Grom

Name: Grom
Race: Orc
Location: Bloodspires, Witchlight Strand

One of the foremost leaders of the several restless and bloodthirsty demihuman tribes of Bloodspires (the mountainous wilderness in the North-East corner of Witchlight Strand), Chieftain Grom bows for no-one. There is no formal king among the biggering tribes of orcs, goblins, kobolds, hobgoblins and ogres and what-nots of Bloodspires, but if one would be appointed today, Chieftain Grom would be a strong candidate for such a post. Grom probably does not live to see himself rising as the *King of the Bloodspires* since he is not particularly interested in uniting with anybody that’s not an orc and orcs are no more populous than their rivaling demihuman brethren. The orcs themselves are just a fraction – albeit a strong one – of all the inhabitants of Bloodspires and even the different orc clans have blood feuds and ancient rivalries running through their veins. The area called Bloodspires is practically devoid of humans and while most of the lands technically belong to Akron, the kingdom has long since given up efforts to maintain a strong presence there and has withdrawn their forces and outposts to the more hospitable coastal regions.

Chieftain Grom is ruthless, cunning and intelligent. He would be considered an intelligent person even if he was a human or an elf, but for an orc Grom is definitely exceptionally bright. However his conniving brain is constantly under attack by his impatience and bursting temperament that frequently cloud his judgement in all matters ranging from domestic affairs to warfare. Proof to that is his bastard son with the famed gold digger Hym Grog who seduced him to a six month long romantic affair a few years ago and that ended when Hym Grog got bored and caught herself a nice and rich gnoll warlord Gerom Sharg.

Grom has supporters in all the orc clans inhabiting the Bloodspires and several tribes of goblins and kobolds and other demihuman races, but he has not yet been able to show enough leadership to form a solid and wide ranging supporter base that would allow him to claim a more prominent position. Nevertheless he is not just a chieftain among chieftains anymore and anytime the orc chieftains hold meetings of any kind, when Grom speaks his mind, silence falls and his propositions are met with shy nodding and grunting signalling agreement.

Several authorities in coastal cities of Witchlight Strand have seen Grom’s growing power as alarming and a few unsuccessful assassination attempts against Grom have already been attempted. The Liaglades elves are, however, not at all worried about Grom as such, but the possibility of a united demihuman front is what makes the elves more cautious and even frightful. The elves see Grom as too violent and bloodthirsty to be able to form a cohesive union between the tribes and races, but eventually such a person is bound to rise among the demihuman ranks. The elves hope that as long as Grom stays as the alpha predator, rising usurpers – no matter how much potential they would have in forming a cohesive front – are in mortal danger and hopefully that delays the inevitable by a generation or two.

Humans on the other hand more generally acknowledge Grom’s possibilities in achieving some sort of powerful pact or alliance between the orc clans. If such a pact would form, the power of the orcs would grow considerably and might draw the lesser dominant races of Bloodspires towards them. Whatever the future holds for humans and elves, the orc *Clan of Grom* is enjoying successes after another under the leadership of Chieftain Grom.