Gonn Orta

[AlHazred]

Glorantha being what it is, I suppose at some point Gonn Orta ate a bunch of walktapi, and now he never needs to eat again!

[Zit]

On 9/25/2022 at 6:52 PM, Erol of Backford said:

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?

We're playing it with QW (actually HQ) and on a forum, so it's going to me more narrative. The PCs are preparing to train with one of the teams and it is apparently enough to have the players feel very uncomfortable : they cannot use their usual strengths (no magic, only blunt weapons, stronger opponents). And one of them plays a Durulz, to whom the Uz team manager (Gerag Midem from the Elder Wilds) proposed to be the ball, but I'm still waiting for her reply. The field is in the middle of Gonn Orta's castle.

A few years ago I played a very pleasant trollball table top game during the Eternal Convention in Bacharach. I had very good time, even if I stupidly lost (I think Soltakss must remember it).

[Erol of Backford]

7 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

"Fee, fi. Fo, fum"

I have not heard that in a while, made me laugh and then I thought of this:

https://georgeromeros.tumblr.com/post/662142520269127680/horrorfilmgifs-army-of-darkness-1992-dir-sam

Too funny.

[Erol of Backford]

2 hours ago, Zit said:

And one of them plays a Durulz, to whom the Uz team manager (Gerag Midem from the Elder Wilds) proposed to be the ball, but I'm still waiting for her reply.

The duck is smaller than a trollkin and would be more aerodynamic so passing would be enhanced no? I mean they are a duck...

[soltakss]

On 9/27/2022 at 3:08 PM, GMKen said:

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.

What do you think the Vampire of Gork Hills guarded?

Edited September 30, 2022 by soltakss

[AlHazred]

3 hours ago, soltakss said:

What do you think the Vampire of Tork Hills guarded?

What do you think the Vampire of Tork Hills is?

[Erol of Backford]

It matters not to me if the Mad Sultanate of Tork is the Vampire or not. Gonn Orta is maybe sitting on Speaking Wheel, a golden nugget broken from the body of the Bright God...

A better question for this thread is what monsters are guarding Boshbisil's Another Cave? Any ideas?

And what sorts of treasure is inside it? Yes it could be Speaking Wheel or a pancreas from someone famously full of light... Any better ideas as to what is stored in there? Toldat's sword, the unbreakable sword, Tada's something? 

I wonder if you had a pet krarshtkid could you dig from the other side of the mountain without Gonn Orta seeing you and get into Another Cave cave from the back side?

[Squaredeal Sten]

6 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

It matters not to me if the Mad Sultanate of Tork is the Vampire or not. Gonn Orta is maybe sitting on Speaking Wheel, a golden nugget broken from the body of the Bright God...

A better question for this thread is what monsters are guarding Boshbisil's Another Cave? Any ideas?

And what sorts of treasure is inside it? Yes it could be Speaking Wheel or a pancreas from someone famously full of light... Any better ideas as to what is stored in there? Toldat's sword, the unbreakable sword, Tada's something? 

I wonder if you had a pet krarshtkid could you dig from the other side of the mountain without Gonn Orta seeing you and get into Another Cave cave from the back side?

According to Griffin Mountain, which is the source so far, the giants at Gonn Orta's castle don't live in or have much of a cave.  Gonn Orta is too big for any cave I have seen, and I have seen Carlsbad Caverns.   Boshbisil's  stuff is not guarded by monsters - he is, essentially, a "monster" himself, though a civil one.  And has friends, the biggest one being Gonn Orta himself.

Spoiler

Nor is the castle actually anything we think of when picturing a castle.  It's just a pass blocked off with a wall at each end.  Boshbisil keeps most of his stuff in a set of stone silos, accessible from the tops.  The rest is really on a rock shelf in a cliff from what I recall.  I'd think it would be more easily approached by flying.

But if you want him to have a cave in your Glorantha, go for it.   This one might be your model:  https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/worlds-largest-cave

 

 

 

 

 

[jajagappa]

10 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

It matters not to me if the Mad Sultanate of Tork is the Vampire or not. 

You're confusing Tork (which sits between Imther and Jord) with the Gork's Hills (which are in the far north of the Elder Wilds bordering the Redlands).

(Of course, given the nature of Rumors, perhaps it is the rumor which has it wrong???)

3 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

According to Griffin Mountain, which is the source so far, the giants at Gonn Orta's castle don't live in or have much of a cave. 

See p.178/179 of the pdf for the entries "22. A Cave" and "23. Another Cave" - they are where Boshbisil and Gonn Orta store their treasures, particularly the latter.

10 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

A better question for this thread is what monsters are guarding Boshbisil's Another Cave? Any ideas?

Nightmares.  Monstrous Darkness Elementals.  Madness Spirits. 

We know Gonn Orta was in Fronela in the First Age, which means he came back through Peloria or along the Rockwoods in Dragon Pass at some time to his current home.  He might have stopped in Spol, the Yolp Mountains, or Shadows Dance along the way to gain such monsters to guard his treasures.

Or, if you want to place Speaking Wheel there - that's your "monster" as it continues to whisper the maddening and diabolical schemes of Gbaji.

[soltakss]

56 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

You're confusing Tork (which sits between Imther and Jord) with the Gork's Hills (which are in the far north of the Elder Wilds bordering the Redlands).

I did, my mistake.

 

[Erol of Backford]

Elkoi's Ring:

Say the PC's have this and befriend a young giant or two. The first thing I think of is food and possibly beer. Even though some of the Griffin Mountain material makes it seem that giants don't eat frequently maybe young giants have ravenous appetites? What does everyone think about quantities of food needed/desired by say a young 3M tall giant?

Has anyone had a young giant as a PC?

[AlHazred]

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Elkoi's Ring:

Say the PC's have this and befriend a young giant or two. The first thing I think of is food and possibly beer. Even though some of the Griffin Mountain material makes it seem that giants don't eat frequently maybe young giants have ravenous appetites? What does everyone think about quantities of food needed/desired by say a young 3M tall giant?

Has anyone had a young giant as a PC?

I mean, the last time the ring's use went awry, a few giants went to Dykene are practically leveled the citadel. But if your PC wants to take the risk, that's fine, I'm sure. 🙂

GM mentions that the older giants don't eat very often, but when they do it's in prodigious, economy-threatening quantities. Younger giants don't seem to eat quite so much, but all giants have the Disorder rune in spades, so any plans involving the giants should definitely not survive contact with the enemy...

[Erol of Backford]

17 minutes ago, AlHazred said:

befriend

Befriend, not command to do bidding. Say Mr. Quicksmash wants to be in an arena? Well trollball fulfills that needs does it not? I was thinking a small giant ridding a small dino might be interesting? Hey the evil dudes in Snakpipe Hollow have a friend don't they?

I see your point with Dykene but what were the circumstances? Assume the giant reacted positively to begin with and then the PC's make them armor, give them some honest friendship... what could go wrong? It might be fun to roleplay for a while, then the giant grows bigger, wants to go home as they are lonely or want to find a mate...

[AlHazred]

39 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

I see your point with Dykene but what were the circumstances? Assume the giant reacted positively to begin with and then the PC's make them armor, give them some honest friendship... what could go wrong? It might be fun to roleplay for a while, then the giant grows bigger, wants to go home as they are lonely or want to find a mate...

Sure, that should absolutely work. In the short term. But my reading of giants in Glorantha, eventually Disorder wins out and something goes awry, except in very rare cases like Gonn Orta (who's definitely in the Heroic or even Superheroic tier which defies generalities anyway).

On 9/29/2022 at 9:08 PM, Erol of Backford said:

And what sorts of treasure is inside it? Yes it could be Speaking Wheel or a pancreas from someone famously full of light...

Unrelatedly, how bad would it be for the player characters if, after much chicanery and shenanigans, they managed to acquire the pancreas from Boshbisil's cave, only to find it's not Gbaji's pancreas, but rather Eagle-Eye Gjorni's? "I get that a lot! Similarity in pronunciation, don't you know! Anyway, thanks for the organ back! In return, here's a treasure map that's guaranteed, I say, guaranteed, to lead to Gbaji's liver!"

Edited October 4, 2022 by AlHazred

[Erol of Backford]

37 minutes ago, AlHazred said:

Disorder wins out and something goes awry

Yes for sure, a drunken giant would involve maximum game fun. I love where this could go!

[Erol of Backford]

2 hours ago, AlHazred said:

Eagle-Eye Gjorni

Why would he have a map to the devil's body parts? Are you suggesting because he's a Lunar he's somehow infected with Chaos?!

[Bill the barbarian]

On 9/28/2022 at 6:33 PM, Erol of Backford said:

The duck is smaller than a trollkin and would be more aerodynamic so passing would be enhanced no? I mean they are a duck...

And the feathers!

 

On 9/30/2022 at 2:18 AM, Squaredeal Sten said:

But if you want him to have a cave in your Glorantha, go for it.   This one might be your model:  https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/worlds-largest-cave

 

Fit for giants!

 

On 9/30/2022 at 5:52 AM, jajagappa said:

(Of course, given the nature of Rumors, perhaps it is the rumor which has it wrong???)

On 9/30/2022 at 2:18 AM, Squaredeal Sten said:

Are you besmirching the legendary and famed Rumour Tables! Oh, you have gone too far... it is A/ too awful to contemplate...

 

5 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

. what could go wrong?

go wrong, go wrong. go wrong....

 

5 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

I was thinking a small giant ridding a small dino might be interesting?

Me too!

 

 

[PhilHibbs]

18 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Has anyone had a young giant as a PC?

  There was a 2 meter tall giant in my old RQ3 campaign. And I ran an interlude where they all played full size* giants attempting to build a cradle whilst being attacked by dwarves.

* By this I mean the rather feeble 12m giants in the RQ3 rules, not real giants.

Edited October 5, 2022 by PhilHibbs

[Erol of Backford]

We'd use a young giant no larger than the biggest Great Troll... sound like this will be fun.

Does Gonn Orta fight with Dwarves in recent times? I assume they just don't trust each other any longer but not sure abut open hostility?

[AlHazred]

14 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Why would he have a map to the devil's body parts? Are you suggesting because he's a Lunar he's somehow infected with Chaos?!

My memory might be serving me wrong, but I think he's a wild-eyed prospector type who always has a treasure map handy. Who knows where he gets them from? Maybe he's a Hobo Hero, and is able to sift through the trash heaps in the God Plane?

[jajagappa]

3 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Does Gonn Orta fight with Dwarves in recent times? I assume they just don't trust each other any longer but not sure abut open hostility?

Not since he freed the Jolanti at the end of the First Age - I mean that's recent for him, but it is all relative.

The giants are known to visit the Imther Mountains periodically.  I believe it is primarily to visit relatives there (the mountains), not to visit the dwarfs.  But... it is conceivable that there was some arrangement made between Gonn Orta and those dwarfs (and in fact I rather like the idea, though it would not be for metal goods - Gonn Orta sends his giants to deliver specific blocks of stone of a specific size/type, the dwarfs deliver certain clockwork-type mechanisms for some future Cradle).

[Erol of Backford]

7 hours ago, jajagappa said:

the dwarfs deliver certain clockwork-type mechanisms for some future Cradle

Maybe they need something like the silver statue for this idea from the Haunted Ruins in Battle Valley, a different take on that HQ Adventure?

[JRE]

I really like the idea of the dwarves and Giants reaching an stalemate after the Jolanti wars, and then moving into trade. They share similar spaces, so it makes sense to reach an accomodation.

That could mean most of the goods stolen from cradles were actually dwarven in origin, which would make them more valuable to the Jrusteli, who could understand or even reverse engineer them, as a good part of their magic and technology was stolen / traded by the dwarves. Not to mention the difficulties of crafting small objects for giants. 

[Erol of Backford]

I have been looking at my early 80's Griffin Mountain book so much the last few months the binding gave way.

I took to the local printer, the lady asked me if she should throw it away for me!?

I almost became emotionally illiterate with her.

In the end I had the spiral binding added for like $5-6 and she added a clear plastic protective cover to boot.

I think its good for another 20 years.

[Bill the barbarian]

18 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

I have been looking at my early 80's Griffin Mountain book so much the last few months the binding gave way.

 

Mine fell apart a couple of decades ago, so I ended up putting it in a three ring binder... works well and I can add pages of notes or shuffle pages to meet my needs. A good situation overall... add a PDF and Bob's yer uncle and he makes a wicked Bison Burger too!