Things You Never Noticed IV: There's A Comic in the Sidebar?

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Vaarsuvius was 103 in OOPCs, so he was alive during that scene. I don't know if he would be traveling around, though.

[FallenFallcrest]

Yay! New thread!

I never noticed that in 886 the comic slowly gets duller to show what's happening to them.

Also, something funny in that strip, right before Roy kills Xykon, Xykon calls Roy by name. This further shows it was a dream and an ideal reality for Roy, because the real Xykon has no clue who this Rubypommel guy is. That PROVES it was a dream!

[Keltest]

Also, something funny in that strip, right before Roy kills Xykon, Xykon calls Roy by name. This further shows it was a dream and an ideal reality for Roy, because the real Xykon has no clue who this Rubypommel guy is. That PROVES it was a dream!

Even before that, if youre paying careful attention, you can see that Redcloak has the eyepatch on the wrong eye!

[Duck999]

Even before that, if youre paying careful attention, you can see that Redcloak has the eyepatch on the wrong eye!

Yup. That caused a lot of conversation when it came out I believe.

[Gift Jeraff]

I just noticed there's an option to show/hide all the spoilers within a post.

Vaarsuvius was 103 in OOPCs, so he was alive during that scene. I don't know if he would be traveling around, though.

That was actually a bit too young for an elf, so Rich later changed it to him being in his 130s in the WaXP cast section.

V would be traveling because his master encouraged him to explore the world.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I just noticed there's an option to show/hide all the spoilers within a post.


That was actually a bit too young for an elf, so Rich later changed it to him being in his 130s in the WaXP cast section.

V would be traveling because his master encouraged him to explore the world.

I was thinking when I saw that "Don't Elves become adults at 110?" I never remember to check W&XPs, though. So, I guess he could have been there easily (though perhaps unwillingly).

[Darth Paul]

"Start of Darkness" is turning out to be full of these for me...

During MitD's escape/ abduction from the circus, his cart rolls downhill and hits the "Test Your Strength" machine. It has a scale which measures STR in 3-18 score, with the associated bonus. Trouble is, it is wrong!! It shows 17-18 STR having +4 bonus, 15-16= +3, 13-14= +2, you get the idea. It's off by one. (Deliberately, I'm sure, so customers will impress their dates more.) In D&D, the bonus increase happens on the even numbers, 12, 14, 16, and 18.

[Terrador]

In #215, we can see the following exchange.

So, I've met someone who is everything I thought I wanted, and I find that I really just want to kick her in the head.
Love is an Epic-level challenge.

What I failed to notice? That Durkon has already been there. If Durkon had an ideal mate, a fellow dwarven cleric couldn't be far off from that. Durkon doesn't wind up kicking her in the head, but what he did probably hurt a lot more.

Blew my mind when I realized this; I wasn't even doing a re-read when I did, funny enough! Hope this blows y'all's minds, too.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

In #215, we can see the following exchange.

So, I've met someone who is everything I thought I wanted, and I find that I really just want to kick her in the head.
Love is an Epic-level challenge.

What I failed to notice? That Durkon has already been there. If Durkon had an ideal mate, a fellow dwarven cleric couldn't be far off from that. Durkon doesn't wind up kicking her in the head, but what he did probably hurt a lot more.

Blew my mind when I realized this; I wasn't even doing a re-read when I did, funny enough! Hope this blows y'all's minds, too.

Huh, wow. I totally didn't realize that Durkon could have been speaking from past experience, rather than just making a random comment. Consider my mind blown.

[Darth Paul]

Someone else surely has pointed out that the goblins in #10 are speaking the language of the Ewoks? I didn't notice until I tried saying it aloud (in character), then I laughed for 5 minutes.

[BrotherMirtillo]

What I failed to notice? That Durkon has already been there. If Durkon had an ideal mate, a fellow dwarven cleric couldn't be far off from that. Durkon doesn't wind up kicking her in the head, but what he did probably hurt a lot more.

Blew my mind when I realized this; I wasn't even doing a re-read when I did, funny enough! Hope this blows y'all's minds, too.

My head a splode.

[Terrador]

Note: In #955, Vaarusvius mentions "...the former Master Thundershield..." (emphasis mine). I never noticed this, and it may indicate that Vaarsuvius doesn't consider HPoH to be Durkon. That begs the question: does HPoH know they doubt him, but failed to mention that to Hel, feeling it would be inconsequential? Or is he unaware that half the party considers the cleric "in the shop"?

...this probably deserves its own thread :P

[ti'esar]

Note: In #955, Vaarusvius mentions "...the former Master Thundershield..." (emphasis mine). I never noticed this, and it may indicate that Vaarsuvius doesn't consider HPoH to be Durkon. That begs the question: does HPoH know they doubt him, but failed to mention that to Hel, feeling it would be inconsequential? Or is he unaware that half the party considers the cleric "in the shop"?

...this probably deserves its own thread :P

I don't think it's much of a secret that the party doesn't really consider the vampire to be the same old Durkon. What they're wrong about is their assumption that he's, as Roy put it, "Durkon enough for our purposes".

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Note: In #955, Vaarusvius mentions "...the former Master Thundershield..." (emphasis mine). I never noticed this, and it may indicate that Vaarsuvius doesn't consider HPoH to be Durkon. That begs the question: does HPoH know they doubt him, but failed to mention that to Hel, feeling it would be inconsequential? Or is he unaware that half the party considers the cleric "in the shop"?

...this probably deserves its own thread :P

I agree with ti'esar here. Most of the party considers Durkon to have changed, definitely having become Evil. However, most of them are willing to assume that, despite being Evil, he will retain his old friendships among the party and continue to help them. Only Belkar suspects that the High Priest of Hel is entirely not Durkon and has malicious intentions.

[Story]

Unless I'm mistaken, the Azure City wizard here: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0340.html

is either using a modified version of Teleport or is level 18. Teleport only targets one extra person per three caster levels, and he took six people with him in one go.

He could be a Wayfairer Guide.

(sorry, forum quote buttons aren't working for some reason)

[Psyren]

I had a question now that the last arc is over and this seemed the best place to ask.

What was Kilkil referring to at the end of #882?

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I had a question now that the last arc is over and this seemed the best place to ask.

What was Kilkil referring to at the end of #882?

I'm still not quite sure either. I'm trying to think of things they would have done in Bleedingham and am not coming up with much. I eagerly await the answer.

[BrotherMirtillo]

I had a question now that the last arc is over and this seemed the best place to ask.

What was Kilkil referring to at the end of #882?

I figured it was along the lines of, "--called Laurin, Jacinda, and Miron into town to ambush the ambassador from Reptilia, and then mobilize with the Ominous Army."

[Darth Paul]

I had a question now that the last arc is over and this seemed the best place to ask.

What was Kilkil referring to at the end of #882?

I'm still not quite sure either. I'm trying to think of things they would have done in Bleedingham and am not coming up with much. I eagerly await the answer.

Aha!!!

Skip ahead to the end of #910, and I think it will become apparent what they are discussing. Everyone is conspicuously avoiding mentioning that Tarquin ordered the entire army (well, a substantial chunk, at least) to mobilize and be prepared to Gate in to the crisis area when he came back for them. It's something that I completely missed until the third time through, but it's a great bit of foreshadowing as usual for the Giant. (Hinting that there's another reveal ahead, on par with Malack being a vampire, but it's a secret for now.)

EDIT: And he also must have contacted Laurin and Myron for their help too, I just realized that. Not as big a deal as mobilizing an army with frakkin' DINOSAURS, so it escaped my memory until I looked more closely and spotted Laurin in the first wave next to Tarkie.

[DaggerPen]

Framing Ian may also have been part of it.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I figured it was along the lines of, "--called Laurin, Jacinda, and Miron into town to ambush the ambassador from Reptilia, and then mobilize with the Ominous Army."

Aha!!!

Skip ahead to the end of #910, and I think it will become apparent what they are discussing. Everyone is conspicuously avoiding mentioning that Tarquin ordered the entire army (well, a substantial chunk, at least) to mobilize and be prepared to Gate in to the crisis area when he came back for them. It's something that I completely missed until the third time through, but it's a great bit of foreshadowing as usual for the Giant. (Hinting that there's another reveal ahead, on par with Malack being a vampire, but it's a secret for now.)

EDIT: And he also must have contacted Laurin and Myron for their help too, I just realized that. Not as big a deal as mobilizing an army with frakkin' DINOSAURS, so it escaped my memory until I looked more closely and spotted Laurin in the first wave next to Tarkie.

Framing Ian may also have been part of it.

Thank you for the answers. Looking back, these all make sense and I should have been able to guess them. I'm going to blame it on how tired I was last night.

[Darth Paul]

I'm not as sure about the Ian side of it, since the ink on the Wanted poster was still wet in #915, implying that Kilkil had just had it printed when he and Tarquin went back to Bleedingham. It also seemed as if Monocle Guy was being assassinated at the exact same time as the other events in that strip, but then again it could be a flashback which Tarquin is narrating; maybe he has the same Summon Plot Exposition power as his son.

[Werbaer]

It also seemed as if Monocle Guy was being assassinated at the exact same time as the other events in that strip, but then again it could be a flashback which Tarquin is narrating

It clearly is a flashback. Myron is already with Tarkin, not back in the castle.

[Darth Paul]

It clearly is a flashback. Myron is already with Tarkin, not back in the castle.

Yes, I just realized you're right, I guess my question should have been how long ago it was a flashback to... whether it was days, hours, or only a few minutes. "The ink's wet" still seems to say that they just carried out the assassination, printed the Wanted posters, then came through to join Tarquin.

[Darth Paul]

There is a magic spell left in the middle of the desert by Girard Draketooth (who is a complete tool, by the way) which responds to someone uttering the keywords "Gate, Girard, Sapphire Guard, Soon," according to the spell itself. But I have gone over and over the dialogue in that strip and I can't figure one thing out; who said the word "Gate"?

Because by my reading, nobody said that keyword. The spell (I think) was meant to go off only if all the key words were spoken, right? So as far as I can tell the spell should not have been set off and the events which followed should therefore have been completely different! Am I wrong? Can someone please correct me? This baffles me every time I get to this part of the comic.....

[TheWombatOfDoom]

The Giant said that that was a mistake when he switched out some dialogue, though he might correct this in the printed books, either by removing the word gate, or adding some more dialogue in which gate is mentioned.

[Darth Paul]

Ah. Thank you.

Otherwise, I was seeing the only possible explanation as Girard being an utter jerkass who would have a trap set off by meeting only 3 out of 4 conditions, since that would also fit with what we knew of his character. As it is, I am just surprised it wasn't programmed to blow up if anyone wearing the color blue came within a 1-mile radius.

[DaggerPen]

I'm not as sure about the Ian side of it, since the ink on the Wanted poster was still wet in #915, implying that Kilkil had just had it printed when he and Tarquin went back to Bleedingham. It also seemed as if Monocle Guy was being assassinated at the exact same time as the other events in that strip, but then again it could be a flashback which Tarquin is narrating; maybe he has the same Summon Plot Exposition power as his son.

Unless Tarquin collaborated with his companions during the mission, the assassination of the Reptilian ambassador would have been preplanned, so Tarquin Sending to his teammates and ordering Ian framed at the same time wouldn't be too difficult. Even in a brutal dictatorship, printing takes time, especially when throwing getting a prisoner portrait in that timeframe. The posters having just finished seems reasonable to me, timing-wise.

[Unisus]

It's obvious, that Haley pulls a fast one on the others in 129 - but yesterday i took the time to calculate how bad Roy's math is.

Haley gave everyone else a fifth of the gold and took the five stones for herself. Roy took the stones from her and gave her a double share instead. So Haley got 2/7 of the collected gold, while everyone else got 1/7 of the gold and one (worthless) stone.

Actually Haley should have gotten 1/5 of the gold to keep things fair under the assumption, that the stones had any remarkable worth.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Yes, I just realized you're right, I guess my question should have been how long ago it was a flashback to... whether it was days, hours, or only a few minutes. "The ink's wet" still seems to say that they just carried out the assassination, printed the Wanted posters, then came through to join Tarquin.

I think the assassination could still have been something that they planned before they left, even if it wasn't carried out yet. Clearly, the posters were not printed yet (I'm pretty sure ink doesn't take all that long to dry), but the framing was still done.