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If Rich hadn't said that Mass Death Ward being level 7 instead of 8 was an error, I'd say that we should have seen this coming because of it.
Ack, too good! I can't handle this tension.
Or maybe some kind of homebrewed, mutant vampire form for lizardfolks.
After all, vampires are shapeshifters and those who were once human are often portrayed with intermediary forms between man and bat or wolf. I can see a reptile vampire having some half-snake form as an option.
If Durkon does become a vampire, it will open the gateway for plenty of White Wolf jokes. If he doesn't.... I don't even know where this comic is going anymore, I'll be honest. It's a roller coaster ride in the dark.
If Malack is a Yaun-ti, Durkon might be saved by the lawyers...
Yes, I think that's the only Durkon's getting out of this one: V rushes in, sees what's going on, and casts a couple Incinerates (assuming V prepared some today).
Failing that, may be time to start discussing Vamp!Durkon. What are the chances that OOTS would accept another Evil-aligned member? Of course, considering the fact that Durkon would be LE and a fairly honerable fellow, I think it likely that he could come to some kind of compromise with them (only feed on Evil characters or people the team fights against). But who knows, maybe Durkon would ask Roy to stake him rather than exist as a vampire.
Holy ****!
Giant, I commend you. There are so many things about Malack that we really should have seen coming, and didn't. (Having reread a few parts involving him, the bloodwart tea is actually described as such when it's introduced, it's just that the text has similar-looking o's and a's. And when Durkon splashes a bit of it, it's blood red.)
This was yet another one of them.
:elan: He's a Yun...Yan...Yon....Serpent Thingy!
Also, a Fridge brilliance moment: When Durkon tried to casss MDW before against Sabine, and the spell failed because Thor and the devas couldn't understand his request...it wasn't because Thor was an idiot this time, it was a hint the spell had been tampered with.
Ninja'd by the Giant himself, but to elaborate - if Malack had simply dispelled the Mass Death Ward without first rendering Durkon unable to cast, Durkon could have cast a garden-variety Death Ward on himself, and we have no reason to think Malack has a backdoor into those.
No Durkon! Well, it seems its all over now. :smallfrown:
OH WOW.
And I thought the Belkar moment was gonna be the climax. How naive I was. What's really intriguing is that no matter what happens, Durkon will still be heading back to the Dwarven Lands...
(minor quibble: it's a little hard to follow the panels in the middle of the strip. I read the four panels on the left before reading the big one to the right, and I was lost for a bit about what had happened)
Hm. With Durkon potentially becoming a vampire and Belkar's clock ticking away, it's possible that the Order will be down to four members soon.
Well...oh my. This is problematic. Very problematic. On another topic, could someone point me towards the comic where Malack helped Durkon create the Mass Death Ward spell, or it was first mentioned he did so?
Yep, pretty much my thoughts here. Maybe he'll stay around with the Order anyway, though. Malack seems to be able to be personally rational and unlike Belkar I feel like Durkon has enough reputation with the Order that they would look at him as a vampire and go "oh man, that sucks...let's head to the next gate."
Spoiler, you're implying that this is the last play.
Oh and a question: are we going to learn how this will affect Durkon's allegiance to Thor? Can that be removed by this change, forcing him to lose his clerical magic until he finds a new source of power?
And here I thought Malack was a nice person for so long...
Now I really would like to see Team Evil vs. full Team Tarquin kickass Evil-to-Evil showdown.
1. I now really appreciate the move the Giant made earlier of Belkar being bitten but not vamped. It raises the tension of Durkon being bitten more.
2. If Durkon is turned here, I don't think his personality or alignment will change. I also don't think he'll ask to be staked, because I'm sure he'll recognize that he has the capacity to do a great deal of good, even as an undead. But I think a vampire Durkon would be able to satisfy his need for blood in a nonevil way.
Well, as every cliffhanger strip we've had so far in this segment has been followed by a reversal (Belkar's going to be vamp'd! No, Durkon's going to lose! No, Durkon's winning! No, Malack turned the tables! No, Durkon's winning again!), I'm going to assume this is the perfect time for someone else to show up and rescue Durkon - either Belkar will stop being Dominated, or the rest of the crew will have finished disarming the door and come to look for Durkon and Belkar.
I don't think it will be V, because from appearances he's in a completely different (and much deeper) part of the pyramid. But I've been wrong in my predictions about this comic many times before.
Here:smallsmile:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0750.html
EDIT: ...And looking at that panel in the bottom-left corner made me sad.:smallfrown:
Great story you are spinning here, Giant!:smallsmile:
1. Ok, that was a brilliant move for Malack. Durkon loses a minimum of 1d4 Con, Malack gains some temporary hp, and if something doesn't happen in the next few rounds, Durkon is defeated. Of course, this is only the 5th comic of 9, so something will happen next round to tip the balance of power back towards the Order. Of course, the Giant knows that we know this, and wil probably have Durkon be defeated just to break expectation. On the other hand, the Giant knows that we know that he knows what to expect, so he may have made plans based on what we know he knows that we know he will do, and so on and so forth.
2. I knew from the general structure of this sequence that Malack would take back the advantage dramatically this comic, but I hadn't guessed that he'd be able to dispel the Ward. Seems obvious in retrospect, though.
3. If there really are nine strips in this sequence, then the pattern we have seen so far will end on a "Malack winning" strip, though it could also be that the 9th strip will do something else to herald the end of the battle, such as Xykon warping in or simply cutting away to Haley, Elan, and Roy having finally disarmed all the traps and seeing what's beyond.
Not looking good. Hopefully Durkon remembered to hold back a Word of Recall.