Fred Daniels is an ethnologist who lives on a magical island near the Arctic Circle. He has worked on an archaeological dig, been a night-watchman at a hotel (where his main duty was to wash bed linen during his shift), and taught teenagers Scandinavian languages. He's directed and acted in plays with amateur theater groups, but now holds a mundane office job at a small public organization. In his spare time he likes to play with, and get frustrated by, modern technology.