Craig's intro:
"The world is such a fascinating place, especially in the area surrounding Gloomhaven. So many intriguing phenomena! So many fruitful samples to collect! The place is dangerous, though. It's likely best to find some help."
Craig's intro [https://i.imgur.com/DOz73Pk.jpg]
Everyone needed to eat. Whatever an adventurer’s reason for coming to the city of Gloomhaven, out here on the edge of the world this simple fact held true—even for the Savvas. Although Craig’s rocky body didn’t need much nutrition, he still needed some sustenance if he wanted to remain in shape. A starving Savvas would turn into a pile of doddering pebbles, if they didn’t take care of their body.
So when Jekserah—a Valrath woman wearing a red cloak and enough gold jewelry to keep Craig fed for a decade—approached him in the Sleeping Lion and offered to pay him ten gold coins to track down a thief and retrieve some stolen goods . . . well, to Craig it seemed like as good an excuse as any to sober up and start paying off the tab he and Vera had built up.
"This thief has taken some important documents," said the red-skinned merchant, her tail whipping about in agitation. "I don't care what you do to him. Just bring back what is mine."
Craig looked down at his diminutive companion, waiting for her approval. Vera just shrugged and scratched the base of her pointed ear, making it clear she wasn't thrilled but wouldn't object either.
"Alright," Craig rumbled. "We, the—"
"Oh no, don't say it," Vera groaned.
"We, the Glorious Gatherers accept your request," Craig said stubbornly, looking at Jekserah in a solemn manner. He considered smiling at her reassuringly too, but Vera always kept telling him that his gaping hole of a maw looked really scary when he tried to smile.
"Why do I even bother, "Vera hopped off her chair, chittering under her breath.
"Thank you," Jekserah told Craig with a sigh of relief, then bid the two of them good luck as they headed out of the inn.
There was no point to delay their search, in Craig's opinion—and judging by Vera's mannerisms, she thought so too. Based on Jekserah's description, it was easy enough to knock around a few alley thugs and get a location of the thieves' hideout. You didn't find yourself as a mercenary way out in Gloomhaven without knowing how to crack a few skulls.
"You wouldn't even know which skulls to crack, if not for my help!" Vera squeaked at Craig's side. It was true, Craig admitted, feeling grateful that he had such a down-to-earth companion. Vera might have been tiny like a child, but no one could say she wasn't pulling her weight. More than her weight, actually.
Yes, Vera was a good companion in spite of what the general populace thought of Vermlings. They were a scavenging, animalistic race, feeding off the flesh of the dead—and when they couldn't find any of that, they were more than happy to do the killing themselves with their crude knives and arrows. Nothing overly dangerous for Craig's tough skin, but even he was a bit wary of the little creatures. Vermlings were primitive and weak-willed; left to their own devices, they typically formed hunting packs and spent their short lives fulfilling basic needs.
None of that applied to Vera, however.
Some Vermlings did make their way into Human society. They were universally shunned and feared in such settings, forced to live in dark alleys and feed off scraps. Oftentimes, city-dwelling Vermlings would flee to the sewers to escape harassment. There, without their pack to connect with, they would form strong bonds with the massive rat population. Communication with such a large number of creatures could strain one's mind, though. Where most Vermlings failed, some—like Vera—had risen to the challenge, honing her powerful psychic abilities to incredible levels in order to control the swarms.
So-called Mindthieves could be scary people, though Craig also found them . . . awesome. Who wouldn't, in his situation? He only wished that he had as much control over his powers as Vera had over hers. Oh, she could be just as vicious and cruel as her kind tended to be, but she also had restraint.
With all that said, it was easy to see why Craig didn't mind Vera's company at all. In a sense, they were both outcasts—though while Vera had risen above her people, while Craig had been cast out for being inadequate. Complete opposites in some way, comrades in other.
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Craig was brought out from his musings by a loud noise up ahead. Even from afar, the rumbling voices of the crowd were unmistakable—they were of Craig's kin. More than kin, Craig noted once he got closer, because they were in the same predicament as he was.
They were Craghearts too.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Craig stomped towards the commotion.
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Vera's intro:
"I remember that very first time an arrow shot from my bow and pierced the heart of a deer, killing it instantly. That feeling of besting my prey on its own turf. But deer are such easy prey! There's far more challenging game out there in the wilds, and I want to experience it all. I do not hunt in order to kill. I kill because it is part of the hunt."
[https://i.imgur.com/nq6ZIzI.png]
"This city would be a lifeless pile of rocks without us!" one of the Savvas yelled. "It's time we see some of its prosperity!"
Vera watched from the shadows of the nearby buildings as Craig approached the commotion and engaged in conversation with the group of unruly Savvas workers. By the looks of it, they were in conflict with their manager about their wages, demanding better pay for the specialized work they usually performed. Their manager on the other side of the argument looked like a captures mouse, not sure at all how to get out of the situation.
It was quite the surprise when Craig actually took the manager's side.
The big guy remained calm and confident, not flinching even in the face of the heated debate. Vera listened from afar with mild interest as Craig tried to appeal to the workers' sense of duty and community, reasoning that they needed the city just as much as the city needed them. It was utter bullcrap of course, though Vera wouldn't have been surprised if Craig actually believed his own words. The Savvas in general did consider duty and community as two of the most important pillars of life.
Needless to say, Vera didn't like the Savvas much.
They were an obnoxious, stuck-up race, valuing power above all else—elemental power, to be precise. Although their skin was rocky and uneven on most of their body, they had smooth, transparent glass covering their chest, and beneath the surface of that glass was the manifestation of their power; an energy core fashioned from the elements they had mastered. Ice, fire, air and earth. Before a Savvas mastered at least one of those elements and obtained its power as their own, they were considered to be nothing by their own kind. That's why, from an early age, Savvas children studied feverishly to gain mastery over a single element—typically spending 20 years of devoted effort to do so.
Ridiculous.
They were studying longer than an average Vermling was expected to live! Vera shuddered to think about being a nobody for an entire lifetime long. And it wasn't even as if the Savvas did anything useful with their powers, once they truly mastered them. Few Savvas was known to live among other races, using their elemental mastery in one for or the other . . . but this was largely frowned upon by the majority of Savvas as a base and primitive way to live.
There were many Savvas, however, who never attained the mastery of an element and were cast out from their society. A Cragheart exiled this way earned their name by having their chest cavity marred and shattered by their kin, forever reminding them of their inadequacy. Craghearts were not without their strengths, though. Even with no control or mastery, they still had an affinity for their native earth and could display great feats of strength with their rocky stature. Knowing what Craig was capable of when he truly got going, Vera often wondered how terrifying opponent he would be if he were in control of his powers.
Vera's claws twitched in excitement. It would be a worthy feat to hunt a Savvas in the height of their power. If only she found the people who had cast Craig out...
The argument between the Cragheart workers seemed to have been resolved, and Craig trudged back to the alley where Vera was hiding. It was obvious that he was pleased with himself like a cat who found the rat pit.
"Come on, V!" Craig rumbled once he found her. "The Glorious Gatherers have a quest to do. At this rate, all we're gathering is dust!"
"No one agreed you could call us Glorious Gatherers," Vera grumbled as she joined Craig's side.
"Huh? What do you want to call us, then?"
Vera scratched her head, thinking. Glorious Gatherers was a somewhat fitting name, true, considering hers and Craig's goals. Even so . . . they needed something that didn't sound so lame. A name that struck fear in their enemies' hearts.
"Hmm . . . how about Vera and her Sidekick?"
"Sidekick?" Craig looked down at her, confusion clear on his face. "Is that a special move of yours?"
"Ugh, no," Vera groaned. "Nevermind, Craig, nevermind."
Craig nodded, looking back up ahead. "Alright, then. Glorious Gatherers, it is."
"Now, just wait a sec—"
"Onwards, to our new destination!" Craig bellowed, pointing forward with a stubby finger. "The Glorious Gatherers are going to Black Barrow!"
Vera slunk back, her ears flattened to her head in embarrassment as every nearby citizen shot strange looks at the two of them.
Yeah, pairing up with Craig had been an awful idea, after all.