The OotS thread

[consequences]

Honor being unbreakable isn't necessarily the same thing as 'can do no wrong'. And the bar on the level of act that causes a paladin to fall can be quite arbitrarily low, especially if someone deliberately arranges a situation to force a paladin into an untenable position.

You also have to consider, that he might not consider death to be all that much of a threat to a Paladin's honor, what with the 'and they shall know no fear' thing. He also seems to see the Sapphire Guard as his children(at least that's what I get from the way he bent over backwards to not condemn Miko), and likely carefully chose his words as a reassurance to the Guard that they hadn't died in vain.

Well, that's just the way I see it anyway. I'm not going to claim to be sure that he fell at some point, but I wouldn't be particularly surprised if such did happen.

[Crazedwraith]

699 is Up

Its the Monster in the Dark! And he's worried about O-Chul. The Planes crack was very amusing and MitD is always good.

[Lord of the Abyss]

700 up!

"Natural defenses against predation", hah.

[Crazedwraith]

Oh Tsukiki, you poor silly deluded woman. Interesting that MitD knew it was half a ritual; was that supposed to be more indication of instinctive magic using? If the ESCAPE spell wasn't enough.

[Serafina]

Oh Tsukiki, you poor silly deluded woman. Interesting that MitD knew it was half a ritual; was that supposed to be more indication of instinctive magic using? If the ESCAPE spell wasn't enough.

You know, i always figured that the MitD was pretty smart - just very, very childish.
And it's pretty powerfull, we now next to nothing about it's abilities - so nearly anyhting goes.

[Crazedwraith]

And it's pretty powerfull, we now next to nothing about it's abilities - so nearly anyhting goes.

Indeed; that he's just got massive amounts of strength, enough damage resistance to ignore Miko and magic abilities (possibly epic since he had to get V & O-Chul out through the cloister)

Although its touching he wants to find O-Chul; I can;t help feeling this will end badly for Team Good and well for Team Evil since it will presumably reveal O-Chul and water paladin (I forget her name) at the other gate.

[Lord of the Abyss]

You know, i always figured that the MitD was pretty smart - just very, very childish.

Yes; consider O-Chul's and the MITD's exchange about Go in 550..

Aww, man! That game is hard!"

O-Chul: "True, but you are learning it quickly. Very quickly."

Emphasis from the comic. Apparently the MITD is a fast enough learner for O-Chul to comment on it.

[consequences]

Although its touching he wants to find O-Chul; I can;t help feeling this will end badly for Team Good and well for Team Evil since it will presumably reveal O-Chul and water paladin (I forget her name) at the other gate.

This is presuming that the keeper of the other gate gave the correct location.

Of more interest to me is the fact that Xykon seems to be looking to outright replace Redcloak now that he has another divine caster to work with to control the Gates. At least that's my interpretation of the incomplete ritual he handed Tsukiko.

[Crazedwraith]

I just noticed the wight is the first panel is wearing boots. Which is a nice call back to the resistance/tsukiki fight.

[Bedlam]

Although its touching he wants to find O-Chul; I can;t help feeling this will end badly for Team Good and well for Team Evil since it will presumably reveal O-Chul and water paladin (I forget her name) at the other gate.

This is presuming that the keeper of the other gate gave the correct location.

Of more interest to me is the fact that Xykon seems to be looking to outright replace Redcloak now that he has another divine caster to work with to control the Gates. At least that's my interpretation of the incomplete ritual he handed Tsukiko.

I dont think hes primarily looking to replace Redcloak at the moment. He's probably looking to punish Redcloak as he sees him as responsible for the loss of his phylactery, this move might either be a double check of what Redcloaks already done or a slap in the face to remind him hes not entirely replacable.

It might be important that if they've found the phylactery if Redcloaks still carrying it about or if Xykon's protecting it in another way.

[Solauren]

I just noticed the wight is the first panel is wearing boots. Which is a nice call back to the resistance/tsukiki fight.

Did you notice who the ghoul in the last frame eating a head is?

[Crazedwraith]

I did. Good old Isamu!

An a slightly random note: I've been wondering: How do the books handle the irregularly formatted comics? Like Roy's Death or when Haley gets blasted out of the panel?

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

Roy's fall has the long panel chopped into six segments put three to a page side-by-side. Haley getting blasted out of the panel has her, instead, blasted onto the next page (a blank one, not the next comic).

[Crazedwraith]

701 is Up

I hope Redcloak isn't doing something silly like exhorting the goblins to rise up against Xykon or something. That could end badly. Oh! And they've picked up some new green goblins to go with the hobgoblins.

[Sheridan]

It would seem that someone in Mythbusters' prop department is a fan. In their Greased Lightning episode, I saw a cereal box that was very close in content, font, and coloring to V's Explosive Runes Coffee can.

Mythbusters: (the box is at 1:04-1:05) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiUzvQSfRUg
Order of the Stick: (bottom left-hand panel) http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0317.html

Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Still kinda funny.

[/off-topic]

I missed the demon roaches, and--despite what seems to be a major plot point going on right now--I still think their MST3K treatment of the whole thing is funny as all get out.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

701 is Up

I hope Redcloak isn't doing something silly like exhorting the goblins to rise up against Xykon or something. That could end badly. Oh! And they've picked up some new green goblins to go with the hobgoblins.

Remember that Redcloak is planning on turning Azure City into a goblinoid stronghold and metropolis by the time he leaves. I'm guessing this is him giving his farewell as he leaves them to themselves and Team Evil heads off to the next gate.

[RecklessPrudence]

Interestingly, I think that the ...third from the right? Middle? ...Whatever, Goblin is actually half Hobgoblin, considering his skin colour. It's not Goblin Green, or Hobgoblin Orange, it's somewhere in between. The reason I say this is interesting is Redcloak's earlier prejudice against Hobgoblins. I don't know how prevalent that is among OotS Goblins (OotS seems to be pretty good about not seeing an entire species/race/alignment/whatever as identical in their outlooks on life, except for prejudiced characters), or if it is returned by Hobgoblins (all the Hobs seemed pretty cool with having Redcloak as Supreme Leader, with one of them even sacrificing himself to save Redcloak before he came around to thinking of Hobs as equal), but still. Interesting.

[Lord of the Abyss]

702 up!

[Raesene]

unprovoked elven terrorist attack....

new national anthem: Spoiler

O say can you see,
In the darkness of night
Who so proudly we killed
At the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose blue shirts and bright swords
Thru the perilous flight
O’ver the parapets we saw
And to whom we gave a reaming...

lyrics by Rich Burlew

[Crazedwraith]

Oh my. Gobbotopia. What a name. I note the flag has four stars. The top one is violet which is the colour of the Dark One; the goblin raised to deity and the three bottom ones Imply that that one oddly shaded Goblin might not be a half-breed so much as a third distinct breed since it has got its own star.

I also love the national motto.

[Serafina]

unprovoked elven terrorist attack....

At a tower, no less.
I just love how he portrayed the politics "changing our policy trough economic engagement"

Oh, and they are letting other evil races, too - finally, they have a land of endless opportunities for themself, where the huddled evil masses can gather.

[AniThyng]

Oh my. Gobbotopia. What a name. I note the flag has four stars. The top one is violet which is the colour of the Dark One; the goblin raised to deity and the three bottom ones Imply that that one oddly shaded Goblin might not be a half-breed so much as a third distinct breed since it has got its own star.

I also love the national motto.

THe 3rd star probably represents the Bugbears, which are listed in the textbook (and in d&d) as a goblinoid race. Though I don't think we've actually seen any in OOTS.

[Solauren]

The third star could also be a reference to the undead that have assisted in the creation of the new nation.

I mean, we've seen Zombies, Vampires, Ghouls, Ghasts, Death knights, Heucuvas, Eyes of Fear and Flame, and probably some other stuff in their as well.


Hmm, have to wonder if that Blue star might give some a certain psion-goblin branch some ideas....

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

Bugbears are the largest goblinoids (though with medium goblins, this world might have them be about the same size as the rest) and are fuzzy and brown as of D&D3.5 (I don't remember what they look like in D&D4). The third star almost assuredly represents them.

The fourth star is purple, not blue.

[Crazedwraith]

I'm an idiot... It took me several read-throughs to realise that the 'terrorist attack' by 'elven insurgents' is in fact a reference to V's assault on Xykon. I kept wondering why Burlew had that Elven Liberation Team arrive in the City and start operating entirely off screen.