“I cannot leave! The crystal is here. Why would I leave? Where would I go? It is here, and so am I. I do not need to leave!”

Long ago - now beyond the counting even of Gilbrad himself - he was a guard for the proud dwarven city of Heimglah. There, he was a part of the honour guard of the Glass House, the crystal palace positioned in the very centre of the geode.

The honour guard of the geode pride themselves on their skill and honour, and when one of the crystals was stolen from the geode by outsiders, he volunteered to undertake the mission to retrieve it.

The Stolen Crystal

The outlander who had stolen the crystal had done so foolishly, underestimating the guards of Heimglah. Before he had even managed to make it to the top of the chasm, they had closed the great gates on the mountainside, trapping all within.

Without other options, the thief had hidden in the old Abandoned Goods Exchange, hoping to wait them out. Unfortunately for him, the thief underestimated the packs of enraged blind hounds that roamed the tunnels and halls beside the chasm. He fell to them, dropping the crystal.

And that is where Gilbrad found the crystal - just before the hounds found him. He was taken by surprised, savaged by the hounds, and took mortal wounds before he managed to slay them.

Luckily for Gilbrad, the guards of the geode are taught the secrets of using the crystals for healing without consuming them, and so he retreated to the side of the chasm, too weak to cry out for help, determined to heal and wait.

Left for Dead

The Abandoned Goods Exchange is within sight of the Great Lift of Heimglah, but Gilbrad never managed to return to his people. Scarred and wounded by the hounds, he did not have the strength to call out for them at first, and the more he healed, the more his old mission seemed less and less important.

He had been sent to retrieve the crystal, but the primary duty of the guards of the geode are to protect the crystals, not fetch them. His mission was still undertaken, just in a different location.

The other guards of the geode had considered Gilbrad's mission a success as well: when neither Gilbrad nor the thief returned from the abandoned tunnels, they hailed him a success and moved on.

Description

Gilbrad has been lingering in the abandoned tunnels for decades, eking out a living as an animal. He is thin for a dwarf, pale and wan, and filthy. His hair and beard are matted, his skin is muddy, and he pervades with the odour of unwashed body.

Traits and Motivations

Gilbrad is mad - well and truly driven insane by the crystal, kept by the longing for it only a short way away from rescue for all this time. His every thought is driven towards it, and he protects it fanatically from everything else.