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Bennet Cerf Fairview Age: 26 Sign: Aries Reporter for the City Desk dept. of the Herald. His growing success in his career is in large part due to his willingness to walk into any sort of trouble if he thinks he can get a story out of it. Probably had Lois Lane as the dean at his journalism school. Mostly unflappable, he doesn't believe he's ever in any real danger. Self-centered and over-confident, but also friendly, affectionate and optimistic. People are drawn to him because he's well-spoken and good looking, and he's aware of it. |
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Mark Raymond Sawyer Age: 22 Sign: Cancer Certified journeyman carpenter and electrician, employed by a home renovation company. New to the city, he's led a sheltered life up until meeting Ben, whereupon his cautious nature gets tested time and again. A quiet introvert, he keeps a lot to himself. Very self-sufficient despite his timidity and inexperience. Kind-hearted but can get introspective to the point of being inconsiderate of others. Very emotional; talks to his body parts when he's upset or anxious. |
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Richard Cameron Carroll Age: 28 Sign: Gemini Hired thug for disgraced City Councilman Mike Conway, and anyone else who will pay. As much as he enjoys sadism and torture, he leaves most of the heavy lifting to his partner Greg, as Ricky prefers figuring out the logistics and being the brains of the operation. He also likes to watch. |
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Gregory Sheldon Potter Age: 31 Sign: Scorpio Ricky's partner in crime, and possibly other things too. Casually brutal and anti-social, he really enjoys the sound of bones breaking, as long as they're not his own. He and Ricky share an obsessive, puzzling fascination for celebrity gossip, but Greg is particularly enamored of former "Entertainment Tonight" hostess Mary Hart. |
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Jeanette Victoria Swann Age: 28 Sign: Capricorn Recently made detective, working in the 15th precinct's desperately under-staffed vice squad. She was once engaged to Ben, but broke things off because his tendency to get into trouble drove her crazy. Hard working and reliable, she has little time in her life for anything but her career. Very no-nonsense and straightforward, but also a bit on the unimaginative side. She's compassionate but also has a short fuse. |
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Christine Elizabeth Newman Age: 25 Sign: Aquarius Was a journalism major along with Ben back in college. She's a go-getter similar to Ben, so they were in the same career track up until they got their first internship positions, which lead Christine to entertainment news on a local television station. |
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Patricia Sawyer Adler Age: 29 Sign: Taurus Mark's older sister, and up until he started grade school his primary friend and playmate. Because of the age gap between them she grew up thinking of Mark almost as a "practice son", taking great pride in caring for him as much as their mom would allow. Their relationship became more distant when Patty moved out of the house after two years of community college to get married, while Mark was still in high school. These days Patty's attention is mostly centred around her husband and her little daughter. |
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Jill Katherine Adler Age: 3 and a half Sign: Leo Patty's daughter, and Mark's niece. She has a surprisingly long attention span for a child her age and loves to listen to the grownups talk so she can learn new things. She's shy around new people but very curious. |
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Kimberly May Sawyer Age: 61 Sign: Aquarius Mark's mom, an office manager for the offices of a large manufacturing warehouse. She enjoys working with her hands and has a small side business restoring old and antique furniture, which she operates from her garage. Mark started helping her with her restorations when he was in middle school. |
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Richard Miles Sawyer Age: 60 Sign: Cancer Mark's dad, head of payroll at a local college. After a health scare a couple years previous, he's become more physically active and has taken up a few low-impact sports that have helped immensely. Despite his improvements he's been known to use his health concerns as a means of manipulating his kids, especially Mark, into staying close by. He's a well-meaning parent but a bit controlling. |
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Edgar Nicholas Smith Age: 26 Sign: Leo Former high school and college classmate of Ben's. He graduated from college with a philosophy degree, with pretty much the career track you'd expect from that. He compensates for his series of pointless minimum wage jobs by looking down his nose at people with better-paying jobs and more useful training. He starts working in the Herald's mail room at some point. |
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Vivian Caroline Lennox Age: 27 Sign: Taurus Went to college with Ben, Ned, and Christine. She and Ned are roommates, but not romantically linked, although she's been known to support Ned financially since she's more stable in her employment than he is. She likes stability and she loves to gossip. |
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Robert Luka Kalashnik Age: 47 Sign: Sagittarius City Desk editor at the Herald, and Ben's direct superior. Jovial and fatherly, he keeps a firm editorial hand on his staff but gives the reporters free rein in terms of how they get their stories. Because of this, and the newspaper's desperation to sell subscriptions, Ben gets encouraged more than he probably should be to take risks when researching a story. |
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Eustacia Helen Floros Age: 27 Sign: Virgo Another former college classmate of Ben's, but she's really more Viv's friend. |
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Sheriff Buford T. Pussycat Age: Six weeks Sign: Sagittarius Mark and Ben's cat. They thought they were adopting a normal-sized kitten, but he turned out to be the largest breed of domestic cat. He's very friendly and full of energy, though he loves napping too. |