Meet Nuurvik -- Agent of The Gruush

Hey there 👋

I decided to put my advice for creating character backstories to the test by creating one for my favorite Gruul Avatar!

First I’ll share the backstory I created, and then I will break down what my thought process was as I created the backstory. Next week I will share a piece of writing that features the character!Without further ado, meet Nuurvik – Agent of the Gruush.

Nuurvik

- Name: Nuurvik

- Race: Gruul

- Age: 40 years

- Sex: None (the Gruul are weird, long story haha)

- Hair: Imperial

- Eyes: Imperial Scout

- Nose: Unbidden

- Mouth: Stonejaw

- Tattoo: Mark of the Old One

- Avatar NFT: OpenSea Link

Overview

Nuurvik is a devoted member of The Mold who has taken the Mark of The Old One and strives above all else to further the plans of the Gruush. They have been blessed with the mutation of enhanced vision, allowing them to see even further and better in the dark than an average Gruul. Favoring a ranged weapon, Nuurvik is often tasked with stalking high-profile targets through the dark of the unborn path, or achieving other important clandestine objectives.

History & Upbringing

Nuurvik grew up in The Mold’s headquarters city of Basan Arg, and thus was surrounded by tradition from birth. They heard stories of the height of the Gruul empire, and how it could be achieved once again if the Gruul would set aside their individuality and work together for the benefit of the hive. Guided trips into Ovruk Pass during their formative years only served to cement these teachings, as whenever Nuurik visited the capital they witnessed the violence and destruction that stemmed from the division between the three cults of the Gruul.

During one fateful trip to Ovruk Pass, Nuurvik watched as his superior, a mentor figure and older Gruul of The Mold, was killed during a disagreement with a group of Rnark.

Worldview

Their heightened devotion gives Nuurvik great strength and purpose in life, but also leaves them blind to the advancements being made across Aesor and unable to benefit from them. They see the rest of Aesor is a source of the poison of individuality that stands in the way of achieving order and prosperity. They see the cult of The Norhg as standing in the way of the true destiny of the Gruul, and even think that some of The Rnark are traitors to the race. Ironically, this mindset is part of what stands in the way of the Gruul being able to work together.

Personality

Nuurvik is stubborn and not very good at empathizing with others. They are angry that the world is not as they feel it should be, and often have a short fuse because of it. This often results in them being in solitude, and they keep few close friends. Why have friends if everyone is just filling their role?

Agent of The Gruush

They are cunning, and know the unborn path surrounding Ovruk’s Path and Basan Arg well, having spent a lot of time traveling between the two and carrying out the will of The Gruush. Nuurvik receives their orders from the Gruush personally, but is often out on assignments for months at a time. The other cults are aware of Nuurvik, and would love to arrange their untimely demise.

Creating My Gruul Character

Starting With an Image

When I am creating a character I love to be able to start with an image. Being able to picture the character in a scene helps me imagine other details about them. Of course, this is a bit of a “chicken or the egg” problem, because you need to know at least some details about the character in order to create the image!In this case, I used my Avatar from The Kingdom. For those who don’t know, The Kingdom has an Avatar NFT creator that allows you to create your very own unique character on Aesor. Other times I might use AI in order to create an initial draft of the character to write around, or might just use the image I have in my head.

Choosing a Name

I personally hate naming characters. However, I do have a few strategies that I use when it is something I have to do.

First, I look at other pronouns of the language that the name will be in and try to identify any common letters or conventions. In this case, there are many double vowels, especially “uu”. There are also often “n”s after other consonants. “V”, “n”, and “r” are also commonly used.

Then, I basically combine the letters in different ways until I arrive at something I like. I think it is important to keep names simple so that readers or other players are able to easily remember and pronounce them. If I ever want to go with a long or complex name, I make sure to come up with a nickname to go along with it.

Next: Basic Traits

My next step was to look into my basic traits. I selected these when creating my Avatar, and some of them can be used to help inspire my character’s backstory. For instance, the “Mark of the Old One” tattoo means this character would have at some point been in the service of The Mold– which is one of the most strict and traditional factions within Gruul society. Were they a leader within their ranks? Or perhaps they took the tattoos as a ruse to infiltrate The Mold on behalf of The Rnark cult?

Inspiration, Milestones & Background

I have always been fascinated by the idea of hivemind civilizations, so I decided to explore that mindset by making my character someone who believes that a hivemind is the superior way for a group of organisms to interact.

Once that was decided, I needed to look at the various aspects of the Gruul lore and decide how my character might have interacted with them in order to end up where I want them to be in life. This involved researching the various Gruul cities, their history, and their culture. This ensures that the character feels believable and helps keep the world consistent. Of course there are always outliers, so if you are creating your own character, don’t be afraid to break the mold! (get it?)

When it came to picking an important event or milestone that shaped my character, I went with an easy one this time and decided it was the death of a mentor figure that truly cemented the character along their path. In the future I will probably define a few more important milestones that are a little bit less cliche. That being said, things are cliche for a reason, so don’t be afraid to lean on them when it fits the story.

Strengths & Weaknesses

I have always found characters with a dynamic range of strengths and weaknesses to be more interesting. To determine what those were for my character, I looked at their beliefs and experiences and tried to imagine how those might affect their personality and how they interact with the world.

It is important to keep weaknesses in mind that are not directly related to character flaws or physical limitations. For instance, my character has some notoriety, which means they cannot participate in certain activities and need to be always watching their back.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this far! As I mentioned, for my next piece I will be writing a scene with Nuurvik in it. I find that this can be a fun exercise that leads you to discovering things about the characters that are harder to think of without actually putting them in a story. Come back to check it out later this week!