"Damien Dorfmund" is also a new character, isn't he?
Is he a reference to a famous person from Dortmund?
It's kind of my 'real hometown' and once was very rich:
In the years leading up to 1344, the English King even borrowed money from well-heeled Dortmund merchant families Berswordt and Klepping, offering the regal crown as security.
The "mund" (German for "mouth") probably means "hill" sometimes called "manda", "monda" or "munda" (latin: "mons"). Some people also think it has to do with waters (latin: "manare"). Others see the meaning in the latin word for Dortmund, which is "Tremonia" and means something like city with three walls (tres-moenia).
No, he's been there for a while. He is one of the three commentators. He appears first time on page 18 as I needed one to explain the story about Kim Philby. I had at that timer already a historian phd in Celtic iron age and a orgasm coach, but none of them would be able to explain spy stuff. It was first afterwards that I realised that these three represented the things I was mixing up - Supernatural Celtic Gods, Spy satire and the story about Phill. I first really realised what a finely balanced team they actually were on page 29 where they are arguing about which kind of story we are witnessing. They are a bit like three demented norns.
As for the name I must admit that I went for Dortmund because I somehow connects the cold war with Germany, and because Dortmund (whose name I now still am confused about, but in a learned sort of way thanks to you) gives me associations to my atomic war frightened childhood. I made it Dorf - not like a village, but in the American sense: an idiot or boring geek or something like that.
Thanks for the datailed infos. My brain must have had some sort of stack overflow, that I forgot about this guy ;-) I rather know the term "dork", than "dorf", but maybe it's just me.
Yes, maybe I thought of dork... :)