Grip

Grip by Pia Foxhall https://not-poignant.tumblr.com/post/133570483813/okay-so-i-dont-often-draw-my-own-characters

## Fae details

### Appetite

Clear ice and those who have died while traversing glaciers

## Physical description

### Hair color

Blue (fur)

**Grip** is a jaatikokoira hound who belongs to Gwyn ap Nudd, and serves as a mount at the Unseelie Court.

## Appearance

Grip has a coat of long, shaggy blue fur with a large ruff on the back of his neck, which is always covered in frost. His eyes are cheerful, wild, and the blue of phosphorescence. His tail curls loosely over his back when at rest, and is tipped with white fur. He has spots of white over his eyes, white claws, a black-blue tongue, and white teeth. He is lumbering and heavy, and he has floppy ears and a solid jaw.

As a puppy, his ruff was shorter, but it grew into the size of a mane by the time he reached adulthood. As an adult, he is large enough that he is able to be used as a mount for eight people at once.

## Personality

Grip is a very friendly and cheerful dog. As a puppy, he was immediately affectionate toward Gwyn ap Nudd, and tried to crawl into his lap immediately upon meeting him, and begged to play. He was easily riled up, and even bit Gwyn hard enough to draw blood while they played together. Gwyn praised him for his fierceness. Despite his large size, Grip enjoys snuggling. Even into adulthood, he remains cheerful, though he's also calm and well-mannered as a mount.

## Life

Ash Glashtyn and Gwyn discussed Gwyn's love of hounds at the Masque, and Ash inquired after Gwyn's previous hounds, Blue and Curly. Gwyn had raised them in the past, and planned to raise them at the Unseelie Court so that he could hunt with them - and he just likes hounds in general - but couldn't justify the expense and time, given the Unseelie Court's money problems and prioritizing problems with the war with the Seelie Court. He viewed the idea of hounds as self-indulgent, as he does all things that might help his mental health. It seems that Ash took the idea of getting Gwyn a hound to care for as a side project, which was obfuscated slightly when the cwn annwn left the Unseelie Court kennels after the end of the last Wild Hunt.

Ash obtained Grip as a puppy from a dealer who had also carried black shucks, gytrash, capelthwaite, and other dog breeds. He asked Ach'for if he could be kenneled at the Unseelie Court, which Ach'for agreed to. Ash lost control of Grip on the way to delivering him to Gwyn as a gift, but clearly enjoyed the puppy's exuberance. Ash believed Gwyn could use a strong protector dog, and hoped Grip would inspire him to begin keeping hounds in the Unseelie Court. Gwyn took an immediate liking to Grip, inviting him over and playfully wrestling with him. Upon noticing the puppy had 'a fine grip', Gwyn gave him his name. Gwyn mostly ignored Augus Each Uisge's critiques, but still asked Augus 'So I can keep him?' To which Augus replied that of course he could, but Grip wasn't allowed in Augus' home or their bed.

Gwyn then took Grip to the night gardens for a couple hours, to play.

Grip lives in the Unseelie Court kennel, watched after by Ach'for. He was eventually used as a mount once he became large enough. He assisted Gwyn, Augus, Eran Iliakambar, and Mosk Manytrees in exploring the burnt Aur forest, though Augus had to compel Eran to mount his back, due to Eran's fear of ice fae.

After the ice plague split their group, Gwyn sent Grip back to the Unseelie Court for safety.

After Gwyn returned to his cabin, he still visited Grip at the Unseelie Court to play, as Grip 'was far happier in the kennels than at his cabin.'

## Special Abilities

**Ice Creation:** Grip's fur is coated in ice and he constantly produces snow from his tail. His drool freezes into ice wherever it falls. When standing on hot surfaces, Grip produces more ice around his paws for protection. He also produces excess amounts of snow when playing.

## Relationships

#### Ash Glashtyn

Ash owned Lucky as an adult dog, so he likes dogs, and liked Grip as a puppy, and finds him cute. Ash seems to be one of the few members of Gwyn's advisors who actually likes dogs. He also helped take care of Grip in Gwyn's absence, and sometimes walks him with Gwyn (or gets walked *by* Grip).

#### Augus Each Uisge

Augus finds Grip disgusting and inelegant, but appreciates that Gwyn loves him, and the good that Grip does for Gwyn's well-being. He put his foot down on Grip being in their bed (though his level of success is unclear).

#### Eran Iliakambar

Eran dislikes and is a little scared of Grip, due to Grip's size, Grip's ice - which Eran dislikes as a fire fae, and it reminds Eran of the ice plague - and Mosk mocking him by saying jaatikokoira eat fire fae.

#### Gulvi Dubna Vajat

Gulvi stood back from Grip, even as a puppy, and commented that he'd hurt Gwyn, though Gwyn didn't care. She doesn't seem to care for him.

#### Gwyn ap Nudd

Gwyn is Grip's owner. The two are very close and Gwyn enjoys playing with him, uncaring if he makes a fool of himself while doing so, as 'Dogs didn’t deserve owners who worried about their appearance around them.' Gwyn established trust in Grip as a puppy, praising Grip any time he gave Gwyn his attention so Grip would associate him with praise and warmth.

## Quotations

* 'No one was there now to take Grip away from him. No members of his family left alive to cut him away from what he loved. For the first time, Gwyn realised he was happy to be an orphan. Happy to be the last surviving member of that family, the last custodian of the An Fnwy estate.'

## Trivia

* Another name for Grip's species is 'glacier dog'
* Jaatikokoira can 'grow to the size of bears, living in the deep dangerous depths of glaciers, feeding on clear ice and the crushed remains of those who dared traverse them.'
* Gwyn noted that of the gathered fae who were there when Gwyn met Grip, Old Pete didn't balk, and looked on the scene with nostalgia, implying that Old Pete might have once had a puppy of his own.
* Grip is at least 10 years old, given Gwyn received him at the end of *The Court of Five Thrones*, and the time between that and *The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire*.

## Image Gallery

Art of Grip as a puppy by Pia Foxhall https://not-poignant.tumblr.com/post/133570483813/okay-so-i-dont-often-draw-my-own-charactersFanart of Grip by Chi-Arts https://dabbinghawks.tumblr.com/post/135645131326/not-poignant-have-an-early-chrismas-present-id
## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 59: Epilogue: Futures. Accessed 20 April 2021.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 *The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire*, Chapter 10: The World Forest. Accessed 20 April 2021.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 June 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/9186013. Chapter 46: Masque.
4. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 55: Refuge. Accessed 03 May 2021.
5. ↑ *The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire*, Chapter 17: So It Is. Accessed 03 May 2021.
6. ↑ not\_poignant. "All That We Were, All That We Will Ever Be." *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 7 September 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/40955040/chapters/104225631. Chapter 5.
7. ↑ not\_poignant. “Unwound.” *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 25 July 2016. https://archiveofourown.org/works/7562599/chapters/17251441. Chapter 2: II.
8. ↑ not\_poignant. “Unwound.” *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 12 August 2016. https://archiveofourown.org/works/7562599/chapters/17667262. Chapter 7: VII.