Just a quick shameless plug for my channel on youtube, which isn't totally grimrock related, but this video gave me a creative spark. In the description, you can find this link, to a Diary Entry by Contar Stoneskull.
With this, I hoped to flesh out the characters in my mind a little, and hopefully in the minds of others. Let me know what you think, leave your own ideas and links, and thanks for reading.
The Diary of Contar Stoneskull
We were all thrown into Mount Grimrock today. Me, a small woman, a lean boy, and a minotaur. We all know our crimes we committed, treason of the highest order.
We awoke in a large chamber. The walls were yellow brick, illuminated by a single torch. I seemed to be the last one to wake, by the tugging on my leg chain. The boy tried to walk away, pulling me away from my resting place. He immediately started apologising for waking me, asking if I was okay, before the woman piped up. She told him to quieten down, we'd all just fallen about a hundred feet. My head was thumping harder than my heart.
We all got up, introducing ourselves, mostly. The minotaur gave us a solemn nod, instead of telling us his name. The woman, Yennica, explained that the boy, Sancsaron, came from a town that resented Minotaur kind, and the insectoid and lizardmen even more. Sancsaron had already yelled at the Mino for just being there, being a dead weight and so on. He attempted to punch the Mino, but he might as well have punched a brick wall. He was fairly adept at magic though, snapping flames from his hand and throwing light at the far end of the room. Yennica asked me to write down the layout of each room, which I've been doing. We all made sure we were healthy, healthy enough, and arranged a formation. The Mino and I are taking up the front, while Yennica and Sancsaron take up the back.
At the far end of the rather large room we began in, was a sign, a torch, and an iron gate. The sign read "Choose your fate, Take the torch or perish in this room," or similar. After Sancsaron lifted the torch, the gate opened, and we were thrown into the dungeon. The spindly corridors lead us to a small room, containing a few cloths for wearing. At the moment, we are in little more than our prisoner garb, which is mainly very low quality wool, providing no defense, and hardly any warmth. The Mino decided to take the trousers, and the top. I seem to be a little more agile, so if we are attacked, at least I can jump out of the way, was his excuse. He seems to be fairly hostile, but at the same time, cares for us. I suppose he doesn't want to be dragging a dead body around.
We came across a stone roped to a stick, which caused the Mino's eyes to light up. He was supposedly fairly adept with them, saying he could kill something with one fairly easily. The rest of us trust him, as you don't want to argue with an armed Mino. We continue walking around, coming across a few doors, with buttons, levers, and even keys, hidden behind secret doors. We follow the corridors, coming across a few rocks, and a throwing blade, which Yennica allowed us to trust her with. I noticed Sancsaron has been rather quiet, just grumbling a little behind us. I start to talk to him, before the Mino growled at me. I turn back, adjusting my shirt, complaining about my back to cover the fact I was trying to talk to him. We continue walking around, before we saw this... Thing. A giant snail, slimy and yellow with a huge green shell. Mino smacks it with the Cudgel, I hit it with my hands, trying to break down the shell a little, and Yennica throws a few rocks and the throwing knife. Sancsaron gasps behind us, before throwing some fire in front of us. We duck back, afraid of being burnt. The snail explodes into a ball of sparks. After picking up the knives and rocks, we carry on, only to come against another, which we quickly disperse. After a little more exploring, we decide to settle in a small room we find. I am writing this during my shift to stay awake, to protect against monsters. I plan on sleeping soon.