Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Strangerside Scholar: The Strangers We Don't Welcome

Big. Green. Stupid. They smash stuff. They kill stuff. They take stuff. This is the average Everwayan's view of the Ogres, and who can blame them? We all remember the havoc that broke loose when the the Ogre "diplomats" arrived in Everway. The Host family has barely recovered from their "visit".

The Ogres came out of nowhere. Eight feet tall. Massive. Lustful. Demanding.They arrived from  beyond the farthest realms that the Chamber Platinum has mapped. They have trouble speaking the Tongue, and they have their own gobbling nonsense language. Some say they are massively mutated humans, warped by the energies of the planes beyond. Others say they are the offspring of giants who coupled with demons. And it IS strange that so many of them are apparently Spherewalkers.
http://that-figures.blogspot.com/2011/09/news-sideshows-skaar-son-of-hulk.html
Ogres leave a path of destruction behind them. They have no skill for governance. Bullying is their only recourse other than violence. The Ogres' so-called Simple Empire is nothing more than a spherepath - one littered with at every step with burned farms, forests, and cities. They turned realms upside down and shook them until their pockets were empty.

Will these barbarians arrive in force in Everway? Rumors of their approach abound. Their free range is further evidence of the weakness and corruption of the Emeralds. And what if the barbarians never come in force? Who will save us from the Emeralds then?


Ogres

  • Fire 7
  • Earth 7
  • Air 2
  • Water 2
Ogres prefer brute force weapons such as giant axes and great swords. They are very resistant to magic and poison, but surprisingly, they can be readily subdued by the sound of harps and by broken jars releasing sweet-smelling perfumes. 

Most individual Ogres cannot spherewalk, and will require non-Ogric guides to walk between spheres. However, Ogre Hordes have a collective power, Gatecrashing, which enables a Horde to use a gate to spherewalk en masse to another realm. This often damages the gates on one or both sides of the path. 


Boris Stremlin invented these creatures a decade or more ago. The visual reference for them in his Everway campaign was Shrek. We've chosen a more dignified visual reference, but feel free to take these creatures in either direction in your campaign.

3 comments:

  1. The ogres I invented were not exactly patterned on Shrek. They came in a variety of hues (the most prominent one called himself "Violet Terror"), were scaly, and had toxic blood that caused hallucinations. Although vulgar loud, and cannibalistic, they were actually fairly good speakers and drawn to important gatherings if it meant an opportunity to display their power (Violet Terror simply nominated himself King and Ambassador of his realm because he wanted to travel to Everway).

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  2. Now it is all coming back to me Boris. Thanks for your comments here. I forgot about Violet Terror! Of course, the Strangerside Scholar isn't always reliable either. In this post, he is channelling the view of the average clan matriarch while also channelling a bit of Cafafy.

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