OOTS #658 - The Discussion Thread

[Porthos]

The point Jeptcloak is making is that V should have an overland flight spell because he prepared it that day, it was replenished by the splice, and his old flight spell (before the splice) is the one that's been in effect this whole time. You could say that he re-chose his spells for the day when he got the splice, but that doesn't make much sense to me. Choosing the spells requires concentration or at least conscious thought, whereas receiving raw arcane power to replenish spells already chosen doesn't seem like it would need to.

Eh, the Advanced Time Stop that the IFCC used is expressly illegal according to all the rules of DnD (except for possibly magic of the Gods, and since the IFCC aren't gods by their own admission...) I can see that part of the Soul Splice deal lets you instantly rechoose your spells as opposed to waiting 15 minutes to do so.

One is just as rule breaking as the other, so I really don't see the big deal here.

If you want to criticize V, criticize him for not memorizing another Fly type spell. But then we enter the realm of judgemen...

... And we all know how well V's judgement was at the time.

Edit: No, you're misunderstanding his argument. V doesn't need another fly spell, the one he'd been using was cast before the splice and was in use this whole time. The duration is one hour/level. Jeptcloak has a valid argument here, although this isn't necessarily an oversight on Rich's part.

That was nuked by the Superior Dispel spell.

[Adeen]

OT: I just got the first post of pages 4, 5, and 6 in a row!

[archon_huskie]

It was a speculation thread, and it started with "Everybody remember the raven, V's familiar (Blackwing/Arrow shooting target)? He's gonna come back, that's what I think." thank you very fricking much. The rest was discussion.

Congrats! You've just failed a spot check!

Two words. and so it is declared close enough!

Let's hope that V has Featherfall, since it is clear that V does not have a fly spell nor did she choose it again when her spells were refreshed following the soul splice.

[Cleverdan22]

Now its time for the ultimate sacrifice: giving up the world's most useless familiar.

Seriously great comic. Good to see V talking without a frustration line above his eyes.

[NakedCelt]

What are the odds the bird flies over the rift, Xykon zooms out to snatch the phylactery, holds him it up triumphantly, and gets snagged by the Snarl?

I was going to say no, that couldn't happen, because we know Xykon is going to be at Girard's Gate first. But then I thought -- and this is way off the wall --

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the Rift is connected to Girard's Gate too, isn't it? Could Xykon swim the Phantom Zone Snarl's prison and come out Girard's Gate?

(No, I don't really think that. But what if?)

[bluedolphin359]

Has anyone noticed the best part? There's more than just one of left!

Also, I loved the joke here. I hope Vaarsuvius and O-Chul make it out alive, but I don't really see how that is possible. Go Blackwing!

[Kaytara]

Yeah, I know. But I can't resist a good "told you so". Besides, who else made a thread about Blackwing coming back soon? Nobody? Just me? Yeah, thought so.

I don't really have any bragging rights, except for remembering Blackwing a dozen strips before everyone else. But that's good enough for me!

Hehe. XD Yeah, okay. Although, technically, there HAVE been a few people wondering whether the Soul Splice and V's heightened "effective level" would have an impact on Blackwing's abilities, as well.
But yeah, no one explicitly brought it up.
You know, I actually predicted the fact that O-Chul would know about Xykon's phylactery months ago, and then mentioned it again during the recent arc, so it became a commonly accepted theory and I never really got the chance to brag about it at all.... so I know how you feel. XD

[Animefunkmaster]

Ridiculously epic strip.

[Rafu]

[Twilight Jack]

I think Chekov is spelled with a . . .


Like I spelled it.

[Da'Shain]

I was going to say no, that couldn't happen, because we know Xykon is going to be at Girard's Gate first. But then I thought -- and this is way off the wall --

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the Rift is connected to Girard's Gate too, isn't it? Could Xykon swim the Phantom Zone Snarl's prison and come out Girard's Gate?

(No, I don't really think that. But what if?)

...

Okay. That ... would be AWESOME.

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Seriously. Everyone sees Xykon get sucked into the Snarl's dimension, and goes, "CRAP! There goes the main villain! I guess Redcloak's gonna step up after all ..." (Or for some people, it would be "YAY! There goes the comic relief villain, here comes the REAL villain," but bah to those people.)

And then, when all is set for an epic showdown as the OotS and Redcloak (with new mage of some sort in tow) make their way to Girard's Gate and begin the fight for it, Xykon bursts out of the rift, destroying the gate in the process, and is so seriously pissed off that he tries to kill EVERYONE. And probably succeeds.

I agree, very unlikely. But that just became my new favorite theory, even if it means no more Xykon for about a hundred strips.

[stsasser]

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Blackwing takes the phylactery and tosses it into the Rift. Xykon tries to zap the bird, but O-Chul flings himself into the blast of the spell, sacrificing himself.

or

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O-Chul hangs the phylactery on Blackwing to give it more heft and throws Blackwing into the Rift.

In either case, O-Chul gains ever-lasting glory. My way, he gets a few laughs, too.

[EmeraldPhoenix]

...

Okay. That ... would be AWESOME.

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Seriously. Everyone sees Xykon get sucked into the Snarl's dimension, and goes, "CRAP! There goes the main villain! I guess Redcloak's gonna step up after all ..." (Or for some people, it would be "YAY! There goes the comic relief villain, here comes the REAL villain," but bah to those people.)

And then, when all is set for an epic showdown as the OotS and Redcloak (with new mage of some sort in tow) make their way to Girard's Gate and begin the fight for it, Xykon bursts out of the rift, destroying the gate in the process, and is so seriously pissed off that he tries to kill EVERYONE. And probably succeeds.

I agree, very unlikely. But that just became my new favorite theory, even if it means no more Xykon for about a hundred strips.

New favorie theory? Ditto x 2.

[T.G. Oskar]

For some reason, everybody is worried about His Epic Holiness O-Chul and Vaarsuvius not surviving to live another day, when there's the slight chance of O-Chul NOT giving Xykon the chance to kill them. So...

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O-Chul is probably going to deal a leap of faith, so as to not let Xykon kill him. Of course, that's just AFTER Blackwing delivers the phylactery, in which Xykon will probably be so amused so as to have V lose XP in order to destroy the phylactery.

Probably boasts that said phylactery WASN'T the real one. Blackwing dies.

Meanwhile, V is thrown away, to its death.

And at the floor, V meets...the whoopie cushion monsters, saving them from the fall. And one of them already knocked out by O-Chul.

And the real phylactery? Probably is left somewhere, where the death of Blackwing causes it to be dragged away.

Yeah, probably too insane to be true. But at least one of the things should happen.

Oh, and BTW...it's spelled Chekhov. Just as any possible individual who probably ninja-posts before me might say.

[The MunchKING]

You know, I can't really think of a way this can work, Xykon will just kill Blackwing, or maybe Blackwing won't do anything at all, then Xykon will finish off V and O-Chul...

Familiars get improved evasion IIRC.

[The MunchKING]

Funny story... the soul splice replenished V's spell slots, so V should still have fly.

Only if V repletished a Fly in it...

[DungeonDelver]

Is there any evidence that V prepared fly in the first place, and instead cast the spell from one of the splices?

[Kish]

In either case, O-Chul gains ever-lasting glory. My way, he gets a few laughs, too.

Your way, he kills a sapient creature the same alignment as Vaarsuvius in a thoroughly callous and un-O-Chulish way.

[Pyron]

My theory:

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Blackwing flies with the phylactery towards the rift.

Meanwhile, the resistance happens to be sneaking towards the castle for a surprise. They spot the raven, fearing that it's an enemy patrol of some sort and ... something like this.

[Koragi85]

That was friggin' awesome! Go O-Chul! (You roach killer!)

[The MunchKING]

A question: What, exactly, is the reference in the title? (I'm assuming there IS one, naturally.)

Bird in the Hand is worth two in the Bush??

[One_Wolf]

Very Very funny. I love Blackwing's "appearance when needed."

[The MunchKING]

In a world where the characters rely on Wily E Coyote for laws of motion? Yeah, sure, that's as likely to happen as Belkar apologizing for something.

Belkar HAS appologized for things.

Just cause it was sarcastic and hurtful, doesn't mean he didn't say he was sorry.

[ackmondual]

But V didn't chant anything, nor even flick a finger. Can't tell if it's one of those spells that you can cast with thought alone, but anyway Blackwing appeared of its own volition?

[DnDgeek13]

i didn't think we would see blackwing again. perhaps this will be the last time we see him.

[KilltheToy]

I like this.

Go, Blackwing, go! Make your heroic sacrifice! Your fanclub will remember you forever!

(We do have a Blackwing fanclub, yes?)

[Accersitus]

Some interesting questions now, are how many hitpoints does V have
left atm, and is hir Constitution score currently an even number?
Remember that there is a reason familiars are mostly forgotten until
they are the only means to an end because the wizard looses
one point in Constitution permanently if hir familiar dies.
This can reduce the hitpoints of the wizard by hir level if it
currently is an even number, and for a wizard over level 10
this can be lethal if s(he) is at around 1 hitpoint when the familiar dies.

If V is in the danger zone here, does (s)he dare send Blackwing
on the quite dangerous mission to destroy the phylactery.

Small theory:

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Maybe Readcloak gets one of the escaped souls from Vs
soulsplice to replace Xykon

[Twilight Jack]

But V didn't chant anything, nor even flick a finger. Can't tell if it's one of those spells that you can cast with thought alone, but anyway Blackwing appeared of its own volition?

Not at all. V, faced with a problem that she could not solve with magic, remembered that she had a familiar uniquely suited to the task at hand.

[Adeen]

Hmm... another possible thing that could happen is the prisoners of azure city resisting and doing something, most likely causing a distraction.

[JeptCloak]

The ones making drama out of it are you guys. I am simply pointing out yet another plot hole, and muttering about it.

Plot holes hurt suspension of disbelief, and mess up the story. I'd like them to be explained, or for the story to be written in a way that they aren't plot holes.

V was already flying when the ABD came along, hence already had a flight spell going. We've seen no fly spell since then, so the one in effect the whole time was V's assumedly. The splice "replenished" his spell slots, so by a sensible reading he should have his fly spell back, even if he had only prepared one.

Now, sure, you can invent ways around this, just like people tried to claim Xykon had an unseen rod of maximising, or that some unknown character who exited the story thereafter cast Xykon's invisibility. It's just these explanations are lame, and if you need to invent bizarre explanations like this then it's probably not a very well executed story.

If you want to believe that Rich wrote the story intending the replenishing to mean "you will be able to look over your spells and pick which ones you want then replenish them" (all offpanel, followed by V madly laughing), then fine, but let's not suggest it's the sensible reading as opposed to you reaching for answers. Ironically the same people making this suggestion are the ones who scoffed at the idea that V necessarily knew what spells the splices had, which means we are to believe V had time to go over and pick which spells he wanted in that instant of splicing, but was unable to look over the spell list the splices had. SCRUBBED.

I can guess what you mean by "a spell that may or may not have been disjunction", but do you really want to go there?