Gro'ok

**Gro'ok** is a grung sorcerer from the grung vilage of Dungrunglung in Chult. Alongside his brother Mua'glib, Gro'ok worships a being from the Plane of Fire he calls 'the Salamander' for blessing his lineage and allowing he and his brother to be red-skinned grung wildlings. Gro'ok and his brother are some of the only members of the grung race to be members of the Harpers- causing them to be seen with both suspicion and respect alike in the settlement of Port Nyanzaru. After a set of missions done for the harbormaster Zindar, he and his brother became owners of the *Winged Salamander*, a spice trading ship that once belonged to the Zhentarim. Through their exploits, Gro'ok and his brother became widely known in Port Nyanzaru as the 'The Brothers Croak'.

Gro'ok was a player character in the three-shot adventure *All Eyes on Chult*.

## Decription

Gro'ok is a red-skinned grung wildling with flamelike hues of yellow and orange on his hands and feet. When he casts fire magicks, his head also becomes covered in harmless flames, comparable to the flamelike hair of some fire genasi. He stands tall at 2 feet and 6 inches (0.8 meters) and weighs about 30 pounds (13 kilograms). Unlike his brother, Gro'ok cares very little for humanoid fashions and is never seen wearing anything but a leaflike loincloth held up by his Harper pin. Under his loincloth a small pouch carries what little spell components and items he feels like carrying at any time.

## History

Gro'ok and his brother were born in Drungrunglung, a grung village south of the lost city of Omu in Chult. Though they were both predestined to be members of hunter caste of green-skinned grungs when they were tadpoles, when they began to show their colors, the village leaders were surprised to find that both young grungs had instead taken on the red-hues of the grung wildling caste. Initially this was seen as a mistake on the part of priest who put them in the pool with tadpoles in the hunter caste, though the truth became more apparent when Gro'ok's brother Mua'glib matured to have remnants of green skin. Both brothers were brought before the head priestess of Nangnang to have the situation explained, and soon all of Dungrunglung was full of whispers and rumors of two tadpoles changing their caste without a magical ritual approved by the village's King. Neither of the brothers were punished however, as their change was seen by the priestesses as a blessing of fire from the goddess Nangnang.

This blessing of fire only became more apparent as Gro'ok grew, as his obsession with flames and his skill with fiery cantrips quicly marked him as the grung wildling with the greatest potential out of all the other wildlings his age. Despite the insistence of the village clergy that the goddess Nangnang was to be honored for giving Gro'ok his gifts, as the young sorcerer grew he began to interpret his power very differently. Relying on faint memories of his own flame-focused dreams, young Gro'ok began to publicly venerate a figure he called 'the Salamander'. His brother followed him in this worship, and when the two were confronted about the figure, it was initially decided by the village elders that this worship would be tolerated. Not aware of the dormant status of their goddess, the grung priests were just happy to interpret Gro'ok's dreams as a sign from the dead goddess waking from her 'slumber' through the actions of a fiery agent. Though both brothers never faltered in their worship of Nangnang, Gro'ok never changed his own belief to match the interpretations of the clergy- ultimately leading to the priests and elders to stop tolerating the ramblings of a great Salamander god. When neither of the brothers were willing to forget their fiery patron, they were encouraged to leave their village.

After this exile for Dungrunglung, the brothers found themselves in Port Nyanzaru, seeking both a home and a way to honor their god. Mua'glib's need for a teacher drove him to be the apprentice of an Dwarven Apothecary named Kaishir, and their need for a home led to both brothers working side jobs to pay for their stay in the Chultan city. Eventually, Mua'glib's work with Kaishir drew the attention of a traveling Harper, who in turn attempted to mold both of the chaotic grung wildlings into being Harpers. This was an uphill battle initially, until the Harper realized that the key to changing both brothers for the better was to play into their beliefs of the Salamander rather than ignoring them. Once Gro'ok was convinced that the Harper goals of preserving nature and keeping the influence of kingdoms and their rulers to a minimum aligned with the goals of the Salamander, the grung signed on to being a Harper and drew his brother into the society as well. When their Harper mentor left Port Nyanzaru, the two brothers remained as some of the only Harpers in Chult at all- serving as Watchers ready for their first big operation.

## All Eyes on Chult

In 1490 DR, Gro'ok and his brother Mua'glib were both contacted by Harpers in the city of Waterdeep after they learned of two suspicious ships traveling to Port Nyanzaru from Waterdeep's harbor. Alongside another Chultan Harper agent by the name of Zikorin, the brothers were instructed to welcome a Waterdhavian agent named Therpora to Chult and then report to Harbormaster Zindar as a party. When the four harpers went to meet the half-dragon sorcerer, they were debriefed on the situation and sent to investigate the *Wicked Gaze* and the *Flying Adder* on Zindar's behalf, as the harbormaster was having all his legal attempts to search the vehicle blocked. During this mission the harpers were instructed to avoid deaths, due to the illegality of all killings unapproved by the Merchant Princes. Despite this, Gro'ok and Mua'glib observed a willingness to kill in Therpora, causing a lot of friction in the fledgeling party. While the brothers were able to board the *Flying Adder* and steal the ship's manifest without raising any alarms, Therpora had caused a mess and the death of two crew members on the *Wicked Gaze*.

After both ship had been boarded, the agents were able to deduce that the crew of the *Flying Adder* consisted of Zhentarim members, while the crew of the *Wicked Gaze* consisted of members of the Xanathar Guild. While the brothers were waiting for Zikorin and Therpora to return with evidence of smuggling on the *Wicked Gaze*, they were confronted by dock guards that inexplicably wanted to have them arrested for trespassing and sedition. Although Gro'ok and his brother were willing to flee and avoid combat altogether, their fellow harper Therpora went to kill the guard patrol's captain. After the guard was slain, an intellect devourer emerged from his head, revealing the Xanathar Guild was behind the arrest. Gro'ok and Mua'glib slew the devourer, and the agents returned to Zindar with both the manifest of the Flying Adder, guard witnesses, and evidence of the Xanathar Guild's involvement with the *Wicked Gaze*. Unknown to the rest of the Harpers, the agent Zikorin chose to sneak on to the *Flying Adder* alone, not content with the work the brothers had done. Gro'ok never saw the yuan-ti pureblood again, as she died trying to escape the Zhentarim ship after being caught.

The next day, Gro'ok and the rest of the remaining harpers were informed of both the *Flying Adder* and *Wicked Gaze* leaving the harbor before they could be impounded, confirming Zindar's suspicions that Zikorin was not returning. To make up for the missing harper, Zindar used his connections to get Janar, a grung priestess of Nangnang, to aid Gro'ok and his companions for missions to come. Skeptical after their own experiences in Dungrunglung, neither of the Brothers Croak ended up getting along with the grung cleric. The party was then assigned to interrupt a meeting between the captain of the *Flying Adder*, Florina DuRaal, as she met with a fence named Dour Orlando. After splitting up, the party eventually found the Gray Trader, Orlando's place of business and the meeting spot where DuRaal planned to meet the fence.

Once the meeting began, Gro'ok and his brother snuck onto DuRaal's wagon- insisting on going alone to learn what they could of DuRaal's operation while Janar and Therpora dealt with Orlando. This plan proved successful, as when the brothers were finally brought to warehouse outside the city walls, they caused the fiery distraction that allowed them to confront DuRaal and subdue her while she was alone. From there, the two grung spellcasters managed to sneak the unconscious smuggler back into the city, where she could be questioned behind bars. With Mua'glib's help, Gro'ok led the interrogation of DuRaal, making the half-elf feel an intense hunger while holding food just out of her grasp. Predictably, she eventually revealed details of her operation. From her Mua'glib and his companions learned of the smuggler Red-Eye, who they would later go on to confront.

As his final misssion for Zindar, Gro'ok and his brother were summoned to the harbormaster's office through a *sending* spell. There they were debriefed on Red-Eye's break-in at the villa of Jobal, one of the Merchant Princes of Port Nyanzaru. Due to the sorcerer being watched by a mage under Red-Eye's command, Zindar had used a *simulacrum* to meet with the party and send them to save the hostage prince before he could be replaced by the Xanathar Guild. Zindar himself was unwilling to use his magical talent to besiege the villa if it meant Jobal's death. With his brother Mua'glib leading the way, the party made it over the outer wall of Jobal's villa, later entering through a first floor window. Once inside, Therpora and Janar were sent ahead to scout out the first floor, only for them to return shortly after a confrontation with steam mephits in Prince Jobal's bathroom. Mua'glib took the lead again at that point, taking the party to the second floor and immediately finding the room where Red-Eye was holding Jobal captive. The resulting confrontation did bring the death of Red-Eye and his closest associates, but it also brought the death of Jobal after the unconscious prince was attacked by an Intellect Devourer.

Though the party had ultimately failed in protecting Jobal, their efforts in capturing DuRaal and killing Red-Eye did not go unrewarded. Gro'ok and Mua'glib had at every opportunity done their operations without unnecessary deaths, and after informing Zindar of their companion Therpora's deeds, the harbormaster did his best to keep the Brothers Croak as associates. On top of the initial payment for preventing a situation whereby an intellect devourer could use Jobal's position of power, Gro'ok and Mua'glib were offered ownership of the *Flying Adder*, which Zindar had renamed to the *Winged Salamander*. Taking into account the reports he'd gotten from the brothers, Zindar even made sure to legally exile Therpora from Port Nyanzaru and send their account of her behavior back to Harper leadership back in Waterdeep.

Although they knew nothing of sailing, it is said that after their dealings with Zindar, the two brothers would go on to become spice merchants and occasional 'privateers', spreading both the word of The Salamander and the more anarchic elements of the Harper Code along the way. When they next met with other Harpers of their own organization, they were also named 'Harpshadows' for their efforts in Port Nyanzaru, graduating from the rank of 'Watcher'.

## Gallery

Gro'ok, by @laurynjustartsGro'ok's Token during All Eyes on Chult