> [!infobox|wikipedia] > # Grumble, The Anniahilator > [![[Grumble_The_Anniahilator_small.webp|cover hsmall]]](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 bridge spanning the [[Liar's River]] at the approach 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. #### [[Session 55 - The Long Hunt]] Grumble was at his table on the bridge when the party returned from the [[Vale of Eternal Night]] with [[Asha Vayne]] and a small elven girl calling herself Ellessa. He greeted Asha by name — *"Welcome back, child. Too long, too long"* — then raised a hand against the girl and locked her in a long, silent stare, until he broke it with *"Would you like to play a game?"* The two played three lightning-fast games of chess; Grumble took the first, the child took the second and the third, pinning his king with a rook, and he nodded her across. [[Berberis]] stayed behind for a game of his own, staking a story, and lost — Grumble took his king and heard the whole tale of the Vale in payment. Asked whether the girl was a threat, he answered *"She is a threat. But she is not... We made an agreement. She knows what is at stake."* When [[Eryndor]] asked whether the soul-taking was a joke, Grumble produced a rattling pouch from under his cloak, faint screams within, and offered him a game; Eryndor declined.