Grulka Blackmoss
Grulka is the personal advisor and right hand of the Moor King. Grulka serves out both the boons and punishments meted out by the Moor King to his "subjects", whether they like it or not.
Given the physical similarities between male and female tortles of the Chelys people from which Grulka hails, Grulka's gender is unknown. Grulka seems to enjoy how the ambiguity makes other humanoids uncomfortable, and does not acknowledge questions in this vein. Grulka also typically refers to itself in the third person to further discomfort those who converse with it.
Physical Description
Body Features
Grulka has a large, spiked shell into which in can withdraw if needed. The shell is nearly black, an effect that is furthered by the growth of black moss along its ridges. Where it is not covered by moss, the shell has been carved with druidic runes denoting strength and survival of the fittest.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Born and raised on the shores of the Hook Peninsula, Grulka's tribe claims a region of the Amedio Jungle on Jeklea Bay just south of Fort Westhook. The tribe, known locally as the "Chelys" (full name Macrochelys Temminckii) is a large group of tortles known for their familial resemblance to the so-called "alligator snapping turtle".
Among other tortles, the Chelys are considered aggressive and warlike. They brook no incursions into their territory and teach the value of primacy through strength. As a young tortle, Grulka became enamored with the idea of carrying this message to other, more passive tortle tribes. Time and again, Grulka met with complacency in its travels throughout Jeklea Bay and the Azure Sea, and eventually became disillusioned with the idea of enlightening other tortlefolk. Grulka's time traveling had not been wasted, however. Its interactions with the power- and wealth-hungry merchants of the Sea Princes had shown Grulka that strength could be imposed on a group by an individual to achieve a goal; a crew was only as strong as its master.
With this in mind, Grulka set out to find a master whose ideology of strength and natural primacy matched its own. In short, Grulka went looking for an apex predator it could respect and serve. Eventually Grulka made its way to Saltmarsh aboard yet another merchant ship whose captain it could not respect. It was here that Grulka first learned the legends about the Moor King, that mysterious and dangerous entity said to hold sole dominion over most of the greater Salinmoor basin.
Grulka walked off the ship that day and set off northeast, deep into the heart of the swamp and marshlands said to be the Moor King's demesne. As a druid of the Circle of the Swamp, Grulka felt immediately at home and used nature to its advantage; sometimes to pass unseen, other times to destroy those who challenged it. One morning, Grulka simply walked into the midst of the Moor King's "court", and without a word struck down his advisor, a lizardman shaman named Drazda. While the rest of the Moor King's servants and sycophants looked on in shocked silence, the King himself simply smiled. Grulka then kneeled and offered up its throat in symbolic subservience. Thus began Grulka's tenure as chief advisor to the Moor King.
When the Moor King disappeared some ten years ago, Grulka held faith that he would one day return and resume his place as the apex predator of the region, bending others to his will through strength. While the rest of the court fractured as pretenders rose and fell over the years, Grulka kept the King's most loyal subjects close at hand, biding time until he returned for his throne.
Gender Identity
It/They
Alignment
Chaotic Neutral
Current Location
Age
44
Children
Gender
Unknown
Eyes
Yellow and Red in a starburst patten.
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Olive green skin, grey undershell, and spiked black outershell carved with runes
Height
5'9"
Weight
427 lbs.
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