3. What you didn't know about Krig Skullboil

What you didn't know about Krig Skullboil


  • ((I had a background posted for Krig on the old forums, but dont know if anyone noticed so here goes again))

    Krig Skullboil hails from a small dwarven community that delved their home into the southern reaches of the Spine of the World Mountains, between the Mines of Mirabar to the east, and Raven Rock to the west. The Skullboil clan made a living making and selling crafted items, from toys for youngsters to weapons and armor for city defenders. They traded their goods to the locals of the region. They traded with small halfling villages and Uthgardt barbarians roaming the Crags to the south.

    This all was not an easy way of living by any means. The Clan had to supress attacks coming from goblins, orcs, yetis and giants that came from the north to take over and run the dwarfs out of their home. But the Clan had wise leaders and worshiped Tempus, the god of war, throughout its years and withstood every attack. It was during one of these attacks that the Clan's namesakes would be changed forever.

    During an orc raid years past, Krivn Skullboil and his son Grak were fighting side by side when a hill giant appeared over the rise and started wreaking havok among the dwarfs by tossing huge boulders into their ranks. Krivn and Grak charged and defeated the giant, but Krivn came away mortally wounded. The raid was stopped, but at the price of the life of the current Skullboil King.

    Grak did not take it well at all. He was depressed at the loss of his father and leader. He paid no attention to his other kin for a long time, even his own wife and children he ignored. He began dabbling in ways to bring back his father's lifeless body. He spent hours upon hours in his father's tomb, praying to Tempus to let him raise his father's body. Finally, Grak was able to raise his father as an undead skeletal warrior that could fight by his side.

    As time went by, Grak became more and more dependent upon calling his undead father to help him out of jams. And during that time, the rest of the Clan noticed Grak slipping more and more into an evil demeanor. Grak himself also felt himself becoming more and more evil, so one day he went out on a suicide mission to invade a nearby orc cave. He never returned.

    From then on, every direct Skullboil decendant inherited the ability to call forth an undead creature of their deceased relatives. But each father after that taught his children to get by without the aid of the undead. For generations, not one Skullboil used their ability.

    Then came the day Krig Skullboil, son of Krag, went on a mining expedition to the lowest reaches of the Skullboil mines. It was there he met an ettin and was over matched. Nearing death, Krig called on his undead decendant. The skeletal warrior he brought forth, killed the ettin and helped drag him back to his family to get help with his wounds. But Krig had a taste for the calling that would not go away.

    In the years to come, Krig called on his undead decendant for help often. It got to the point where he was summoning him just for the sake of doing it. Krig began to feel the evil growing within him. He grew distant from his father Krag, and his brother Roi, and the rest of the Clan. He decided to leave and try to overcome his problems by himself.

    Krig wandered for a few years heading south and east from his home. Still he could not find a way to help himself with his summoning problem. At long last he came to a small town called Norwick. After spending time there he met some friends and got his interest back into mining and crafting again. By going on mining expeditions and goblin raids with his new friends Gulir, Lunit, Marcus, Toman, Anselm and others, he became less dependant upon summoning his undead ancestor.

    It has been a long time since Krig last summoned an undead ancestor of his for help. He has been in many tight situations where he could have, so it seems he is over this problem. But what of his kin? Will they still have the urge?


  • When Krig heard of the passing of his friend Covah, he was devistated. Dwarf and non-dwarf alike would feel the loss of the good-hearted dwarf, for he had friends of all races. A burial ceremony was planned and many showed to say their final goodbyes to their old friend.

    But alas, thieves dug up and stole the remains of Covah. Though in thier haste, they left a trail and the Dwarves of the Council of Moradin would stop at nothing to get back their old friend and rebury him in honor once more.

    Their stinky trail led to caves deep in the Giantspire Mountains. Huge, smelly trolls were the thieves they sought and many fell to the furious dwarves looking to take back the remains of their friend. Torches were put to the felled troll, creating havoc within the caves. Many trolls died to those hammers and axes and fires that day, but not a dwarf fell to the foul trolls.

    In the end, Covah was regained and reburied in honor in a secret location. To this day, few know where he was burried.


  • The years passed and Krig spent less time at his militia duties and more time adventuring and crafting. Along the way, he had many friends come and go.

    Covah, one of his dearest friends, met his end in the Giantspire Mountains. It was there, years before, that Covah and Krig along with other dwarven and non-dwarven friends ((sorry, cant remember who all was there)) heard the story of OrcBane. Here is how the story goes:

    The Tale of Orcbane

    Orcbane was a great dwarven king that set up his kingdom in the rugged Giantspire Mountains. The were a tough clan of dwarfs that did much mining and crafting. They made a lot of gold selling their finely crafted weapons and armor. They were a thriving community of dwarfs.

    Most that knew of Orcbane and his clan wanted nothing but peace and good relations with them. But there were some that considered the dwarf clan a nuisance. The huge ogre cheiftain Earthshaker was one of these few, and he had the numbers to go against Orcbane and his clan of sturdy dwarfs.

    And go against Orcbane and his clan they did. They came unexpectedly and they came with numbers. But the dwarfs knew of their neighbors in the mountains and defences had been in place for years for just that occasion. Many ogres died in the first minutes of the battles. But unforseen by the dwarfs was the sheer numbers of ogres and kobolds Earthshaker had command over. Though the bodies of kobolds and ogres stacked up, they kept coming.

    The dwarfs had to retreat. They pulled back, further and further into their cavernous home. They retreated to places no invader had ever stepped foot in before. Finally they ran out of room. Still the dwarfs fought bravely. Though many dwarfs died that day, so too died kobolds and ogres.

    Finally the fighting died down and all that was left was Orcbane of his clan, Earhtshaker, one kobold shaman, and a dozen ogres. Earthshaker proposed a duel to the death with Orcbane, saying that if Orcbane won, he'd be set free by the remaining ogres. Orcbane didn't beleive it for one second, but accepted wanting to kill Earthshaker at the very least.

    What ensued was one of the greatest one on one duels of ever. For many grueling minutes the two combatants fought each other looking for an opening. Both took few minor injuries, but Orcbane, having seen the power in Earhtshaker's hammer took a glancing hit and feigned being dazed as the weapon periodically is known to do. When Earthshaker wound up for a killing blow, Orcbane lopped off his head with one mighty swing, felling the great ogre cheiftain.

    All the remaining ogres and the lone kobold stood around looking at each other in awe. They glanced nervously to Orcbane who was leaning tiredly on his sword. All at once they charged, except for the kobold which went to the hammer of the fallen Earthshaker and began digging at the gem in the head. Though Orcbane held out for a while, he had no real chance being as tired as he was. He fell taking half the remaining ogres with him.

    The few remaining ogres and the kobold, whose numbers were decimated, left the caverns that was the home of Orcbane's clan. So the battle scene had been untouched until the day that Covah, Krig and a few of their friends came to find Orcbane to lay him to his final rest many years later. The companions took the remains of Orcbane and Covah gave Krig Earthshaker's hammer, which was later found out to have been dwarven made. A suitable resting place was found for Orcbane and he was laid to his final rest along with his sword and armor, for he had died fighting bravely.

    Though Orcbane's clan is no more, rumor has it that many of his clan's riches still rest in dangerous places in the Giantspire Mountains…..


  • A few days passed with no troubles involving Krig's undead problem. Then, as he was passing by the barracks in Norwick one day, Krig felt the familiar call of his ancestor again. "Krig, call me back," It beckoned. Krig refrained from calling, and was assaulted again by darkness and stunning magics. Luckily it happened that Krig's friends Covah and Galnin were passing by at the time and came to his aid.

    "Inside the barracks! Go now," yelled Covah, not wanting any harm to come to any innocent passers by. So inside the three went, followed shortly by Krig's ancestor. Inside, all three of the friends and the militia mercenaries there were assaulted by various spells and magics. One of the mercs was nearly killed, but Krig used his prayers to Tempus to heal the man before he died. During this assault, Krig's ancestor pummeled him with foul words, telling Krig that he needed to call him in order for him to go on living.

    Meanwhile, Covah sent Lao to find Kanen and send him to the barracks to see if he could help with the situation. The assault continued until finally Krig heard Covah, Kanen, and Galnin praying to their gods for help. Krig pulled out his holy symbol and prayed for Tempus to help him. He commanded the undead spirit to stop the assault and obey his commands. To the relief of the friends, the spirit obeyed.

    Krig then commanded the spirit, which he later found out was his grandfather Grak, to never bother him again, in Tempus' name. To everyone's surprise, the undead spirit suddenly became a substantial form and the friends soon brought it down in a pile of bones. Krig reverently scooped up all the bones and put them into a bag. Covah had an idea that if they gave him a proper burial in the graveyard, that Grak would find the rest he deserved, so they all headed to the graveyard.

    Once at the graveyard, the friends found a good resting place and dug a hole for a grave. Krig found a rock to use as a headstone and scratched in the name Grak Skullboil. Krig then layed the bones into the grave and prayed to Tempus to take Grak and seat him in a place of honor in his kingdom. Suddenly, a bright light shone down from the sky on Krig. It made him feel blessed, and he could feel a great weight lift from his body. Then, Tempus himself appeared next to Krig and smiled warmly upon him then disappeared. Krig rejoiced drawing his axe and shield and throwing them into the air yelled at the top of his lungs, "TEMPUS!"

    Krig said one final farewell prayer to his grandfather and left the graveyard to head back to Norwick. Upon returning to town he was approached by folks telling him of thievery or injustices done to them. "Well, back to the grind," thought Krig. "Back to the grind."


  • Things have been fairly quiet for Krig Skullboil lately. Yes he has had his share of unruly townsfolk, but he writes it off as a day's work now.

    Not long ago, Krig joined the Troff brothers, his old friend Vashere, a new friend, the elf Braeth along with some of the lycanthrope folk (Lilly, Braeth's soon to be wife among them) on a mission to the bantit hideout to free a prisoner. The journey in was tough, with many bandit archers, officers and clerics tying to block the way. A few of the party died, including the half-orc healer Samson. He was saved and risen, and they made their way to a war machine which proved tough. They did eventually beat it and made their way to the hideout where some of their party was caught behind the bandit's gates.

    They parlyed with a bandit officer for the lives of their friends. In return for their friends, he charged them with finding and bringing an orb back to him. This orb he said is hidden somewhere in the Lost City. They were given a few months to get this orb and bring it to him.

    More recently, a memeber of the Militia, Lof, and the afore mentioned Samson, wrongfully killed a female elf. The elf's brother came to Covah seeking redemption for the loss of his sister. Covah is supposed to go the the Goblin Warrens and find a sacred elven bow deep within. He is to return it to the elf in a year's time. Krig vowed to help Covah with this.

    Now, one day Krig was returning from a mining trip with a load of ore. He went to the forge and started smelting when all of a sudden a ghostly skeleton appeared for an instant beside him. He yelled in shock as a creepy voice whispered "…..remember....." Krig shook his head in disbelief. "It couldn't be," he thought. He heard the voice again, "....do you forget your past......" Krig looked around shocked. Lao Mie, who he was mining clearly saw something was wrong and asked about it. Krig said he was ok, so Lao left having to attend to other matters. As soon as Krig was alone, the room became pitch dark and some kind of poisonous gas filled the area. He caught sight of the skeletal creature again and instantly knew what it was. ".....remember...." it whispered again, to which Krig replied, "Nay, I do nae need ye anamore." "......you will.....you will....." Krig's ancestor responded. The skeleton disappered again and sent some more darkness and poison gas, leaving Krig realing and in a dazed state. When he came to, some folks were about and tried to help him. Krig refused.

    Krig left the crafting shop and a little while later came back and the same darkness and poison assulted him again. This time there was a dwarven citizen (commoner) standing in the room. He was hit by some magic that killed him. Krig tried to go to help the other dwarf, but was dazed by the effects of a spell. "See, you watch as he dies," whispered the skeletal voice. "I tried ta save im," yelled Krig. "You need me back," said the skelatal voice. "I do nae need ye anamore, I gots me friends now," yelled Krig. "We will see," whispered the voice. The there was histarical laughter and Krig was left again in a confused state.

    After this, Krig needed an ale badly. He went to the inn and pondered what had happened to him and what he could do to get rid of his past. In doing so, he drank more than he should have and ended up passing out in the rain outside the inn for a time. After waking up, he ran into a halfling friend named Meram Ashe. While talking to him, Meran kept saying he heard a voice telling him something about dying and Krig's grandfather. Krig heard nothing, but felt a cold chill up his spine. He new what it was, his ancestor again. Krig told Meram that he should not be near him for a while and sadly told him to go. He did not want to endanger the life of a friend like he did the inocent dwarf in the crafter shop.

    Not knowing what else to do, Krig looked for his good friend Gal for answers. But it seemed that Gal had problems of his own. He had been poisoned. Not wanting to burden his friend with his problems, Krig left him to rest. But Galnin had seen something in Krig's demeanor to know something was wrong and insisted Krig tell him about it. Krig held back, again not wanting to overburden his friend with his problem. Krig currently is trying to think of a way to get rid of his undead problem.

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  • Krig's good friend Gulir has taken over the position of Norwick's Militia Captain. When asked by Gulir to join the militia, Krig wholeheartedly agreed. In doing so he met another good friend, Galnin Detrankin, also a member of the militia. Krig and Galnin patrolled together often, backing each other up when the need arose.

    Over the last few month of being a militia member, Krig has seen some rather odd things, rom wild magic to halfling-goblin folk and everything in between. Nothing surprises him on the job anymore. He has helped defend the town on various bandit and goblin attacks, even an attack by Atol himself, when he left his pet dragon to play in Norwick and cause such a scare.

    Lately, Krig has spent a lot of time mining and crafting with fellow dwarfs Gulir, Covah, and the Troffs. It seems there are more quiet days for Krig while he is in town patrolling. When he first started, there was a robbing or attemped murder around every corner. Maybe the strong dwarven militia presence has deterred folk from trying to get away with these things, or maybe its that they know who to look out for?

    Still Krig will continue to patrol Norwick doing whatever he can to help make it a better place to live.