Charles Julian Huard

Name: Charles Julian Huard

Nickname: Jules

Age: 27

''' Gender: '''Male

''' Planet:''' Tellurus

''' Job:''' Pianist

''' Hobby: '''Playing piano

Player: Liz

Playlist: Here!

Personality
Julian is a mostly friendly guy whose got more than enough eccentricities about him to keep him interesting (or irritating). He's incredibly superstitious and methodic in his daily activities, completely devoted to his musical skill, and perhaps a bit too fond of drinking.

History
Julian is a huge disappointment to his family, so much so that his parents do not bother communicating with him any longer, and instead, invest their pride in his older brother, Stephen. It all started in his childhood, when he frequently brought home dismal grades in his classes at school. Though his parents never expected their second son to be brilliant or even be top of the class, they did pressure him to pass his classes at the very least, but Julian was just not interested in any of that sort of work.

If At First You Don't Succeed... Quit And Do Something Else
As it was, young Julian just had an ear for music. Though many speculate if this is because his mother would use the soothing sounds of the symphonies of long ago to settle the violent kicking of the child in her womb, any such speculation was irrelevant when it came to not only the boy's devotion to music, but his skill in making it. Through a private tutor, it was discovered that Julian excelled at the piano. Since his parents were unable to afford to buy him little more than small, child's keyboard, after his first public recital, the young prodigy was gifted with a rather beat up (but full size!) hand-me-down piano from his tutor. From that point on, the notion that young Julian would have a career in anything other than music was quashed.

Graduating his primary education two years later than he was supposed to, it was at this point in his life that Julian was given the boot from his parent's house. He was nineteen. With no savings to live on, he set out to secure a job, finding one, eventually, as a pianist at a formal restaurant in Perivale. With some luck, he was able to convince the owner of that restaurant to include a meal before his session each night, and was donated a second-hand tuxedo from the maître d', Thomas Clarke. Growing to become good friends, Thomas introduced Julian to a new way of life upon Tellurus. Clarke was a key figure in the underground Osidge-scene, which touted itself as the "true intellectual" class of Tellurus. Those Osidge-ers denounced the upper classes and the government, establishing a society in their own society; a cultural movement that encouraged freedom from big brother, forced loans, military service, and seemingly embraced the minds of the past, including their creations artistic, historical, and literary.

T.S. Occupancy
A year or so after his initial employment at the restaurant, Julian received a letter from the conductor of the Tellurusian Symphony Orchestra inviting him to have an open chair among their ranks, but only if the boy agreed to play whenever he was needed/called upon. With the prospect of those instances being a lucrative deal for Julian, he accepted with the TSO and resigned with the restaurant. By this point, he and Thomas had become such good friends that not only was Julian making a name for himself in the underground intellectual scene, but his near constant visiting to Thomas’ warehouse parties ended up with an invitation extended to the pianist for permanent residence.

He was given a third story room with a view that was entirely industrial, composed mostly of the other, taller warehouses that surrounded their block, but in that view Julian found some comfort. In particular, he found himself growing especially fond of the pretty young thing across the street, often serenading her through his open, multi-paned window betwixt suggestive smiles and shouted invitations for her to join them at the next big party. Triumphantly, and slightly to Julian’s surprise, the woman did show, announcing herself as Francine Pearson, and in the tradition of long nights at the Clarke warehouse, a series of events lead to Julian discovering that Francine had a beautiful singing voice. It was from that point on that Francine, now dubbed “Fran” by those at the Clarke warehouse, became another prominent face in the underground scene, often delighting in performing with Julian for friendly audiences. Though many speculated that Julian and Fran were an item of sorts, they remained firm in their stance that they were just friends. Truth was, Fran was much more interested in Thomas than Julian.

Le Cafard Maudits
As the warehouse parties were growing more and more notorious, spread via word of mouth, and becoming increasingly packed with people that were simply interested in a slice of the occupants debauchery, Thomas and his closest friends came together in a meeting of the minds that they would open a new venue for drinking and dancing in an effort to divert most of the depravity from their place of residence before big brother caught on enough to actually do something other than send them rude cease and desist letters via post. The group, at that time consisting of seven main individuals, took to the streets with the intent to raise the initial credits needed for rent and upkeep. For their contributions, Julian and Fran, accompanied additionally by a violinist named Arthur Isherwood, began a tradition and renowned activity within the enclave, setting up in various train stations around the main island of Tellurus (with preference given to those in Neoponsit) to street perform. While their idea was a rather resourceful one, and they did end up fetching a pretty handsome sum of credits, most of their earnings were spent before the trio returned back to the warehouse, celebratory drinks being a favorite to indulge in on the way home.

As it was, such callous spending did not bother Thomas very much, and having a good amount saved up from his maître d' years, he was able to rent a small basement space around the corner from his warehouse. Naturally, Julian, Fran, Arthur, and a wealth of others were hired as various staff in addition to entertainment, and it was seemingly overnight that the small bar-club was a hit. Le Cafard, it was dubbed, and its maintainers le Cafard Maudits, or, the damned cockroaches, for their rather self-destructive, carefree (and careless) lifestyles.

Systemic Alliances
T

B

C

!

Public Knowledge

 * Julian officially plays at a underground venue in south east Osidge called le Cafard, which is a dingy speakeasy-esque bar that is open from dark until the sun comes up. In between his sets he can be seen drinking and dancing with whomever will allow it; in this setting, he is quite the social butterfly.
 * He is known to wear knit gloves and mittens, even in the summer, to protect his most valuable asset: his hands. In addition, before his performances, he will soak his hands in warm (increasing to hot) water to loosen up his fingers.
 * Whenever he plays, he hums along with the piano's notes. This frequently makes it difficult for anyone to get a clean recording of his skill.
 * He lives in a co-op warehouse in Osidge with his closest friends and the owners of le Cafard, where people of all sorts come and go as they please. They are known to throw massive parties that are occasionally themed. It's a rather bohemian lifestyle.
 * Though he does prefer to stick to the small club scene for his performances, the Tellurusian Symphony Orchestra has been known to occasionally call Julian in to perform with them; they are especially fond of doing this for visiting dignitaries in an effort to have on display their best talent.
 * Julian and his group are frequently seen in the train stations playing/singing/entertaining for credits. For this purpose, he keeps a child's toy piano.
 * If Julian and his group are trying to convey sensitive information to each other, they will often speak French. Likewise, most of the performances at le Cafard are sung in French.

Other Character Relationships

 * Na'ima: Though the two have never met in person (as Julian is pretty petrified of travelling to Tala'tala), they were introduced through the net via common friends. They grew to become very close friends themselves, and keep in touch with each other using their datapads. Julian has been trying to convince Na'ima to leave Tala'tala for Tellurus, offering to put her up with him for nothing, but she seems intent on staying where she is for the time being.