Garruk “Pebbles” Bloodfang

The Circumstances of His Birth

Garruk’s mother, Zorgha Bloodfang, was an orc warrior from a raiding warband that roamed the Sword Coast. While pillaging a small human settlement, Zorgha captured a young farmer named Alden. In a moment of cruelty and dominance, Garruk was conceived.

When Garruk was born, Zorgha saw him as an unexpected burden. He was weaker and smaller than full-blooded orc children, and his human features made him a target for ridicule among her clan. Yet as Garruk grew, something changed in Zorgha. She began to see him as more than just a mistake—his stubborn resilience and fiery spirit reminded her of herself.

Zorgha never openly defied the warband, but in secret, she protected Garruk, teaching him to fight and survive in a world that despised him. She would whisper to him at night, “The blood in your veins makes you strong, not soft. One day, you’ll show them all.”

Growing Up in the Warband

Life in the warband was brutal. Garruk was treated as an outsider, scorned by the other orcs and beaten down at every turn. His only solace came from his mother’s quiet encouragement and a strange fascination with pebbles.

One day, while exploring a nearby stream, a young Garruk found a perfectly round pebble nestled in the water. Its surface was smooth and soft-looking, but when he squeezed it, he realized it was impossibly tough.

To Garruk, this pebble was more than a curiosity—it was a revelation. He saw himself in that stone: dismissed as weak and soft by the warband, but capable of surprising strength. He began collecting pebbles, searching for ones that felt right. Over time, they became a personal symbol of his resilience and determination.

The Breaking Point

When Garruk was a teenager, Zorgha was forced to make an impossible choice. During a raid, Garruk refused to harm a defenseless captive, drawing the warband’s ire. They demanded Zorgha prove her loyalty by renouncing him—or face exile herself.

Unwilling to see her son suffer at the hands of the warband, Zorgha made the ultimate sacrifice. Publicly, she cursed Garruk and cast him out, claiming him unworthy of their bloodline. Privately, she gave him a small leather pouch filled with stones, her voice breaking as she said, “No matter what they say, you are my son. Be strong, Garruk. Be more than they ever thought you could be.”

Banished and heartbroken, Garruk wandered the wilderness, convinced his mother had abandoned him for her own survival. However, after Garruk was banished, Zorgha’s position in the warband grew tenuous. While she had publicly denounced her son, whispers began circulating that she had protected him for years. The warband saw this as a betrayal of their ideals. Tensions came to a head when Zorgha openly defied the warband’s leader during a raid, refusing to harm another human captive, like her son had done before.

A brutal fight broke out between Zorgha and the warband’s enforcers. Though she fought fiercely, she was ultimately overwhelmed and killed. Garruk later learned the truth: Zorgha had sacrificed herself to shield Garruk, drawing the warband's wrath away from him and sealing her fate.

Arriving at Phandalin

Garruk’s travels eventually brought him to Phandalin, where he heard tales of a dragon terrorizing the region. To Garruk, the dragon represented a chance to prove himself—a test of his strength and courage. With nothing but his weapons, his pouch of pebbles, a clean set of underwear, and the memory of his mother’s sacrifice, he resolved to join the fight.

When Garruk met the adventuring party, he was skeptical of their abilities and motives. But over time, he began to see something he had never felt before—a sense of belonging.