A small, broad-shouldered kobold with rust-red scales, a cream-colored muzzle, and large amber eyes. His left ear is notched from an old battlefield accident, and a faded blue cloth is tied around his neck beneath his battered chain mail. He carries himself with surprising discipline, though his oversized shield is patched with leather and painted with little circles that mark battles, friends, and debts.

Muruq is alert, practical, and unexpectedly gentle with the frightened. He prefers clear plans, useful tools, and people who keep their promises. He speaks plainly, dislikes ceremonial authority, and treats boasts as invitations to test someone's competence. Around trusted companions, he becomes dryly funny and enjoys camp games, especially when he can win through patience rather than luck.

Muruq was hatched beneath a ruined hill fort where his kobold warren survived by scavenging the remains of old campaigns. He learned early that soldiers left behind useful things, but he also learned that frightened troops sometimes destroyed anything smaller than themselves. When a mercenary company attacked the warren, Muruq did not flee. He led a handful of young kobolds through a drainage culvert, opened the fort gates from within, and saved the survivors. The company captain, impressed by his nerve and oddly precise commands, took him in as a camp runner. Muruq spent several years carrying messages, tending wounded soldiers, and learning the practical habits of war. He was never a shining example of heroic virtue, and he has little patience for grand speeches about honor. Still, he believes that strength should be used to protect the helpless, especially those everyone else considers expendable. After refusing an order to abandon injured camp followers, he was stripped of his formal post and sent away with his armor, shield, and a recommendation written in a grudging hand. Now he travels as a paladin, following a personal code of immediate action rather than any temple hierarchy. He wants to prove that courage is not measured by size, pedigree, or the approval of commanders.