NPC: Barkley, an April Fool

A year ago, I entered Haste's April's Fool contest. I was a winner in two categories. I've already posted my personal favorite, Craig the Battle Droid, but I thought that today would be an appropriate time to share the other.

Barkley, Forest Humorist

Quote: “It’s time to make like a tree and stand perfectly still.

Ooh, ooh, no wait.  'It's time to make like a tree and bark.'

Ha ha ha, hoo boy, that was a good one!”

Appearance: Barkley is a lithe figure about six feet tall.  His skin is dark and grainy, like varnished wood.  His hair is a spiky mess of thick brown follicles, and each one branches into two or three wavy green curls at the end.  Barkley wears a toga-like robe of moss and leaves, and he carries a long, gnarled club.  His appearance helps him blend in with the trees, though since he can teleport by stepping into and out of any tree he doesn’t need the camouflage.

Roleplaying: Barkley treats everything lightly, no matter how severe the situation.  He chats idly and makes constant forest-based puns and jokes (most of which are horrid).  He can occasionally be very serious about the forest, but even then he can hardly string together a couple of sentences before his foolish nature breaks through again.

Personality: Barkley is a light-hearted Fae creature who rarely sees mortal troubles as serious.  He is generally friendly, but not necessarily likeable.  He tends towards annoying thanks to his continuous stream of jokes.  On the rare occasions that Barkley is serious, he is completely focused and quite cunning.  If he makes any friends who can tolerate his presence, he’s very loyal and occasionally helpful.

Motivation: Barkley is theoretically a guardian of the forests of the world.  But he’s been doing that for a long time and has grown tired of it.  His responsibility is temporarily lifted while he seeks out a replacement, but he spends most of his time just cracking jokes and playing tricks on mortals.  Deep down he seeks approval from mortals since the Fae refuse to give it to him.

Background: Barkley was once a powerful member of a Fae court.  Thanks to his foolishness, however, he was banned from the Fae courts and given the responsibility of watching over the forests.  He recently convinced a Fae noble to allow him to find a replacement, claiming that he has grown weary.  In reality, he just plans to stay away from his responsibility as long as possible and have fun in the mortal realm.