Grunyer Beastbeard

Grunyer Beastbeard is one of the protagonists in Captain Jonathan Law's story. He is the first mate and quartermaster of the Law Pirates. He is also known for raising the young Jonathan Law, starting when he was eight years old.

Appearance
Grunyer is a middle-aged dwarf from a soldier family. He has a strong physique, and is stocky. He has brown eyes and dark red hair. He keeps the hair on his head short but his beard is long and braided, as is common with dwarves. Grunyer wears his heavy dwarven armor with his tower shield and battle ax when he is on land. When he is on the Loyal Serpent, he wears a dark green sailing vest and and red shirt underneath it. Typically, Grunyer carries his smoking pipe with him.

Personality
Grunyer is very calm minded and never loses control of his emotions. Only a few things can set off Grunyer's rational mind, unlike Law who is driven by his emotions. He respects each member of the crew, regardless of race and background. Although Grunyer was still racist and skeptical of each member when they joined, Grunyer has grown to see them as family, like Law. He loves Law like a son and will often refer to him as "boy" as he did prior to the story while he was raising him.

History
Grunyer was born into a solider family with his two brothers. As children they would train in the art of war like the other children of soldier families. In the army, Grunyer was given a tower shield and trained and repelling enemies from the unit. His job was to protect his allies. Grunyer has been into the Underworld entrances, preventing ghoul, duegars, gremlins, and ogres from entering the mountains of Ozurenth. During one of these patrols, Grunyer's unit got ill from a disease from the Underworld. Grunyer and another dwarf were the only dwarves who was not sick or wounded. So the other dwarf hurried to Darkworld entrance in Khorboldar while Grunyer found a narrow cave with a large room. He put everyone from his unit there and stood at the entrance. His position was soon spotted by denizens of the Underworld. A large force of ghouls and gremlins can rushing towards Grunyer. However, Grunyer stood there, warding off the dark creatures whom wished to kill him and his companions. The dwarves told Grunyer to leave but Grunyer responded with "Never leave another dwarf behind!" After a few hours, the other dwarf returned with a large rescue force and killed the ghouls and gremlins who exhausted Grunyer.

After that moment of heroism, Grunyer was commended. He even married his lieutenant H'lin, who was ill during the attack on Grunyer. H'lin bore him two children who were very curious and mischievous. When they were very little, around five years old, they snuck out. They were found outside by patrolling dwarves and they were sentenced to be exiled, the proper dwarven punishment for desertion. Grunyer intervened during the trial and told the king that he would take their punishment in the place of them. The king allowed it and Grunyer was banished from the mountains. Gimrol and Elsdrini were in tears that their father was being banished for their mistake. Grunyer told them to be strong and promised that one day he would return.

Grunyer left and met another dwarf by the name of Lomrick Gorunn. Lomrick befriended Grunyer and advised him to see the world. He told him that he had friends that were sailors. Grunyer took an interest in sailing and travelling. Grunyer became a hired sailor for about five years before his ship was attacked by a group of abolitionists known as the North Stars. Grunyer learned that slaves were the cargo of the ship he was on so he took u p his tower shield and joined the abolitionists. There, he met a gunsmith named Jose Whitney. The two became good friends in the North Star. Then Jose's wife Claudia was giving birth to a son. Jose left to become a father. Grunyer stayed with the North Stars and eight years later he and a large group was sent to attack Castle Relon. However the God King Relondor used magic and saw their attack coming and he sent his army to slaughter the main group. Grunyer and a few others managed to sneak into the castle. Then Grunyer found Relonder's Heir. He saw the boy had a magical left eye and scars peeking out of his clothing. Grunyer took the boy and escaped with many slaves and the other North Stars who snuck into Castle Relon with Grunyer.

After the escaped, Grunyer saw the locket that Relondor's Heir held and in it was a picture of the boy's mother and the name "Jennifer Law." Grunyer named the child Jonathan Law, after his mother and adopted him and moved to Jose Whitney's home town Halavanna in the Free Islands. Grunyer introduced Jonathan to Diego and explained to Jose about who Jonathan really is. Grunyer watched Jonathan grow as he became the father he never got the chance to become. He paid for music lessons for Jonathan as a child and Jonathan would play the harp for Grunyer. When he thought Jonathan died fourteen years later with Diego, Grunyer broke into tears, an almost nonexistent event with Grunyer but was surprised to see that Jonathan survived and that he brought the half elf girl Luna Ludvic with him. Grunyer grieved for Diego's death and accepted Luna as a part of the family, giving her the only room with a bed in the shack.

A few weeks later, Jonathan approached Grunyer, asking him to train as a warrior. Grunyer knew where Jonathan was coming so he became Jonathan's sparing partner as Jonathan taught himself how to wield duel scimitars with Grunyer's help. Then Grunyer rejoined the North Stars with Jonathan where they met an Aswainian noblewoman named Marianna Loriot who told them where slaves were being transferred. During this time, Grunyer would sail a small schooner in the dead of night while Jonathan snuck onto the ships and escorted the slaves out. Occasionally Grunyer fought alongside Jonathan when their position was compromised. Many of the former slaves offered to join them in their travels around the world, forming the forty sailors. Grunyer now serves as the first mate and quartermaster on the Loyal Serpent.