Xenoverse origins / R-035
GropeyOrigin story
The collector who could not let go
If Gropey could reach it, Gropey considered ownership settled.
Read the origin ↓
Placeholder artworkGropey’s first recorded ambition was to have more pockets than anyone could count. The plan was limited mainly by the amount of coat available. He compensated with belts, sacks, hooks, and a firm belief that unattended objects were issuing an invitation.
In this Toxic Goblin origin, Gropester is the nickname attached to a compulsive collector and pickpocket. His hands are always searching for the next prize, and his judgment usually arrives several objects later. The story begins with a warehouse whose owner has heard all the rumours and prepared something specifically for that delay.
Possession is nine-tenths of the problem when both hands are stuck.
From the dossier
Chapter 01
The little hand in the inventory
Gropey started with useful thefts: a buckle, a candle, a spoon better than the one he owned. Other goblins tolerated the habit until their own possessions began appearing in his collection. He explained that he was safeguarding items from people who failed to appreciate them. This definition included almost everyone within arm’s reach.
His reputation grew through ordinary carelessness on both sides. Traders left purses visible; Gropey left stolen trinkets hanging from his coat while denying knowledge of them. He rarely escaped suspicion. He escaped consequences by being quick, cheerful, and willing to return the least valuable item as a gesture of excellent relations. The nickname Gropester followed him through the markets, half warning and half reluctant admiration. He liked the admiration enough to stop hearing the warning. Soon he began selecting targets for the story they would produce rather than the object he actually needed.
Placeholder artworkChapter 02
The warehouse with a generous window
The warehouse keeper displayed a brass clasp in a low window. It gleamed beautifully and appeared entirely unguarded. Gropey inspected the approach, checked for watchers, and concluded that the keeper lacked imagination. The keeper, sitting behind a partition, allowed this conclusion to develop uninterrupted.
The clasp belonged to an old demonstration harness used for loading awkward cargo. Pulling it released two locking loops. Gropey reached through the window, took the clasp, and found his wrist neatly enclosed. He used his free hand to release the first loop, activating the second. The mechanism was designed for sacks with no opinions about the arrangement. Gropey had many opinions and no hands available to illustrate them. His pockets began spilling as he wriggled. The keeper opened the shutters fully, improving both ventilation and the public’s view of the new display.
Placeholder artworkChapter 03
A specimen of poor judgment
By midday the window attracted a crowd. The keeper placed a small sign beneath it: UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. Gropey objected that he was a customer. Someone asked what he intended to purchase. He named the clasp. The keeper quoted a price that included several missing tools.
People recognized objects falling from his coat. A spoon returned to its owner, then a purse, then a decorative handle Gropey had taken without remembering what it opened. Each identification reduced his collection and improved the crowd’s mood. He tried charm, outrage, and the suggestion that the entire incident was a rehearsed market entertainment. The harness held throughout. His worst humiliation was not being caught. It was hearing how little astonishment accompanied the discovery. Everyone had expected this eventually. The only surprising detail, according to a vendor with excellent volume, was that it had required two loops when one sound decision might have prevented the whole performance.
Placeholder artworkChapter 04
The bargain from inside the frame
The keeper offered release in exchange for returning identifiable goods and working off the remaining losses. Gropey negotiated from an unusually poor position but negotiated anyway. He secured food, a dry sleeping place, and permission to keep objects nobody claimed. His talent for finding a favourable corner inside a bad arrangement survived intact.
The work involved sorting deliveries and recovering items dropped beneath heavy shelves. Gropey excelled. He knew where small valuable things disappeared because he had spent years helping them do so. The keeper paid a modest bonus when recovered stock exceeded the old losses. Gropey interpreted this as proof that crime had led to employment, an account the keeper refused to endorse. Still, the goblin began distinguishing between collecting an object and being trusted to handle it. The second came with access to far more objects, a persuasive advantage even his attention span could appreciate for several consecutive minutes.
Placeholder artworkChapter 05
The hands remain busy
Gropey did not become a model of restraint. In later Xenoverse stories he still reaches first, explains second, and occasionally discovers that the second stage has been delayed by a locked mechanism. His origin adds experience without pretending experience has defeated appetite.
The brass clasp remains on his belt, purchased eventually at the negotiated price. He uses it to demonstrate traps to younger goblins, editing the account so he recognized the danger slightly earlier each time. The keeper listens when present and corrects the timing with devastating economy.
Gropester’s usefulness comes from the same restless curiosity that makes him exhausting company. He notices loose fittings, hidden compartments, and things everyone else has stopped seeing. Whether that curiosity helps the group depends on what he decides ownership means at the particular moment. His companions have developed a simple precaution: after thanking him, they count their pockets. Gropey considers this an affectionate tradition and usually gives them time to finish before offering further assistance.
Placeholder artwork