Ghrúogh Ghrúgarrach

Born 	c. 35 RFD
Died 	c. 10 TFD
Place of death	Ebéall
Cause of death	Internal wounds and gangrene
Resting Place 	Ebéall
Ethnicity 	East Abhainnian-Ghrgii
Nationality 	Ebéall
Religion 	Wánna
In the land of the White Horses once lived a man by the name of Ghrúogh Ghrúgarrach. He was known as an exceptionally ugly man, almost eight feet tall, with a large jaw, unruly light red beard and eyes with different colours, one blue and one green. He would have been handsome, was it not for the fact that his forehead was overgrown with hair, so that there was no separation between the bushy red eyebrows and the wild red hair.
Ghrúogh Ghrúgarrach was the younger son to the king of Ebéall, Catháin II, also known as "King Pot", as his foot had been stuck in a piece of pottery when he was a child, and had grown into it. Ghrúogh's older brother Ghruédh mocked Ghrúogh because Ghrúogh would not become king upon their father's death, despite that Ghrúogh was also known as "Ghrúogh the Bear" and was a man the head taller than all the other men in Ebéall. When hearing that, Ghrúogh became so mad that he walked outside and killed a stallion with his fist. Then he went out and slept in the woods.
There, he was awakened during a mist by an alluring female voice. He stood up, dragging his axe, asking for the stranger to reveal herself. The voice taunted him, teased him, seduced him, and he found her standing together with a white mare next to a tree. A mysterious woman that claims to originate from the west, dressed in revealing semi-transparent cloth of an unknown fabric, with her hair falling down over her shoulders and clear green eyes.
And she said she was sent from Wanna, and that Ghrúogh Ghrugarrach was destined to unite the Valley of the White Horses and then strike against everyone, conquering the entire world from "dawn to dusk". Then she made love to Ghrúogh. Ghrúogh assembled his men the following night, telling them of his vision. His men laughed at him, but he did not relent. As they were about to leave, he struck one down and killed him with a blow of his axe, but then the woman revealed herself once again in the mist, calling each one of them with name and promising them to rule over the horses. And each of them were given a white stallion.
The following morning when they returned, Ghrúogh heard that his father had died, and that his brother now was king. So Ghrúogh led his horse into the main round-house, to king Ghruédh Ghrugarrach. And without a word, he took an axe and slew his brother, who had reigned for just one hour.
Ghrúogh's men then massacred Ghruédh's men, and took their women. A mob gathered to see the comotion, and then Wanna's priestess rode in on her white mare, dressed in a solemn white robe, and she said the following.
"I am Céllegéad, the Prophetess of Wanna. Ghrúogh Ghrugarrach, whom you have mocked, is the Chosen one of the Goddess, promised to bring an end to the nights and an eternal day. And your children will have an eternal feast, as the Goddess will rise once more and defeat the evil witch-worshippers of the east, the Bás Moncai of the north and the short-legged people of the Golden Grass, and bring our authority throughout the entire world."
The priest of Wanna, an old man shaking with fury, stood up before her with his staff, calling her an impostor. Then she breathed dust at him, and he fell down dead, black in the face.
Ghrúogh immediately assembled his men, attacking the tribe in the Ghrú Cearbha Valley to his west, taking many slaves and then immediately moved north to attack the Owl Valley as well, killing 2000 people there and making the rest his thralls.
Before his death, the Solastic Eaglais had issued a warrant for his arrest. It stood at 1000 Raidhsénian airgeads if he had been captured and brought alive, 500 if he had been brought dead.
==Ghrúgarrach's mother and rumours of Ghrgii father==
It is rumoured not only because of his unhumanly size and strength that Ghrúgarrach was part Ghrgii, because his mother is rumoured to have been raped by one before she died during childbirth to the future king. However whether or not the Ghrgii was his father is not known as it was a secret that she took to her grave.
==Death and successor==
Following the battle of Lúos Léathar, Ghruogh Ghrugarrach's entourage was moving to meet the queen of Elábda, to divide the tribal kingdom of Némar between them, when the king started to complain over stomach problems. As he moved back to his capitol, a gaping wound had emerged in his belly, and a smell of putrid rotting flesh spread. Céllegead was away healing an arm wound to Thengwáin, and was unavailable to aid the king, despite that he called for her. Instead, many physicians were promised gold and land if they could cut away Ghrugarrach's bad flesh, but when they started to cut in him, he became so enraged with pain that he crushed their heads with his fists.
Soon, the king of Ebéall could only scream, and his screams echoed throughout his capitol and towards the mountains themselves. Nobody could sleep as he was screaming. It was also rumoured that strange crone-like figures moved through the morning mist, dressed in white spider-web like garbs, crying. Ghrugarrach's wound turned heavily infected, with flesh falling off and decomposing and his blood turning black and putrid.
On the eve of the thirteenth night, as the full moon stood on top of the sky, Ghruogh Ghrugarrach, king of Ebéall, passed his last breath. As an autopsy was performed, it was revealed that larvae of large green flies had been nesting inside his body, after he had been eating raw meat. He was however burnt together with his concubines before Céllegead could arrive in the town of Ebéall to conclude the reason for the king's death. Following his death, Céllegead started a murder trial on the physician-priests of Wánna, and more than 44 priests were convicted for conspiring to kill Ghrugarrach. Their arms and legs were crushed, and their bodies given multiple wounds. Then they were half-buried in a pit with lots of rotting animal carcasses and lots of larvae, and slowly eaten alive.
The succession however was an open issue. Ghruogh Ghrugarrach had many sons and daughters by his concubines. His eldest son Ghruoghnárd was going to Ebéall to lay claim on the throne, but was assassinated by poisoned wine on his way before coronation. Following that, a military coup occurred, and Thengwáin, who now was present in Ebéall and controlled most of the military forces, declared that Ghruogh Ghrugarrach had recognised him as his follower, which Céllegead approved. Following this was a massacre of Ghruogh's sons and daughters, as well as their friends, and 280 people throughout Ebéall were executed.
==Reign==
Preceded  by 	Length of Reign	Succeeded by
Ghruédh Ghrúgarrach	approx 15 years	Thengwáin
==See Also==
Ebéall
Category:People
Category:Abhainnia
Category:Abhainnian people
Category:People of NPC tribes
Category:People of Abhainnian NPC tribes
Category:Heads of state
Category:Military leaders
Category:Tyrants
Category:People of Illegitimate birth
Category:Freaks
Category:Wanted people
Category:Monarchs
Category:People who died from gangrene
Category:Warriors