Facts and theories about Gargantua
by LoZompatoreVery interesting topic, as I was thinking about fleshing out Gargantua a bit myself!
Here are my own contributions to the discussion:
1) Other than Norwold, Gargantuan monsters are also present in the following locations:
- Old Alphatia (M1 module: Beholders, Sheeps, Cloud Giants)
- The Green Realm (M3 module: Treants)
- Nithia and Traldar Kingdoms in the Hollow World (PWAI and II but not on PWAIII, unspecified types)
- Azcan Empire in the Hollow World (HWR I, Gargoyles, Trolls)
- Island of Sclaras (DotE, unspecified types)
- Valley of the Kings in the Isle of Dawn (M5, Male and Female Sphinxes)
- The "animated skeleton of a gargantuan gargoyle" is one of the exhibitions of the travelling circus of Milos Formiesias of Thyatis in CM4 module
- The (unplaced, possibly not Mystaran) dwarven kingdom of Stonepeak (BoWI page 34, Purple Worms)
2) In Monstrous Compendium - Mystara Appendix, the entry about "Gargantua" reads as follows:
Habitat / Society: The first of these creatures were the extraorinary creations of the wizard Gargantua. Such monsters have appeared across the various lands of Mystara for the past 100 years and more. It is unknown whether Gargantua still lives in some hidden location, creating even larger and stranger beings. It is also unknown whether his gargantuan "children" can reproduce, although many of the most learned wizards and sages fear this is, indeed, the case.
Gargantua are solitary, though they may come together for mating purposes.
Ecology: ...Their tremendous size also means they rarely live anywhere but in the most isolated regions, only occasionally venturig into more civilized lands.
Carrion Crawler: ...Gargantuan carrion crawlers have been spotted only in the largest underground caverns in the wilds of Mystara.
Troll: ...It is not known wheter more than one of these horrifying monsters exists. Sages ferventely hope that the wizard Gargantua had wisdom enough to create only one of such being, as a race of gargantuan trolls might prove powerful enough to destroy all the world's civilization.
... They are also the smartest Gargantua known to Mystara.
Other Varieties: Other forms of gargantua are possible, though none with and Intelligence higher than 7 has ever been seen.
3) Again, in the encounter tables of the Monstrous Compendium - Mystata Appendix, Gargantuan monsters are listed as "DM's Special" for Tropical and Subtropical climates, and they are not listed anywhere else. This may implicate that Gargantuan creations are more likely to be found on tropical and subtropical lands, addressing to a potential location for the tower of Gargantua at such latitudes.
4) Supporting point 3) above, Companion Set (DM's Manual page 32) lists several potential creatures who may have been transformed by Gargantua:
Monsters rumored to have gargantuan forms include various bugs (ant, bee, beetle, centipede, robber fly, scorpion, spider), carrion crawler,
cockatrice, gargoyle, hydra, lizard man, minotaur, ogre, troll, and umber hulk.
All of these are common in tropical and subtropical climates.
5) This is just a suggestion but the Gargantoid, a huge Alphatian construct from the Book of Wondrous Inventions (AC11, pages 59-60) might have been named in honor of Gargantua, fueling the hypothesis that this wizard is of Alphatian origin.
6) In the Creaure Catalogue a giant carp fish named Gargantua is described (AC9 page 16). While this giant fish it is not a proper gargantuan monster, it may be the original inspiration for the wizard, who might have taken the fish's name for his own when he decided to create gigantic versions of common animals and monsters.
7) There is a false rumor about Gargantua on AC10 adventure "Isle of the Storm Giants" that states as follows:
The cause of these sinkings is the mad wizard Gargantua, whose island lair lies in the danger area [A week's sail from the port city of Serendib, which may be located in the Minrothad Guilds]. (False)
While the rumor about Gargantua causing the sinkings is false, it does not imply that the fact that Gargantua lives on an island in the open sea is also false. Compare also with point 3) above.
8) If the tower of Gargantua is to be placed in Norwold (an idea I like pretty much) then - following the paradygm of gigantism related to this wizard - the building could be conveniently placed on top of the highest mountain of Norwold which, according to PWAIII, should be Mount Einrick in the Icereach Range (see PWA III page 148, the mountain is 21050 feet high).
9) This is most likely unrelated, but in IM3 module there is a Outer Plane named Gargantua. Description is as follows:
PCs entering this plane find themselves standing on the inner surface of a tetraplane Dyson sphere. Giant humanoids the size of planets wander
among equally enormous flora and fauna, doing things just like people everywhere, but on a much grander scale. These giants are quite friendly, possessing brains the size of moons, but an intellect the size of a raisin.
Possibly the secret to create gargantuan monsters can be found on this Plane.
Said all of this, about the odd placement of gargantuan monsters on Mystara and other planes, in my opinion the following theories may stand:
A) The secret of creating gargantuan monsters is very ancient, possibly dating back to the Nithians and Old Alphatians (The Nithians, Old Alphatians and Old Thyatians were possibly connected races as per M5 and HWR2 modules. If the creations of giant creatures dates to times before the war between the Followers of the Air and the Followers of the Flame then maybe all three people were able to create gargantuan monsters). Gargantua is just a wizard who rediscovered this secret not much more than 100 years ago and started populating the world with "his" creations, which were named after him since no one remembered the original ancient creations.
B) Gargantua is an extremely powerful time-travelling wizard (possibly from Old Alphatia) likely on his own quest to Immortality. He dispersed his creations throughout history, including the Azcan Empire, Nithia, the Traldar Kingdoms and then later on in Thyatis, where the mages of Sclaras were able to capture a few of them. Notice that all of these locations could fit with the tropical and subtropical climates highlighted above so, in ancient times, Gargantua may have operated from an island in some warm sea. Back to the present, we could infer that Gargantua time-travelled to the IX century AC to start a new phase of his work/quest, this time focusing on Norwold.
The fact that Gargantua is explicitly described as "mad" in Companion Set (DM's Manual page 32) possibly makes the wizard a petitioner for the Sphere of Entropy (or possibly he became mad during his - failed - quest in the Sphere of Time and now just time travels creating havoc when and where he likes).
Nothing prevents theories A) and B) to be merged in a more complex framework, anyway, with the secret of gargantuan creatures discovered on faraway planed by Nithians, Old Alphatians, etc. and Gargantua the wizard being just one of the most accomplished users from such cultures, who is currently time-travelling to fulfill his own scopes (including a quest to Immortality).
Hope this helps!