More Powerful Ogres and Jungle Cats

[geneweigel]

I was reading this line the other day from Chapter 3 of SEA OF DEATH (1987):

Whether or not the dwarves had any idea of Gord's abilities, their directing him through the forest proved to be
exceptionally useful for the young adventurer. Once alone and concealed within the thick growth of the Briartangle's
southern verge, Gord transformed himself from man to panther. He was relieved to find that the armlet changed with
him, as did his other possessions.
There were dangerous beasts in the forest, monsters too, and occasional outlaw bands. Those that Gord was unable
to avoid either avoided him or discovered after a brief encounter that it was better not to attack such a creature. A black
leopard the size of a jaguar was an unusual creature, to say the least — too much of a match for lion, carnivorous ape,
or green forest ogre.

When I first read it I just assumed it was his character level dealing out punishment and the monsters assuming it is a new creature on a primitive level. However, reading it again its almost like a statemnt of fact in the World of Greyhawk (READ: D&D/AD&D). SO I just thought that staring at vitals might bring about some theories:

Leopard AC 6 HD 3+2 XP 150 + 4/hp

Jaguar AC 6 HD 4 + 1 XP 205 + 5/hp

Lion AC 5/6 HD 5 + 2 XP 300 + 6/hp

Carnivorous Ape AC 6 HD 5 XP 170 + 5/hp

Ogre AC 5 HD 4 + 1 XP 90 + 5/hp

Ogre Leader AC 4 HD 30-33 hp XP 225 + 8/hp (inferred HD by To Hit A.C. 0 = 6-7HD)

Ogre Chieftain AC 3 HD 34-37 hp XP 225 + 8/hp (inferred HD by To Hit A.C. 0 = 6-7HD)


Is a "green forest ogre" different from a standard ogre?

The other tales of Gord mention "great ogres" (and trolls) which I just assumed were all leader/chieftains drafted for war.

[GRWelsh]

I don't remember any other reference to a green forest ogre. I had assumed that it was just a normal ogre with skin coloration adapted to its environment, perhaps with some hide in foliage %, surprise bonus, and maybe a special brachiation move. A forest ogre could be to a normal ogre like what a losel is to an orc -- maybe some kind of bestial and/or demonic cross-breed. But it would not be significantly stronger than a normal ogre due to the context of that passage.

I also assumed "great ogres" (and trolls) were just leader/chieftain versions of those races, although it did remind me of the CHAINMAIL Fantasy Supplement with the "true trolls" distinction, so who knows? Also, there seem to be plenty of examples of lesser/greater distinctions of monsters, so more formidable versions of these races with their own proportionately stronger leaders and chieftains are certainly within the realm of possibility.

Somewhere I read about an idea for ogres wearing demon armor... I wish I had the link. I liked that idea, and it made me think of ogre variations, like ogres with armor and weapons forged in the Abyss, ogres that are actually from the Abyss (think of how Abyssal energies will transform a humanoid into a bodak, for example), and/or ogre-demon crossbreeds to spice up and add variation to big humanoid encounters.

P. S. I found the link:

Lost Temple of Demogorgon in issue #120 followed on the Abyss series. This blurb is worth mentioning too:

"Ogres in demon armor have been spotted in the hills near Irongate. When the PCs investigate they discover a ancient temple, and a death knight facing a dilemma."

Not interested in 3.5 edition material, but I like the "demon armor" image.

[geneweigel]

Heh, these Greyhawk sites are like haunted houses for original Greyhawk fans...

<<<<CREAK>>>

"BEHOLD!"

<<WAILS IN THE DISTANCE>>>

"THE CHAMBER OF THE EDITION ERAS!"

<<An animatronic Rob Kuntz being stretched on a rack. In the back an animatronic torturer bricks up a map that you can only make out the name of: "City of Stoink".>>>



In DANCE OF DEMONS (1988), Kostchtchie has undescribed new monsters (his MMII entry has the greater leucrottas, big ass white dragon and summoning babaus and barl-guras but only a reference to being served by frost giants.) called demon-giants and demon-ogres:

He had dismissed Vastyi the Toadmaster to return to Oerth and harry the realm of Iuz there. Kostchtchie and his
battalions of demon-ogres and demon-giants now commanded the left front, Yeenoghu the right, and Vuron the central
force — that last despite the albino's disgrace at having lost the Eye of Deception.

[geneweigel]

I just noticed that greater leucrottas appeared in 2E but were unlike the Kostchtchie descriptions:

1983 MMII:

A pair of leucrotta of the largest size (AC3; MV 18"; HD 9; hp 2x49; #AT 1; D 8-1 8; SD rear kicks [2 for 2-7 hp damage each) serve as his constant guards and companions.

1995 MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM ANNUAL summarized:

#app 1-3, AC 4, MV 18, HD 8, #AT 1, D 3d6 or by shapechanged animal bonus (note: keeps teeth/no kicks), SA/SD: shapechange to quadraped: horse, griffin, owlbear, etc. (gain flight, swim, hug, etc.)

Of course, 2E gives no credit to anyone as usual so who knows who created this. The "winged folk (al karak elam)" from DRAGON #51 (JUL 1981 & BOD III 1983) by William Lenox are repackaged in this same book as "winged elves (avariel)" with almost everything the same even the bolas (which I always thought was kind of dangerous for bird men. The bird men of my campaign don't use bolas.)

[geneweigel]

Another theory is that its a natural or magical crossbreed that is half-ogre and half-troll.

[foster1941]

I agree with GRWelsh that "green forest ogres" are probably just more-or-less normal ogres who live in forests and have adaptive coloration - perhaps providing the same hiding/ambush ability that aquatic ogres (from MM2) have: 10-80% ability to hide (effectively invisible), success allowing them to surprise on 1-4. To put them in the same category as lions and carnivorous apes perhaps they should have 5 HD instead of 4+1 - or maybe 4+4 (which would makes them fight as 5 HD), again like an aquatic ogre, but I don't know if that's necessary. Being smarter and using weapons could be enough to make them an equivalent challenge to a lion or carnivorous ape even with one less hit die.

[geneweigel]

For the Bramblewood Forest which is AKA "Briartangles" in SEA OF DEATH the random encounters are:

Demi-humans 3%
Humanoids 7%
Men, Bandits 5%
Men, Brigands 3%
Men, Patrol, Medium 4%
Men, Tribesmen (woodsmen) 6%
Ogres 2%
Standard Encounters DMG 70%

the nearby Tusman Hills and Lorridges are unremarkable "GH hill-wise" over vast comparative areas with "Tusman" leaning lightly towards humanoids and "Lorridges" leaning hard towards demihumans. The nearby Barrier Peaks, Jotens and Crystalmist Chain has a cauldron of humanoids for breeding:

Dwarves, Mountain 4%
Giants 6%
Giants, Frost 5%
Giants, Hill 3%
Giants, Mountain 2%
Giants, Stone 4%
Humanoids11%
Men, Cavemen 3%
Men, Tribesmen4%
Ogres 5%
Trolls 3%
Standard Encounters DMG 50%

I'd say the Mage of the Valley has a vast dungeon complex (assume away!) within is all sorts of set ups (again most likely) far worse than Castle Greyhawk if you're to judge from Mordekainen's comments on the Mage of the Valley (Basiliv) and Zagyg (Gigantos):

"Pardon, Lord Basiliv, I didn't hear the question," Mordenkainen said.
The old archwizard was there, serving as a conduit connecting Basiliv to other groups of Balance — Hierophants,
the minor lords of planar sort and of specificities, the quasi-godlings. In short, all the might of the alliance save the One
of Entropy. Mordenkainen, deep in concentration, had sensed the question Basiliv had asked of himself, but had not
heard the words. "I am sorry, old contestant," he murmured to the archwizard. "I was merely mumbling to myself.
Excuse me, and return to your work."
"You're growing older than I," Mordenkainen cackled, one bushy eyebrow raised in mock alarm. Then he shrugged
and returned to his task. "Dealing with that deranged dabbler Gigantos is hard enough without having to put up with
you, too," he snapped, recalling the times he had opposed the Demiurge for one reason or another because of what
Basiliv had called him. "Mad Archimage, bah! You are as scattered as Gigantos ever was, and I have better claim to
the crown of— "
"Enough, please, Arch wizard, enough. We must strive together now, or else..." Basiliv let his sentence trail off.
Mordenkainen took the point and said nothing further, expending his full attention on the linkage once again. His
attendant mages, led by the portly Bigby, joined again in the circle. All was quiet.
With a final glance at the spell-binder, Basiliv thought, I am as much older as he as the world itself, and yet I wish it
otherwise. Then the Demiurge turned away from Mordenkainen and the eight mages with him and focused his power. It
was his duty to observe

Sounds like that "scattering" makes one hell of a dungeon. Under Valley of the Mage entry:

There are, of course, tales of bold adventurers returning
loaded with platinum and gems which are said to
litter stream beds as pebbles do elsewhere, but even
these stories are insufficient to cause much interest, as
the area is positively known to be inhabited by horrible
monsters.

Green ogres perhaps?

[foster1941]

"Green forest ogres" as something that wandered out of the Mage's Valley makes sense. We already know he has his own breed of elves; why not ogres as well? That suggests that perhaps green forest ogres might also trend more towards CN than standard ogres' CE.

[GRWelsh]

I like the half-ogre/half-troll crossbreed idea, also. That was the original image that popped into my mind when I thought of green skinned forest ogre, but I thought such a crossbreed might be too powerful in the context of that quoted passage. Trollog? Ogroll? Trogre? Trolgre? Hmmm... not sure I like any of those names. What would its stats be? Maybe 5+5 HD and regenerating 1 hp/round? I also thought of a wild version of an ogre mage, maybe less intelligent, without as many magical abilities, and green skinned instead of blue skinned.

[geneweigel]

A greater ogre/lesser troll?

TROLL Size L ToHitA.C.0 13 AC 4 HD 6+6 #at 3 DMG 5-8/5-8/2-12 SA nil SD Surp on 1 only, regen(+3/r) INT low XPVALUE 525+8/hp
OGRE Size L ToHitA.C.0 15 AC 5 HD 4 + 1 #at 1 DMG 1-10 or BW SA nil SD nil INT low XP 90 + 5/hp
OGRE LEADER Size L ToHitA.C.0 13 AC 4 HD 30-33 hp(6-7hd) #at 1 DMG 2-12 or BW SA nil SD nil INT low-average XP 225 + 8/hp
OGRE CHIEFTAIN Size L ToHitA.C.0 13 AC 3 HD 34-37 hp(6-7hd) #at 1 DMG 4-14 or BW SA nil SD nil INT average XP 225 + 8/hp

[geneweigel]

I think that the Valley Dungeon might be unrelated to alignment and just have any monster as shown by this image in WORLD OF GREYHAWK FOLIO (1980):



Sorry I don't have time to align.

[GRWelsh]

The impression I had from the folio is that the Valley of the Mage is a fenced off zone of wildness that is experimental with perhaps planar or dimensional gates that could explain all of the horrible monsters present: Basiliv, as the Demiurge, is always working on bizarre and dangerous creations.

There was a bit of discussion on the Mage of the Valley in this thread on the old Pied Piper forum, including about whether the rumours of 'horrible monsters' in his valley were all just 'scare tactics' or not:

GT wrote: I'm more inclined to put him at Neutral, possibly with Chaotic tendencies as the Valley Elves are Chaotic Neutral, and they are said to be his servants in the 1982 MM2 (taken from a Dragon article from '81, I believe...).* I think the grim and forbidding stories are more to keep intruders out of the Mages vale than any intentional evil on his part--though there probably are "real" watchdogs of some sort or another. And I believe there were Gnomes in the Valley as well...

Barrataria: I had a player who pestered me for years about how he wanted to journey to the Vale of the Mage, even to the point of crossing out "Mage" and replacing it with "Dwarf" on my WoG map. Then (back in the day) I used that module, and never again did anyone want to go pick up the gems littering the ground... I too always thought CN was a good fit, particularly with all that annoying law and order in Furyondy and Keoland.

RJK: That's the ticket. Annoy law and order! Ooops. It was annoying law and order. So be it, as Robilar always found that to be true as well. Yep. There was no mention of the Mage of the Valley in the campaign prior to the WoG Folio, though EGG might have been considering such a person, who knows? I too vote for the "scare tactics" theory (and the CN alignment), as this fits with many mages who want their seclusion and privacy, like the one who quested Ralibar Vooz in "The Seven Geases".

EGG: Pretty much on target:)

In that same thread, EGG also wrote:

Basiliv was indeed CN, and thus the Valley Elves were his vassals. Of course he was more potent than a mere 20th level, for as noted in the Gord books he was a demi-urge, retired, and wishing only peace and seclusion, rather in the same manner as Tom Bombadil did... Basiliv was conveived as being older than mankind. I thought of him as a sort of early demi-deity used to shape magic. I made him CN so as to non-interfering and likely to have forgotten much of his former power... None of the players ever cared to investigate the Valley of the Mage. It was their decision, and I didn't prevent interaction. Basiliv was definitely an instrument of the creative deities, in that respect a demiurge in the true sense of the word... The valley elves consider him as their mighty liege lord, something more than a human, and certainly fear to anger him because of his great magic. Basiliv doesn't trouble them much, for he expects only their service in keeping the valley free of intruders. I would imagine that he holds court for the leading valley elves on occassion, accepts their homage and gifts, gives them things in return, and they depart after a feasting.

Personally, I prefer the idea of there actually being horrible monsters in the Valley of the Mage over there simply being rumours of them to ward off intruders... More adventuring potential that way. Perhaps the Demiurge has created gates and zones and 'dungeons' that are very dangerous, but fairly contained. "Oh, yes, I forgot I put that there..." Basiliv says, like an absent-minded artistic genius with all sorts of past creative works littering his valley. Then perhaps the valley elves do their part to ward people off from these dangerous works...

*The DRAGON article referred to is "Featured Creatures" from issue #67, December 1982.

[geneweigel]

EGG was not as absolute on alignment being an across the board thing. He is selectively answering to avoid future product potential at that stage. He doesn't want "you" (READ: the public but more toward cheap WOTC/HASBRO hack designers) to come up with "Valley Dungeon" that is something he would say was a secret. Just like the dungeons within the City of Greyhawk are all secrets that he took with him.

[GRWelsh]

From the SEA OF DEATH:

After seeing Gord mope around for too long a time, Rexfelis summoned the young man to join him in his private area of the seemingly endless villa that served as court and home for the Catlord and who knew how many cats of all sorts. Stroking a sleek, black tomcat, the Master of Cats said, "I am journeying to Oerth soon, Gord, to the town of Bardillingham. Will you come?"

Gord was perplexed. "Bardillingham? That name is unfamiliar. In what land does the town lie?"

"Have you been here so long that you forget your own world, Gord?" Rexfelis laughingly asked the dark-haired young man.

Gord wasn't quite certain how to take that remark. It seemed like a jest, but then again he had to admit to himself that perhaps he had tarried in the Catlord's lair too long. "No, Catmaster," he said carefully in reply. "I fear that my real knowledge of the Flanaess is confined to that bit I have traveled in and what I read about other parts in books when I was a youngster at college."

"Little portion of the Flanaess? Come, come, my boy. From all I have heard, you have covered a good bit of eastern Oerik. It is not surprising that you know nothing of Bardillingham, though," Rexfelis went on. "It isn't much of a town and lies in a place most folk are ignorant of. The community boasts scarcely three thousand inhabitants, and it lies deep within the land governed by the Demiurge Basiliv. You might know the place as the Vale of the Archimage."

The Flanaess was named for the old race originally dwelling in the heart of the continent of Oerik, one of the four great land masses of Oerth.

The Flan nation was ages gone, although Flan peoples still inhabited the continent, some still relatively unmixed with the other races that had eventually settled the Flanaess and carved their kingdoms and states thereon. Having wandered the east as a gypsylike entertainer and later as an adventurer, Gord had seen some of this territory, and then more of it when he had sought the Middle Key. The Vale of the Archimage, however, was a near-fabulous place, or so he had thought, supposedly lying somewhere in the mountains that separated the Baklunish states of the west from the Oeridian and Suel nations of the east. For all of his travels, Gord had been no farther west than Veluna, and Rexfelis's definite words about the Vale of the Archimage were music to his ears.

"You mean there is such a place?"

"Yes, my friend, there certainly is… and a Bardillingham town, too. The headwaters of the Chaban River rise in the Barring Mountains range, form a series of deep, cold lakes, and have carved a great, lush valley in the eons since this watercourse began flowing. This is the Vale of the Archimage – at least, so it is named on those maps that show anything there at all. The so-called Archimage is actually a Demiurge, and his name is Basiliv. I have business with him."

"Bardillingham?"

"That is the only real community in the whole of the valley. There are some scattered villages and hamlets, but little else. The town is rather dreary."

"I have read a few things about the Vale of the Archimage," said Gord. "Whether the tales are fanciful or not, it is said that strangers are… most unwelcome there."

"You'll be welcome enough if you should care to come along," Rexfelis purred reassuringly. "I, of course, am no stranger at all, and whomever I bring with me is accorded acceptance and respect. Besides, Basiliv has asked to meet you."

This last statement made Gord very uneasy. The reputation of this secluded land and its ruler was anything but amiable. And why would the Catlord be discussing him with Demiurge Basiliv in the first place? Gord didn't think he wanted to know, so he suggested to Rexfelis another course. "Hmmm," he murmured, pretending to consider the matter carefully. "Perhaps another time, Master Cat, for I have things to attend to in Greyhawk soon now. Perhaps thereafter I can travel westward and pay my respects to the Demiurge. Meanwhile, could you not simply transport me back to my home city?"

Rexfelis laughed softly. "Diplomatic, very diplomatic! I would indeed fulfill your request if I could, Gord," the Catlord said with a sincere smile, "but many powers weave and interlock over the Flanaess now, as they have done for some time past. All is not well there, you know – but I suppose you do not need to concern yourself with such matters any more. To give you a short answer, though, I am able to send you back to Oerth via the terminus that Basiliv's force keeps open and operative. You must go there if you wish to return to your world. But you can feel at home here, too, Gord. You may spend all of your life here if you wish, for you are now certainly of my own ilk," the Master Cat added warmly.

His heart sinking, Gord asked, "Cannot one of your power go where he wills?"

"I? Yes indeed. I can go where I desire. You would not survive the rigors of such a work, however. Would you use another of those precious lives – only to end up back here where you started?"

"Pray, Catlord, tell me what is going on," Gord asked him earnestly.

"Time here is different," Rexfelis explained. "Sometimes a day here is a month long, by Oerth reckoning, while the obverse might prove true before or later. The months and months you have lingered here have been moving less rapidly on Oerth. Evil still strives to gain that tool which you have sought a part of. Many of the demons of the Abyss have united, melding their powers. They contend with the Hells and all others of evil, and in such warfare we all profit. Who can object if demon slaughters devil? Those great ones from the higher planes take a hand also, and strange twists and fluxes abound in the multiverse. It is quite impossible to use planar travel without expending great power, and even then there is risk. Established gates are now watched, traps are set, misdirection abounds. Basiliv is strong enough to maintain an unwarped gate. In this matter I assist him, naturally. Even the Demiurge is not strong enough by himself to hold against the ones now bestirring themselves."

Gord had no reason to doubt the truth of these words – or any others the Catlord spoke, for that matter. Still, he could not be entirely convinced that the course laid before him was the best one for him to follow. But after some more discussion and still with reluctance in his heart, Gord agreed to go with Rexfelis to the Vale of the Archimage.

Bardillingham was a plain and unattractive town. At least, that's the way Gord perceived it in comparison to places such as Greyhawk, Dyvers, Rel Mord, and even Wintershiven. Contrary to what he had read and heard about the Vale of the Archimage, these people seemed neither hostile nor secretive, and their town was anything but glamorous and lavish. The officials of Bardillingham received them with ceremony. The earl who resided in the nearby castle did them honor, and Gord was surprised to be included not just as the Catlord's guest but as some minor personage in his own right. Despite all the pomp and circumstance, he found the whole place uninteresting. After almost three days spent walking the corridors of the castle and the streets of Bardillingham, Gord was bored and impatient.

"When will I find out why I am here?" he asked Rexfelis in as polite a tone as he could muster.

That will come soon enough," said the Catlord. "In another day or so, Basiliv will be seeing us."

The next day, as Gord and Rexfelis were strolling through the town, the Catlord brought them both to the front steps of an unimposing stone building in the center of town, a site they had not yet visited. Gord had a feeling that their audience was about to take place – but could this be where the Demiurge held court? The place was barely large enough to contain a town bureau, let alone the sovereign of the land! When Gord made a remark to this effect, Rexfelis merely laughed and reassured his young charge that wonders were abundant in the strange realm ruled by Basiliv.

Once they were inside the building, Gord realized the truth of those words. Somehow, the interior of the place was as large as the largest palace Gord had ever heard of. He presumed that some mighty dweomer allowed a vast space to be contained within the small shell of the building. This was such a contrast to the drab and ordinary appearance of the rest of the town that Gord could not contain his wonderment. Rexfelis, of course, was considerably less impressed.

"Be not amazed. Others can manage this little trick, too," the Catlord told him. "Did you know, Gord, that when Basiliv is elsewhere, all this is too? Had we come yesterday, we would have found only a small and empty structure." Gord, feeling a bit embarrassed by his awestruck reaction, kept silent as he and the Catlord crossed under the archway that led to Basiliv's audience chamber.

...

Several hours later Gord saw the whole matter in a new and very different light. He had taken no oath, nor sworn any vow, but he knew within himself what he must now do. After shaking hands with Basiliv and bowing in farewell to the Catlord, Gord simply walked out of the Demiurge's strange palace and into Bardillingham. In less than an hour he met up with a party of the Demiurge's soldiers (who apparently had been awaiting him), packed his possessions (which had been brought from his room in the castle), and was on his way out of town.

He rode northward in company with a mixed group of close-mouthed men and taciturn elves. The latter were called Grughma by their own kind, and "Valley elves" – a term of derisive sort – by men and other sorts of elves who dwelled outside the realm of Basiliv. It was not a particularly pleasant trip. The soldiers of the Demiurge showed great respect and deference to Gord, but kept themselves isolated from him. The landscape was interesting, at least, which made the journey somewhat more bearable. They traveled from valley to foothills to mountains – the first peaks Gord had ever seen.

On the second day after leaving the town, once the group was well into the Barring Range, the elves and men turned back, taking with them the horse that Gord had ridden. They would not go farther than the boundaries of their lord's domain. New escorts took over, though, so Gord did not have to worry about being abandoned in the vastness of rock that jutted and towered so majestically.

The fifty soldiers of the Demiurge's troop were replaced by four times that number of dour dwarves dressed in iron and steel armor. The long-bearded mountain dwarves dealt summarily with any predatory creatures foolish enough to approach them. Gord and this small army of dwarves trudged upward into the mountains, going ever higher. Soon, Gord recalled, the very air seemed so cold and thin that he felt like he was being strangled. The broad-chested dwarves appeared not to mind the rare atmosphere, but they deferred to the young human, taking a path through the mountains that was not the shortest but which enabled the group to avoid climbing to even higher elevations. Gord was glad when their path led downward, and some of the deep breaths he took were genuine sighs of relief.

He was surprised that the dwarven company remained with him when they all finally left the mountains, four days after beginning their descent toward less rugged ground. They had come to the rough foothills on the north side of the Barring Mountains, an area called the Pen-Wilds, where few folk lived and game abounded. Gord hunted with success and greatly enjoyed the wild lonesomeness of the place. Noticing this, the dwarves warmed to him a little.

...

The next day they came to a place where the hills became more gentle and trees dotted valleys and hilltops alike. In the distance the mass of a forest could be seen, blanketing the last, low ridges and mounds of the Pen-Wilds. Here the company of dwarves told Gord that they would go no farther.

"You are now at the edge of Briartangle Woodland, Gord," the gnarled captain of the demi-human band said to him. "That little brook there is the headwater of the river the Baklunish humans call the Toosmik. If you keep it on your left hand, it will guide you through the forest to Hlupallu."

...

Whether or not the dwarves had any idea of Gord's abilities, their directing him through the forest proved to be exceptionally useful for the young adventurer. Once alone and concealed within the thick growth of the Briartangle's southern verge, Gord transformed himself from man to panther. He was relieved to find that the armlet changed with him, as did his other possessions.

There were dangerous beasts in the forest, monsters too, and occasional outlaw bands. Those that Gord was unable to avoid either avoided him or discovered after a brief encounter that it was better not to attack such a creature. A black leopard the size of a jaguar was an unusual creature, to say the least – too much of a match for lion, carnivorous ape, or green forest ogre.

[geneweigel]

I think the full swing TSR package would have had the elves/Bardilingham as the home base/town and the dimensions as the dungeons/adventure but as the novel is finalized post-TSR the dungeon concept, once a sure Gygax thing, is distanced and post-ISLE OF THE APE view is taken and it vagues out into nothing.

[GRWelsh]

You might be right. I have to think EGG had more plans or ideas for the Valley of the Mage at one point, considering the prominence the troops had in the first wave of WORLD OF GREYHAWK Minifigs (1980):

WOG10 Valley Elf Infantry (6) axes, swords – Valley of the Mage
WOG11 Valley Elf Infantry (6) bows, spears – Valley of the Mage
WOG12 Valley Elf King & Guards (6) pole-arms – Valley of the Mage
WOG13 Valley Elf Cavalry (2) lances – Valley of the Mage
WOG14 Valley Elf Cavalry (2) sword, bow – Valley of the Mage