K'roaa'ka - Backstory

K’roaa’ka

Grung Ranger — Beast Master — Outlander — Exile

Player	Matt
Class	Ranger, Beast Master
Race	Grung
Background	Outlander
Companion	Echo (hound)
Color	Orange (warrior caste, high caste)
Origin	Grung swamps, Greno
Faith	Formerly Rrabek (tribe deity), now uncertain
Languages	Grung (native), broken Common (gestural), Infernal (from Rrabek worship)
AC	16 (scale mail, 14 + 2 dex max)
Weight	~30 lbs

Background

K’roaa’ka was once a skilled scout among the Grung in the swamps of Greno. After a group of his tribe’s strongest warriors fell to a band of outsiders, he was assigned the task of scouting for invaders. Witnessing this fall caused him to question the sovereignty and power of the tribe’s deity, Rrabek.

K’roaa’ka has an adventurous spirit and a curious disposition. He always looked forward to these missions. As his confidence grew, he often traveled to the edge of Grung territory, seeking to explore and learn more of the outside world.

Echo

He came in contact with hounds belonging to guards stationed at an outpost on the edge of the swamp and instantly found these creatures intriguing and amusing. K’roaa’ka formed a bond with the animals, particularly one called Echo, playing with them from afar and leaving them food scavenged from the swamp during his duties.

On one of these excursions he was discovered interacting with the dogs by another Grung scout, who reported this back to the elders. This was seen as rebellious and an act of nonconformity, so it was decided to exile K’roaa’ka.

Uncertain where else to start, he went to see Echo. In a moment of weakness, after seeing her joy in greeting him, he reached out to pet the animal, seeking refuge from thoughts of his questionable future.

His touch poisoned her. She died.

K’roaa’ka set up a funeral display with her corpse and cried out, singing the Grung song of mourning. A druid from the outpost heard the wailing and went to investigate. She found K’roaa’ka, and through her knowledge of the area and his broken Common, was able to piece together what happened.

As the druid offered prayer, Echo rose anew to greet K’roaa’ka. This time when she jumped on him, she did not waiver. She did not writhe in pain. She was seemingly immune to his poison. Whether through the druid’s magic, a blessing of Amareses, or the pity of The Creator himself, he did not know.

He only knew that he wouldn’t be cast into exile alone.

What brought Echo back?

The druid prayed and Echo returned, now immune to K’roaa’ka’s poison. Was it the druid’s magic, Amareses intervening, The Creator’s pity, or something else entirely? K’roaa’ka doesn’t know and probably doesn’t want to ask too hard. But the answer matters because it tells him whether the gods are real in a way Rrabek never was.

Who is the druid?

She heard the mourning, found K’roaa’ka, understood enough to help, and prayed over a dead dog. Is she still out there? Does she know what she did? Is she connected to Amareses or something else? K’roaa’ka owes her everything and might not even know her name.

What is Rrabek? ANSWERED.

A chaos goddess, demonic in nature, and a lesser deity/subset of the Cult of Bazeel. Hateful of other races. The Grung perform ritualistic dances to her before war. K’roaa’ka knows Infernal from communicating with her. His faith is in freefall.

Is the tribe done with him? NO.

Four Grung warriors ambushed K’roaa’ka and Dorian near the caves. Three were killed (including the purple leader). The survivor threatened: “Both of you will be marked for death. We will seek you.” The tribe is actively hostile.

Echo died and came back

That’s not normal. In a world where Amareses governs the cycle of rebirth, a creature dying and returning to the same body is either a miracle or a violation. If followers of Amareses hear about this, they’ll have opinions. Is Echo a blessed animal, an abomination, or something in between?

Established in Play

• The exile happened within the last day. He is brand new to the outside world.
• Exile is permanent. “Never to be seen, never to be heard from again.”
• K’roaa’ka wears a leaf cloak to prevent accidental skin contact, fashioned before leaving the swamp, knowing what happened with Echo.
• He can’t read Common. When Dorian handed him the missive, he couldn’t read it.
• His Common is extremely broken. He communicates mostly through gestures and pointing. Like “when I try to ask the guy to mow my lawn” level.
• His currency is shells, snails, and muddy things, not gold coins. 150 gold worth, saved over his lifetime.
• He’s fascinated by things he’s never seen: the fountain, the clock tower, food stalls, cookware, fishing gear.
• He’s interested in bowfishing. Bought a fishing rig (20 GP) that Dorian attached to his bow.
• Favored enemy: fiends. Ties back to his growing distrust of Rrabek’s demonic nature.
• Jump speed simplified to 35 feet (house rule, up and over combined). Climbing speed: full 25 ft.
• He requires regular water or gets exhaustion. Going too long without feels like a hangover. He bathes in a barrel on the cart.
• Equipped with scale mail (bought at Gunthar’s forge), longbow (+7 to hit), two short swords, leaf cloak, grass skirt, antlers (trophy from “Honey”), and an adventurer’s pack recovered from the caves.
• He told Dorian about the druid’s symbol: antlers and a seed on her cloak.
• The druid who saved Echo wore that symbol, could not communicate with K’roaa’ka, and performed a ritual “never seen before.”
• Echo has a glow about her since the resurrection.
• K’roaa’ka told the purple Grung leader “I’ll tell girl Kina you loved her” before killing him. This implies a personal connection to the warriors.
• The surviving Grung warrior threatened: “Both of you will be marked for death. We will seek you.”

At the Table

K’roaa’ka is an exile who killed the one thing he loved and got it back by accident. He’s curious, adventurous, and carrying grief he doesn’t fully understand. Echo is everything to him. Threaten Echo and you threaten the only thing that kept him from being alone.

He’s also a Grung in a world that wasn’t built for him. Poisonous skin means no handshakes, no casual contact, no normal physical affection with anyone except Echo. Water dependency means the party has to plan around him. He’s alien everywhere he goes and he knows it.

The Party

How do you feel about Dorian?

A human who builds machines and talks to one like it’s alive. G.L.U. tracks things, pauses at strange moments, acts like it’s thinking. Echo does the same thing. Does K’roaa’ka see a kinship there, two people whose companions are more than they should be? Or is a metal thing nothing like a living animal?

How do you feel about Tharion?

A loud young cleric who follows a god’s rules without question. K’roaa’ka questioned his own tribe’s god and got exiled for it. Does Tharion’s unquestioning faith look foolish, admirable, or just familiar in a way that stings?

How do you feel about Roland?

A knight with servants and a title. K’roaa’ka was a scout who got cast out for touching a dog. These are very different lives. Does the knight’s authority mean anything to someone who grew up in a swamp, or is it just surface noise?

How do you feel about Lilith?

A human who was sold by her own father and raised as a thief. K’roaa’ka was exiled by his own tribe. Both of them were thrown away by the people who were supposed to protect them. Does he recognize that, or is her world too different from his?

How do you feel about Azalea Fern?

She turns into animals. K’roaa’ka bonded with one. She’s fey, he’s amphibian. Both of them are more comfortable with beasts than people. Is that common ground or just parallel loneliness?

Can anyone in the party touch you? PARTIALLY ANSWERED.

Dorian wears engineer gloves and can move K’roaa’ka safely. G.L.U. is 100% immune to poison (no flesh). Echo is immune post-resurrection. Everyone else will get frightened for 1 minute on contact. Dorian deliberately let Gunthar touch K’roaa’ka to observe the effect, but Gunthar is a dwarf (poison resistant). The party agreed to keep the poison mechanics secret from the other players and let them learn it in play.