Grognak

Grognak

Titles : First king of the North, Wounder of Kholek , Champion of Ice

Domains : War, Luck and StrengthThe tale of Grognak is one of horror, triumph and tragedy. The story begins with a simple farmer and his family who were raided by a tribe of Orcs. After the Orcs raped and pillaged Grognak's village to a man, the Orc leader came upon an Infant who had the look of destiny in his eyes. The Leader Roggar Breaker of stone spared the infant. He grew up in a harsh environment with all the orcs despising him and many treating him like a dog.

After a few years under the harsh treatment of the tribe Grognak was rapidly out growing many of the orc children, some even say that by the time that he was 12 summers old he was taller than some of the warriors of the tribe. During this time, he was also quickly acclimatising to Orc culture as well as learning the language much faster than the other younger Orcs. Years of fighting and scraping by had hardened the young boy and many of the strenuous task usually given to slaves were given to Grognak. This further added to his already immense strength. He was however forbidden from using any weapons and thus he became a very skilled brawler which he later showed when a group of drunken tribesmen attempted to kill the young man. To Roggar’s surprise the boy had managed to kill 5 of these Orcs with his bare hands whilst suffering multiple wounds that would fell any Orc. This feat granted Grognak the respect and fear of many of the other tribe’s people.

His next feat came on the eve of his 16th name-day, when Grognak was allowed to take the rite of passage of his tribe. The task all Orcs must take which will determine whether they will be a warrior or an outcast. The task was to track and kill one of the undead masters, which Grognak would later come to see as Necromancers, which plagued the borders of the Horde’s lands. However, Grognak knew that such a task would not gain him the trust and respect of the other warriors. He instead set out to find one of the Princelings who were the masters of these necromancers. The Princelings were the forerunners to what would later become known the Kingdom of Sylvania. Each Princeling was said to be a true blood son of the Immortal ruler of Castle Drakenhof, Vlad Von Carstein. Grognak trekked for many months in search of the infamous Blood keep, the home of Markus von Carstein, a rather ghastly Princeling known for capturing various Northmen and pitting them against vile creatures for his own enjoyment. He finally found the dreaded keep and for the first time in his life he felt truly afraid.

The next few days of planning hadn’t gone as Grognak had planned. He had managed to get himself captured by one of the many undead knights that roamed the plains. He soon found himself surrounded by the many prisoners of Markus. For the first time Grognak had encountered other men. The experience was strange as they were so foreign yet so familiar to him. He tried tell them he would save them all but after hearing Orcish words escape his mouth many of the prisoners recoiled in fear. Grognak finally understood that he was not an Orc and after months of being held in this prison managed to learn the language from a girl named Frigg who was the only person who didn’t treat Grognak like dirt. Much like Grognak, Frigg had also been taken prisoner by the Orcs and as such could speak both languages. The two grew very close until Frigg was selected by Markus to fight in the tourney. Grognak was forced to watch as the only person who had ever showed compassion to him was torn apart by vicious undead monsters. Some say that on this day Grognak burned with a fiery rage and luckily for his fellow prisoners he was chosen to fight next.

The tourney for Grognak was like no other, perhaps Markus knew that this man was not ordinary, many beasts and undead were thrown at Grognak but each time he repelled them. Grognak was given no weapons but his fists were as deadly as any blade or club. He effortlessly crunched bone , pierced hide, cracked skull and tore flesh. It was truly a feral sight as Grognak let loose on the fowl creatures of darkness. Markus growing impatient that this man would not die and somewhat fascinated decided  throw Grognak a weapon and flew down to meet him in the ring to show to the other prisoners how powerful he is. The negative energy in the air was palpable. Markus threw many spells at Grognak but nothing worked and in horror Markus watched as the Brute walked forward smiling. As Grognak approached Markus he shouted with voice that boomed like thunder “FEAR ME!” and at that Markus fell to the ground paralysed by fear ,Grognak raised his axe and swung with all his might. The first hit shuddered the very earth, the second cleared the sky of dark clouds revealing the sun and the final brought down a bolt of lighting followed by a storm. Grognak took the head and the axe which was pulsating with raw magical energies visible. He released the rest of the prisoners and killed any remaining undead and then when the air was still he went to the place where Frigg was killed and made a promise that would forever change his life. He said, “I promise that we will be together again”.

Upon returning to the tribe many of the Orcs rushed to see who was entering the camp. To their surprise, it was Grognak with the head of a Princeling. A prize no orc had ever managed to gain. Roggar leapt to hug Grognak and everybody greeted him as a prodigal son returning. However, the niceties were short lived Grognak whilst being embraced lifted Roggar above his head and tore him in half. All the Orcs stood at a loss for words. Then with a deep and deafening shout Grognak shouted “WE MARCH TO WAR!”. The Orcs seeing the new strength all shouted in approval and so the Horde of Grognak was born. The horde quickly found and subjugated the many other Orc tribes in the region and even made a pact with the legendary Giant King Skopja Wyrrm-tamer. Many human tribes joined the colossal warband as well. Many battles were fought against the subjects of the Princelings until one day when the men had captured one alive. He was brutally interrogated and asked how to bring back Frigg and all he said was that she was in the realm of eternal torment and that the destroyer keeps all souls. Grognak demanded a name of the ruler of this realm and the princeling smiled and said Kholek.

The name Kholek  had never before been heard of in these parts. The name continued to elude Grognak for many years and Grognak was becoming weary after all this fighting and simply wished to see his beloved again. On one auspicious evening Grognak was sitting alone watching the Glaciers and next to him sat two people: one an oversized Orc who Grognak had never seen before but vaguely recognised and a beautiful woman who was almost glowing and she had the most beautiful wings. They sat for a minute and then finally the Women spoke and said, “we have a very important task for you my child”. Grognak confused at the concept that this woman who looked no older than him was calling him her child asked her “Who are you people?”. The Orc responded with “people who have both been watching you for a very long time”. The woman continued and said “A great evil is trying to escape here Grognak and we need you to stop it, however I will not deceive you. This task will almost certainly kill you.” The Orc then interjected “ Bah ,my son does not care for death ,he welcomes it like a true warrior”. Grognak still very confused answered with “What is the name of this evil?”. In unison they responded with “Kholek”. Grognak’s eyes burned like fiery opals and asked “Where can I find this filth?”. The Orc then said right over there and pointed towards the glaciers as they began to shudder as an immense beast cracked the ice from within. The strangers then each placed a hand on Grognak’s shoulders and said do not fear with this they vanished and Grognak removed his armour and picked up his axe and charged the beast. The battle was hard fought with much of his warband being killed by the creature he ordered a retreat. He faced the creature once more after countless blows bounced of the armour of the beast. Grognak was severely wounded by a crushing blow which sent him flying. Grognak mustered his strength and remembered the promise he made so long ago. He shouted with all his might “I am Grognak and you shall know my fury” and launched himself at the beast seeing a slight crack in the armour Grognak pummelled this spot relentlessly until after what seemed like days of fighting the armour finally cracked open wounding the beast. Massive amounts of energy poured into Grognak reinvigorating him and the strangers appeared again this time helping Grognak. Grognak watched as the creature once more landed a mortal blow on him. Grognak lay there waiting to die and then an image of Frigg appeared saying “Your fight is not over yet Grognak, you can’t break your promise to me”. In the distance a portal had opened and Grognak could see the massive Orc trying to push Kholek into it. He got up and charged ,and the Women and Orc watched in awe as Grognak pushed the beast into the portal, however Grognak too had sacrificed himself to banish the creature. Icara and Gorum decided that this man was worthy and brokered a deal with Asmodeus to free Grognaks souls from Kholek and ascend him to Godhood. It is said that too this day Grognak’s daily assaults on Kholek to save his beloved are one of the few things keeping “The Great Destoyer” at bay.