Redcloak: celibate? Widower? Straight? Gay? Asexual?

[Idhan]

I haven't read Start of Darkness or other prequel books, so I'm curious if there's any information on Redcloak's romantic life.

Does the Dark One have a celibate priesthood, so that His priests will be devoted to Him and no one else?

Did he have a girl/boy back in the goblin village, who died at the hands of the Sapphire Guard or Xykon's boredom, and he's convinced that it was true love, and that he'll never meet anyone like her/him again, or that it would be a betrayal of her memory to see anyone else, or that they'll be reunited in the afterlife?

Has Xykon just ground down Redcloak's self-esteem to the point where he thinks he's not worthy of love, and/or that he'd just betray anyone who loved him for the sake of the cause as he did Right-Eye?

He's just asexual?

He's afraid of getting attached, because even without Xykon murdering goblins for the heck of it, they'd age and eventually die, and he wouldn't, thanks to the Crimson Mantle?

He's a workaholic and "married to his job?"

He had a harem of nubile goblin females/strapping goblin males as leader of Gobbotopia, or in the Dungeons of Dorukan, but we just don't see, because it wouldn't be important to the story? (Doesn't seem in character, but throwing out possibilities.)

[Vahir]

It's pretty much stated in SoD that Redcloak gave up everything the moment he put on the Crimson Mantle. Romantic interests take the back seat when the fate of your entire species is at stake.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

My copy of SoD is at home, so for now the short answer is that Redckoak is a workaholic.

Eveything else should be spoilered for those who are buying the book and haven't had a chance to read it yet.

[Emanick]

SoD spoilers

Did he have a girl back in the goblin village, who died at the hands of the Sapphire Guard
Bingo. Technically he didn't "have" the girl, but he did have a crush on her.

As far as I can remember, this is the only romantic attachment Redcloak has ever been shown to have. Since this scene was just before Redcloak received the Crimson Mantle, I suppose it's entirely possible that being the Bearer of the Crimson Mantle does bestow/require celibacy.

[DrBurr]

This is a pretty minor spoiler in SoD, so It probably won't ruin it for you but just to be safe

When we first see Redcloak in SoD he is being ordained and his mom is telling him to go ask out the girl from the hut next door, so it doesn't appear that the Dark One's followers are a celibate order. Later when he goes to find his brother Right-Eye, Right-Eye hooks him up on a date with his sister in law but Redcloak ends up ditching those plans to go do his god's work. Though afterwards he regrets this and asks Right-Eye to apologize for him and rearrange the date.

So it appears Redcloak is Heterosexual, but is simply married to his Job as a cleric so he doesn't have time for romance.

Ohh I think I just got ninja'd

[MesiDoomstalker]

I dunno about you, but if I was the high priest of an entire religion and it was my divine given task to improve the state of my species in the global sense and in order to do so I must "team up" with a psychotic, undead, practically invincible sociopath with immense power, and said sociopath kills my species indiscriminatly and my

SoD spoiler:brother's village was destroyed by said sociopath because I took a brief vacation to visit him

romance would be the furtherest thing from my mind.

And I didn't even touching on the god-killing abomination that I might accidentally release or my god might release if his plan fails.

[Porthos]

There's another scene in SoD:

He gets set up with a blind date later on in the book.

It doesn't go exactly that well due to his workaholic tendencies. But a bit later on he does show interest in her, for reasons that I shan't go into here.

Unfortunately for him, someone decided to crash the party before he could see her again...

[t209]

There's another scene in SoD:

He gets set up with a blind date later on in the book.

It doesn't go exactly that well due to his workaholic tendencies. But a bit later on he does show interest in her, for reasons that I shan't go into here.

Unfortunately for him, someone decided to crash the party before he could see her again...

I agree may be he's just too busy to have a wife and kids.

[Hattish Thing]

I think Redcloaks been too busy with dealing with Liches, betrayals, and necrophiliacs...

[Idhan]

Thanks for the info. Interesting to find out about Start of Darkness. I suppose I really should get that (and Origin of PCs, etc).

I do realize :redcloak: is a busy goblin, but then again, that doesn't make him necessarily celibate, even if he happens to be. One could easily list a huge amount of things going on in :haley:'s life which interfere with romance ("Her dad's being held prisoner! A sorcerer-lich is trying to take over the world and she's on the team that's trying to stop him! She's on the run from the Greysky city thieves guild and has a nemesis who wants to give her a bad haircut!") but ultimately that doesn't stop her from getting :elan:.

[Steward]

Haley's situation is a bit different though. She actually works with Elan very closely, and her employer is not as overbearing and abusive. If Redcloak did have a girlfriend, she would pretty much constantly be at risk of being killed by Xykon and/or turned into an undead, either to control Redcloak, to punish him in some way, or just for fun. His age thing might also have an impact; goblins don't normally live very long, right? So most of the goblins that Redcloak knew (and most of the hobgoblins that he knows now) are probably significantly younger than him and have a different mindset that he grew up with. That's not necessarily a barrier, but it might make things harder since he will have less in common with most of the people around him.

None of this guarantees that he can't have a girlfriend but they're just more obstacles in his path, especially for someone who is kind of a workaholic anyway as DrBurr and Surfing HalfOrc noted.

[Ancalagon]

Redcloak is a workaholic. There's no time for "romantic relationships". He is also an evil fanatic who's only seeing his goal.

If he took a sidestep and admitted there are other priorities in life, he'd have a massive problem (SoD). So he keeps himself busy so he does not have to think about anything but The Plan.

[Omergideon]

So the consensus from Sod is that Redcloak is a standard hetero Goblin as a kid, but once he becomes the bearer of the Crimson Mantle everything else takes a VERY distant backseat to the plan.



Not a very complicated question.

The real question is, assuming he actually pulls it off and survives, what then? Cos I can't quite imagine him settling down in Gobbotopia with a nice Goblin/Hobgoblin lass......

[Draconi Redfir]

if you REALLY want to get into Redcloak’s love life, you should look up a series of crack shipfics pairing him with a certain purple-haired elf witten by Water-Smuf. It should be noted however that it's probably not for everyone.

[The Succubus]

if you REALLY want to get into Redcloak’s love life, you should look up a series of crack shipfics pairing him with a certain purple-haired elf witten by Water-Smuf. It should be noted however that it's probably not for everyone.

Smurf's stuff was really good and relatively restrained, at least compared to some of the other stuff, which wasn't relatively restrained. :smallyuk:

[Ron Miel]

Redcloak put on the crimson mantle when he was an adolescent. And he hasn't aged a day since then. He's not yet mature either physically or emotionally. He'd be totally clueless about sex.

[Kurald Galain]

Come to think of it, we don't see a whole lot of female goblins or hobgoblins, do we now? Or perhaps we (as humans) cannot tell the difference? Because a leader would generally have no problem attracting a mate if he wants to, and I can certainly see Jirix wanting to.

[Gandariel]

Why so many threads about sexual orientation?
Oh, i got it, Valentine's day -.-

[Draconi Redfir]

Come to think of it, we don't see a whole lot of female goblins or hobgoblins, do we now? Or perhaps we (as humans) cannot tell the difference? Because a leader would generally have no problem attracting a mate if he wants to, and I can certainly see Jirix wanting to.

No they look different, they are probably just less common since Goblinoid millitary favors males or something.

[Bulldog Psion]

Why so many threads about sexual orientation?
Oh, i got it, Valentine's day -.-

Actually, it's probably just someone came up with it at random, and now there are copycats all over. Like those ritza fritzin funeral threads. :smallannoyed:

Anyway, if you look at SoD, RC's sexual orientation is --

Straight, but preoccupied.

There -- another of these threads that I was able to answer the OP question of in 5 words or less. :smallwink:

[JSSheridan]

I've been wondering if the Crimson Mantle compels the wearer to use any opportunity they see to move the plan forward.

Plus, if I were working closely with Xykon, I wouldn't want to have someone close to me. X would certainly exploit that.

Finally, since he's not aging, he really can't settle down like most goblins.

For all we know, he stayed in Gobotopia so long because he was hitting up the singles bar every night looking for some no-strings fun. But it's not plot relevant, so it wasn't shown.

[Idhan]

Actually, it's probably just someone came up with it at random, and now there are copycats all over. Like those ritza fritzin funeral threads. :smallannoyed:

For what it's worth, the original post was my first post on the GiantITP forums. I was actually unaware that posts of my type were particularly trendy. (I did do a search for a few words like "redcloak celibate" and look through a few pages of the OotS forum to see if this topic was addressed, and I couldn't find anything, but I didn't do a really thorough search.)

[brionl]

His Macebook status is: In a Relationship with The Dark One.

[B. Dandelion]

For what it's worth, the original post was my first post on the GiantITP forums. I was actually unaware that posts of my type were particularly trendy. (I did do a search for a few words like "redcloak celibate" and look through a few pages of the OotS forum to see if this topic was addressed, and I couldn't find anything, but I didn't do a really thorough search.)

I don't think it's been asked before. And that sounds like perfectly credible attempt at searching for the answer.

I guess you were just unlucky with timing, but it's a fair question on its own.

[Copper]

So it's pretty clear he's a straight guy married to the job. Also having anyone he cared deeply about would give Xykon an extrodinary amount of power over him, so even if he was interested in someone, he probably wouldn't get involved for the good of everyone involved.

[DoctorIllithid]

Redcloak put on the crimson mantle when he was an adolescent. And he hasn't aged a day since then. He's not yet mature either physically or emotionally. He'd be totally clueless about sex.

...He's wasn't that young. I would peg him at eighteen, twenty-one at the most when he took the mantle.

[Forealms]

SoD spoilers

Bingo. Technically he didn't "have" the girl, but he did have a crush on her.

As far as I can remember, this is the only romantic attachment Redcloak has ever been shown to have. Since this scene was just before Redcloak received the Crimson Mantle, I suppose it's entirely possible that being the Bearer of the Crimson Mantle does bestow/require celibacy.


"Bestow Celibacy" has to be the least exciting D&D spell ever.

[Idhan]

"Bestow Celibacy" has to be the least exciting D&D spell ever.

Sounds like it would be a specialized application of Geas/Quest or Mark of Justice to me.

[Kurald Galain]

His Macebook status is: In a Relationship with The Dark One.

Redcloak totally uses Mymace!

[Ron Miel]

...He's wasn't that young. I would peg him at eighteen, twenty-one at the most when he took the mantle.

In SOD he is he same (physical) age as Right-eye's son, who is obviously not yet an adult.

And he is just beginning his apprenticeship as a cleric of The Dark One. Or at least, it's early in his training. Humans in the middle ages would start their apprenticeships around 13 years old. I'd put RC not much older than that.

[Ancalagon]

Just for goblins that's nearly grown up. I'd put Redcloak in SoD at like 16 and getting the White Cloak was basically his rite of passage and he barely had gained adulthood.

[Doxkid]

Romantic interests take the back seat when the fate of your entire species is at stake.

Tell that to every movie, book, television show, cartoon, anime, game, song, theater-play and actual event since the beginning of mankind. I've got most/all of written history telling me that you're wrong here.

The rare times it actually does take the backseat, it is lamented as a unique sacrifice from a dedicated person.

[Gift Jeraff]

Since he's listed as 54 in WaXP, that would make him 19~20 when he puts on the Crimson Mantle. That's definitely past the equivalent of goblin adolescence.

[ti'esar]

Tell that to every movie, book, television show, cartoon, anime, game, song, theater-play and actual event since the beginning of mankind. I've got most/all of written history telling me that you're wrong here.

The rare times it actually does take the backseat, it is lamented as a unique sacrifice from a dedicated person.

Which, to be honest, is something that's always annoyed me. I'd personally admire Redcloak for this were he serving a better cause.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Could be reddy fears if he had a special someone xykon might threaten her to get to him.

I mean, we've seen that xykon can be a real prick at times.

[ti'esar]

Could be reddy fears if he had a special someone xykon might threaten her to get to him.

I mean, we've seen that xykon can be a real prick at times.

This deserves some kind of "Understatement of the Year" prize.

[rgrekejin]

Redcloak put on the crimson mantle when he was an adolescent. And he hasn't aged a day since then.

Wait, is that right? I don't have my copy of SOD on hand, but I was under the impression that it just radically slowed the aging process, not halt it all together.

[B. Dandelion]

Wait, is that right? I don't have my copy of SOD on hand, but I was under the impression that it just radically slowed the aging process, not halt it all together.

Redcloak does specifically say slowed.


"The Revered Master once told me that the Crimson Mantle slowed the aging process of the wearer... allowing one goblin to accomplish more over the course of several normal lifespans."

...but Right-Eye refers to him as being "frozen in time", "still an angry kid", and 14-year-old Ridizak thought RC looked his age 32 years after putting on the cloak. My conclusion: it could be either, but if it is indeed a slowed-down process it's on a scale of several decades to a year, which is rather more severe than Redcloak's phrasing makes it sound (more like several dozen normal lifespans).

[Deepbluediver]

For a race that basically recognizes they are standard adventuring-fodder, and can only keep pace by reproducing as fast as they can, celibacy doesn't seem like an adventageous religious doctrine.

I suspect that the Dark One has very few requirements for his clerics, other than loyalty (both personal and to Goblin-kind) and that Redcloak's particular circumstances just leave him with little time for personal matters.
That, and working 24/7 with Xykon doesn't make for the most romantic of environments.

[dps]

Redcloak put on the crimson mantle when he was an adolescent. And he hasn't aged a day since then. He's not yet mature either physically or emotionally. He'd be totally clueless about sex.

Even if you're right about his physical, emotional, and mental age, that would make him a horny adolescent, and therefore argue against him being celibate.