#tho most know of it many don't believe in it until they face its wrath

[fluffypotatey]

Do you think Merlin has a nickname amongst the non-magical enemies of Camelot? I'm not talking about Emrys, I mean like the kind of name you give a local cryptid or a semi-mythical figure, the name you'd give something when you have no clue what it really is.

Like, they don't know who Merlin is, they especially don't know who Emrys is, they just know there's something protecting King Arthur, and if you want to fuck with him, you'll have to deal with whatever the fuck that thing is. It might be a person??? Nobody is really sure??? Most people who try it end up dead, and the few who survive have no idea what the fuck happened other than they got tore up from the floor up.

Bonus points if Arthur and the knights catch one of the attempted assassins (after Merlin rocked their entire shit) and they're so entirely shook, they're just muttering about "the king's devil" or "the shadow" or some dope shit like that while Merlin's in the background with a hand over his face.

bestie, what if the nickname started because of the knights. like, remember somewhere in s1 (????) i think arthur mentions to uther or uther mentions to arthur that he's got like some guardian angel or some shit? (yes, great job, fluffy, very coherent)

so like imagine that during a patrol run or whatever, the knight tease arthur about his "guardian angel" and how he always seems to get out of things relatively unscathed (other than leon, but to be fair, he's typically the lone survivor when that happens ANYWAY) bandits probably hear the teasing, find it hilarious and decide to "put that theory to the test" and attack.

but then

tree branches fall in a timely manner, none of them are rotten or prove to be past their prime. the winds get harsher and blow their weapons away. when they flee (if given the chance) the wildlife appear more threatening than they did before, like what the fuck is going on???

fastforward, you're one of the surviving bandits who escaped after trying to attack prince arthur. you're in a tavern, you're telling your tale and someone openly ponders those odd natural disasters that led to your folly. you remember the teasing and jokes made by the knights.

guardian angel they called it. arthur's personal ex machina. you scoff at that. no way was what you just faced an angel (not that you would know) and you would rather eat your teeth than believe and angel was protecting uther's son. so, you think back to that skirmish, try to find anything to help you understand what went down.

"a shadow," that's what you come up with. "camelot may believe that their saintly prince is protected by some angel, but i know the truth!" you say, pulling all of this out from your ass. "arthur has some shadow assassin who ensures he lives to be king."