Korax Questions of Curiosity

Varwulf

Excuse me while I take a moment to try to quell the little girl inside of me screaming with joy and excitement over the Siege of Dragonspear announcement (which I wouldn't have known about if it wasn't for my good friend Korax). Right, now that I've properly composed myself...

I remember always being curious about Korax and questioning exactly what it was about him that allowed for him to temporarily stave off his more feral, baser instincts to disembowel and consume humanoid flesh long enough to be potentially useful to your party on its journey through the Sword Coast. A large part of me always figured his only purpose in life was to introduce the player to a "puzzley" way of getting around an otherwise pretty nasty obstacle for characters around that level, but surely there is something more to it than that?

What sort of "condition" would allow for a ghoul or other undead beast to temporarily be "insane" enough to want to be a good loyal puppy dog for any passerby who happens upon him? What sort of affliction would allow for a temporary reprieve from the undead creature's more baser instincts and needs?

Could it be that he had only recently become a ghoul (admittedly my "ghoul lore" is pretty lacking for the D&D universe), or perhaps was he just out in the sun for too long?

What theories do you have and what makes the most (or least) sense giving the universe we're in here?

Thanks for appeasing me and my unnecessary curiosity

Wowo

If memory serves me right, ghoul lore would suggest the following:
- ghoul state is passed by dying from ghoul fever without being consumed
- ghouls are animated by negative energy from the plane of negative energy
- the animating force is pure evil and seeks to only consume living flesh
- the original creatures soul may be captive within the ghouls body but powerless to stop the negative energy spirit from eating (possibly loved ones)

Honestly there isn't any logical lore reason to justify Korax's behaviour that I know of.

Varwulf

That is sort of what I was thinking - kind of a plot device sort of way to introduce a puzzle-ish way to solve a problem in game. Unfortunate, but certainly to be expected.

Thanks for your insight, it certainly is more than I had to go on with my limited knowledge

ZanathKariashi

Because ghouls aren't mindless undead (mostly just skeletons/shadows/zombies are mindless). They're just evil and have a strong urge to eat people. They have the mental faculties to plan and scheme, but are usually too overcome by hunger to do so, though he probably thought that by helping you, he could wait till your guard was down and kill your party when they were weak or unwary. So he was probably above average in intelligence (see the long goal vs trying to eat now) and/or wisdom (willpower to suppress it for a bigger payoff) compared to the typical other ghouls you encounter. Or he'd recently eaten and the hunger hadn't overwhelmed him yet.

Wowo

ZanathKariashi said:

Because ghouls aren't mindless undead (mostly just skeletons/shadows/zombies are mindless). They're just evil and have a strong urge to eat people. They have the mental faculties to plan and scheme, but are usually too overcome by hunger to do so, though he probably thought that by helping you, he could wait till your guard was down and kill your party when they were weak or unwary. So he was probably above average in intelligence (see the long goal vs trying to eat now) and/or wisdom (willpower to suppress it for a bigger payoff) compared to the typical other ghouls you encounter. Or he'd recently eaten and the hunger hadn't overwhelmed him yet.

I'd considered this but I think the hunger in question is supernatural in origin and consequently is always there. There is simply no such thing as "full" for a ghoul, they are like a fat kid in a candy store when the cashier is away.

kcwise

In the novelization of Baldur's Gate Korax was known as Korak. He was friendly and wanted to join Abdel Adrian's group. So, amusingly, Korax(k) is one of the few elements from the games that managed to be "canon"

Varwulf

kcwise said:

In the novelization of Baldur's Gate Korax was known as Korak. He was friendly and wanted to join Abdel Adrian's group. So, amusingly, Korax(k) is one of the few elements from the games that managed to be "canon"

Holy crackers, that is something I certainly would NOT have expected to hear. Wow, thanks for making my day with that piece of intel

Quartz

"Novelization of Baldur's Gate," "canon" ? Hahahahahahaha

Varwulf

kcwise said:

In the novelization of Baldur's Gate Korax was known as Korak. He was friendly and wanted to join Abdel Adrian's group. So, amusingly, Korax(k) is one of the few elements from the games that managed to be "canon"

I assume then it wasn't really explored that much further in the novel? Just that Korax(k) wanted to join--and was probably put down like a dog--or some such?

Nimran

Varwulf said:

kcwise said:

In the novelization of Baldur's Gate Korax was known as Korak. He was friendly and wanted to join Abdel Adrian's group. So, amusingly, Korax(k) is one of the few elements from the games that managed to be "canon"

I assume then it wasn't really explored that much further in the novel? Just that Korax(k) wanted to join--and was probably put down like a dog--or some such?

Abdel let him live, and he returned to the group as they were exploring the Candlekeep catacombs and got torn apart by zombies, I think. I haven't read the book in sooooo long.

Blucher

Nimran said:

Varwulf said:

kcwise said:

In the novelization of Baldur's Gate Korax was known as Korak. He was friendly and wanted to join Abdel Adrian's group. So, amusingly, Korax(k) is one of the few elements from the games that managed to be "canon"

I assume then it wasn't really explored that much further in the novel? Just that Korax(k) wanted to join--and was probably put down like a dog--or some such?

Abdel let him live, and he returned to the group as they were exploring the Candlekeep catacombs and got torn apart by zombies, I think. I haven't read the book in sooooo long.

Every time I read something about those books, it just gets worse.

Funny, I read about the main character of the books on some wiki (Forgotten Realms wikia maybe?) and the character concept didn't seem so bad. I guess the execution was just so terrible.

kcwise

I was going to type up the Korak sections of the book, but after rereading some of the novel I realized Korak has more of a role than I had remembered.

[spoiler=Korak]The party first meets Korak shortly after killing Mulahey. Korak startles the party and Xan falls out of a tree. Korak catches him and saves him. At that point they realize it is a ghoul, and Abdel realizes he knew the man and was at his funeral. Korak explains that death "didn't take" and wants to join the party. Xan wants nothing to do with the thing and threatens to kill it if it doesn't leave. Abdel agrees and sends it on its way.

Abdel meets Korak again later in the novel when he returns to the site of Gorion's death to properly bury the body. He finds nothing but bits and pieces because the old mage was chowed on by ghouls. Abdel fights them and after killing one and suffering some paralysis from a bite he pursues another, only to find it killed by Korak, who once again talks to him. Korak explains he told the other ghouls not to eat Gorion, whom he calls "his old teacher" although he can't remember his name. Korak wants to follow Abdel, but the fighter refuses. As Abdel walks away Korak pulls an arm, Gorion's arm, from behind his back and begins chewing on it.

Later the party is in the Cloakwood looking for the mines. They encounter Korak again and this time Abdel agrees to let him join the party as a guide to the mines (after Korak claims to know the location). Xan and Abdel argue about trusting Korak and Abdel says he never trusted the ghoul in life and he doesn't now, but he has no choice. The party then encounters Centeol and her spiders, who kill poor Xan. Abdel moves to slay Korak, blaming him for the ambush, but the ghoul runs away.

Later, after Abdel and Jaheira are locked up in Candlekeep, Korak shows up again and kills the guard to get the keys to let them out. Even though both thought Korak was working for the Iron Throne they keep him around as they descend into the catacombs. Shortly after that, as Nimran mentioned, Korak is shredded by zombies.[/spoiler]
It has been years since I read the book and I had mostly forgotten about Korak's role. He's sort of a Gollum character, and he gets a lot more "screen time" than some of the NPCs.

ZanathKariashi

According to the 2nd ed monster manual ghouls have all the intelligence as humans but are physically deformed by the transformation to be a ghoul, but their decisions are driven by satiating their hunger for flesh (their alignment is also shifted to Chaotic Evil).

They are not dumb however and possess great cunning, sometimes attempting to disguise their grotesque appearance to lull travelers into lowering their guard so that the ghoul can get close enough to deliver their paralyzing touch without risk of battle. (Probably something along the lines of what Korax was planning)

However ghouls that have gone long periods without feeding become like rabid beasts attacking and devouring whatever they come across in a berserk frenzy.

Ghouls sometimes band together into packs or more rarely even large tribes, to allow them to more easily attack groups with less subterfuge required, but also the runs the risk of the ghouls setting upon each other if there is insufficient prey to satiate all their hungers.


Ghasts are just stronger ghouls who've lost a lot of the weaknesses of ghouls (their touch works on elves and they can turn elves into ghouls, nor can they be held back by protection from evil and a cleric needs to be at least lvl 2 to have a chance of turning them), but lose the ability to disguise themselves as they exude a terrible stench of decay that can sicken nearby creatures.