Guu'mak Trelegastr was a minor wizard in the court of a powerful Palhuric lord. His son, Gheleghan, was the court's fool, and he was oft mistreated by guests. Usually, Guu'mak looked away, but eventually, one day, the mistreatment lead to Gheleghan's crippling. His back was broken when a cruel visiting lord knocked him down a flight of steps. Outraged, Guu'mak decided to find his revenge. He made sure his son was well taken care of, then set out to find just the right ingredients for his plan. He found a troupe of actors, a hapless bard, two rough and ready mercenaries, and a willing farmwife, and he took them to the wilderness where they found the totems of the Skunk Goddess. There, they performed three ceremonies: one to mask their actions, one to honor the Goddess, and one to create a distraction.

When all was said and done, the cruel lord was exposed as a tyrant, the local lord was embarrassed in front of his whole territory, and Ghelegan was given an estate to keep him comfortable for the rest of his life. Guu'mak retired to his son's estate, but a year later, a man in a rucksack mask with a stitched on grinning face appeared and told him he owed the Skunk Goddess a favor. Guu'mak realized this was probably so, and he readily agreed to help the stranger on a small quest. He quickly found he enjoyed this sort of thing, and he quickly became involved in the work of the Grinning Men, causing trouble for good causes.

Ten years later, he and three other Grinning Men went on a small journey to a mountain cave where a store of treasures had been hidden by the Guardians of Mortality. Thinking it only a few trinkets, they snuck in and robbed the place blind, thumbing their noses at the stodgy Guardians. In the midst of this treasure, though, was a Cauldron they discovered to be a Gift. Not knowing what else to do with it, the Grinning Men told Lord Gum, as they called him, to keep it. He took it home and showed his son, who, having nothing else to do, had become quite the scholar.

He told his father what he thought the Cauldron was, and the two hatched a plan to test it out. Within six weeks, the Cauldron yielded them a bit of chicanery on a scale so massive, the entire continent was tricked. The Cauldron bound itself to Lord Gum, and he became even more entrenched in the actions of the Grinning Men.

A year later, a soap salesman arrived at his cottage and asked him for some help...