Gord the Rogue
| Gord | |
|---|---|
| General info | |
| Home: | Free City of Greyhawk |
| Alignment: | Neutral |
| Gender: | Male |
| Species: | Human |
| Class: | Thief-Acrobat |
Gord the Rogue is a young thief who reluctantly becomes a crusader for neutrality. Gord the Rogue is also the name of the series of books written by Gary Gygax that continued the story of Gord once Gygax left TSR.
Appearance
Gord is small for a human, a hand's breath above five feet tall, slender and wiry. His eyes are iron-gray in color. He has black hair and olive-toned Oeridian skin (which also allows him to fit in among the Rhennee).
During a trip to Earth, he discovers a fondness for tequila. He is much more comfortable on worlds governed by sorcery and swords than on worlds governed by physics and machines, however.
Series overview
The series follows the progress of the orphan beggar Gord, from his lowly youth to celestial heights as the avatar of the Balance. These books appealed to a largely male readership, with writing styles reminiscent of Fritz Liber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series. Gord is somewhat less than heroic, but his early mentors, Gellor and Curley Greenleaf, continually steer him toward honorable ends. Eventually Gord is revealed to have a kinship with the enigmatic Cat Lord. The series also spawned a collection of short stories. The books also provide some world details otherwise missing from either of the First Edition Greyhawk Campaign box sets.
Individual novels
Saga of Old City was the first novel in TSR's Greyhawk Adventures series. It starts in Gord's childhood, and ends with his triumphant return to Greyhawk City as a young man and master thief. He learns his trade in the 'beggars' guild', and gets involved in the gang war touched off by the beggars encroaching on the official thieves' guild's territory. He travels and has a variety of swashbuckling adventures, ranging from participating in a war to liberating a young noblewoman held hostage.
Night Arrant is a collection of nine short stories about Gord's adventures, in his early twenties, in the City of Greyhawk.
Artifact of Evil is a continuation of Saga of Old City. This is the second, and final, Greyhawk Adventures novel written by Gygax that was published through TSR. An ancient artifact is uncovered, whose power could destroy their world. It is up to Gord and his companions to try and stop this artifact of evil from falling into the wrong hands.
Sea of Death has Gord traveling far afield to the Sea of Dust, on a quest for a 'theopart', hidden in a lost city. He must face rivals sent by demon lords; the psychopathic dwarf Obmi, who serves Zuggtmoy, and the drow elf priestess Eclavdra, serving Graz'zt. He meets and falls in love with Leda, a clone of Eclavdra. Leda impersonates Eclavdra and returns to the Abyss to impersonate her.
City of Hawks is a retelling of the events that occurred in Saga of Old City. Gord's rise from simple begger to master thief are detailed as is his search for his heritage
Come Endless Darkness continues where Sea of Death left off and has Gord continue his quest to stop Tharizdun & Lord Entropy from taking over the Multiverse.
Dance of Demons is the finale, in which Gord and Gellor enter the Abyss, on a mission from the world's most powerful forces of Balance, to retrieve the remaining theoparts. The goal is nothing less than to free Tharizdun, the long-imprisoned god of ultimate evil and entropy, and to finally destroy him.
Uncollected Short Stories
"At Moonset Blackcat Comes" is an early tale of Gord and his friend Chert, accepting a mission for the Cat Lord.
"Evening Odds," which appeared in an anthology of fiction inspired by Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion mythos, takes place some time after the events of Dance of Demons. Gord has been deposed from his position as the new Cat Lord and is traveling the alternate realities as a Champion of Balance. In the course of the story he upsets a plot by the archfiend Baphomet on modern Earth.
"The Return of Gord" is a caper story set during Gord's days as a master thief in the City of Greyhawk.
References
- Gygax, Gary. Artifact of Evil (TSR, 1986).
- Gygax, Gary. "At Moonset Blackcat Comes: A Tale of Gord of Greyhawk." Dragon #100 (TSR, 1985).
- Gygax, Gary. City of Hawks (New Infinities, 1987).
- Gygax, Gary. Come Endless Darkness (New Infinities, 1988).
- Gygax, Gary. Dance of Demons (New Infinities, 1988).
- Gygax, Gary. "Evening Odds." Pawn of Chaos. Clarkson, Ga: White Wolf Publishing, 1996
- Gygax, Gary. Night Arrant (New Infinities, 1987).
- Gygax, Gary. Saga of Old City (TSR, 1985).
- Gygax, Gary. Sea of Death (New Infinities, 1987).
- Gygax, Gary and K. R. Bourgoine. "The Return of Gord." Dragon #344 (Paizo Publishing, 2006).