Gord the Rogue

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Gord the Rogue is a young rogue 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 Gary left TSR.

Series overview

The series follows the progress of the orphan beggar Gord, from his lowly youth to celestial heights as the avatar of neutrality. These books appealed to a largely male readership, with writing styles reminiscent of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian 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. Although by no means high fantasy, the books 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 travelling far afield to the Sea of Dust, on a quest for a 'theorpart', 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 hertitage

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 theorparts. The goal is nothing less than to free Tharizdun, the long-imprisoned god of ultimate evil and entropy, and to finally destroy him.

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. 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).

External links

• Chris Siren's Gord's Greyhawk

• Txt-file with summaries by Paul Stormberg