King Groak is a gold-skinned grung elite warrior who rules over the grung settlement of Dungrunglung from his elevated shrine. He wears a golden circlet of blasting and rarely leaves the shrine, issuing commands from an elevated 10-foot-high basin fed by an underground spring where he both dwells and sleeps.
Role and Authority
Groak commands the grung community, though his orange-skinned bodyguard Roark commands greater loyalty from the elite warriors who patrol the shrine’s base. The king’s authority is enforced by these guards and the broader grung hierarchy, with prisoners held in pits until they can be cooked and eaten.
The Great Ritual
Groak eagerly anticipates the Great Ritual, during which he expects the grung goddess Nangnang to materialize and speak words of love and praise to him. He wears ceremonial garb made from reeds and wild orchids for this nighttime ceremony, waiting anxiously on the shrine steps while scores of common grungs watch from the lake.
Personality and Vulnerabilities
The king is vain and easily deceived when it comes to Nangnang’s affection. His red-skinned wildling advisor Krr’ook fears the ritual will fail and has devised a plan to trick Groak using Nolzur’s marvelous pigments to create a false representation of the goddess. Groak speaks only Grung and will not tolerate insults or defiance, wielding his circlet of blasting against those who offend him.
Relationships
- Roark: His orange-skinned elite warrior bodyguard who commands greater loyalty from the guards
- Krr’ook: Red-skinned grung wildling who prepares the shrine’s rituals and secretly plots to deceive him
- Nangnang: The grung goddess for whom Groak harbors romantic devotion
Combat
If his deception is discovered or he’s threatened, Groak can muster a force of sixteen grung elite warriors (including Roark) and forty common grungs. He makes his final stand in his elevated pool within the shrine, using his circlet of blasting in defense.
Treasure
Groak possesses a circlet of blasting and keeps 33 gp plus a fist-sized chunk of green quartz (worth 50 gp) at the bottom of his pool.