> [!infobox|wikipedia] > # Grumble, The Anniahilator > [![[Codex/Assets/Characters/Grumble_The_Anniahilator_small.webp|cover hsmall]]](Codex/Assets/Characters/Grumble_The_Anniahilator.webp) > ###### Basic Information > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Type | Character | > ###### Character Information > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Creature Type | Fae | > Species | Troll-Fae | > Gender | Male | > Place | [[Liar's River]] | > Connections | [[Sumara, The Shining City\|Sumara]] | > Profession | Bridge Guardian | > ###### Status > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Status | Alive | **Grumble, The Anniahilator** is an ancient black-skinned fae of fearsome aspect who has guarded the bridges spanning the [[Liar's River]] at the approaches to [[Sumara, The Shining City|Sumara]] for longer than any living soul can remember. Despite the dread his name and reputation inspire, Grumble is less a monster than a fixture of the landscape — an immovable piece of a world that has been turning since before most of the civilisations around him were founded, with a fondness for games and a laugh that carries across the water. ## Biography Grumble's origins are unknown even to those who have lived in Sumara's shadow for generations. He simply is — as old as the bridges themselves, as old as the [[Shimmering Peaks]] he guards the approach to. He commands a reverence that borders on the instinctual: locals do not cross Grumble, not because they fear his wrath, but because there is an unspoken understanding that some things in the world are simply to be respected. He is one of them. His peculiar tradition of enforcing "ancient rites" on travellers who wish to cross his bridge is less a toll than an indulgence. Grumble delights in games — chess above all — and will demand a challenge before granting passage. Those who rise to the occasion tend to find that the terror of facing the Anniahilator is considerably undone by the sight of an enormous obsidian troll laughing uproariously at a well-played gambit. ### [[The Bloody Nails|Campaign: The Bloody Nails]] #### [[Session 45 - Pieces on a Board]] The party encountered Grumble on the bridge crossing the [[Liar's River]] while travelling toward the [[Shimmering Peaks]]. He invoked the ancient rites and forced the group into a life-sized game of chess played by D&D rules, with themselves as the pieces. After a hard-fought match — featuring fireballs from [[Dondar]] and a relentless assault from [[Ryo]] — the party checkmated the enemy king. Grumble threw back his hood to reveal himself as a jovial obsidian-skinned troll, laughed off any notion that he had ever intended them harm, and granted them safe passage. He also confirmed that a cure for [[Ayana Syndrosa|Ayana]]'s [[Gossamer Dust]] condition awaited them in the elven city ahead. #### [[Session 49 - The Silver Sage]] [[Dondar]] extended an offer of a future chess game with Master Grumble to the Silver Sage [[Praetor'Varanous]], who accepted in passing — a small measure of Grumble's reputation reaching even into the vaults of a reclusive sage.