Grim Dundragon

Younger years

  Grim was born in 340 AB in the small city of Dragonfall. His father, Andren Dundragon, was a farmer with a small piece of land on the north side of the city. Together with Grim’s mother, Sophia Dundragon, he provided his family with enough food, water, and shelter to live a generally happy life. A few years after Grim was born, another family member entered the world: her name was Celia Grimdragon. In the first ten years of Grim’s life, he and his sister helped their father on the farm, went into the city, and played like all children do at that age. Grim and Celia were always found playing, competing, and laughing together. Celia would always help Grim load the heavy bags of fertilizer onto the cart. As time went on, Grim’s bond with his family, especially his sister, grew significantly.   When Grim turned 11, his parents had saved just enough money to enroll him in the city school. There, he learned how to read and write in Common, the basics of geography, and several other intellectual fundamentals. In school, he met a boy named Duncan, the son of one of the city blacksmiths. Grim and Duncan became friends over the course of the following school years. Even though they were certainly not the best in class, they loved to talk about food, tell each other tales of badass dragons, and pretend to fight like the guards they saw every day.   One of the guards was Ferdinand, a young and skilled martial artist who made his living working for the Lord. He was stationed at the north gate and usually guarded a less busy entrance to the city. Every day after school, Grim would go to Ferdinand, asking to be trained by him. Once Celia was old enough to attend school, Grim would take her with him to visit Ferdinand. Ferdinand would laugh as the two children would stumble and tire out after attempting just a fraction of his training exercises. He told Grim he was trained in the ancient way of the Dancing Dragon, a fighting style said to have been created to fight side by side with dragons. However, this dance is rarely practiced today.   Nearly six years later, a new group of people arrived in Dragonfall. They called themselves the Holy Brotherhood and quickly took over the local monastery in the city. The Holy Brotherhood claimed to be disciples of the dragon god Bahamut, who, according to prophecy, had blessed the land with fertile soil. The people of Dragonfall were skeptical at first, including Grim’s parents, but after a few weeks, most began to believe in the stories and prophecies the priests shared. It didn’t take long before the church held more influence over the people than the mayor. The mayor didn’t like this, but he was too passive and fearful to act. The Holy Brotherhood recognized his weakness and began to leverage their newfound power. They insisted that all young adults should enlist in the monastery to learn about the almighty dragon and his beliefs.   Grim’s father was reluctant to send his two children, then 18 and 20 years old, to a monastery for teachings he found dubious. But if he refused the church’s demand, he would be denied his place at the market. With a heavy heart, he sent Grim and Celia to the monastery. Before they left, he gave them each a pendant he had carved from strong wood and had the smith reinforce with bits of iron. They were two dragon heads, one facing right, the other facing left. He told them always to think before acting and not to believe everything they heard the first time. With a kiss on the forehead from their father and a huge hug from their mother, Grim and Celia set off for the monastery.    

Time at the monastery

  When Grim and Celia first arrived at the monastery they were greeted by a priest called Krim. He wore a long robe covered in weird glyphs, and on his right arm engraved in his skin a symbol:                   He welcomed Grim and Celia and showed them to the central hall, where all the other adolescence were gathered. Grim instantly recognized Duncan, the smith's son, and they gave each other a firm, manly hug. The three of them swore to protect each other in this strange place they’d been sent to. One night, when Grim was tasked with cleaning the floors of their dorm, he overheard two priests talking about how easily the city was fooled into believing that they were worshiping that "stupid" dragon nonsense. Grim immediately realized his father had been right—these people were not to be trusted. He followed the priests silently through the halls, as taught by Ferdinand, trying to catch more of their conversation. He overheard them talking about all the gold they would earn to fund their so-called campaign. As the priests entered the chapel, a place only permitted to priests of the Holy Brotherhood, Grim hurried back and told everything to Celia and Duncan.   When they heard what Grim had to say, Celia believed him immediately; it all made sense why the church wanted so much power in the city. Duncan was skeptical at first, but after looking into Grim's determined eyes, he nodded. They were going to get to the bottom of this. They planned to sneak into the chapel to see what the Holy Brotherhood was really up to.   Two days passed, and finally, there were clouds that blocked the moonlight from entering the monastery. Grim, Celia, and Duncan crept to the door of the chapel and tried to open it, but it was locked. Before any of the three could think of an alternative entrance, the priest known as Krim appeared behind them, wooden stick in hand. In a creepy and angry voice, he said, “So the three musketeers decided to stick their noses into something they can’t possibly understand. Well, that ends here.” As soon as Krim finished his sentence, four more priests appeared out of nowhere, armed with wooden clubs and iron knuckles. Duncan wanted to give up, but Grim and Celia weren’t going down so easily. They knew how to defend themselves against armed opponents, as Ferdinand had taught them for years after school.   Grim was the first to land a hit on one of the priests. The priest was surprised by the young man’s fighting spirit but quickly recovered from the blow. Celia tried to go for the monk with the club, but had no luck—they were all skilled hand-to-hand fighters. Head Priest Krim laughed and said that now it was their turn.   Before they could make their move, however, they heard a whistling sound above them. Standing on the roof of the monastery was a robed figure. Before the priests could react, the figure jumped down, landing knee-first into the skull of the priest wielding the knuckles, instantly knocking him out. As soon as the figure landed, Grim, Celia, and Duncan heard a voice in their heads, telling them to cover their ears and eyes quickly. Without hesitation, all three did exactly that. What followed was a scream of terror, so unsettling that all the priests except Krim fled in panic.   Though Grim didn’t fully understand what had happened, he knew one thing: they needed to get out of town as fast as possible. He grabbed Celia’s hand and yelled to Duncan, “RUN, NOW IS OUR CHANCE!” Without hesitation, the three of them began to run for their lives. Krim raised his hand and began muttering a few words, but before he could finish, the robed figure threw a small dart right into the priest's hand. Krim let out a small curse, and as he readied himself to take on the robed figure. But the figure was already gone.  

On the run

  As Grim and the others ran through the city, they heard loud screams coming from the monastery. Without looking back, they made it past the north gate and into the house of Grim and Celia’s parents. Grim woke his parents while Celia tried to calm Duncan down. Grim told his parents everything that had happened, and his father knew what had to be done. They couldn’t stay in Dragonfall any longer; the church knew who they were and where they lived. Duncan, realizing his dad was in danger, wanted to go back into town to warn him. Grim understood and gave him another firm, manly hug. They promised to see each other again. The Dundragon family quickly gathered their belongings, loaded them onto their large cart, normally used for crops, and hitched it to their two horses. They all climbed on and left Dragonfall behind them. After half an hour on the road, they saw flames rising from the direction they had come. It didn’t take the family long to realize it was their house and farm, set ablaze by the church. Filled with anger and sadness, Grim felt disappointed that he couldn’t stop the church on his own. He knew he needed to protect his family no matter what.   After two days on the road, the family rode past Mount Drach, overlooking Dragonfall, when they suddenly spotted the hooded figure who had helped them escape from the monastery. Grim and Celia immediately jumped off the wagon and approached the figure, thanking him for his help. The figure lowered his hood, and Grim’s jaw dropped as he saw a familiar face beneath the tightly packed robes—it was Ferdinand. Instead of bombarding him with questions, the two siblings stood there in complete shock.   Ferdinand told them to relax and listen carefully. He explained that he was a member of a secret organization known as the Monks of the Long Death, whose mission was to oppose false prophets and impostors of true belief, like the Holy Brotherhood in Dragonfall. Their understanding of death came from the Raven Queen. Ferdinand told Grim that he could take him—and only him—to meet his master if Grim desired to join the organization and become strong enough to protect those he loved.   This meant Grim had to leave his parents again, but this time, he would also be leaving his sister. The choice was heartbreaking, but to protect his family from dangers like the Holy Brotherhood, he knew he had to do it. He had to grow stronger. Celia cried as Grim told her he would become stronger to protect everyone. He reminded her that they would always be connected through the necklace they both wore—the twin dragon heads their father had made for them. Celia nodded and made Grim promise to return to them. Grim swore he would come back once he was done and that he’d have enough gold to buy his family a new farm. With heavy hearts, everyone said goodbye to Grim as he set off, while the rest of the family continued on the road in search of a new place to call home.  

The mountain

  It took two days of climbing for Grim and Ferdinand to reach a small hut on the mountainside. Ferdinand told Grim that this was as far as he could guide him, as the path of the Long Death Monk must be walked alone. Grim nodded and thanked Ferdinand for the opportunity. Grim entered the small hut and was immediately greeted by a small rock being thrown at him with incredible speed. He managed to duck just in time. “Good, good, your reflexes aren’t half as bad,” Grim heard from within the hut. As he was about to ask who was in the hut, two more rocks flew right at him, and with no room to dodge, they both hit him. “But you still have much to learn, hehe,” Grim heard again. A small red creature dropped from the ceiling. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a lizardfolk. Grim rubbed his eyes to see if he was hallucinating. “Yes, yes, you’ve never seen a simple lizardfolk do something like that, have you?” the creature said. “My name is Zane, one of the grandmasters of the Order of Long Death. But you shall address me as Master Zane—or simply Master.” He continued, “Our monks specialize in the understanding of death and harness the energy that death brings into the world through worship of the Raven Queen.” Grim was initially confused, but his burning desire to become stronger led him to believe in Zane, and he asked to be trained in the ways of the Long Death and in reverence to the Raven Queen. Master Zane told Grim that he had a long path ahead, as one did not simply become a monk of the Long Death. He took off his robes, revealing his lizard-like back covered in a dark tattoo resembling a black raven. “This is the mark of our order, and therefore a mark of the Raven Queen,” said Zane. “Once you are worthy to become a monk of our order, the tattoo will appear on your back. At first, it will be small and faint, but as you grow stronger, the tattoo will become more visible. Do you still accept my training?” Grim nodded and bowed before his new master.   For five years, Grim trained under Master Zane, learning martial arts, the power of his inner ki, and various movement techniques to cover ground quickly. By the age of 25, Grim was ready for his greatest test. He was to go further up the mountain and train there for ten years; only then would he be worthy. By this point, Grim was fully dedicated to his cause: to become stronger in order to protect the ones he loved and to take down those who threatened them. Every night before bed, he would grip his dragon amulet firmly, meditating as he murmured the words, “I’m still here, Celia.”   During his ten-year training on the mountain, Grim met three dwarves named Igni, Ogni, and Ugni. They were miners who had discovered a small cave in the mountain. Grim enjoyed their company, and over the years, he even learned their language. Every day, Grim trained, smashing rocks, punching trees, climbing without ropes, and meditating on the meaning of death as his master had taught him. He learned to be humble toward strangers but ruthless to those who would betray his kindness. In the Order’s view, as long as it got the job done, it was permitted.   When Grim returned to the hut after his ten-year pilgrimage, his master was nowhere to be found. But Grim knew he had completed his training. Even though there was no sign of a tattoo on his back yet, he felt its presence within him. Grim’s motives were clear: he was going to find his family and deal with the Holy Brotherhood once and for all. He grasped the necklace hanging around his neck and said to himself, “I’m coming, Sis.” He descended from the mountain and began walking down the road—and so Grim Dundragon's journey began.