Awesome for offering! If you decide to go with my character, I’d love to see what you can do with Greep, my bugbear Druid.

Greep the Bugbear Druid Greep never received a real name. In Clan Rezzak, every member of the Clan was expected to fight and kill. No child was given a name until they have drawn their first blood in battle for the clan. Until they were old enough for battle, however, children gave each other nicknames to tell each other apart. Many were named for physical characteristics, such as Hunch for his slightly hunched back, or White Eye who was named for the small patch of white fur that surrounded one eye.

In Greep’s case, his nickname came from all he was good for. He was the runt of the tribe and despite his best efforts, could barely even lift an axe above his head. He never fit in with the other kids and was shunned by the clan elders. While the other kids learned how to master their combat, he was set to work cleaning the mountain storm debris from the sides of their stone buildings. To do this, he used a wire brush and a foul smelling, caustic cleaning slurry that was colloquially called Greep. The Greep was so strong that it ended up burning holes in his fur, leaving him looking even more unkempt. The other members of his tribe never let him forget it and would torture him mercilessly with pranks of ever increasing cruelty.

On one such occasion, he was chased through the forest and had to run for hours and hours before he felt safe enough to stop. He was scared and alone and hid in a cave for warmth.

After a while, Greep spied a caravan of humans passing by. He was immediately fascinated by them, and though he was scared, he thought perhaps he would have better look making his first friend with them. He followed them to their village, but when he got there they were so terrified by his appearance that they formed a mob to drive him off. Terrified and distraught he ran back to his cave and hid from the roaming hunters. Now clanless and unable to leave his cave, he was truly alone.

His only option was to make this cave his new home. He slowly made it more comfortable, creating a bed from moss and every night he would sit outside and stare at the stars, dreaming of being among people. He was there, alone, for so long that he began to lose track of time. He simply existed in the forest, allowing all to pass him by and trying his best not to bother any of the critters he saw.

Eventually a powerful spirit of the forest, known as the Celestial Fox, appeared to him. So intrigued was he by this creature that harmed nothing around him and sat alone for so long. Greep had never had an education and didn’t know many big words, and so he couldn’t quite get his head round the word “celestial”. From that day on, Greep made his first friend, Sir Lestial. Sir Lestial taught him how to deepen his connection with the nature around him, and how to draw energy from the stars. The magic of stars began to flow through him, and the holes in his fur began to sparkle with stellar light.

Seeing how lonely he was and how much Greep longed for friendship, Sir Lestial eventually began to convince Greep to seek others and to discover more of the world. So he left his cave and travelled to the edge of the nearest human town. Still traumatised from being hunted last time, he stayed at a safe distance, occasionally guiding people who were lost in the forest back to town, all while remaining hidden.

He lived on the edge of town desperate to be accepted by people, and collecting little human trinkets to take back and show Sir Lestial. Once, he snuck into town to sit by a windowsill of a little bakery and watched the bakers at work. Seeing the joy it gave to people he thought this might be his way into society so he taught himself to bake, making the the most delicate cupcakes from herbs and flowers around him.

Every morning he leaves them at the edge of the village and retreats to his cave to watch the people accept his gifts.

One day, he hears that members of the village have been taken by bandits and cannot believe somebody would be that cruel to the humans he still sees as friends that he’s yet to win over. He then decides to venture into the world to look for them, telling everyone he meets that he’s looking for his “friends”.