Julian is a man of severe angles and meticulous grooming. He possesses a narrow, avian face with a sharp nose that seems designed for dipping into crystal stemware. He stands with a rigid, practiced posture that suggests a wooden board is sewn into his waistcoat. His movements are clinical and efficient, never wasting a gesture. While his attire is impeccably clean, there is a faint, permanent stain of deep burgundy on the cuticle of his right index finger, a mark of his obsession.

Julian is a man of contradictory standards; he is endlessly patient with a vintage wine but possesses a razor-thin temper for any person he deems unrefined. He is fastidious to a fault, believing that the order of one's cellar reflects the order of one's soul. While he treats his wealthy Tilas patrons with a fawning, oily charm, he is bitingly snobbish toward local laborers. He harbors an intense professional insecurity, masking it with an arrogant dismissal of any innovation he did not personally approve.

Originally a third-tier merchant from the city of Tilas, Julian found himself unable to compete in the high-stakes trade of the capital. He relocated to Crossways Hold ten years ago, seeking to be a big fish in a small pond. He established the wine cellar at The Velvet Vat, turning it into a destination for visiting human aristocrats. His career was stable until the rise of The Gilded Spark, a rival establishment using gnomish 'augmentation' techniques. Seeing his traditional expertise threatened by 'alchemy and parlor tricks,' Julian has become obsessed with proving that gnomish spirits are a fraudulent assault on the senses.