Grallak Kur's page

With an anger filled coup de grace, Thordak cuts the head off of Grallak Kur, the Kulkor Zhul Mindbender. You no longer hear any sounds within your head or feel the power of suggestion pressing upon your minds. The creature is dead.

"I'm not putting my neck out for you anymore, little guy. Your information can't be of greater value than the danger you represent--not to mention the MISinformation you're sure to pass along at the same time."

"Wait! Wait! Stay your blade! Perhaps I was hoping to feed the annoying gnome to the Razorfiends, but you cannot blame me for that! Just look at him! He looks like he is the black dragon's own son! But just wait before you act! I am not finished yet! I have a secret that I would be willing to tell you, but, I will not tell you more unless you agree to free me! Once I am safely out of your harm's way, I will tell you about a secret that involves the Red Hand and their relationship with the Ghostlord. I am sure you will find it most interesting, if not vital to your success!"

"You tried to kill me and my companions through your manipulative magics. You still have not explained why. Why did you seek to send me to release the spawn which would have undoubtedly been my doom. Your master the green archer was dead, or near death. Instead of revealing yourself and seeking our help in escaping, you sought to injure me, bring more foes to attack my friends, and then heal and untie the bound wyrmlord."

"Why must you insist that I tried to kill you? All I did was make some suggestions to you to leave the building. I sent you to the razorfiend's pen in the hopes that you would feed them. This is not the evil that you would see from the Wyrmlords. I did not strike you with any weapon as the Red Hand agents would have done. You are just upset because of the freakish nature of my request. You are not alone dark gnome in your lack of understanding of my cursed gift that I bear. I do admit that I tried to free Saarvith, but I assure you, I had no choice in that matter as long as he was alive. Once you killed him, you freed me of my obligation. You must realize that the goblin lord was a fierce hunter and he would have slain me before long had I not at least attempted to rescue him. However, if you had finished him off sooner, this would not have been an issue."

"Whaddaya mean a 'mental curse'?"

"The powers within my mind are thought of as a gift, but in truth it is more of a curse that you realize. It is for the reason of this 'gift' that the Red Hand has taken such an interest in me."

"Well, Mister Kur, technically speaking, *no* one here agreed to anything. You simply started spilling the beans.

Hmmm, I'm not sure . . . ."

"You are all rather unfair in your technicalities. But, nevertheless, I have told you a great deal. You must certainly realize how valuable I have been to you?!"

The eyes of the creature grow large and fearful as Bofus stares him down sternly.

"Oi never gave ye moi word 'bout anythin'. If Oi had, Oi would honor it. Right now, you have valuable information 'bout tha horde an' its generals that tha others don't know--an Oi need te keep it that way. Oi can't let ye go out there an' spill tha beans, see? Now don't make this difficult, Oi promise Oi'll swing true."

"Well, if you would honor sparing my life, there is still more that I may tell you. However, as for information, what you have told me will not be of significance. I am sure they already know about the incident of the bridge and the fate of Koth. That is just information that a lowly hobgoblin like me just didn't know. But I assure you I have no need to tell anyone else. Besides, who would could I possibly tell this information to that does not already know it, Master Dwarf? Wyrmlord Saarvith is dead and so are his minions. Now I am a lonely hobgoblin with a mental curse that would prefer to live alone anyway. I assure you, you will not regret sparing my life! Please give me your word! I don't deserve to die here!"

"My dear lady, you clearly misunderstand me. I am not at all like one of the Wyrmlords! I had nothing to do with the creation of the razorfiends! I'm a victim of the Red Hand just like yourselves! I assure you, I had nothing to do with those evil creatures. I am most sorry for your loss, but I promise you that I had nothing to do with it! Please, do not hold me responsible for the crimes of the others. You all promised to let me free! Now, if you have no other questions, I would like to be released now, thank you!"

The strange hobgoblin begins to sweat and get rather nervous at this time.

"What are you doing, Dwarf?! I promised you information and I have spoken freely. Now you are suppose to release me. You wouldn't go back on your word, would you?"

"Oh, you sound like one of the elves from nearby. Yes, I heard that one of the Razorfiends caught one of your kind. I don't think they meant any harm to your kin, the razorfiends just get a little hungry sometimes. Your brother should have just stayed out of the swamp. You must realize that they are savage beasts don't you?"

"So, let me understand this. The great fighting horde of the Red Hand consists of the dead Wyrmlord Koth and his dead troops, the dead Wyrmlord Saarvith and his soon to be dead troops, Wyrmlord Kharn, who found that his way into the vale was greatly hindered due to someone destroying the bridge over the gorge and the ferry over the river. And Wyrmlord Stormcaller who is attempting to gather ever predictable undead. Sounds like this great force is not that great. Two commanders dead, one delayed, and one being held in reserve."

"I confess, being stationed up here in these swamps, I did not know that Wyrmlord Koth has died or that Wyrmlord Kharn was held up at the bridge over the gorge. Certainly this is more information than of which I am aware. Perhaps you are right though, the cracks are appearing in the Red Hand that may soon scatter the tribes to the mountains. Perhaps the threat is now over for you of the five races."

"Where in the Witchwood? Did the goblin keep maps?"

"I have never been to Wyrmlord Koth's hideout, but he took over the ruins of some old keep somewhere south of Skull Gorge Bridge. I am sure that he kept maps. The crazy bugbear was always sending scouts and patrols all over the region."

"The tools of one who prefers to engender trust through manipulation and mental force... than by truthfulness and honor."

"Hehe." He replies with an edge of nervousness. "Those are just tools that I needed to do my job, but as you can see, I haven't had many customers back here in the swamp besides a few misbehaving lizardfolk. Hehe. Please don't hold those items against me."

"And what of your part in the Red Hand? How many of the vale have you caused to die through your actions?"

"Oh, I doubt I have been able to cause any deaths on my part. I am certainly eccentric with some unusual gifts, but I certainly have not put those skills to work harming innocent people such as yourselves! I think I am just a curious case for the Red Hand and they wished to use me to communicate with those that didn't seem to agree with their plan of taking over the vale. But as you can see, the Red Hand has not met with a great deal of resistance, and consequently I have not had much of a job back here in this bug infested swamp."

"Grollock, ye call yerself? Tell me more about these wyrmlords. Oi want locations an' defenses!

"Well master dwarf. General Kharn is on the move and is likely to reach Brindol before too long. His defense is huge as he travels with an army several thousand strong. Wyrmlord Koth has his own keep that he guards with a manticore somewhere in the Witchwood. Wyrmlord Stormcaller is found far to the south in the lair of the Ghostlord. I don't know where it is located since I obviously have not been there, but I am sure it is well defended by both the dead and the living."

"You speak of this as a branch of the Red Hand. Where and who are the others?"

"Well, the main branch is the gathering horde commanded by Wyrmlord Hravek Kharn! He is the general in command of the horde that will take over all of the towns in the vale. Then there is Wyrmlord Koth. He is in charge of the scouting patrols in the Witchwood. He is basically laying the groundwork for Kharn's troops to invade. I have already told you about Wyrmlord Saarvith and his hatchery. There is also Wyrmlord Ulwai Stormcaller. She is working with the Ghostlord to raise an army of undead. All of these wyrmlords owe allegiance to High Wyrmlord Azarr Khul. Nobody knows where he is located, but he shows up when we least expect it!"

"OK. We've heard rumors of something called the "Eye of the Dragon." You know anything about that?"

"Eye of the Dragon? I am not familiar with the term. I presume it must be something to give you astounding vision, for all of the dragons I have met seem to have acute perception!"

"First off, what is this particular "local chapter" of the Red Hand up to, in the short-term?"

"This branch of the Red Hand is or I should say was run by the Wrymord Saarvith for the purpose of breeding a platoon of Greenspawn Razorfiends for the invasion of the Elsir Vale. There is a hatchery just outside of this building that is filled with dozens of eggs as well as some young and middle aged hatched razorfiends. The dragonspawn may be young, but they are still vicious fiends that can cause a great amount of damage, especially as they get older."

Although Grallak Kur is bound and you can see the glitter dust on him, he becomes very clear once he lets down his invisibility.

The creature is a strange looking gray skinned hobgoblin with a messy tuft of red hair upon his scalp. His eyes look rather large and a bit vacant as he still appears blinded from the glitterdust. He is clearly unable to make eye contact with any of you.

"Thank you," he replies politely. "I am happy to reveal myself to you in this state of extreme vulnerability. Clearly my life is in your hands. I wish to cooperate fully and I mean no offense when I say this, but I am afraid that I cannot drop any further equipment with my hands bound as they are. I meant no offense to you, kind dwarf! As I mentioned earlier, I did not mean to upset you with my preferred method of communication, but I will try talk to you in your common tongue. Now, please ask what questions you have and I will gladly tell you what you what I may."

"Wait! Wait!" The creature declares aloud. The rest comes to you telepathically.

"I know that was a poor decision for Grallak to suggest to the dark gnome to release the dragonspawn, but I am not evil when you compare me to the rest of the Red Hand! I am just making choices to try and survive these dangerous times! Clearly, I may have made some poor choices in my past, but I assure you, I can be of help to you! I know a great deal of information that may aid you in your cause against the Red Hand. I could be willing to divulge some of this information for a small iddy biddy price, mainly my freedom, but not if you plan on killing me. Please, relax and let's not be hasty. Please let us consider some kind of mutually beneficial negotiation? Hmm what do you say, my friends?"

If you despised him so, why were you healing and releasing him?

The answer is heard telepathically by all in the room.

"Naturally, I had no choice but to aid him, otherwise he most certainly would have killed me. How was I to know that I was to be rescued by such strong and able warriors? Once again, I cannot thank you enough for ending the tyranny!"

The glitterdust fills the room to reveal a grey skinned hobgoblin with a small tuft of red hair upon his scalp. He covers his eyes with his hands as he dances about on top of the table in the center of the room. Suddenly, the hobgoblin stops moving and you hear a telepathic voice inside of your head.

So you have found me at last. I am Grallak Kur and I am so pleased that you have released me from that villainous wyrmlord. I should never have taken up with that vile goblin in the first place, but those are the choices I must live with. I do not know what you have tossed upon me, but I confess I am unable to see you at the moment. I apologize for speaking to you like this, but I find it much more appealing than using my words in moments like this. I certainly hope that it does not scare you. Naturally, everyone including the Red Hand considers me to be a freak of nature, but I only hope that you can look beyond my appearance and eccentric method of communication.

Diplomacy 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (17) + 17 = 34

Rhest Town Hall