Name : Julius Erlich, (born Dietrich Erlich)

<<< I'm finding it near-impossible to pronounce the J here... but then I suppose I shouldn't -- SimonBooth >>>

Born : 13th September, 1885, in Erlangen, Germany

Occupation : Doctor

Julius is thin, and just over medium height, with wild, wiry greying hair chaotically spread over the top of his head, and thick round glasses, usually badly in need of a clean. He speaks with a heavy german accent, although his English is reasonable otherwise.

At work, he wears a spotless white coat over a sober grey suit. Socially, he wears just the suit - normally badly creased. Julius tends towards the North German outlook, saving every penny life affords, and his suits are uniformly several years old, and cheap and unfashionable when bought.

Julius is a poor conversationalist - his only passion in life is science, and understanding the rules that define and drive the world. His enthusiasm leads him to attempt share his excitement with others, but he's not a good communicator and he can't understand how anyone could not find science fascinating: as a result he alienates even those who could be interested.

Julius, though basically a relatively open, compassionate, human being, has very few friends of any sort. This drives him further into himself and he comes across as very cold and eccentric.

Julius' lungs are very weak, and he suffers from a chronic cough.

Characteristics

Languages:

Other Skills:

Science

Practical

Background (Public):

A skilled Doctor. Lives in a cheap flat above his surgery (No 104, Church Street, in the Irish quarter of TheSlums). He treats all comers, and doesn't ask questions, though he won't do anything he believes isn't in keeping with the hippocratic oath (abortion, euthanasia...). Charges as little as he can and still keep himself running (though burly men with bullet wounds might find his rates a bit higher).

Doesn't socialise much - introduced to TheUnitySociety by EricColigny (but doesn't like to talk about how they met), spends most of his time there in the library reading.

Doesn't like to talk about the war, and always finds excuses to leave the room when it's mentioned.

Julius claims he was trained as a doctor in Germany, and that he moved to France before the start of the First World War

Background (Private)

Julius was involved in Germany's Mustard Gas research program. He won't talk about this, but his name (Dietrich Erlich) is on several papers published (in german) regarding the effects of caustic agents and mustard gas on the lungs, etc. He has found one of those papers in the Library at the Club - and it's been catalogued, so he can't simply destroy it.

<<< ... a botched Library Juice roll. --SimonBooth >>>

Julius was drafted into the germany army from a medical research position at Munich University, and after (very) basic military training, was assigned to the Mustard Gas program. He entered into it with some gusto at first, out of a sense of patriotism, but soon began to have serious concerns about the ethics of what he was doing. Experiencing mustard gas first hand in a laboratory accident was instrumental in changing his attitude.

Julius never defected, not believing himself important enough to be of interest to the Allies, and also not wanting to be pressed into weapons reasearch for the other side. When a chance came, he took it, and crossed over to the Allied side of the lines, where he worked out the rest of the war treating victims of Mustard Gas, changing his name to Julius Erlich, and claiming to be from Poland.

There will be a few nasty stories about JuliusErlich dataing from his time in the field hospitals. The most effective way (at the time) to decontaminate someone who's been subjected to mustard gas is to douse them with hypochlorite bleaches: Julius would have known this, and done so where possible. Very few of the other hospital workers would have understood, and rumours of him torturing patients would have spread.

At the end of the war he moved to America, seeing it as the land of Science and the Future, where he could help shape a better tomorrow. It hasn't worked out like that, and he wound up in Unity in TheSlums. He's slowly gained some respect from the people there, and moved up a little in the world.

Julius's practice isn't licenced. He's not quite sure how to go about it, knows that he doesn't have the necessary paperwork, and doesn't want to do anything to draw attention to himself.

Timeline

Other Characters

Julius treated EricColigny during the war, and they struck up some form of friendship during the months of recuperation before Eric was fit to travel. Julius was delighted to stumble across him in Unity, and was introduced to TheUnitySociety by him.

Julius hasn't been around women much, except in a professional sense, so LisaDaVinci makes him uncomfortable, and slightly wistful. But he's sufficently socially inept anyway that no-one's likely to notice.

JackProctor is a reminder of the war, and everything Julius has to feel guilty about: he avoids him where possible, but keeps an eye open for any way he could help him, and pay off a little more of his debt.

RobertJohnson is a fellow intellectual, although little interested in the sciences. Julius doesn't understand the whole 'young wife' thing, but enjoys the occasional discussion with him. Robert also speaks excellent German and enjoys a chance to use it, and Julius finds it very pleasant to be allowed to use his native tongue once in a while.

<<< As he's an unlicensed doctor, perhaps he gets his supplies from HayesWebster -- SimonBooth >>>

<<< Is the below okay: Julius would feel very uncomfortable buying things illegally from the society barman -- AldenSpiess >>>

<<< Yes - that makes sense. Of course, everyone buys from Gray, not Webster. Would Julius accept Hayes as the intermediate? The prices wouldn't be all that reasonable, though.. just low enough that Erlich would accept. >>>

<<< Julius wouldn't be happy knowing that Hayes was involved, but wouldn't need to know - he could just get letters from Gray telling him to be at a certain place at a certain time, and to bring the money. He'd find the stuff waiting, leave the money, and walk away. Hayes would be watching from the shadows. -- AldenSpiess >>>

<<< Julius genuinely does charge as little as he can, and would be very likely to treat someone who knew Gray's name for free - provided Gray was giving him reasonable prices. Would Hayes/Gray reckon it worth selling Julius supplies at cost to have a tame doctor? -- AldenSpiess >>>

<<< Prior to TheCasket, probably not. Afterwards, certainly. -- SimonBooth >>>

Julius doesn't drink, so has little to do with HayesWebster, but after Julius once mentioned to Hayes that he had to turn away a patient because he didn't have the equipment needed to treat him, Hayes has been able to point Julius to JonathanGray, who has been able to supply him with a good range of medical equipment at reasonable prices (via an intermediate).

Julius isn't sure that a lady getting involved in business is quite proper, but America seems to be far more relaxed about this kind of thing, so it's probably alright, and RebeccaSwarovski seems very sensible otherwise.

Julius isn't very comfortable about AlsoudHassam. The man seems very exciteable, and may not be very well balanced, and doesn't seem overly fond of Julius, so Julius tries to kep largely out of his way.

No feelings either way for the rest of the PCs

JuliusErlich owns a .38 revolver, which he keeps locked in the desk drawer in his surgery.

The Erlich Diary contains Julius' few scribblings on society matters.

History of Mustard Gas: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWmustard.htm

Chemistry of Mustard Gas: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Chemistry/MOTM/mustard/mustard.htm

Julius is AldenSpiess' PC