Grippli

Grippli
(Creature)
Small Grippli Humanoid Level Varies Alignment LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Adjective Grippli Images of gripplis Source: The Mwangi Expanse, pg(s). 118 Type Humanoid (grippli) CR By class level Environment Warm forests or marshes Alignment LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Adjective Grippli Images of gripplis Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 149

Gripplis are amphibian humanoids that closely resemble tree frogs in appearance. Watchful and reclusive by nature, their societies thrive from their wardenship of the arboreal wilderness of the Mwangi Expanse. Misconceptions often label gripplis as a primitive people due to their reliance on simple tools and cunning, overlooking their ability to shape the land into secluded orchards and hidden causeways that allow them to live peacefully and prosperously.

Appearance

Mother Bogwynne, a grippli.

Gripplis appear like small humanoid tree frogs, featuring oversized eyes, large mouths, and slender physiques. They stand just over two feet in height at adulthood, and can climb remarkably well thanks to the strong grip that their large toes afford. Their colorful skin is well-suited for camouflage in their home environments—jungle dwelling groups often have green or brown colorations, while those living by wetlands might come in more varied colors, such as orange or blue. They typically weigh just over thirty pounds.

Adventurers

Many grippli come from wildernesses and other remote regions with backgrounds as hunters, nomads, or scouts. Urban grippli may use their natural talents to become animal whisperers, bounty hunters, or herbalists, with some taking diplomatic roles such as emissaries to maintain healthy relations with other peoples. Their profound connection to nature makes them excellent druids and rangers. Musical traditions practiced by gripplis can become strong foundations for bards, while their natural agility and perceptiveness can also make them capable clerics, monks, or rogues.

Ecology

Gripplis reproduce via egg laying, and a newly hatched grippli takes about three years to mature to adulthood. Unless they meet a violent end, which considering the dangerous environments they inhabit is very possible, gripplis can reach 60 years of age, with some exceptions living as long as a century. They typically hunt and eat giant insects as well as a variety of fruit. Some gripplis of certain heritages can develop physical traits such as toxic skin, film-covered toes for climbing, or particularly long tongues.

Habitat and society

The majority of gripplis hail from the Kaava Lands, a large peninsula in the Mwangi Expanse teeming with jungles. Throughout the Kaava wilderness, they have created a number of secluded societies that carefully tailor the environment into landscapes made suitable for their domestic needs, such as channeled spillways for fishing or tactfully arranged foliage for hunting game. Despite their reclusive nature, they normally trade with neighboring societies for metals and gemstones that they cannot obtain themselves. While some might speak Common, among their own kind, they speak their own language called Grippli.

One of the most sacred roles among some grippli tribes is that of the fiend keeper, a type of medium who serves as a vessel to keep evil spirits from causing any further harm to the tribe. Once infused with this evil spirit, the fiend keeper then undertakes a variety of good deeds to try and cleanse the spiritual stain of the dark entity within. The fiend keeper can sometimes use the blasphemous power of these evil spirits for their own good end. This role is passed down from generation to generation within the tribe.

On Golarion

Gripplis are common in Garund, especially in the Mwangi Expanse and the Sodden Lands. With the rise of the Angazhan-worshipping charau-ka across the Expanse and the steadying increase of colonial pressure, most of the grippli tribes have migrated westward toward the Sodden Lands, and many now currently dwell in the Kaava Lands. They are seldom found outside of western Garund, with a few enclaves located in the Verduran Forest that live in close cooperation with the Wildwood druids. They are otherwise not commonly found in Avistan.

Gripplis also live in the Valashmai Jungle of Tian Xia. It is from the ruins that dot these deadly jungles that researchers have gleaned accounts of the grippli race's origin—they were supposedly imported to Golarion from across the stars. The gripplis of Valashmai exhibit a disproportionate strength for their small size, this can be partially attributed to their war painters who are able to apply mystical pigments to their fellow warriors.

References

Paizo published an article about gripplis on pages 8–11 of Blood of the Beast.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.