Grumbling Behemoth

Grumbling Behemoth
'The grumpiest one of them all.'
Gender	Male
Race	Roegadyn
Clan	mixed?
Citizenship	Unaffiliated
Age	28
Height/Weight	8 fulms 1 ilm / 742 ponz
Build	hulking, heavily built, muscular

Last update: 12. August 2015

This character profile is mostly spoiler free. It covers only general appearance, public knowledge of the character and combat information.

Grumbling Behemoth, as his name suggests, is a hulk of a Roegadyn. He is a reclusive, semi-active member of the Skysteel Manufactory and freelance mercenary for hire. He is known to work alone, drink a lot, and communicate mostly in deep, quiet grumbles. One can assume he's either completely uninteresting or keeps his personal information closely private. His mercenary reputation suggests he is picky with jobs but once he accepts one he's perfectly reliable.

Appearance

Eyes	Hair	Skin	Body Type	Voice	Bearing	Notable Features
Pale blue	Platinum blond, straight, shoulder length	Pale	Wide shouldered, massively built and heavily muscular	Very deep, rumbling, raspy, quiet	Reclusive, wary, awkward	Disfiguring burns on left side of face and neck, missing left eye, shrapnel scarring

Grumbling Behemoth’s name tends to be all that is needed to sum him up. He's huge, even for a Roegadyn, reaching bit over eight fulms in height. Wide shoulders, thick bones and dense musculature help create the figure of a juggernaut – a figure he maintains by a combination of rigorous training and simple genetics. Bearing so much weight often results in his movement being hulking, slow and deliberate. He’s very awkward in a world made for much smaller beings.

Grumbling might seem threatening based on the fact that he could harm someone unintentionally just by stepping in wrong direction; this may account for why he always seems to avoid crowds or larger groups of people. All of his dexterity seems to have gone to his hands, and indeed it might surprise some people to see how precise and patient he can be when handling delicate mechanics. His nimbleness suggests years of experience and practice.

The rare moments when his mask is off expose a figure that is likely of mixed heritage. His name and “puppy nose” suggest a Hellsguard parent, while his coloration – pale complexion, platinum hair – suggest the other was a Sea Wolf. Most noticeable, however, is the left side of his body: half his face, his neck, and perhaps more are deformed by burn and shrapnel scars; his left eye socket is empty and one eyebrow is completely missing. The mask and high-collared shirts keep this neatly hidden in public; when alone in the wilderness, however, he’s sometime seen simply wearing an eyepatch.

His voice is a deep bass, rumbling as one might expect, but also quite soft. It might have once been melodic and husky but now is more of a gruff rasp, suggesting vocal cord damage.

The giant takes advantage of his size and strength and often carries a large amount of equipment: from tools and gadgets, to spare parts, to weapons and armor, he always seems to have something on hand for every situation. While in cities he usually only carries small or concealed weapons, when heading out for work he’s often armed to the teeth with weapons custom-made to fit his size. He seems to have no preference when it comes to armor and always changes it to fit each situation. This can range from light brigandine or insulated chain mail to heavy plate armor strangely riddled with wires.

In strange contrast to his usual attire hangs a tribal pendant around his neck: an actual Behemoth, made out of leather. Grum can be seen absentmindedly touching it rather often.

Personality

Very little is known about Grumbling’s personality as most people tend to avoid the grumpy giant and he seems to prefer it that way. When forced to socially interact his behavior quickly makes a turn for the awkward and he’s usually quite wary of others. At times he may seem unfriendly or morose, but at others he simply seems stoic and reasonable. He has seemingly limitless patience, and avoids conflict either by ignoring provocations, or leaving if feeling too troubled.

In a nutshell, Grumbling Behemoth has all the social grace of a moldy brick, and the occasional grumble or tongue-in-cheek remark seems to be the pinnacles of his people skills. Rarely is he ever seen voluntarily speaking to another individual, and rumor has it he has no friends at all. Another rumor suggests that, should he smile, it will bring about a second Calamity and end the world for good.

Combat

It’s unusual to see Grumbling Behemoth fight. This is often limited to his jobs, as he doesn’t participate in tests of skill, arenas, or public training. As such, he might easily be misjudged by average person as the typical stupid Roegadyn brute.

The following is a more detailed description, included for the purpose of planning events and RP combat. This is not common knowledge and might be considered a spoiler.

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Grum isn’t a particularly skilled or practiced combatant. Instead he utilizes a wide range of weapons and gadgetry – a jack of all trades, yet master of none. Due to this his fighting style tends to appear very haphazard and random, but he is a meticulous planner and, when he has the ability to observe a situation beforehand, he can always calculate the situation to determine the most advantageous outcome. This means his actions will vary widely depending on the situation he is facing; his weapons and gadgetry will change as he attempts to use the area and everything in it to his advantage. Obviously he’s at his most effective when he can plan in advance, allowing him to execute complex tactics. Unexpected ambushes are definitely his greatest weakness, and no-one can ever hope to plan for everything.

When forced into a standard combat situation, his jack-of-all-trades approach might come at a disadvantage if he finds himself up against a master of a particular weapon. At this point he will use anything in order to get the situation back in his favor: multiple weapons, anything lying around, dirty tricks and nasty gadgets. (This unwillingness to limit his options would no doubt rule him out of any arenas or competitions). In the worst case scenario, he wouldn’t hesitate to retreat from combat to try again another day or simply find an alternative solution.

His size and strength have the potential to be devastating, but it’s also his biggest weakness – even smaller Roegadyn could likely run circles around him. He is well aware of this, and always tries to stay a few steps ahead of his opponent, helping to negate their potential speed advantage. Being unpredictable is probably the best way to beat him, but he can have few surprises on his own.

Grum's outlook is entirely pragmatic: combat is a necessary means to an end, not an art form or anything emotional or honorable. It's obvious he’s killed before and if needed he will do it again, yet many of his weapons and gadgets are designed with non-lethal combat in mind. He is willing to offer a second chance almost to anyone -- but never a third.

A typical loner, he usually doesn't work well in groups. More often than not he’ll make his own plan, go out on his own, and do what he considers the best; allies becoming a hindrance and a distraction. A cunning leader could find a way to use his talents and lead him in the right direction, but a bad one that'd try to just order him around would likely just make things worse. So while Grum could be considered a very dangerous and unpredictable foe when alone, especially when hunting and planning his moves in advance, there is only so much he can do when surprised or outnumbered.

Occupations, Skills, and Pastimes

Grumbling Behemoth is a member of the Skysteel Manufactory, though he’s rarely actually seen there. He shows up to get tools and supplies and seems to vanish again; some suspect he doesn’t actually contribute in any form. He tends to outright refuse to discuss mechanics, opting instead to simply go about his work. This behavior is apparently tolerated only because he doesn’t take much, pays for what he *does* take, and, when given work, always completes it quickly, reliably, and without fuss.

Rumors

Common Rumors

• "The name fits... though maybe they named ‘grumbling’ after him, instead."
• "That one? Don't even try. Unless you speak fluent Grumblish you won't get much out of him."
• "That brobdingnagian oaf is probably too stupid to say more than couple of words."
• "You have better chances of befriending a rock. And it might be more friendly too."
• "Sure he kind of ruins the mood in here, but grumpy or not, he's my best customer! He drank ten bottles already!"

Moderate Rumors

• "If he smiles, the world will end! I swear!"
• "Yeah, he always wears that mask. I heard his face is all burned off or something. Must be one hideous bastard."
• "That one? He might not be easy to talk to, and he's picky with jobs, but if he takes a contract he gets it done. If you're looking for reliable mercenary, he's your guy.
• "Big oaf for sure, but I heard he's a member of Skysteel. Maybe he does their heavy lifting."
• "Sure, he used to come here with some roe gal, but since she's stopped showing up he drinks twice as much and seems in an even worse mood than before."

Rare Rumors

• "I heard him talk to someone once, quietly. But I heard enough to tell you, that fella is smarter than he looks. I couldn't understand half of the words he said."
• "Can you believe this? He rearranged the entire manufactory workshop! Everything cleaned up and sorted out, even the bloody wrenches are ordered by the size, use, even colour! What...? Oh, well, yes…it is kind of more convenient this way."
• "I think he hates people. Once the pub got kind of crowded and he went around the entire room and stepped over a table just to avoid everyone and get out. "

PC Rumors

• “What? He’s not grumpy. He has a sense of humor, you just have to get him drunk.” – Striding Oak

Character Connections

Grum isn't someone who can be easily approached, but there's always a possible hook. If you are unsure about something, feel free to whisper me in game and we can figure something out.

• Anyone brave enough to poke the proverbial giant with a conversational stick -- and stubborn enough keep trying – can usually get him to start talking.
• Any manufactory members or visitors who might remember seeing Grum there once or twice.
• Grum could be assigned by the manufactory to do the contract your character requested, no matter how big, small, unusual, or menial.
• Fellow mercenaries could've briefly heard about their reclusive colleague.
• He is likely to contact doctors and non-magical healers, especially apothecaries.

Soundtrack

These songs are picked to give a feel of the character (and maybe even bit of a hint here and there), but aren't mean to be an exact representation. Also, they are pretty good songs.

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Tom Waits - Anywhere I Lay My Head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9mMnxee3E

Hellsing OST - Netsu Tsukusareta BACK GROUND

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh9Ud-I0mlU

Saint James Infirmary blues on Harmonica

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoBVBJGCS8E4

The Supernaturals - Smile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh13HQwl7i4

Annotations

This Template was changed a bit but still blatantly stolen from Striding Oak (with her permission) who blatantly stole it from Brynhilde Wulf (with permission as well)

The first mentioned also did amazing job on spellcheck and prettification of my imperfect English... and here was supposed to be a joke about ultimate victory of my English butchering skills, prettification isn't a real word! ...but then I found out it is a real word. It's in dictionary and everything. Well played... English. Well played.