Grobb

the torturing of an unfortunate dwarf

Grobb is very small compared to some of the human towns on Antonica, and very utilitarian in its design. The entrance sits on the edge of the Innothule Swamp, and is heavily guarded by trolls. The interior of the caverns has many sights that would turn an outsider's stomach. Grobb is made almost entirely from mud, rock and rotting wood harvested from the swampland the village was built upon. Large, moss-covered walls are scattered throughout and line the murky waterways. Some small wood bridges can be found in the city, although most trolls are accustomed to swimming and typically do not expend the effort to build unnecessary pathways.

City Races: Troll Guilds: Shadow Knight, Shaman, Warrior Tradeskill Facilities: Forge Related Quests: Urako's Big Mistake, Fire Beetle Eyes, HEHE Meat Quest, Hukulk's Love, Oven Mittens Adjacent Zones: Innothule Swamp Name in /who: grobb Player Guides: Hunting in Grobb Zone Spawn Timer: 24:00 Succor/Evacuate: (-100, 0) (Zone line to Innothule Swamp) ZEM Value: 100 (133%) Expansion / Release Date / March 16, 1999 (Beta 3: August 22, 1998) Zone Revamps February 2003 (LoY - Froglok invasion), August 2005 (Trolls retake Grobb)

Home to the trolls of Norrath, Grobb has prisons for their enemies, the frogloks, as well as anyone else unfortunate enough to stop by for a visit. There are multiple sites for torturing these prisoners as well. Mud flows freely through their town, and they seem not to mind. The guilds of the Shadow Knights and Shamans are hidden away in dark mines, away from the light of day. The Warrior's guild is near the entrance, which can be a problem for their neighbors, the ogres, because the Warriors have an intense rivalry with them.

All of the buildings in this city are uniform in design – ornaments and decoration, beyond severed animal heads and hides, are completely out of the question for these dull brutes of the swamp. Simple signs painted with reptilian blood in poor, broken common tongue detail the name of each shop and guildhall.

At the center of town, near the bank, stands a gruesome sight - a mangled, dismembered dwarven corpse, suspended from meat hooks. The cannibalistic trolls often feast upon the flesh of other Norrathian races, finding dwarves to be the finest of delicacies.

Map

Grobb 1. Priest of Discord 2. Cave with Basher Nanrum for Fire Beetle Eyes Quest 3. Sells General Supplies 4. Dismembered Dwarf with Oven nearby 5. Warrior Guild, sells Weapons 6. "Gunthak's Belch" sells Brewing Supplies, Alcohol 7. Sells Weapons, Large Leather, Chain, and Plate Armor, outside sells Food Items (Milk,) Boots, Fletching Equipment and Bows and Arrows, Forge, Kiln and Pottery Wheel nearby 8. Entrance of Shadow Knight Guild, sells Ore, Sharpening Stones, and Clay, Weapons 9. Shadow Knight Guild 10. Shaman Trainers, sells Shaman Spells, Medicine Bag and Alchemy Supplies 11. Bank 12. Jewelry Merchant and A Froglok Prisoner 13. Fireplace with A Froglok Prisoner 14. Shaman Guild

Surrounding Areas

The Innothule Swamp is a dark and dangerous place, even for the trolls who roam it daily. The numerous small islands can quickly confuse and lose a traveller, and roaming fungus men, kobolds, and much worse can easily run down an outsider who hasn't learned the way around, or anybody who hasn't learned how to swim. Adjacent to Innothule Swamp is the Feerott, another drier swamp area which is where the ogres have made their home. There is a great deal of travel between the two races' home towns, and something of an alliance exists between the two, opposed as they are against most of the rest of Norrath.

From the Innothule Swamp it is possible to travel directly to the Southern Desert of Ro, although the path is very dangerous and the Desert of Ro even more so. This is the way to travel overland to the human city of Freeport, however, and through there to Faydwer (assuming you can get on the boat). By passing through the Feerott, it is possible to reach the Rathe Mountains and, past them, the Plains of Karana east of Qeynos. This path is frightening and desolate, and there were many times I was glad for my drumming ability.

For a guide to early hunting see the Grobb Starting Guide.

Traveling To And From

The access to Grobb is through the Innothule Swamp, which can easily be reached from the ogre home of Oggok by travelling a short distance through The Feerrott. It is possible, although arduous, to reach both of the human cities of Qeynos and Freeport. The former is reached through the Rathe Mountains north of the Feerott, and then the vast Plains of Karana north of that. The latter can be found adjacent to the Desert of Ro, which stretches north of Innothule Swamp for many miles.

Local Color

Places

The town is a horribly primitive place. There is one bar and two places of torture, one out in the open and the other hidden in a cave. There are also several prisons, one main one and several private ones, usually owned by the guilds. The only other places of interest are the single, well-stocked weapons and armor shop, the bank, and the guild halls buried away in old mines ringing the troll glade.

People

There aren't many nice things to say about the people of Grobb, if you can even refer to them that way. They have no crafts other than weaponmaking available to them, and no activities other than watching torture, fighting, and drinking. Be wary of them in their good moods.

How To Become Non-KOS in Grobb

"Why would anybody want to become non-KOS in Grobb?" you ask. Well, the main reason is that Guk is a stone's throw away from Grobb. Grobb is the closest place to Guk to bank, dump vendor loot, and buy food and drink. Also, if you're a Barbarian Shaman, it'd be nice to have a place to buy spells that doesn't require you to run all the way to Halas.

There are four main factions to worry about in Grobb: Grobb Merchants, Dark Ones, Shadowknights of Night Keep, and Da Bashers. The following three quests will get you non-KOS with enough work. There are other quests you can do to raise faction with the Trolls, but these three quests have the advantage of being easy, and of not lowering any important factions.

Wolf Meat for Wista -- Raises faction with Grobb Merchants (which includes the banker). No negative faction hits. Required approximately 270 turn-ins (so approximately 740 Wolf Meat total) to get an agnostic Erudite up to Apprehensive. Will certainly take more if you are a good race, or if you follow a good deity, or both.

More Help for Innoruuk -- Raises faction with Dark Ones (Troll Shaman guild) and Shadowknights of Night Keep. Lowers it with Frogloks of Guk. You'll want to raise this faction because there is a Shaman guild trainer right by the entrance to the bank. You'll be KOS with the live froggies in Guk afterwards, but (A) nobody seems to really care about good Froglok faction; and (B) if you are, you can raise it easily enough by spending a lot of time on the Dead Side of Lower Guk, which you'll probably be doing anyways once you hit 40th level or so. Approximately 50 Deathfist Slashed Belts took an agnostic Erudite from Scowling to Dubious with both guilds.

A Job for Nanrum -- Raises faction with Da Bashers (Troll Warrior guild and, more importantly, the guards of Grobb). Lowers faction with Broken Skull Clan. The only two NPCs in the game known to be on the Broken Skull Clan faction are Lynuga in Innothule Swamp and Bugglegupp in the Steamfont Mountains. So unless you have plans on trying for Ivandyr's Hoop, you can safely tank this faction without worry. 42 turn-ins (so 126 Fire Beetle Eyes) took an agnostic Erudite from Scowling to Dubious.

IMPORTANT NOTE -- There is a female Dark Elf in the very back of the Shaman guild named Savarixsa Zexus. She is on the Priests of Innoruuk faction (Dark Elf Cleric guild), and an agnostic Erudite was still KOS to her.