Dumm Bol

Dumm Bol, the Druid Who Laughs Underground.

Dumm Bol loves mushrooms the way others love old masters: he does not collect them, he listens to them, tastes them, lets them disagree with him. To him, nature is neither noble nor pure; it ferments, transforms, and begins again. Because He laughs before answering, giving the underground forest time to finish speaking.. In his city, no one has ever asked him what it said. Before every meal, he sets a little of his share down on the bare ground.

Describe him

A round dwarf with earth-black nails, who smells of humus and rising bread. He laughs before answering, an open laugh that does not stop when the blades come out. He walks watching the ground more than the people, and crouches without warning to sniff a tuft of moss. He tastes what he finds, then nods the way one concedes a point. His good cheer reassures at first. At the first sign of danger, it unsettles.

Play him

Always answer slightly wrong, then land exactly right. Give the absurdity before the useful advice, the joke before the saving gesture. In battle, have him laugh at the worst moment, and let that laugh announce, one second later, the way through he has just found: a tunnel no one had seen, ground giving way under the enemy, a mushroom that sets a whole pack coughing. What he refuses, deep down: to let fear choose the tempo.

What he says (rarely)

"Don't step there. The ground has an opinion."
"That one is lying. He smells too clean."
(mid-fight, delighted) "Good news: we may yet feed something important."