[Geminex]

NAME: Johann Kardinal

AGE: 36

APPEARANCE: (Lemme think of something.)

OCCUPATION: Aaah, my occupation. How shall I phrase this? Vell, to put it simply, I am a... negotiator. Whenever a customer doesn't pay his debts, a competitor isn't reasonable, a cop doesn't accept bribes or anyone else becomes too much of an obstacle to Business, they usually get eliminated it a fairly messy, inefficient way. I am told it is quite painful, though by the perpetrators, rather than the victims. Of course... brutal, rampant murder only works on small-time players, on the ones who (to their short-lived regret) either aren't rich or powerful enough to bother wasting time dealing with. Kill too many big guys, and there's hitmen gunning for you, prices fluctuate, cops ask even more questions, very inconvenient. Can't do Business that vay, the market must be kept stable, if we are to stay on top. On the other hand, if major players start acting up, you can't let them just dance around and do what they like, am I right? There needs to be a middle ground, a way to persuade them that the status quo is the best deal they dare demand, a way to get them to... stay in their drunk, shambling line. I am that middleground. You see, vhen the big guys begin... interfering, I pay them a little visit. Not in any... official capacity, of course, but it doesn't take the fools long to realize whom I'm representing. And they don't dare turn me away, because I seem like a nice guy at first. Open. Sociable. Willing to cut zem some slack. They know they're on dangerous ground, and it seems like they can use me to get home and dry. Of course, by the time we're meeting, once, twice a week they realize that for all my friendly demeanor and compliments, my smiles are empty and my voice is flat and I'm either constantly threatening them, or just have a very poor choice of words. See, my purpose is not to strike deals, but rather to... remind them. Remind them that for all their money and power, we've got more of it than them. Remind them that they're doing Business here, and that their investment was so much more than a few hundred dollars. Remind them that even in their big house with their bodyguard and wife and little son (and how he's growing!) they are oh so very vulnerable. Humans ignore the fact that death can come from any direction, disaster strike any second. Their life could be snuffed out from one moment to the next, and there's nothing they can do. I remind them of this little, and bring it to their attention that their current course brings them much closer to sudden, violent demise than they and those close to them would like it.
I'm good at what I do, to say the least.
And if I fail, there's alvays my trusty Ice-pick. Works a treat on closed minds.

Backstory: Of course, my occupation isn't exactly standard... How did I get here, you ask?
Vell, as you might be able to tell, I am German... family moved here in the late 1800s, just before I was born. We didn't do well, our accent was none too popular, but we survived. Of course, living in poverty, surrounded by... hostiles... really does wonders for instilling a desire for power and money in a growing young man, and I found that both were... readily avaliable in crime. Of course, this was before prohibition, but Chicago still had gangs... Started out as a minor thug when I was 17, turned out I was good at killing people. Became a hitman. Later, it turned out I was even better at threatening people... and here I am. I do my job well, I'm good at reading people, good at subtlety... Screwed up a few times, of course... The accent got quite unpopular during the Great War, but by that time I had been doing the job for a few years, I had become important, had connections that my successor wouldn't have. I don't drink outside company, and the boss disapproves, but I'm in company a lot. I spend my free time meeting people, making more connections. I recruit the occasional individual, but far more importantly, I know whom I can ask favors of, and what it'll cost me.
I'm not intimidating, of course... Not many weapons on me, not much physical strength. But if you intend to hurt me, I'd recommend you kill me outright, because if you leave me alive, I'll be calling in favors from those far more capable than I.

OPTIONAL: Two physical weapons I like to use... I'm fairly skilled with a good old blackjack... don't have to use it much, but keeping it almost-well-hidden on my body does wonders for the odd negotiation, if my partner catches a glimpse of it. Not scared of the weapon of course, but people don't expect me to come armed.
Where the blackjack's a weapon to be seen, however, a threat rather than a killing tool, the icepick is the opposite. I greet my acquaintances with a one-armed hug... a hug that puts my right hand invitingly close to my enemy's neck. If our Business is disrespected most severely, next time I visit, I might have it up my sleeve. Not bloody, not messy, a quick, clean kill. Because a man can only be reasonable for so long, before he needs to start making threats come true.


___________


Slight change of plan there. I decided that every crime syndicate needs a high-ranking, foreign individual and that since nobody else was German, that'd have to be me.
Decided to write it in first-person, since I wanted to acquaint both you and myself with his style of speech. I'll think of an appearance. Perhaps a scar, somewhere.
Edit: Also, I know that replacing the occasional w with a v does not constitute a German accent, but, while my own german accent is prominent (or so im told) I do not no how to write it. So there.