Grishnak
There is one and only one true thing is this world: The strong will always dominate the weak.
Backstory
Click to ExpandGrishnak's backstory is somewhat murky, even to him. He was either born into slavery, or sold at a very young age. His strength and aggression saw him thrown into the fighting pits where he fought and bled for his master's profit. Unfortunately for them, they had handed him the key to his own freedom. He eventually took a whip from an overseer and used it to kill his guards, escaping.
Physical Appearance
Grishnak was a heavily muscled orc man. He wore a deep purple cloak and his skin was covered in scars great and small. Two prominent tusk like teeth protruded from his lower lip. Where his eyes should have been there were instead a pair of black pits trailing purple smoke. He wielded two purple tentacles that sprouted from his hands like whips.
Capabilities
Grishnak is a skilled fighter with his whip like tentacles. Since becoming the Champion, he has evidently gained the some ability to teleport, drain the life force from those around him, and phase through objects and creatures (inflicting significant damage to them in the process). He has also been seen to swap places with his followers to avoid taking damage.
Personality
Grishnak is a pragmatic and straightforward man. He will use anyone and anything in order to gain power for himself. This makes him surprisingly tolerant; despite being the de facto head of the cult of Tharizdun, Grishnak is no fanatic. He does not truly care whether anyone believes (though he appreciates the value of inspiring fanaticism in his followers), or what their race, color, creed, or social standing is. The only thing he cares about is whether he can use them for his own ends. He punishes failure harshly, but is not apt to throw away a tool before it has completely outlived its usefulness.
Grishnak is not particularly sadistic; violence is an effective means to an end, not an end unto itself. He will often carry on a calm or even pleasant conversation while taking an innocent life.
He is a crafty combatant and is not at all opposed to using deception to stack the odds in his favor. Once he confronts an opponent, however, Grishnak is typically honest and forthright. He sees no reason to pretend to be something he is not. There's no need for lies when one is on the winning team.
Goals & Motivations
Grishnak's primary goal is remarkably simple: To amass power for himself. Everything beyond that is secondary. Despite his position as the Champion of Elemental Evil and de facto leader of the cult of Tharizdun, Grishnak pursues the Mad God's goals only because they make him stronger. He is no fool and knows that should the god be released he will destroy the world. He is not eager for death, but he is also not particularly concerned about it. If he must die, he may as well do so as the strongest being in the multiverse.
History
Prior to Conversion
Grishnak began his adventuring career as part of the Poor Fools (a name bestowed on them by Grishnak after he destroyed them). They operated in the area of Hommlet and fought the Cult of Elemental Evil, which was resurfacing near the old Temple of Elemental Evil.
The party had great success in disrupting the Cult's plans and had made it into the Inner Fane, nearly to the heart of their power. He had a fondness for Ezmerelda, having teamed up with her to dupe the rest of the party into chasing shadows while he and Ezmerelda kidnapped and sacrificed a local priest of Lathander to Tharizdun. It was at that moment that Grishnak began to see the advantages of the Cult.
He had heard of their supposed Champion, Lareth the Beautiful, and knew him to be weak. Caleb, the party's Cleric of Lathander, was holding him back. The party had outlived their usefulness.
When the party confronted Lareth in the Inner Fane, the priest of Tharizdun confidently declared that they would soon be destroyed and the he, Lareth, was the Champion of Elemental Evil. The altar behind him suddenly shot out with tentacles, testing Lareth. They found him wanting. The cleric was drawn screaming into the altar and was destroyed utterly, his tentacle rod dropping to the floor.
As the party was recovering from this shock, Grishnak wandered over to the rod and picked it up. Caleb, off-handedly, said "Grishnak, put that down." Grishnak looked at him and uttered a single word that would change the course of Faerun forever: "No."
Grishnak declared that Caleb was holding him back, that they were all standing in his way, but that none of that mattered for HE was the Champion of Elemental Evil. Grishnak was tested, and was found acceptable. Grishnak smiled at Caleb. "Remember when I saved your life last week? That means you owe your life to me. Do not worry, Caleb. I will be coming to collect on that debt soon."
Champion of Elemental Evil
Before long, Grishnak had staged an ambush in the Inner Fane. In the aftermath, Caleb was petrified and all the other party members were slain. Only Ezmerelda, who happened to be holding an orb that rendered her immune to spells cast by clerics of Tharizdun, was left alive. She gathered the remains of her party and fled.
Grishnak then set about consolidating his hold on the Cult and amassing more power, though he took time off to hunt down and slowly kill those who had enslaved him as a youth. In time, he learned of a powerful artifact that provided knowledge of the gods called the Theonomicon. He secretly hired adventurers in Selgaunt to acquire the tome. Though his original hires did not pan out, Grishnak adapted, killing a powerful wizard who had hired the Heist Crew and assuming his identity. He attempted to kill that party once the Theonomicon was his. He was unsuccessful, but gained a powerful lieutenant in the process by the name of Ice.
Grishnak then set about studying the tome and gathering the Shards of Eternity. He briefly met the Battleborn in the old Temple of Elemental Evil on 4/19/1497, though he was weakened by a ritual used to summon Yan-C-Bin to the Air Node. He was defeated, but escaped.
Relationships
History
Grishnak attempted to kill the Heist Crew after they unwittingly retrieved the Theonomicon for him.
Shared Acquaintances
Ice, Marigold, Gerald, Thygrus, Shump Thunderstruck, Ander Greycastle
History
Ice betrayed the Heist Crew when Grishnak revealed himself, joining her fate to his. She is now his fanatically devoted follower.
Shared Acquaintances
Marigold, Gerald, Thygrus, Mittens, Shump Thunderstruck, Ander Greycastle, Sanosha, Ezmerelda, Ennin Stonehearth, Aurum Bearinglight, Enala
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