Robin’s father was an infrequent presence in his family, but he took time to tell the small boy that he was different. Just how different became apparent as the boy grew, and Robin discovered that no one but he and his father could see the swirling, fairy-like landscape of minds around him. With some teaching from his father, Robin found that he could reach into that world and bring back gifts - songs, skills, thoughts and talents - that would cause his neighbors to marvel at him.
But the child also found that he could be pulled in, submerged under the overwhelming weight of thoughts and emotions. When this happened, Robin would cease being himself and disappear into the crowds, becoming an amalgam personality, a generic piece of the mob. Later, once he was alone and quiet, he would be found by his older sister, confused and weak. His sister, Marin was his guardian and savior. She made him a necklace of an acorn painted with the picture of a robin, and she taught him a song to help him to remember himself and keep from getting lost:
There’s no one just like me
There’s no one just like me
In all the flock of pretty little birds
There’s no one just like me
One day, their town was attacked by an army of demi-human invaders, and Robin was absorbed into a panicked stream of refugees, fleeing the carnage. When he knew who he was again, Robin was far away in Gryrax, lost and alone. After first being forced into petty crime by street gangs, Robin made his way into the city watch, where his talents for finding things out and divining truth made him supremely useful. Corruption in the watch took an instant downturn, old crimes started getting cleared from the books, and Robin found that he was able to repay Marin’s kindness to him by reducing the misery of others.
After years of work in the watch, however, Robin became weary of the suffering around him that was beyond his power to change. He had also never really settled himself in a place with so many people, such a roar of thoughts and firework show of emotion. After the last of many times that he had to be rescued from anonymous oblivion by his fellow officers, he decided to head for the frontier, where he might be useful without the constant threat of being lost in a sea of inner lives. He packed his kit and the robin necklace and took to the highway.