Name: Adrian King
Codename: Hermes
Age and D.O.B: 43 March 23rd 1917
Appearance:
Adrian is 6ft4 and weighs over 200 pounds. His physique is an equal combination of fat and muscle. Just above his left knee is a scar which circles to the back of his thigh. He will tell only those closest to him that he had given himself the scar, and even then, he will be reluctant to explain why. Otherwise, he will tell people that a German soldier had given it to him.
A keen observer might notice how soft his hands are; these are not the hands of someone who is used to physical labor.
Country of Origin:New Jersey, USA
History:
Circumstances of his Birth
There weren't many segregated schools in the north, which was why Adrian's mother--his father had been hanged months prior--moved to New Jersey in the first place. When the Supreme Court decided that the South could institute segregated schools on the condition that they be "separate but equal", it was obvious to everyone that the black schools would be far inferior, but not many black families had the resources to pick up and go. It was easier to move up north during the Great Migration some odd decades ago but now? Don't count on it.
Which is why Adrian's mother was lucky that her husband had kind friends (and lucky that these friends did not have families of their own). Together, they saved up enough money for Adrian and his mother to move to New Jersey. The school Adrian attended was certainly not the best, but he worked hard and was given opportunities that his brothers and sisters--metaphorically speaking--did not receive in the South.
The Muse
As if conforming to convention, where Adrian failed in arithmetic, he more than made up for it in writing and reading. This latter virtue, however, was not realized until Adrian entered high school, where he was forced to read Shakespeare, study Latin and Greek Mythos, among other classical literature. Adrian took to these literary works with ease. By his fourth year of high school, even his teacher, who would later become a supporter of Hitler, even during the postwar years, admitted to Adrian's mother that her son was a literary genius.
After high school, Adrian took a year off to work and help his mother pay the bills. They didn't think much of what Adrian would do now. Yes, he had published a story or two in the magazines that accepted black authors, but, even in the north, racism was alive. They believed that Adrian would become a labor hand, like most blacks.
However, fortune smiled on them, and she took the guise of an editor in New Jersey. Seeing one of his articles in the magazine, the head of a publishing house offered Adrian a job as an editor. The pay was double what he had been earning before. With this added income, austere saving habits, and scholarships, Adrian was able to pay his four years of college, where he majored in economics and history.
During college, Adrian wrote incessantly. As a result of his connection with a prestigious publishing house, he was also allowed to publish his essays in 'white' magazines, where they reached a larger audience and offered a larger pay. Privately, many considered him a "Dark Hamilton". It was thought, even then, that a muse had inhabited his spirit.
Something of a Genius
In the years immediately preceding the Second World War, Adrian was among the few who attacked, through his writings, the large reparations that the Allies demanded from Germany at the end of the First World War. Adrian agreed with Keynes and Hjalmer Schacht, who was the president of the Reichsbank, that Germany couldn't possibly afford to pay. Then, when news came to the States that there had been a small guerilla movement led by a man named Hitler, Adrian was one of the first, and the only, writers to see Hitler as a sign of future trouble to come.
In one essay titled "The Catastrophe of Versailles", Adrian wrote the following vis-a-vis Hitler: "He is the ghost of what is to come. And we are all Scrooges who refuse to repent." Many other writers mocked Adrian's
hyperbole but he was nevertheless seen as a strong voice in the North, and particularly New Jersey. He was prolific in his writing, and when his mother passed--from stress, the doctors told him--he did not stop. In the years before the war, it was clear to those who read the papers that Adrian King was something of a genius.
Which is why it was shocking to many when Adrian announced that he would be marrying Belle Greene. Belle was a jazz singer at a bar not too far from where Adrian lived. It was well-known that she was something of a whore, something of a spendthrift, and something of a cunt. At first, it was thought that Belle was blackmailing Adrian, but after years of marriage, people realized that, incredibly, Adrian was in love with her; and, even more shocking, Belle seemed to love him in return.
Sadly, the bad publicity Adrian received from this union forced Adrian's boss to fire him. Further still, no magazines wanted Adrian's writings. He and Belle slid rather abruptly into poverty.
The Shadow Years
These years encompass the Second War. It is not certain how Adrian spent these years, but a few things can be pieced together. First, Adrian and Belle had a child, whom they named Antony. (This child stays with Belle under German occupation in New Jersey.) Second, Adrian lost connection with Belle during the latter months of the Second War, when it was clear to everyone that the Allies would lose. Last, Adrian spent these years writing.
And writing.
And writing.
Present
Adrian now makes a living by being a messenger for anyone on the resistance. Many of his letters contain confidential information, but many more are simply letters to loved ones. When not delivering messages, he will be writing diatribes against the Nazi regime, diatribes which he secretly delivers as pamphlets to anyone and everyone.
There are rumors that he is writing a book, but how true these rumors are cannot be verified.
Crimes:
Theft.
Writing seditious content against Germany.
A known member of a resistance movement.
Threat Level:
High-Risk: To be arrested on sight for crimes against the Third Reich and its people
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