Roy Hathorn

Half elven fey / Bard, Fighter, Warlock multiclass

Submitted character story

You're the kind of hero who walks through the Blackfen because shadows reveal what daylight hides. The girl you never forgot anchored you when the hag's curse would have drowned everything else. Now you collect souls for a fox goddess and serve winter's court, reforged through fairy fire into something that can't quite die. They'll remember you as the bard who paid in full before the first note played.

Defining moment: Roy was born Rory Tannin, the only son of the youngest of the Tannin family’s wayward sons, Thane Tannin. Thane had left home with his brother in spirit, the Tannin Librarian and Researcher, the elf, Llar Kyrol de Tannin. In doing so, Thane had renounced his position as the Captain of the Guard but not as a Knight of Falkin, not completely severing his birthright. After many adventures, Thane and Llar parted ways as Llar wished to settle down and start a family. Soon after Thane met another elf, a female Routier who could match him in skilled combat as well as wits, and eventually, he shared his friend’s fate, marrying and having a child. Though proud of her son, Roy’s mother was not the maternal nor domestic sort, often traveling for long periods of time, supposedly continuing her mercenary work, leaving Thane to raise their son mostly on his own. Thane resigned himself to a small town life in order to provide stability for his son, however Roy made this no easy task, possessing the adventuring spirit of both his parents and being a restless, mischievous sort with natural charisma. It wasn’t long before he had unintentionally become the leader of a gaggle of bored, curious youths looking to craft their own grand tales. Together, the little band of miniature miscreants would get in and out of all sorts of misadventures about the outskirts of town, the farmlands and surrounding woods. Though troublesome, they were mostly good natured, often even cleaning up after their own pranks and lending a hand to mend broken fences and run errands in exchange for sweets and baked goods.

One of the youths was an individual named Mitsiki Kae. A child of diplomats visiting to establish trade agreements, and a real princess like out of a fairy tale. Initially included due to the novelty of being a foreigner, in time, Mitsiki, Mitsi for short, proved to be more of a warrior then princess and quite a hooligan in her own right. With her natural fighting skill and loyalty, she complimented Roy’s leadership and charm, the two becoming quite a notorious pair of venturesome adolescents. 


The warm summery cocoon of youth can not last forever and the group’s inquisitive and adventurous natures would be their undoing. The area was ripe with tales of fey and cautionary fables to encourage children to behave for a reason and soon Roy, Mitsi and the other youths learned that lesson the hard way. During one of their romps in the woods, they ventured far too deep and stumbled into a hag’s ritual, disrupting the magic circle, and each of them becoming marked in some way in the backlash. Roy, seemingly afflicted with the worst of it, and aware he could not run away with the others, stepped up and made a deal with the hag in order to deflect all her ire on him alone and let the others have a chance to escape.

Whatever deal he made, it wreaked havoc on his memories. He didn’t know who he was nor where he came from for a long time. Though he’s recovered many of his lost memories along the way since that fateful encounter with the hag, unless he keeps a memento in his possession or on his person, the memories will often slip away again with time. However, for one reason or another, Mitsi was the one person Roy always remembered, regardless of if he had a memento from her or not.

Roy did eventually escape from the ‘hospitality and protection’ of the hag with the aid of another child who had been captured soon after him, the green haired girl called Robin Hawthorn, who’s surname he’d take as his own when he could not recall his. They had formed an instant, fast friendship and bond at first sight but were separated for a time just after they finally tasted freedom. In that time of separation, Roy had somehow ended up in the fey dark, the fey realm equivalent of the Prime’s underdark. There he was found and taken in by a particular and peculiar colony of darklings who had settled into a cavern lined with the bones of a dead Kou-toa Liviathin, situated right on the border between the feydark and underdark.

Robin Hawthorn and the Archfey Rhew

The darklings, fey creatures, lovers of beauty though cursed to avoid the sun, quickly realized Roy had a gift for music. One of the elder darkling, named Finbalor, took him under his wing and became like a second father to him, teaching him both the ways of the bard and assassin. Finbalour’s friend and often partner in crime, a winter fey named Rhew, also took an interest in the boy and became like an uncle to him. In time, Roy and Robin were reunited, Rhew having discovered her actively searching for Roy after they’d been separated during their escape from the hag. Robin did not do well underground but like Rhew, she visited often, rounding out Roy’s new, oddball family. In this way, seven years passed relatively peacefully. Finbalor and Roy spent their time collecting new songs, trading with nearby goblins and gathering information for other fey and for the drow (though Finbalour was especially cautious about allowing Roy to interact with the subterranean elves) in exchange for provisions for their colony.

The battle with the Storm Hag known as Harpy Hare


Unfortunately, during one of their ventures, the pair ran afoul of a familiar ugly face. The hag from Roy’s nightmares returned. In the ensuing battle, Roy and Finbalor both were severely injured. Robin called on Rhew to get them all out of there, striking a deal with the archfey, but Finbalour stayed behind to keep the hag from following. Once safe in the Prime, Robin left the wounded Roy with kindly strangers to heal while she went back to the Feyrealm to pay her price for Rhew’s help and find Finbalour if she could. 

Roy after he recovered from his injuries and Mitsiki Kae

Without her presence, and having no memento of her, Roy quickly forgot Robin, but Robin had planned in case this happened. She had sent letters to Roy’s childhood friend, Mitsiki Kae. As Robin suspected, as Roy could not forget Mitsi, Mitsi could not forget him, and had been looking for Roy all this time. As Robin hoped she would, Mitsi hastened to collect her lost, now found friend and became responsible for helping Roy sort and regain much of his lost memories. Thus reunited, they joined the Caravan together, helping others and having adventures of their own like old times.

Brother Marsh, born Marshall Blackoak, and the Druid Daenamu during a mission

During these adventures, Roy learned the fate of his biological father, Thane, and that of his father’s friend, Llar Kyrol de Tannin… who through a twist of fate was Roy’s uncle. The Routier Thane had married was Llar’s twin sister, Qu’lith d'lil Noamuth, the two having been separated when younger. Llar had a son by the name of Marshall Blackoak, Brother Marsh to most, by a dedicated follower of Chauntea, a druid named Mary Blackoak. Marsh had been born the same day and time Roy had been and if they stood side by side, you’d think them twins or at least brothers, not just cousins. But things got more complicated as apparently, after Roy had been taken by the hag, his parents, torn apart by grief at the loss of their son, had separated. Llar had been taken by a powerful storm the day Marsh was born, leaving Mary a widow… whom Thane eventually married after Qu’lith left him. Thane and Mary eventually had a daughter by the name of Takis Tanis, affectionately referred to as Miss Taki. Unfortunately both Thane and Mary, like Llar before them, had met untimely ends, leaving Marsh and Taki alone in the world. And to wrap it up, Roy’s biological mother, Qu’lith’s whereabouts were still unknown. 

As messy as it all was, Roy was thrilled to be reunited with biological family, Marsh and Taki welcoming him as if he’d never been missing. After that, more than once, Roy and Marsh would fight side by side to assist local druids and villages when called upon, growing quite close, Marsh especially known as something of a folk hero.

But just as the summer of youth ended, so did the fall of adolescence. Mitsi chose to return to her people, confident that Roy was fine on his own on the Caravan and amongst his new friends there. Mitsi had been running from her duties as her clan’s future leader, but now war between the clans was rumbling. Sadly, she was betrayed by the suitor her parents and elders had arranged for her to wed. The attempt to broker peace died that day… 

But Mitsi herself did not. 

Death had been stolen from her, and her people. The minor deity of death tied to her lands had been cast out. So though she had been struck a mortal blow by her fiance, Mitsi continued on, using the pain and agony she was suffering to fight him and those who cursed her people.

Roy discovered the misplaced, now hunted and harried deity of death by chance, rescuing her, and thus through her, learning Mitsi’s fate. Roy named the displaced minor fox deity Lilly. Teaming up with Lilly and others from the Caravan, they fought to save Mitsi and her people. They hoped that if they restored Lilly to her rightful place, then balance would also be restored and allow the dead to cross over and allow them to revive Mitsi. 

Ultimately, they failed.

Lilly was restored and those responsible seemingly perished, but no one from the afflicted lands survived, including Mitsi. All perished completely, their bodies far too mangled or decayed to save. Innocent and guilty. Man or beast. All passed on. Even the plants had withered and died. A powerful druid who was aiding them was able to restore much of the plant life, but the place would be left in ruins and considered cursed, uninhabitable for years to come. This meant Lilly had no more followers to believe in her and though reinstated, was at risk of vanishing from the world herself.

The failure also left Roy broken. Broken in heart and spirit but also in form as in failing, he had broken the promises he had made. Mitsi’s lands may not actually have been cursed after being restored, despite local belief, but Roy was. He had long been under the control of several powerful Geas for years and the mark left from his first encounter with the hag. The effects of the broken promises stripped him of his songs, magic, strength, and purpose. He looked to be not much longer for this world, soon to join his friend in the afterlife. The only thing keeping him going was a new promise, forced out of him by his companions to try to keep living, and Lilly’s company, as she clung to the few living beings who still believed in her existence. 

Drawings of Roy and Robin by the Artificer Meridian (Druid Draws in real life)

And that is when both Robin and Rhew came crashing back into Roy’s life. Rhew, seeking to expand his Court, and Robin, freed from her time serving him, rushing back to Roy’s side the first opportunity she got. At the same time, a fiery teifling noble named Ambrosia, also joined the Caravan, seeking aid to rescue her husband, captured by fiends or demons. Roy, sensing a kindred spirit of sorts and, not willing to allow someone else to suffer the same kind of loss he had, helped broker a deal, a pact between and with both Lilly and Rhew to buy himself time and give him the power and strength to help the testy teifling.

Ambrosia Thornburg

Painfully reforging Roy through death and fairy fire, unable to remove the hag’s mark, but able to use it to transform and change him, Lilly and Rhew worked together to warp the Geas and transform Roy from the half elf he was into a creature of the fey, granting him some of his old abilities and powers back while also bolstering him with new ones. In exchange, he was tasked with being the Judge of Rhew’s Court, and his eventual heir, as well as tasked with collecting souls for Lilly. Thus, using Roy as the living contract, the fox deity and winter archfey had joined hands as allies and partners to expand both Rhew’s Court and Lilly’s influence over the domains of death and rebirth. 


Roy after he made the pact with Rhew and Lilly

Using the new powers of his patrons, Roy aided Ambrosia in her quest, fulfilling the role she gave him to the letter. The quest was technically successful, they did rescue Ambrosia’s love and husband, but things went awry at the end, forcing everyone to flee the Caravan. Not sure what became of the others, and bound by an order from her liege, Robin took Roy before the Lady Francis, where his birthright to the Tannin family was revealed… and that he had been betrothed to the Lady at birth. Certainly not ready to settle down or take on the responsibilities of a Tannin noble, Roy fled to Everland while Robin embarked on a quest to discover what had happened to their other companions. 

Memories fading quickly without regular contact with his friends, especially the ones he had no mementos for, Roy started writing ballads inspired by what memories he could retain, in part to try to preserve them and to earn coin. The ballads actually gained a certain level of popularity and fame though he kept his identity as the songwright behind the ballads secret. Since he’d stayed in contact with Marsh all this time, he continued to supplement his income by assisting his cousin in his mercenary work for the Druids, which also allowed Roy to continue to regularly collect the required souls for Lilly. There was never a shortage of bandits and monsters threatening the remote, smaller towns and villages he could pass judgment on and send to the afterlife. In this way, he fell into a sort of routine and over the next several years, Roy built a comfortable, if spartan life for himself with the city of Everland as his base of operations.

The urge to travel and wander, to adventure again, to seek out the things and people he’d forgotten, was building though. Something in his heart told him he had to wait for a sign or signal before he left the city for some quest longer than combating poachers or convincing pixies to stop harassing livestock. There was a reason he kept getting drawn back to Everland after every job. That sign came in the form of a letter. It mysteriously appeared in his travel pack one day. It said it was for a party, but there at the top, someone who had no way of knowing who he was had used his real birth name, Rory Tannin. And at the bottom of the fine parchment was Rhew’s spidery handwriting. 

“It is time you met your godfather. Listen, watch, and learn from him. Spring comes soon. We have done what we can to prepare you. Remember who you are, my nephew. Make us all proud.”

Already paid the price