New Order of the Stick Strip Up

991

I should have seen that coming.

It suggests that there's more to the story than Durkon's mother wants him to know. Maybe the child isn't actually Tenrin's. There's something unpleasant that Durkon's mother doesn't want him finding out about that last adventure, and we're left in the dark on that so far.

"And you are going to learn about the wonderful world of subtext."

991

Corrected for ya! ;-)

I doubt it matters, but Thirden is not Durkon's biologial uncle.

I'm guessing that Durkon later learned a more complete version(s) of the story, possibly from several different sources, and that he chose the version of the memory most likely to mislead HPoH.

Corrected for ya!

Thanks I blame Cosmo's beard.

I always knew Dwarven sex caused rockslides.

We also don't know Durkon's father is technically dead. He could have come back as an undead himself buried under that rock. No body = not necessarily dead.

We also don't know Durkon's father is technically dead. He could have come back as an undead himself buried under that rock. No body = not necessarily dead.

hell, with a troll he has infinite food supply :)

That reminds me of a Orc warchief who ate a troll in warhammer and constantly had stomach aches because of that.

I suspect that we are spending so much time on the vampire spirit and Durkon because that will end up being relevant. Which means Durkon will win / die.

That reminds me of a Orc warchief who ate a troll in warhammer and constantly had stomach aches because of that.

Was a goblin actually.

Yeah, I'm waiting for Spirit Durkon to get one over on Durkula. That jerk is going to get his comeuppance.

The Giant responded to the recent Supreme Court decision with a new mini-comic.

Does that imply that V is... a woman?

Does that imply that V is...

... a supporter of gay rights? I would think so, yes.

Does that imply that V is...

I think it implies that we still have no idea what sex or gender V or V's mate are.

Edited - a woman? Apologies.

They appear to be different genders, since they have children, though in theory they could be adopted or magical means could have been used to give birth to them.

V's children are adopted (panel 8).

thejeff wrote:

They appear to be different genders, since they have children, though in theory they could be adopted or magical means could have been used to give birth to them.

V's children are adopted (panel 8).

I'd forgotten. So we don't even have a clue to that.

Meritorious!

New comic is up: Moots & Ladders

"Maybe I have been too harsh on mammals, because this is just luxurious."

"No reason."

;)

This comic is just so fun!

Invitation Only

Apparently, he is indeed succeeding at the required skill checks. Great for him.

I wonder how much the terms of the Godmoot's protection apply to the bodyguards.

Not much I would wager.

One way or another we will see the end of this soon.

It look like he took advantage of role as Hel's high priest to get in - even if the others didn't realize. Although it looks like Belkar's about to be in deep and find out.

One possible smart play would be to get Durkula (aka HPoH) to accidentally attack another representative (say Veldrina).

It look like he took advantage of role as Hel's high priest to get in - even if the others didn't realize.

Quite likely, doubly so as he was standing in the Circle of Truth at that precise moment ;-)

Whether he can directly attack HPoH or not, Belkar has just accomplished something that he has previously failed to do: he has explicitly heard the vampire admit to following a goddess--i.e., not Thor. Unless HPoH either keeps him permanently dominated or kills him first, Belkar will tell the rest of the order. Will he be believed?

So I haven't quite been able to tell.

Is he possessed by a vampire, so if they can get rid of the possessing spirit he be back and alive?

Or is he actually dead and just his dead body is possessed by a vampire (but still trapping his soul somehow), so if they can get rid of the possessing spirit he will still be dead but free to be raised or go on to his afterlife?

So I haven't quite been able to tell.

Is he possessed by a vampire, so if they can get rid of the possessing spirit he be back and alive?

Or is he actually dead and just his dead body is possessed by a vampire (but still trapping his soul somehow), so if they can get rid of the possessing spirit he will still be dead but free to be raised or go on to his afterlife?

He's actually dead: his eyes had 'X's in them.

Whether he can directly attack HPoH or not, Belkar has just accomplished something that he has previously failed to do: he has explicitly heard the vampire admit to following a goddess--i.e., not Thor. Unless HPoH either keeps him permanently dominated or kills him first, Belkar will tell the rest of the order. Will he be believed?

Very good catch.

If Belkar is (even inadvertently) in the Circle of Truth when he tells them, they will likely believe him :-)

S$&% just got real...

995 is up.
Now, Belkar is absolutely certain that HPoH is up to no good. Unfortunately for him, a vampire can, as a standard action, assume the shape of a dire wolf, with a move speed of 50 feet (faster than Belkar).
Fortunately for Belkar, HPoH can't kill him outright without arousing Roy's suspicion, and Belkar has the protection from evil item to block domination....

I really want Belkar to draw Durkula into the circle of truth to interrogate him in front of witnesses, but Rich is too smart a writer to answer my hopes up with such an obvious solution.

I really want Belkar to draw Durkula into the circle of truth to interrogate him in front of witnesses, but Rich is too smart a writer to answer my hopes up with such an obvious solution.

Even having Belkar tell Roy what he saw in the circle of truth would help a lot. And the Circle needs to come up again. Checkov's Circle of Truth.

The thing about all this is that destroying the Godsmoot doesn't seem to make sense - what are you trying to prove in Hel's name? So why go after the hosting group's cleric - out of spite or hunger seems a little out of cue for all the Machiavellian planning Durkula has been doing. Make an ally - again wouldn't that seem off?

Right now, the only point looks to setup a confrontation between Belkar and Durkula...again.

After spending so much time on a villain providing so much exposition (i.e. Tarquin), I think having a villain who isn't saying much of anything plot-related is throwing things off.

Well Durkan was prophecized to bring death and destruction to his homeland so I guess this was it. Hence his desire to get to the Godsmoot?

Well Durkan was prophecized to bring death and destruction to his homeland so I guess this was it. Hence his desire to get to the Godsmoot?

His plan (which is Hel's plan) does not stop here. Durkula knew where the Godsmoot was taking place and I do not believe that he needed the rest of the OotS to get there.

I believe the plan NEEDS the OotS to be at the Godsmoot.

We know that Hel's plan does not need Roy or Belkar.

Maybe she needs V to be there, which could have something to do with the fiends' hold on V.

Why kill the exarch though ? Well, the exarch was likely the only high-level Cleric (or other divine caster) present at the Godsmoot who could actually attack and maybe kill Durkula. After all, since he was not a representative, the restrictions of the Godsmoot did not apply to him.

Why kill the exarch though ? Well, the exarch was likely the only high-level Cleric (or other divine caster) present at the Godsmoot who could actually attack and maybe kill Durkula. After all, since he was not a representative, the restrictions of the Godsmoot did not apply to him.

That's a good point - he would have been the most capable of doing so without violating the rules of the moot.

Hel has an enormous advantage over other religions: by infecting a Northerner cleric with vampirism she gets an instant high level cleric. No need to bother with getting to that tenth or fifteenth level the traditional way or voluntary conversion of an already high level cleric.

Those two vampires make two more, those four make eight, etc, etc, and boom, a whole temple full of Hel worshipers.

Those two vampires make two more, those four make eight, etc, etc, and boom, a whole temple full of Hel worshipers.

Which would go very well with the strip's title :-)

Though they worship Hel only if they are Dwarves, which the Exarch is. And the Exarch is not a representative so he could attack the other representatives where Durkula could not.

Note that Durkula still carries Malack's staff that has the Instant spawn spell stored within :-))

Come to think of it, the spawn cannot create another one. So at the moment, only Durkula can create other vampires.

Good thing that the Exarch used all his high-level spells I guess.

Of course, come midnight and the preparing hour for Hel's Clerics and the Godsmoot would be confronted with 2 high level vampiric Clerics of Hel, including one who can freely attack representatives. And nothing prevents Durkula from healing/boosting his fellow vampire.

Come to think of it, the spawn cannot create another one. So at the moment, only Durkula can create other vampires.

He only creates vampire spawn with the energy drain from his slam attack. He's draining the cleric, and anyone with more than 4 hit dice rises killed that way will rise as a full vampire and can create spawn of their own. I'm thinking Durkula could control at least one other one besides the high priest, but he could also release control since the other dwarf would likely be agreeable to his plans.

The black raven wrote:

Come to think of it, the spawn cannot create another one. So at the moment, only Durkula can create other vampires.

He only creates vampire spawn with the energy drain from his slam attack. He's draining the cleric, and anyone with more than 4 hit dice rises killed that way will rise as a full vampire and can create spawn of their own. I'm thinking Durkula could control at least one other one besides the high priest, but he could also release control since the other dwarf would likely be agreeable to his plans.

Quite right. Shows how much I really know about Vampiric procreation in 3.5.

That said, the restricting factor then becomes how often Durkula can cast the Instant Spawn spell that is stored within Malack's staff.

Silencing Descent

Just Wow !!!

I got the protection aura. Wondering what the other effects are.

Never invite a vampire in your (however temporary) home. When will they learn ?

I'm glad stuff is happening! But yeah, I'd like that flame aura explained. I assume that those are heat waves in panel 9?

Also, why did he dismiss the silence spell at the end?

That looked similar to protection for evil but that doesn't make sense... does it?

Edit: strip 1000 is coming up soon. He BETTER NOT kill Belkar before his alignment shifts to CN.