Daniel Kalypso's Questionnaire

Danny was born in Reno Nevada but moved to Vegas once his reputation was tarnished. People still recognize him, but it's much easier to slip into the shadows of moving crowds in the busy streets. This is where he runs his under-the-table casino in the basement of the Chinese takeout place Dragon Noodles, under an alias known as "Mr Moolah". He sleeps in the office, siphoning water from the restaurant upstairs to keep himself clean. While not making much of a profit, he is determined to draw in as many visitors as he can to exploit the rich and dumb. After all, he certainly needs it more than they do. He is now used to the crowds of people, finding comfort in the chaos, knowing he can disappear whenever some poor schmuck wants his money back.

Danny gets his money from his Casino, where he targets rich businessmen on their vacation. He will often turn down locals that might recognize him from his previous scams. He lures in these businessmen with scantily-clad women and cheap liquor, while making sure they stay there all night trying to earn back their losses. He is known to use weighted dice, loaded decks, and rigged lotteries to make most of his money.

Most of this money is funneled back into his casino, funding the showgirls and partaking in some debauchery himself. He is particularly fond of jewelry, and has a quite expensive collection of jeweled rings. He also sends some of this money to his mother in Reno, and to his manufacturer Nathan. While he is not an addict to anything illegal, he would be dead before spending 48 hours without a drink in his hand. He pays handsomely to the upstairs Noodle restaurant in return for their discretion, making sure that they give no information to authorities and deny access to unhappy past visitors.

Danny wants influence on the city. He wants to be rich, powerful, able to draw people in and put a smile on their face even while they're losing money. What he wants more than anything is to run the largest, most successful, highest rated casino in the country. He is willing to lie, cheat, steal, and hurt to get this. He is already known to be less than kind to unruly guests, using his more muscular guards to exert force for him. He only needed to kill once, in his hometown of Reno, when a man really wanted his four grand back after a lottery scam. He will still swear it was self defense, but he knows deep down it was his own actions that caused this. He still dreams about this man. His gun rests inside the safe in his office, used mostly for intimidation, but he is willing to fire it again if it means making his goals a reality.

He ran a lottery scam in Reno Nevada 8 years ago, making over $150,000 in only a month. Unfortunately, the people of Reno did not take too kindly towards him. One man in particular was named Jackson Albert. One of the more volatile businessmen in the town, he wanted his money back after the scam was revealed. He tracked Danny down, cornering him in an alleyway, threatening to beat him within an inch of his life. Danny used his gun for the first time, firing four shots into the man before leaving town. This was the only time he ever had to kill a man, and it was not something he was planning to do. He was always known as the poor man with a whore mother, no father, but now he is also known as a murderer with a warrant in his name. He has told people stories about ruthlessly killing a man who refused to respect him, but only a select few know he's the killer from Reno. He is ashamed of it, but knows he can't back down now.

Crystal Kalypso - Mother - An ex prostitute, now nearly delirious from years of violence and abuse. While she has signs of onset alzheimer's, and lives simply in a cheap run-down house, she has never forgotten her baby boy Danny. While they do not see each other often, Danny will call her often to make sure things are going okay and that she is safe. She knows not to tell anyone where Danny now resides.

Kate Alkine - Ex Girlfriend - His old lover who still keeps in contact with him. Things ended on good terms, but she had no desire for the life Danny was trying to live. While they will still often link up for a night or two of fun, she has no interest in a committed future with him. She is one of the few people who know of his past in Reno, and while she knows he will never hurt her, she is still scared of him for it. Perhaps if he succeeds in his dreams he might win her over once more.

Nathan Fasser - Manufacturer - Born and raised in Las Vegas, he knows a swindler when he sees one. They met at a bar on East Fremont Street, where Nathan immediately saw through every trick Danny tried to pull on him. Danny respects him for this, and they've been close friends ever since. Now he helps him in manufacturing items used to cheat in his casino, making sure nothing links back to his government name.

Daniel's childhood was rough, compared to a lot of the richer kids surrounding him. He was born into poverty, his mother having to do unspeakable things to get the little cash they had. He never knew his father, and isn't sure his mother even knows who the father really is. That was never too important to him however, as he learned young that he needed to keep a smile on his face or the kids around him would eat him alive. The other kids he was surrounded with were ruthless, willing to step on anyone to get to the top of the social chain. Looking like an outcast would get you beat, or worse, so he played their game. He went to parties, sharpening his tongue and becoming a less vulnerable target. Eventually he started making some money on his own, scamming some of the older kids and managing to get away with it. Thankfully he managed to evade any larger problems until his adulthood.

When you mention love, the only name that comes to mind for Danny is a woman named Kate Alkine. The only woman he ever spilled his heart to, the only vulnerability in his egotistical facade. She was a tall, slender woman who he met after running off to Vegas. Kate caught him swindling a particularly well-off patron of the bar, and enjoyed his performance. She had a keen eye honed by previous encounters with swindlers, and she immediately recognized his tactics. His finesse was impressive, but she could tell he was more accustomed to dealing with locals than with tourists. Tourists were where the real money was made. She approached him, and bought him a drink as she gave him some pointers. Their first conversation was over the best way to milk money from a wealthy tourist, and they knew they could do something great together. The couple worked together for years, running scams and splitting profit under the neon lights. They were Bonnie and Clyde, stealing from those who didn't need it and pleasing the other like no one else could. They shared nights under the stars, drunk off their mind on the finest whiskey money could buy. It was stunning what they could accomplish together. Unfortunately, Danny was ambitious. Too ambitious. Danny insisted on a specific target, a CEO in town, a local. She knew that if things went bad, they would either end up murdering a man or end up dead themselves. He was risky to be connected to, risky to be in close contact with, so she decided to end things.

While Danny left heartbroken, they were still on good terms. He learned why people can be the biggest vulnerability in a city like Vegas, and since then he hasn't sought after much love in his life. Despite this, he will still call her from time to time. They exchange life updates, stories, and nights in bed from time to time, but it will never be the same as it used to. Kate Alkine is still the only love of his life, but he knows that he's not hers, so he carries on with his ambitions and hopes one day he will be able to win her back over once again.

Danny's biggest, most often fear is that his actions may come up with him. Ever since the man in Reno he's been looking over his shoulder, trying to see if some unhappy gambler has been following him. Luckily, he feels much safer at his office. People refer to his employees as if they were worshipping him in a cult, and he feels confident they would defend him with their lives if needed. That is why he invests so much into his workers, to create this unbreaking bond of trust between them. They are a family now, after all.

He also fears for his mother, Crystal Kalypso. She has had a rough life, much rougher than his, and has certainly paid the price for it. Now stumbling through her house with symptoms of alzhiemers, she relies on him to help her stay afloat. He doesn't mind at all, she was the only one there for him when he was growing up. You could call him a bit of a momma's boy. Not knowing his father certainly doesnt help, though. If something were to happen to her it would break his heart, putting him out of commission for who knows how long. All he can do is help where he can and try to make her the happiest she can be in her current state.

His prized possession, his magnum opus, is his casino, The Lucky Smile. While it looks like shit right now, he hopes to bring it up in quality and class before too long. He dreams of fountains, buffets, hotel rooms, and the highest end drinks money could buy. While this is still mostly a fantasy for him, he still runs his small Casino like his only child, taking care of it, nurturing it, and funneling most of his money into it's well-being. He even sleeps in the office, finding it more important than having a house to himself.

His other prized possession would likely be his photograph of Kate, his ex lover. He's never gotten over her, still finding excuses and opportunities to meet her and spend nights with her. Her wit, her boldness, and her tenacity are his favorite parts of her being. Despite this, deep down he knows it over. There's a part of him who will never let her go though, he's not sure he could ever love someone else as much as her. He still keeps her photo in his wallet, along with a photo of his mother, to remind him what he's fighting for and what his future could look like if he played the game smart.

Money. It's always money. He can barely afford to run his business. He can barely afford to support his mother. The claws of poverty are dug into him deep, and he's not even sure what being unhooked could look like for him. All he knows is that he needs to find a better place for his mother, and he needs to support his friends at The Lucky Smile. He's doing his best to expand his business and rake in those few extra dollars, but due to current circumstances his usual tactics have been... well, impossible for him to do.

He's never felt like a truly free individual, but I suppose not many people do. He feels chained to his work, knowing that if it ever ceases, he probably will too. Especially in his current state, there's not a lot he could realistically do for 8 hours a day. Maybe this state will pass, and maybe things will get better. He hopes they will, but he knows his time is probably ticking down. Life is chaotic however, and maybe his situation will change so drastically I will need to update this questionnaire.

Danny will typically start the day by waking up and throwing his blankets in the closet. It is his office after all, so he needs to make it look presentable during business hours. This is before any of the other employees show up to The Lucky Smile, only a couple actually know how bad his current living situation really is. He will then get changed into his usual outfit, a button up with his classic suit jacket over top, as well as some dress pants and black shoes. After getting dressed, he uses the bathroom in the Dragon Noodles above him to get himself ready, shaving his face and brushing his teeth before the property owners arrive to run their own business. Luckily they don't mind him doing it, granted he cleans up the mess he makes. He already pays extra for the used water. If any of his clothes need to be cleaned, he will take them down to the laundromat across the street. Getting his suit dry cleaned is a bit more of a hassle, having to walk about fourteen blocks down to the nearest dry cleaner, but it's a scenic walk so he doesn't mind.

Daniel, wanting to look his best, would find his favorite button-up shirt. It's got a deep red base with an extravagant purple pattern on top. He would also make sure to bring his padded two button suit, which is good for both protection and style. He would take his black dress pants, tight in all the right places, and bring all of these clothes to the dry cleaners a few blocks down. While they're getting cleaned, hed take a shower at a local fitness center, as he's usually sly enough to talk his way in without showing any sort of membership card. Once showered, he'll head back to the dry cleaners and collect all of his fresh clothes. He'd make sure it all looked perfectly clean, before dressing himself and using a lint roller as needed. With hair gel, Danny slicks his hair back, ready for a night out. There's no such thing as too much Yves Saint Laurent, he thinks to himself as he spritzes a bit too much onto his suit.

Typically, his workers will pool together some money and buy him a nice dinner at one of the more upscale italian places in Vegas, as he adores his seafood and pasta. Usually one or two of them will join him, but there isn't enough to bring the whole workforce unfortunately.

Of course, due to it being all about him, his birthday is Danny's favorite holiday. It's also his favorite holiday because this is one of the few times he can count on Kate to reach out to him. They typically will meet up for a few hours at the club they met at, sometimes spending the night together.

He used to get a card from his mother every year, but they stopped coming shortly after her condition started getting more serious. He'll still go out and visit his mother around this time, though she no longer remembers when exactly his birthday even is.