Grik

The grik is a demon archetype which originates from the Grik'tyr valence. It has four subtypes: grik'trak, grik'mlar, grik'pwal, and grik'tval. All of these are classified as minor demons, and as such, can be summoned through the use of Minor Summoning (725).

Physical Description

The grik are a squat, humanoid demon, usually taller than a halfling but not as tall as an elf. They possess large, leathery wings, which allow them to fly in their own valence. Their skin has chitinous aspects to it, making parts of their features appear insectile. The skin is slightly shiney, and is devoid of hair. The grik are built squat and bulky, but this belies their suprising agility and coordination. The grik lack fingers, and in their place are sharp talons. They have two to five of these talons, with an opposable thumb talon. Their eyes possess a slit pupil, and they have two sets of eyelids, one being translucent. Their skin color is usually brown, orange, or red. The grik are capable of deep, rumbling growls, and will not usually make much more than that except when instructed. Their language is made up of raspy cries and barks.

The difference between the four subtypes is social, rather than biological, but it can be seen due to a branding system which the grik seem to use. Each subtype is actually a tribe, and each member of a tribe will be branded with the tribe's symbol. The symbols for each tribe are the following:

• Grik'trak - A single line branded on the thigh
• Grik'mlar - Two lines branded on the thigh
• Grik'pwal - Three lines branded on the thigh
• Grik'tval - Four lines branded on the thigh

Society and Behavior

The grik live in a warlike, tribal society. Each of the four known tribes is highly territorial, marking their land with piles of stone that match their tribe symbol. An assault upon one tribe will usually begin by defacing their stone markers, and if a tribe's markers are defaced, the tribe will usually go to war with the guilty tribe. As such, the tribes are constantly at war with each other for land, as well as food seemingly, as corpses of slain grik are eaten ont he battlefield. The grik have enslaved the imps which are also native to their valence, using them for whatever purposes they might serve, as well as pawns in the wars between the grik tribes. The grik seem to have an almost perfect psychological control of the imps, the imps not daring to defy them. This fear is more a fear of punishment than of outright disobeying, as smarter grik are known to command enemy imps to do various things, and the imps will fearfully disobey their original master to prevent punishment from the new one. The grik are a very aggressive race. The sight of rival tribes can get them highly agitated, and they are easily annoyed. When at rest, they seem rather uninterested in their surroundings, more content to sit there silently than to be active.

In Elanthia, the grik seem to lose the ability to fly, though it is not understood exactly as to why. They will listen to their masters, but tend to do it in an annoyed fashion, clearly not enjoying servitude. When around imps or grik from other tribes, summoned griks are known to become annoyed. They even may attempt to enlist the service of the imp, so used to their servants that they try to snatch control of them from their own summoner.

Mechanical Benefits and Flaws

The grik are primarily good for carrying coins, having an extremely high base capacity, and an equally high growth rate. Their ability to hold mana is weak, with a rather low base capacity. Otherwise, the grik's abilities are fairly average.

Possible Adjectives

Grik summoned by Minor Summoning may have the following appearances. The description of each will follow this format: "a/an {descriptor} {color} grik'{subtype}," with the options possible displayed in the following table.

Descriptor	Color
bi-taloned	amber
quad-taloned	dark grey
five-taloned	dusky red
short	fiery red
tall	grey
very short	mottled green
	reddish-orange

Illusion Possibilities

Illusions
a caped figure
a cloaked figure
a cowled figure
a masked figure
a robed figure