Robb

**Robb** is a character in Book 1. He is a sellsword, serving in Oldtown under the Burned Man. Over the years, the once idealistic fighter got jaded and washed-out, turning into an almost self-destructive alcoholic. He grew increasingly cynical about the war going on in Oldtown's criminal underworld, seeing it as pointless and hopeless.

## Backstory

Robb was born in the year 20 BC in White Harbour and from a very early age, life wasn't easy for him. He grew up without his parents, who simply abandoned him in front of an orphanage and he never found out who they truly were. In his childhood, he had to deal with bullies in the orphanage, becoming quite strong due to rigorous excercise, to defend himself from them.

Eventually, this got to the point where Robb could no longer take it. He left White Harbour as a boy of twelve, working himself across the entire continent of Westeros, first helping sellswords by caring for their belongings, then becoming a sellsword himself, using skills he taught himself, while watching the fighters he worked for.

After a few years of travelling, at the age of eighteen, Robb arrived in Oldtown, which should be the place that would define the rest of his life. He quickly met the Burned Man and started to work for him, but more importantly, he met Harpy, the crimelords adopted daughter and one of the first people that treated him genuinely kindly. Mistaking her kindness for affection, he hopelessly fell for her, to the point where he was willing to do anything for her.

Harpy herself did not take his crush seriously, not even noticing its extent, so she was genuinely shocked when Robb declared his feelings for her. Not feeling the same, she declined, which crushed Robb and broke his heart. This action also drove him into a spiral of self-destruction. He started to push away all of his former friends in the city, until he was seen as a pathetic loner and he started to drink heavily, becoming more and more unreliable and alienated from the rest of the Burned Man's sellswords. To make things worse, he outright ruined even the chances for a friendship with Harpy, when his obsessive behaviour towards her turned violent, causing him to hurt her, verbally and almost physically.

## Book 1

### Butterfly

A few weeks before the events of the chapter, Robb was approached by the Burned Man and ordered to fake his defection to Butterfly. Thanks to his bad reputation, it would be quite believable and on top of that, the Burned Man's opinion on Robb was still good enough to trust him with not betraying them for real. His goal would be to lure Butterfly out, so that he could be killed.

He arranged a meeting with the Tom, one of Butterfly's captains, not knowing that Jaron and Martin Wilshere were on their way to check up on him, after Harpy had noticed his suspicious behaviour. They listened to the following conversation, during which Robb promised to the masked man that he would deliver him Harpy. This greatly angered Jaron, who saw it as an act of betrayal. However, when they confronted him afterwards, Robb swore that he would never betray the Burnd Man. Jaron did not believe him and allowed Martin to beat him up, befor they took him back to the headquarters of the Burned Man.

Once there, Robb met Harpy again, using the opportunity to make snide remarks about her apparent attraction to Jaron. This did not only anger her, but Jaron as well and once she left to discuss their next steps with the Burned Man, Robb outright tried to provoke a fight, to make Jaron look bad in front of Harpy. This did not succeed, as Jaron showed the necessary restraint.

Nonetheless, Robb proved crucial in the next step of their plan, in which Harpy boldly tried to trick Butterfly into revealing his location. He arranged a meeting with the Tom, claiming that he and Jaron wish to defect and that they wished to deliver Harpy to Butterfly himself. Taking her with them, they met up with him and The Moggy, before they were led to an abandoned warehouse. Unbeknownst to the Tom, they were followed by Himani Sand, one of the Burned Man's pickpockets, who saw where they had been brought to.

Inside of the warehouse, the three were introduced to Butterfly himself. The man revealed himself to be any bit as dreadful as his reputation, when he easily saw through their ruse. Instead of killing them on spot, he offered Jaron and Robb a chance to work for him genuinely, by turning against Harpy. While Jaron refused, Robb seemingly accepted.

However, he remained neutral in the following fight between Jaron, Harpy and Butterfly's men. Ultimately, he revealed his true colours when he saved Jaron's life, by killing one of the Solvers and by personally attacking Butterfly. He and the crimelord fought a duel, which unfortunately ended with death. However, his sacrifice allowed Jaron to successfully save Harpy, therefore he managed to save the girl he had always loved.

### The Iron Price

Though dead, Robb is mentioned by Jaron, Harpy and Martin. All three of them were deeply surprised by his final act of heroism and Harpy in particular even started to think differently about him and her behaviour towards him. Despite his abrasive personality, his final act ensured that he would be remembered fondly.

## Appearance

Robb is a scruffy man, with messy, dark hair and a full beard, which he doesn't really take care of. Still with a strong build, it is clear that he is an alcoholic, with a slightly puffy face, tired, brown eyes and often a sullen look on his face. Before losing control of his life, he used to be rather handsome, though little of this has remained. Still, Robb is in physically good shape, a strong man, although it has gotten harder for him to focus without alcohol.

## Personality

Robb is a rude, loud-mouthed and often very angry man. He has a short fuse and is quick to lash out towards others. Most of the time, he gives off the feeling as if he doesn't even want to be perceived as likeable in any way and in fact, it is hard to find anyone who would call himself a friend of him. Behind that, Robb is a heavily depressed man, who uses his agression to feel at least somewhat alive. He is ardently loyal to those he cares for, even if that does not mean that he treats them any better. As someone who has given up on life a long time ago, Robb is also a suicidally brave man, not afraid of any danger.

## Relationships

### Harpy

Robb's relationship to Harpy is arguably the most important thing in his life, the one defining moment. She was the first person treating him with kindness and Robb mistook this for affection on her part. This caused him to become outright obsessed with her and when she rejected him, no matter how gently, he was deeply hurt. In his anger, he started to drink and in his drunken rage, he insulted her quite heavily, even almost hitting her, though he managed to control himself just that much. This action caused Harpy to harbour a heavy dislike towards him afterwards. The fact that he, in his bitterness, continued to insult her whenever he would see her, did not make things better. However, his final actions were motivated out of the desire to help her, which caused her to see him in a different light in the end and to consider her own fault at this situation.

### Jaron

Jaron and Robb already started on a bad note, when Jaron mistook Robb's conversation with the Tom for betrayal and allowed Martin to beat him. After this, it got only worse. Robb had a strong dislike for the hedge knight, a feeling that was mutual and when he noticed Jaron's crush on Harpy, he outright decided to hurt both by mocking him for it. This nearly caused Jaron to beat him up. In general, the two men had no love for each other. However, this did not stop Robb from risking and eventually sacrificing his own life so that Jaron would be able to save Harpy. While this action was not done to help Jaron in particular, it gave him a better opinion on Robb in the end and he would remember him positively.

### Martin Wilshere

Martin and Robb have worked together before the events of the story and at one point, they have even been friends. However, when Robb started to lose control over himself, Martin distanced himself from the man and his opinion on him gradually got worse with the time. He didn't even hesitate to beat Robb after believing that he betrayed them, seeing his former friend as completely capable of this. In turn, Robb simply stopped caring about Martin, effectively making sure that there would be no friendship between them anymore. However, Robb's final act, saving the lives of Jaron and Harpy, redeemed him in the eyes of Martin.

## Appearances

 **Butterfly** | The Iron Price
 Valar Morghulis