Robin watched the exchange with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. You got all sorts of creatures, out in the Fae-wilds. Strange beings, with access to magic far beyond his own piddly understanding, often used the area as a crossroads of sorts, and the natives weren't normal by any means.
So, still munching on his apple, Robin thought that it would probably be entertaining to go check out some ruins. Never really knew what you'd find in a good ruin.
He noticed that a pixie and a sprite were working together to tie a small piece of string around his ankles. It wasn't exactly brilliant work, but catching them in the act would only encourage them to be more disruptive in the future, so he decided to just go with it.
Robin needs no further invitation. He plops down onto the floor with a sigh of relief, eager for the opportunity to allow the fire's warmth to melt away his road fatigue and the lingering dampness of his clothing. He'd given himself a once over in a river not long before, and though the bath had allowed him to wash away the worst of the road grime, he is still pungent and being wet never helps with things like that.
"Ugh...I been hikin' for near on two months now! Not really sure where I'm goin', though I'm pretty sure I'll know where it is once I get there."
Robin fished around in the sack he'd pilfered from the back of a barn he'd passed on the road, hand emerging slightly wet and clutching a somewhat overripe apple. He sets into it with gusto.
Background: Once every eleven years, in a small country nestled in the northern mountains, the boundary between the human world and the realm of the fae distorts, creating a brief window during which the whimsical faerie folk cross over and wreak mischief, often going so far as to lure human children into the night with dancing lights, haunting music, and whispered promises of treats and games. These children, who their forlorn parents have taken to calling "the Lost Ones", are usually abandoned once the pranksters tire of their sport, once the ordinary reflex of weeping and homesick panic set in. The lucky few manage to make it back to the human world before the window closes, but those that do not are trapped, imprisoned in the fae realm without parent or patron to keep them fed and protected from the untamed wilds of Titania's Court.
Robin Goodfellow is one of these children. For the first time in all of their centuries of mischief and mayhem, the fae discovered a human that was near their equal in his inexhaustible appetite for whimsy, games, and light-hearted pranks. Robin was taken in, living with the fae for all of his childhood. Every day, he and his friends would play until they were too exhausted to stand. They would eat enchanted fruit, drink sweet nectar from the flowers, and daydream impossibly convoluted plans for pranking the members of Titania's Court or prominent soldiers in the Wild Hunt.
A decade and one year after Robin first arrived, he decided it was time for something big. A prank on Titania, the Queen of the Faeries, to prove once and for all that he was the truest of fae, most mighty in mischief. A bit of digging led him to the discovery of a lifetime: Queen Titania was allergic to a special flower, dark blue like the night sky, which could only be found in a secluded clearing outside the Faewoods. Robin, his mind aflame with thoughts of itching powder or a sneezing potion or who knows what else, set forth that very night.
It wasn't until Robin attempted to return to the Courts, flower triumphantly in his grip, that he realized his blunder. Having received word of Robin's arrogant intentions to trick the very embodiment of fae mischief, Titania had seeded rumors of her weakness herself, luring Robin away from her court, far out into the woods.
So far, in fact, that he crossed once more into the human world, just as the window was closing. For the next eleven years, Robin was banished from the realm of the fae.
Now stranded, lured away from his home for the second time in his life, Robin Goodfellow finds himself doubly an outcast. The humans of the world are strange beings to him, all so serious and short-tempered and truly bad sports when at the butt of a good joke. The fae that live on this side of the veil mock him, with news of his hubris and subsequent banishment (in absolutely sterling prank form) making the rounds to all corners of the human world. To top it all off, the flower he'd picked had given him a rather persistent rash.
Robin swore on that day that he would find a way to return, that he would travel the human world to find inspiration for a prank so devastating, so humiliating, it would make even the Winter Queen blush.
Powers: Enchantment Magic: Robin isn't very skilled at magic, though he did pick up a few tricks from the fae. He can distract or befuddle, enrage or charm, but without much potency or duration. Good for setting up pranks, though! Life Attunement: Robin's time spent in the realm of the fae has left him a lot closer to nature than most. He can coax plants into growing in specific ways, or communicate with the creatures of the woodlands.
Skills: Sneak: Robin can be stealthy when he needs to. Eleven years of seed, berries, and nectar left him a touch on the thin side, and after a few run-ins with shrinking hexes, his body never returned to the size of a normal nineteen year old boy. Using this and the practice that comes with a decade of tying ankles together under tables, Robin can tiptoe with the best of them. Bluff: Pranks don't always go off perfectly. Sometimes, you have to talk your way out of a bad spot or talk your target into a worse one. Sleight of Hand: The only thing more entertaining than watching someone reach into their pocket for something that isn't there anymore? Watching someone reach into their pocket to find something they hadn't expected to be in there. Preferably something that stings.
Other: Trouble Magnet: Robin is now notorious amongst the fae of the human world. Something of a novelty to them, fae from all over the realm travel to see him, to pile their own mischief atop the painful example that their Queen set. At any given time, Robin is usually the target of some mean-spirited trick, though Robin can occasionally redirect this torment to others in the area, provided the opportunity seems more appealing than dumping more trash on Robin.
Hello all! I'm new to play-by-post games and things like that, but I've played RPGs (mainly D&D) for almost 16 years now, so I'm eager to get in there and mix it up with ya'll!
I like fantasy-oriented roleplaying, but I'm down to try anything! I'm currently on the second draft of a fantasy novel and am desperate for opportunities to practice my prose and descriptive writing, and this seems like a perfect outlet to get that practice while simultaneously having a good time with other fantastic peeps that like to pretend!
