OOTS #1012 - The Discussion Thread

[One Skunk Todd]

Yeah, the more I think about it, the confusing part is Roy assuming they've won. I don't know why he doesn't realize that not all the votes have been tallied. To busy trying to get Durkula I guess. :)

[CoffeeIncluded]

I was confused at first too but to be fair I'm in a rush. I wonder if the party will be split again for a good chunk of this book?

[Shining Wrath]

That's my guess, too.

Though, based on his expression, he wasn't expecting to land in a room full of creatures not affected by Dominate Person. Though I am not sure what any of them can do to him other than raise the alarm.

A spell less vampire is still a formidable foe; 4 animals are not going to get very far, even if one is the redoubtable Mr. Scruffy.

Is the dwarf on the airship one that Durkula vamped?

Yes, per word of Giant.

Who's that seventh dwarf priest among the demigod priests? The blue robes and crown symbol seem very suspicious...
Also, the High priests of Banjo and the Dark One still haven't voted on this.

The Dark One is in his own pantheon and will never vote. Banjo explicitly refused to join this pantheon and will never vote unless something happened off-screen to change that.

Seven new priests walk into the room; six of them have voted so far. Three Yes's, Three No's. The vote is therefore currently tied.

But the seventh priest—the dwarf in blue robes in panel #1—has not voted yet. Durkon specifically says that there is one more vote left to cast. Why did the seventh priest not vote yet? Because Hel and Hermod had a little conversation instead, and then the comic cut away to another scene.

Hel is upset because if Hermod had voted her way, that would have made the count 4-2, and it would not have mattered how the last priest voted at all—she would have already won.

The dwarf vampire is former Exarch of the Creed of the Stone, Gontor Hammerfell, last seen being bitten on the neck by a vampire (as is often the case before becoming a vampire). He is not the same dwarf as the dwarf in panel #1; Gontor does not have a vote.

Durkon sped up the vampirization process off-camera using the spell Malack used to speed up Durkon's own vampirization, because Durkon owns Malack's staff.

Are there any other questions about what is going on in this strip? I'm thinking I must have done a really bad job on this one if everyone is so confused.

Yeah, can you issue a definitive statement on the question of whether or not Banjo is considered a demigod of this pantheon?

[The Giant]

Yeah, the more I think about it, the confusing part is Roy assuming they've won. I don't know why he doesn't realize that not all the votes have been tallied. To busy trying to get Durkula I guess. :)

Roy was not listening to the votes. He was trying to get into the Anti-Life Shell. He was reacting solely to the bad guy yelling, "DAMN YOU!" and thinking that it sounded like the vote went his way.

[Corneel]

Yeah, the more I think about it, the confusing part is Roy assuming they've won. I don't know why he doesn't realize that not all the votes have been tallied. To busy trying to get Durkula I guess. :)

It's not that confusing considering Hel's reaction to Hermod changing their vote.

[Aasimar]

I'm guessing the last cleric is the high priest of Forseti, demi-god of councils and gatherings?

edit: His name is literally the icelandic word for President.

[Peelee]

Okay, what happens if one of Hel's proxys attacks the high priest of Banjo, which then survives and shows up to save the day? Would that not make Hel's cronys instant legitimate targets for the rest of the crowd?

Probably. Good thing that Banjo has no high priest, then.

Also, the High priests of Banjo and the Dark One still haven't voted on this.

Ya know what? Fine. Let's ignore that, in all likelihood, they don't really get to vote. Let's say they do get to vote. The Dark One would probably vote no, and Banjo would probably vote yes. So absolutely nothing would change. Problem solved, and we can move on from that

[Gwynfrid]

Seven new priests walk into the room; six of them have voted so far. Three Yes's, Three No's. The vote is therefore currently tied.

But the seventh priest—the dwarf in blue robes in panel #1—has not voted yet. Durkon specifically says that there is one more vote left to cast. Why did the seventh priest not vote yet? Because Hel and Hermod had a little conversation instead, and then the comic cut away to another scene.

Hel is upset because if Hermod had voted her way, that would have made the count 4-2, and it would not have mattered how the last priest voted at all—she would have already won.

The dwarf vampire is former Exarch of the Creed of the Stone, Gontor Hammerfell, last seen being bitten on the neck by a vampire (as is often the case before becoming a vampire). He is not the same dwarf as the dwarf in panel #1; Gontor does not have a vote.

Durkon sped up the vampirization process off-camera using the spell Malack used to speed up Durkon's own vampirization, because Durkon owns Malack's staff.

Are there any other questions about what is going on in this strip? I'm thinking I must have done a really bad job on this one if everyone is so confused.

That was pretty clear, I think. Counting the votes isn't that hard. I just had to go back and check that it was the Creed of Stone priest appearing as a new vampire, and sure, here he is, same guy. And of course "Durkon" used Malak's staff, until he lost it in the fight with Roy later.

[Joe the Rat]

I'm curious to see how things play out with the 7th demigod, Crown Royal.

If Hel was planning on a 4-3, she's kind of stuck (which leads to contingency plans). But I get the impression that she's been playing the game long enough (and learned a thing or two from daddy) to go in with a 5-2 split, as insurance in case there were any problems getting everyone in, or if someone might defect.

It would be interesting to see if he's a lock vote, or, depending on which demigod he represents, if he's going to try and leverage his vote for favors.

[Coldwind]

I don't understand the relation between Gontor and "the backup plan". If he is not eligible to vote, then how can he takes a role in this? I don' t understand what might come next.

[AlignmentDebate]

I like that Haley is cheating at Monopoly even with Elan.

[Cizak]

Are there any other questions about what is going on in this strip? I'm thinking I must have done a really bad job on this one if everyone is so confused.

I admit that I totally missed that there was one more cleric that hasn't voted. Hel and Hermod's talk seemed like such a "final" thing that I didn't notice only six new voted had been cast. When HPoH talked about one more vote, I thought Gontor was going to aquire it, or something like that.

[Kildaren]

Probably. Good thing that Banjo has no high priest, then.

Ya know what? Fine. Let's ignore that, in all likelihood, they don't really get to vote. Let's say they do get to vote. The Dark One would probably vote no, and Banjo would probably vote yes. So absolutely nothing would change. Problem solved, and we can move on from that

The idea was more that with a "bodyguard" from Hel attacking other high priests (ok, Elan is not really a cleric, but still), Durkula would be in violation of the godsmoot - and would become a legitimate target, which upon his demise would render Hel's vote void

[Quartz]

I worked all that out from the comic. So I don't see why anybody should get confused by it.

For my own part, it was Roy taunting Durkula that Hel had lost. If it's still a draw because the seventh priest hasn't voted then Hel hasn't lost, so Roy's taunt in panel 13 is out of place.

[Shining Wrath]

I like that Haley is cheating at Monopoly even with Elan.

Au contraire; Monopoly has more house rules even than 3.5 D&D. Money under Free Parking, don't go to jail on 3 doubles in a row, ...

[Gift Jeraff]

I don't understand the relation between Gontor and "the backup plan". If he is not eligible to vote, then how can he takes a role in this? I don' t understand what might come next.

Backup plan meaning if the voting plan failed

[eilandesq]

My guess is:

Spoiler

Show

Durkula either expects to lose the vote, or genuinely doesn't know. Hel's reaction suggests that she knows the last vote isn't going her way;

The new vampire is there to steal the teleport orb by stealth, as even Haley and Elan could probably take a single vampire cleric with its higher level spells depleted (Haley holds a weapon rather well suited for at least temporarily neutralizing a vampire, for one thing). V would probably be neutralized by the fiends if V tried to interefere, as they seem to want the gates destroyed for their own reasons. The "backup plan" is probably to make sure the last gate is destroyed by any means necessary, letting the Snarl out and forcing the gods to destroy the world and let Hel thereby win.

[One Skunk Todd]

I guess the most important question is, are Elan and Haley playing strip Monopoly? :D

[ArkenBrony]

wow, this was a fantastic comic to wake up to. amazing job, as usual. I was wondering when the stone creed cleric would come back. I also love the traffic light metaphors, really digging this whole thing

[Anonymouswizard]

Well, I wasn't expecting this. Mentioning the plan B means our demigod of crowns (who I'll call Crowny) is more likely go vote no than yes. For one reason:

If Crowny voted yes, then there is no point to mentioning plan B and then not having it happen. Although I cannot read the Giant's mind, if plan B never comes up the words mentioning it are useless, and possibly Vamptor appearing as well.

I'm hooked, but not on what the outcome of the vote will be, because I'm convinced that the Giant will find some way to continue the story even if the world will be, but on what plan B will be (Durkula/Hel is more competent than Mr Greenhilt, Roy would be on at least plan H now, probably plan Q).

[Aasimar]

Well, I wasn't expecting this. Mentioning the plan B means our demigod of crowns (who I'll call Crowny) is more likely go vote no than yes. For one reason:

Forseti is one of only a very few names in norse mythology that hasn't been namedropped so far, and as the leader of councils and gatherings, I think a crown suits him pretty well.

edit: There are other options, Jörmungandur, Mímir and a bunch of others, but none of them fit as well.

edit 2: Most of the others are monsters or Jötuns, Forseti is the only one I can think of who's a regular member of the Æsir gatherings.

[Zwiebelchen]

The biggest question is:
Why does the demigod of youth not have a septal piercing and LOTS of makeup, aswell as a permanent duckface? I call it now; she is an imposter!

[AbyssStalker]

A spell less vampire is still a formidable foe; 4 animals are not going to get very far, even if one is the redoubtable Mr. Scruffy.

Yes, but 4 animals don't just enter combat without a lot of screeching and yelping. Unless he has mass hold person or dominates them all into not fighting, the other members of the ship are likely to hear.

...And Thor knew the last time a vampire boarded the ship... So there's that.

Edit: The only question I would have at this point is if the gods can in fact see inside the godsmoot, Hel leans in quite aggressively towards that last "no" High Priest and argues with Hermod through her, is it that she can see the representatives only?

[KorvinStarmast]

Seve Are there any other questions about what is going on in this strip? I'm thinking I must have done a really bad job on this one if everyone is so confused.

The only problem is the time between strips, but that's just the way OOTS rolls. Once another reader pointed out to me the transfer of the staff to Durkon it all came together for me. I noticed that number of votes, and await the reveal on who that cleric is.

[greenfunkman]

Ok, my guess is that the backup plan involves somehow using Vamptor to blackmail/extort/influence the unnamed demigod (who would otherwise vote "No") into voting "Yes". If Hermod had voted "yes" here, that last vote wouldn't have mattered, which is why said extortion was the backup plan.

This has got to be it.

so who is the final demigod and why do they care about something/someone on the Mechane? He's a dwarf, got blue robes, a yellow crown symbol on his hat, and a wand topped with a red orb. A dwarven god of... magic?

And not to turn all gushing fanboi but wow Mr Giant sir I love everything you do! This strip is not confusing to me at all.

[KorvinStarmast]

Yeah, the more I think about it, the confusing part is Roy assuming they've won. I don't know why he doesn't realize that not all the votes have been tallied. To busy trying to get Durkula I guess. :)

Note the verb tense Roy uses: winning (as a work in progress, you are winning the game while it is ongoing, say scored 3-2 in the ninth inning) whereas if Roy thought the vote was "won" I think the verb tense would have been different.

I note that Giant has pointed out that Roy's taunt is as uninformed as Hel's was earlier, so at least he has the good guys and bad guys fall into that "talk too much smack before the battle is over" for different reasons.

As Roy is "Talky many who talks too much" it is perfect that he's talking crap before the result is in.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

Come on crownhat bluedwarf's demigod, save the world!

Think of all the hats that will be destroyed if the world is ended!

[Anansiil]

I pressed the next button so many times that 1011 was burned into my mind lol.
This is an interesting twist that I didn't expect. Hmm.
I guess Hel will try and force the hands of the gods?
The ice giant priest looked extra cool, and the fire giant priest looked cool too.

[Ezekiel]

I'm thinking I must have done a really bad job on this one if everyone is so confused.

Not at all Rich, I for one thought it was fairly obvious.

[chainik]

...

Are there any other questions about what is going on in this strip? I'm thinking I must have done a really bad job on this one if everyone is so confused.

I think that was all clear enough, even if it did take some careful reading and remembering back to a bit of recent history. I suspect that most of your readers are following along just fine. People who aren't confused about a strip won't post questions. And people who took a minute to re-read the strip or browse the archives for themselves are likely to miss posting in the first couple pages of the thread. What I'm saying is that it's a biased sample.