Daniel Grigsby

Daniel "Danny Boy" Grigsby is the bartender and proprietor of Danny Boy's Tavern at the 188 Trading Post around 2283.
==Background==
===Early life===
Hailing from a proud English bloodline, Daniel was born in Junktown, Shady, in the New California Republic on January 28, 2241. He was the first of two children of Edmund Grigsby, a caravaneer, and Hannah Slater, a ranch hand. He had a sister, Molly, born in 2245. Living so close to the New California Republican capital allowed the Grigsby family to enjoy a comfortable living and benefit greatly from the lucrative brahmin and caravan trades. Daniel began to go on Crimson Caravan drives and learned his father's trade when he was fifteen years old while his mother and sister maintained the homestead in Junktown. Daniel picked up the skills of a caravan driver quickly, began confidently driving caravans with his father's help four months after his first lesson and was driving caravans solo by the time he was sixteen.
===Family man===
The caravans he drove took him all over protected borders of the Republic. He liked the travel that came with the job, but he never met any particularly interesting people; the caravan guards were fun, but too much of the same too often drove Grigsby into a rut. He was broken from that rut in 2260 when he met his future wife, Heather Monroe, who was a caravan guard from Shady Sands. She was tough as nails and twice as pretty, but Grigsby's natural charm and wit won her over in time. After living together and accompanying one another on caravans for a year, the couple wed in 2261 and had one child, Michael, the next year.
Edmund retired from the caravan business shortly after Michael, or Mickey, was born, so Daniel and Heather took it upon themselves to provide more for the family. Mickey was usually raised for weeks at a time by his grandparents while Daniel and Heather were off on caravan runs. Mickey was very keen on listening to his grandfather's stories, particularly about the history of Junktown, and he aspired to be a soldier just like the Darkwater that founded Junktown. 
===Moving east===
When Mickey came of age, it was obvious he wouldn't follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps as caravan drivers; he enlisted in the New California Republic Army and was deployed at Camp McCarran in the Mojave Wasteland in 2280. His parents, who had agreed to retire from the caravan trade, went with him and settled at the 188 Trading Post. It was there that Daniel established a tavern for caravans and travelers passing through, giving him the opportunity to hear the stories and interesting people that were often absent from his caravan drives.
The Mojave was a fantastic economic endeavor for the Grigsby's. It was also a brilliant change of scenery, but it was not to last. Mickey was presumed killed in action during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam in 2282 and his body was never recovered. Losing the one thing that truly mattered to them, Daniel and Heather fell into a depression and have spent their days running Danny Boy's Tavern, trying to move on.
==Appearance and abilities==
Danny Boy has an average build, standing just below six feet tall (1.8 meters) and weighs 170 pounds (77 kilograms). His English heritage lends him a fair complexion and dashing facial features, making him more arguably more attractive than your average wastelander. Age has giving him matured salt and pepper hair and he has grown a simple, but neatly groomed beard. 
Grigsby has a distinct personal charm that makes it difficult to not like him. He is a master at getting people to let their guard down and uses that to get on their good side, usually to sell them drinks, whether they actually want them or not. As a bartender at one of the Mojave's most traveled trading hubs, he is a prime source of rumors from regularly overhearing or being told bits and pieces of information. He can also make a mean cocktail, but you'd be surprised how unhelpful that is out in the wasteland. 
Even with years of caravan driving, Grigsby's skill with weapons is marginal so he isn't much use in a firefight. He has a knack with shotguns, but when you only have to point in the general direction of a target, everyone has that knack. Not many skills are necessary for an average day of tavern managing so a lot of what he used to know has atrophied. 
==Equipment==
===Weapons===
Danny Boy kept his 20 gauge break action shotgun from his caravan days and has modified it to be kept in a holster on his waist. The shotgun has had its stock removed and has been filed down to the grip and a fair chunk of its barrel has been sawed off, shortening it to about 20 inches long. This makes it easy to handle in the confines of the tavern, usually used to scare off any troublemakers or, at the very least, have equal footing with them. He also carries an old rusting tire iron for use a makeshift club, even through he has little use for it.
===Apparel===
You won't find Grigsby venturing from the 188 very often, so he has little use for heavy duty adventuring gear. He wears simple cotton sweatpants, a coarsely knit beige undershirt and a faded red hoodie. He also wears a "lucky" red baseball cap.
===Miscellaneous===
To keep up on bartering techniques, Daniel has an issue of Salesman Weekly rolled up and tucked into his back pocket. Tucked into his opposite pocket is his own cocktail guide, a small notebook that details various cocktail recipes. His most prizeded possession, however, is a folded and worn sepia family picture that features him, his wife and son, his sister and parents all cracking silly faces to the camera.
==Personality==
Danny Boy is usually a warm and gregarious fellow who is always looking for new people with whom to talk and share stories, which is one of the main motivators for starting his tavern. He is more likely to talk away problems that resort to violence, although he understands that force can be a legitimate deterrent in the wasteland and isn't afraid to use it. 
The only time when he is sullen is when the topic of his son comes up. He carries guilt for having brought his family to the Mojave and his son being killed protecting what Grigsby believed was a lost cause. Mickey's death reinforced that family is all that matters in the wasteland and has molded Daniel into a devoted family man. He would readily sacrifice his well being if it ensured the safety of his wife, parents or sister.
==Theme song==
Danny Boy, Bing Crosby (1945)
Category:Characters
Category:Kastera1000