”RUUUUUNN!!!"
Grugga bounds through the common room of the Copenham Inn, giant legs pumping furiously, raw panic on his face.
"GET OUT BEFORE TOO LATE!!!" he howls at the top of his lungs. The sight of a cloud giant the size of Grugga running in sheer terror brings patrons to their feet.
"OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD!!!"
The patrons pick up his urgency and soon all flee to the door and flood onto the Trade Road. Grugga pants for air, his face red.
"Was mouse!"
OVERVIEW
The life of Grugga asks a fundamental question. A question that transcends the ways of Whiysdan, the Nexus, the Druid's guild and even the bounds of Thera itself. The question Grugga's life explores is this: What does it mean to have Courage?
It is said, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." Thus Courage is measured relatively, not absolutely; the measure of Courage is relative to the measure of fear overcome.
Grugga is afraid of everything. He has every phobia on the list. The slightest worry induces panic. He is anxiety ridden. For Grugga leaving home to go the market and shop requires Courage. Walking past a stray dog requires Courage. Meeting someone new requires Courage. Every thing he does, short of sitting alone tending his plants, causes fear and requires he have Courage. Outside eyes would look at Grugga and see a coward - but does he not exercise Courage more often and more intensely than the hero who only musters it for battle? Is Grugga the most Courageous person in Thera, or the least?
Grugga is a different take on sphere Courage. He is sphere Courage not because he has it, but because he needs it. This, to me, is the nature of religion. We seek what is missing in us, not glorify what we already do well.
BACKSTORY
Inbreeding. It's really the only explanation for the psychosis afflicting Grugga. Grugga's antecedence were among the first cloud giants to leave the once great Arial City for lowland life in Galadon. Procreative options for Grugga's forebears were limited at best. Being of typical cloud giant intelligence they solved this problem by taking as partners their siblings, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers and cousins. Cloud giants are not particularly good at tracking genealogy, or much of anything, and the crossing relations became too confusing for them to bother puzzling out. This caused yet more inbreeding as they unwittingly bore children with cousins and siblings they didn't even know they had. Until, at last, Grugga.
If you could parse through the complicated twists (and lack of twists) in Grugga's family tree, count each generation back to the first to leave Arial City, you could discover Grugga is the 13th generation. Grugga could not know this, but perhaps Whiysdan might tell him.
Grugga lived with his MomAunt and his DadUncle in a hovel just off the River Road. His father was a bouncer at the Copenham Inn and his mother was a laborer in the lumberyard. Grugga found both his parents occupations terrifying. (Especially the lumberyard. Mice are scary!) It was always a struggle to make ends meet, which is why they lived in the southern part of the city near the Temple of Darkness, anti paladin and thieves guilds (all very scary) instead of in the northern where the mayor and other important people made their homes. Poor, but loved and well fed by the handouts of the paladin's guild Grugga's biggest problems were with neighborhood bullies.
Being a coward, inbred and fat made him the brunt of every foul word and mean trick the bullies could muster. Grugga's only solace came during his occasional strolls into the Feanwyn Weald, or through the park in Galadon. (He wouldn't go into the Silverwood because of the goblins. Goblins are scary!) He found a love for nature. His anxiety lessened and he did not feel so fearful when he was tending plants. After all, flora isn't usually very dangerous if you're careful to avoid certain species. He discovered an unusual gift to heal the plants, to listen to the animals (but nothing bigger than a squirrel, too scary!) which was noticed by the druids of the Weald. They told him he had the makings of a druid, and Grugga accepted their invitation to train in their guild enthusiastically. It would be good to escape the city full of things to be afraid of (especially that sinister dark alley - scary!) and the bullies for good. With his MomAunt and DadUncle's blessing, he was away.
He chose Whiysdan as his patron to help find his Courage. Luck is also very important to Grugga. When you are dumb, inbred, cowardly and not particularly athletic you need luck more than most. And, Grugga always seemed to have it. Grugga is incapable of calculating odds and probabilities and is afraid of any risk. He has no compass for decision making. So, he relies on luck. If it feels lucky, do it. Unlucky, don't. Grugga knows 13 is a lucky number, and he is as obsessed with it as any follower of the Lucky Lord - but he can't count that high, so that may become an issue for his priestlyness.
A particular passage from Whiysdan's holy text is important to Grugga. "Said to have little patience for those who threaten the happiness of others or smother their culture, his followers are often known to swiftly murder such disrespectful kind." Grugga hates bullies and loves people. He believes in balance between all things, which is nature's way. He will summon all his Courage to try to help the Seekers of Balance. That way everyone can continue to be who they are without fear of extermination. The prospect is terrifying (murder is scary!) but it feels lucky.
DESCRIPTION
Fat. Rolls of blubber cover the frame of this eighteen foot behemoth. He must weigh at least a half a ton. A horrendous stink, presumably from beneath the rolls, is almost overwhelming in his presence. His skin is an odd blue and white hue, splotchy, and covered with terrible acne. His hair, greasy and unkempt, hangs just short of his shoulders. His eyes are too far apart. One is blue, the other brown. A broad nose lays too flat, but almost makes up his eyes being too far apart. Almost. His lips seem to tremble constantly. Between them is a remarkable pair of yellowing buck teeth. His breath always seems to come in a high pitched wheeze.
ROLE 2 Grugga finds some Courage
Whiysdan told Grugga he may find some Courage in the company of good friends. Being ever the dutiful seeker of "Courages" and a follower of the Lord of "furteens" Grugga did his level best to make friends. To Grugga it made perfect sense. If he had strong friends he could hide behind them, then maybe he wouldn't be so afraid. He also found he had to summon his Courage to speak to potential acquaintances, and thought maybe that was part of what the Lucky Lord was after - but he was to find neither of these things to truly give Courage.
One day Grugga was adventuring with two new friends. Belenzar, a young shapeshifter who took the form of a rabbid ferret (very scary) and a bard by the name of Jacko. They were very nice to Grugga, encouraging him, holding his hand, reassuring him and even singing him off to sleep when he was in need of rest, but too afraid to sleep for worry of bad dreams.
The three cut a path through the Shadow Grove of Thera's past fighting wraiths. Grugga was being brave, even standing in front and communing Nature's fury down on the undead. He only peed a little. All was well until the three fell under assault from a devilish imp and an assassin. Grugga watched as his two friends fought for their lives. As he did he felt a strange, new emotion welling up in his heart. Anger? Perhaps at first, but this was the day Passion awoke in the awkward giant.
Alive in his Passion for his newfound friends Grugga looked at the imp. Slowly the gears in his feeble mind started to turn. Imp. Familiar? Yes. That meant a conjurer. He'd seen one earlier, a dark elf Bruhral had walked into the forest. Imp here. Assassin here. He thought so hard his eyes crossed. Bruhral may still be nearby!
With a snarl (yes, a snarl!) Grugga moved his acne ridden fatness through the trees as lithe as a ghost. He entered the settlement. Saw his prey, struck. Bruhral yelped in fear and took off running, blood trailing behind him. Grugga pumped his legs as hard and fast as he could manage, running faster even than the dark elf. He stuck again and again beating him all the way to Voralian city where the dark elf took refuge in the shadows of the Spire's men. Grugga was undeterred. He pounced on the conjurer once more. He struck no fatal blow for Rylium himself put out a warrant then set out with two lieutenants to put Grugga's fat head on a pike.
Once Grugga stopped shaking and put his fear of the law out of his mind he realized the wisdom of the Lucky Lord. Making friends didn't give him Courage because he could hide behind them. It gave him Courage because he would fight for them.
