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The Gonnlingdaah, or Gonn for short, are enormous creatures from the Spelljammer campaign setting.[1]

Overview[]

The Gonnlingdaah (or Gonn for short) are enormous spherical beings native to wildspace. They are a pacifistic musical race that float through wildspace creating hauntingly beautiful music and preserving life. Though these good-natured beings are blessed with brilliant intellects, they live simple but extremely long lives.[1]

Description[]

The Gonn resemble gas giants: perfect spheres with bands of different colors decorating their enormous gaseous bodies. Due to a trick of perspective, Gonn often appear as far-off air planets to inexperienced travellers. Instead of speaking, the Gonn sing: they can sing in their own mysterious language as well as in the Common trade tongue.[1]

Personality[]

The Gonn are good-natured and try to preserve life any way they can. Some sages speculate that either Oghma or Apollo created them to bring beauty to the universe. The Gonn are willing to defend, rescue, and heal anyone they see harmed by evil, without charge.[1]

Combat[]

The Gonn are pacifists but have long come to terms with the fact that sometimes they may have to fight to preserve good. Before entering battle, the Gonn will attempt to negotiate with all but the most violent, life-hating beings, and will offer to help their opponents change their violent ways. If their offer of peace and assistance is rejected, the Gonn do not hesitate to bring their full powers to bear.

The Gonn's power lies within their music, and they can use their songs to accomplish amazing feats. Their most destructive song is a high-pitched keening that can affects all enemies of a Gonn's choice within 240-feet. The song can inflict significant sonic damage on a Gonn's opponents, and is even powerful enough to crush items they are carrying or have on their person. Due to the enormous power of this song, the Gonn are loathe to use it except against the most destructive foes.

The Gonn can use a single shrill note to shatter all non-living materials within 240-feet, while any living beings of a Gonn's choice are merely deafened for up to 4 minutes.

The Gonn prefer to use a gentle, soothing song to pacify their opponents, causing all targets of their choice to immediately cease attacking and relax while listening to the sweet music. As many 1-in-3 opponents may fall asleep for for up to 100 minutes, while the rest may be confused and do nothing for a minute or so.

Gonn can cause magical spells within 240-feet to cease functioning by singing a lilting ditty that functions functions as per a dispel magic spell. A Gonn can sing each of these songs three times a day.

Since a Gonn's music comes from their every pore, silence spells are useless against them. However, opponents within a silence spell's area of effect are not affected by a Gonn's songs. Bard's cannot counteract a Gonn's songs, since the behemoths sing so powerfully that they drown out any other sound.[1]

Society[]

Gonn prefer to sing in groups of eight, called “scales”. In every scale, one Gonn will serve as the leader, known as the “conductor”. All Gonn in a scale must sing the same song. The scale will move in formation, while each Gonn sings a single note. A Gonn will sing solo only if it has no other choice, and the power of its songs will be diminished.

Gonn live for up to six millennia, wandering through wildspace, collecting songs and tales. Each Gonn's name is a long song that would take up to 20 hours to sing. Among shorter-lived races they adopt shorter melodies as temporary names.

Along with the Fal, the Gonn are considered among the most knowledgeable "sages of wildspace". Though they love to answer questions, the person asking better be prepared for a long answer. These singing sages can ramble on and on, singing instead of talking, and the person seeking answers may be forced to listen to them singing for up to 8 days non-stop. The price for an answer is typically a song or a story. Failing this, the Gonn will accept gems worth 500 gp instead.

The Gonn can also sing song's that reproduce the effects of the following spells: heal, restoration, raise dead, identify, and legend lore, and are willing to use them on the behalf of visitors, though they expect to be compensated in gems, songs and stories. The Gonn like to wander through wildspace, and do not appreciate visitors intruding on their time more than once a year. It is practically impossible to encounter the same scale of Gonn in a given region.

Once a century, a scale of Gonn engages in a song of perpetuity, which takes up to 12 months and results in the birth of up to 8 immature Gonn. The young Gonn cannot sing for five years, until they reach maturity, and until then can only hum.[1]

Appendix[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 John Terra, MC9 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Gonn entry
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