Grakhuil Leadbraids (or simply Grak) is the warder of Juniper Smith's party. He's a dwarf originally hailing from the largely parthenogenetic clan of dwarves in Darili Irid. He's spent most of his time trying to atone for the damage he caused to his clan.
“I had always found the dwarfhold too small, too ordered, too limited, even though I loved and honored Darili Irid. My position as most-pure put burdens on me. There were many duties to attend to. Learning the way of wards at Barriers was another one of those duties, one I had sought out because it was as much freedom as I had thought I would ever get in life. I wanted to try new things, do you understand?”
Appearance[]
Grak is about four feet tall, but with a wide muscular frame usually hidden beneath a fur cloak. His nose is crooked, and he has a thick beard with multiple braids, dyed grey.[1] He always carries an axe decorated with hair-themed swirls in a leather sheath.[2] Later, he has a functional wooden hand with a few gnarls and knots in it.[3]
Personality[]
Grak's flat demeanor can come across as dwarven stubbornness, but is hiding a deep depression and a death wish as a result of his past mistakes.[4] Despite that, he cracks the occasional joke,[5] and eventually comes to see the party as his family.[6]
Biography[]
Juniper and Fenn initially approached Grak to purchase his services as a warder in the rescue of Amaryllis from Aumann's tower. Greychapel
References
- ↑ He was about four feet tall, but with a wide frame and what looked like plenty of muscle beneath his fur cloak. He had an axe by his side, which was decorated with swirls that it took me a moment to recognize as hair. His thick beard had braids that were dyed grey, his nose was crooked, and his eyes were wary, moving around to take in the tavern.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 29: "Greychapel" - ↑ Grak hesitated, then unhooked his axe and pulled back the leather sheath that covered the head.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 32: "Be Still My Heart" - ↑ “I itch to have something to do,” said Grak. He glanced down at his wooden hand. It hadn’t seen combat yet. There were a few gnarls and knots in it, but it was tough as iron, with a few extra properties as well.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 107: "Name of the Beast" - ↑ I’d seen Grak injured a few times, some of them pretty serious. I’d always thought his flat reaction was just dwarven stubbornness in the face of injury, a gruff, manly response to getting hurt. That was sort of how I had seen him in general, a man unaffected by the world, stoic in the face of adversity. It hadn’t really occurred to me that he was depressed and waiting to die.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 106: "The One-Hand Warder" - ↑ Grak raised his warder’s monocle to his eye for a moment, then set it back down. “The building is magical,” he said. After a moment, Fenn began to laugh, and while I didn’t find it funny at all, a slight smile crossed Grak’s lips, so he must have meant it as a joke.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 57: "Place Your Figs" - ↑ “I didn’t like being told I was part of something,” said Grak, into the silence. “Back in Barren Jewel, when we met. I did not like it. You are like family to me.”
—Worth the Candle Chapter 74: "The Mouth of a Long River"