Robin Hathorn

A Vigil, a guardian angel type aasimar / Rogue and Wizard multiclass

Submitted character story

You are the hero who rode Old Yost's Cart, not because it was fastest, but because no one else would share that burden. What brought you back was the bond that survived separation, the promise that kept you searching through planes and years. But you carry the weight of being remembered as legend while dying as memory, out of sync with every life you tried to hold. You are the one who proves loyalty isn't staying, it's returning when the world has moved on without you.

Defining moment: Robin was born the only child of Rica Hawthorn, the last Captain of the Knight Order, Falken’s Chosen, a small fairly new order situated in the frontier city of Redmoon. Rica was the right hand of the old Lord, Abert Falken, the grandson of the man behind the founding of the Order. Robin’s father was a mysterious green haired, gold eyed stranger simply known as Noel, whom Rica had rescued one night during a storm. The two had become fast friends on the spot. It helped that Noel was eager to be a useful and a productive member of the community, proving he had a keen eye, some healing and wind based magic, and the makings of a skilled diplomat. He assisted in several of the Knights’ investigations and helped settle local disputes peacefully that might have otherwise resulted in violence. This earned him a position as an Honorary Member of the Knight Order. When he was eventually offered the chance to join the Knights as one of their own properly, he refused however, stating he was happy with his lot in life and was not a fighter. His relations with the Knights remained good, though he did not always get along well with the church and some of the more superstitious members of the community. Several years of mutual respect and companionship between them eventually led to Noel and Rica falling in love and Rica became pregnant.

Unfortunately there was a sickness spread by those seeking to undermine and seize control of Falken’s city and lands. Some suspected the illness was brought by recent refugees fleeing from another town that had been beset by a devastating monster attack. Yet others believed the small church that sought power over Redmoon was responsible, as they claimed the illness was a punishment and tried to purge ‘undesirables’ from the city, including Albert’s also pregnant wife Caiside, Rica, Noel and the aforementioned refugees, though it was more likely that the church was just being opportunists rather than having orchestrated anything. Yet others suspected it was the work of an angry and powerful fae or fiend. Whatever the cause, Rica was too close to her due date to safely assist in the Kights’ investigation and Noel wouldn’t risk her running afoul of the church while in her condition anyway. Instead, Noel, in her stead, assisted in tracking down and purifying the source of the sickness, successfully cleansing it from the water system and wells. Luck was not completely on his side however as during the fight with the perpetrators who had tried to poison the city, there was an explosion. All the saboteurs were killed, but Noel’s body, and those of some of the innocent bystanders caught in the blast, were never found. 

The explosion that supposedly took Noel’s life had rocked an already devastated and grieving community. The illness had taken too many before a cure was found and those who survived were changed, especially the children, who were now prone to fits and bouts of uncontrolled wild magic. This included Aiden’s daughter, whom was named Frances. Her mother died in childbirth and Frances would suffer the worst of those afflicted with the side effects from a young age. Many were looking for someone to blame. Rica’s new green haired child, born the exact minute Frances was, at the exact time the explosion happened, was an easy target. Many quietly viewed Robin as the embodiment of an ill omen. Robin’s father, Noel, was commemorated and posthumously awarded by Albert and the Knights for his service regardless, and a plaque still hangs on the city wall near the northern gate, honoring what he did.

Robin grew up raised by her mother alongside Albert’s daughter, Lady Frances, the two treated like siblings. The Knights of the Order, all of them, practically adopted both girls as well. Despite the mistrust of the general populace toward the strange green haired child, Robin was expected to eventually take her mother’s place when Rica finally retired. However, though Robin proved extremely intelligent for her age, she was also a cheeky, carefree agent of chaos which shed further doubts on her worthiness of the position. Robin also often saw things others would miss or could not, displaying time and again her intuitiveness and ability to easily see and put patterns together far beyond the skills associated with her age, leading to the more superstitious believing her a witch or hag in disguise.

Robin, though aware of the quiet disapproval growing against her, chose to ignore it. She was a child yet and there were grand adventures to be had and knowledge to absorb. The Tannin family, another small noble family that had joined hands with the Falken family and actively supported the Falken Knights, fascinated Robin and she practically worshiped several of its past members who had left their marks within the Knights of Falken’s ranks. This fascination led to her studying both the wizardry notes left behind by, and the sword style introduced to the knights by Llar Kyrol de Tannin, an elf that had been adopted by the Tannin family and lived amongst them for several generations but whom had left to go adventuring long before Robin was born.

All work and no play makes Robin a dull girl though, so when the child wasn’t spending time in the Tannin family’s libraries, she was often emulating another hero of hers, Thane Tannin. He was a knight squire and guardsmen, as well as a Robin Hood figure. Running across rooftops, pulling pranks, terrorizing the local bakers and getting into all sorts of trouble as Thane once had, at least according to the stories, further complicating her position amongst the knights though. Ironically, this led to Robin being friends with half the thieves in the city and the leader of the local Thieves Guild, an older elven woman known only as Madam, declaring herself Robin’s godmother, despite Robin belonging to the very Order that kept order in the area. Robin’s mother Rica, and Madam had a complicated history, both friends and enemies, but ultimately, Rica never attempted to disway Madam’s influence over her daughter. Madam, who also ran several orphanages and safe houses in the areas between Silverymoon, Redmoon, High Hold and other cities, seeing potential for leadership in Robin as well, put the child in charge of the Beggers, a group of younger orphans in Redmoon. Though the group would get into trouble and pull pranks, running loose throughout the city, under Robin’s guidance, they developed a thirst for knowledge akin to hers and started attending the small school the Falkin’s funded for the locals. They also started enriching the community, in addition to terrorizing it, putting on festivals, fundraising to help poorer families, and finding lost items and pets, often for small fees.

Robin also never believed her father was dead, and tried to investigate what had really happened all those years ago. When she was twelve, with some help from the Thieves’ Guild, Robin traced the source of the city’s water supply and wells to a deep watery cavern underneath the city. There she encountered the hag, Harpy Hare, and was captured, dragged into the fey realm. While held by the hag, Robin met another child also being held hostage, a boy named Rory Tannin, though he preferred Roy. The name raised alarm bells in Robin’s mind, it being the same as that of the recently missing young son of her hero Thane Tannin. She also felt an instant connection to the lad and an overwhelming, almost instinctual need to keep him safe. She also quickly realised whatever he felt, so did she, in fact sometimes so strongly she couldn’t separate her own emotions from his, but this ability seemed one sided as he did not feel hers at all. He was sensitive though, and could pick up on when she was angry or hurting, often trying to comfort and protect her. He even told her about his childhood friend Mitsi and would comment about how brave both Robin and Mitsi were with sparkling admiration.

Harpy Hare seemed aware of their bond and would use it to manipulate them both, acting like a kind and matronly old woman to them while heaping on abuse, hard labor, and experimentation. In this way, she discovered Robin’s resistance to both necrotic and radiant magics. It was also under this extreme stress that Robin’s first set of vestigial wings sprouted, emerging from her lower back over her hips. At first Robin thought the wings were a curse or side effect from the hag’s experiments, but the hag had actually seemed surprised and furious by their emergence. Eventually, together, Robin and Roy managed to trick the hag and escaped. But during the escape, the two children were separated and Robin found herself back in her home city, alone, without Roy. 


Because of the strong bond Robin had felt upon meeting Roy, the sudden separation from him felt like she’d cut off her own limb, like a part of herself was missing. She wasted no time returning home where she first confronted her mother as to what she really was. Her mother admitted she wasn’t sure, but the wings didn’t surprise her, letting her know her father could sprout wings at will, though his wings had been full sized. Rica then made Robin promise not to reveal her wings to the church, concerned how they might react to them. She also gave Robin her father’s spell book, which was written in Celestial but Robin found she could read it as if she’d known the language all her life. This book in hand, Robin then turned her focus to trying to find a way back into the feywilds to look for Roy. When Robin had gone missing, Rica and the Knights had searched for her for nearly a year and were extremely reluctant to let her return to the feywilds, especially alone, worried she’d not come back again. She was still a child after all. Robin’s sense of urgency doubled however, and though she seemed to return to her normal life, she changed the focus of her studies and quickly became adept in and quite knowledgeable on hags and all things fey. 

Her change in direction and apparent obsession worried her mother Rica and the other knights but as it seemed to instill a greater sense of duty and responsibility in her daughter, Rica eventually relented and started supporting her research. As such, Robin, with her mother’s aid, started forming contacts with friendly or neutral fey, and had several jaunts into the fey realms, but little luck in actually finding the boy she was searching for. She did discover though, that when in the feywilds, she felt complete again and seemed to just know in what direction Roy was, just not how far away he was. And he always seemed to be beneath her feet. Suspecting he was underground, perhaps in a cavern or cave like the one under Redmoon, she shifted her search to trying to find an entrance to such a place. Her tenacity and perceived loyalty earned her the title of the Green Witch amongst the local fey, a name spoken with disdain by those of darker persuasions. But her notoriety also earned her the attention of the winter archfey, Rhew. He knew where Roy was but wanted to test Robin’s resolve first, putting her through several grueling trials before finally rewarding her tenacity. He eventually led her into the feydark where she found Roy living with a colony of Darklings and met Roy’s teacher, master, and seragunt father figure, the darkling bard Finbalor. Though Roy had lost most of his memory, the trio formed an unlikely camaraderie and familial unit. 

Robin quickly found she did not do well or thrive underground however, and would always have to return to the Prime Materium for a time. Roy on the other hand, had no intentions of ever returning to the surface, be it within the Feywilds or Prime Matrium. So Robin fell into a routine of spending her ‘summers’ with the fey and ‘winters’ with her mother and the Knights. Time flows strangely in the feywilds however. Sometimes it's longer, sometimes shorter, when compared to the Materium. A ‘summer’ was sometimes actually a full year or even two years in the Materium. Those Robin cared for in the Prime Materium were aging, growing older, while she herself was not, remaining the same. And they were beginning to forget her. Her childhood friend Lady Frances, her mother and Madam did their best to keep Robin’s memory alive. Lady Frances even wrote children’s books about Robin’s exploits, spinning Robin into the local folklore as the intrepid Night Runner. 

Then came the double blow that shattered Robin’s world completely. While Robin was away visiting with Roy and his family one ‘summer’, Robin’s mother was killed in the line of duty. Madam avenged Rica's death, but the news dealt a near fatal emotional blow to Robin when she came back. While grieving over the loss of her mother, her second set of vestigial wings sprouted, this time on her head. However she couldn’t handle the sight of them and a bargain was struck with the archfey Rhew who borrowed them, wearing them in the form of two white and green feathers tied in his own hair from then on. 

With her mother gone, Robin decided to return to the feywilds for good. Only when she got there, she found Roy, Finbalour and the entire darkling colony locked in a desperate struggle. The hag, now seemingly quite mad and truly believing Roy was her real flesh and blood son, had apparently been searching for Roy all this time and wanted him back, hell or high water. She’d rampaged through the colony and even struck Roy with a blast of lightning meant for Finbalor. Enraged that his colony was in ruins and his adopted son badly injured, Finbalour attacked the hag in earnest, displaying a use of powers far beyond what Robin had known him capable of. This bought Robin enough time to call on Rhew who teleported the children to the Prime while Finbalor remained behind to finish dealing with the hag. Robin left Roy in the care of a healer and sent word to Mitsi, the girl Roy always spoke highly of and his one consistent memory he never lost, hoping Mitsi would come to collect Roy and keep him safe. She then plunged once more back into the fey realms to pay her price to Rhew for their escape.

Eventually, Rhew released her back into the Materium. Robin felt she no longer really belonged anywhere now, out of sync with everyone else, her old life now a fond memory and lost dream. All she really had left was Roy, their bond as strong as ever, so she set out to find him yet again. Rhew, who had gifted her with a magic holly hairpiece that let him see and hear what she did so long as they were in the same plane, followed her to the Caravan where she was reunited with Roy. Unfortunately, Roy was slowly dying from the Harpy Hare’s curse and a powerful Geas. At the same time, a fiery teifling noble named Ambrosia also joined the Caravan, hoping to recruit others to help her rescue her husband from the clutches of a fiend. Robin saw something of Lady Frances in the teifling and took a shine to her as a result. In an effort to help both Roy and Ambrosia, Robin returned to High Hold and the Tannin libraries to find out what she could about their new foe and the hag’s curse and how to break it. Because of her long absence, a price had to be paid for the knowledge. She paid with her father’s spellbook.

There, Lady Frances tracked down her wayward and previously thought dead knight and gave Robin an ultimatum and binding order. Frances had found out the truth about Roy and who he was. It was tradition, in order to maintain the alliance between the Tannins and Falkins, for the first child of the youngest heir of the Tannin’s to join hands with the heir of the Falkins and take on the role of the dean or chief provost of the library. Roy, as Rory Tannin, was the missing Tannin heir and had been betrothed to Frances since her birth. For both political and personal reasons, Frances ordered Robin to bring Roy before her within two month’s time or not only would Robin be hunted down by her fellow Knights and stripped of her knighthood, but also confined to the Redmoon Keep for the remainder of her days. Reluctantly, Robin gave her word to fulfill the order.

Robin returned to her companions within the Caravan to find Rhew had taken matters into his own hands and fundamentally changed Roy into one of the fae to save his life. Roy seemed more stable, possibly happier, with this turn of events after all the pain and suffering he’d been through, so Robin respected his choice to take this path instead of breaking the curse and removing the Geas. Together, they then proceeded to assist Ambrosia in her quest. For the most part, things seemed to go according to plan until they were forced to briefly leave Ambrosia alone with the monster who had captured and tortured Ambrosia’s husband. Ambrosia had anticipated Robin might refuse to leave her side and proceeded to shame her for not trusting her. Ambrosia’s words, mirroring Lady Frances’ equally devastating words back in the Tannin library, shattered Robin’s world again. Ultimately though, the quest technically was successful, they did rescue Ambrosia’s love and husband, but things went further awry at the end, forcing everyone to flee the Caravan. 

Not sure what became of the others, and bound by her word to Lady Frances, Robin took Roy before her as ordered, where his birthright to the Tannin family was revealed to him. Certainly not ready to settle down or take on the responsibilities of a Tannin noble, Roy fled to Everland. Frances, acknowledging that Robin had completed her task as it was asked of her, offered Robin her mother’s old position as Captain of the Falken’s Chosen and as Lady Frances’ personal knight as Robin had been in their youth. The Tannins also offered Robin a position as a researcher and professor in their vast libraries. Robin turned both offers down, instead embarking on a quest to discover what had happened to her other companions from the Caravan including Ambrosia. Her search led her on several adventures and across planes into the literal Hells as she followed lead after lead and found nothing but one dead end after another. 

Years later, her whereabouts are currently unknown, as Rhew’s holly gift didn’t work when they were on different planes from each other and he could not follow her into Hell. Stories about the Chief of the Beggars, the Bane of Poilane, the Night Runner, and the Green Witch, continued to circulate and grow, becoming the favorite books of many a child within the Silver Marches. But only a very small, select few would remember the cheerful, pertinacious girl that had been the real Robin Hawthorn.

Can't stop helping strangers