## Grom Izek of the [[Black Horns]] **Race**: Minotaur **Class**: Bard (College of Glamour) **Alignment**: Lawful Evil **Deity**: Gold itself (“The only god is gold. And god is good.”) **Background**: Entertainer (Custom: Gypsy Merchant Performer) **Age**: Late 30s equivalent **Height**: 6'5" **Homeland**: The Oriental Empire of Shihoro **Current Residence**: Traveling as a member of the Bazgoth, the Crimson Blade—Chosen Warriors of [[Gonosh]], adventuring across [[Karudasos]]. --- ### Physical Description Grom is a towering figure of muscle and ritualistic poise, his 6'5" frame wrapped in luxurious fabrics tailored for performance and intimidation alike. His polished [[Black Horns]] gleam with rings of gold and red cloth, symbols of wealth and war. Beneath his performer’s garb, every movement reveals a soldier's discipline—and a predator’s patience. His golden eyes glitter with intellect and calculation, and his voice is sonorous, deliberate, and intoxicating. But something is wrong. His smile, too wide. His cheer, a shade too gleeful. There is a subtle creepiness to Grom—an unspoken unease that settles over those around him, as though the charm is not entirely his own. This is not intentional, but rather a quiet echo of the deep, dark spirit within him—an evil that clings to his soul like smoke from a forgotten fire. --- ### Personality Traits - **Charming, but Unsettling**: Grom’s words are honeyed, his voice velvet—but the gleam in his eye unsettles. He delights in control, and those sensitive to it feel the wrongness beneath his warmth. - **Profit Above All**: Grom sees wealth not just as power, but as divinity. He is a priest of coin, every deal a sermon, every contract a sacred rite. - **Disciplined Performer**: His bardic talents are strategic. His music is a weapon, his words instruments of sway and supremacy. - **Haunted by Failure**: [[Bakorda]]’s death and his vision of hell haunt him. He fears powerlessness more than pain—and is willing to cross every moral line to ensure he never feels that weakness again. - **Conflicted Soul**: He is drawn to orcish honor and [[Gonosh]]’s brutal truth, yet terrified that their clarity will expose him as hollow—a false idol made of charm and goldleaf. - **Emotionally Bound to [[Syllin]]**: Her innocence and trust rattle his foundations. He is protective to a fault and often confused by the depth of his feelings for her. --- ### Background and History Grom was born into the [[Black Horns]] of Shihoro—a tribe where warriors were gods and merchants were failures. His father, Kragh Izek, tried to blend the two paths and was destroyed for it. When the [[Black Horns]] were annihilated, Grom survived, but not unchanged. He concluded that purity of purpose—devotion to gold—was the only path that led to power. Fleeing east to Obuz, Grom found sanctuary and schooling among a gypsy troupe of merchants and musicians. There he awakened to bardic power and forged a deep bond with [[Bakorda]], a half-orc lyrist. One drunken night of music and joy ended in horror—an orcish ambush, a failed attempt to bribe peace, and [[Bakorda]]’s head rolling in the grass. Grom finished drinking next to her corpse, shamed and empty, swearing to never again lack the gold that buys safety. He left her body untouched—for ravens to carry—and walked into cold ambition. He has since risen—not only as a merchant and performer, but even, to some degree, as a warrior—learning through every trial to manipulate markets, minds, and even the battlefield with his abilities. But when he died in an ambush by orcs from [[the Wizards Conclave]] he glimpsed hell—only to be pulled back by the self-sacrifice of an elf named [[Syllin]]—his iron will cracked—and confusion and self-doubt entered for what is turning into a prolonged and uncomfortable stay. He now fears death more than anything, and though he feigns piety toward [[Gonosh]], part of him still serves only gold. Now, Grom has discovered that it was **[[Syllin]]**—another of his companions—who sacrificed her soul to bring him back from the dead, with the aid of [[the Wizards Conclave]]. This bond unsettles him more than any enemy. Her kindness and trust strike deeply against his wall of selfish conviction, creating a fissure of vulnerability he doesn’t know how to close. In quiet moments, he watches her when no one else is looking—part guardian, part penitent. Her presence is a tether to something pure, and it terrifies him. He would kill for her, die for her—and fears that in doing either, he would betray what little light remains in him. --- ### Goals - Amass unchallengeable wealth, enough to bend nations and preserve life through power alone. - Build a trade empire under the guise of performance and diplomacy. - Determine whether true power lies in gold, or if the orcish path of brutal honesty is the true road to salvation. - Bury his past—not in shame, but in gilded monuments to himself. - Determine whether there really is any such thing as ‘good.’ And if there is (if it is not just a self-delusion that brings comfort to the weak), to figure out why he has never felt it stir within him. - Protect [[Syllin]] at all costs, even if it means confronting the darkest parts of himself to do so. --- ### Psychological Triggers & Effects **The Goddess' Warning (Echo of [[Aria, Goddess of Birth and Death|Aria]]’s Words)** **Trigger**: Whenever Grom is near someone mourning the dead or sees a funeral, roll a **Charisma Saving Throw (DC 14)**. **Effect on Failure**: - He hears [[Aria, Goddess of Birth and Death|Aria]]’s voice repeating her warning: “If you do not change, you will return to Hell.” - He must make a **Wisdom Check (DC 12)** or instinctively lash out in anger, trying to bury his fear through violence or cruelty. - If he passes the check, he remains outwardly composed, but is distracted for 1 hour, suffering **disadvantage on Insight and Perception checks**. **Unrelenting Guilt (Reflections on [[Syllin]])** **Trigger**: Whenever [[Syllin]] displays trust or admiration for him, roll a **Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 18)**. **Effect on Failure**: - A crushing wave of guilt and doubt strikes Grom. He sees fleeting visions of her suffering in the Hells. - For the next hour, he suffers **disadvantage on all Charisma-based skill checks** due to inner conflict. - If [[Syllin]] is harmed, he must roll a **Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 15)** or react recklessly in an attempt to "fix" the situation, even at others' expense. **The Smell of Burning Flesh (Sensory Trigger)** **Trigger**: Whenever Grom smells burning flesh (campfire, torches, or burning bodies), roll a **Constitution Saving Throw (DC 12)**. **Effect on Failure**: - He experiences a vivid flashback of being burned in Hell. - He is **paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds** unless shaken out of it. - If in combat, he must roll an **Intelligence (Investigation) Check (DC 15)** to recognize reality. On failure, he attacks as if surrounded by demonic jailers for 1 minute. **Hellish Echoes (Long Rest Trauma)** **Trigger**: Every time Grom finishes a long rest, roll a **Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 15)**. **Effect on Failure**: - His rest is plagued by nightmares of torment. - He must make a **Constitution Saving Throw (DC 13)** or suffer **1 level of exhaustion**. - He hears whispers of the damned for **1d4 hours** after waking, imposing **disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on hearing**. --- Hail [[Gonosh]], Lord of Strength, Warlord of Law, Hammer of the Worthy. Blessed are the blades who strike in your name, And exalted is the blood that flows for your glory. O [[Gonosh]], Divine Judge of Conquest, Cast your gaze upon the unproven. Test our hands in battle, Weigh our hearts in discipline, And break us not if we are true. Strike down the coward, Exalt the conqueror, Shape us into weapons for your war. As you rose from iron and order, So let us rise through trial and loyalty. Let no weakness go unpunished, No oath go unkept, No enemy go uncrushed. O [[Gonosh]], Father of Orcs and Scourge of the Faint, Guide us now and at the hour of our reckoning. Let our deaths be worthy, Our victories enduring, And our names etched into your scroll of honor. By spear, by hammer, by war— So speaks your will. So bows our strength.