WIP

[hider=The Union Leader]
Name: Alberic Bourneham
Age: 34
Profession/vocation: Dyer, Trade Union Leader
Affiliation: Erdley Textile Workers Association
Skills:
- Operation and maintenance of steam-powered machinery
- Understanding of chemistry
- Dyeing textile
- Organisation

Traits: 
- Ambitious
- Impatient
- Charitable
- Uncompromising
- Opportunistic

Personality:

Biography:
Working for a small pharmacy James Bourneham, father of Alberic, could afford a small house and maintain his wife and three children. The street Alberic and his two sisters grew up in was lined with the narrow brick houses that rose up in huge blocks on the outskirts of Kingstone. With the wages of both parents Alberic and his sisters all attended high school but had to work in the hours after school and in the weekends. There was little time for playing around but it was clear to Alberic, even at an early age, that his life was considerably more pleasant than that of many of his neighbours. Only a handful of children in the neighbourhood could afford attending school as most had to find employment to get bread on the table. Marcus, one of his close childhood friends, often shared stories about his work cleaning the machinery in a textile mill. However, over time the two grew apart as Alberic developed new interests and ideas while Marcus never seemed to talk about anything other than the gossip of the neighbourhood and accidents at the mill. Alberic felt he was destined for greater things than to be stuck in the squalor of a working class neighbourhood.

When he graduated from high school Alberic was sent off to university to study chemistry. At first the university was a symbol for intellectualism, sophistication and all the things he desired but could not find back home, but soon he found that nothing had changed. He found new friends but quickly saw that he did not belong. The gap between the rich and poor, even at the university was as clear as day. Gradually Alberic’s escapism changed into frustration and involved himself in social movements and political discussions. However, his new life ended abruptly when his father passed away suddenly and Alberic had to leave the university. Having lost the main source of income Alberic was forced to take a job as a dyer at a textile mill. The same textile mill where his childhood friends had worked for years.

His father’s death had been hard to deal and as time passed his sadness did not disappear but turned into anger. He felt he deserved more than this and as he looked at the plight of those around him knew that his colleagues deserved more too. Reunited, as fate would have it, with his old friend Marcus, Alberic shared his ideas of equality and change. Word spread and soon groups of people gathered to talk of work and politics. As the gatherings grew and Marcus reached out to his friends in other factories, the Erdley Textile Workers Association was created. For a while its leadership consisted of representatives of the factories, often old men who had been working at the mills for decades. Though the movement was growing and there was talk of strikes and sabotage, things were moving far too slow for Alberic. He felt that the old guard could not see the bigger picture and never hesitated to share this with his colleagues. Over the years his ideas of equality turned more radical and his thoughts on justice ever more violent. Ultimately Alberic volunteered himself to negotiate with the factory owners and became the de facto head of the association.[/hider]