Grimslade “Grim” is a cynical, manipulative Conan pastiche. He has Conan’s stark view of the world, but is a very intelligent and highly manipulative planner. He is far more philosophical than he lets on, buts it is a very Spartan philosophy. He likes to play up the Unsophisticated Barbarian angle in negotiations with those who do not know him, because it leads clients, opponents, and anyone else unfamiliar with his history to underestimate him in ways he can leverage to his advantage.
Grim tends toward extreme pragmatism, but does have his own moral code. He *hates* slavers with a passion – seeing slavery as a tool for the weak to oppress the strong by using wealth as a weapon. He has little tolerance for those who meekly surrender to it when he believes they have the capability (if not the will) to fight. But he respects those that persevere and endure despite inherent weakness. Grim also has little tolerance for those who intentionally prey on the weak. He is not above culling the herd where only the strong will survive, but those who demonstrate their strength upon the weak rather than testing it against the strong earn only his contempt. He is particularly ruthless towards employers that he feels have lied to him about the nature of contracts or not honoured their end of a bargain. In his business reputation is everything.
He is extremely protective of his crew – though how much of that is genuine affection and how much is “nobody messes with *my* things” is anybody’s guess. He is very much a combat pragmatist – what counts in the end is who is still standing. He doesn’t believe in things like overly specializing in any given weapon, fancy martial arts, or anything of the sort. He understands them – so he can use them or counter them as desired. But as far as he is concerned *he* is the weapon and the things in his hands are merely tools of the moment.
Like the rest of Grim’s Gang, he originated in a Wizardry 8 party.
In my imagination he’s always taken on a very Maori-influenced background. He comes from an “un-civilized” culture on the periphery, but is well educated and fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of more dominant cultures – and perfectly willing to use whatever is to his advantage.
In games he tends to be some combination of Barbarian / Fighter / Berserker. He doesn’t lose himself in his rage – it is quite calculated. It – like his weapons, his crew, and everything else – is merely a tool.
The challenge in rendering him into a portrait was trying to both capture the look and illustrate his personality in the image.My current query for him is variations of:
“muscular, male, maori, warrior, mercenary, battle-scarred, thick black hair, goatee, facial tattoos, leather armor, fierce, intimidating, calculating, menacing, standing sideways, holding an axe over his shoulder, pointing his finger to the side, glowering at the viewer”
Click on image to see full size.
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