what exactly is the plan here again?

[TBone]

OK so the order just beat back the LG and is now presumably going to keep searching for the gate...then what exactly? I may have just forgotten but do they have any way to seal or affect the gate besides just destroying it? Is their plan just to hang out forever and guard it? I'm confused.

[Winter]

The plan has never mentioned but I think it's going to be along these lines:
A) If Team Evil is there -> Fight it.
B) If Team Evil is not there -> Wait for it, then Fight it.

Currently, they are set out to prevent Xykon (as far as they know it's his stick and not Redcloaks) from doing "bad things" with the gates.

[theinsulabot]

originally they intended to rouse the draketooth clan and make sure they were ready for them, seeing as how the gate is now functionally undefended, even though I doubt they will, it actually wouldn't be tactically unsound to locate and destroy the gate now and force xykon to have to move to Kragor's gate, as it at least still (presumably) is guarded.

more likely though the plan is likely find V, regroup, and wait for Roy to come up with a better plan.

[Anarion]

They might try to figure out how to destroy the gate. Soon didn't have a self-destruct mechanism other than "slash with sword," so if the Order has time, they might get a chance to rig the gate with a self-destruct in case they can't beat team evil.

Also, I think V and Durkon would want to study the gate if they could and figure out more information about it. V in particular, given what (s)he saw in the rift.

[Roland Itiative]

Their plan is simply "kill Xykon before he completes 'his' plan", the same it has always been. The gate is simply a convenient location for the fight (and would add a strategic advantage, had the Draketooth clan not been wiped out), since they know Xykon is going there.

[Steward]

Does the Order believe itself ready to take on Xykon and Redcloak? They do have a 1-1 win/loss record in their past head-to-head confrontations with him, and this is technically the type of environment where they historically have an advantage. They also have intelligence reports about Xykon's spell list and magic items now, which should be a pretty big boost.

But Xykon and especially Redcloak are also quite a bit stronger now, and I'm not sure if the Order has a solid plan to end their lives.

[Sorator]

Does the Order believe itself ready to take on Xykon and Redcloak? They do have a 1-1 win/loss record in their past head-to-head confrontations with him, and this is technically the type of environment where they historically have an advantage. They also have intelligence reports about Xykon's spell list and magic items now, which should be a pretty big boost.

But Xykon and especially Redcloak are also quite a bit stronger now, and I'm not sure if the Order has a solid plan to end their lives.

I think they were heavily depending on the Draketooth clan to make up for the level/power differences.

They (mostly V & Durkon) may as well start setting up some kind of defenses, assuming they beat off the LG before Team Evil shows up. Elan could throw some illusions together - while of course it'd be better to prep some other way, since Team Evil probably prepped to deal with illusions anyway, it's better than nothing. V and Durkon could probably set up some other lasting tactical advantages, such as a self-destruct mechanism, multiple castings of explosive runes in various locations, and Giant knows what else. They do have a bevy of traps available to work with, too, and they've already shown the capability to take advantage of them on the fly.

I'm not too confident they'll manage to deal with the LG before Xykon & Co. shows up, though.

[theinsulabot]

I don't think the order would jump team evil without a serious tactical advantage. Roy made it abundantly clear when talking to Celia he had learned the difference between fighting a valiant battle and a hopeless one, and Haley made it clear they knew just how strong xykon was when leaving azure city, not to mention o'chul's tip sheet.

[Nephrahim]

Team Evil are two high level characters. The OotS are a team of 6 mid-high level characters who have been preparing to fight Team Evil (Durkon's negative energy spell, the list, ext.)

Their plan is to fight Team Evil. Obviously they intended the draketooths to help, and if they do defeat the LG they might not just twiddle their thumbs and hang around for Xykon to show up, but that's still the general plan.

[IW Judicator]

There's a few different ways this could turn out, but most of them point towards the destruction of the Gate one way or another (Stray Meteor Swarm/other high level spell, Pyramid Collapse because of unsafe looting, etc). There's a slim chance that something else could happen (such as the IFCC making their move to control the Gate and all hell breaking loose) but in the end it will probably end with a 3+ way battle for the Gate that ends with the beginning of the race to the final one. However, the initial Linear Guild assaults will have drastically impaired the Order's ability to fight Team Evil (who should be showing up fairly soon), which is not helped by the death of the Draketooth family. It'll be interesting to see how the Order compensates for their expenditures against the Linear Guild/Tarquin and Company in the final battle for the Draketooth Gate.

[Lord Ensifer]

V and Durkon could probably set up some other lasting tactical advantages, such as a self-destruct mechanism, multiple castings of explosive runes in various locations, and Giant knows what else. They do have a bevy of traps available to work with, too, and they've already shown the capability to take advantage of them on the fly.

While the OOTs could definitely set up an epic ambush (they managed to dominate the Linear guild with very little time or materials, after all), my guess is that Team Evil is going to show up right in the middle of the battle with the Linear Guild, so they won't have any time to prepare.

I think their original plan was to beat Team Evil to the Gate and work with the Draketooths (Draketeeth?) to prepare for them, but they were surprised by the effects of Familicide as well as the Linear Guild showing up. At this point, I think they're trying mostly to survive and beat back as many villains as they can, ideally without self-destructing the gate.

[Mike Havran]

From the strip #844 I got the impression that Order's plan for the moment is to find Girard's Gate as soon as possible and eliminate the new villain that murdered Draketooths. Xykon is not their top priority right now.

[Jay R]

Plan?

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[Bulldog Psion]

I also figure that they were planning to negotiate with the Draketooth clan for joint defense, or at least warn them. Now that the said clan is extinct, they're going to have to come up with another plan fast. Perhaps "run away"?

[Jay R]

From the strip #844 I got the impression that Order's plan for the moment is to find Girard's Gate as soon as possible and eliminate the new villain that murdered Draketooths.

more likely though the plan is likely find V, regroup, and wait for Roy to come up with a better plan.

Well, these two plans fit together nicely.

[JustSomeGuy]

Off topic: TBone, as in the infamous internet personality TC?

[King of Nowhere]

their plan was to talk with the draketooths.
since they're dead, they need to find another plan. but being under attack, they haven't had the time to think beyond the immediate.

[Winter]

since they're dead, they need to find another plan. but being under attack, they haven't had the time to think beyond the immediate.

So, they are acting just as they usually do. "Plan...?"

[Gandariel]

They don't strictly have a plan now.


Basically, they started out as : "Kill Kykon" as their only plan.

As the story progressed though, they learned of the gates and took the responsibility of saving the world.

At the end of DStP, their plan was more like "First priority is avoid the end of the world.
Second priority is killing Xykon&co AND Nale&co, since they're the only ones (to their knowledge) who know about the gates.
Third priority is find a long term solution for the gates. For example visit them, make sure they're alright, have them agree to accept their help."

So their plan was
"Ok, we'll go to Girard's gate because we know Xykon is heading here, so we'll wait until he shows up and kill him. This solves priority number one and two.
AND THEN we'll figure out what to do next."

Now, though, they see Girard's gate is undefended AND they fully acknowledge that Nale's team is in this too.
So, they don't have a plan for now. Sure, their plan is to beat Nale's team, then beat Xykon's, but they don't know what to do next.

What if, for example, Xykon, defeated, said "Screw this, i'm going to Kraagor's gate!"
The order might have a chance to get there fast, but the Gate would be undefended..

We'll see.
They might be willing to shatter this gate too, we don't know.

[Anarion]

The reality right now is that the only surefire way to defend a gate is to destroy it. Soon's was probably the best-defended, being at the center of an entire good-aligned city with a powerful ghost-paladin, and even he admitted that Miko's destruction of the gate technically counted as fulfilling her duty in protecting it.

But, I don't think the order has thought that far ahead. Step one, once they realized that the Draketooths were all dead, was to find the gate, and the arrival and the Linear Guild interrupted them before they ever got past that phase.

Currently V is probably the furthest into the temple and therefore the most likely to stumble upon the gate first, and who knows what she'll end up doing, since it would depend heavily on what, if any, last ditch defenses are in place.

[ChowGuy]

Roy always has a plan. It's usually "Wait and see what happens, then wing it."