INVESTIGATOR'S NAME: BRUNO STACHEL
Age: 37
Sex: Male
Nationality: German
PLACE OF BIRTH:Frankfurt, Germany
Degrees: Naval Science, German Naval Academy Vast experience at sea and Antarctic exploration
Occupation: Naval Officer/ Explorer
BACKGROUND: Bruno was born in Frankfurt, Germany, about 1885. At a young age he decided to leave home for the sea and signed on a merchant ship crew; for the next few years he learned the ways of sea and grew into a skilled navigator.
At 20, he signed on to the crew of an Antarctic expedition; although the voyage was plagued with failure, he acquired a taste for command during the five-year trip and returned to Germany to enter the Naval Academy. Due to his youth and penchant for dueling (he still bears a faint scar on his left cheek), the eager new officer was given a choice of postings- East Africa or the fledgling submarine service.
His fateful decision was to transfer to U-boat Command. During the Great War, he served on submarines exclusively and quickly rose to the rank of Captain. A memory that has haunted him, however, was his order to fire upon a suspicious ship that was later discovered to be a civilian passenger liner carrying wounded troops to America. He repeatedly sailed his U-boat into the gravest danger- secretly hoping to be killed and, therefore, atoning for the mistaken sinking; history never recorded that it was he who sank the hospital ship. Stachel, by default, amassed an impressive record of successes at sea, but the tide of war was against Germany and the dedicated submariner was eventually forced to face defeat.
After the war, Stachel briefly returned to civilian sea service but soon had a desire to see the United States; bitter as he is about Germany's defeat in the war, he has a great respect for American technical advances and wishes to learn more. His travels have led him to New England, and he has most recently discovered the town of Arkham, Massachusetts. He has hopes of settling down for a few years before he returns to sea; it is his dream to one day finally conquer the unknown wastes of the Antarctic, a goal that eluded him in his younger days.
