what's a Hhortah?

[finlay]

i just accepted a bounty quest thinking it was a message (teach me not to read properly). Never heard of what it asks me to kill though - a "Hhortah". where might i find such a mysteriously named beast?

[Randomizer]

It's a high level slime typically seen near the end of the game.

 

There's a cave northeast of Gale with a spell book that has them if you bring a harp. There are a few other dungeons that have them, but I'm not sure. I think the Pit of the Wyrm that has the Fury Bow also has them.

[cfossedal]

A Hhortah is probably based off a creature from an early episode of "Star Trek, the Original Series" (s1e25, "The Devil in the Dark"). It is a silicon-based life form in the shape of a blob, and spits out extremely corrosive acid with a high enough ph to cut tunnels through the hardest metals. In the show, it's spelled "Horta."

 

 

This certainly isn't the first "trekie/sci-fi" easter egg to be found in Spiderweb Software games...

[Ess-Eschas]

Ah, that makes a lot of sense! I had the feeling that the Hhortah were a reference to something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it ...

With the similarity of the names, the shape and general form, along with the ability to produce acid – which can be used to attack others if necessary – I think you've hit the nail on the head here. That's a nice catch, cfossedal!

 

Welcome to the forums! It's always good to find someone who's knowledgable about the Original Series, and sci-fi more widely. While some of these references have come to light before, I suspect there are a whole bunch that haven't yet been teased out. If you've come across any more references you think might not be widely known, do let us know!