Gord the Rogue
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Gord the Rogue is a book by Gary Gygax set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.
The series follows the progress of the orphan beggar Gord up from his lowly youth to celestial heights as the avatar of Neutrality. These books appealed to a largely male readership, with writing styles reminiscent of R.E. Howard's Conan series. Gord is somewhat less than heroic, but his early mentors, Gellor and Curley Greenleaf, continually steer him toward honorable ends. Eventually Gord is revealed to have a kinship with the enigmatic Cat-Lord. The series also spawned a collection of short stories. Although by no means high fantasy, the books provide some world details otherwise missing from either of the First Edition Greyhawk Campaign box sets.
Saga of Old City starts in Gord's childhood, and closes with his triumphant return to Greyhawk as a young man and master thief. He learns his trade in the 'beggars' guild', and gets involved in the gang war touched off by the beggars encroaching on the official thieves' guild's territory. He travels and has a variety of swashbuckling adventures, ranging from participating in a war to liberating a young noblewoman held hostage.
Night Arrant is a series of short stories about Gord's adventures, in his early twenties, in the City of Greyhawk.
Sea of Death has Gord travelling far afield to the western desert, on a quest for a 'theorpart', hidden in a lost city. He must face rivals sent by demonlords; the psychopathic dwarf Obmi, who serves Zuggtmoy, and the drow elf priestess Eclavdra, serving Graz'zt. He meets and falls in love with Leda, a clone of Eclavdra. Leda impersonates Eclavdra and returns to the Abyss to impersonate her.
Dance of Demons is the finale, in which Gord and Gellor enter the Abyss, on a mission from the world's most powerful forces of balance, to retrieve the remaining theorparts. The goal is nothing less than to free Tharizdun, the long-imprisoned god of ultimate evil and entropy, and to finally destroy him.