Jareth, Goblin King, Owl King, creator and master of the Labyrinth, fae of the Unseelie Court.
Independent roleplay portrayal of Jareth. Selective mun - please read the rules before adding. R18+ for reasons. This is a dark adaptation.
I don't often share out, sorry.
Ero themes are fine in context.
Literate writers only.
Please don't add me for fun.
I'm not friend collecting.
"If you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams."
Past
Born of Indris and Magdoline of the Aos Sí, Jareth rose to power when he met Mizumi, the Queen of Moraine, and began with her a sordid affair that spanned many lifetimes. Although not fae like him, she was a powerful witch in her own right, and could control water, aka The Cups.
Among other things, Mizumi introduced Jareth to the Unseelie Court and was with him when he discovered the goblins, various races of creatures that desired a king. Deciding to rule over them, Jareth distanced himself from Mizumi and established himself as the Goblin King where he undertook his callings as part of the Unseelie Court. His chief calling, bought on by his race's inability to reproduce, was to bargain for and steal human children, earning him the title of The Erlking in many human legends.
Outraged by his preference for the goblins, Mizumi attempted many times to rekindle her love with Jareth. Her attempts forced Jareth to create the Labyrinth within which he hid his heart from Mizumi, never to be touched again.
"He locked himself inside his castle. He created the Labyrinth to keep everyone out."
Present
Jareth was a crude and enigmatic individual, exuding arrogance and pomp from his throne where he reigned over his subjects. His main calling of the Unseelie Court was to take the children from humans who did not want them, offering them an escape in exchange for nothing. Often the parents of such children would challenge him, resulting in bargaining terms wherein Jareth would offer runners 13 hours to try and solve his Labyrinth in exchange for their children’s lives.
"I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you!"
Jareth developed a morbid fascination with one runner, Sarah Williams, who had wished her baby brother away and then pursued him into the Labyrinth. The King found her courage and determination both impossibly compelling, and wished for her to stay with him in the Underground forever, claiming he had fallen in love with her. Unfortunately, Sarah solved the Labyrinth, rescued her brother, and denied Jareth’s request, leaving him heartbroken and rejected.
Future
In the aftermath of Sarah’s run, Jareth’s control of his Labyrinth and Kingdom became weak and disorderly. The goblins actively rioted until the King was forced to travel to the Kingdom of Moraine. There, he requested Mizumi forge him an ablation of Sarah, an aspect siphoned off from another living being. Mizumi agreed, posing Jareth with her own terms. He had 13 years with which to make the ablation love him, or else he would forfeit his kingdom. Jareth agreed. The ablation, however, had no memory of Jareth.
Jareth kept the ablation of Sarah, who called herself Moppet, locked in his castle while he tried to convince her to love him. However, after a long time he realised it was futile, and abandoned the girl in a junkheap with no memories of where she had come from.
Jareth’s control of the Labyrinth continued to grow chaotic. As a safeguard, however, it was soon revealed that Jareth had been watching the development of Sarah’s baby brother, Toby, and intended to declare him as his heir to his throne as a way to undermine Mizumi and lure Sarah back into the Underground to restore his control. It ultimately worked, although once Sarah was reunited with her ablation, Moppet, she once again denied Jareth’s request for her to say. Although jilted, it’s suggested they parted on good terms.
“You have no power of me, she said. But that, of course, was only half true…”
Torrential rains came down with a ferocity the young woman was prepared for. It had been hours since she shed her riding gloves as they had proven less than beneficial in this weather. Though her fingers grew numb and pains like pinpricks rolled through them due to the cold, her grip never loosened on the fleshy, spikelike protrusions at the base of her mount's neck. Despite how fat drops of rain had soaked her hair, bringing down thick locks into her vision, she trusted the warm, scaly beast beneath her to guide them through it. When the large dragon evens out his flight pattern, she boldly raises one hand to push her hair from her face before quickly grabbing a hold of him once more. As if he knew to wait for her, he would not begin to turn his body at a slight angle to the left, until she had a good grip on him. It was on days like this, that Nettles missed having a saddle for him but his had worn out nearly a year before and she had neither the means nor the funds or skills to replace it. He seemed quite happy without it.
Sheepstealer. He was a dragon of exceptional size and strength pushing close to ninety years of age which was middled-aged for a dragon from her lands but he had the youthful strength of a dragon far younger. She had often worried if that was because he had never known chains or been fed by anyone other than himself and his rider. He was named by smallfolk or rather peasants, of his island home as he had never had a rider before Nettles. His habit of stealing sheep and the occasional sheepdog was quite obviously the reason yet he never harmed a shepherd. His first taste of flesh had come during the culling of the dragon seeds, which would be dragon riders trying to claim dragons. He had killed and eaten more of them than any of the other unclaimed or wild dragons combined.
Wisely, Nettles had won him over in a smart way, gaining his respect and his interest rather than forcing his subservience. Since then they have been inseparable. A story for another day.
Sheepstealer began to fly lower and lower and while Nettles didn't quite understand why, she did not attempt to stop him, she was confused. They often stayed at high altitudes when in flight to go unnoticed. However, both the dragon and rider were hungry and exhausted. Having been on the run for months, they rarely settled in one place too long but something had drawn the earthen-brown dragon's interest. Nettles was thankful that as they flew lower and lower, the rains felt less intense though came down just as heavily. No, not the rains, the winds. There was still quite a lot of it but not nearly as intensely down here.
Soon the dark eyes of the rider caught sight of her dragon's interest. The bright gleaming of armor stood out on grounds that both looked wild and painted with blood. Bodies lay unmoving on the ground and as Sheepstealer flew lower, she realized none seemed to be moving. Her brow arches as she brings him to fly a few circles over the bodies, over and over again getting closer with each pass until at lands she guides him to land. Massive hindlegs with taloned feet thump against the ground with the force of his strength as he comes down no more than a hundred yards from the bodies. Nettles remains on his back, climbing further up his neck to get a better view. Blood stains the damp grass, almost looking black in the fading daylight that filtered through the clouds.
Once satisfied no one appeared to be a great threat, Nettles guides Sheepstealer to lower himself so she could climb down. The massive dragon cranes his neck and lowers his left side so that she can climb down his shoulder and his wing, using the claw of his wing to get her down the last few feet. Once her worn boots touch the ground, Nettles approaches the chaos looking for any survivors. What had happened here?
While many of the individuals seemed to dress similarly, their clothes were distinctly different regarding their clothing. She finds one man whose feet look about the same size as hers, and with some reluctance, pulls the boots off his feet. He wore long stocking socks beneath them, those too she would take to dry later and wear. Nettles was never a fan of robbing the dead, it was wrong in every manner but she was desperate for both clothing and food.
Already she felt the hot flames of her dragon at her back. She looks to see he is in the process of burning one body before sinking his fangs into it. The crunch of the dead man's armor makes her wince and decidedly, she begins stripping bodies of their armor. She had no intention of keeping any of the armor for herself but simply to allow Sheepstealer to more easily devour their bodies without having to process the strange metals. So entranced with what she was doing, she hardly noticed one move just a little as if not quite away but aware of their own pain.
She manages to find a few who had pouches of dried meats and berries on them as well as some gold in the form of jewelery. She stuffs them all in the folds of her cloaks and wraps. At first glance, Nettles looked entirely out of the woods. Her thick, black hair was in wild curls now weighed down with water, her rich brown face bore an ugly, jagged scar across her nose and she wore a heavy cloak lined with furs. It was Sheepstealer fed on the dead that she noticed one who stood out most of all.
His pale hair drew her attention first as his helmet had either fallen off her or he had not worn one but it was his ears that made her exceptionally curious. She had not noticed the others had ears like his but as she leans over to examine him, his eyes open. She freezes, remaining crouched over him as if not quite sure what to do or say.
Outraged by his preference for the goblins, Mizumi attempted many times to rekindle her love with Jareth. Her attempts forced Jareth to create the Labyrinth within which he hid his heart from Mizumi, never to be touched again.
Jareth kept the ablation of Sarah, who called herself Moppet, locked in his castle while he tried to convince her to love him. However, after a long time he realised it was futile, and abandoned the girl in a junkheap with no memories of where she had come from.
