Rob

Even as a youth, Rob intuitively understood that he was different from the rest of his clan of alaghi. To begin with, he was large for his age, always standing at least half a head taller than any of the other children of the clan, with his arms and upper torso thick and rippling with muscle. No one his age could equal his physical prowess, and he was a match for numerous adult males within the clan. But Rob was a gentle giant, unwilling to use such presence to his advantage. The thought of accidentally injuring another was abhorrent to him, and he found it necessary to maintain a level of self-restraint during play.

Then, too, he had a shy and introverted outlook. Where the other young members of his extended family loved scampering through the Chondalwood and playing games, Rob preferred the solitude of a quiet grove or shallow cave where he could contemplate the wonders of the world around him. Others often found him sitting on the fringes of the clan’s nomadic camps, staring at nothing, deep in thought. Though his quiet, cerebral nature brought with it some level of teasing, Rob’s mental skills were not without merits. He was quite skilled at tracking, and he seemed to enjoy a level of harmony with the denizens of the forest on par with the most wizened shamans of the clan.

As he neared the age of adulthood, Rob began to have odd visions filled with obscure images and symbols and each vision always proved to be prophetic in some way. Though he always used the knowledge of his visions for the good of the clan, Rob realized these strange and sometimes frightening occurrences served only to further separate him from the rest of his species. Even his parents, unable to comprehend the meaning behind his odd abilities, grew fearful of Rob and urged him to resist focusing his time and effort in study of them.

But something deep inside the alaghi had been awakened, and for the first time in his short life, Rob began to sense a deeper purpose for his life. Despite the protestations of his mother and father and the growing ostracism directed against him by the rest of the clan, Rob eagerly explored his gift by trying to learn anything and everything he could about its causes and effects. He spent more and more time by himself, uninterested in pursuing the traditional role of hunter-gatherer nomad like others of his kind.

Then, a rather amazing thing happened to Rob. Shinthala Deepcrest, a human woman and a powerful member of the Emerald Enclave, came upon the alaghi clan deep in the Chondalwood. Though the other alaghi were suspicious and bordering on hostile toward Shinthala, Rob found himself strangely drawn to her, and she to him. Though neither of them spoke the other’s language, the reclusive Rob found that he intuitively knew what the woman was thinking through her facial expressions and gestures. An instant bond formed, and Rob enjoyed a deep sort of friendship that had eluded him up until that point.

Fascinated by his connectivity to Shinthala and not wishing to bring further difficulty upon his own family, Rob chose to journey with the woman, leaving the traditional hunting ground of the nomadic clan to which he had belonged and heading north and east, to the Nunwood. There, the druid group of which Shinthala was a member welcomed him; he found himself part of the Emerald Enclave. Rob discovered a level of contentment that he had never known before. All of the strange and magical things he had contemplated in the world, the sense of connection to the living things of the Chondalwood, were aspects the alaghi had in common with his new brethren.

The druids taught him to communicate with them, using their own special language. They formalized his training, showing him how to bend the forces of nature magically. And Shinthala encouraged him to share his visions with them and helped him interpret them whenever possible. Rob was an eager student. He took to druidic magic at a rapid pace, until few left within the enclave could teach him anything. He became one of the most respected members of the organization.

Still, his years of isolation left Rob with a need for solitude, and the alaghi often seeks the comforts of the quiescence of the forest. He goes for long journeys through the woods, often disappearing for days at a time, since he feels most at home when he is by himself. He doesn’t truly miss his old clan, but he doesn’t feel totally comfortable in the company of others all the time. He is disturbed by the aggressive attitudes of some of his druidic companions, wishing they could see the beauty of harmony and peace like he does, but he also understands that a much larger, more complex world exists beyond the forest boundaries, and he would do well to be wary of it.

Rob has witnessed enough violence against his companions to respect the Emerald Enclave’s enemies and he has no wish to underestimate them. As a result, he has trained in the martial arts almost as hard as he has studied the magical ones. Though he regrets using his forbidding physical stature to his advantage, he will not hesitate to do so if he or his companions are in danger. His great size and strength have proven to be a terrific asset on numerous occasions, particularly during those rare times when he has journeyed beyond the safety and seclusion of the forest on Enclave business.

Rob’s other website, where he mostly complains about stupid shit and swears a lot, can be found at demonbaby.com.

If you really want to, you can e-mail him. But he’d probably rather you didn’t.