O-Chul is gonna be mad

[Almaseti]

I'm still hoping that eventually, as a consequence of pretending to be CN rather than CE, Belkar finds that he doesn't really mind being CN anyway. I don't think he's anything other than CE right now, but there's room for character development, especially since we know he has at least one more big moment in the spotlight: his death.

[Optimystik]

theres a difference between faking C/L and G/E belkar is more CN now than before

I agree with this, but being "more CN now" doesn't mean he isn't still CE.

[David Argall]

As has been said, O-Chul is not likely to attack Belkar. His action may have been completely determined by his survival, but we can see O-Chul abandoning Belkar, or anyone else, in the reverse situation [or at least one not too different]. If Belkar tried to keep O-Chul, there was a very high chance that neither of them would escape. One shouldn't be eager to abandon the helpless in such cases, but not doing so can make things worse.

[Bibliomancer]

The question is:

Does Belkar still have that lead sheet?

He might have dropped it when sick.

Or it might have gotten left in the cart.

If he doesn't have it, some of the paladins might react badly.

[sihnfahl]

If he doesn't have it, some of the paladins might react badly.

They might react worse when someone Detects Magic on Belkar and note the MoJ is gone...

[Optimystik]

They might react worse when someone Detects Magic on Belkar and note the MoJ is gone...

Let them. It is highly unlikely they'd be a match for Belkar, and the Order has no reason to assist in fighting Belkar aside from stopping a fight (especially not Haley, who owes him her life, and by extension Elan.)

[Illven]

They might react worse when someone Detects Magic on Belkar and note the MoJ is gone...

Hinjo already promised to remove it from Belker once the battle conculed Hinjo may be confused but he probably won't be angry

[Callista]

It's a sticky situation for O-Chul either way, if he finds out Belkar is evil. He can't take the law into his own hands; he has to leave the judgment of Belkar's fate to Hinjo, who is the one to make any sort of decision about executing anybody. But he sure wouldn't be happy about having to be in the same company with him, either.

I don't know if O-Chul even knows Belkar slaughtered those guards back at the jail. It would be a good thing if he didn't know, though, because that would make Belkar simply yet another evil guy who hasn't done anything to deserve death yet. On the other hand, O-Chul is not going to be happy to associate with Belkar... for that matter, Hinjo is going to be in the same bind now that he's not just passing judgment on Belkar but possibly working together with him.

Generally, Paladin + Evil party member = a split party. That's why you don't put them together without a really good plan. If they're lucky, they'll end up doing the same thing Roy always did--traveling with Belkar because, if nobody watches him, he'll find a convenient village to slaughter.

It seems to me, though, that O-Chul likely has some experience dealing with Evil guys that haven't broken enough laws to warrant a legal execution (Kubota and his sort) that he's probably going to deal with it somehow.

[Thanatosia]

Miko killed his lord, thwarted the destruction of Xykon and Redcloak, and destroyed his city.... and yet he protects her honor. I think saying O-Chul will be the bigger man is the gross understatement of the year, he may be distrustful of belker, but I doubt he is the type to cary a grudge or act petty in any way.

[Axl_Rose]

And O chul has every right to be mad at Belkar. I personally hope O'chul gives him a good whooping.

[paladinofshojo]

So you're not upset about that one time where I abandoned you to that thing?

:o'chul: Gee, I don't know after getting tortured for several months, put through deadly obstacle corpses for the sadistic pleasure of a lich, and had my mind scanned and proverbially disected by every magic system on this realm, I feel just fine...............

Wow, and here I thought paladins couldn't cast Sarcasm

:o'chul: Shut up

[Bunnywolf]

O-Chul is definitely not the type to just attack Belkar. When O-Chul unexpectedly drops on to his liege he does not show his emotions (which I'm sure he has), he keeps his cool. I would expect a similar restraint towards Belkar. Slash-slash-slash is definitely out.

[SadisticFishing]

Wait, are people really lambasting Belkar for not dying to the crazy thing that was quite clearly way out of proper CR range?

Are you guys crazy? This is like blaming V for using Invisibility to run away.

He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.

[Zevox]

Are you guys crazy? This is like blaming V for using Invisibility to run away.

Some people have done that, sadly.

Zevox

[SadisticFishing]

Exactly. It's just.. silly. They're not just characters in some fantasy game... Wait...

Let's try again. They're REALISTIC characters in a (relatively) realistic fantasy story. You don't die when running is an option.

[sihnfahl]

Let them. It is highly unlikely they'd be a match for Belkar, and the Order has no reason to assist in fighting Belkar aside from stopping a fight (especially not Haley, who owes him her life, and by extension Elan.)

... I don't know how I lost this thread.

Anyhow, it's not them being mad at Belkar (as you said, they did promise to remove the mark after the battle to defend the city). It's the fact the mark is -gone-.

The Cleric of Loki said he saw his share of Marks on thieves coming out of Azure City. And that they never changed the password.

So, all these years, they've been letting people go, thinking they were controlled by the Mark, when all it takes is a little gold to the right cleric and all 'punishment' is gone.

[Thanatosia]

LoL, I didn't think O-Chul would be mad at Belker, but I also didn't see him actually thanking him either.

[Optimystik]

Anyhow, it's not them being mad at Belkar (as you said, they did promise to remove the mark after the battle to defend the city). It's the fact the mark is -gone-.

The Cleric of Loki said he saw his share of Marks on thieves coming out of Azure City. And that they never changed the password.

So, all these years, they've been letting people go, thinking they were controlled by the Mark, when all it takes is a little gold to the right cleric and all 'punishment' is gone.

The Mark itself disappears after activation anyway. All that Cole removed was the resulting curse.

This leaves the issue of a cleric out there knowing the Azure MoJ password, but maybe Break Enchantment can remove the curse without knowing that. (Belkar could then lie and say that's the spell Cole used.)

[Bibliomancer]

I think that it was very thorough of Rich to address this thread's concerns in the most recent strip without betraying O'chul's core character.

[otakufan]

This leaves the issue of a cleric out there knowing the Azure MoJ password

Given that the Greater Mark of Justice was not actually part of the Azure City justice system, I don't think that will be much of a problem...

[Optimystik]

Given that the Greater Mark of Justice was not actually part of the Azure City justice system, I don't think that will be much of a problem...

Which leads to a continuity question:

If the MoJ isn't part of the AC justice system, how did so many thieves end up with it that Cole was experienced with its use?

I see two possibilities:
1) Shojo makes a habit of getting thieves cursed and released (though I can't imagine why);
2) A regular Mark of Justice IS a common (or at least, not rare) punishment in Azure City, and a GREATER Mark of Justice was unique to Belkar's case.

At least, I think those are the only two possibilities. Am I missing something?

[otakufan]

Which leads to a continuity question:

If the MoJ isn't part of the AC justice system, how did so many thieves end up with it that Cole was experienced with its use?

I see two possibilities:
1) Shojo makes a habit of getting thieves cursed and released (though I can't imagine why);
2) A regular Mark of Justice IS a common (or at least, not rare) punishment in Azure City, and a GREATER Mark of Justice was unique to Belkar's case.

At least, I think those are the only two possibilities. Am I missing something?

I'd imagine #1 to be the correct answer (or something similar), as #2 is mostly semantics. Indeed, the mark was referred to, by everyone, as simply a "Mark of Justice" up until the mark was triggered. And as Hinjo (in the strip I linked above) explicitly states that Azure City does not use Marks of Justice in its legal system, I see no reason to split hairs.

As to #1, Shojo was Chaotic Good, and as such, felt comfortable working outside the law in a way that the Azure City paladins would disapprove of (hence why he played senile). I would imagine that his GMoJ "system" was used as something of a rehabilitation tool, for lesser criminals (i.e. petty thieves and the like, as opposed to mass murderers) who would get caught, imprisoned for a while, then released to start it all over again.

Belkar was probably a special case in this regard: someone who should have been locked up for good or executed, but whose skills were needed by the OotS and was under constant supervision by Roy (up until his death, of course).