Blaine
Owner of Berlin-based detective agency with a background in MI5 and infiltration in the Eastern-European mob. A headstrong and inquisitive man with one goal: solving his case.
A Berlin noir detective
Blaine was born as Ernst Berger in 1975s East-Germany. As the son of two spies, his life got turned upside down when his parents got caught and he was forced to flee Germany together with his mother. His father did not escape the hands of the Stasi.
He was a smart student, and just as he was nearing the end of his studies, his presumed-dead father was released by the Russian authorities. His family history lead him to an interest in espionage and after graduation, he joined the MI5 as a specialist in Russia and Eastern Europe. It was a job which took up all his time and social life but which he loved. His department shrunk in the 2000s when the focus came to lie on the Middle-East, and he became an undercover agent with the SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency). The life was heavy on body and mind. He got hurt plenty of times and received a stab wound which would hinder him all his life. It was again a job which isolated him. His job was all he had. After 8 years, the toll of the job was too much and he followed his father back to Berlin where he started his own detective agency.
Visited countries
Germany
Job
Detective
Age
43
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Dark ‘n’ Stormy
The Christmas Ransom
The Devil’s Mountain
Erica
Owns her own consultancy agency in the tourism industry. On the lookout for undiscovered tourism spots. Wants to prove to herself and the world she can bring her company to the top.
The independent woman with a dream
Erica was born in a family of four with little to spare. There was enough money to have a nice life but it was always difficult. A car was possible, a big vacation trip was not. Her sister, Joline, was and would always be her best friend. Erica went to college and studied business administration. There was only enough money for one of the sisters to study. Erica would stay eternally grateful for this to her sister.
During college, Erica met Max. One year after her graduation, they married. They came from completely different environments. His family was rich, his future was set. As a woman in the business world, she found it hard to get her dream job and felt not understood by her husband. The marriage became very unhappy. When Erica wanted to quit her job and start up her own company in the tourism industry, her husband just about laughed at her. He said she would fail. A long and difficult divorce followed. From then on she chose her own path. She still works at the old company but now only part-time. Her own company is growing slowly. The future is hers and she will take it.
Visited countries
Germany
Job
Self employed
Age
31
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Jay
A student camera techniques with a heart for travelling and filming. He often feels lost except for when he is making his art. All he wants is capturing the perfect story with his camera.
A determinate young photographer
Jay was born in 1998 in Croydon. As a child, he was somewhat shy and prefered colouring away quietly in one of his hundreds of colouring books than going out on an adventure. This evolved into a true hobby when he began art classes and started to draw. Jay had a normal adolescence including parties, experimenting, doing stupid things and blaming his parents.
At age 16, discovering the app Instagram, he became a passionate photographer and soon made the step towards moving images. Even though his parents liked him to take on a more ‘serious’ study he decided to go his way and enrolled in a film school.
Two years later, he met Lynn, his first true love. A lot of people in his surroundings, including his parents and best friend, did not very much like her. After his first year at film school, Lynn got an opportunity to go study at the LMU Munich in Germany. Jay was shocked and after long hesitating, decided to follow her to Germany. It is there, in Munich that we find him, at a time when things are not going so well as he thought they would go.
Visited countries
Germany
Job
Photographer
Age
20
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The Golden Tree
Home
The Hackerhaus mystery
Carnivalesque
Hans
A cheerful, honest Bavarian with a small heart. Loves life and his family. Manager of an IT-company. Leader of a re-enactment group called The Bavarian Knights.
The authentic Bavarian
Two things described Hans when he was a child. He loved history, something he learned from his grandfather, and he was bullied for his weight. As an adolescent he was very hard on himself, not allowing any excessive food or drink. This strict life backfired in college when Hans finally let go and stopped being ashamed.
He studied Information Technology and became a true bonne vivant. Living and enjoying life with every fibre of his soul and body, Hans evolved from a closed boy to a happy man, loved by many. A new hobby helped with this. Because of his interest in history, he joined the re-enactment group The Munich Knights and became one of the key people in this organization. Nothing would bring him such peace of mind, as stepping into his re-enactment clothes.
In his twenties, he married and started a family, but when both his overweight father and grandfather died, he realized he had to keep a balance in life, both for himself and his family, his greatest treasure. He started doing sports and took care of his diet. Nevertheless, Hans remained the same cheerful man everyone knows. A moment spent with them is never a moment lost.
Visited countries
Germany
Job
Manager in an IT-company
Age
45
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Dionysus
Smart and manipulative. Always smiling, often roaring with laughter. Acknowledges his father as the king of the gods but knows that in reality, the human race only kneels for one god: pleasure.
The God of pleasure
Born as the son of Zeus and his mistress, he was a bit of a maverick in the god family. Hera, Zeus wife, tried to kill him on multiple, occasions and he spent his childhood in hiding… until he discovered the magical drink called wine. He decided to travel the world, spreading his newfound knowledge. He began to see himself as the father of alcohol and drinking. The one who brought happiness and feasts in the dark world his own father ruled.
Years passed and Dionysus took up his place in the god pantheon. When people began to forget the old gods, they sobbed and worried about their lost glory. Dionysus however, saw it differently. He too was a forgotten god, but by drinking alcohol and partying the people still remembered and worshipped Dionysus.
Nonetheless, he still visits his father and the other gods who see him as an outsider, smartly weaving them around his finger and acting as a liaison with the outside world. He is a god wandering the world, with a love for humans, encouraging alcohol, feasting and the joys of life.
Visited countries
Germany
Job
God
Age
3700
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Ernst
75 years old and retired. Married with the second love of his life. Is still passionate about the first love of his life: the trumpet. He fears his illness and leaving behind his loved ones.
The Trumpeter
Born in a family of 11, Ernst grew up in a very active and close family. A simple life, but with strong values. His father was an amateur trumpeter and Ernst inherited the love for music. As a trumpeter, he began a band mixing a traditional Bavarian sound with up-tempo jazz.
In the sixties, at the Nationaltheater in Munich, he met the love of his life, with which he would build the biggest passion of his life: his family. Claudia wrote children's books and together they created a family full of creativity and four daughters who in turn gave Ernst and Claudia many grandchildren.
Unfortunately, in his sixties, Erns got diagnosed with cancer. He defeated it twice but at age 74, the doctors gave him the hard news: the cancer had returned and had spread through his body.
It was a hard nut to crack but the love of the couple and the family was stronger than the disease. The two decided to live the time they still had together in the same way they had lived their life: with joy, a love for creativity and for each other.
Visited countries
Germany
Job
Retired
Age
75
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Lena
A 115-year-old passionate politician who, due to cell regeneration, looks like a fit, stylish woman of 35. She’s part of a technology-infused generation but fears where technological advancement will lead to.
A headstrong politician from the 22st century
Born in 1995 from a German father and a Belgian mother, Lena grew up in a rapidly changing world which saw the breaking up of countries and unions and the rise of new ones. She always tried to see the bigger picture, aiming for cooperation rather than fighting. Lena had a family of three but lost her oldest daughter to murder. This event had big consequences. Her only son grew up to become a political hardliner, striving for an isolationist European Union, whereas her husband chose to take a ‘pause’ in life. His conscience was stored for later times when new technology would be able to place it in a new body. Lena is director of the EASD, an agency designed to control and research the efficiency of the European organs and as such fighting corruption, nepotism and political crimes. She is deeply involved in the intricate political web spanning the European Union. Meanwhile, a new moral problem for Lena emerges. Conscience transportation has been legally approved and is now accessible to the rich.
Visited countries
Germany
Job
Director of the EASD (European Agency for Structural Development)
Age
115