Grummle

— Messenger Fishtail

The **grummles** are the humble wanderers of the mountains of Pandaria. They make good guides and can carry many times their own weight. They have a trade route that stretches across the region of Kun-Lai Summit called the Burlap Trail. The grummles regularly trade with the pandaren, bringing essential supplies to the Shado-Pan forces guarding the great Serpent's Spine wall, and for a happy-go-lucky people they take this task quite seriously. Such trade endeavors were established long ago, and have forged one of the strongest ties possible between two sapient species on Pandaria.

## Background

The Grummle were created during the reign of the mogu Emperor Tian. The Emperor needed trusted messengers and deliverymen, so he took a group of troggs and warped them with the powers of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. A grummle can carry five times their own weight, they never sweat, have an outstanding sense of smell and their skulls are harder than granite - likely as a result of the brute strength, strong sense of smell and stone-like bodies their predecessors possessed. Curiously, they all appear to be related, often times with their name prefaced with "Uncle", "Cousin" or "Brother". When the ancient pandaren began their rebellion 12,000 years ago, the grummles soon joined them alongside the other slave races. They acted as messengers for the rebels (and likely delivered supplies), while simultaneously stopping delivery of food and news to their mogu slavemasters.

The cooperation of the grummles was perhaps one of the most important contributions to the revolution. Without grummle support, the mogu armies starved, and neither messages of vital importance nor resources were delivered to the imperial troops. Entire armies sat in their barracks oblivious to the rebellion taking place until it was too late.

Today they still act as traders, messengers, guides, and pack bearers for expeditions high up on Kun-Lai Summit. In addition to their great knowledge of the mountains, the superstitious grummles rely on luck and good fortune to see them through the difficult high passes. They are a very superstitious people, who often take on the names of their favorite charms, or "Luckydos." The grummles are suspicious of any luck they cannot smell.

Grummles travel in packs. They do not have a centralized government so much as an arrangement of caravan masters who handle business. The grummles have a long-standing arrangement with the Shado-Pan which grants the grummles protection on the perilous mountain roads from predators, bandits, and hozen in exchange for transporting perishable goods to the great wall. This centuries-old trade route, known as the Burlap Trail, has been the source of much prosperity for both the Shado-Pan and the grummles. The only known caravan master is Lucky Eightcoins, though that does not make him the racial leader.

As explained by Lucky Eightcoins, Brother Oilyak, and Lorewalker Cho, and implied elsewhere, a key component in grummle culture is the "luckydo". A luckydo is a lucky object that a grummle carries at all times. Pungency is a key factor in determining an object's luck. A grummle is usually named after their primary luckydo. The highest honor for a grummle is to be declared a luckydo themselves. Per Cousin Gootfur, the opposite of a luckydo is a luckydont.

According to Li Goldendraft, grummles hold their brew quite well; the trick to outdrink one is to not stop, and with luck they will pass out before you do. This affinity for alcohol is a trait shared with dwarves, who also happen to be a different offshoot of the earthen.

## Trivia and notes

* The large backpacks on their backs are called grummlepacks.
* Grummles traveling Kun-Lai Summit by night prefer to ride the dark-haired Black Riding Yak to remain unseen, though they remove the bells from its caparison first.
* Grummle females are rare. Brother Lintpocket says "Luck is like lady grummle: hard to find but worth the search."

## Speculation

* It's never been explained how the troggs who were made into grummles ended up on Pandaria. Prior lore indicates that the first troggs were sealed away by the Titans in the vault of Uldaman for their brutish nature and would not be set free for thousands of years; on top of that, actual troggs never appear in Pandaria. One possible explanation is that a group of troggs tunneled their way to Pandaria prior to the Great Sundering and the mogu made use of them some time after they arrived. Alternatively, there may have been earthen on Pandaria who were turned into troggs by the Curse of Flesh, only to be transformed by the mogu afterwards.

## Credit

* The content on this article was originally from Wowpedia. The original article can be found here.