Gurge Kisgregg

 is the man Chetney Pock O'Pea first came to Jrusar to meet. Although Chetney characterized him at first to Bells Hells as someone who might be able to secure him employment as a master craftsman, his real reason for contacting Gurge was to learn from him how to control his lycanthropy. As an NPC, Gurge is played by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
Gurge is around six feet tall and has oily dark brown hair. His nose appears to have been broken at some point. According to Chetney, he smells terrible.

Personality
Gurge is gruff, sarcastic, and lacks most social graces. He primarily wishes to be left to live alone in the wilderness.

Background
Gurge is originally from an unspecified part of Wildemount, and was a member of the Claret Orders until he was cursed with lycanthropy. He left for Marquet circa 833 PD to seek the aid of the Gorgynei, a group of lycanthropes who have managed to harness and tame their abilities. While with the group, he saved Ajit Dayal and his wife from a vine monster in the Oderan Wilds; Ajit remains grateful and feels indebted to Gurge and the Gorgynei as a result. Gurge left the Gorgynei in about 836 or 837 PD after a falling out with its leadership, and he has since been living somewhere in the Oderan Wilds surrounding the city of Jrusar. He only goes into the city for meetings.

Shortly after Chetney met Gurge, Artana Voe paid Keledon, the head of the wardens in the Smolder Spire, to kidnap him. The guards succeed, leading to an exchange between Artana and Vali Dertrana, his imprisonment in the Moon Tower, and Ira Wendagoth's experiments on his lycanthropy.

Chetney told the rest of the party that he wanted to employ them to find Gurge, who had gone missing. When the party went to the Smolder Spire to investigate, they found Gurge's temporary residence locked; after Chetney broke in they found that the room had been ransacked and much of the furniture had been clawed. There were sprays of blood on the floor, some of which someone had attempted to clean up.

The party then asked some of the wardens about Gurge. They were not forthcoming with information, but Fearne wildshaped into a rat and followed two of them. She heard their leader tell them that Gurge had been arrested and was being held in prison, and that the leader would "take care of the rest."

Fearne, after charming Keledon, the head warden at the factory, learned that Gurge had been captured by Artana Voe, a famed bounty hunter. The party located Artana by following a lead from Ariks Eshteross. They were able to pay her to reveal that the bounty on Gurge had been put out by Vali Dertrana, who explicitly wanted Gurge brought in alive, and that Gurge had been delivered to the Moon Tower in the Core Spire. Artana also told the party that Gurge was able to transform into a beast, and warned them against getting bitten by him.

When the party re-entered Vali's office through the window Chetney had broken earlier that night and went down the hidden staircase, they discovered that Gurge was being kept in a cage by Ira.

The party called out to Gurge as they spoke with Ira, and Gurge answered them sarcastically. During combat, Dorian cast Shatter, freeing Gurge from his cage, and he transformed into a wolf and joined the fight. Gurge went along with the group after Ira teleported out of combat and the group escaped from the Moon Tower shortly before it exploded. On the gondola ride back to the Lantern Spire, he drank the rainwater, and then Laudna's waterskin when offered.

In the Weary Way Tavern, Gurge told the party the story of his past with the Claret Orders and the Gorgynei. He had been captured and forced, under torture, to bite and infect three volunteers brought to him by Armand Treshi. Gurge slept in the room with the party, exhausted from his imprisonment, but left in the morning and told them not to try and find him again.

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign Three

Quotations

 * Gurge: (to the party after being rescued) I do appreciate your helping out and helping this man. And you know what? That's great. I hope you take this kind thing you've done and it helps absolve your soul of some past sin that some wayward deity might hold over you. If that's what people do these days, I don't know. I'm going to go back to eating squirrels.

Trivia

 * His name "Gurge" is derived from the Persian word for "wolf".