Grognak

Grognak

Titles : First king of the North , Wounder of Kholek , Champion of Ice

Domains : War , Luck and Strength

Grognak holding the heads of slain princelings as trophies, whilst wielding the mythic axe Runefang.

### Domains

War , Luck and Strength

The tale of Grognak is one of horror, triumph and tragedy. The story begins
with a simple farmer and his family who were raided by a tribe of Orcs. After
the Orcs raped and pillaged Grognak's village to a man, the Orc leader came
upon an Infant who had the look of destiny in his eyes. The Leader Roggar
Breaker of stone spared the infant. He grew up in a harsh environment with all
the orcs despising him and many treating him like a dog.

After a few years under the harsh treatment of the tribe Grognak was rapidly
out growing many of the orc children, some even say that by the time that he
was 12 summers old he was taller than some of the warriors of the tribe. During
this time, he was also quickly acclimatising to Orc culture as well as learning
the language much faster than the other younger Orcs. Years of fighting and
scraping by had hardened the young boy and many of the strenuous task usually
given to slaves were given to Grognak. This further added to his already immense
strength. He was however forbidden from using any weapons and thus he became a
very skilled brawler which he later showed when a group of drunken tribesmen
attempted to kill the young man. To Roggar’s surprise the boy had managed to
kill 5 of these Orcs with his bare hands whilst suffering multiple wounds that
would fell any Orc. This feat granted Grognak the respect and fear of many of
the other tribe’s people.

His next feat came on the eve of his 16th name-day, when Grognak was allowed
to take the rite of passage of his tribe. The task all Orcs must take which
will determine whether they will be a warrior or an outcast. The task was to track
and kill one of the undead masters, which Grognak would later come to see as
Necromancers, which plagued the borders of the Horde’s lands. However, Grognak
knew that such a task would not gain him the trust and respect of the other warriors.
He instead set out to find one of the Princelings who were the masters of these
necromancers. The Princelings were the forerunners to what would later become
known the Kingdom of Sylvania. Each Princeling was said to be a true blood son
of the Immortal ruler of Castle Drakenhof, Vlad Von Carstein. Grognak trekked
for many months in search of the infamous Blood keep, the home of Markus von
Carstein, a rather ghastly Princeling known for capturing various Northmen and
pitting them against vile creatures for his own enjoyment. He finally found the
dreaded keep and for the first time in his life he felt truly afraid.

The next few days of planning hadn’t gone as Grognak had planned.
He had managed to get himself captured by one of the many undead knights that
roamed the plains. He soon found himself surrounded by the many prisoners of
Markus. For the first time Grognak had encountered other men. The experience
was strange as they were so foreign yet so familiar to him. He tried tell them
he would save them all but after hearing Orcish words escape his mouth many of
the prisoners recoiled in fear. Grognak finally understood that he was not an
Orc and after months of being held in this prison managed to learn the language
from a girl named Frigg who was the only person who didn’t treat Grognak like
dirt. Much like Grognak , Frigg had also been taken prisoner by the Orcs and as
such could speak both languages. The two grew very close until Frigg was
selected by Markus to fight in the tourney. Grognak was forced to watch as the
only person who had ever showed compassion to him was torn apart by vicious
undead monsters. Some say that on this day Grognak burned with a fiery rage and
luckily for his fellow prisoners he was chosen to fight next.

The tourney for Grognak was like no other , perhaps Markus
knew that this man was not ordinary , many beasts and undead were thrown at
Grognak but each time he repelled them. Grognak was given no weapons but his
fists were as deadly as any blade or club. He effortlessly crunched bone ,
pierced hide , cracked skull and tore flesh. It was truly a feral sight as
Grognak let loose on the fowl creatures of darkness. Markus growing impatient
that this man would not die and somewhat fascinated decided  throw Grognak a weapon and flew down to meet
him in the ring to show to the other prisoners how powerful he is. The negative
energy in the air was palpable . Markus threw many spells at Grognak but
nothing worked and in horror Markus watched as the Brute walked forward
smiling. As Grognak approached Markus he shouted with voice that boomed like
thunder “FEAR ME!” and at that Markus fell to the ground paralysed by fear ,Grognak
raised his axe and swung with all his might. The first hit shuddered the very earth,
the second cleared the sky of dark clouds revealing the sun and the final
brought down a bolt of lighting followed by a storm. Grognak took the head and
the axe which was pulsating with raw magical energies visible. He released the
rest of the prisoners and killed any remaining undead and then when the air was
still he went to the place where Frigg was killed and made a promise that would
forever change his life. He said, “I promise that we will be together again”.

Upon returning to the tribe many of the Orcs rushed to see
who was entering the camp. To their surprise, it was Grognak with the head of a
Princeling. A prize no orc had ever managed to gain. Roggar leapt to hug
Grognak and everybody greeted him as a prodigal son returning. However, the niceties
were short lived Grognak whilst being embraced lifted Roggar above his head and
tore him in half. All the Orcs stood at a loss for words. Then with a deep and
deafening shout Grognak shouted “WE MARCH TO WAR!”. The Orcs seeing the new
strength all shouted in approval and so the Horde of Grognak was born. The
horde quickly found and subjugated the many other Orc tribes in the region and
even made a pact with the legendary Giant King Skopja Wyrrm-tamer. Many human
tribes joined the colossal warband as well. Many battles were fought against
the subjects of the Princelings until one day when the men had captured one
alive. He was brutally interrogated and asked how to bring back Frigg and all
he said was that she was in the realm of eternal torment and that the destroyer
keeps all souls. Grognak demanded a name of the ruler of this realm and the
princeling smiled and said Kholek.

The name Kholek  had
never before been heard of in these parts. The name continued to elude Grognak
for many years and Grognak was becoming weary after all this fighting and
simply wished to see his beloved again.
On one auspicious evening Grognak was sitting alone watching the
Glaciers and next to him sat two people: one an oversized Orc who Grognak had
never seen before but vaguely recognised and a beautiful woman who was almost
glowing and she had the most beautiful wings. They sat for a minute and then
finally the Women spoke and said, “we have a very important task for you my
child”. Grognak confused at the concept that this woman who looked no older
than him was calling him her child asked her “Who are you people?”. The Orc
responded with “people who have both been watching you for a very long time”.
The woman continued and said “A great evil is trying to escape here Grognak and
we need you to stop it, however I will not deceive you. This task will almost
certainly kill you.” The Orc then interjected “ Bah ,my son does not care for
death ,he welcomes it like a true warrior”. Grognak still very confused answered
with “What is the name of this evil?”. In unison they responded with “Kholek”.  Grognak’s eyes burned like fiery opals and
asked “Where can I find this filth?”. The Orc then said right over there and
pointed towards the glaciers as they began to shudder as an immense beast
cracked the ice from within. The strangers then each placed a hand on Grognak’s
shoulders and said do not fear with this they vanished and Grognak removed his
armour and picked up his axe and charged the beast. The battle was hard fought
with much of his warband being killed by the creature he ordered a retreat. He
faced the creature once more after countless blows bounced of the armour of the
beast. Grognak was severely wounded by a crushing blow which sent him flying.
Grognak mustered his strength and remembered the promise he made so long ago.
He shouted with all his might “I am Grognak and you shall know my fury” and
launched himself at the beast seeing a slight crack in the armour Grognak
pummelled this spot relentlessly until after what seemed like days of fighting
the armour finally cracked open wounding the beast. Massive amounts of energy poured into Grognak
reinvigorating him and the strangers appeared again this time helping Grognak.
Grognak watched as the creature once more landed a mortal blow on him. Grognak
lay there waiting to die and then an image of Frigg appeared saying “Your fight
is not over yet Grognak , you can’t break your promise to me”. In the distance
a portal had opened and Grognak could see the massive Orc trying to push Kholek
into it. He got up and charged ,and the Women and Orc watched in awe as Grognak
pushed the beast into the portal , however Grognak too had sacrificed himself to
banish the creature. Icara and Gorum decided that this man was worthy and
brokered a deal with Asmodeus to free Grognaks souls from Kholek and ascend him
to Godhood. It is said that too this day Grognak’s daily assaults on Kholek to
save his beloved are one of the few things keeping “The Great Destoyer” at bay.