Grettik Gritbeard - The Eccentric Archaeologist

[Dascombe 234]

 

 

Grettik Gritbeard

 

Race: Dwarf

Age: 185

Class: Archaeologist / Explorer

Alleigance: The Explorer's League, Ironforge

Languages: Dwarvern (Fluent), Common (Fluent), Gnomish (Passable)

Additional Languages (X denotes useage of scriptures for translation): Titanic Script (conversational), Thalassian (passable, X), Highbourne (passable, X), Zandalari (poor, X), 

 

 

The Trio

Grettik Gritbeard was born to a rather modest family within the thriving city of ironforge a good seventy three years following the War of the Three Hammers, a now distant memory in the minds of many Dwarves. As far back as the Gritbeards remember there has always been at least one sibling entering the Ironforge Army as a soldier and another joining the mountaineers... both prestigious positions that usually went to the eldest and most favorable of the siblings.

Young Grettik however had two elder brothers: Dalofic and Gadmuk. The latter became a soldier at a young age clad in steel due to his skill with axe and shield whilst the former, ever skilled with firearms, donned his cloak and maille to become a mountaineer taking the fight to the trolls of Dun'Morogh, this left the young Grettik as the runt of the litter with little-to-no aspiration in life.

Years would pass, almost destined to be a tedious hammer-striker at the Great Forge, his calling was answered as the formation of an organization known as the 'Explorer's League became known throughout the city of Ironforge following the discovery of a number of ancient ruins believed to hold the key to the secrets of their kin's heritage... no sooner had Grettik heard the rumour he ran straight to the newly renamed 'Hall of the Explorers' where he was one of the first twenty to sign up... to this day Grettik still keeps his membership card #19 on his person at all times as a sign of pride.

 

 

The Explorer At War

Years would pass, Grettik gained notoriety within the league for his unconventional excavation methods in addition to having sheer rampant good luck with finding fascinating ruins to explore... admittedly this didn't go as well as planned as many of his theories, many rather outlandish and extreme, rubbed many academics the wrong way who attempted to relinquish his membership by sending him on many more increasingly suicidal excavation projects to work on.

He survived each one of them.

Despite his almost divine level of good luck, such luck didn't seem to run in the family. His brother Gadmuk went missing presumed dead with the rest of the exploration league into outland whilst his other brother Dalofic went on a scouting mission into the depths of the cursed fortress 'Grim Batol' only to have their mangled remains found weeks later by a rescue team sent in to find them.

Despite his parent's grieving, Grettik was still shunned seemingly as some sort of runt despite having achieved the rank of 'senior archaeologist' within the Explorer's League at such a young age and it was from this point on he cut all ties with his family and went off in search of adventure, choosing to be an archaeologist in the field exploring strange and wonderful places rather than sat in an armchair within Ironforge simply -talking- about it.

As the Orcish menace ran rampant across the lands, it became increasingly apparent for a need to appoint individuals from the league to form a 'special' branch in charge of protecting potential sites of archaeological importance from being crushed by either Orcish boots or Human sabatons amidst the numerous wars stretching across the lands. Grettik was the member of the league appointed to oversee this task however a few budding archaeologists now taking up the profession in Stormwind expressed a desire to help. The long-lasting alliance between Dwarves and Humans was argueably never more apparent between Grettik Gritbeard and his human counterpart 'Wilson Wheeler', despite having severed his connection with family he found a friend in the human as the two made their way across Azeroth surveying the land as one supplied the ale around the campfire whilst the other sang and played upon his guitar.

 

A Forgotten Land To Be Explored

"Would you search through the lonely earth for me? Climb through the briar and bramble?"

 

After Grettik and Wilson travelled across the land surveying ruins from Uldaman and Ahn'Quiraj to Eldre'Thalas and Azshara word began to spread of an ancient artefact resurfacing to allow the legion to reopen the dreaded 'Dark Portal'

With the first, second and third wars behind everyone, it became increasingly apparent that a team representing the league would need to head through the portal to ensure a proper and accurate recording of artefacts relating to the ancient Orcish homeworld... rumours began to circle amongst senior academics in the league of a 'Horde' counterpart to their organisation being formed... seeing no time to waste both Wilson and Grettik volunteered to lead a small team into the shattered realm to record what they can... though deep down what Grettik sought was some sort of closure on what happened to his brother Gadmuk who supposedly died all those years ago.

Barely two days into entering Outland, the duo came across the 'Sons of Lothar' from the expeditionary force, those who Grettik queried all informed him that his brother survived the destruction of the portal like many of them but rather than remain in Honor Hold he ventured north to Kirin'Var village with a scouting party to maintain communications with the village of magi. Weeks would pass before Grettik and Wilson would arrive there with their team but alas the village was all but destroyed by the forces of Kael'Thas Sunstrider with no sign of his kin or the scouting party sent from Honor Hold.

 

The Roof Of The World

"I'll be your treasure"

Appointed 'Professor of Archaeology', the now seasoned Grettik and his equally experienced friend Wilson travelled north with the rest of the Horde and Alliance's forces into the Lich King's domain... only to find out that there were far worse creatures than demi-gods lying within the permafrost.

The duo and their excavation team were instructed to rendezvous with Brann Bronzebeard himself. Despite numerous setbacks and encounters with the horrific forces that lay deep within Ulduar itself, they arrived to the forward base camp just outside the titan city's gates in the Storm Peaks. The human and the dwarf had come so far together over land and sea to explore the depths of the world and learn secrets of the gods themselves, the duo were determined for this discovery to be their biggest yet and to make their names resound throughout time as world-famous explorers.

But as Wilson plucked the strings on his guitar in the base camp and began to sing... it would turn out not to be...

Wilson's last song before he would perish in Ulduar

 

The Imprisoned Horrors

"I felt the touch of the kings and the breath of the wind"

Where once Grettik was a level headed, studious yet fun academic, after the events of Ulduar he was no longer that same Dwarf. Forever looking over his shoulder and possessing an ever-present twitch, part of the Dwarf died that day in Ulduar.

As Brann's forced loaded up their equipment, the base camp disassmbled and engineers made the finishing touches on the siege engines that would break down the main gates into the hostile facility. Grettik remained atop one of the siege tanks as a spotter whilst Wilson manned the gun, the men and women of the league laid a path of destruction through the Iron armies of Ulduar but despite this they were met with horrors both mechanical and ... something else

All through their venture they felt something scratching at the back of their minds, tearing at the fabric of their memory as a thorn on a plant rips open flesh, some were more susceptible to this than others yet their soldiered on with Brann leading the expedition despite their numbers falling.

 

"I'm waiting for you"

 

It wasn't until they encountered a strange organic being a couple of stories tall where even glancing at it granted one a headache of immeasureable proportions, some of the weaked willed of the league proceeded to attack other members of the group and they had to be subdued or, in one case, killed in self-defence... the league were sorely mistaken when they thought they could banish such a monster who held their will in the 'palm' of its tentacled limbs, several were slain instantly and Brann ordered an immediate retreat but to no avail, many were lost in the rout and by the time they had ran through several corridors there remained only Brann, Wilson and Grettik... two un-named explorers as far as the younger of the Bronzebeard's was concerned... although they thought they were ahead of such a large beast it charged at a relentless and unnatural speed up the corridors, smashing stained glass windows depicting the stories of the titans as it did, but such a charge was short lived and the moment the trio thought they were in the clear a sound ripped through the air as though tearing through reality itself.

 

"I'm with the ghosts of the men who can never sing again, there's a place follow me"

 

Wilson dropped dead in an instant, the sharpened 'bolt' of void energies had gone straight through his neck and severed the top of his spine, killing him before he had a chance to blink. Grettik could only stand and stare for but a brief moment when he heard Brann screaming elsewhere. His eyes darted around and he realized he was lost in a maze... corridors leading down into access routes and open spaces filled with decorative urns or strange ancient consoles overgrown with dust and cobwebs... and deep inside the facility something reached out to him... not the creature from before but something much bigger... something which had entered his mind in his brief lapse of panic, something which assured him that it was his friend... he denied the voice, screaming for it to shut up as his only real friend lay dead in some forgotten corridor of a hellish prison.

 

 

The Return of the Expedition

The League's official report was that Grettik spent no more than a week within Ulduar whilst Brann fled to inform the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance of what he had found, though in his distraught mental state it likely felt like months as he scavenged through the facility's grounds for food and avoiding patrols of automated drones or Iron Dwarves... but in reality the true test was upon the Dwarf's mind which was shattered, torn and tossed around.

 

 

Something was in here... something which manipulated him without the Dwarf realizing it. He would insist in later reports that he found food to survive as 'Wilson' had shown him where he stashed it, or that he had escaped a squad of Iron Dwarves through an access grate for mechagnomes which 'Wilson' had unscrewed for him.

Grettik was eventually found shivering in an access chute close to Hodir's domain suffering the early onset of hypothermia, it would be almost four months later that he would finally be set on a wagon bound for Dalaran... but upon his return it would seem he had been gathering small nuggets of ore found in the deepest recesses of Ulduar, when he turned up to Dalaran he took this material to the forge and began to work it into a rather crude blade shape which ended up becoming his new shovel for archaeological excavation. Sadly many would see him speaking to it and calling it 'Wilson' constantly... many assumed this was some sort of post-traumatic stress...

They were wrong.

 

The last reported sighting of Grettik Gritbeard was him entering the portal to Ironforge from Dalaran... the Explorer's League have since confirmed to the Kirin Tor that the seasoned explorer never arrived.

 

It is a shame they were looking in the wrong place...

Edited November 1, 2018 by Dascombe