A great question.

After centuries of being exposed to lavun dust, magic spell chants, and all manner of weird experiences, Ganhook’s beard became sentient and acquired a voice.

That beard is one of the oddest things I’ve encountered here.

It knows everything that Ganhook knows, is immune to suffering, and has evolved a method of reasoning that beats any human mind. Ganhook often consults with it. It rarely communicates with anyone except him.

It may well be the most valuable thing in the fortress.

The first time I heard Ganhook talking to it I thought he’d gone mad.

It lacks empathy, though, which makes sense. It’s never experienced pain, fear, love or hate. So it cannot understand these things.

However, it does have a humongous ego

Putting up with a quasi-immortal cat is bad enough. Dealing with a ball of hair that thinks it’s a mastermind is often intolerable.

It’s impossible to tell what relationship it has with Ganhook. Sometimes they argue. Shinytop said they argued so badly one time, the beard tried to tear itself free. I believe him. I’ve seen the beard wind upwards to cover Ganhook’s face whenever it’s trying to overrule one of Ganhook’s decisions.

I suspect that’s why Ganhook mostly keeps it rolled up. Tied at both ends, it sits like a mini carpet under his chin.

That beard is just . . . weird.