#boffinbarrow

been trying to figure out how Worst Hobbit would possibly fit into Actual Hobbit setting, the answer was fairly obvious when I remembered elfking!tb likes to collect hobbits

Ains: “What’s up with that hobbit? Something seems off about him”

Tb: “Oh, Boffin? He was one of the first hobbits I... invited here. He just never went home for some reason... Why, I practically raised him.”

Ains: “Yeah, you’d think he’d’ve turned out better”

Tb: “right??”

One of the first halfling ‘guests’ of the elf king (TB), Boffin was more than happy to be free from his old life in his shire, possessing a particularly adventurous spirit for a hobbit. He sought training from the woodelves- who laughed at first, but humored him nonetheless- and now he is one of the forest’s staunchest defenders- perhaps adapting too well to the job, putting some of the most xenophobic and isolationist elves to shame.

Boffin has even been willing to work with the forest’s less savory denizens to deter trespassers- coming to an arrangement with one of the groups of giant spiders that inhabit the woods, led by Gertrude the Spider. He has convinced them to leave the elves alone- but gladly helps them hunt orcs instead - or even men and dwarves, should they stray off the path.

Boffin spends much of his time patrolling the woods, and exploring lost places long since forsaken by the elves. While he was always vigilant in his duties, something has caused him to be on even higher alert, and increasingly paranoid. Still, he remains useful, as he’s developed an uncanny ability to detect orcish incursions before even the elves do.

Some doodles of my characters in @techmomma & @vividfizz ‘s ‘mythnoir’ au 

(might finish these/some of them later but wanted to get these up for now!)

Mr. Khan - Lamassu.  For an unknown amount of time has gone by different names in the worlds’ great cities: now he has come to Tir.  Seems to run a mob, though certainly not a conventional one.  Should you fail to pay for his ‘protection racket’, no ill will befall you- save for missing out on his actual guarantee of protection, and access to some surprisingly decent deals on neccessities via the black market.  

Tomo and Abuela (I suppose just “Grandmother” in this AU)- Baku

Abuela insists they still have a job to do, answering the call of distressed humans by eating their undesirable dreams, council be damned.  (and you can’t very well do that with those silly glamours on can you).  Tomo is torn between concern for his grandmother’s safety and excitement on joining her on these adventures and learning about his heritage

Mr. Boffin Barrow, Councillor of Finance - (Halfling-equivalent, some sort of leprechaun/wee-folk?)  Pretty much synonymous with the treasury- contributed much of his fortune to it in the early days of the city and feels entitled to make withdrawals as he sees fit as well- which he only gets away with by so far managing to make returns on any investments made with the embezzled funds (sometimes in illicit ventures).  A bit arbitrary with how he allocates the council budget- a bit stingy in many cases and cutting the occasional corner, while going all out on other expenditures, such as the shiny uniforms for the Vigilance Bureau (including a special outfit for the Vigilantor himself!) as well as constructions or Council events (the flashier the better.  Which may be in part what he favors about Panoptes.  Him looking the other way on some of Boffins dealings just being an added bonus)

Minerva Barrow - Nymph, Boffin’s wife and part of the Vigilance Bureau (pictured performing surveillance via a scrying pool).  Helps ensure that Boffins’ misdeeds go mostly unnoticed, but is otherwise very competent and helpful to the Bureau (particularly if the opportunity arises to lock up some of Boffin’s shadier business competitors)

Detective Kasimierz- Karzelek.  Beginning to have doubts as to how helpful the Vigilance Bureau and the council actually is.  But for now thinks its still easier to work within the system than outside of it

Not pictured:  Grisaldara- keeping as a griffon, that is a mythological beastie after all and it suits her.  Probably works for the Information Bureau (? I assume this would fall under their sort of ‘propaganda’ purview?) by organizing public events and council parties (making sure to get enough work done so that things go smoothly enough that she can participate herself, of course)

The Barrow children (quintuplets, mentioned previous post)

- Sillier alternate ending to the scene between W.A.R.D and Mr. Gable had Ward trying (quite unsuccessfully) to convince Gable he was a ghost in order to scare him off after Gable figured out he wasn’t physically present.

-W.A.R.D might have actually been designed specifically to counter “Cap’n Black Eddie” by a Navy engineer who suspected the methods behind the mysterious way the pirate seemed to have with the ships he boarded.  Naturally the pirate’s apparent retirement was the nail in the coffin for the already problematic program.

-Some of the “antiques” in Mr. Khan’s shop are produced in Jade’s workshop, but they’re reserved for the less discerning customer- anyone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about, or wants a specific item that Khan clearly doesn’t have, or just anybody who haggles too much.

-Grisaldara is here somewhere, probably a retired adventurer of some sort (pirate? explorer?  ???) who is currently enjoying her spoils by trying to pass as a member of the upper classes.  Haven’t decided on her design- human?  alien (bird alien??)