Ulysses Allardyce
Race: Human
Birthday: the 27th of Yaris 2677
Age: 42
FC: Dexter Fletcher
Birthday: the 27th of Yaris 2677
Age: 42
FC: Dexter Fletcher
Place of Origin: Old Rose Harbor
Current Location: Old Rose Harbor
Occupation: Propriator of The Leviathan public house, smuggler, import/export merchant, fence, criminal facilitator
Player Name: Runcible Spoon
Current Location: Old Rose Harbor
Occupation: Propriator of The Leviathan public house, smuggler, import/export merchant, fence, criminal facilitator
Player Name: Runcible Spoon
Physical Description
No one who looks at the elder of the two Allardyce brothers would call him a great beauty. Distinctive, yes; with heavy eyelids, a wide full mouth, pale eyes, a perpetual 3-days beard, and thick, loosely curling hair gone prematurely grey, but not conventionally handsome. Yet that is merely to look him. When he speaks, well that is an entirely different kettle of fish. His voice is in the middle range and full of lively character, and a curious combination of sly good humor, savvy, and just enough dangerous charm to make him magnetic. He’s winkled out many a secret from an unsuspecting patron just by telling a good story in his raffish way, and encouraging stories to be told in turn.
By human standards, Ulysses is modestly tall, being a little less than six feet in height, and possessed of a spare frame and expressive, competent hands. When standing behind his bar, pouring drinks and swapping stories, he lounges about in a comfortable way, leaning on the bar, perching languidly on an upturned keg, or mixing drinks with just a bit of a flourish.
In mode of dress, he favors checked or striped shirts with the sleeves rolled up past the elbow, functional, closefitting vests, weathered and well-loved neckerchiefs, sensible trousers, and heavy boots. When going out, he dons one of his long, dark overcoats and a wide-brimmed hat. There is a general comfortable, even genteel shabbiness about him, as though everything is second or third hand, but would last for decades.
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Personality
Ulysses Allardyce is a chancer, a sly operator, a bit of a cocky bastard, and above all he is out for himself. Well, himself, his bar, his business interests, and his idiot brother. He is not a hard man, not even really a villain in the usual sense, but he’s not a man to cross. He can hold grudges and like a bit of revenge. But then, what man of the Rose doesn’t? One has to throw one’s weight about. You follow?
Within the confines of his beloved Leviathan, he is a courteous and popular proprietor. He is good to his staff, hardly steals from their wages at all, and runs an efficient, reasonably clean, and convivial establishment. He can tolerate a little light insubordination, a good wrangle and can be persuaded to change his course, but The Leviathan is his, and within those walls, his final word is law. Yet he likes to think of himself as a benevolent despot, and the fact that he can keep staff for years on end speaks to the truth of this.
In his other business as an unscrupulous import/export merchant, fixer, and occasional smuggler he can be less warm and more paranoid, but then, it's a dangerous business. Paranoia goes with the territory. Lucrative though, and more than a little fun.
Underneath it all, the glib words, the sly grins, the plans within plans, Ulysses is a man who is convinced he will come to a bad end. Hanged buy the authorities, knifed by some angry business contact, killed by one of Hawke’s bullyboys. Those are the facts of his life. Still, he might as well enjoy the time he has, and if the bastards come for him, well, he’ll find a way to make them pay.
Backstory
His family had been seafaring people since anyone could remember. Some aboard ship, doing the Muluku Run, trading in spices, perfumes and coffee. Or rather, serving on the ships that made the runs. They never had the wealth to own a ship, let alone take anything other than the most modest shares of proceeds. His ancestors were pursers, boatswains, the occasional sawbones, or else they worked in the maritime trades ashore.
As for Ulysses himself, he had a traditional Allardyce upbringing. His father, Parnasas, when he wasn’t being a convivial free-spending drunk, worked as a carpenter on one ship or another. He could make a decent living so long as he was at sea. On shore he was useless. He fancied himself a sharp operator, and he was always looking out for the perfect business scheme that would make him a rich man. The opportunity never came. His mother, Violet, worked first as a barmaid and then set herself up as a supplier of legumes, salt pork, and such to both ships and local eating houses. It was not a glamorous trade, and it had its fair share of danger. It’s astonishing how vicious the victural supply trade is in the Rose. Still, Violet was able to provide a more secure source of income for the family, and she made a valuable network of connections. Her eldest son would eventually acquire that, along with her business savvy.
As a child, Ulysses indulged in some recreational pickpocketing, petty theft, and running meaningless cons and rigged card games. He was particularly good at the latter. This got him into trouble with all sorts of people, and eventually the Rose was hot enough for the budding card sharp that he ran off to sea. Being young, light, and full of energy, he started as a topmast hand before weedling his way into the position of Purser. He was a good scrounger, getting decent supplies at prices that were not quite whinging, and he barely counted as corrupt. Well, he’d take the traditional Purser’s tithe, but he figured tradition mattered.
His trade was not simple in purchasing rope, salt pork, oxidized wine, and portable soup. He also made contacts who sold more ‘select’ merchandise. Antiques, opium, pieces of art, and so forth. A number of Imbai traders moved good through ships on which he served, and even a rather devious set of Bastian antiques dealers and auctioneers made use of his web of contacts. So did other, rather less salubrious concerns. So what if he occasionally smuggled goods for the Bad Brothers? They paid, sometimes even paid well. Who was he to turn away good business?
He worked aboard ship for nearly fifteen years, usually as Purser, sometimes a more general mercantile negotiator. His maritime career was prematurely ended when he got into a rather nasty disagreement with a thuggish set of sailors from Hesse. They did not understand sea-going traditions and took objection to Ulysses’ price fixing and customary fiddles. Instead the Hessans considered that a badly broken leg, dislocated shoulders, and a broken nose were the price Ulysses would have to pay for his perfectly reasonable swindles.
It took months for him to make something that approached a full recovery. And it was during his convalescence that his mother decided to die. It was incredibly inconvenient. With the family’s main source of income in jeopardy, Ulysses took on his mother’s affairs. He expanded them. He bought shares in some of the bars he now supplied, and made good use of the space. He rather liked the bars. His maritime connections and Purser’s savvy made him a natural in the trade. He leased first one warehouse, and then another, and finally a third. None of them were very large (which is why he needed three of them), and they generally filled up with the kinds of mundane goods his mother had traded in. For reasons he has never been quite able to explain, he always had far too many jars of pickled onions and brined olives.
Some unpleasantness with the local powers-that-be obliged him to sell off his leases and liquidate most of his assets. It was a setback, but nor a permanent one.
Using what cash he had, and taking out some ill-advised loans, he purchased the lease on an old waterside warehouse that was attached to a drinking establishment called The Leviathan. He already owned part of the business, but he took over the running of the place. It was a useful hub from which to re-establish his business, entertain business associates, and keep up on rumors and gossip. Never underestimate the value of good gossip.
From this hub, Ulysses is trying to recover his cash, pay off his loans, and keep his independence. He’s worked with the Bad Brothers on several occasions; acquiring contraband goods, moving people and product, providing secure storage facilities, and most importantly, facilitating meetings at The Leviathan. But he is pointedly not one of them. Frankly, he’d probably be a better criminal that they are, if only he could just seize control of some small, but lucrative, element of the black market, or make a name himself the indispensable man for arranging matters.
Perhaps he is his father’s son after all.
Aptitude Skills
Mental
Average
Average
Physical
Poor
Poor
Social
Good
Good
Focus Skills
Career and Income
Housing and Inventory
Goals
- Build up his business and pay off his debts
- Maintain his independence from the Bad Brothers
- Make a name for himself as a noted player in the black market
