Reynard the Fox

Tell me what you think of how I handle Reynard! Comments are screened, anonymous is not enabled because I don't know how to.

Player information
Name: Rei
Contact: reineke
Are you 18 or over? Yes.
Other characters played: None.

Character information
Name: Reynard (also known as Reineke, Reynardine, Reinhardt,…)
Age: By human years he’s around a thousand years old. He looks to be in his twenties. And like a fox in its prime otherwise.
Date of Birth: 1st of August, but he has no idea and couldn’t care less.
Canon: Original, however quite influenced by fables and specifically Goethe’s Reineke Fuchs
Species: Fae
Role: Outcast, just recently came to London and joined up with the Hillingdon Clan.
Rank: Level 1

Background: The fox has always been characterized as being especially cunning in tales all over the world. In Europe stories about one fox in particular were so wide-spread that the French word for fox changed from the now archaic “goupil” to “renard”, which was the fox’s name in those stories. These stories are based on someone who still exists now, a fae who usually goes by the name of Reynard, although there are other versions of his name in use as well. Frequently he also receives lovely nicknames such as ‘that bastard’.
Of course none of the fae can lie and almost all of them become so good at not lying that it puts them even further from the truth than even the best lie could. Reynard has practiced this art since he can remember, which probably attributed to the varied accounts of his life and the different roles he can play in stories, covering the whole spectrum from villain to anti-villain to anti-hero and even hero.

In reality Reynard started out in the Seelie court. He never did care much for court life, although he understood charming the monarchs well enough, which was probably one of the main reasons he got away with his antics for as long as he did. He always spent a lot of time in the human world, fascinated by their nature and at once mocking and adoring it. However, he didn't entirely neglect the Other Realm, greatly abusing the fact that he’d very quickly acquired traits that the Seelie court despised and yet managing to mostly keep that under wraps and charm his way out of accusation. It was during this time that he not only got married to Ermelyn, whom he shared just enough with that she knew she could never trust him, but who loved him nonetheless. He also acquired a bitter rival and later determined accuser and eventual enemy in Isengrim. Physically Reynard was no match for him, but he wasn’t a very fair fighter and he also took the fight to even more uncouth levels when he seduced Isengrim’s wife. Twice.

This and other such antics made his position among the Seelie more and more precarious, so eventually he showed more of his true nature and went over to the Unseelie court. This was the point at which he split with his wife, thinking it safer for her to remain with the Seelie court and – more importantly – away from him. He had bought his way in easily enough with some valuable information and his charm and here he fit in better in many ways. However, Reynard’s very nature ultimately just didn’t agree with leaving well enough alone and so it was only a question of time before his games continued among the Unseelie court as well.

Neither of the courts can quite agree on which of them cast him out for good first, because for a while he tried changing sides with almost baffling frequency. Finally he was however banished to the human world for good, which he minded less than others might have, despite the loss of power. His fondness for humanity and even other creatures had never really subsided, he considered it a fun new challenge, a new game. Usually he travels, but every now and then he finds somewhere to settle for a time and wherever that is tends to either already be an interesting place or somehow just so happens to become a lot more interesting upon his arrival.

He has only recently arrived in London and is still deciding just what to do about it all. Since it seemed a good way to get an idea of the various politics without running into anyone who knows him that he might not want to run into, Reynard has taken up residency with the Hillingdon Clan. For how long or to what end he doesn’t even know himself.

Personality: Reynard’s personality is hard to gauge, since he’s an actor who primarily uses his personality to bring about the reactions he wants from people. He is deeply convincing in his act, to the point where the lines between faking and feeling it blur.

Primarily he simply enjoys his games and they serve no other purpose than his own amusement, but nonetheless he has often played them to bring about results that make him appear quite nefarious or even heroic. He certainly knows how to kill two birds with one stone or how to use a bird to bring down a stone avalanche.

In the stories, Reynard usually stands in for the common man who uses nothing but his cunning to outwit the authorities and ends up besting them. This is very true for the actual person too and while this can sometimes come across as if he’s selflessly risking himself, the primary motivation will still almost always unfailingly be his own amusement.

That isn’t to say that Reynard doesn’t have some honest sentiment. Although estranged these days, he is quite protective of his wife and more than once put his needs and desires on the backburner to ensure her safety. Likewise others can rise in his esteem and become dear to him. But even if he confesses such attachment, even if he means it, he really shouldn’t ever be trusted entirely.

In spite of that and as much as Reynard likes to provoke, there are reasons that he has gotten away with doing all he does for so long. He is charming and witty, he is especially good at complimenting people in ways they like to hear. He can change his manner of speech and his entire demeanour quite a lot to adjust to whoever he’s talking to and frequently does, sometimes even unintentionally.

To state that he’s flirtatious might perhaps even be underselling it. What he goes for is provoking strong reaction and one way or another, flirting in the right way can usually bring that about. He also most definitely doesn't have to fake his desire once he gets going, because that is something he’ll always gladly lose himself to.

Because of his old enemy Isengrim, he has a particular relationship with anything wolf-like, for instance werewolves. It would be easy to say that he doesn't like them, but in truth it might be more accurate to say that he loves playing with them and let’s just say that in their case he never uses safe words.

He has a sweet tooth, frequently carrying chocolate or other sweets with him, which he usually readily offers to others. However, just as most everything that inevitably ends up in his pockets, it tends to be stolen goods. He’s exceedingly generous with other people’s belongings and although he steals at every opportunity, he’s not materialistic in the least, usually sticking to simplistic clothes and quickly spending or just forgetting about even large sums of money he acquires.

When someone becomes important to him, he tends to be quite protective, looking out for them even at risk to himself. But then, he kind of enjoys taking risks, so how much of a sign of goodness that really is can be debated.

Powers & Possessions: Apart from what any fae can do, he can shapeshift into a fox. Or perhaps his actual form is a fox and he shapeshifts into a man, it’s hard to say.

Where possessions are concerned, he tends to carry around a few items on his person. Most of them are nothing special, he just picks up stuff every now and then – often borrowing from people without permission or intention of giving back. However, he almost always has at least one knife with a bronze blade on his person, often two. He usually keeps them in leather sheaths on his thighs, unless when he's somewhere carrying open weaponry would be very out of place, then he hides them away in his jacket or elsewhere.

Reynard is eloquent, very adept at reading people and consequently manipulating them. He is also a very skilled thief – with everything that entails, from picking locks to climbing, hiding, running, etc. – and pick-pocket and although physical fights are usually a last resort for him, he has fast reflexes and dirty fighting can give him the upper hand even against superior fighters, at least temporarily.

Samples: Test Drive Meme Threads with Lancelot and Siobhan

World building
Locations: n/a
Items: n/a
Magic: n/a