Gruul Clans

Overview

Nomads, barbarians and tribesmen, these people have inhabited the vast desert that makes up Bedrouga and although other guilds and nations may be dismissive of them, they come back time and time again to barter for the relics the Gruul Clans uncover. There is also a respect for their continued defence - and war - against Karraka.
As a collection of disparate clans, the Gruul have no single leader and no headquarters. But the Gruul respect strength and are willing to follow a strong individual who points them in a direction they want to go anyway, this leader is called the Chief of Chiefs - the Car'a'carn. Even the fractious Gruul can see the benefit of banding together.

Clans

There are seven main clans and the Trogs.

Burning Tree Clan

The Burning Tree clan is the most fearsome of the Gruul Clans, as well as the largest and most diverse, with more members outside of Bedrogua than any other clan. The fear and awe inspired by Borborygmos (the leader, a cyclops) unifies its diverse membership. The Aerilon populace regards the symbol of the Burning Tree clan as the symbol for the entire Gruul guild. Rumours are the Burning Tree clan wishes to revitalise Bedrogua - after destroying Karraka.

Ghor Clan

The Ghor clan is led by an ettin named Ruric Thar (or, perhaps more properly, Ruric and Thar, since the heads claim separate names). Of all the clans, the Ghor carry out the most frequent and savage assaults on people that wander into Bedrogua or surrounding nations. The clan is known for its audacity in forging encampments close to heavily populated districts.

Scab Clan

Members of the Scab clan display scars and body modifications, which they view as expressions of the powerful rage they harbor within themselves. The clan has grown in influence by engulfing or destroying several smaller clans in recent years, but the leader of the Scabs, a corpulent half-orc known as Narbulg Nine Fingers, has not gone so far as to challenge the Burning Tree clan. They seek victory in Karraka and fight savagely.

Slizt Clan

The Slizt clan is a clutch of sly, skittish warriors, consisting largely of reptilian humanoids called viashino, lizardfolk, yuan-ti, kobolds along with a few wily humans. Their leader is a lizard-folk named Jezka Skar. This clan survives in the rubblebelts by taking up hiding places in high ground and ambushing its enemies with ranged attacks from above. Other Gruul regard the Slizt as skulkers and cowards, but nonetheless all are cautious when entering areas with elevated ruins. The home ground of the Slizt clan is the Husk, anvinhospitable area in central Bedrogua, featuring many large, ancient structures that have remained standing for generations.

Gravel Hide Clan

The Gravel Hide clan believes that resilience is the truest measure of strength. Though a relatively new group, its members have already earned a reputation (almost certainly exaggerated) for shrugging off devastating attacks. The clan’s leader, a hot-tempered goblin named Skorik Boulder Tooth, adorns himself with the shattered remnants of weapons that he has rent to bits with his own jaws. They are known to live in the most inhospitable places of Bedrogua, were few would even want to challenge their rulership over.

Zhur-Taa Clan

The Zhur-Taa clan advocates an extreme interpretation of the Old Ways. They fight against the zietgiest which wishes for Bedrogua to become a green and healthy ecosystem. Central to this view is its belief in the imminent awakening of an ancient boar god — Ilharg, the Raze-Boar — who will lay waste to the overcivilized world. Led by a centaur druid called Nikya of the Old Ways, the Zhur-Taa pile up skulls as offerings to this god, and their druids perform guttural chants before and during battle that are said to be in the language of the old gods. Zhur-Taa druids are adept at summoning and training beasts as war-companions and mounts, and the clan’s warriors wade into battle alongside giant boars, other beasts, and even wurms or hydras.

Bolrac Clan

The most selective of all the Gruul Clans, the Bolrac clan denies membership to the smaller races. Its members are all enormous, lumbering brutes, primarily cyclopes, ogres, and giants. The clan’s leadership changes frequently — sometimes daily, since battles for supremacy are as common as meals. The Bolrac clan specializes in bringing down massive structures using mauls and battering rams. The only thing the Bolrac love more than destroying something smaller than them is toppling, overrunning, and destroying something larger than them. It is for this reason that they have become the heavies in the fight against the demons in Karraka, the only place they can find foes bigger than themselves.

Trogs

Some wandering hermits, known as trogs, find even the company of a clan to be too suffocating, so they spend their days alone in the wild places of Bedrogua and the greater Aerilon. These individuals are fierce, independent warriors who traverse the desert as apex predators. Trogs are notoriously short-tempered and impatient around others. Occasionally, they heed the call of the guildmaster to join in riots or festivals, but more often they conduct their own ceremonies and celebrations in private.

Demography and Population

Typical classes of the Gruul are barbarians, fighters, blood hunters, druids and rangers

Views on the other Guilds

Boros. “Puppets who are all too eager to kneel at the feet of their angel handlers, but at least they respect the threat of an invasion from Karraka.” Dimir. “Skulkers, whisperers, and back-stabbers! They are an infestation of roaches. If they remain in the shadows, they will be crushed beneath the rubble of a city that we bring down on their heads. If they face us in open battle, well, then we’ll have a good laugh.”
Golgari. “Hermits and under-dwellers. They see that civilization must be brought to its knees, but they just want to replace it with another of their design.”
Izzet. “Like us, they respect the powerful. But they seek it in their gadgets and try to contain it in jars - at least they buy our relics.”
Orzhov. “The schemers of the Orzhov are the festering wound on a limb that must be hacked away. They amass their power by preying on the weak, and offering us pennies for our relics, so how powerful can they be?”
Rakdos. “The guild of fools. They waste their potential on acts of mockery while the real work of razing the city remains undone.”
Selesnya. “The Selesnya would coddle a wolf, teach it to fetch sticks, and call it a dog. We prefer to starve the wolf, let it hunt for its food, and make it a stronger wolf.”
Simic. “The Simic enjoy twisting nature, but they will not enjoy it when nature twists back.”
Elemental Alliance. "There time for philosophizing can come after the demons are dead, until then we wouldn't be against knocking them off their moral high horse."

Head of State

Car'a'carn

Government System

Tribalism

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Traditional

Controlled Territories

• Bedrogua

Notable Members

• Zyor Bharger