The OotS Thread II

[PainRack]

Thog smashes!

Not-Thog comes forth!


Also, what was the gag in the last panel? Is it referring to the War, absolutely nothing song or?

[Lord of the Abyss]

"Try to look forward to the end of the mission" - that doesn't bode well for Nale, since there's only one thing Malack would be looking forward to.

Also, what was the gag in the last panel? Is it referring to the War, absolutely nothing song or?

If he's trying to imitate Thog, he needs worse grammar; "Thog smash", not "Thog smashes".

[LadyTevar]

I do like the Armor Alteration spell. Very handy

[The Yosemite Bear]

I used to use glamoured armour just to make intimidation roll bonuses as a bard. (yyou argue with the guy with balefire eyes and a super deep voice)

[Vejut]

Glamoured costs only slightly more than a +1 weapon, and it's nice for when you want to be protected, but not be obviously looking for trouble, or as a little fun extra instead of another damn +1 bonus. After a certain level, it's pretty cheap compared to wealth-by-level, so why not?

[Lord of the Abyss]

850 up!

Tarquin seems to be having fun.

[Crazedwraith]

Isn't the traditional narrative flow for this scene something along the lines of Tarquin gets his asskicked until his helmet gets knocked off and then the oots, shocked at who is under the mask, get their ass kicked.

Even if he's got his grammar rightly wrong that's still a more verbose than Thog is about relevant matters without prompting.

[Simon_Jester]

Glamoured costs only slightly more than a +1 weapon, and it's nice for when you want to be protected, but not be obviously looking for trouble, or as a little fun extra instead of another damn +1 bonus. After a certain level, it's pretty cheap compared to wealth-by-level, so why not?

And as Tarquin notes, it's a lot cheaper than having to have three sets of armor in different colors for the days when he's working for each of three different empires...

[Raesene]

851 is up

Tarquin shows his abilities - and Elan too

[Panzersharkcat]

Hey, he provided a good distraction.

[Lord of the Abyss]

Hah, I somehow missed the 'Hold Person' joke the first time through.

[Simon_Jester]

I like how Burlew is showing Tarquin. He's tough and canny, and his fighting style looks like what you'd expect from a very experienced warrior who's a little past his physical prime. He tricks people, he takes more advantage of his surroundings than most of the combatants we've seen in the past. He could probably even give Roy pointers on improvising and terrain advantage, and Roy is the guy who tricked Thog into knocking a building down on himself.

But at the same time, Tarquin's not invincible, which is nice. He looks like a tough match for the combined strength of the party, who might win or lose and it's hard to guess which. Which makes the fight more interesting.

[Bedlam]

I'd think the party will take down Tarquin with difficulty then by taken down by the rest of the guild. Probably captured so that Nale can gloat a bit and show off to daddy and then get freed (probably by Tarquin) and defeat the guild just as Team Evil to turn up.

[Lord of the Abyss]

852 up!
Spoiler

OK...IS that Tarquin? He talks like Tarquin. And what the heck is his plan? No way he's going to convince them he's Thog anymore after all...

[Simon_Jester]

I'm pretty sure it's Tarquin. Malack follows his orders, he fights in weapons and armor aesthetically similar to what Tarquin's been seen wearing in the past. And the guy fighting the Order is clearly a clever, savvy tactician like Tarquin, he actively relishes being able to foil dramatic expectations in the unmasking scene. Also like Tarquin.

He's got all of Tarquin's tells, so to speak.

But Roy figured out it wasn't Thog, so there wasn't much point in keeping up that pretense- instead, he's just trying to keep his real identity a secret.

[Serafina]

The whole point of the deception is not to reveal to the Order that Tarquin is moving against them.
Thog was a convenient guise for that purpose, after all he is a familiar enemy to them. He also indicates that the rest of the Linear Guild is involved - and since the Order thinks Nale and Tarquin don't get along, that further hides his involvement.

[Lord of the Abyss]

853 up! "The Dangers of Progress", indeed.

[Crazedwraith]

Wow. That's a interesting comment from Malack. Dissension in Tarquin's ranks seems to be growing. Be cool if he never gets to be the big bad villian he wants to be because he can't keep his own men in check...

[Kuja]

Wow. That's a interesting comment from Malack. Dissension in Tarquin's ranks seems to be growing. Be cool if he never gets to be the big bad villian he wants to be because he can't keep his own men in check...

It's not really surprising, though. We know that Malack despises Nale and doesn't want to be in his presence for one second longer than is absolutely necessary, and also that he's also not looking forward to having to fight Durkon, someone he respects.

It makes sense that he'd quickly get tired of Tarquin's showboating and try to speed things along so that he can get it all over with.

[CarsonPalmer]

Well, Vaarsuvius is definitely not dead (not that I expected that to be the case) due to the lack of x's over the eyes. Things could get interesting if the battle drifts into the pyramid, since there are probably quite a bit of traps lying around.

Also, hopefully there'll be less of a gap between this update and the next one.

[Ahriman238]

Yeah, but they came so close to finding V, at which point it would take Durkon 2 rounds tops to have him/her on his/her feet, which is a game changer. The perils of improving indeed.

[Serafina]

A perfect example while in-combat healing is the worst possible role for a Cleric - if Durkon had provided Resist Energy, Mass (a third-level spell) everyone in the order would have taken about half damage from that Flamestrike (and only because half of it's damage is divine non-typed) and he would not have to waste a round and a 6th-level spell slot for Heal.

Granted, they didn't get attacked by fire earlier, but he didn't cast Mass Resist Energy (Acid) there either, which would have negated those attacks after the first one.

[The Yosemite Bear]

of course the traps are going to show up to bite the enw linier guild in the bum, after all it's not like they spend much time looking for those...

[Serafina]

of course the traps are going to show up to bite the enw linier guild in the bum, after all it's not like they spend much time looking for those...

At that level, there are quite a few ways to circumvent traps without carrying a Rogue along. Which Tarquin at least is likely to make use of.

[LadyTevar]

Tarquin does have the Ring of True Seeing, so any illusions are not going to work on him. Mechanical traps, however.....

Maybe he'll land on V?