Gonn Orta

[Erol of Backford]

So would he know you helped save his baby if the PC's went to his castle after the Cradle affair but didn't mention it?

How much would PC's be paid by Boshbisil to help train the trollkin?

What would the PC's really be paid in coin or trade goods for a piece of truestone empty or with spells?

Would Gonn Orta trade with Gondo Holst?

Will Gonn Orta pay for information?

What would he pay for a baby flying mount, a hippogriff or a griffin?

 

 

[Darius West]

Good questions.  My take is as follows:

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

So would he know you helped save his baby if the PC's went to his castle after the Cradle affair but didn't mention it?

Gonn's a giant, not an all-knowing demigod.  Yes, you'd need to tell him, but saying that the Cradle made it down the river unmolested would be a great start.  It is very likely that he knows about the success of the cradle within the year, and his "agents" will likely report on who helped, but that is no guarantee that a roll-call of heroes is taken and presented to Gonn, or that he remembers every name on the list. Notable fighters may stand out. If memory serves me, Argrath performed the Drinking the Giant's Cauldron hero quest with Gonn Orta before discovering Gonn's baby problem, then he went to the Zola Fel cult, and pointed out their obligation, and then roused a defense for the cradle.  This is what gives Argrath the power to employ giants during the Hero Wars.

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

How much would PC's be paid by Boshbisil to help train the trollkin?

 The training rules and prices are on page 416-417.  There may actually be a mark-up because trollkin are not good students, and there are formal obligations between a teacher and student, that will be embarrassing to the teacher if it gets out they trained trollkin, even for a ton of silver.

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

What would the PC's really be paid in coin or trade goods for a piece of truestone empty or with spells?

Gonn Orta prefers to trade magic items for magic items afaik.  Odds on Gonn will always prefer to trade bulky trade goods over those fiddly little coins.  Each gold wheel is like a tiny speck to him.

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Would Gonn Orta trade with Gondo Holst?

I play it that Gonn doesn't know that Gondo is an Ogre, and that Gondo is an illuminate who cannot be detected as chaotic, otherwise every lhankor mhy with a detect chaos spell or stormbull initiate would just blow his cover.  As it stands, the chaos creatures in his wagons are impossible to hide from such spells, but he can claim they are being sold to the Lunars for some upcoming gladiatorial spectacle.  Let's face facts, it's hard to hide one's true identity in Glorantha.

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Will Gonn Orta pay for information?

Gonn is more likely to trade for information, or provide it gratis to people who have cultivated his friendship.  Yes, he might sell information that only he knows for a god price, but that price is probably a magical item, not money.

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

What would he pay for a baby flying mount, a hippogriff or a griffin?

He will pay the going market rate.  Gonn is a canny merchant who has "agents abroad in the world", (or friends if you prefer) like Joh Mith.  He knows the worth of things, and likely enjoys discussing prices and international news via mindspeech with vistors.

Edited September 23, 2022 by Darius West

[Erol of Backford]

There was a crazy amount listed for truestone. What is a rough idea what it would go for in trade goods/coin/jewelry/gems? Say one that was blank and could hold 8 rune points of spells?

[g33k]

16 hours ago, Darius West said:

 ... Gonn's a giant, not an all-knowing demigod...

Not even the greatest Gods of Glorantha are "all-knowing."
At a guess, Yelm is one of the closest -- maybe even the closest -- what with his broad overview from on-high and a nightly passage through the Underworld.

Ernalda's "everything on the earth, everything within the earth" dominion is also quite broad, as is Orlath's "everywhere the wind blows or the air flows;" together, they probably surpass Yelm.

===

But in fact, true Giants (like Gonn Orta) are demigods in scope, or even full-on (not demi-) gods.
 

18 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

So would he know you helped save his baby if the PC's went to his castle after the Cradle affair but didn't mention it?

...

I'd go with "MGF" here -- what would make for the best answer at your table?

[French Desperate WindChild]

On 9/23/2022 at 5:40 AM, Erol of Backford said:

 

So would he know you helped save his baby if the PC's went to his castle after the Cradle affair but didn't mention it?

 

First mgf, however some thoughts :

the pc were masked so those who were not in the secret would not know them

were the pc Argrath’s minions or just mercernaries with some loyalties ? If not minions no one has to share their name except if…

did they do something so heroic that among the mercenaries they are considered as the saviors of the cradle ?  Normally the true hero is Argrath not them 

then when do the pc meet the giant ? Is still Argrath on see ? Because except Argrath and few of his party who knows that Gonn Orta is the giant he met ?

so in my opinion, Gonn Orta doesn’t know and did not try to know

then the pc meet Gonn Orta. They may explain that they saved a giant baby (again without knowing this giant is the giant) 

for sure Gonn Orta would want to know how it happened, how is the child, …

pc should give some information than only those who were in the cradle can know, to prove their words

then yes their would gain some benefit (access to more gears than other merchants, maybe some bargain advantages, etc…)

 

[Zit]

We recently played exactly this scene, about 3 seasons after the craddle episode. The PCs learnt a few days before that the baby was Gonn Orta's. They were heading there for a specific request to Gonn Orta.

I played Gonn Orta as a comtemplative ancient hero not that much interested in mundane affairs (except good trade), so the first task for the PCs was to arouse his attention engouh for him to listen to them, which mainly included convincing him that they really defended the craddle and where able to provide news. I think that this peacefull session worked well.

(this is related to my post about trollball, since a game is to be played there).

 

In my game, Gondo Holst is a foreigner, so I suppose he doesn't know the route to Gonn Orta's castle (which BTW goes through the troll hills since the new edition) but may be interested in finding it, whatever the means.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Zit

[Erol of Backford]

2 hours ago, Zit said:

this is related to my post about trollball, since a game is to be played there

I'll take a good look at it as 2 of the PC's are Agmori and like wresting with Trolls...

[PhilHibbs]

Be patient when talking with Gonn Orta, he is not a fast talker (I accidentally played him in a freeform once)

[Erol of Backford]

Is anyone able to do a size comparison between Waha, the Faceless Statue and Gonn Orta? If Garrath is say 6' than Orta is 432' tall? Wasn't the Faceless Statue like 300m?

[Joerg]

The size of the Faceless statue is given in relation to the Rubble Walls in the historical maps of Pavis in Pavis: Gateway to Adventure. Its body has ann outstretched arm on the western wall and its feet across the river. That's more in the mile high range, I would guess away from that data.

The size of Thog (the giant who conquered the city of Pavis with Jolanti allies) is harder to pinpoint. There is a hill range in northern Prax called the Thogsarm Hills that is definitely longer than the entire expanse of the Rubble. The size of his Jolanti is unknown, but their bodies now are part of the wall, making it monolithic.

The giants following Paragua to the battle of Robcradle carried the original slabs of rock enclosing the outline of Old Pavis. How big does a (lesser) giant have to be to carry a slab of rock 6m thick and covering quite an area?

Gonn Orta's size when sitting in his castle is given in Griffin Mountain. IMO the size of Elder Giants and True Dragons depends on how much of their environment they choose to absorb into their body. Gonn Orta may also have a "mountain body", a peak in the Rockwoods near the Pass that is him as much as the humanoid body sitting in the castle is.

The manifestation of Waha in the battle against Paragua's giants would have roughly matched the Faceless Statue, give or take a few dozen meters. Waha's digging size (and tool) may have been as gigantic when he created the Good Canal (and I wonder how Belintar manifested when he dug the New River).

[Erol of Backford]

So from the clip Mr. Hibbs posted the actual size of Orta is only as he choses to physically manifest and more like a dream dragon? Tobros Mountains as an example. Gonn Orta would be the same?

Mr. Zit, curious where on any map was your trollball game played? I love that idea. Did any of Orta's giants act as referees?

[GMKen]

We know that when Arkat defeated Gbaji, he divided it into pieces to be hidden around Glorantha.  One of those pieces ended up somewhere in the Elder Wilds.

I’m guessing that Gonn Orta is one of the few beings alive who knows where that piece is hidden.

In my Glorantha, it’s Gbaji’s spleen that is hidden in a secret valley in the mountains behind the Troll Hills, in a Mostali-constructed death-trap laden dungeon.

[M Helsdon]

On 9/25/2022 at 5:52 PM, Erol of Backford said:

Tobros Mountains as an example.

Tobros was the son of a goddess.... There are many types of giant in Glorantha, and at some point in the God Time the really big ones fought with the gods. Gonn Orta is perhaps a small and relatively young example of the type who become mountains. Tobros is a mountain range.

[jajagappa]

7 hours ago, GMKen said:

I’m guessing that Gonn Orta is one of the few beings alive who knows where that piece is hidden.

That's because he's sitting on it.... 😉 

[Erol of Backford]

Maybe its Speaking Wheel and not what you are suggesting!?

[jajagappa]

14 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

Maybe its Speaking Wheel and not what you are suggesting!?

I wasn't suggesting which part 🙂 - just that it would be difficult to find unless you get Gonn Orta to stand up!  (And as far as we know he doesn't do that until 1638 and the Battle of Dwernapple.)

[Erol of Backford]

12 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

it would be difficult to find unless you get Gonn Orta to stand up

But if you save his child, he sponsors your trollball team and you are Jon Mith's trusted friends as well. What else might you do to get Mr. Orta to let you have the pick of his treasures.

[Erol of Backford]

8 hours ago, GMKen said:

Gbaji’s spleen

Just curious if something like that is on the menu in the back alley kiosks in Lur Nop!?

[jajagappa]

7 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

What else might you do to get Mr. Orta to let you have the pick of his treasures.

Be the Arkat/Argrath who he recognizes as one who can be entrusted with a piece of Gbaji (and won't be immediately tempted by whatever it offers).

[Erol of Backford]

But isn't Gonn Orta illuminated after sitting and thinking for 100's of years and so he wouldn't really care about the Bright God's parts. Beesides he's got lots of other good stuff the PC's would want besides body parts!

[PhilHibbs]

7 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

But isn't Gonn Orta illuminated after sitting and thinking for 100's of years and so he wouldn't really care about the Bright God's parts.

Illumination doesn't force you to change your mind. Arkat was illuminated, and he hated Gbaji.

[mfbrandi]

4 hours ago, PhilHibbs said:

Illumination doesn't force you to change your mind. Arkat was illuminated, and he hated Gbaji.

Well, he looked inside himself and was burned by what he found. The man had problems. But there is solace in the Dark.

[Erol of Backford]

Does Gonn Ota still eat or does his mass simply draw sustenance from the surrounding rock and earth that isn't part of his essence already? The other giants at the Castle eat herd animals and the like but what about the big guy?

[Squaredeal Sten]

42 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

Does Gonn Ota still eat or does his mass simply draw sustenance from the surrounding rock and earth that isn't part of his essence already? The other giants at the Castle eat herd animals and the like but what about the big guy?

Griffin Mountain indicated that the giants as a group eat infrequently.  The elves appear to provide an annual caravan of greens, and Praxians sometimes trade a herd of meat.    But it  says nothing about Gonn Orta's individual appetite.  

I suspect that the frequency of giants'  meals is inverse to their size, maybe an exponential function.  So Gonn Orta might eat every decade or every century or two.  At the other extreme a small giant only as tall as a two story house, such as you might meet walking the path by Snakepipe Hollow, might say "Fee, fi. Fo, fum" and eat you.

 

[Joerg]

1 hour ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

Griffin Mountain indicated that the giants as a group eat infrequently.  The elves appear to provide an annual caravan of greens, and Praxians sometimes trade a herd of meat.    But it  says nothing about Gonn Orta's individual appetite.  

The food deliveries detailed in Griffin Mountain are for Boshbisil rather than Gonn Orta. I guess the two kids might get a share.