OOTS #995 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Tiiba]

Run, Belkar! Run!

[Cool Trash]

Stupid +8 racial bonus to Listen checks.

[Sylthia]

Happy Birthday to me! Poor Belkar.

[kenlund]

Admitting to a vampire that you and your comrades have pretty much used up all your spells for the day?!?
That guy practically asked to be turned into a vampire.

[The Goodnight]

Dun Dun Dun!

These are my favorite sort of moments in any story.

THE GOODNIGHT

[Luizeu]

When I saw the staff there I thought Belkar could have taken it away

[Shining Wrath]

Did NOT see that coming. Alas, poor exarch.

Belkar must have been at least slightly tempted by the staff; grabbing that would be a big deal.

So what we just learned is that a non-theistic cleric is inferior to a theistic one for purposes of the moot, and that the people running the moot are not actually invited? And that Hel's problem was lack of appropriate level clerics - it takes a certain level of cleric to be allowed in?

This is quite the plot twist.

EDIT: Just checked. A vampire does not get any bonus to its move; he can shapechange into a (dire) wolf with a 50' move, but that is a standard action and Belkar has a head start.

[Norin Warstone]

Well, that sure didn't take long. Durkula is going to wreak a lot of havoc in the next few comics.

[Psyren]

Mmm, is that smoky flavor in your cholesterol gouda? That is tasty.

*looks around for the character death pool*

EDIT: Interesting that Darkon considers the political "blather" to be "meaningless." Is he there to participate in the moot properly or not? Why commit a quick murder in the hallway? He can't have been thirsty either.

[JohnTheSavage]

Wow, Durkula does not mess around, does he?

[Bluepaw]

The vamp heard the halfling, didn't he. Gulp.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I think Hel's problem was more a general lack of clerics.

Anyone else flashing back to the IFCC telling Qarr that just because they're Evil doesn't mean they'll help evil folks?

[Quintis]

Its been a long time since I posted, but this story arc is really great. I'm starting to think something big really will happen on strip 1000.

[BannedInSchool]

Aww, and I was thinking that some of Hel's mischief would be shifting the balance in voting blocks.

[zql]

I love the Silence spell, it was a nice touch.

[Kaytara]

WELL THEN.

Run Belkar run!


I knew the guy was dead meat the moment he admitted to having no spells left. Dear god, he paid for his foolishness.

Next update can't come soon enough.

[zql]

Also, a vampire it's always happy to grab a bite on the run.

[Durkoala]

Wow. I really wasn't expecting Hippo to commit to violence so soon.
I wonder if this will have consequences for him (beyond the possibility that Belkar brings Roy down on him). After all, even if this isn't strictly forbidden, it's going to offend every Good priest, probably a lot of the Neutral ones, and possibly even some of the evil ones, as he did just kill a non-threatening person who has helped make the moot possible, while he was disscussing the possibility of a political alliance.


On second thoughts, what if Hippo's plan is to kill and vampirise all of the brotherhood? He has the staff to get them on their feet immediately, and sorely needs some more power if the preists decide to do away with him, not to mention it will be an easy way to 'escape' from the Order.

[Shining Wrath]

Mmm, is that smoky flavor in your cholesterol gouda? That is tasty.

*looks around for the character death pool*

EDIT: Interesting that Darkon considers the political "blather" to be "meaningless." Is he there to participate in the moot properly or not? Why commit a quick murder in the hallway? He can't have been thirsty either.

It may be that he just wants to kill because he's just that evil, and he doesn't need the exarch alive. He knows the way into the hall, where he will do whatever he came here to do; and killing an innocent victim (and one who was seeking his help) is just his nature. It's like the tale of the scorpion and the frog; he followed his nature.

[dmc91356]

That was staggeringly naive on one part and 100% pure awesome on the other!

[Bulldog Psion]

Is he about to make a swarm of vampires using the staff's power and various people in the place who lack the strength to resist?

I mean, it sounds like the whole Creed of Stone is now ripe for "conversion." Is he about to march into the council chamber with a hundred vampires at his back?

[Shining Wrath]

That was staggeringly naive on one part and 100% pure awesome on the other!

Someone rolled a '1' on his Insight check ... and also his Knowledge(Religion) about the nature of vampires. It's a bad day to be spell less.

[Redgoblin]

That was staggeringly naive on one part and 100% pure awesome on the other!

Are we talking about the exarch and Durkula, or are we talking about Durkula and Belkar?

[RblDiver]

Whelp, given that the staff can bring a new vamp up instantly, now we're up to 2. How many more before the cavalry can be summoned?

[Stegyre]

It's going down!

EDIT: Interesting that Darkon considers the political "blather" to be "meaningless." Is he there to participate in the moot properly or not? Why commit a quick murder in the hallway? He can't have been thirsty either.

I take it as a pretty clear indication that he's not interested in the politics of the moot. Otherwise, the risk of what he just did would far outweigh the benefits.

Note, also, he's not just been told that this priest has no more high level spells: it's likely all the Creed of the Stone.

I'm wondering, since the Creed is not "protected" by the rules of the Godsmoot, they are likewise not bound by them.

[Crod]

We still know too little of Hel's plan here to really draw any conclusions, but still it's difficult to see the point of that except for pure malice. I'm happy to see that Belkar is running for it. He knows he's no match for that vampiric gaze.

[StaceyH]

That was staggeringly naive on one part and 100% pure awesome on the other!

What's particularly awesome is Belkar's eyes bugging out at, I suppose, the sudden *lack* of noise, inspiring him to sneak-a-peek around the corner.

And is Durkula standing there wondering, "Am I missing a spot check?"

[ti'esar]

Alas, poor Gontor! We hardly knew ye.

I sort of saw this coming from the comic title, but still, I didn't expect things to go down this fast. Given what Malack's staff can do, and depending on how many Creed of the Stone adherents there are present, this could rapidly spiral out of control.

I'm pleasantly surprised that Belkar had the common sense to run for it. Did the HPoH spot him in the last panel, or not?

[littlebum2002]

Hooray! Obsessively checking the forum for updates has paid off!

It looks like Belkar missed one of those skill checks...