Originally Posted by
Thanqol
He barely seems to hear you. He certainly doesn't respond. He's been caught in this state for as long as you've known him and a dude doesn't spend literally a month in bed weeping if he can be shaken out of it with a little care and a gentle question.
Academics 3 with folklore speciality: That said, a thought does occur to you - the legend of the Fisher King. The Arthurian King caught in a cycle of grief and mourning all the landscape changed to reflect his misery. With the magic of faerie being such as it is you wonder how much of the town's sicknesses might extend from its broken monarchs. You also wonder if this is not, in fact, any sort of natural depression - it seems so comprehensive, so resistant, so enduring it might have more common cause with a curse, or a wound.
[It's a manipulation+empathy roll at -10 to get through to him. Good luck. You can bring that number down by finding more information (magically or otherwise) about him.]