Gord

Gord was an archaeologist of the Kolshet Empire who volunteered to be possessed by a Hungry Ghost. They now serve as a general of the Kolshet Empire.

## Biography

Gord learned about Hungry Ghosts through his research and got permission to find the method of summoning them and bring the method to the Kolshet Empire. In a book of apocryphal legends, he learned about a ziggurat on the demiplane of Leng, which this text claimed a number of insane night hags had found in ancient times, where they performed a number of dark rituals on themselves with the blessing of Nict, transforming themselves into a variety of monsters conventional mythology states were created either by Nict herself or by her children. One of these creations was the Hungry Ghost, a godlike entity claimed to be created from a child of Nict. While the Hungry Ghost was unable to manifest physically or possess creatures, the hags learned how to split off parts of it, which could then possess other creatures. Gord then decided to find the ziggurat on Leng, and learn the secrets of summoning aspects of the Hungry Ghost.

After a few years, Gord found a way to Leng, where he witnessed the exiled Dwarven King Claus Brightglory the Greater of Clan Tenclan working together with a dworc, who Gord identified as having been possessed by a Hungry Ghost, to create a fence of impaled corpses around the ziggurat. Knowing that he would be unable to get inside while there was a Hungry Ghost summoned, he left Leng and made his way to Ligurwia, to the stronghold of Clan Tenclan. There, he told the elder council about what King Claus was doing to those he captured, and the council decided that honour demanded a group of Clan Tenclan's champions go to Od Uul, a mountain stronghold on the Moriny Gazar steppe which King Claus had been given by Tsenkher Khan, the local ruler. As the heroes set off, Gord found them and told them that he would pay them for anything interesting or anything of historical value they uncovered, hoping that they would bring him the secret of summoning a Hungry Ghost.

After some months, it was learned through divination magics that, while King Claus Brightglory the Greater had been killed by the champions, the majority of them had then been killed by the Sleeping King, who had until that point been trapped in the ziggurat. The Sleeping King had since left Leng and gone to Alvheim to continue his ancient war with the elves, allowing Balthasar, one of the dwarven heroes who instead of dying had been transformed into a vampire lord loyal to the Sleeping King, to set up a cult within the ziggurat. Heroes were gathered from around the world, including one of the resurrected dwarven heroes, by Gord, who sent them first to clear out the ziggurat (which they did successfully), before sending them to fight against the Sleeping King. While they were fighting against the Sleeping King, Gord travelled to Leng and used magic crystals to record the Rites of Possession, having learned that all it took for Balthasar to be turned into a vampire was reading the wrong text. While the outcome of the fight with the Sleeping King is not known, the Sleeping King was ultimately resealed in Leng, with Gord having been and gone by that point.

Gord returned to the Kolshet Empire, where he turned in his findings to Keisara, who was very interested in the results of his work. After he gave the crystals (and suitable warnings to not read them herself), he volunteered to read the crystal tablet that would cause him to be possessed by a Hungry Ghost, so that she may have one as a valuable asset. Keisara's mages surrounded Gord with magic wardings meant to keep them safe from him (and, more importantly, anything possessing him), and he read the tablet. When he finished, a Hungry Ghost entered into his body, devouring his soul, and gaining a physical existence. Through a combination of Keisara negotiating with this Hungry Ghost, who was revealed to be the same one who had possessed the dworc, and magical compulsions, this creature, still calling itself Gord (though now feeling a desire to wear a cooking pot on their head), entered into Keisara's service, quickly becoming one of her generals.

Five years later, Zuel alerted Keisara that her old ally, Madhava, was trapped beneath the sea of the Blood Bayou, and that she had managed to break his bindings while her wife healed enough of his wounds that his regeneration could finish healing him. Keisara, too preoccupied to go herself, sent Gord with an invasion fleet, deciding that now was the time to add the Blood Bayou to her empire. Gord, as the fleet was approaching land, came across the party leaving the bayou with the children of Lindholm they had rescued, having killed Jack, the ruler of the land, and one of his subordinates. He and Serra wished each other good fortune before they went their separate ways.

## Powers and Abilities

Being a lask, at least on a physical level, Gord has tough, leathery hide and sharp claws. Their most powerful ability, though, is the Hungry Ghost's ability to devour the souls of living creatures nearby, as well as the ability to control the Feeders in the Night, lesser possessing entities associated with the Hungry Ghost.