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loren jun sato
the elevator pitch: Loren's world seems the same as yours and mine, on the surface. Scientific minds prevail, and only the superstitious believe in silly things like ghosts. Things that can't be explained by conventional means are dismissed as tricks of the eye or mind. Maybe people just don't want to believe their eyes or minds. Isn't it easier that way?
Loren is an investigative journalist by day, paranormal investigator by night, and witch by practice. He travels the United States in his converted van with his cat Ludde in search of tangible evidence of ghosts. He can't shake the feeling they're real, but even Loren is unaware there are things stranger than ghosts lurking just out of sight.
personality
+
easy-going. adaptable. undaunted.
-
lackadaisical. impulsive. obsessive.
appearance
long, black hair kept a bun if he's working, otherwise has it down. beard and mustache always short but in varying states of kempt-ness. single small gold loop earring in left ear. wears oversized clothes in neutral or earth tones, gives off the vibe he bought his entire wardrobe at a thrift store.
abilities
background
Loren was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Japanese father. His parents divorced (albeit amicably) before his tenth birthday. Shortly after his father moved back to Japan, Loren found a small gold earring in the local park, and brought it home. The earring came with a friend: a girl named Klara, around Loren's age. Though he spoke with her frequently, no one else could see her. Loren's mother worried that Loren was too old to have imaginary friends, and perhaps he was taking his parents divorce (and his father's absence) poorly. Despite being sent to counselors and child psychologists, Klara remained, and aside from his imaginary friend, Loren was reported as relatively well-adjusted. He was sent to stay with his father in Japan for the summer each year. By his teenage years, Klara no longer visited, but Loren kept the earring he had found, eventually getting his ear pierced to be able to wear it daily.
Loren grew up involved in both Wicca and Shintoism. He took more strongly to his mother's spirituality, adopting her celebrations of the pagan sabbats and esbats, as well as her tendency to work magic into her food and sigils into every day life. (Loren still has a backpack with a sigil embroidered on an inside pocket for protection.) As an adult, Loren has adopted more of Shintoism into his own practice, primarily: the use of purification by cleanliness, the belief and respect for kami in nature (which tied in neatly to the pagan practice of revering nature), and keeping a kamidana.
After graduating from a humanities prepatory program, Loren immigrated to the United States at age 19 for a university in upstate New York. After working for his school news column, Loren landed a job working for a small local newspaper. While he did have a love for writing, and particularly investigative journalism, Loren's primary interest was a holdover from childhood: the paranormal, and ghosts, specifically. As an adult, he is no longer entirely sure Klara was real, but he had wholeheartedly believed as a child that she was a spirit. He discovered online communities of paranormal researchers and investigators, and joined their ranks as a hobbyist. Collecting the technology they used to try and locate or communicate with spirits was slow - the tech was often expensive. Eventually, he discovered people would invite him to come to their property, be it a home or business, if they suspected they had ghosts. Most of the time, Loren discovered raccoons or possums or electrical problems, rather than ghosts. The few experiences where he couldn't explain the phenomena by mundane means kept his search going.
More people requested his expertise, but Loren found himself having to travel further and further for new clients. Deciding to commit to this path, he purchased an early 2000s model Ford Transit van, and began traveling the country in search of the paranormal. Over time, an air mattress in the back stuffed between his equipment became a home on wheels, complete with tiny kitchen and tinier shower stall — and a new roommate, a cat he had found at a truck stop. The cat was a smoke blue maine coon. Loren dubbed him Ludde.
It was an abandoned house in Pennsylvania that changed Loren's perception of the paranormal. The visit wasn't a request from the owner, but instead a location he found on a forum for locals. He set up for the night as usual, with a photographer he had been traveling with in tow. Around one AM, a motion detector set on the basement stairs began beeping erratically, increasing in cadence until it was a constant wail. As Loren reached the motion detector, its scream cut to a garbled, muffled noise, as though through a blown out speaker. Then, it died entirely. Loren ventured into the basement, companion behind him. Neither of them are sure what they saw in that basement, but it was enough that they both scrambled for the exit. In the rush, one of the rotted stairs gave way, and the photographer fell through. After getting to safety, (and the photographer's odd insistence not to take him to a hospital,) Loren patched the man up, writing sigils in pancake syrup for quicker healing. And it worked. The man healed far faster than anyone might expect to. Loren found other spells, which had always been an exercise in intention and mindfulness more than anything, began having tangible effects. The motion detector never worked again, and most of the photographers images from that night were corrupted in seemingly impossible ways.
Today, Loren continues his travels through the continental United States in search of tangible proof of ghosts, with his cat Ludde. To make ends meet, he primarily writes about religion, the paranormal, and travel for various sites and blogs.
Loren grew up involved in both Wicca and Shintoism. He took more strongly to his mother's spirituality, adopting her celebrations of the pagan sabbats and esbats, as well as her tendency to work magic into her food and sigils into every day life. (Loren still has a backpack with a sigil embroidered on an inside pocket for protection.) As an adult, Loren has adopted more of Shintoism into his own practice, primarily: the use of purification by cleanliness, the belief and respect for kami in nature (which tied in neatly to the pagan practice of revering nature), and keeping a kamidana.
After graduating from a humanities prepatory program, Loren immigrated to the United States at age 19 for a university in upstate New York. After working for his school news column, Loren landed a job working for a small local newspaper. While he did have a love for writing, and particularly investigative journalism, Loren's primary interest was a holdover from childhood: the paranormal, and ghosts, specifically. As an adult, he is no longer entirely sure Klara was real, but he had wholeheartedly believed as a child that she was a spirit. He discovered online communities of paranormal researchers and investigators, and joined their ranks as a hobbyist. Collecting the technology they used to try and locate or communicate with spirits was slow - the tech was often expensive. Eventually, he discovered people would invite him to come to their property, be it a home or business, if they suspected they had ghosts. Most of the time, Loren discovered raccoons or possums or electrical problems, rather than ghosts. The few experiences where he couldn't explain the phenomena by mundane means kept his search going.
More people requested his expertise, but Loren found himself having to travel further and further for new clients. Deciding to commit to this path, he purchased an early 2000s model Ford Transit van, and began traveling the country in search of the paranormal. Over time, an air mattress in the back stuffed between his equipment became a home on wheels, complete with tiny kitchen and tinier shower stall — and a new roommate, a cat he had found at a truck stop. The cat was a smoke blue maine coon. Loren dubbed him Ludde.
It was an abandoned house in Pennsylvania that changed Loren's perception of the paranormal. The visit wasn't a request from the owner, but instead a location he found on a forum for locals. He set up for the night as usual, with a photographer he had been traveling with in tow. Around one AM, a motion detector set on the basement stairs began beeping erratically, increasing in cadence until it was a constant wail. As Loren reached the motion detector, its scream cut to a garbled, muffled noise, as though through a blown out speaker. Then, it died entirely. Loren ventured into the basement, companion behind him. Neither of them are sure what they saw in that basement, but it was enough that they both scrambled for the exit. In the rush, one of the rotted stairs gave way, and the photographer fell through. After getting to safety, (and the photographer's odd insistence not to take him to a hospital,) Loren patched the man up, writing sigils in pancake syrup for quicker healing. And it worked. The man healed far faster than anyone might expect to. Loren found other spells, which had always been an exercise in intention and mindfulness more than anything, began having tangible effects. The motion detector never worked again, and most of the photographers images from that night were corrupted in seemingly impossible ways.
Today, Loren continues his travels through the continental United States in search of tangible proof of ghosts, with his cat Ludde. To make ends meet, he primarily writes about religion, the paranormal, and travel for various sites and blogs.
(code.)
