Role: Senior Botanist & Mycologist, FDG Cryptobotanical Research Division
Background:
Dr. Sunil Malhotra was a young academic when he encountered something that would alter the course of his life—and research. In 1977, while cataloguing woodland species near Pluckley, Kent, he discovered a strain of fungus previously undocumented. It pulsed rhythmically under observation, as though breathing. When he leaned close, he swore he heard something—like whispering in a language older than the trees. Days later, Institute operatives arrived, confiscated his samples, and offered him a choice: forget or join.
He joined.
Now the FDG’s most senior botanist, Malhotra has spent the past four decades documenting anomalous plant and fungal life associated with fae incursions. Though officially retired from fieldwork, he oversees research into bioluminescent mosses, sentient root systems, and symbiotic plant-faerie interactions. His private notebooks—kept in a locked drawer—are said to contain species never entered into the official archive.
Skills:
- Cryptobotanical taxonomy
- Mycelial signal tracing and fae-induced spore behavior
- Extensive herbarium curation with annotated thaumaturgic notes
- Occult horticulture (unofficially)
His greenhouse laboratory is legendary within the Institute—part research space, part shrine, and wholly off-limits without his say-so.
Personality:
Warm, methodical, and occasionally distracted by thoughts he never fully shares. Malhotra exudes the calm presence of a man who has made peace with how little he truly understands. He is protective of junior researchers and fiercely opposed to destruction of unknown specimens. While he outwardly speaks in scientific terms, he often mutters to his plants and listens intently to fungi under magnification.
Motive:
To learn what the fae flora wants—to map not just the growth, but the intention behind it. He still dreams of the Kent fungus and what it tried to say before it was taken from him.
Faylinn Defence Group 