~Secretary to the Aonad. A member of a lesser noble family and brother of Mannix Oren.

~Grim is nothing less than an integral part of Aineslai, as necessary as any of its pillars or archways…and about as equally disregarded. His presence is persistent but only vaguely separate from the castle itself.
Grim is equipped with a dry, gray disposition, shuffling about inattentively as if his mind were so secretly assiduous as to be actively sapping his physical energy. He has a covert vitality, but it's cached for contemplation and hobby, not for conviviality. The gaunt physical form that makes its appearances at social events and council meetings functions quietly and vacantly, almost wholly separate from Grim's intellect--which never hesitates to venture off on its own in the direction of more engaging topics. Though he keeps proper records of all official goings-on, those political matters never seem to cross over into his realm of concern and scrutiny.
So little of his focus is required for his tasks as record keeper that most of his attention is directed elsewhere. Despite the title, he is more a scholar--a historian, physician, and naturalist--than he is Lord Secretary.

~I don't think I ever intended for Grim to resemble my grandfather, but they seem to have quite a lot in common regardless. I can recall family get-togethers in which I noticed my grandfather frequently wore the very distinct look of someone whose mind had wandered far from whatever benign conversation the rest of us were involved in. I was always impressed, though, by the sharpness of his mind in playing trivia games and his astute knowledge of history. In visiting him at his house, he always had a book in hand.
The character is also based a little on the historical social role of druids, serving a variety of functions aside from religious leadership. As for the name Grim, it simply seemed fitting for a dusty, unsociable savant.