Ricci/Intro

Introduction Just this once, let's be honest. You wouldn't believe that the fount of cheerfulness and play, Ricci Alva, has had some nasty turns in his life. But this is the World of Darkness, after all, right? It started with his parents, two honestly innocent people in the city of San Bernadino, CA. His mama, Felicia Alvia (nee Palomo), was a second-generation Filipino American, who already had it rough constantly acting as her family's translator and caretaker. Then, she had Ricci before she even graduated high school. His papa, a Filipino-Mexican named David Alva, was still in school too, and long story short, let's just say the birth control didn't work. In fear, the couple dropped out of high school together, scoured the city for jobs, and settled into one of the housing projects on the West side of town. Life was... well, strained. But somehow, Ricci proved to be their little bottle of sunshine. Despite the rough-and-tumble of their neighborhood, he was ever the dreamer and socialite. He enjoyed reading, playing games, and all the other things good little kids did. He had his little gang of kids he fell in with, troublemakers really, who tried to mimic the works of graffiti artists, pickpocket for shiny things and money, and otherwise breed mischief wherever they happened to go. A couple of times, Ricci found himself being dragged home by police officers as his mother frantically apologized to the evil, angry men and women in suits. Regardless, though, Ricci had a deep appreciation for streetlife, and he lived it up. He fell in love with hip hop culture and all of its "artifacts": the rhythm, the dance styles, spoken word and conscious rap, and artistic battles in the streets. By the age of ten, he still managed to be a little bottle of sunshine in his bright-colored, torn up clothes, who could out-dougie just about anyone. Then, just before the age of twelve, Ricci's world... shifted. First, his father was sent to jail for getting involved with real gangs, trying to support his family. Felicia panicked, now left alone to raise Ricci. Her panic rubbed off on her son, who became suddenly introverted and sad. But there were people at school who noticed, in particular, one of the school counselors, who just so happened to be a frog pooka grump. She had had suspicions that Ricci was a changeling for awhile now, and she had been waiting for the boy to realize it soon. So, she called him into her office one day. He spilled his guts to her (mostly truths), and then suddenly he asked her a strange question. "Why, Mrs. Loren, is there always a big stick in your room?" He was, of course, referring to the woman's chimerical quarterstaff... and that was all she needed to know. It wasn't long after until Ricci had a beautiful dream about the waters on the California coast, and he awoke to find everything in his world was completely different than it had ever been. The next morning, Mrs. Loren was at his house, talking with his mother. The counselor offered consolance and for a place to stay for Ricci until Felicia could get back on her feet. His mother, surprisingly, agreed. Ricci then was brought to what looked like an abandoned library but was in fact a sidhe's freehold, the Deep Running River. Owned by the Sidhe, Lord Mellios of Waterfalls, this was essentially to be one of Ricci's homes. His other home was a small Suburban-esque household thirty-five minutes away belonging to Mrs. Norris herself, whose True Name was Lotus Pondheart. Like many before him, Ricci was brought up in the ways of the Fae, learning about what it meant to be a changeling, to be a pooka, and of course, to be a part of a freehold. He swore an Oath of Fealty to Lord Mellios, and was charged as part of his retinue as his Jester while he was a childling. Lord Mellios also tasked Ricci with a few quests here and there, primarily to retrieve his various treasures or some other chimeric thing or creature of value. His current mentor, Lotus, had given him her quarterstaff--as Lord Mellios intended to promote her with a sword to call her own. It also had something to do with Ricci's fae name, and somehow Dan played a part in giving him his weapon of true. Meanwhile, Mellios wanted Ricci to find a new mentor until he settled into his wilder age. He travelled with a small group to Morros Bay, where he found another otter pooka named Porifina. She always wanted her own little student, so she took him in. She was quite skilled in fae magic, so she tutored him in many of the Arts she knew and understood--particularly in Legerdemain and Wayfare. He lived awhile with her before he returned back to San Bernadino. In the mundane world, Ricci returned to his biological mother prior midway through high school. He became the captain of his swim team and started teaching hip hop dance for a few extra pennies to support his mother. He enjoyed, most of all, turning "ugly ducklings" with no rhythm into "swans." In the faerie world, Ricci rose to the status of herald in Mellios's court, and spent a lot of his time traveling and meeting other fae--both distasteful and deliciously pleasant. He valued relationships though, as the social limelight was his playground. He was particularly gifted at keeping the peace between Unseelie and Seelie, regardless of their disputes, and his way of sweeping dirt under the rug gained him a little fame in SoCal. He also bobbed and weaved gracefully out of Banality and strongly maintained his Glamour in spite of things. Eventually, Ricci graduated from high school, and the length of time on his Oath to Lord Mellios was drawing near. He moved out of his mother's house, went on to attend a community college for a little bit, but focusing a majority of his time on privately teaching dance and hanging out on the streets. It was during this time he played around with marijuana and hookah, becoming a little too friendly with the (albeit pretty harmless) latter for the "softer highs" it provided him. But the Fae are whimsical beings, and Ricci is no different. He left the Freehold of Lord Mellios only just recently, and bored with San Bernadino and in need of a new fae family, he decided to travel to the city of Prospect. Here, he now attends a four-year university, hoping to get his degree in Dance. But he is far more interested in what Prospect has to offer in oh, let's say...the supernatural. Of many things, he has decided to serve the Dutchess Dahlia Rengstorff La Fleur, now serving as /her/ herald. But what other shiny things and people lurk around the corner for Ricci?