Krud

Krud is an extremely rare being known as a weretortle -- he was born a snapping turtle and blessed with cosmic power that allows him to transform into a formidable tortle barbarian. His totemic powers allow him to commune with nature and withstand nearly all forms of incoming damage, magical or otherwise. He is a precious and innocent soul stored within a 7 foot tall killing machine of a body.

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

Larger than the average tortle, with small spikes and antler like extensions coming off the edges of his shell.

Specialized Equipment

• The Holy Axolyte, a divine axe of Hoo'Ax'Dyuu
• Grounder, an enchanted warhammer
• Last Resort, a shield that can protect allies from harm
• Krud's Infernal Stinger, a dagger with venomous properties
• Javelin of Lightning

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Backstory

Krud was born in the swamps of southern Calatia and is a member of a very sacred species. Long ago, a blessing came over their swamp. Once in a generation, a turtle born under the sign of the Cosmic Tortoise would be given a great power. They could transform into a tortle and have all the abilities necessary to mingle with the civilizations of the world. This weretortle would act as an ambassador between civilization and nature -- using their gift to bring balance between people and the planet.
Of course, Krud doesn't understand this. Or his special role in the world.
Because his would-be mentor, the preceding weretortle of Calatia, was kidnapped when Krud was still a newborn. Nali Goldenclaws, as she was called, was betrayed by her former friends and adventuring companions after they fell on hard times. It is presumed that they sold her to the archmages of Vanadiel so that they could study her weretortle powers.
Left to his own devices, Krud just roamed around. As a regular turtle. Eating fishies. Eating animals. Always wandering around looking for tasty new foods. Growing stronger and bigger every day.
Eventually, he found himself in the possession of Selena Nadir, one of the rulers of the Labyrinth. She cared for him and took him everywhere and fed him lots of tasty treats. She even brought him up to her personal retreat -- a castle in the snowy mountains. Overcome with jealousy at the time spent fawning over Krud, though, Chikara Nadir knocked him out of a window and sent him "sledding" down the north face of the mountain when Selena's attention was diverted elsewhere.
Krud doesn't remember as much after that. But the misadventure sent him on a path into northern Verden and into Hegemony territory. He traveled for many years until he found himself in the middle of a town. And fell over after a transformation. He was stuck on his back for some time, with townsfolk scared to approach him, until a little frog person named Abbit flipped him back over.
Treating it as a life debt, Krud promised to protect his new friend and travel with him everywhere. And in exchange, Abbit would teach him the ways of the world and keep him on a good path.
After some adventuring, they were invited to the Free City of Hatena to work for the Legends Alliance. Their handler would be Gertrude Aryn, a semi-retired sorceress from the Chamber of Sages.

Hatena

Krud and Abbit were introduced to their current adventuring party and were sent on a mission to beat up a succubus and some gnomes that had captured Kassan, another member of the Alliance. Once this was done, they did battle with Alleviator Torrin, an agent of Olimandias who wanted to force Hatena to join the Hegemony. Krud also ate a peyote cookie made by Meera and had scary visions of sails and chains and upset baby turtles -- his first memory of his forgotten "childhood."
No more scary cookies from Meera. Only from Grandma Gertie. Krud became very fond of Grandma Gertie because of her cookies.
Krud also befriended Bonk, a bugbear barbarian working at the Hatena enclave, and they made sure to exchange gifts before parting ways.
They then began traveling to Glenien to help Biscus, and came across a Clocktown shrine. Inside its lowest level was a Yiga monk who offered mysterious power to the party. Biscus and Meera were tempted, but Krud's big sad eyes helped turn them away from temptation. Because no one would ever want to disappoint Krud. He also became convinced that Piers was a bird man.

Glenien

In Glenien, Krud was very confused by the whole beef between Biscus and Delenos but was willing to help. This led to a fight with a warlock cult and an entity called The Scarred Devil -- that was very exciting! Krud got to hit many devil dogs and other monsters. And then there was this lady who wanted to bring back the ghost of a moon, and that was also very confusing.
But after defeating all the bad guys, Krud got to go for a fancy dinner at a high-end restaurant and got a whole bucket full of delicious shellfish. He also got to participate in lots of of arena fights with his friends, and also with Grandma Gertie's great-granddaughter, Rose! Who very much loved Krud. Another barbarian friend!
Then he also made friends with Amelie, who owned a museum in town. She was actually a friend of Nali Goldenclaws and was able to tell Krud a little about himself. She also gave him some leads to where Nali might be held prisoner if still alive -- Van'Duras. Abbit later send a Sending spell to confirm that she is, in fact, still alive.
Krud also had a vision of Selena as his adopted mother, and has finally made the connection (kind of) that Piers is his uncle! Exciting! And Meera is supposedly the woman who threw him out the window, but that's silly. They are obviously two different people. Meera is Meera.
He became a big fan of pro wrestling when Hart got involved in the matches held at the Armos Coliseum.
Biscus decided he was tired and didn't want to adventure anymore. It was very sad. But a new person arrived to help them all going forward -- an elven man named Farvis. He had a very fancy mustache! Though something about him smelled strange.

Naydra

Krud followed Abbit and the party to Saravoss to help break into the Naydra Archives. There was a big magic cannon in Saravoss that shoots people into the water. Fun! They met with Rhys Cairthel -- the brother, but not-brother, of Meera? That was strange. Talitha seemed to like him, though. Rhys would take them to Naydra on a boat and drop them off to smash skulls.
During the night, Meera started screaming and yelling. Apparently Farvis was a man in magical disguise. There was no mustache after all. He was actually taller and even more blue. His name was Nôx. Or Farvis left and was replaced by a new person named Nôx. Krud is very unsure. Either way, the party decided to give him a chance to help out.
Krud was told to wait in a cavern under Naydra after carrying everyone inside. Something about him not being very sneaky. While waiting for the others to find shiny objects upstairs, Krud decided to speak to a friendly octopus swimming around the cavern. The octopus told him a secret way into the archive vault -- all they had to do was pry open the metal trap door far above. Abbit managed to fly up there, and Hart and Krud forced open the doors. Ha! Krud IS infiltrator!
The party then grabbed a bunch of magical goodies and some weird books for Meera. They were intercepted by the archive curator, who turned out to be a giant blue dragon! Oh no, it's bigger than Krud! Krud experiences fear for the first time as they escape using magic and then hide underwater while the giant dragon desperately tries to search for them. Nôx attunes to a fancy instrument and warps them far away.... back to Glenien!
Piers's pigeon mother then showed up to attack Meera for some reason. Nobody hurts Krud's friends! Things got really confusing very fast. Sarael stabbed Biscus and Rhys and turned into some horrible fiend -- she seemed scared and ran away in disgrace. Everyone decided it is best to put a magical guard on Biscus's house and then flee to the Lost Woods until things blow over.

The Lost Woods: Scary Dream Lady

The Lost Woods was very green, like back home! The tavern had so many fishes to eat. Everyone was here to help Abbit free the one true god, Hoo'Ax'Dyuu, from the back of some weird adventurer named Gabe. And supposedly Gabe was working with some undead knight named Jericho, who was creating a zombie army north of the woods. Time to go for a walk in the woods, fight some zombies, and get money for more food. Better than running from dragons.
The hike starts okay. Krud got to fight several creepy gnome-things in red hats, and then fights a big troll and naked bird women. But things changed when fog came in, and Piers had them follow an armored ghost man to some hut in the woods. There, a pretty lady offered to help them with all of their problems, and offered them a brief stay in a world where everything was good.
For Krud, he met Nali Goldenclaws again -- but she was still a stranger, and her artificial warmth was scary and overwhelming. Nothing about this dream world was right. Krud desperately wanted out and closed his eyes. Everyone rejected the gift and the dream (and all its people) dissolved. Piers demanded to know about his childhood. The scary lady took Selena and Piers under her protection in exchange for their father's life, but Selena distrusted Sunniva and was exiled after getting her wings chopped off. Mama was a pigeon too?
Piers chose to spare Sunniva, which seemed to anger a lot of people. But Piers was always very smart for a man-pigeon, so Krud figured that it must have been the right call.

Lost Woods: Freeing Hoo'Ax'Dyuu

Krud helped the party fight many zombies and monsters at the Hall of Heroes. They reached the top of the fortress and did battle with a death knight named Jericho, an undead wizard who turned Nôx into an old man, and Gabe -- a super powered alien who had Hoo'Ax'Dyuu stuck in his back. Absorbing his power. Krud was able to pull the axe out of Gabe to sever this divine connection.
The battle was tough, but eventually they won, and Krud was given a gift for his loyalty to the one true god. A powerful axe called the Holy Axolyte! In this moment, Krud knew that Abbit has always been right. Hoo'Ax'Dyuu really was the most powerful god!

Vanadiel Adventures

The party then decided it was time to properly rescue Nali Goldenclaws from the big wizard school, Estuvaris. They met with Eliana, the leader of the Alliance enclave in Van'Duras, and picked up some extra work. They were sent to assassinate an evil wizard named Aurylon Dawnkeep (and his big jello slime friend). Krud was briefly turned against the party because of magic, but managed to bring himself back before pummeling Nôx to death. He then instead chose to pummel Dawnkeep to death -- especially after Dawnkeep killed Piers!
They went to go to a battle at the arena, and Nôx won! But for some reason Hart was upset.
They then helped a Goron village fight back a Hegemony battalion. Krud bonked many skulls that day, and then got to wrestle with some Goron! It was very fun, and Gorons are amazing. A great reason to keep disguising himself as a Goron whenever he needed to. With the best face.

Estuvaris

The party reached the top of Estuvaris where Nali was held with the help of Eliana, Talitha's mom, and a wizard named Atano -- a man Krud never trusted. And that instinct proved to be right when the man released a giant malice abomination from its captivity. The party was badly hurt in the fight. Piers, Nôx, and Eliana fell unconscious and had to be healed immediately. Destroying the big monster caused a sliver of a red moon to appear in the sky. Xer had mentioned something like that. Uh oh.
They grabbed Nali and ran.
Krud felt a new fear as they tried to escape the tower -- he'd used almost all of his abilities up before even getting close to the exit. What was Krud without his rage? 
Abbit was a wise frog and decided to use some of his last magic to burrow out of the tower and warp away to safety, even at the expense of loot and information further down in the tower. Safety first. Krud always knew Abbit was a good leader. What would he be without Abbit? :)

Training With Nali

Krud went on many nature walks with Nali while left in the Lost Woods to protect her, and she taught him many things about being a weretortle. They were supposed to defend nature and act as "ambassadors" to civilizations. And that just means making friends wherever you go and helping people. So even without formal training, Krud had already managed to start doing that out of the goodness of his feral heart. Nali was very proud of him.
He learned how to better harness his powers over four months, including gaining the ability to breathe radiant magic out of his mouth! Ouch!
He reunited with the party at Hatena, and the MEAN LADY who threw him out of a window was with them! Krud attacked! But apparently this person was Meera? And her name was now Kira??? Seems suspic-- but Abbit isn't here. Where did Abbit go? Krud was very conflicted upon learning that Abbit had left the party, but knew that he was supposed to still help his friends. So he agreed to go with them and free Selena, his "other mama," from magic jail in the Labyrinth.

Labyrinth

Ongoing.

Sexuality

Innocent

Social

Family Ties

• Abbit (legal guardian)
• Nali Goldenclaws (would-be mentor, another elder weretortle)
• Selena Nadir (adoptive "mother")
• Piers Garetson (adoptive uncle)
• Chikara Nadir / Kira (the mean lady)

Religious Views

Krud believes in Hoo'Ax'Dyuu, but mostly just because Abbit says he's the one, true god.

Social Aptitude

Krud may not be the brightest, but he always means well and follows his instincts. Even if they clash a little with society's norms. He has intense loyalty to his friends and would gladly fight anything to defend them. His ability to boil complex problems down into simple matters is very endearing. Maybe everyone else just overcomplicates things. Life is about food and friends. That's all.

Current Status

Active; With Party

Age

Over 100

Gender

Male

Eyes

Earthy, reptilian

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Green

Height

7'5"

Weight

~ 500 lbs

Belief/Deity

Hoo'Ax'Dyuu?