SOME OF RAIN CITY'S NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
ALAN PAULSON:
THE Man in Rain City. His original fortune was made in computer programming, and his company Netscoop Inc. still remains the heart of his great empire. Netscoop dominates the lion's share of the software market, and has been known to team with it's closest competitor, Megahard Inc., for products in the spyware market, Megahard's specialty.
Paulson lives in a private-access penthouse apartment in the Dampmore (which he owns) and has his business offices on the 12th floor of the prestigious Netscoop Tower (which he also owns). Other holdings include the Drizzle Club, S.P.I.T.E., and the Fighting Muddaubers (though Brent Lessa Memorial Stadium remains city property).
Paulson's personal life might best be termed as eccentric. He is rumored to have shared some sort of romantic entanglement with his long-time personal secretary, Nita Lift. Currently, he is involved with diva Natalie Tonebasher, with whom is is free to indulge his bizarre sexual addictions of foot powder, peanut butter, and wearing a koala costume.
NATALIE TONEBASHER:
Vulgarian songstress and superstar. Currently jailed in Rain City under charges of vandalizing her hotel room, Tonebasher's other crimes are far more heinous. She is actually the infamous "Agent T," a deep-cover Vulgarian spy. Exactly what her designs are on Paulson are unclear, but it is known that she was ordered to become involved with him, and she seems to have Paulson wrapped around her finger.
JOE TERROR:
Formerly Rain City's top (and only) private investigator. Terror was responsible for Mayor Bettaker's first arrest, though the charges were later dropped by the D.A.'s office on grounds of insufficient evidence. (See "Judge Spinder.") Joe was hired by Megahard CEO Gil Bates to find Bert Rudall after Rudall's disappearance, and the case remains his agency's top priority. Terror's preeminence as Rain City's top private eye has faltered recently, due to two prime reasons: (1) He has gone into hiding from Vulgarian assassins sent to shut him up about the Tonebasher/Paulson scandal, and (2) the establishment of rival Desert Moon Investigations, headed by partners and former Terror employees Bacardi Jim and Llewellyn. Mysteriously, despite his disappearance, Terror's name still appears at the bottom of the paychecks of those detectives who work for him.
BERT RUDALL:
For years S.P.I.T.E.'s top investigative reporter, Rudall mysteriously disappeared in March of 1999. Interestingly, his vanishing act came immediately after the tabloid published his expose of shady business dealings on the part of Paulson and Netscoop. Originally thought to be dead, photos of Rudall began surfacing showing him wearing a variety of women's dresses, and one photo prominetly featured Rudall sitting in a bar or cafe with Terror himself. The most recent photo is eight months old as of this writing, and since then, several people have claimed that Rudall is, in fact, dead--murdered by the Vulgarian Secret Service (VSS). In his absence, his duties have been taken over by Sarah Nuff.
FRED CRASSMAN:
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of S.P.I.T.E. Fred was Rudall's best friend, besides being his boss, and has been resisting Nuff's efforts to "replace" Rudall, harboring the hope that his ace reporter can be found alive and return to work. Crassman is currently the president of the Rain City Press Club, and it's annual award is called the "Freddy" in his honor.
THE WEASEL:
A mysterious double-agent, apparently working for both the VSS and in cahoots with Rudall to get the dirt on Paulson. The only visual record of The Weasel is a brief excerpt from a VSS surveillance video, which shows her handing a computer diskette to an unknown (to all but a few) man. All that is known about The Weasel is that she is female, fancies wearing a red scarf, and is a former roommate of Swizzle Stick waitress Alice Wanderlust.
YU PEI MEE:
Ostensibly merely a bartender, Yu is obviously much more than that. No one (with the possible exceptions of Baby C and Bacardi Jim) knows more about what is REALLY going on in Rain City than Yu. However, his information is not 100% reliable due to his greed (he won't tell you a thing unless you tip him well), his imperfect grasp of the English language, and his penchant for making up facts out of the blue when he is asked about something he doesn't know the true answer to. The video of Natalie Tonebasher's hit "I Want You (To Pay Me)" contain several pictures of Yu, hinting at some sort of secret relationship between them.
ALICE WANDERLUST:
Incredibly secretive about her personal life, rumors about Alice abound. All that is known for a fact is that she is a single mother who is a waitress at the Swizzle Stick. Speculations include the possibility that she had a secret love affair with Rudall, or with Terror, and one wild one which says that she is the actual "voice" of Natalie Tonebasher, living in obscurity while Natalie rakes in the cash and the accolades.
NUMBER TWO:
The Vulgarian Secret Service's top man in the States. He is the man coordinating Tonebasher's mission re Paulson, and gave the orders for the assassinations of Rudall and Terror. He is also searching for The Weasel, though we don't know whether it is to bring her in for a de-briefing (chuckle) or to kill her. He is also the superior of the mysterious deep cover Agent D.
GASTRIQUE, HOWLER, AND BRAGG:
The top law firm in Rain City. Originally founded by Senior Partner Horatio "Buster" Bragg and Yelm Howler, Carlos Gastrique has become the most visible partner in recent years due to his acquiring Alan Paulson as a client. Ironically, Yelm Howler is Bert Rudall's friend and attorney, and the two partners frequently found themselves arguing libel cases against each other.
GIL BATES:
resident and CEO of Megahard Inc., the world's foremost purveyor of spy computer software. Currently under investigation by the federal government for monopolistic practices, the case appears likely to drag on for years. Bates hired Joe Terror to locate Bert Rudall after the notorious Bloodhound NT spyware package, designed by Netscoop and marketed by Megahard to the Vulgarian navy, developed bugs so severe that fully half the Vulgarian fleet became inoperable.
JUDGE SPINDER:
District Court judge, presiding in Rain City. Judge Spinder may appear to be a bastion of ethics and morality, but he is actually being payed off by Alan Paulson to protect the mogul and his cronies from any public embarrassment or jail time. It was Judge Spinder who dismissed the original case against Mayor Brian "Bri" Bettaker for insufficient evidence, prompting Bacardi Jim's famous undercover sting operation.
MAYOR BRIAN "BRI" BETTAKER:
Current mayor of Rain City, elected six years ago after the murder of the previous mayor, whose body was found floating in Grey Lake, and re-elected two years ago, despite the bizarre goings-on of his administration. At various times, Bettaker has been arrested, accused of being a space alien, and been caught in all kinds of hanky-panky. Like Judge Spinder, he is thought to be on the Paulson payroll. Following his most recent arrest on charges of gambling, hamster race fixing, and public malfeasance, Bettaker is being held with out bail (probable flight risk) in Cloud County jail awaiting trial. His Deputy Mayor mysteriously disappeared for "health reasons" after his arrest, and the office is currently being held by appointee Acting Assistant Deputy Mayor Hartwell Thorin pending Bettaker's release or a new election.
HART THORIN:
Reformer, and a breath of fresh air after Bettaker's scandal-plagued administration. Thorin made prison reform his top priority upon his appointment, and as a result, prison rapes by the infamous guard Big Betty have virtually ceased, though she remains in her post as the senior guard at the jail. Thorin has also spearheaded several civic improvement projects, including a cleaning and refurbishing of the statue of Chief Rain Cloud in the town square, the addition of new hiking and bike trails in the Rainbow Park/Mount Thunderhead recreational facility, and a much-needed safety inspection at Paulson's Dismal World Theme Park. Open and gregarious, Thorin is a natural charmer, and rumors abound that he will be seeking the office of mayor in the next election, though he publicly denies any such aspirations.
BABY C:
Former prosecuting attorney, Baby C was raised to the office of District Attorney in 1999. Along with her two Assistant D.A.s, Beachgal and Cuthbert Allgood, she IS the law in Rain City. Open and approachable, Baby C is known to be a "defendant's D.A.," more concerned with seeing justice done than her office's conviction rate. She has a fondness for sand plum wine and pear brandy, and can frquently be seen socializing in the home of A.D.A. Beachgal and her husband Bacardi Jim. It was soon after her appointment that Baby C secretly hired Bacardi Jim to procure evidence which would result in a conviction of Bri Bettaker.
RASHID O'MALLEY:
Manager of the Drizzle Club, Rain City's combination nightclub, movie theater, and concert venue. O'Malley was accused of embezzlement by his employer Alan Paulson in 1999, but the charges were mysteriously dropped, and Rashid seems to have rebounded nicely, despite getting into some hot water over the cancelled Natalie Tonebasher concert he promoted. There are stories of a reputed falling out between O'Malley and Paulson over O'Malley's cooperation with the District Attorney's office in the sting operation which landed Mayor Bettaker in jail. Yet, despite the problems which have plagued his management of the Drizzle Club, Paulson leaves the suave manager in charge. This may have spawned the rumors that O'Malley is secretly blackmailing Paulson with documents proving that the software king is the real money behind Rain City's thriving but illegal hamster race gambling industry.
ALPHONSE ALFA AND OTTO MANN:
Alphonse, or "Iron Butt," as he is known to his employees, manages the Dampmore Hotel for Alan Paulson. He is very protective of it's reputation and of his employer's privacy. A stickler for rules and details, he rules his roost with an iron hand.
Otto is the Dampmore's bellboy and gopher. A dwarf, Otto's mutation has also resulted in a slight impairment of his mentally faculties. Therefore, he tends to be slow, clumsy, and quite dim-witted, though reliable. His slow mind makes him the perfect employee for the Dampmore, where a brighter bellboy might be tempted to go to the press with the shady goings-on which transpire in the hotel for a quick buck.
GRISWOLD "GRISLY" BAER:
Convicted twenty years ago of murdering eight people, including his parents, two youger sisters, and four men who were boarding with the family, Baer has been sitting on Death Row ever since, his execution stayed by appeal after appeal, all based on more or less the same premise: that despite his conviction, the State never was able to disprove his alibi that he was in Seattle on the night of the murders. Tired of dealing with the nuisance of Baer's incessant appeals and the Governor's seemingly random stays of execution, Baby C has turned management of the case over to Chief A.D.A. Beachgal.