Groak is the despotic gold grung king of Dungrunglung, a 60-foot-tall mud settlement in Chult. He rules with absolute authority over his grung subjects, who follow his orders without question out of fear—though they would gladly tear him apart if his power were ever undermined.
Personality & Motivations
Groak is charismatic but dangerously unstable, capable of swinging from friendly to homicidal within seconds. He is obsessed with summoning the goddess Nangnang and becoming her divine consort, believing this to be his destiny. To this end, he has commanded his subjects to build a massive 60-foot mud shrine where he plans to woo the goddess and father generations of “god-touched, royal Groaklings.”
The king craves validation and loves to hear stories of the outside world. He wants to be seen as a visionary and romantic, but reacts violently to anyone who questions his inflated self-image. His ego and obsession with the goddess have distracted him from the settlement’s real crisis: defending against undead threats that grung poison cannot harm.
Relationships
Krr’ook (red grung wildling) is the settlement’s priest who secretly fears Groak’s instability. She whispers favorable signs and omens to stay in his good graces, but privately suspects the Great Ritual to summon Nangnang will fail. If things go wrong, she will scapegoat the adventurers to save herself from the king’s wrath.
Roark (orange grung elite warrior) is Groak’s dutiful warrior, though he believes the goddess-summoning is nonsense distracting from defending against the undead. His true loyalty is to the tribe first and Groak second, and he would act against the king if necessary.
Interactions with Adventurers
Groak tolerates outsiders as long as they entertain him, agree with him, and help with his ritual preparations. How the party is initially received depends on their apparent strength:
- Weak parties are captured by warriors and brought before Groak, who offers sanctuary before commanding them to help Krr’ook with ritual preparations.
- Strong parties are welcomed and begged to hear Groak’s plea. He entreats them to join his divine destiny in exchange for hospitality and information about Chult.
Characters who offend Groak are thrown into the prison pit, where they become potential sacrifices for the Great Ritual or are roasted over a fire.
Game Mechanics
Groak uses the gold grung elite warrior stat block (see appendix D) and wears a circlet of blasting. As the only gold grung in Dungrunglung, he represents the highest caste of grung society.