Graazur Irongut

The Warchief and High Commandant of Balar’s Gate on Felwin’s Wall, Graazur is a mentor and leader whose acumen gives lie to the myth that all Ogryn are simpleminded brutes. The feats of logistics, discipline, and diplomacy required for him to carry out his duties would wither a lesser leadeh To guard the mighty Balar’s Gate and the immense wall that separates Aravia from the rest of Anhelt is, for some Ogryn, the highest calling imaginable. The Ogryn say the Wall was mandated by Lumaya herself, and take all suggestions that it was a geopolitical contrivance rather than divine will to be insultingly blasphemous. They hold to this because they believe they too were given a sacred directive by the Goddess: to maintain and defend it as a force of neutrality between the High Elves and the Dark Elves, and as a symbol of peace for all the world. However, many Ogryn hailing from elsewhere distrust the Wall and scorn its defenders, saying those who serve there are deluded zealots willingly fueling the stereotype of Ogryn as brute servants unable to direct themselves. The truth is probably somewhere in between, a fact that Graazur is keenly aware of. He is no zealot, nor a total cynic, but a realist. He knows that especially for the Ogryn under his command, playing a role in guarding the Wall affords more dignity and respect than they could expect to find elsewhere, but also that Ogryn resent even the implication of being viewed as exploitable labor and can be quick to anger. His daily toils are to liaise between the various commanders serving under him, soothe their occasionally rampaging egos, quell internecine disputes, and enforce the law. Should he fail in these tasks, the whole Gate could erupt into factionalism and anarchy. Felwin’s Wall, which stretches for hundreds of miles, is akin to a massive, if narrow, fortress-city, and Graazur was raised from birth there to serve it. He grew up amid its warrens and catacombs and great halls, learning much from those who came before him. Ogryn coming from afar — whether they were pilgrims who saw the wall as a sacred place, or seekers of gainful employment – did not have the same perspective as Graazur, who had seen the inner workings of the place and knew many of the less-than-holy aspects of its daily operation. Thus, after long years of service, he was eventually elevated to the position of Warchief and High Commandant, the supreme military authority of the Balar’s Gate garrison, for his pragmatism and experience. Graazur is called lrongut for his unbreakable constitution. He claims sickness has never touched him and he has never quailed in fear nor turned squeamish even while enduring the most vile and disgusting scenarios. He has shrugged off numerous attempts on his life, carried out by anonymous agents suspected to be employed by Dark Elf agitators seeking to break the unity of the Gate’s defenders. In one oft-repeated tale of intrigue, spies lured Graazur to a fabricated meeting somewhere deep in the labyrinthine corridors that worm their way through and under Felwin’s Wall. Finding himself alone against a dozen assassins wielding poisoned blades, he stood his ground and broke them in half, one by one. Though it pushed the limits of even Graazur’s steely determination and remarkable metabolism, he was able to stagger away from the ambush. Healers were rushed to his side, and they worked their spells and poultices as a matter of routine, but he deemed the treatments superfluous. He said dealing with the steady stream of couriers at the Gate, who come on behalf of sundry princes and merchants to request tariff exemptions and writs of passage, tires him vastly more than any life-or-death struggle. More overt attacks on the Gate have also been thwarted by Graazur and not only from malcontent Elves. Monsters regularly wander, or are driven, out of Durham Forest and the foothills of the Redspike Mountains, and Graazur and his elite warriors rarely miss a chance to fight and repel these dangers. Giant beasts, flying horrors, insane Skinwalkers, ferocious Demonspawn, and the eternal scourge of the Undead are just a few of the threats that have broken themselves against the lrongut and the iron gates of Balar.