A dwarf's honor is his life. That's been taught for centuries in every clan. So when Grorn's father deserted before a battle, he sentenced his family to eternal shame. Coward-kin, yellow-beards, slags. No one would hire or aid Grorn's mother and the family lived in the outcast shadows of Dwarven society. Bitterness rooted deep in Grorn's heart as he watched fat merchants and narrow-minded bureaucrats revel in praise and wealth for "promoting the order and prosperity of the Dwarven people" while he and his younger siblings grew thinner and weaker every day.
His younger sister Avna grew too thin and weak to get up and look for scraps. He and his brothers scrounged furiously but came up empty, like so many other days. It's hard to beg or scavenge when you're barred from civilized society. Avna held on for 3 more days, her breathing growing shallower and shallower until it ceased.
That night, something snapped in Grorn. He spat on his absent father's sword and stumbled weakly into the night. Dizzy with hunger, Grorn did not notice the man in the brown and black robe until he whispered in Grorn's ear "Pain is our strength." Confused, Grorn locked eyes with the man, whose eyes gleamed sharply and led him to a nearby cellar.
Inside was an improvised torture chamber. There, Grorn learned the ways of Zon-Kuthon. Pain is our strength. Strength allows us to bring pain to others. In his heart, Grorn's bitterness grew in strength, hungering to bring pain to those who had pained him. Knowing that Grorn would bring pain too emotionally and haphazardly in Dwarven cities, the priest of Zon-Kuthon sent him to a flock of pain in the Savage North. There, Grorn reveled in the pain of a hard life in the cold and the suffering of those around him. He found human lands no better than Dwarven. Humans spoke of generosity and kindness but the weak and outcast suffered no less because of it while the fat and lazy benefited.
Grorn saw that if he could bring down the watch wall, he could bring a tide of pain and equality to humans and Dwarves alike. Along with other followers of Zon-Kuthon, he plotted to weaken the wall at strategic points. His natural Dwarven knowledge of stone enabled him to show the others exactly how to file away mortar day after day in the proper places. They planned a glorious day when, after years of filing in secret, they would bring down multiple sections of the wall at once. But one of the followers of Zon-Kuthon did not truly believe in pain and grew uneasy at the idea of allowing the ferocity of the true north into civilized lands. He betrayed Grorn to the authorities, landing Grorn in Branderscar.
