Habibti Ma

Habibti Ma is a compact of hunters that first appear in the book Mortal Remains. They are composed of a front organization known as "Mothers Against Cult Activity" and a more clandestine organization that operate together in order to bring down cults.

History

In 1998, Eme Amun Hassan lost her husband and two grown sons to a suicide cult. Lacking the support of her extended family, and unable to bring the cult leader to justice through legal means, she took on the job of an agent of justice modeled after Ma'at. Using her small fortune, she retained the brightest psychologists, attorneys, and private security professionals she could find for the purpose of disbanding cults and returning their members to their worried families safely.

The Habibti Ma’s tactics, grounded in law and psychological sciences, haven’t changed much since their inception. The compact is slowly educating itself about the World of Darkness and the supernatural creatures who might orchestrate a cult to better help rescued victims. The “addicts” they’ve found in vampire cults, for example, can be treated better when identified as such. Those pulled in by ancient monsters like mummies may require further study; that effort may translate into failures along the quest for knowledge. Justice is necessary, sure, but it’s not always fair. The concept of fairness is one Hassan and her compact continually struggle with.

Members are beginning to realize that their techniques seem to work best when accompanied by prayer. Even those who weren’t particularly religious before have found that, in their work rescuing cultists, calling upon a human god has impacted cultists who serve the undying. No one understands why this technique is effective. It may be the gods mummies have long-forgotten are not the same as those worshiped in modern day? It could also be true that targeting a cultist’s faith — their true set of beliefs — engages a primal defense mechanism.

The Habibti Ma also recognizes these specific cults are participating in politics and city power structures and are starting to thwart their efforts. They are rapidly becoming a secondary, legal threat, forcing this compact to tangle with their enemies on two fronts. The third front, the physical front, has yet to be explored by the Habibti Ma. By and large, Hassan considers themselves to be angels of mercy — not swords or vigilantes. However, this may not remain true forever.

Purpose

Habibti Ma functions, both through legal and extralegal channels, to steal back members of cults, deprogram them, and send them back to their families safely.

Organization

Hassan operates her organization through two channels, both one that is legal, and one that is not. Some spies also work the line in between those two extremes.

Mothers Against Cult Activity is, strictly speaking, a political action committee that raises money and awareness on the dangers of cult activity all over the world. It is a newly-formed organization, and primarily concentrates its efforts in and around Egypt. Officially, they have no ties to the Habibti Ma. In practice, however, MACA is the political and financial arm of the compact. Hunters or everyday citizens who have a way with people, political influence, or donate handsomely to the compact will probably end up in the MACA.

Watchers of Isfet can spot cult-like activity at a hundred paces. Like Neighborhood Watch organizations in other countries, the Watchers of Isfet rove the streets, scour city papers, and visit hospitals looking for telltale signs of cults. They may track suspects when specific clients come to the Habibti Ma for help, and they are always on the lookout for injustice. More and more, it has become necessary for the Watchers to study the more esoteric aspects of the world as they uncover increasing supernatural activity behind the crimes they seek to uproot.

Good Sons are, practically speaking, the heavies the Habibti Ma employs to do the hardest work of all. They may be physically adept thugs or highly-trained experts sent in to break up cults and kidnap victims for deprogramming. The Good Sons work hand-in-hand with psychological experts who perform the painful task of deprogramming broken minds.

References

• HTV: Mortal Remains, p. 107-109