Ananias Harper

## Doctor Ananias Harper

* **Name:**Ananias Lachlan Elias Harper
* **Position:**Chairman of the Magical Futures Foundation , Board Member for the Minneapolis  branch of the Draco Foundation , Chairman of A New Century for Minnesota, Initiate Master for the Novus Ordo Seclorum  Professor of Spell Theory and Spell Formulation at the University of Minnesota and controlling interest of Golden Harp Properties LLC.
* **Metatype:**Human  (*Homo sapiens sapiens*)
* **Magical Tradition:**Hermetic- Enochian(Full Mage)
* **DOB:**9/1/2036, St Paul, MN, UCAS
* **Education:**Doctorate in Magical Studies, University of Minnesota School of Thaumaturgy.
* **Family:**Richard Harper (father, St Paul MN), Emily [Hennepin] Harper (mother, St Paul MN), Mariah Baxter-Harper (wife, Washington FDC), Selby Baxter (step-daughter, Minneapolis MN)

Guys like Ananias Harper almost justify there being people as rich as Ananias Harper. A beloved mage and philanthropist, as far as anyone can tell (and people have DUG, believe you me) Harper's the real thing, a man with an obscene amount of resources who just wants to do what's best with them.

Harper is from the oldest of old money. The Harpers made their fortune almost two hundred years ago coming to the Twin Cities back east to help James J. Hill build his railroad and their wealth has only accumulated since then. Ananias' father, Richard Harper is a retired stock-broker, investment banker and almost preternaturally-successful angel investor for venture capitalists. And yes, for those of you who follow the corp  news in this town, this is the same Rich Harper who helped EVO  negotiate the merger with Harris-4M to form local juggernaut Evo-4M. The man has a knack for picking a winning side. Emily is a noted philanthropist and one of the first acknowledged mages in the Twin Cities area, having attended the first meeting of the Magic Hat.

When their only son Ananias (the name was Rich's idea, being very excited about the boy's birth he did what he always did and got over-enthusiastic in picking a unique name) starting showing signs of magical talent in the late 2040's they immediately got him the finest training that their (considerable) money could buy. While of middling power as a mage, his quick mind and top-notch education make him one of the most perceptive and effective mages out there.

At some point while working at one of his parents' many charities as a young man Ananias picked up the idea that the many advantages (smart, a good family, magical power and absolutely every privilege and advantage money can buy you) he was born with gave him the responsibility to use those powers to help people who didn't have them and he has dedicated his life to that.

A natural scholar, he went into magical theory to better understand the world he found himself in and to better help those, especially those Awakened, who didn't have the leg up he'd had. It was while doing his dissertation investigating the incidence of mental illness, homelessness and substance abuse among those with unrecognized magical talent, that he had the encounter that would change the rest of his life. While touring one of the Twin Cities' many homeless shelters in January of 2061, he detected a source of magical energy so bright it could not be ignored. The origin of this was Mariah Baxter, a mentally-ill drug addict staying overnight, who would, within a year, be his wife. In interviews, Ananias Harper often describes the sheer intensity of Mariah's aura in that first glance in poetic and loving terms "Like the Star over Bethlehem" being the most quoted.

From the moment they met he could sense something different about Mariah, something that drew him in and made him want to help her. He would spend weeks gaining the trust of Mariah and her protective nine-year-old daughter Selby, months helping Mariah get into treatment and beginning to train her to control the vast powers within her and as he did, concern and fascination grew into something else. Love. By the end of 2062 he and Mariah would be married and Mariah and Selby would move into his ancestral mansion in Battle Creek.

In 2063, he turned his work with Mariah and Selby, as well as the other subjects of his study, into an ongoing concern, the Magical Futures Foundation, drumming up interest and support by having Mariah (and later Selby) go on tour, tell her story, give a human face to the issue of the undiscovered Awakened. In this, he, and Mariah, were more successful than either of them could have imagined. Her popularity grew phenominally, making her first the face of the Foundation and then a force within Ananias' other major endeavor A New Century in Minnesota, where she has long since surpassed him, in the State Legislature and now the UCAS Senate.

Ananias has taken Mariah's rise to power in stride. He has always known, deep down, that there is something extraordinary about his wife and seeing her come into her own, become a national leader in the causes he cares about, has been deeply gratifying and validates what he's always felt about her deep in his soul.

Not that Ananias himself is exactly a small noise in that world. He has been nationally recognized for published work he has done at the University of Minnesota on both Magical Theory and Awakened Sociology. He has been the power and brains behind A New Century for Minnesota, as one of the founding members of the state party and long-time chairman, advocating for magic-related public policy and shaping the left-center platform of the MN party. He sits on the board of the local Draco Foundation. And while the Harper fortunes have not seen the wild growth they did under his father, he's been very careful to preserve, and even carefully grow, the money that gives him the power to do what he does in the world.

Ananias has always had a good relationship with his step daughter Selby. From the first day she liked and trusted him. When he married her mother he asked her what she would like to call him. She chose “Ananias” and he was never hurt by her decision. He is a serious and analytical man. In this they are alike and they always understood each other because of this similarity. Neither is likely to express emotions, but they were fond of one another. In 2064, when she was 13, it was Ananias who discovered she was a Physical Adept and he encouraged her to develop her skills.

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