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Character

Gromak

CanonOfficial lore from the booksSSGp. 45▶ Actual play

Gromak (also called Kromak) is an old orc shaman in the campaign Zincirsiz ("Unchained"), who carries spiritual trinkets and stands at the side of the orc chief Brakar. He met Jonathan River and Olaf when the two were brought captive into the orcs' camp.1

The bargain

Learning that Jonathan was an independent mage from the Archon, Gromak burned incense and touched the heads of the two captives to test their words against their thoughts, and told the chief they were speaking the truth; Olaf later admitted to Jonathan that his tale of working with bandits to pay a debt had been a lie. The orcs set the pair to fetch back a relic in return for their belongings, keeping Jonathan's mage licence and their money as a pledge (see Jonathan's mage licence). When Jonathan asked that the other prisoners be freed too, Gromak said they had killed soldiers and taken their clothes, and the chief said he would think about it.213

Jonathan put the willingness of these orcs to bargain down to their shaman following some path other than that of the one-eyed god, perhaps that of a druid. Not all Orcs are raiders: many live in harmony with nature and worship Viridia rather than Korhak, though the Empire tends to see every orc as a raider.45

The scattered camp

Gromak was not seen in the camp during a battle there, but afterwards he and the chief stood before Jonathan, with Olaf bound to a tree and half conscious. Gromak explained that Olaf had turned wildly violent when they came to wake the sleepers, so they had wrestled him down and tied him. In the flight from the camp the chief's saddlebag had been left behind and taken by the leader of their orc enemies, and Gromak guessed that Jonathan's licence was in it.678

Before the fight, he said, he had heard a shrill woman's scream from no one knew where, and orcs who had travelled with them and shared their views had turned on them afterwards. Jonathan suggested that spells planting ideas and rage might be at work.91011

Beliefs

Gromak says that there have always been orcs who see the god of the orcs' legends not as a saviour but as a shackle that turns orcs into pawns, and he counts himself, Brakar and the great Azbo among them. He also reports a saying among orcs that their green skin grows paler as their bond with the god weakens.1011

The rod and the tomb

Gromak explained that the rod the orcs had sent Jonathan to fetch lifts the illusion that hides the tomb of their ancestor, the great Azbo, though powerful magic of other kinds might also get past it. The place it was taken from was not the true tomb, whose location they did not know; the legend holds that it lies inside a great mountain as ancient as Azbo. He hoped the legacy within would help them in their struggle (see Rod of Azbo's mountain).121314

He told of Azbo's friends among other peoples, and of a hidden underground chamber where one of them stayed when visiting the tomb, which guards it and might reveal where the tomb lies and the ways within. He had searched for its location and believed it to be to the south-east, but had never been there. Since Jonathan and Olaf could hide more easily, he proposed that they seek the chamber while the orcs searched for the tomb from another direction.1514

Gromak said he could send messages through animals, though they would be slow, and they agreed that his message would name a clear place and time to meet. When the rain stopped, Brakar left the rod in Jonathan's keeping, and the orcs went their own way to search for the tomb.1617

Spoiler: Inside the mountainSpoils: Zincirsiz #5 · Say what you have read

Notes

  1. ↑At the tableİlk Adımlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #1 (Zincirsiz #1), 1:35:04
  2. ↑At the tableİlk Adımlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #1 (Zincirsiz #1), 1:33:01
  3. ↑At the tableİlk Adımlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #1 (Zincirsiz #1), 1:42:20
  4. ↑At the tableYeni Sorular | DnD 5E Oynanış #2 (Zincirsiz #2), 38:38
  5. ↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 45
  6. ↑At the tableYeni Sorular | DnD 5E Oynanış #2 (Zincirsiz #2), 2:18:37
  7. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 40:47
  8. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 41:54
  9. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 45:14
  10. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 54:55
  11. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 57:37
  12. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 48:45
  13. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 52:37
  14. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 1:36:13
  15. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 1:34:16
  16. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 1:39:49
  17. ↑At the tableAtalar ve Mezarlar | DnD 5E Oynanış #3 (Zincirsiz #3), 1:42:05
  18. ↑At the tableBüyük Azbo | DnD 5E Oynanış #5 (Zincirsiz #5), 3:14:47
  19. ↑At the tableBüyük Azbo | DnD 5E Oynanış #5 (Zincirsiz #5), 3:28:27

Sources

This article draws on:

Books

  • SSGLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide(Bad Badger Games, 2024), p. 45

▶ Actual play

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