Garruk, Apex Carpenter

Born in the woods on a dark night to a mother of unknown identity. He was abandoned by his birth mother immediately as she was starving and did not care for this child. Crawling out of the woods on his own, the young bugbear was able to survive on his instincts. Scavenging his way to bare sustenance through the age of 6, he met the half-orc old man named Grauger. Garruk encountered the man as he was trying to steal some food from his home. Garruk overheard a terrible secret that the man was holding and when he promised to keep it for the rest of his life, the man promised to take him in as one of his own. Grauger became a foster grandparent of sorts for the young Garruk, and his dwarf wife Michy a grandmother for the boy.

Garruk grew close to Michy and she was a very kind soul, especially to such a lost bugbear. Garruk was raised alongside two brothers, him being the youngest. The middle-son, Graugus, was the only one of true bloodline to Grauger and also was the favorite of Grauger. The oldest was a human held by bondage but called a brother. The human named Faktor was held by Grauger after Faktor wandered away from his home and tried to steal a horse from the old half-orc. Grauger, having always held a prejudice against humans, vowed to keep Faktor as an indentured servant until his adulthood. He was treated mostly as family, but only against his will. Garruk's upbringing was fairly comfortable financially and there was always food on the table, despite the family living frugally in a small shack. Garruk was very happy to finally be part of something he could call family, as unlikely as the group was, and was especially pleased with the unfamiliar love that he finally received from Michy.

Garruk worked alongside his brothers learning the trade of carpentry from Grauger. Garruk was a natural due to his size and strength and became very passionate for his work, seeking to make his grandmother proud in whatever way possible. Garruk was not the smartest youth in town by any measure, in fact he was likely one of the least intellectual people that anybody could meet. But, Garruk could say something that most bugbears would never be able to say. He was truly kind to others and sought people's love no matter what adversity came his way. He was frequently mistreated and feared by strangers he encountered, being slurred at and avoided by most. Nobody would dare challenge his size and strength though, and he simply allowed any scorn to rub off.

Tragically, Garruk came to his home one day to find that Michy had been struck by a meteor while picking herbs from her garden. Garruk was destroyed by this finding and could not live down that he never had the opportunity to say farewell. The whole family grew somber from this news, but none more than Garruk. Michy was the first to show Garruk any sort of love in his life, and when he lost this sweet woman it was apparent that he lost a part of himself. That night, Garruk reverted to his primal ways and sprinted into the woods, weeping. As he ran further and further in, a torrential storm began to wreak havoc on all plants and wildlife. As Garruk continued to run in his fit of sadness, soaked by the downpour, he arrived at a wide clearing. Finally emptied of most of his energy, he fell to his knees in the tall grass and let out a roar to the sky. As thunder roared back at him, his tears were cloaked by the storm and his emotional state pulled him towards the ground.

As Garruk was about to give up forever, he noticed movement of something in the corner of his eye. He stood to see that he was surrounded by a band of armed humans. He recognized these people. These were the ones who always gave him the disgusted stares through town. The ones who had socially cast out Garruk as scum of the land. These humans heard of Garruk's loss and saw his weakness as the opportune time to strike on the "disgrace" of their village. The people had followed the trail Garruk had left in the woods with hopes of hunting him and ending his life for good. They slowly closed in on the bugbear, and he was prepared to let them have their wish. As they got closer and closer, Garruk was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning. This bolt may have made matters worse for another in his position, but Garruk's body felt it as a sign. The electricity flowed through him naturally and fueled him with a passionate rage the likes of which he did not even know he was capable of. Perhaps he was not before. But now more than ever, he was not going to give up on life and he would fight these apparent enemies to the death.

Aware of the sudden change that had happened in Garruk's body language and facial expressions, some momentarily hesitated. However, the humans decided they must strike and began their great charge on this beast. Garruk's sadness turning to rage allowed him to rampage through these foes with ease and he broke them one by one until they were all lying weak on the ground. Garruk had to tell them one thing in their defeated state, "You shall not disrespect me or my family on the day of Michy's passing." Garruk was not one to articulate himself even on this basic level. But the message was felt so strongly in his heart that he was able to give these words to the humans as the last thing they would ever hear before the screams of their friends. Garruk went to each one of them and slowly ripped their heads off with nothing but his hands. Digging these men's grave and leaving no witnesses, this was not a tale that any would know except for him. His bloodied body was cleansed by the rain and he felt anew. He returned home still sad, but not forgetting all of the love that his grandmother had taught him. Garruk continued to work for Grauger and was able to gain full membership in his grandfather's carpentry guild, The Carpfish. Now as a man, skilled carpenter, and warrior, Garruk has taken his trade on the road to represent his guild and hopefully find the love of someone new for the rest of his life.

## Personality

Garruk is extremely kind and will never seek out conflict with those who have done him no wrong. He can usually be fairly tolerant of the prejudice that he naturally receives as a bugbear. His favorite thing to talk about is carpentry and he will talk about it whenever possible, and for long periods of time if he can. Garruk is able to fluently speak Common, Goblinoid, and Dwarvish. Garruk hopes he will be able to find love as he believes that it is the most important thing for somebody in their life.

## Physical Description

Garruk towers over most in his hulking frame. His body is quite hairy as one would likely expect from a bugbear. Two of his fangs are outgrown unusually large and contribute to his very menacing face. He has a naturally angry look on his face, despite being extremely kind to most. He does not don many articles of clothing, but the ones he wears are usually minimalist, comfortable, and functional for getting a job done. He can frequently be seen with his prized tool/weapon, Treesbane. This item is a 6 foot long blade which can act as a greatsword, but also has a serrated edge to be used as a saw. Garruk has eagle wings tattooed on his back.