King Alric Burkhard of the Fire Dragon Clan
Born – October, 1392
Age – 627 (as of summer 2020)
Appearance age – mid- to late 30s
Dragon – Fire
Height – 5’9”
Eye color – Prussian blue
Hair color – dark, salt and pepper with more gray at the temples
Hair style – short on the side, slightly longer on the top, incredibly thick and wavy hair.
Facial Hair – none
Education – It’s taken Alric more years than he’d care to admit, but he has acquired his master’s degree in business management. He hates any time that takes him away from his duties to his people, but he felt that the added study would help him to be a stronger leader and better prepare for his people’s future.
History – Beloved only child of the royal family, Alric grew up cherished and a bit spoiled. When he was young, his parents were always there to remind him of his duty to his clan, the mages, and all dragons everywhere. But given the long natural lives of dragons, Alric never took his responsibilities too seriously since he was sure that it would be many centuries before he ever took his seat on the throne.
Then the great Dragon War began and everything changed almost overnight.
Duties he shirked or otherwise ignored became lifelines for him in the chaos. While a young Alric hadn’t been overly responsible, he’d always respected and treasured his dragon heritage. He loved the various mage clans, loving to spend time among them and watch them weave their magic spells.
In one of the final battles of the War, Alric fought beside his father. Alric tried to protect the king, but he wasn’t fast enough or maybe just not strong enough. Alric was horribly wounded in the battle, but instead of seeking medical attention, he remained by his dying father’s side, trying everything he could to save his life. But it was too late.
As a result, Alric was horribly scarred. In his human form, on his left side, he has scars running down from his shoulder and all long his left arm with a few paler scars peeking out along his hand and pinky finger. The scars also extend to the left side of his back.
His left arm and hand are considerably weakened due to the injury. He has partially limited motion of the arm and he typically doesn’t grab or carry things in his left hand if he can avoid it.
In his dragon form, his left wing is greatly deformed. As a result, Alric cannot fly and has not flown since the day his father died.
Personality notes – Since assuming the title of king, Alric has become serious almost to a fault. Dragons tend to put a lot of weight and importance on their physical prowess and impressiveness of their dragon. Because Alric is permanently injured, Alric fears that his people see him as a weak or possibly even an incompetent king.
Due to that deep-seated insecurity, Alric pushes himself even harder to be the great king he believed his father was and the great king his people deserve to be.
The lack of mages and the constantly dwindling number of dragons has weighed heavily on him. He sees it as a personal failure that he hasn’t been able to locate mates for his people. Alric will always put the needs of the people before his own needs.
On a personal side, the only ones who get to see his moments of weakness, his surprised laughter, and his rare explosions of temper are Dieter, Gunter, Baldewin, and Ravi. They are his inner circle and the only ones who truly know him.
Dieter has become his surrogate father as well as most trusted advisor. Dieter brings his long memory and experiences to inform Alric how past kings would have handled a situation.
Gunter is a friend that he made during his youth. They were never incredibly close before the war, but Alric always respected his incredible intelligence and dedication to expanding his knowledge as well as the cumulative knowledge of his clan.
Baldewin is another friend made during his youth and they were incredibly close when they were growing up. Baldewin might have retained more of his lightness from youth than Alric, but he has always made Alric’s safety and protection his number one concern above all other things. He also believes that Alric is an amazing king and only wishes that his old friend could see it as well.
Ravi is like an annoying little brother, but Alric absolutely cherishes him. Ravi was adopted by the Burkhard clan after the death of his parents at the end of the war. All of the clan loves Ravi and his endless happiness. Alric might overplay his irritation with Ravi because it has become something of a secret game between them. Ravi is the only one who can consistently make Alric smile.
Book Appearances:
