[Jack Simth]

Ah, so she was a Sorcerer (in part, at least).

Yeah, Wizards, when the prepare for it (Agean hasn't - and can't, from the Wizard perspective, not without Still Spell, which will be a while; hmm... could get a Wand of Grease, those aren't a problem, save for drawing them in the first place) do better in grapples than do Sorcerers, for exactly that reason.

Grappling is THE anti-caster tactic, at least before Dimension Door (Sor/Wiz 4; requires a 7th level character, minimum). I'm kinda surprised you haven't used it on me, yet; Small size, stregth as a dump stat; I'm staring down a negative grapple modifier. Escape Artist, untrained, of +3. Whop de do.

Which reminds me - I need to look up a Medium Animal with a good Grapple check.... what's got the best Strength score.... Black Bear at 19? Crocadile ties; hmm... which is better... oh, a Deinonychus looks interesting, same strength, too... right number of HP, reasonable dex, good speed, and more natural armor! We have a winner (until 8th level, for Large wild shape). After Wildshape, that's a grapple modifier of +8. Not too bad.

I didn't leave you twitching too badly, did I? I could tone it down if you'd prefer. Then again, I am keeping things as core as possible, except for the Gestalt aspect....

Edit:
Let's see... 4 CR 5's for 2 ECL 5 characters is ... 3,000 xp each. Nifty. That's next level. Level now or later?