Growa

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Captain **Growa** is a minor character in ***Ascent: Trials of Vore***. She is a human pirate captain who - along with her crew - sought riches in coming to the Tower.

She first appeared in *Floor 3 - Greed and Glory* - as an almost antagonistic force toward Ashley Gray and her fellow climbers - but would not pass the 3rd Floor challenge set by Mordium, choosing to take his offer and concede to remaining on the 3rd Floor with her remaining crew after realizing her greed had gotten the better of her.

She is presumably still on the 3rd Floor.

## Appearance

At the time of her being on the 3rd Floor of the Tower, Growa had general and recognizable appearance of a pirate captain, wearing a hat to match. Described as 'beautiful' and 'busty' by some, she sported significant cleavage, seemingly deep enough to stop her "pirate era" pistol and bullets. She also carried a saber blade with her consistently.

Very little of this description changed over the duration of the 3rd Floor's trial.

## Personality

As an individual, Growa was described as willing to openly attack opponents via her saber blade or pistol with little or no hesitation, and was seemingly very proud of that that. While generally smug but serious, she could be a tiny bit of a tease and flirt at times, albeit not often overtly.

This aside, however, she also had a softer and more upbeat side, finding some things - such as the Morcels - adorable. She would get excited over them, albeit to her embarrassment, quickly shrinking into herself when doing so vocally got the attention of others nearby.

## History

### Background

At a point prior to coming to the Tower, Growa would gain the respect and loyalty of a pirate crew, becoming their captain as well as gaining a reputation to be dreaded. She would also come to think of herself as different to other pirates in that she lacked the same level of greed, though how true this was could be seen as a matter of debate.

At an unspecified time after this, she - along with her entire crew and seemingly willingly - would find herself in the Tower, making it as far as the 3rd Floor. ***(Floor 3 - Greed and Glory)***

### ***Ascent: Trials of Vore***

#### 3rd Floor

Growa would already be present - alongside her crew - in the floor lobby upon Ashley Gray and Syl exiting the elevator onto the 3rd Floor, spectating a fight in the entryway of the floor, a bloodthirsty, shadowy man facing off against a green, gem-wearing woman with mismatched proportions - who Growa would later know as Peridot - defending a witch - later known as Nuon - healing a medieval musketeer - Crow. The shadow would be quickly dispatched by the arriving Overseer of the floor – Mordium - bringing the fight to a swift conclusion.

The cloaked Mordium would greet the group, congratulating them on making it so far and ushering them into the next room - a shop of some kind, the items it sold locked in indestructible cases. Growa and her crew would meet several other climbers, including Ashley and Syl - a human and and elf - as well as Ogborth - a large olog troll - and a frog-woman by the name of Ferra. Once all were present and introduced - Growa flattered by the overseer's description of her, yet mildly upset when he paid no heed to her slyly showing a little extra cleavage for him - Mordium would explain the rules and nature of the floor’s challenge.

The group were to fight in an arena adjacent to the shop, for which they would have to work together, rather than against each other, to combat waves of opponents - some of whom were hungry predators trained to fight climbers. Each of the five rounds would consist of three waves and a boss, and there would be a final boss at the conclusion. Those left – or even alive, at that time would win access to the 4th Floor without complaint of their number, due to a deal Mordium claimed to have made with the next overseer up.

The climbers would also be told that they were not allowed to eat defeated opponents. Floor unique coins earned in the arena could be used between rounds to buy equipment and upgrades from the shop. Growa would - alongside her crew - be excited at the prospect of receiving extra ammo if they ran low.

Before battling begins the group would also be introduced to ”Double G”, the shop’s biker jacket clad keeper, as well as the Morcels, a race of small black balls serving as part of the infrastructure of the floor, and that would be acting as both aides and opponents who would attempt to drag climbers out of both the arena and contention, and who Growa would - to the surprise of others - find adorable, being rather loud and excitable over them as the clambered all over her. The group would also be given the opportunity to give up their climb, Mordium offering the genuine chance to live peacefully on the 3rd Floor, an offer that would remain open for the duration of the challenge. Growa - as head of her crew - would be among those who, at least at the time, wouldn't even consider the offer.

With that out of the way - and a shout of good luck from Double G - the group would be ushered into the arena. For the first round, the arena would appear as a medieval fighting pit that appeared to be being livestreamed for the overseers of higher floors to watch via a camera hidden behind the stands. Mordium would greet the viewers, taking the moment to subtly remind the group of his offer before introducing each group member in turn as the Morcels helped the group in last minute preparations, Growa being provided with additional pistol rounds, which she would store in her cleavage.

As the battle began, enemies would flood into the arena from various gates. The first round would be all Morcels, and all heavily armed with helmets and guns to robots of all types. The round would fly by, many climbers - Growa included - having combat experience enough to easily handle the opposition. The bosses of the round, a trio of hopping, dome-shaped attack vehicles dubbed the Monstanks, would prove to be the first real challenge the climbers would face on the floor. Through persistent damage, however - including copious bullets from Growa and her crew's weaponry - the group would defeat all three vehicles, bringing the round to a close and reaping a coin reward that Growa and the pirates would greedily take a large share of.

In the breather period, one of Growa's pirates would discover a ship cannon in one of the shop's cases, leading the rest of the gathering witness the pirates try and fail to steal a cannon well above their price range, Double G firing a warning shot at them. Growa would, on noticing, angrily shout her crew down.

For the second round, the arena would change to be made of sandstone. The battle would see the defenders pitted against an army of nude giantesses with extreme curves. A difficult fight would ensue. The round would be capped off by a boss fight with two mega giantesses: Lokee - a tall woman with a comedically insane hourglass figure - and Little Hon, who was taller than Lokee - albeit with a lesser figure - and was able to manipulate black hole-like portals and spit grey balls of paralyzing mist to catch prey. While Ogborth would go toe to toe with Lokee - Growa stepping in to aid him - Little Hon would go after the rest of the group, several of Growa's crew falling to her and her teammate - much to Growa's dismay and anger - the group being stunned by Peridot using a flashbang before extreme force - and excessive anger, including Growa and her crew beating Lokee to a pulp for Hon downing her crew, it taking the intervention of the crowds after three minutes to break the beating up - took the duo down.

In the next breather, Double G would offer his condolences to Growa - tearful over her losses - and the pirates, their group again taking the bulk of the coins for upgrades and attempting again to steal the cannon, though Double G again shut them down with a final warning once it became apparent Growa was watching without stopping them, eyes and mind clouded. Out of Growa's attention - the captain seemingly distracted by her own greed and upgrading her saber - one of the pirates would make an aggressive attempt to shake down the group for coins for the cannon, but Ogborth would counter them, turning them over to Growa, who - on noticing - would subject them to a minutes long angry tirade.

In the third round, the arena would change again, the ground being smooth stone and the walls collapsed rock, covered by dim, possibly underground light. The opposing side would again be an army of Morcels in robotic vehicles, against which Growa and her pirates, Ogborth and Ferra would take the front line - Growa vocally intent on avenging Gonzo and Gron, the two pirates consumed by Lokee - everyone else playing defense. They would make relatively quick work of the waves of enemies, but with Growa - to everyone's annoyance at her and her companions' idiocy - impatiently forcing Mordium to skip explanations, the two bosses would be faced without introduction. One - a Morcel-scale steam train with carriage-mounted guns - was known as the Lorry Mk1.5, while the other - a giant “worm” tank made of cylinders and able to burrow with its drill - was called the Driller Mk1. As the fight got heated and Ferra was shoved off by the Lorry - Mordium assuring the group - Growa included - that she would be fine as long as she held on - Ogborth would use the aggressive pirate - only now recovering from greed - as a projectile, knocking the Driller into the Lorry and causing a pile up that would total the latter.

Before this, however, Growa - in the midst of commendeering and going nuts with one vehicle's mounted gun - would witness Ashley be struck by a stone chunk from the Driller’s digging, breaking her back and causing her to black out in immense pain as Nuon came to her aid. The Driller’s claws would attempt to remove Ashley from the arena, Syl unable to reach her, but Ferra would arrive, punching it hard enough to give Nuon an opening to destroy it.

Growa and her crew would present when Ashley returned to the arena, reuniting with the group for the fourth round. In the interim Growa and the pirates had acquired a now conspicuously enchanted cannon after Double G had mysteriously sold it to them for all of their coins despite not meeting the full price, also throwing in what seemed to be an enchantment. The arena now sported smooth stone walls, blue skull pillars, and a waterlogged stone floor. The group would be met with another wave of curvy giantesses, some very muscular or even near immobile, Mordium declaring it a ‘mini-boss rush’. Though Growa would do her part - her pirates manning their cannon - Ashley would take out a large chunk of the opposition, quickly bringing on the round’s true boss, who would turn out to be Big Hon - Little Hon’s older and larger sister, big enough that her head alone could barely fit inside the arena - who was pissed at the defeat of her sibling.

To Growa's shock, however, she and the rest of the pirates would suddenly be paralyzed by a curse - not an enchantment - that Double G had put on their cannon as payback for their theft attempts - one of them frozen by gas balls launched from the cannon for every shot they'd fired with it - leaving them all open to Big Hon. Many of the pirates would fall through Big Hon’s holes and into her gut in the chaos, the rest of the group scrambling - with mixed success - to rescue anyone they could and keep them out of harm’s way. Ashley would barely rescue Growa, also managing to reflect one of the grey balls Hon had fired off back at her with her shield, causing the giant to swallow it alongside several pirates, giving the giantess brief stomach troubles and gaining her ire. Ashley - and Growa by extension - would rely on Ogborth - and the by then no longer cursed cannon - among others to stay free. Gradually, the group would wear Big Hon down, hitting her hands as they emerged from her holes, Ashley firing off several gas flares - one of which would be an attempt to silence the giant's mocking over her attempting to save Growa's pirates, them being the same group who had indirectly caused her injury - and reflecting another ball into her mouth, making her burp and swallow an approaching bomb. This would choke her for long enough for Ogborth to half-blind her with a cannonball to the eye. Under this pressure, Hon would relent and withdraw from battle. By this time, however, only Growa and two of her crew would remain.

Freed from paralysis, Growa would be surprised at Ashley having protected her despite Ashley's affirmations of their being a team. She would curse herself for the trouble she and her crew had caused the group, lamenting having given into her greed despite believing she was above it, not having stopped her crew from falling the same way and almost costing Ashley her life. Despite Ashley trying to dissuade her and insisting she'd been helpful, she would take Mordium’s offer, forcing Ashley away at gunpoint when she tried to intervene. The other remaining pirates - Ron and San - would give up too out of loyalty, a tearful Growa thanking them - despite initially protesting their wish to not see her live the rest of her life alone - for remaining by her side. With their decision made, Mordium would lead them out of the arena, Growa wishing the others luck before she was gone.

Back in the shop, though some would try to comfort her, Ashley would blame herself for Growa quitting. Double G would grab her by the shoulders and get through to her - with aid from Syl and Peridot - convincing her it was Growa’s choice to leave, given she was climbing for greed. With assurance that Growa and her remaining crew would be looked after by Mordium, Ashley would take the blame off herself. ***(Floor 3 - Greed and Glory)***

## Abilities

* **Skilled Swordswoman:** Growa was - and likely still is - capable of easily slicing opponents open with her saber, often doing so with little to no hesitation.
* **Skilled Markswoman:** Growa was - and likely still is - capable of easily shooting opponents' heads off with her pistol, often doing so with little to no hesitation.
* **Cleavage Storage:** Growa was - and likely still is - able to effectively store objects as large her pistol inside of her noteworthy cleavage for prolonged lengths of time, retrieving them as and when she needs them. It is unclear, however, if this ability involves access to an extradimensional space, or is simply Growa making effective use of a sizable normal space between her assets.

## Equipment

* **Pistol:** Growa carried and was proficient with a 'pirate era' design of pistol. Presumably she still owns it, as it was still on her person when she conceded Mordium's trial on the 3rd Floor.
* **Saber:** Growa carried and was proficient with a saber blader. Growa had this blade upgraded with an unknown feature from the 3rd Floor's store at some point during that floor's trial. Presumably she still owns it, as it was still on her person when she conceded Mordium's trial on the 3rd Floor.
* **Treasure:** The assorted and collected treasure of Growa's pirate crew's, brought into the 3rd Floor of the Tower with them. What happened to it during and after the forfeiting of the 3rd Floor trial is unclear.

## Relationships

### Affiliations

* **Growa's Crew:** To Growa, her crew were and are like family, and in line with that she reacted to the loss of said family members with understandable tears and agression for someone of her personality against those responsible. Growa appeared to know the name of most pirates under her command, her initial vengeance on the 3rd Floor being in the names of Gonzo and Gron, the two pirates consumed by Little Hon. Her crew has been shown to be incredibly loyal to her, and she was truly touched that the two remaining pirates at the time of her forfeit besides herself - Ron and San - chose to stay with her on the 3rd Floor when she took Mordium's offer to remain, as she by that time didn't think herself worthy of them anymore, due to her greed getting the better of her.

### Enemies

* **The Giants:** The giants involved in the 3rd Floor trial seemed to have an especially significant sadistic and hungry streak, Lokee, Little Hon and Big Hon mocking Growa and her crew on more than one occasion following consumption of their fellows. Growa - and her crew - in turn seemed to develop an understandable hatred of the giants as her enemies, both as a group and Lokee, Little Hon and Big Hon individually, which at one point led to her and her crew beating Lokee up for the crew members Little Hon had consumed.

### Others

* **Ashley Gray:** Though frustrated and even outright irritated by the greed, impatience and selfishness of Growa and her crew, Ashley was more than willing to go out her way to protect the pirate captain when she was paralysed, and felt guilt over Growa's choice to remain on the 3rd Floor, largely due to the decision stemming from Growa's own realization that her own supposedly under control greed had almost gotten Ashley and the others killed, when they were meant to be her teammates. Growa, quite obviously, felt great guilt over this in spite of her direct interactions with Ashley being limited before that time.
* **Syl and Ferra:** Though frustrated and irritated by the greed, impatience and selfishness of Growa and her crew, Syl and Ferra were willing to protect the crew when they were paralysed. Their opinions beyond this, aside from some acceptance of Growa's decision to forfeit being her own choice, are unclear, as are Growa's direct opinions of Syl and Ferra in turn.
* **Nuon:** Though annoyed by the greed, impatience and selfishness of Growa and her crew, Nuon was more than willing to go out her way to protect the pirate captain's allies when she was paralysed, albeit having limited success in rescuing the member of Growa's crew she went for, something that she would apologize to Growa for. In turn, however, Growa's specific opinion of Nuon is unclear, if she even had one.
* **Ogborth:** Growa and Ogborth had few direct interactions beyond Ogborth first turning a member of her crew over to Growa for causing a ruckus, later dealing with that problem himself by using the same pirate as a projectile to take down a Morcel machine, then finally saving a member of her crew from being devoured by Big Hon when Growa and her entire cohort were paralysed by Double G's revenge attempt for their greed, albeit taking the cannon Growa and her crew had previously acquired in the process. Despite the irritation Growa's crew had caused him, Ogborth seemed entirely willing to fight for payback on their behalf. In turn, however, Growa's personal opinion of Ogborth is unknown.
* **Crow:** Growa and Crow had few direct interactions, Crow having more direct interactions with her crew - whom he collectively seemed to view as bandits and thieves - one of whom he would almost come to blows with over an attempt to take the entire group's coins. Despite the irritation Growa's crew had caused him, however, Crow seemed entirely willing to fight for payback on her behalf, attempting - albeit with limited success - to rescue them from Big Hon. In turn, however, Growa's personal opinion of Crow is unknown.
* **Peridot:** Peridot's opinion of Growa and the pirates wasn't the best, due to their greed and overall attitude. Despite this, however, Peridot still leapt to rescue one of the pirates when they would otherwise be unable to escape Big Hon's grasp. In turn, however, Growa's personal opinion of Peridot is unknown.
* **Mordium:** Though Growa was flattered by Mordium's pre-trial compliment of her beauty, she was mildly upset when he missed her teasing flirtation in turn. Initially determined to pass the 3rd Floor's trial, Growa wouldn't consider his offer to remain on the 3rd Floor initially, but would later take him at his word and accept it. For a while, Mordium's opinion of Growa wasn't nearly as positive as hers' was of him, due to her at one point interrupting him - also not appreciating her calling him 'Caped Lad' - and her crew overall being a nuisance. In the end, however, he seemed to find her loyalty to her crew heartwarming.
* **"Double G":** The opinions that Growa and "Double G" have of each other are likely low, as Double G had to warn Growa to keep her crew in line more than once, with little to no success, leading to his later revenge against them. Though he was apologetic for their losses as a result of his trick, it is likely that Growa had a low opinion of him after this, though this cannot be said for certain.
* **The Morcels:** While Growa's in-combat opinion of the Morcels is not clear, it is much more obvious out of combat that she found them - surprisingly - quite adorable. She would initially be very vocal about this before she embarrassed herself in front of everyone over it, quietening down after that. It is unclear whether the Morcels have a consensus opinion of Growa in turn, however.