How will Belkar survive?

[factotum]

Well, didn't the Oracle say something about "not breathing" as opposed to gone?

He also said that he was not long for this world and should savour his next birthday cake...

[Ron Miel]

• Caught by giant eagle.

1012, 2nd page, shot of the Mechane ... Is that a giant eagle I see there?

[theNater]

1012, 2nd page, shot of the Mechane ... Is that a giant eagle I see there?

Pretty sure that's a vampire in gaseous form.

[ChillerInstinct]

Well, judging by V's dialogue in the last strip, we can rule out the whole "V rescues him" option.

Better hope he was smart enough to make provisions after the last two times the HPoH send him overboard, or I don't see any way he's getting out of this one.

[Bulldog Psion]

Yep, no V rescue. V didn't see him come out the window, so anything involving the elf or the Mechane is out of the question.

[Cool Trash]

Long shot, but here it goes: Right now, thanks to the yellow aura from that clasp, Belkar looks quite a bit like a priest whose manifesting a god. The yellows aren't exactly the same, but they're close. If there's a planar ally or something similar on watch outside the building, it's not unlikely that they'd see Belkar and immediately grab him just to be safe.

They went to all this trouble. Most clerics can't fly and none have feather fall-it'd make sense to have something on standby that could fly to watch for falling clerics.

[StLordeth]

Yeah that rules the rest of the Order and the Mechane out. Interesting.

He may just survive the fall because of D&D rules, but the vampire seems to think it killed him and he'd have a fourth-wall-breaking understanding of the rules as is common in this comic wouldn't he?

If this is Belkars death, that's pretty funny. One of the most entertaining and major characters gone in the 2nd to last book is very odd though, but we'll see.

He probably just has a feather-fall item of some sort like some have predicted.

[hrak]

I havent seen this idea brought up yet, so consider this:

Belkar is dead from the fall. However, he lands on the winding road that leads from the mountain. One of the many clerics leaving the mount may pass his body and for some reason raise him as he will look recently dead from a fall that could only come from the godsmount. Thus they will conclude he was a participant in said gods-mount and very likely raise him.

This allows for a few things. First it will let Belkar taste the terrible afterlife that awaits him as he is still evil and this might further push him towards neutral/good. And Second, it still allows for belkar to die later on in the comic in a redeeming way that leads him to possibly the Chaotic Good after life with his Idol Shojo.

Thoughts?

[Wildroses]

I like that theory of Belkars demise better than mine which is he breathes his last breath ever because the Snarl destroys his soul. But yours is as plausible because souls have to want to be resurrected. A variation is that Belkar dies now and likes his afterlife so much he doesn't want to return but does out of duty to saving the world or Mr Scruffy. I am not sure he liked Shojo enough to want to stay dead but Mr Scruffy certainly does. I could see both falling in the final battle and Mr Scruffy choosing to stay dead to be with Shojo, prompting Belkar to choose to stay dead to be with him. The phrase "You and me until the end" did once pass Belkars lips when talking to his cat

[hrak]

I like that theory of Belkars demise better than mine which is he breathes his last breath ever because the Snarl destroys his soul. But yours is as plausible because souls have to want to be resurrected. A variation is that Belkar dies now and likes his afterlife so much he doesn't want to return but does out of duty to saving the world or Mr Scruffy. I am not sure he liked Shojo enough to want to stay dead but Mr Scruffy certainly does. I could see both falling in the final battle and Mr Scruffy choosing to stay dead to be with Shojo, prompting Belkar to choose to stay dead to be with him. The phrase "You and me until the end" did once pass Belkars lips when talking to his cat

Yes. I think that makes a good amount of sense for why after the final battle and Belkars redeeming sacrifice of some sort that he would choose to stay dead. Remember Shojo chose to stay dead and Belkar was the only one who really understood why and the way he described his vision of the CG after life makes me believe he'd be found of that himself. Or it could just be that he is utterly destroyed by the snarl..

Also in regards to said "redeeming sacrifice" that many people have speculated about. I can imagine at some point during whatever it turns out to be, that he will have his protection from evil clasp activated and it will suddenly stop hurting him. I can see it now:

:Belkar, you still have your clasp activated...

:Oh, I didn;t even notice-

:Does that mean.. what I think it means?!

[littlebum2002]

I've got it! This is like Bender's Big Score.

Belkar goes back in time...AND HE IS KRAAGOR! He gets eaten by the snarl to save everyone! And, to hide what happened, they changed the story from him being a halfling to him being a dwarf!

[Ron Miel]

Also in regards to said "redeeming sacrifice" that many people have speculated about. I can imagine at some point during whatever it turns out to be, that he will have his protection from evil clasp activated and it will suddenly stop hurting him. I can see it now:

My prediction: Someone will Dominate Balkar. The person will order Belkar to attack his teammates. And Belkar will simply say "No."

[ardorrean_thief]

My vote: He has a potion to heal his wounds while falling and is tough enough to survive the 20D6 damage from the fall.
...he has 11+ of ranger and at least one of barbarian but total level of 16. As a minimum: 8+14D8+D12 (+con?) vs 20D6. That is 23-132 HP vs 20-120 points of damage assuming no con bonus and not another level. Doable if he drinks that potion.

After he survives Belkar will be at the bottom, by the river. There he may befriend an animal that helps him climb up faster and rejoin the battle.

Belkar has always struck me as deceptively tanky for such a small person. I'm willing to bet he has at least 12 CON.

[Remagamer]

O, haha, I kind of glossed over that picture, I thought he already landed. But yes, that's a long way down. Belkar looks more annoyed and angry than worried though, which he does still look a few panels earlier. I think his ring of +20 jumping is going to come into play somehow, but I have no idea how yet. Or maybe someone on the airship just spotted him, V could easily catch him if warned right when he starts falling, and would do so even if just to gather information.

I do think this would be too easy a death for a prophesy coming true, it needs more fanfare when it does happen.

I think we can assume this won't happen, since in 1012 we check in on the Mechane and V to find them completely unaware of Belkar's fate.
The ring would be a useful thing, but wouldn't he need something to jump off of to apply the bonus?

[Ron Miel]

How will Belkar survive his fall? being Post your guesses here:

• He keeps a potion of feather fall for emergencies

Feather fall it is.