Alberic "Al" Brice
Obric of the Consonant Hostels

Boggan Wilder
Tapster of the Lodge of Moonshine Blues

Description


Mortal Seeming: ~Good times, good drink -- that's Al's life wrapped up in the twinkle of his merry blue eyes. Al appears to be in his early twenties and takes great pride in maintaining a symbol of manhood: a short beard. It circles his smiling lips, thinning out up towards the sideburns. His ruddy features contrast well with his bright blonde hair, likewise well-groomed. Al favors a wide variety of simple clothing styles. His favorite casual wear includes Wolverine boots, Wrangler blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a blue and gray-patterned Hawai'ian shirt left loose and open over his short but broad build. Al admits to a slight belly, due to sampling home-brewed liquor once too often. But otherwise the young man looks to be in good shape. What's a man to do in life but be happy and spread good cheer to so many blighted souls?~

OOC: Appearance 2

Fae Mien: ~Al's true Boggan nature revokes a full foot of stature, leveling the merry and good-spirited changeling down to 4'6". However, Al looses none of his weight and it all goes to his belly, giving him a noticeably rotund front. But that doesn't seem to deter Al's enjoyment of life. His hair stays blond but seems to soften in texture while thickening in mass. His brows grow bushy, almost uniting, while his whiskers also increase. Al's eyes glitter beyond a red-tipped, bulbous nose and smiling expressions. Al favors archaic voile, including old leather buckled shoes. Dark-green pantaloons vanish under a light mahogany tunic. A fine belt encloses the outfit, giving only peeks of an undershirt to match the breeches. Though the Boggan's attire is simple, his clothes stay as well-groomed as the man. A well-used leather apron is often suspended over his front torso. But that likely contributes to Al's voluntary indenturement to you and yours.~

OOC: Appearance 2

"Hey, chill out, man. Everything will work out. Here, have another on the house."

History


Youth

Serving others, bringing other people contentment, was what Alberic "Al" Brice always did. From youth to manhood, Al looked out for the well-being of others. And he gathered his own happiness from every smile of pleasure and delight he evoked in others. The reciprocity of his innate selflessness was self-serving, and it made Al feel good. At home in Wichita, he often cleaned up after his three older brothers. Sure, his older brothers kept pet snakes and often terrorized their youngest brother with the harmless reptiles. He loved his bro's nonetheless and never held that against them. They just did a fine job of making him hate snakes! (It's little wonder Al sympathized with Indiana Jones.) Al also did the dishes by himself without complaint. Al always looked for ways to make life easier for his parents. His mother did some part-time craftwork from home, but mostly stayed put to raise her four boys. Al's dad worked as a general manager of a Denny's, keeping it in good shape, cleanliness, and business.

The Brices lived well and contently. By the time Al reached high school, however, his three older brothers were graduating and moving on. His eldest siblings, Kerry and Thomas (Tom), joined the armed services. Respectively, one later becoming a Green Beret while the other became a helicopter pilot in SOAR. Al would occasionally benefit from their training when they wanted to "show off their moves". One never knows when one would need to know a bit about self-defense! Meanwhile, Al's other older brother, Jerry, looked forward to taking over his father's business. Al's dad was already teaching Jerry the works of how to manage the restaurant. But Al wasn't sure yet what he wanted to do. He considered some college -- just some community college maybe. His parents supported him no matter what he chose and for that he was grateful. Some of his friends in high school had overly dominating parents.

But it wasn't as if Al lacked skills or talent. He picked up the (acoustic) guitar from private lessons and then self-tutelage with a wonderful natural aptitude. Al loved to play, too, and performed at various school dances and friends' parties for minimal fee, if not free. Meanwhile, his father was faced with early retirement. Denny's was bought out by O'Tolley's, another low-priced family restaurant. Jerry gladly took his father's place as general manager. Even though he retired early, however, Al's father retired fairly well. So in Al's senior year, he was exposed to alcohol. In a vacation to Great Britain, he and his father pub-hopped. And he decided despite its illegality in the States that he loved to drink! Fortunately, inherent pragmatism prevented him from becoming an underaged lush. But it gave him ideas for what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to own and operate his own bar or pub.

Since neither his family or friends could help him much in learning how to bartend, he decided to go to college for the knowledge. He sought an Associate's degree in bartending, but the Wichita schools didn't offer the program at that time. So he looked further abroad, and didn't have to go out of state. Kansas City Community College offered the degree. So after graduation, he took his grants and meager scholarships and uprooted to the City of Fountains. While he studied at KCCC, Al worked at a bar (naturally) as an assistant bartender, apprenticed under its willing owner and head bartender. The tavern was called the High Barrel, and it was located not far from the Kansas City University -- a college bar. Robert Vise was the owner and operator, and was more than happy to help Al learn the trade.

Of course, while Al worked for Robert at the High Barrel, he was encouraged to taste the drinks he would have to make. And the young man enjoyed his liquor. However, he found more and more than whenever he got drunk, his dreams would take a turn for the odd and whimsical. So intense did these strange dreams become that he began to fear that something was wrong with him. But he wouldn't give up bartending or drinking. Even when he began to imagine that he was growing fatter and shorter. Of course, he was slowly putting on weight from the alcohol consumption. But was he getting shorter…? Perhaps only in his mind's eye.

Chrysalis & Tutelage

After work and school at home, Al began to seek escape from his life's growing weirdness through his music. He would sit down and strum his guitar to his little heart's content. Then one night, only a year into this new life, he sat down in his house with a glass of whiskey and his Collings guitar. Like many other evenings, he began to play some of his favorite songs. But as the night went on and the whiskey bottle emptied, Al found he didn't want to stop playing. In fact, he felt as if he couldn't. The young man felt supercharged with the urge to play and play. A surge of hunger to make music beautiful to his ears overwhelmed him, and he sank into his strumming all night long. This Dream Dance ended at dawn, and he felt more alive and aware than ever.

Al finally went to shower and go to bed. But he saw himself in the mirror -- and what he saw wasn't possible! He wasn't a man anymore. He was more akin to a plump, stout dwarf! He blinked in shock and decided it was the sleepless buzz he still felt. So he showered and went to bed. The young man slept all day long, missing his shift at work and class alike. Al didn't wake up until the doorbell rang. There at the door was his boss, Robert Vise. And in Robert he saw the reflection that he viewed the early morning before. Robert greeted his apprentice with a smile. Al's shock returned, but Robert quickly reassured the youth. He found Al through concern about the young man's failure to show up for work, but that he also noticed the surge of Glamour of Al's Chrysalis. Robert offered to show Al the truth of his life, and how to adapt to the Chrysalis. Confused and still in shock, Al agreed.

And so began his fosterage. Robert brought Al back to the High Barrel. Immediately, the older Boggan offered the Chrysalid a drink and began to tutor him in the secreted ways of the Kithain. Al learned much that night but had much more to learn. He ended up dropping out of college to focus on his apprenticeship to his fellow Boggan, Robert. Al quickly embraced his new life, enjoying its good nature and whimsy. Combined with the fact that he was pursuing his desired career, Al was a happy camper indeed. In the traditional year of the fosterage, Al picked up all the basic gremayre and a bit of fae magic, too. Robert tested Al at the end of that year. Al was challenged on his knowledge, proving that the examination was both academic and esoteric. But Robert also included Al's general handy-man skills, since a good Boggan would require such abilities to be a decent helper to his fellow fae and mankind.

Fortunately, Al was a bright chap and passed all of the tests with flying colors. So Robert threw a big bash in his honor. He invited a number of his fae acquaintances while offering a round of free drinks to every customer. Everyone got trashed. Among the guests was a Satyress who acted as the local Namer for the commoners. Amidst the revelry, the Satyress pronounced Al as Kithain, and then made sure the young man didn't pass the night unlaid!

Early Years

Afterwards, Al continued to pursue his ambition. He wanted to own his establishment, stylized after classic English pubs. But Robert was very helpful in this regard, too. The Boggans worked together, scouring the area in search of a decent location. They soon found an old bar in need of repairs, but the owners were stubbornly charging more than it was worth. Robert helped Al with the cost, too. He helped the youth score a bank loan to put down the mortgage for the place. With a couple other local Boggans, Al got the bar up to par in no time. He added his own flavors of décor and style to reflect his pub image. The place had a limited second floor area, and Al made that his humble apartment home. Within a year of his Naming, Al had his own tavern and a new home in the suburbs of Kansas City. He christened his place "Rara Avis" ("rare bird"), pleased with how things were turning out so early in his life.

And while Robert maintained his own place, Al could count on his teacher for advice at almost any time. For all of the older Boggan's aid, Al even gave the man a 3% profit cut of whatever he took in at the Rara Avis. As the next few years ticked by, Robert slowly lowered it down to 1%, and eventually Al would owe his mentor no gratuity at all. Of course, even if this gratuity never existed, the first few years for Al and the Rara Avis were far from a cake walk. Daily, Al was presented with the tough challenge of getting a new business off the ground and flying. But his savvy and pluck kept things going long enough to attract a regular customer base. He could afford better help and to live with a little less stress.

Of course, Al kept in contact with his human family. They were all off doing their own things, however, so he didn't have much to maintain in those relationships. But he made plenty of friends and acquaintances through the Rara Avis. His associates included humans, changelings, and Prodigals alike. But that same pluck made it patently clear who was in charge -- in his pub, he was the boss. Period. He proved that he was perfectly capable of lugging drunk ruffians out of the place and dumping them on the roadside. Al came respected for his ability to end brewing bar-brawls by persuasive words or fists. He put those "commando moves" his brother showed him years ago to good use! And also, at Robert's behest, Al kept firearms and a baseball bat on the premises. The bat and shotgun were behind the bar. The revolver he kept in his apartment.

Twice -- twice did thugs try to rob him and his pub at gunpoint. But he never cooperated (despite the chiding police gave him afterwards). Both times someone pulled a gun, he ducked down and picked up the shotgun, yelling, "We don't negotiate with terrorists, but we sure do force-feed 'em buckshot!!!" And the robbers beat a hasty retreat once they realized they were looking down the business end of a 12 gage. Of course, the cops said he was just lucky. But little did they know that Al "encouraged" the robbers' flight with a bit of faerie magic!

Recent Years

By 2004, the business of Rara Avis settled into a steadiness. Al began to experiment with his own brewing designs in his free time. He tried to make the perfect house ale. He knew he had a lot of ground to cover in that regard, but he wasn't close to giving up. Who knows? Maybe one of his acquaintances had some good advice. Ultimately, however, Al was chilling out and enjoying a life of relative comfort. He was making other people happy and in that he found his own contentment. Now all that remained to be seen was whether that harmony could endure whatever upsetting events the future held in store for Alberic Brice and his Rara Avis.

Remembrance


Al's fae memories are at this time undeveloped, shaky, and uncertain. The Boggan cannot depend on much more than occasional and vague glimpses to the past, recent and distant. Such visions come to him most often, he realizes, when he's under duress -- much like flashbacks. He doesn't pick fights to incite his memories. An unpleasant hangover will do. His experiments with developing his own personal brew dabble also into fey spirits. He doesn't know enough to really toy with that sort of thing yet. Should he succeed, the visions he could glean would be quite impressive. Maybe he should speak with the Fianna?

Retinue


Al doesn't actually keep Enchanted humans on his staff. All of his pub's workers are unEnchanted and unaware of their employer's true nature and the fae in general. Also, the demanding work also causes an unfortunate turnover rate in waitresses. Only his assistant bartenders have proven accountable so far. Their names are Kelly Lear and Paul Boyson. The woman is in her late 20s and Paul is in his early 30s. Their help is indispensable to the young but successful Boggan and his pub, the Rara Avis. (No, he didn't name it after the Corax's nickname for their Crinos form. Maybe they should have patented the term.)

Bunk Styles


Style: Arts & Crafts
Examples: Play a song, strum guitar, polish glass, wipe down bartop, chug a pint

Significant Other


Kallie Augustia flitted into the Rara Avis in 2004. Alberic was almost instantly bewitched by the sweet if wyld butterfly Pooka. To his shock, the Boggan earned Kallie's affections in short time. Before she was ready to swear love, Al felt those deeper passions. But only a month later, Kallie was promising her heart to the Boggan in return. And a good thing, too: the birdie was pregnant! But they stuck together, Al keeping the Pooka close with undying adoration. On February 22nd, in the middle of a busy night at the pub, Kallie had to be swept off to the hospital to give birth to their healthy baby boy, Hadley. Hadley, Kinain, will surely carry the torch of Glamour into the future while Al and Kallie glorify in an even rarer beauty.

Kallie

Weakness
A Kind Hand


They say dogs know better than to bite the hand that feeds them. That may be true. But some people are worse than dogs. One of these days, one of those curs out there will take advantage of Al's good nature and hospitality, and bite him. Hopefully, not literally...

Likelihood of Corruption


Low.

Al's too nice a guy to go wicked and vicious. The worst thing about him is that sometimes he expects something in return for his hospitality or services. Gee, imagine that, wanting to be compensated for time, effort, and sometimes more? But refusing his requests will bring out the Unseelie Boggan in him, with all the manipulative and mischievous trimmings with which that comes...

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