Ken the Can Man

Location: Everywhere

Ken the Can Man has become sort of a mascot for the homeless community in Wellstone City. No one is really sure how long Ken has been roaming around, but he has been in the news since 2003. No one is exactly sure where Ken came from, his real name, or even what he did before becoming homeless. What is known is that he has numerous videos on YouTube and even a webpage devoted to tracking Ken. It is affectionately known as the Can Man Cam and it has videos and photos of Ken in various places. Photos have surfaced that show him as early as 1995, but prior to that, he is a complete mystery. When he is traveling around town, he is always seen on a red three-wheeled bicycle with a basket in the rear and pulling a little red wagon full of things behind that. Apparently, all of his worldly belongings are in those two baskets and on his back.

Ken doesn’t talk about his past, but he will talk about literally anything else. He is apparently fairly well read and pays attention to current events in Wellstone and in the world. He will talk about any subject, at length, whether his unwitting conversationalists want to or not. Getting him to talk isn’t the problem when meeting Ken; it’s getting him to be quiet.

It is unknown if Ken is completely aware of his surroundings. He always seems to be responding to more people than are actually present and he seems to space off for long periods of time. He frequents bars and is very social.

Ken does not have a home, but he either stays at shelters or in the rare occasions when someone puts him up in hotel room. Rumors about who Ken is and what he has done abound. The most common rumor is that he was a soldier in Vietnam or in Barbados and is suffering from PTSD. He isn’t dangerous, he’s not armed, and there has never been a reported altercation involving Ken, but there is one famous story that everyone knows and has never been confirmed. Apparently he was traveling through the Spanish Quarter a few years back and some young Black Dragon Syndicate recruits started harassing him. Ken did nothing, but it was said that a local street gang immediately stepped up and risked the wrath of the Syndicate to come to his aid. Ken was let go after the street hoods started shouting after the Syndicate while they retreated into the night.

Ken is not a reliable source of information on anything specific in Wellstone. He is an authority on the obscure, and he is restricted to people that he has known or things that he has witnessed. Finding Ken is more luck than skill, though the Can Man Cam usually has good luck in predicting where he is should the PCs be in a need to find him, or avoid him.