Tsubaki Petalfall

Tsubaki popped into existence with a twinkle of a bell, as all fairies do, in a nook of a sprightly tree growing deep within the fey-touched enchanted forest of Sprinklewood. The wood was bright and merry, as if born from the pages of a storybook: the fairies lived in harmony with forest gnomes tinkering away in their tree stumps and satyrs strumming on their lutes, all while singing happy little tunes and dancing the days away. Tsubaki herself was the youngest of seven siblings. Her parents didn’t work, as there was no need for labor in their little tree. Tsubaki was instead encouraged to live life gaily by playing tricks on wandering folk, composing tunes, and sprinkling good fortune and good spirits to all who dwelled in the humble little wood.

Tsubaki hated it.

Tsubaki was born without a single funny bone in her body. She was completely unimpressed by childish gambits. She thought the lives of her parents and siblings were trite and pointless, and she felt no guilt in vocalizing that on the regular. She was very quickly labeled as “a major buzzkill” and the “ultimate Debbie downer”, and was ostracized from the community for being a general “know-it-all pissant.” You must be fun at parties, followed by, Ugh, who invited her? were some of the most common phrases Tsubaki heard throughout her youth.

Merry matters like dance, drink, and song interested Tsubaki little. She wanted to do something with her life: something wonderful, just like the adventurers passing through her little forest. Years of constant cheer drove Tsubaki mad, until one night, after a particularly stupid party thrown by one of her siblings (wherein fireworks nearly burnt down their tree), she fled from Sprinklewood and into the unknown. While she likes to think her family woke up mortified, she suspects that having the burden that was Tsubaki’s seriousness lifted was relieving—or worse, in their eternal merriment, they hadn’t even noticed her leaving.

Thus, Tsubaki ventured into the realm of man, ready to leave her mark on the world. However, she found herself just as ostracized as in the forest. Humans found her wings “adorable,” and dwarves went on record saying, “Oh, I want to pinch her wittle cheeks!”

It was truly the lowest Tsubaki had ever been.

Determined to make a name for herself, Tsubaki had no choice but to rely on the feyish tricks she learned in the forest. She began to fabricate a new identity, one composed completely of lies: she was Tsubaki Petalfall, warrior without a homeland. Her people perished in a terrible raid carried out by the legions of demonic darkness! She sets off on adventure to avenge her people and rid the world of evil! Or perhaps, on a different day, she is Tsubaki Petalfall, disgraced knight! Unable to defend her charge from rebels to the crown, she seeks quests that can restore her honor! They’re but tall tales; in reality, Tsubaki has lived a carefree, easy life. Her lying is starting to get a bit out of hand. Deep down, she hates making so much up—she thinks it is a distinctly fey way of getting by—but she can’t manage the willpower to break it. Tsubaki leverages her gift of gab, along with her skill with a sword, in order to leave her impact on the world and become a truly heroic adventurer.

Professional Speedrunner Tsubaki wants to be a hero. Her natural inclination is to achieve this in the most traditional, no-nonsense way imaginable: save the orphan, slay the dragon, etc. Her worldview is very black and white.

Tragic Backstory in the Making. Despite her no-nonsense personality, Tsubaki wishes something interesting would happen to her. She wants to experience tragedy and heartache because she thinks it’s necessary for a hero. Being raised among fey has not prepared her for the horrors of mortality. (She should eventually recognize her selfishness and realize she’s been co-opting people’s suffering for her own growth.)

Loremonger. Tsubaki is a huge weeb/geek when it comes to mortal history. She loves reading about ancient warriors, holy wars, etc., and she will commit to any quest that rewards her a deeper insight into history, be it exploration or finding relics.

Vindicate Me, Damn It. One day, Tsubaki hopes to return to her enchanted forest a renowned warrior under the guise of saving it from a terrible danger. “See, mom! Being an adventurer wasn’t just a phase! You told me this was a pointless major, but now look who’s saving who from imminent demise!”

Tsubaki is a bit of a stick-in-the-mud. She’s serious in a childish way, and she can misplace her priorities. She gets far too offended and flustered when people play jokes on her, and she holds grudges for years. She constantly feels the need to prove herself, and she can never say no to a challenge, nor resist the urge to go head to head with somebody who has disrespected her. She can be callous and quick to criticize, frequently dismissing ideas that are not her own. However, there is a dere beneath all of that tsun: when Tsubaki considers someone a friend, she will do everything she can to protect them, even though she’d write it off as “doing her warrior’s duty.” It’s definitely not that she likes them or anything, dummy.

Tsubaki is also a pathological liar. She makes up stories about what made her want to take up the sword, and she often has trouble keeping her story straight. She’ll embellish the details of an adventure to make it a thousand times more interesting. When called out on this, she’ll sputter and either claim they are the one remembering it wrong, or she’ll say that everyone sprinkles a little fairy dust over the boring truth sometimes. The most obvious example of this is her left eye: she claims she lost it in a battle, when in reality, it’s still totally functional. (She has a major case of chuunibyou syndrome.)

Black-and-burgundy pincer-like beetle horns sprout from the top of Tsubaki’s head. The flared, triangular shape of her hair combined with the curving swoop of the mandible-horns resembles a samurai helmet. She also has antennae set back further on her head. Her winds have brown cases protecting them: they are usually at least slightly open, showing the glistening gold wing beneath. She and her entire family resemble insects: Tsubaki in particular looks like a stag beetle.

Tsubaki is a vegetarian, as she dislikes the taste of meat. She has a soft spot for sweets, but she eats spicy food to make herself seem tough. She finds her fey ancestry embarrassing, and she’ll do her best to mask it: she wears cologne to disguise her naturally flowery scent as manly musk, for example. She’s very good at juggling, but would be loath to admit it. She fully believes in function over form, and she has a hard time seeing the value in anything that doesn’t help her in combat or dungeoneering. Her favorite color is red. She’s a dweeb about history, but also about fiction—she says her favorite genre is adventure, but she secretly loves girly romance novels. She likes to write fanfiction in her spare time.