Guk

Overview of Guk

An ancient ruined city located off of Innothule Swamp, legend has it that Guk was once home to the trolls. The upper part of the city is fairly intact and home to numerous frogloks now. The lower section of the city is where the most ancient ruins can be found. Rumors persist of an undead legion of frogloks being built up in the depths of the ruins.

The citadel of Guk has many rewards for those successful bands of adventurers that brave this dangerous region. The frogloks here have been toughened by the years of fighting the trolls of Grobb and make excellent adversaries upon which to hone skills of blade or spell.

The Ruins of Old Guk are perhaps one of the most notorious regions upon the whole of Antonica. Many an adventurer has lost their life here, but a few have successfully emerged to bring forth ancient treasures out of the dank tunnels.

Lower Guk is an excellent training ground for seasoned adventures of all professions. Here, one may hone their skills in preparation for more treacherous battles.

Background Lore

Upper Guk

When the frogloks first arrived upon the shores of Innothule, they were exposed to the cannibalistic race of the trolls and were horrified. The froglok nomads immediately began an assault on the trollish citadel beneath the swamps, hoping to rid the world of what they viewed as evil abominations. The trolls fought viciously but were ultimately unable to withstand the froglok armies who pushed them out of their city and took it over.

Outraged and fueled by a spiteful, malignant hatred, a powerful troll shaman entered his former city and began a massacre of froglok citizens with his own bare hands. As the soldiers and guardsmen began to arrive upon the scene the troll shaman, drenched in froglok flesh and blood, conjured the very power of Innoruuk. This destructive blast killed the shaman as well as many hundreds of froglok witnesses. A curse was left in the wake of the blast that condemned the souls of the froglok victims to Innoruuk's Cauldron - their physical forms condemned to forever walk as the undead. The surviving frogloks persevered in building the stronghold of Upper Guk, where they continued to struggle with the trolls of Grobb to this very day.

The top levels of Guk are fairly intact and are heavily defended by froglok warriors, shamans and wizards. Shallow water passages created by water seeping in through the thin earth of the swamps above flow generously throughout the top portion of the city.

Both crocodiles and froglok guardsmen patrol these waterways, making travel difficult for those who have earned the distrust of the other peaceful froglok citizens. The passages eventually empty into large, subterranean ponds.

The bottom levels of the city are more cavernous, separated by the large underground bogs which can be crossed via small wooden planks. Over the years the frogloks have begun to cultivate fungusmen guardians, growing them from the rich swampy earth.

The Ancient Crocodile

This monstrous reptile is rumoured to have been a resent of Upper Guk since long before the arrival of the frogloks. Ambivalent toward all races and beings, this ancient behemoth is revered by the froglok citizen as an earth god of the swamp.

The Froglok Shin Lord

Once of the last of the ancient froglok paladin order, The Shin Lord defends the halls of Guk against the troll menace as well as the undead ghouls that continually pour from the lower halls. Stories are told of his ancient holy blade and the ferocity he uses to wield it against all manner of evil creatures that would threaten his brethren.

Lower Guk

When the dead began to rise and hordes of unearthly, horrific creatures began to fill the walls of the grand lower citadel, the surviving frogloks quickly retreated to the upper levels of the city. The lower level of Guk has since fallen to disrepair, now a system of ancient ruins slowly being eaten away by the swamp.

Rumors have been heard upon the whispering winds of Norrath that speak of an undead legion of frogloks being built upon in the depths of the ruins. Some say that the froglok hero and king that had successfully led his people in the campaign against the cannibalistic trolls had risen again in the height of Innoruuk's curse. The frogloks of the upper city, unaffected by the curse, deny these rumors - unable to fathom, the possibility of one of their revered heroes being subject to such a debased torment.

The lower city is now a system of muddy, dank caverns and collapsing ruins of ancient troll and froglok architecture. These caverns are made up of numerous dark, catacombs were roots and rocks stick out of the walls and floors. Everywhere, water drips from the ceiling feeding the numerous underground steams, rivers, and pools. The tunnels and caverns are sparsely populated by various types of swamp plants, vines, and algae. Most of the water here is murky, brown with some stagnant pools covered by thin layers of slime. Mud puddles abound.

Rotting wooden boards and branches make up the frogloks' bridges, doors, and furniture. Other froglok structures are made of mud and tree branches. All of the large buildings are of ancient troll architecture made from huge slabs of roughly cut gray stone and brown mud blocks, with crudely carved statues, stairs, and doorways. Some of these ancient troll buildings have been converted to froglok temples and such, and have froglok-sized wooden furniture and mud statues.

The Ghoul Lord

Led by he hero Hoptor Thaggelum, the frogloks were eventually successful in driving the trolls out of the ancient city beneath the swamp. However, the victory would be a shallow one at best, for the curse of a powerful troll shaman and the conjuration of Innoruuk's very hatred would kill nearly half of the froglok citizens. Among them was Hoptor Thaggelum.

In recent times, Hoptor has been resurrected by the power of Innoruuk; under the control of the hateful prince the Ghoul Lord builds an army of undead frogloks within the catacombs of Lower Guk.

Deepest Guk

Beneath the rotting stones of Guk and the surrounding swamplands lies the ancient under city of the trolls. Long thought lost, these ruins now shelter a variety of unspeakable horrors. Yet this foul sprawl of mud and stone contains an even darker secret. A cabal of froglok necromancers converted to the service of Innoruuk by the magic of an evil cauldron. They seek only to build their strength and strike back at the newly blessed frogloks that have taken the swamps above.

Dangers

Upper Guk

Guk is fairly safe for all goodly people of Norrath who have not imposed their blades upon a froglok citizen. Trolls, however, are hated by the frogloks and will immediately be attacked if they are spotted.

The terrain is very moist, spurring the growth of particular moss which secretes slippery residue. This hazard has caused many adventurers to fall to their deaths.

Lower Guk

The undead legions that inhabit the Ruins of Old Guk are malevolent toward all races. Those foolish travelers who venture into these dark, swampy catacombs without support from many of their most trusted companions will find themselves at the merciless hunger of the undead.