Grungs were poisonous frog-like amphibious humanoids that lived in swamp or marsh forests. Their society was organized in castes determined by each grung's color. In agrea they resemble more like tree frogs, but in insulae they are more like toads.
Born to a role
Adult grungs usually stood at approximately 3 feet (0.91 meters). Males were generally smaller than females. They resembled small humanoids with strong toad or frog-like legs that ends in webbed feet. Their torsos and heads were less amphibian and more humanoid. They had muscular forelimbs and their hands had opposable thumbs. These creatures stood upright erect and moved about in quick, short hops. Unlike frogs and toads, however, grung were incapable of long leaps.
The evolution of grung gave them intelligence, opposable thumbs, and ingenuity, but took away their prehensile tongues, which were common among other amphibian races. This adaptation left grung with wide, sharp teeth-filled mouths. Their bright-colored skins were kept slick and wet as they breathed through it. Grung eyes were comparatively smaller than those of frogs or toads and were crowned with hard protective ridges. Their eye color was red with black pupils.
Grungs reproduced by laying eggs, which hatched into grey tadpoles which metamorphosed into amphibious humanoids over three months, and into adults over another six to nine months by which time their skin had adopted the bright colors which would identify their castes. Grungs reproduced quickly: one chieftain named Yorb had at least one hundred and eighty children, and that was just his sons.
Tribes of the marsh.
In agrea, the grung make their home in the marshes of far east. They live out their days hunting and gathering. Avoiding large prey animals and tending to their tribe. In the continent of insulae they have scattered tribes that live in the marches and lakes around the lands. In either continent they don't tend to get into politics or leave their homes. It's better to leave them to their own devices less you deal with their savageness.
A Rigid society
Grung society was a rigid caste system, and each grung's place was determined by its color:
- Green: Warriors, hunters, and general laborers.
- Blue: Artisans, domestic and childcare workers. Grung crafts were traded with with other races, and could be found in the marketplaces of cities near their habitats.
- Purple: Supervisors of the green and blue grungs. They make sure that the lower castes were happy.
- Red: Scholars and magic users. Also known as grung wildlings, they were superior to purple, green and blue castes, and respected even by higher castes. Red grungs were known to fulfill the roles of tribal shamans and priests.
- Orange: Elite warriors, with authority over all lesser grungs. The orange grungs were charged with protecting the grungs' most important or sacred sites.
- Gold: Also elite warriors, with the highest leadership positions. Every tribe leader was a gold grung.
Although tadpoles were all the same color initially, they were still raised in ground pools already separated by their destined caste. Some mobility was possible between the castes, such as in cases of valuable contributions and great deeds, in which case ritual magic and herbal compounds were used to change the individual grung's color.
Grung were aggressive and territorial. They often attacked any intrudes, be they adventurers or members of another tribe. Border wars were quite common among clashing grung tribes. A single tribe usually claimed area within one mile around the settlement. The territory was rigorously patrolled and, if an intruder was encountered, the grungs never engaged in negotiations.
Grung tribes also made extensive use of slavery, and were always looking for new creatures to enslave. They held their slaves in crude pits covered in wooden bars, and kept them at bay by poisoning their food in order to inflict lethargy on them. Over extended periods of time, the effects of such poisoning could only be removed by magic.
Leaders were always the strongest fighters of the gold caste in the tribe, and as females tended to be larger than males, most tribes were matriarchal and led by female war chiefs, however some were led by a male king or chief. One way of reaching a position of power was via dueling to the death for the title. Each tribe also had a female shaman.
Grung Names
Grungi have simple names consisting of basic, one-syllable sounds. They add their tribe's name before their own when they bother to introduce themselves to outsiders & always with great pride.
Example Tribe Names: Stabstick, Thornflinger, Sweatdripper, Flychewer, Stickyfeet, Lurkyjumpy, Eyepoker.
Example Names: Akk, Bec, Grop, Plek, Gilp, Dop, Sib, Ploo, Grib, Kek, Gahg, Sook, Pasht, Slur, Slark, Mog, Lurt, Hat, Pip, Narg, Galf, Nak, Toog, Beb, Snurk, Pat, Lib, Rug, Ran, Ja, Jig, Erg, Hen, Nin, Mahl, Zoog.
Grung Traits
Ability Scores Increase.
You can increase any ability score by 2 and any other score by 1.
Size.
Small
Speed.
25 ft., climb 25 ft.
Age.
Grungs mature to adulthood in a single year, but have been known to live up to 50 years.
Alignment.
Most grungs are lawful, having been raised in a strict caste system. They tend toward evil as well, coming from a culture where social advancement occurs rarely, and most often because another member of your army has died and there is no one else of that caste to fill the vacancy.
Size.
Grungs stand between 2½ and 3½ feet tall and average about 30 pounds. Your size is Small.
Arboreal Alertness.
You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
Amphibious.
You can breathe air and water.
Poison Immunity.
You're immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition.
Poisonous Skin.
Any creature that grapples you or otherwise comes into direct contact with your skin must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 minute. A poisoned creature no longer in direct contact with you can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
You can also apply this poison to any piercing weapon as part of an attack with that weapon, though when you hit the poison reacts differently. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 2d4 poison damage.
Standing Leap.
Your long jump is up to 25 feet and your high jump is up to 15 feet, with or without a running start.
Water Dependency.
If you fail to immerse yourself in water for at least 1 hour during a day, you suffer one level of exhaustion at the end of that day. You can only recover from this exhaustion through magic or by immersing yourself in water for at least 1 hour.
Languages.
You can speak, read, and write Grung.