I have some feelings about Essek.
Essek is so young. I think earlier I had assumed him to be about 200, but I now know heās 120? Thatās so young. That is about human equivalent to 19-20 (according to my friend who used to work at WOTC). This means that by the different ages of maturity by race, all of the Mighty Nein are older than him.
He is already well advanced in his position. He is the Shadowhand. We donāt really know what this means but we have already seen his access to the Bright Queen and how trusted he is within the counsel. Especially for a man in a female-dominated society like the Drow (I donāt know if Exandriaās Drow in the Dynasty are like Faerunās in that manner, but I have seen nothing to dissuade that belief).
He was probably one of the only young people in Den Thelyss when he was growing up. Most elven mythos suggest that elves are not born very often. And most of the other children who would be around in the den were probably reborn consecuted members.Ā
He tried so hard to prove himself that he is now stuck floating everywhere he goes. This poor guy just wanted to prove himself and now heās stuck with this quirk that he has to keep up for appearances.
I donāt think he has ever had friends before. Donāt get me wrong, the M9 tend to abuse their relationship with him for free rides, but he asks for favors in return. This is not normal friendship. And he comes to the Xhorhouse to spend time with them and doesnāt know how to do small talk or friendly banter. He only seems comfortable when he is discussing official business. But he is trying so hard!
He seems to be interested in Caleb and doesnāt know how to handle it. Take this with a grain of salt. So far, canonically, there has been no confirmation other than curiosity, but Liam has mentioned on Talks that he knows EssekĀ ālikes the cut of his jib.ā But even if it is just curiosity and a genuine interest in friendship, he doesnāt know how to address the subject.
I love this hot boi drow. I realized how much this week when I learned how young he is and now I must Protect Him