Roxies
A fey creature of sexuality and fertility that has spawned tales and songs.
The phrase “roxie in the window” refers to a well-wisher being too voyeuristic, intrusive, or envious.
Roxies are fey of sexual prowess. Often mistaken as a succubus or incubus, they have been vilified in sexually repressive cultures as demons who attack and impregnate both women and men, A bit more popular is their role in castrating cheating husbands. However, to that, a roxie would respond that “believers of those lies are simply bad in bed, resulting in a shriveled and unhappy life.”
A roxie is a sexually provocative creature with a body built to perform well at sex. They can appear as male or female, and they appear to be able to switch sexes quickly in a form of polymorphism. This is not a magical effect but appears to be part of their innate nature. They appear as humans, although of well above average beauty. Female forms are voluptuous and closer to 5’ while male forms are muscular, thick, and closer to 6’ tall. Their hair color can vary beyond common human variations, but they have no facial or body hair. Their eyes are always dark shades.
Neither a young nor an old roxie has ever been seen. Roxies prefer to stay mysterious as it heightens the excitement. Some cultures say the roxie is a beautiful fox in its youth. Once assumed to be a denizen of only great forests and the wilds of the Fey forests, roxies can be found in towns and cities, wandering along a road, or buying fruits in your market.
Roxies may act as agents of goddesses and gods who watch over domains of sex, fertility, childbearing, and fidelity. They may be sent to worshippers who have asked for help. Roxies are said to be capable of reproducing with any humanoid species. They can not only make someone fertile but will conceive a child with any sex partner. One tale says the cheating husband is impregnated and if he does not lay with his wife soon enough, he will bear their child instead of her. Taverns and halls sing of couples waking with child after nights and days of debauchery with a stranger. Legends say a roxie watching a couple tumble in the sheets guarantees a birth will result. A song in many a tavern is The Roxie in the Farmer’s Window. It sings of a farmer and wife who produce litters of children because a roxie always watches them when they “shake the walls”. When they can stand to have no more children they run outside to chase the roxie away. Only they find instead, that it was a local cleric watching them all those years. The phrase “roxie in the window” refers to a well-wisher being too voyeuristic, intrusive, or envious.
Roxies do not normally carry children for people, although tales have roxies taking the seed of powerful men and slipping away, passing it to be born to another mother who would raise the child far from their true parent's influence. The tales usually end with the child being the parent’s downfall. The stories about unicorns being hunted until there was only one mare left say a roxie came to the last unicorn and gave her a foal every year. The limits of their fertility are unclear.
Roxies can dispatch a vengeful punishment. They may be called upon to exact vengeance on rapists, which typically results in castration. Tales talk about being sent after cheating husbands but any roxie would refute that they are a punishment to enforce monogamy. “A night with the couple might solve their problems,” is a more likely response.
Roxie are usually of a fine temperament, happy, and ready to join the fun. They see the better sides of even the sourest person. They learn to speak the languages of the places they inhabit in addition to Sylvan and common tongues. For some languages, they may only learn how to say some dirty phrases.
While roxies eat and drink, it is uncertain if this is nourishing to them, or merely a ploy or aphrodisiac when within society. Roxies will blend into society easily; the busty barmaid, the swollen stable hand, wherever they feel they can find opportunity. Some prostitution houses are rumored to be run by roxies or employ them. Plenty use the popular roxie legends within their name: i.e. The Roxie House, Roxies Run Wild, Foxy Roxies, Jade’s Roxies, etc.
Roxies normally have no scent, making tracking them or being pursued by most beasts difficult. However, they can exude a scent that can muddle the mind, in a pleasant way. The scent is experienced differently by each person that smells it. It is always a pleasant smell, often one associated with happy events, comfort, love, or romance. Those in range of the scent usually become friendly to them. The touch of a roxie is said to be absolutely intoxicating.
When a roxie needs to defend itself, it will exhibit strength beyond their physical appearance. Subduing an enemy is its first choice. Roxies will flee whenever possible. They have a quill in each wrist. By extending the hand backward they can launch the quill into a target. Their poison is quite unique, and they have been hunted for it. It is an extreme aphrodisiac. A poisoned creature falls prone in a euphoric state of sexual excitation, often moaning in a way that cannot be discerned between pain or pleasure. Victims usually suffer blindness from the poison and are left exhausted and collapsed on the ground. It takes the roxie a day to regrow one quill and they only have one in each wrist, so they are not well equipped to deal with multiple assailants.
A trapped or enraged roxie transforms. Their skin turns pale blue and their eyes become shiny black orbs. Their fingertips thin to black-tipped claws several inches long. Their mouth elongates to reveal teeth that have grown into many thin, razor-sharp spikes capable of biting clean through flesh and small bone. This form has been known to climb walls and even crawl across ceilings. The transformation into a dark roxie is very unpleasant for them and it is triggered when they are desperate. If they are forced into this form, they become very vengeful of their enemies. Small groups of roxies have joined to hunt down enemies, usually leaving them chewed into bits in their own beds.
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