OOTS #963 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Oko and Qailee]

This durkon stuff is gonna make me cry :(

[Mando Knight]

So, will Durkon be able to outwit the vampiric usurper using his superior ability to observe connections in behavior? Stay tuned!

[CoffeeIncluded]

New comic AND the Korra season 4 trailer! Today's pretty awesome!

And the evil spirit's incapable of seeing the connection...oh, this is gonna be good.

[Yana]

Would someone be so kind as to elaborate as to what that connection is?

[OnlineDM]

Little Durkon is so cute!

And Yana, I believe it's about the "When should I wait until being asked to help versus jumping right in."

[Silva Stormrage]

Would someone be so kind as to elaborate as to what that connection is?

Durkon got into the habit of wanting to help but not wanting to interfere and mess with others when he is helping.

In the childhood memory he tries to help without asking and he makes things worse

In the more recent memory he instead just assumes that Roy doesn't need help unless he explicitly asks for it

[Oko and Qailee]

In the first story Durkon was too eager to help and later on he couldn't figure out he was supposed to help

[Leviting]

Well if it count for anything, it took me about ten seconds to make the connection too. What's interesting is how Ms. Thundershield hosted many dinner parties, yet was too poor to buy new dishes, and measured her wealth in coppers.

[Oko and Qailee]

It's odd that Durkula can't make obvious logical connections between the two events though

[Keltest]

There is now officially a plan. I like that.

[ThePhantom]

Hehe, Durkon may be mostly unable to act, but he can still annoy his unwanted guest with Dwarf humor.

Also, we have his middle name, I think that's a first.

[Twelvetrees]

This looks good. What the heck does Durkon think is so good, though?

[Kefkafreak]

This looks good. What the heck does Durkon think is so good, though?

That the rest of the party will notice something's wrong with him when he helps them without asking?

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I love seeing his memories.

I honestly bought the connection Durkon gave at first.

[Gnoman]

Well if it count for anything, it took me about ten seconds to make the connection too. What's interesting is how Ms. Thundershield hosted many dinner parties, yet was too poor to buy new dishes, and measured her wealth in coppers.

With a missing arm, her labor options are probably very limited. I'd be inclined to suspect that she's living under a fixed income provided in thanks of whatever cost her the arm in the first place.

[Bad Wolf]

What's the smokey thing in the last panel?

[Burner28]

Talk about painful puns! Elan, eat your heart out!

On a different note, it's great to see further insight into Durkon's character.

Also, Allotrope is his middle name? Hmmm, interesting.

[Lkctgo]

I wonder what the HPOH is asking Durkon to show to generate these memories. Also, I'm a little confused with Durkon's endgame here.

[Steveio]

This looks good. What the heck does Durkon think is so good, though?

HPoH seemingly can't determine the emotional connection between Durkon's memories. To hazard a guess, I'd say Durkon plans on giving incorrect information to his bloodsucking parasite by playing off of this.

Or he plans on being as obnoxious as possible to the HPoH. Either way, it's going to be great.

[NerdyKris]

Well if it count for anything, it took me about ten seconds to make the connection too. What's interesting is how Ms. Thundershield hosted many dinner parties, yet was too poor to buy new dishes, and measured her wealth in coppers.

Potluck dinners. She might be hosting, but it's entirely possible and likely that the family and friends are providing the food for her to cook or contributing in some way.

What's the smokey thing in the last panel?

The airship with the damaged engine.

[gornt]

I don't get the emphasis on something in the last panel

[DaggerPen]

1. Oh hey, first person perspective! I wasn't expecting to get any of that, but it looks really cool here.

Also, no wonder Durkon's so passive in battle usually. Possibly a little on the nose here, but it's still a really great development for him.

Finally, it's really interesting to note that the HPOH clearly doesn't understand, well, people. Sure looks like Durkon will be able to play that to his advantage... this will be fun.

[Martok]

I completely cracked up at Durkon's middle name being "Allotrope". Too funny!

I don't get the emphasis on something in the last panel

The short version: Durkon has figured out that if he feeds the right memories to Durkula, he can trick him into behaving in ways Durkon normally wouldn't, thus alerting the Order to there being something amiss with their pal.

As a bonus, he can also annoy the crap out of Durkula in the process.

[Zarzar]

I'm still thinking that Durkon's only real plan is to give partial memories about important events that would mess with Durkula's understanding of things, which would lead someone to acknowledge the memory gap and put 1 and 1 together.


My bet is with the reunion with Hilgaya in the dwarven lands. If Durkon only gives Durkula the intimacy memory without the moral high ground afterglow, Hilgaya will pick up on it immediately. And who else to know about undead abominations than a cleric? (Bonus points if she's high enough level to cast resurrection).

[Bird]

That devious look from Durkon made me very happy.

Love the pretty panel of the Mechane at the end, too.

Also, Allotrope is his middle name? Hmmm, interesting.

It is interesting. I recalled that allotropes had something to do with diamonds--which fits thematically for dwarves--but had to look it up for more information:

Allotropy or allotropism (from Greek ἄλλος (allos), meaning "other", and τρόπος (tropos), meaning "manner, form") is the property of some chemical elements to exist in two or more different forms, known as allotropes of these elements. Allotropes are different structural modifications of an element;[1] the atoms of the element are bonded together in a different manner. For example, the allotropes of carbon include diamond (where the carbon atoms are bonded together in a tetrahedral lattice arrangement), graphite (where the carbon atoms are bonded together in sheets of a hexagonal lattice), graphene (single sheets of graphite), and fullerenes (where the carbon atoms are bonded together in spherical, tubular, or ellipsoidal formations).

Any thoughts on why this fits for Durkon? Or was it just picked because it's a humorously technical geological/chemical term?

[DaggerPen]

I don't get the emphasis on something in the last panel

I think it's just the usual "pull back for reflection" panel signifying the end of a sequence. My bet, we'll catch up with Team Evil next update, or at least skip ahead to Tinkertown.

[Starknight62040]

Awesome. I love the early look at Roy and Durkon.

[Kish]

It's odd that Durkula can't make obvious logical connections between the two events though

This looks good. What the heck does Durkon think is so good, though?

The High Priest of Hel's inability to draw obvious connections.

[tomandtish]

Alternate title: Chaotic Kermit