Grohak the Bloodied

The pages of Teleria's history are soaked with the blood of countless conflicts, but few were as brutal as the Gaellen War. For fifteen years, there was little honor to be found in arms. The destruction wrought to all parties was cataclysmic, with every nation crawling out battered and broken. This era of strife was a crucible for Captain Grohak, who fought for the Gaellen Pact. In command of one of hundreds of ships that sailed across the Valdemar Strait from Peltas to Anhelt, Grohak's confidence knew no bounds. He believed his Dwarven-built ship to be nigh-indestructible, and the huge Gaellen fleet to be all but unstoppable. As the Gaellens advanced the Aravian fleet arrayed to stop them, and he plowed his vessel right into the thick of the Elven ships, directly disobeying the orders of his superiors who demanded the armada to keep formation. Each broadside from Grohak's Skyiron arcanic bolt throwers ripped through enemy vessels left and right. His warship cut a swathe through Aravian ships, with each sinking only fueling Grohak's bloodlust. Other captains plunged their crews into the fray upon seeing Grohak’s bloody success. It was then that the tide began to turn. Grohak was drunk with desire for battle, and the nightmarish chaos of the battle was all but impossible to follow for his hard-pressed crew. None paid enough attention to the currents, waves, and landscape, and Grohak's ship fetched up on a sandbank on the northern mouth of Tilshire Bay. It was not alone. Dozens of Gaellen craft had done the same. Excitement turned to panic as Gaellen crews desperately tried to dislodge their vessels from the muck, while Aravian frigates and longships moved in for the kill. Magically hurled rocks, ballistae bolts, volleys of arrows, and torrents of emerald chem-fire came in from all sides. Gaellens burned, screaming in agony, or were riddled with Elven shot. Ships were punched through with holes. Boarding parties soon followed. Vengeful Elven warriors fell upon Grohak's remaining crew as they scrambled to battle stations. It was a slaughter. Blood stained the deck of Grohak’s ship, as well as his fearsome panoply, crimson. In one last desperate attempt to throw off the assault, one of Grohak's warlocks fired a spell into the ship's magazine, disrupting the fragile spellwork holding the ammunition there together. The explosion ripped the ship to pieces, its thunderous boom echoing all the way to the southern mouth of the Valdemar Strait. Later, the water foamed with blood, as chunks of ship, soldier, and metal washed out to sea. Grohak drifted in a lifeless daze as his body was carried away by the tide upon a slat of wood. He eventually washed up near one of the Gaellen landing sites – a small beach near Tilshire. There, he witnessed the utter failure of the landing, and the terror he felt in those final moments aboard his vessel fell upon him once again. He witnessed waves of Orcs mown down by rapidly repeating Elven bolt throwers. Skinwalkers, eager to take their revenge for the crimes of the Red Crusade walked headlong into fields of hidden caltrops, clutching paws and hooves pierced by the wicked steel. So crippled, they were easy targets for blocks of Sacred Order Yeomen. He smiled when he saw Ogryn literally ripping apart Kaerok Pikemen and Swordsmen, but it fell from his face when wedges of knights bearing family colors and coats of arms charged in. Lance after lance found its mark in Ogryn backs and necks, bringing down creature after creature. Clusters of Lizardmen faired little better. For each disciplined Elven spearman they mauled in their attempt to gain the high ground, two more were impaled upon Aravian steel. Grohak turned away from the sight, his armor dented and scarred, still stained by the blood of comrades and enemies. He found his way inland, but did not take up the fight. He swore he would never fight again. For as long as he drew breath, he would slay no mortal, not unless it was absolutely necessary. But there was one who listened to that oath, and found Grohak a convenient loophole. When the Arbiter came to him, seeking aid for the Third Great War she knew was coming, Grohak the Bloodied accepted. Perhaps, he hoped, he could find some kind of redemption. Demonspawn and the Undead were far from mortal.