#character reference sheet

Valark and his twin sister, Virith, were two shadow dragons hatched in the tunnels of the Underdark, and found by a priestess of Lolth. Seeing potential in their strength and shapeshifting ability as tools for her own use, she took the twins in secret as her own. Their first mission was to kill her own failing children and to assume their identities.

Valark has long carried resentment for the particular part he was meant to play. By chance, it was his adoptive mother's male child that he was meant to replace - and in Menzoberranzan, men are considered inferior. Though Valark knew himself to be something far greater than those around him, he would always be looked down on, never allowed to reach the heights of his sister for the same achievements, never able to be respected for how truly powerful he was.

Only his mother knew - and for her acknowledgement, he would do anything.

On his first mission on the surface world, to locate a deserter mage from their house, is where he met the party. Useful tools, at first. Then, a source of entertainment.

But the more time he spent about the party, the more he came to genuinely enjoy their company. Sure, they didn't trust him. They would be fools to. But he was beginning to find something close to the acceptance, the respect, that he wanted.

There was only one problem - his sister had already infiltrated them as well, taking the place of a little goblin girl that had earned their trust and adoration.

He couldn't let his sister take the credit for work so expertly done by him. The moment would be his. It should be him anyway, shouldn't he? He was the one who knew them best.

He would betray then first.

He couldn't be their friend, not after this. But he could be their best enemy.

-

If I had to estimate more or less when the first act starts it would be around Rose's second, when her health it's at an all time low and was only aware that her husband had a bit of a wandering eye. She never thought he would be a serial cheater.

Robert met Willem the very first time as Mecha Man, but @holycometinsignia pitched the idea of Robert meeting Willem at the market in a not-so-cute way and I feel that's when Willem meet Robert - not Mecha Man - for the first time. Willem was charmed by both, an unprecendental anomaly given his... inclinations towards hybrid folk. But those eyes called to him like a lost memory, and digging for any information from both normies ended up with him discovering, surprise! It was one "normie" all along! It definetly made things easier when it came to plan "accidental" encaunters, both in and out of the suit.

Robert, unknowingly, was becoming the second biggest obession - the second muse of the man that was slowy peeling away his hard-earned walls. Because Robert? Robert was sadly charmed, the feeling of being wanted was a siren call. It wasn't love, not really, it was a visceral need to not be alone anymore, for companionship at last. But how does one know the difference between those two? Robert sure didn't at the time, and he'll forever kick himself for it.

It was at a point of stagnation in their relationship however, that Willem felt old urges rise up. Robert human body was becoming... insufficient. So, with a few modifications to the "medicine" he gave Rose for years, he started an old cycle on a new person. Robert noticed the changes, the way Willem would make him eat certain things, and how he would make Robert repeat certain actions each day, as if he were a dog. He also noticed in himself a craving for meat stronger than usual, but that fell on the sideline when he felt so tired, unnaturally so. Skin flare ups were becoming common and so were migranes and pains in very especific places like the lower back and his fingers, yet no matter how many times he raised his concerns to Willem, the genius would make light of it; as if it were normal, or even expected he would feel this way. Even with chronic pain, Robert knew this wasn't normal.

The thing that broke the camel's back tho? It was Rose. Robert only knew of her in passing, the woman being a sort of mystery even to the upper echelons. The only time Willem most spoke of her was at the beginning of their relationship, but even the few times he did he only talked of good but overall superficial stuff. It was as if he wanted to separate his life with her from the one he had with Robert, but Robert didn't think to much about it. Maybe he should have. But them maybe had he do it, Rose wouldn't have come to his dingy apartment, sickly and delicate yet with a determination that was nothing but heroic.

In a way, Rose saved his life that day. By joining forces against Vanderstank, a bond formed. Robert felt a conection, a lovely thing like he never did with Willem, and when the divorce was finally in progress... he didn't want to stop seeing her. Luckily for him the feeling was mutual, as Rose invited him and Beef to live "temporally" with her. Robert didn't waste time in moving his meager belongings into her home. Their home now. Domesticity came slowly but surely after that, the casual warmth a welcomed balm in their lives.

During this time, while Rose's physical and mental health was improving, Robert's... was an uphill battle to say the least. While Robert was sure that his physical decline was in part Willem's fault, they never found any prove of it. So he resigned himself to eat mostly read meat on a daily basis, eventually followed by a bizarre cravings for maple syrup and insects. His body felt like a balloon about to pop, his skin pulled taut where the pain was most active, agravating the previous pains in joints to the point of needing a cane while at home. Rose's and Beef's presence at his side couldn't be understated, he would have gone insane if it wasn't for them.

Eventually, Shroud escaped, and with it came the fated explosion. Robert was susprised Rose stayed at his during his coma. She shut him up with a kiss before they could have a real talk about what happened, and it was even more surprising how much more painless it was than any of the discussions he ever had with Willem.

One of the topics is about an unexpected result from the explosion. As it turns out, due to the stress of... everything during that night, Robert's body reacted by awakening what the doctors described as a "buried genome". Simply put, Robert's hybrid genome was repressed and buried up to very recently, when something slowly started destroying the thing acting as a represor, and all the stress signs going on inside Robert made it so process was accelerated, brutally. So when the medics took off the his suit they were greated by growing ears and what could only be described as a small "rat tail". (Later down the line Robert will learn that the supression was a product of Vitalia's magic, and that Willem's drug intented to turn him into a hybrid somehow was potent enough to weaken the seal. He's not going to have a fun time learning why Vitalia did it.)

This, much to his exasperation, isn't the only surprise he gets. Ultrasound came in detecting a second heartbeat. To Rose mortifycation, she tells a confused Robert about a deal she made with a witch out of desperation a long tiem ago, back when she felt so lonely in her own home, even though previous test told her she was incapable of conceiving. The spell must have detected her growing feelings for Robert and determined he would be the one to carry the future baby the best. They have made, quite literally, a love child.

While Robert had now to contend with the reality that he might have been a hybrid all along and never was the normie he grew as, had a child on the way, and the expected recovery period after the explosion plus constant monitoring of his new body parts and pregnancy... it could had been much worse, he thinks.

Robert's third act has him living a quite happy life with Rose, Beef, and their baby girl, Lily. His hybrid traits had stopped growing, and while he's been told they were somewhat stunted due the decades of repression, Robert's have been able to addapt pretty well! All things considered, he's in a much better place, and reconecting with his stranded brother-figure (thanks to a medling Rose) may give him the opportunity to still do some form of heroic work.