Skinblenders
The following is an excerpt from the journal of Beryl Cardan, half-elven sociologist, from her time spent among the Grung of The Frog Bog:
...to which I replied, "That house has no legs!", which as you can imagine had all the Grung present quite in hysterics. ==Skinblending and the Art of Toxic Warfare== I only got to see the Grung's renowned military prowess in action a few times during my stay there. Since their initial conquest* formal battles have not been necessary, but smaller hunting parties and skirmishes took place from time to time. It was during these occasions that I got to see the Skinblenders at work. They were respected in the community immensely but never seemed to do much. When a wandering group of trolls threatened some of their territory though, these Skinblenders leapt (literally, as is often the case with these people) into action. Clearly serving as an analog of a battle captain, when the news of the troll arrived, a Skinblender darted across the village picking out specific Grung with commands for them to ready themselves for conflict. She was fierce; in all my time there I had never seen her not in some level of bony-plated armour, her rubbery skin a bright orange. The Grung chosen began to gather while the Skinblender continued their round - occasionally turning back to see those already assembled, judging something. Once, she sprang up to the group, grabbed a violet-hued soldier's wrist and licked their arm thoughtfully with a long, dinstinctly miscoloured tongue. Turning to the huts again, she sprang off and grabbed two more for the band before the group was declared complete and they left on their mission, the Skinblender leading the way. Having watched this whole bizarre set of events, I asked my main liaison what had occured. Grungs are known for their distinct colourations, and those who have had the misfortune to face them in battle know that their skin is highly toxic and different coloured skin produces a toxin with a different effect. What I learned was that while most scholars would classify Grungs into perhaps five different colour groups with five distinct effects, they themselves have a much more refined and detailed view of the range of toxins available to them. The role of a Skinblender is to know the exact chemical makeup of their fellow Grung, and to match them up in battle to presicely combat their foes, both individually and as a collective cocktail of poisons. For trolls, the Skinblender would be seeking out acidic and burning skin types to counteract the trolls' regenerative powers, and would have added additional members to the group to compliment these core picks. Never had I seen or heard of chemistry being deployed in such a specific and calculated way in warfare, and when the Grung war party returned with the heads of those trolls I was applauding with the rest of the village - partly for the bravery of the soldiers but most of all for the incredible and underestimated genius of the Grung Skinblender. *The Grung Chief called the conquest of the Frog Bog successful following their invasion by boat across The Sea of Tears from Joran several years ago. They seemed to take no notice when I questioned the continuing presence of the Bullywugs, who they maintain a tentative peace with, and the ever expanding humanoid settlement of Port Ffirst as well. I also noted a distinct avoidance of the question of if they had reported back to the body of their people across the sea about the results of their offensive.
Type
Scientific, Professional
Form of Address
Skinblender
Alternative Naming
Blender
Related Locations
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