Louie

"Hey Baloo, what can Louie do for you?"

Squat, hairy, and always quick with a wisecrack or song, Louie is one of the most colorful characters a pilot will ever meet. The scat-singing, tree-swinging owner of Louie's Place, Louie has made a name for himself by transforming a remote South Seas island into a haven for weary cargo pilots the world over. With his outgoing personality and party-loving nature, Louie has become the friend and familiar of every thirsty hedgehopper from Cape Suzette to Thembria.

Little is known about Louie prior to the establishment of his club and rise to stardom-of-sorts. Reportedly raised in Cape Suzette, he has never mentioned anything about his family. In fact, Louie's only known relative is the wild, party-loving ace pilot Louise L'amour, five-time winner of the Scatmandu Championship Air Race (and one family tie Louie would prefer to forget).

Working as a small-time entertainer in Cape Suzette, Louie was a gifted musician and expert bartender. Drifting from one nightclub to the next, Louie and a group of friends performed a few numbers per night and mixed fruit-juice cocktails afterward. Eventually, Louie came up with an idea for a place of his own, a jungle-themed nightclub that would serve Louie's special blend of scat music and refreshments. It was a move several colleagues felt would ruin his career, but Louie was willing to take the chance.

Scrounging every last penny of his hard-earned savings, Louie acquired a remote island property in the middle of the South Seas, several miles away from Cape Suzette. Lush and unexplored, the island was the perfect setting for his dream club and was conveniently situated near local air shipping routes. Building around an old sailing ship wreck on the shore, Louie constructed his club piece by piece with the help of several friends and fellow band members. Five years later, Louie's Place has become the "garden spot of the South Seas" and its owner a celebrity among pilots everywhere.

Louie is a born musician, always marching to his own beat. Easygoing and carefree, he breezes through life much like his longtime pal Baloo. His speciality is band music and singing — particularly with scat lyrics — and Louie has been known to take the stage himself during overnight jam sessions at his club. Louie's life revolves around music and partying; even his speech has a rhyming, somewhat musical quality.

Louie is also an expert when it comes to bartending, a skill which he displays with remarkable speed and flourish. His fruit drinks and desserts are world-famous, especially his flaming "Krakatoa Special". He is also known for making delicious pizzas — although not with anchovies, the only food that Louie is allergic to.

Louie values good times and friendship above all else. Even though he barely manages to squeeze a living out of his club, Louie cherishes Louie's Place as the symbol of the things he holds dear — mirth, music, and good friends. No amount of money can replace that for him. While this means Louie has turned down several lucrative offers for his club, it also reveals him to be a very devoted and sentimental person.

Of course, Louie is never lacking in friends. He has a special place in his heart for the flyers who "stuck with him like a bad habit" through the first difficult years of his club, and made Louie's Place what it is today. He values their friendship, especially the friendship of his "main man" Baloo, Louie's oldest pal and one of his first customers. Baloo and Louie have been friends through thick and thin, sharing many adventures together during Baloo's days as a freelance pilot. Baloo still frequents Louie's Place as a regular customer, a favor which Louie is glad to return by overlooking Baloo's hefty tab.

Louie's list of friends has since broadened to include the whole Higher for Hire crew. They are special friends of Louie's, particularly Ms. Rebecca Cunningham — although she loudly and repeatedly claims there is nothing between her and that "pile of matted fur." Louie shares Baloo's weakness for beautiful women. While atrociously uncouth at times, around females Louie acts charming and gracious (and highly competitive if Baloo's interested in the same pretty face).

After five years, Louie's Place has grown from a deserted island into the single most heavily-trafficked spot in the South Seas. However, no matter how popular his club becomes, Louie will always be the same scruffy, frolicsome ape.

LOUIE
Height: 3'5" Sex: Male Age: 40+ DEXTERITY 4D Brawling parry 8D, dodge 8D, firearms 5D+1, melee combat 5D, melee parry 6D, pickpocket 5D, thrown weapons 6D KNOWLEDGE 2D+1 Aircraft 4D, bureaucracy 4D, business: nightclubs 6D, culinary arts 7D+2, cultures 3D, cultures: freelance pilots 6D, languages 3D, locations 4D, streetwise 5D+2, survival 5D, value 7D MECHANICAL 3D Aircraft piloting 4D, beast riding 5D+2, navigation 4D PERCEPTION 3D Bargain 6D, command 4D+1, con 5D+1, gambling 7D, hide 6D, investigation 4D+2, search 5D, singing 7D, sneak 7D STRENGTH 3D Brawling 6D, brawling: grappling 7D, climb/jumping 8D, lifting 6D, stamina 5D+2 TECHNICAL 2D+2 Aircraft repair 3D, first aid 3D+2, security 5D Quadrumanal: Opposable thumbs on his feet as well as his hands allow Louie to perform an extra action simultaneously at no additional penalty.