Danny Shrink

PHASE ONE
Danny was born in a small farm near a nowhere town in a nowhere state.  his father, Frederick Shrink, had fled from the old country in search of a more peaceful place to raise his children.  Enrolling in a program for new arrivals, he was given some theoretically-workable land to tend.

Danny and his older siblings (2 brothers and a sister) learned how to work hard early on.  The crops came in late, the  barn burned down, and they worked for days without much rest.  Still, they learned to Persevere, if anything.

PHASE 2

When Danny was ten, the call went out for men.  Instabilities in the old country had finally lead to what his father had feared: a massive war that would decimate the countryside of Europe, and claim the lives of two of his three older brothers.

At home, Danny had a war of his own to fight.  Ever-rising food demand meant that he, his father, and his remaining older brother and sister had to work themselves to the limit, and do more with less.  It was only a couple of months into the war before the family was ready to collapse, but A local school was built to help support the growing community, a school with a library.  It was small, but had an entire encyclopaedia that Danny liked to flip through when he had a spare second.  In his random flipping, he happened across a rather interesting section- under "A" for "Agriculture".  With the application of farming techniques old and new, Danny's family multiplied the yield from their farm.  Elated, by his success, Danny wrote a letter to his eldest brother.  The letter was never read.

The funeral for Danny's older brother was a sombre affair.  There wasn't even a real funeral: the body was never returned from overseas (not that there was much left to return), so they had to content themselves with a prayer session in the small local church.  The family could have survived this, had it not been for the dreaded notice of death for Danny's second brother arriving the next day.  Heartbroken, Danny's mother fell ill.  Danny's sister had to take care of her, leaving the downtrodden father and his two remaining sons to hold the family steady.

Having held out against enough, Danny wasn't about to fall to the taunts of his peers.  They laughed about his dead brother, his bookishness, his introversion.  When he was poor they laughed about his poverty, and when he was rich they accused his father of being involved in less-than-savoury activities.  Danny got in one fight, then another.  They all had one thing in common, though.  He never lost.  He fought dirty, took any advantage he could get...but he never lost.

ASPECTS: "I Don't Fight Dirty, I Fight to Win" "Footwork is a Necessity"


PHASE 2.5: TIME SKIP AFTER THE WAR (8 year period)

Danny's father rises in wealth to become a Hydrium Baron.  Striking a deal with the mob, he grows wealthy...but has to walk a fine line between more money and ethical business practices.  He hires PIs to try and take down his mob associates and go clean.  The plan never fully succeeds, but it does teach Danny about right and wrong.  Eventually, Danny moves to the big city to join the fight against the crimewave he sees tearing holes in the nation his brothers died for

PHASE 3: DANNY SHRINK AND THE CHICAGO PLOT
What do a small-time drug dealing gang and a series of murders on their turf have in common?  Everything, right?  That's what the chief says.  Danny's not so sure.  The killings don't make sense for the gang to have committed...but they DO make sense for a couple of rather affluent politicians.  Danny's going to get to the bottom of this, wind, rain, sleet, snow, and even his badge be damned.

ASPECTS: "Friends and Enemies...On Both Sides." "Let Me Tell You Why You Did It"