to detective.
• In addition to his S&W Model 15 he owns the snubnose variant as well for concealment and an Ithaca 37 "Stakeout" shotgun which he keeps in the trunk of his car, more out of habit than necessity.
• His exposures to the supernatural world have left him making several 'preparations' to handle certain situations. For instance, holy water and crucifixes for dealing with troublesome vampires (Even if they're just placebos, it works wonders on scaring the dumber ones into co-operating with him), a silver knife and a couple of silver .38 bullets after a particularly troublesome run-in with an angry werewolf and so on.
• He's quite the scifi fan and among other things he keeps a number of films among his video tape collection, including Terminator and Predator among others. And yes, he's a Schwarzenegger fan too.

Name: Gabriel Ward
AKA: Gabe
Gender: Male
Age: 49 (At the time of his death)
Race: Ghost
Occupation: LAPD Detective (At the time of his death)
Appearance: Whilst alive, Gabe stood at a height of 5’10 and with his stocky build he looked like he could hold his own in the rougher parts of town. His hair had prematurely started graying as a consequence of his long career, though he kept it fairly short-and-simple on his head whilst across his weathered face was a neatly trimmed beard that went well with his sharp, blue eyes. As a detective, he was seldom seen without his pale-blue shirt with the matching tie and pants, and sometimes he was even known to wear a coat when it suited him.

Now, as a ghost - he hasn’t changed that much. Rather, he’s just gained an ethereal quality to his overall appearance, coming across as somewhat translucent with a vague unearthly outline. His eyes stand out more than anything now - having taken on an even sharper quality than they had in life.

Abilities: Being a ghost with a non-corporeal form, Gabriel is capable of passing through any solid matter that doesn’t have some form of supernatural protection on it, allowing him to survey his surroundings without too much trouble - the only problem is that he’s limited in how far he can actually travel. Whilst Nate’s keeping him anchored in this world, it also means he can only move so far away from him before he’s unable to move any further - akin to trying to pass through a steel wall.

Also, being a ghost - he doesn’t particularly have the ability to exert any physical influence on individuals or objects in the real world, the only exception being those whom he has/had a strong connection with or those of a supernatural nature. Whilst we’re on this subject, it’s also worth mentioning that Gabe is only visible to Nate and those who have the ability to see ghosts, such as members of the supernatural world.
Backstory: Refer to the above.
Other notes:

• Has an ex-wife and a daughter who moved to Pine Hollow shortly after he died. He still keeps tabs on them by using Nate as a proxy.
• Shares Nate's love for scifi and other cult classics. As it happens, being able to watch VHS tapes in the office is a great way of relieving the eternal boredom that can come with being dead.

---

Name
Bill Harper

Age
34

Gender
Male

Position
Accounting Manager/Cryptid Control - Though the owner of PHPI is an enigmatic figure few have met in person, Bill is the boss at PHPI. Most of Bill's job involves sitting at a desk managing payroll, securing funds, reporting the company's expenses and taxes, deciding on layoffs, and other paper-pushing duties. Due to his size and strength, he is occasionally called out of the office to get the rare kelpie out of a pool or wendigo out of a storage shed.

Species
Sasquatch

Appearance
Bill is about eight feet tall, and covered with thick brown fur. Bill has features typical of a Western Canadian Sasquatch; A noticeably simian facial structure, a sloping forehead, a bearlike physique, and sharp nails designed for tearing into bark. As with all members of the Sasquatch family, Bill's feet are incredibly large. Though he has never worn shoes, Bill would be a size 22 if he were to do so.

Bill's clothes have to be custom made, and as a result, he has very few of them. He owns two plaid shirts, one red and one green, two pairs of blue jeans, and a brown hide vest, which he is quick to point out he tanned himself.

Personality
Bill is quiet, somewhat curmudgeonly, and a skilled craftsman. He is a simple man who is thoroughly old-fashioned and traditional, and puts a great amount of personal belief into the idea that things are either good or bad. For the most part, Bill believes he does good. Although pessimistic, he is stoic enough to never voice his fears or complaints, believing that those who do so are generally thin-skinned and whiny.

Bill is generally a grouchy loner, though underneath his exterior, he is still a pacifist who cares for the earth and all of its creatures, often more than he should, frequently disputing with the local Fish & Game Warden over the smell of the injured animals Bill cares for in his cabin.

The rare moments where Bill breaks his silence, he is a straight shooter above all else. Though curt, he is never dishonest, and will usually try to not sound rude, which he has some difficulty with. Most "softskin" social customs are lost on him, and he views bureaucracy and other human constructs with a level of disdain.

Relationships

Sadao Kazuhara || Friend || "Of everyone at work, I dislike Sadao the least. Good head on his shoulders."
Minnel Cromwell || Friend || "We play poker sometimes. He cheats, but he's a good man otherwise."

Other

• Like most sasquatches, Bill has a child he has never met and does not wish to. Unlike most sasquatches, Bill regularly pays child support to his son.

• The first through the doors of haunted houses and scenes of crimes alike, Bill maintains with his coworkers that he is not afraid of anything, which is untrue -- Bill has a fear of guns, particularly rifles.

• Some would say that Bill owns a cottage in the forest, others would say Bill lives in a shack on the edge of the Barrens. Depending on your view, either one is correct, though few would argue that Bill's house is particularly welcoming.

Name
Sadao Huro Kazuhara

Age
67 Years Old

Gender
Male

Position
Investigator

Species
Undead - Reanimated

Appearance
Sadao is very much the typical skeleton, in that he is just a skeleton. Upon further inspection, one may find his bone structure to be that of East Asian peoples, for he is Japanese. Reminiscent of eyes, ghostly blue lights lay within empty eye-sockets that seem to remain in shadow no matter what time of day or the presence of any light source.

Apart from his bones, in public he wears a scarf and aviator law enforcement shades to try to conceal his bare-bone face. Typical detective attire adorns the rest of him- a blue button-up shirt and black slacks that would be fitted on anyone else, but hang loose-legged from a tightly buckled belt.

Backstory
Sadao is a lost soul. He began life in a small town in the countryside of Japan before WWII, where he learned that his life could go beyond farming the land. He wanted more, to serve a greater cause, and he found that in the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII. He did not participate in the bombing of Pearl Harbor because he was still training then, but he did have his finest hour during a skirmish in the Pacific against the US Navy. His plane was shot beyond all repair and he was already suffering from head trauma. Bleeding from the head, he accepted his fate and chose to face it with dignity. He drove his plane into one of the US ships but at the last minute, his wing was clipped by another kamikaze and bumped off course.

He plummeted into the water and the impact knocked him unconscious before he drowned. The next thing he knew, he woke up on a beach, surrounded by tribals. He and his reanimated fellows were put to work as slaves of the Chief. He was not satisfied with this. On his 20th year of slavery, he killed one of his captors and began his swim towards anywhere. His undead nature meant that he had unlimited stamina, for he had no use for dead lungs or rotting muscles, being bound together by dark magic. Sadao is deeply concerned with notions of honor and brotherhood, though he is haunted by feelings of failure and listlessness. He happened to swim to Oregon, where he was mistaken for a floating corpse by the Coast Guard and taken back to be buried. Instead of staying in the ground, he dug himself out. It’s been a while since then, but he found Pine Hollow and took up residence. It took a while before he gained the courage to approach the town, but when he did, he was surprisingly welcomed with open arms by the less… normal populace.

Even then, he took up residence and kept mostly to himself for a few years before he came to terms with his life in America, knowing the war was long over and most of his friends and family dead. He looked for work, but his thirst to be part of something greater was strong as always and while he would never be the great and honorable soldier, he found his place among those in Pine Hollow Paranormal Investigation. He was trained by the senior members and took a specialty in investigating cases that involved reanimated undead, viewing it as a means of coming to terms with his new life and doing his part to help or dispose of those that were brought back from death without the humanity he managed to retain somehow. He knows just as well as anyone on the team that there is a fine line between what he is and what he hunts down and incarcerates or disposes of.

Personality
Sadao is a grim man, prone to slip into contemplation on life and death and questions best left to the philosophers and priests. Whatever humor he kept was trimmed to fit inside the new view of life he has now that he is undead, it is to say, it’s appropriately grim. He has no problem going inside churches, but those who are more religious are always prone to remind him that he can no longer go back to a normal life. Although, for the most part, he has come to terms with his new stead as an undying skeleton, there are times he looks back- sometimes fondly, sometimes not- on the life he once had. He does not eat, he does not sleep, this leaves a lot of time to sit, think, read, and drive.

Other
Sadao lives in a simple A-frame house a ways away from town, and prefers it that way. He is introverted and fills his time meditating on the purpose of his life, though he is yet to find it. His house is sparse, only containing a couch with a lamp next to it, a bookshelf filled with books. He also has a very large supply of chewing gum, because, “Sometimes, I miss eating, but I can not taste. So, I only chew and try to remember.”

He is also in ownership of a driver’s license under his name but obviously not his face, and a 1984 Toyota MR-2 to go along with it.

A snub-nosed revolver- again, gotten under his name and this time, with his face. He went through the simple but mandatory training and safety courses offered at the gun shop in Pine Hollow and is now in ownership of the snub-nose .357 revolver. He carries rounds in bot .38 and .357 that are tailored to all kinds of dangerous run-ins both paranormal and not so.

Name
Minnel Cromwell

Age
270 years. Minnel looks like a human in his 50's.

Gender
Male

Position
Information hoarder, forensics. He loves to do research.

Species
Leprechaun, An Irish gnome. Like most of the gnomes, Leprechauns like to help people. But they're also greedy, so they take a payment and hoard a treasure from good deeds they've done. They have a magical aura that helps plants grow and injuries heal bit more rapidly.

Appearance
3 foot and 5 inches tall makes Minnel half an inch smaller than your average gnome. His weight is 105 pounds. Some of his hair has already started to fall of from his head. His ears aren't as pointy as they were when he was younger. His eyes are bit dreamy with small sacks underneath. But there's most of the time half a smile in his face. He's doesn't seem overly athletic but gnomes are surprisingly strong.

Minnel's usual outfit is comfortable woolen trousers and a light sweater or a dress shirt. His favorite combination is white trousers and red shirt, though green shirt is not too uncommon. Despite the day he wears black reel shoes that give a decent sound as his heels hit the floor when he's walking. When he's in overly good mood he enjoys wearing a panama hat and a cane made from bamboo wood. He also has a pair of round glasses when he reads.

Personality
Minnel is a helpful guy who's usually relaxed with half a smile and quite polite when it comes to people. He's uncommonly on bad mood and it's rare for him to get angry from anything. Though when it comes to giving a helping hand, he's not the first one to offer it unless there's a price, even a penny, offered. He prefers to do his life without exercise on his older days.

Minnel loves reading. Depending on the case he hoards himself with loads of information from books and internet, gets distracted in his own thoughts and snaps his fingers as he thinks stuff hardly. After the cases are over he remembers the cases fondly with his pals, though he likes to exaggerate his own part on cases. His favorite drinks are coffee and whisky.

Background
Like most leprechauns he used to work hard in Ireland for payment and kept hoarding his treasure. People usually try to capture the poor fellows for their treasures, so he never did anything but gigs. Despite this, around 100 years old, he was captured and forced to give away his treasure, so he had to start again. He moved to England, took a disguise and worked there for a time as a barkeeper and a gambler before going to america to find his fortune.

In America he tried to find his living as a Cowboy, Teacher and spiritual creature for Native Americans. Eventually he settled down as an antiquarian keeper for some decades. He moved from town to town before finally finding himself in Pine Hollow. There his decent collection of old books proved useful for local law enforcement, and so he works at Pine Hollow Investigations.

At work he does the research, searching for information from internet and books.

Miscellaneous
-They rumor he still hoards a new treasure somewhere in Pine Hollow. Some have taken their time to tail him, but so far nobody has found his secret treasure.
-Outside work he enjoys gardening, dancing and hosting poker nights with his neighbors.

”Adra” River Laskaris

Physical Age: 26 years, Beast Age: 2956
Female
Death Investigation/Coroner/Pathologist
Adra does Pinehollow Investigations few and far between Death investigations; however most of her actual pathology and coroner work is done for Wasco County’s Coroner. Adra largely does leg work, badge flashing, and other general investigative/monster removal work for PHPI leaving most of the actual forensic and scene work to Angela. Adra also specializes in water related incidents and water related supernatural beings.

Species: Makara
From the outside Adra looks like a normal human female but on the inside she is a Makara, an ancient creature of the deep dark waters. Makara are an embodiment of the dreams people have of being pulled down into deep dark waters. Adra began as a human but the depths of the ocean and the dark bottoms of lakes had always called to her. One night her nightmares swallowed her up and a Makara took up residence within her. After that fateful nightmare Adra was well and truly a monster of the depths.

Appearance
Adra is about five foot seven with an athletic build coming largely from her background in law enforcement. Adra wears her hair short constantly as it keeps it out of her face and prevents it from being grabbed too easily. All of Adra’s clothing is practical for the most part featuring leather, jeans, and work shirts. Adra also maintains a more fashionable wardrobe for any undercover work the Pinehollow investigations group may need done.
Personality
Adra is relatively even tempered with a penchant for teasing and a generally mild demeanor. Most of the time she can be found doing case work for Wasco County’s Sheriff's department. At her work is is calm and caring and watches out for the families of the deceased and is always quick help and be there for the families.

Adra possesses a cold and merciless demeanor for her hunts. Adra preys on the other monsters in the night and on the humans that are just as monstrous. Adra does her best to hunt down and render powerless those who feed overly much on the people around them. Werewolf, vampire, human; species matters little to Adra as she is well equipped to deal with the other predators in the night. This side of Adra also comes of as coldly seductive, often leading those foolish enough to follow after her to their downfall.

Other
Adra has a penchant for water. The lakes and rivers in Wasco County are where Adra spends most of her time she isn’t working cases for either the county coroner or Pine Hollow Investigation. This is supplemented with a moderate social and dating life as well as a favorite bar.

Relationships
Angela || Huggable || “Can I keep her?”
Bishop and Gabe || Respectable || “Wait...Who am I talking to..?”
Bill || Friendly || “You are really big”
Sadoa || Smart || “I guess you could say he’s kinda see through”