Grossular (ACiAR)/Biography

## Biography

One of the first garnets of the Homeworld of Bios-Krystallos, Grossular brings her advanced wisdom, innate and acquired, to any battlefield. Her special abilities in predicting enemy tactics and learning from past battles gave her great acclaim as a formidable and useful weapon; throughout her lifetime, she passed from Diamond to Diamond, gaining their insignia as she went; her insignia are neutral green now. Among others, she used to act as ensign in both Yellow and Green Diamond's court, with a special short stint in Green's army as a herder of wild gem-beasts, capturing and training them as beasts-of-burden and expendable grunts. Nearly 25,000 years of battling, herding, training, and otherwise utilizing herself, and she had no conception that it would ever come to an end.

There was never a definitive period of rebellion in her history, simply an ennui stemming from the Homeworld's lack of use for her as more advanced Demantoids, Tsavorites, and Uvarovites came to Diamond attention and rose in popularity. Her insignia dimmed without an assured allegiance, and her eyes clouded over in apathy; it almost seemed like she would die without an upcoming battle. During this extended lull period, Grossular dreamed of her former days as a coveted mercenary, and yearned for another chance at glory. Unbeknownst to an uncaring, forward-thinking Homeworld in the midst of a massive war, Grossular stowed away aboard a battleship bound for planet Earth; she planned to show her capabilities once more, unaware that this battle would be her last, at least for the Homeworld.

In the middle of a Citrine skirmish against the Dazzling Gems for Organic Liberation and their allies, Grossular charged ahead of them to take the rebels head-on. The Citrines knocked the garnet down, pushing her face in the mud for disobeying protocol, and before she could see what to do next, a Bismuth gunner smashed her light-body to mist, leaving behind a grimy gem reflecting eons of pent-up frustration. Sensing her former powers over past and future, the Dazzling Black Pearl and her partner Howlite bound her to a magic mirror, using the garnet's memories to reflect on past battle techniques in the hopes of gaining an advantage over Earth's enemies. Grossular's worth as a soldier finally meant something to somebody, though in a most humiliating way.

In time, a bitter stalemate forced most gem forces to retreat, and brought Earth to an unsteady peace. Anything the Dazzling Gems garnered from the mirror turned out unessential; nevertheless, Black Pearl placed the mirror in her gemscape for safekeeping in the unlikely event of another attack. That attack would come in the form of the unstable renegade Rhodolite, who decided to battle otherwise allying gems out of territory and sheer boredom. The manic garnet's wild attacks and taunts proved too unpredictable for Black Pearl and her Dazzling cohorts. Out of desperation, Black Pearl reached once more for the magic mirror, but Rhodolite stole it away and used it as a bludgeon to beat the Pearl and her comrades out of their bodies.

A satisfied Rhodolite took the mirror away from the carnage and toyed with her spoil of war. She soon realized the mirror possessed sentience and a familiar will; recognizing it as an imprisoned garnet, Rhodolite destroyed the mirror to free Grossular from her confines. Out of habit, Grossular thanked her liberator for the chance to live again, only to realize her hero was an unkempt rebel suffering from severe mental disorders. Unamused, Grossular chided Rhodolite as a late-model Earth garnet, and a "crunchrock" at that — someone whose gem suffered so much crystalline restructuring that they're beyond recognition. Though Rhodolite understood that she couldn't compete with a 7-foot, crafty green giantess, she took offense to the accusation of physical deformity, and demanded a duel to restore respect.

As the centuries of dueling went on, Grossular's abilities in prediction and recollection scarcely came in handy against a deranged Rhodolite wielding every strange trick she could think of to succeed and survive. The strict and exacting Grossular, even with her whips and bludgeons, proved no match against Rhodolite's creative use of the evolving and varied products of humanity's toolmaking, from Stone Age spears and knives to medieval devices of archaic overkill, and even planes, trains, and automobiles come the 20th century. By this time, Rhodolite was one of many rebel garnets, including Almandine, Spessartine, and Melanite; knowing she was outmatched, Grossular gave up trying to battle against a crazed pink biker and her friends, and conceded to call it a draw.

Though not a rebel by any standard, she wasn't keen on returning to a world that considered her outdated. She spends her time on Earth studying human combat history — considering them worthy amateurs — as well as helping Rhodolite and company with their unusual discoveries. Though Grossular considers herself stagnating on this world, no longer does she feel she would die of boredom; her eyes shine towards a future of gem liberation, where no mineral has to submit to Diamond tyranny and scrutiny. That said, however, Grossular still grimaces to see the Earth garnets waste their abilities and powers on mind-numbing games and questionable "entertainment". She knows things could be worse, however: she could still be in a mirror within a defective Pearl.

## Source

* SU Gem OC Reference - Grossular on deviantART