Gruuwar

Fickle and flighty, the fairy tales of fairy tales

Mysterious creatures who are reclusive even by fey standards, gruuwar are rarely encountered outside of folk stories. They are described as crafty and curious spies, with an eerie ability to memorise whatever they see—but also hopelessly skittish around mortals, and impossible to catch or restrain.

They are also said to be ill-mannered and disrespectful of authority; legend claims the gruuwar once dealt such a great insult to the primal arch-fey that they were forever shunned, pushed into a perilous existence at the forgotten fringes of the feywild. True or not, they certainly seem unwelcome among other fey. They have become almost phantoms—trusting no-one, flitting through shadows and vanishing without trace just when they seem cornered.

Play a gruuwar if you want…

• to be a mystery even to other fey-kind
• to teleport as easily as you walk
• to defy the expectations (and perhaps common sense) of your kind

Physical Qualities

Gruuwar are delicate, fine-boned creatures covered in dark blue fur. They have small bodies and long limbs, standing digitigrade and using their long, whip-like tail for balance. They have distinctive hands and feet, with only three digits on each hand, and two long toes—longer even than their fingers—on each foot.

Gruuwar have long, fluted ears that form an almost conical shape as they reach to their elegant point. Their yellow eyes are huge, but open only slightly except when surprised, giving them a narrow curved shape. They also have small fangs, not unlike those of a cat.

As true fey, gruuwar age only when they are separated from the feywild. Their material lives are a brief flame, barely forty years for most—so most rarely visit the material world, and never stay long when they do.

Playing a Gruuwar

Most gruuwar grow up with an instinctive distrust for other creatures, because this is what keeps them alive. Among the titanic beasts and colossal plants of the feywild, they are prey to almost any life form around them—but first, the predator must catch them. Thus a gruuwar learns to run, and a gruuwar learns to hide.

A gruuwar adventurer, then, does what many consider unthinkable. Such individuals typically value trust in their allies above all else; betraying their confidence is a sure way to lose their allegiance. Many deliberately seek out the most fearsome allies they can, reasoning that if you choose to befriend a predator, you best make it the most terrifying one around.

A gruuwar also knows that their time on the material plane is precious. No matter how far they venture, they know the value of having a safe haven nearby—for preference, one where they can establish a portal to the feywild. 

Gruuwar are perceived as… sneaky, ingenious, antisocial, alien, energetic, paranoid, cunning, rude, defensive

Names: Gruuwar do have names, but usually keep them secret to avoid granting others power over them. Most likely, a gruuwar’s friends know them only by a nickname.