OOTS #1089 - The Discussion Thread

[137beth]

I love the call-back to the first Durkon-memory in the book

[Silverblob5]

Haven't been around for a long time, but I felt it needed to be said:

Garlic.

[137beth]

First rule of main characters' plans: if we got told in advance, it wouldn't work. We'll only see what he was planning when it comes to fruition.

GW

You...why was that a link to TVTropes when there is a perfectly good OOTS link to use instead?

[SilverCacaobean]

Yeah, eat pus memories Greg!

I'm starting to really like Durkon's relatives and family friends. Durkon's memories are going to be my favourite part of this book. I almost feel sad we'll only get to see them in this book. I also can't help feeling that the next time Durkon sees his mother won't end well...

[danielxcutter]

And Durkon scores again!

[PhantomFox]

Tuesday is the night before the holy day? I would have thought the holy day was Thorsday, not Wednesday...
Hmm...

[Fuzzypickles]

Tuesday is the night before the holy day? I would have thought the holy day was Thorsday, not Wednesday...
Hmm...

For Odin's followers, Wednesday is the holy day. Durkon specifically mentions Odin.

[danielxcutter]

Tuesday is the night before the holy day? I would have thought the holy day was Thorsday, not Wednesday...
Hmm...

They were Odin worshipers. Wednesday is named after Woden, or Odin IIRC.

Edit: Ninja'd.

[Ironsmith]

Tuesday is the night before the holy day? I would have thought the holy day was Thorsday, not Wednesday...
Hmm...

Yes, but it's Odin's day, so naturally he comes before Thor...

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Hah! I love that weapon that Durkon now has in its arsenal against the High Priest of Hel. Also, still loving these flashbacks. Poor Sigdi.

[Talion]

Tuesday is the night before the holy day? I would have thought the holy day was Thorsday, not Wednesday...
Hmm...

Wednesday is Odin's holy day (The name is derived from Old English Wōdnesdæg and Middle English Wednesdei, "day of Woden", reflecting the pre-Christian religion practiced by the Anglo-Saxons.) So Tuesday would be the day before Odin's holy day (and the hall owners are worshipers of Odin)

Edit: So many forum ninjas!

[Grey_Wolf_c]

You...why was that a link to TVTropes when there is a perfectly good OOTS link to use instead?

"Give a man one example, and he is entertained for a day. Get a man hooked up with tvtropes, and they are entertained for a lifetime".

Tuesday is the night before the holy day? I would have thought the holy day was Thorsday, not Wednesday...
Hmm...

It's a meeting hall of Odin's followers, not Thor's.

GW

[DougTheHead]

Interesting how Durkula's utter lack of empathy continues to be foregrounded. He doesn't seem to realize that Durkon is focusing on others more than himself because Durkon is more interested in helping others than he is in how he was feeling in a particular moment. At the same time, Durkula is right that it's caused Durkon to be more passive than he would otherwise be...

Really, if Rich has a constant stance on the nature of good vs. evil, it's that Good learns from its mistakes while Evil repeats them (though that could be an accident of dramatic necessity). I'm interested to see where he takes this.

[Fortis]

Something tells me that Durkon just passed an important bluff check. And used the gross memory to thrown the vampire off his train of thought.

[Gift Jeraff]

Tuesday is the night before the holy day? I would have thought the holy day was Thorsday, not Wednesday...
Hmm...

In that same sentence Durkon says the hall owners are Odin-worshipers, though I'm not sure why Odin's church would consider wetness holy...

[Ironsmith]

Really, if Rich has a constant stance on the nature of good vs. evil, it's that Good learns from its mistakes while Evil repeats them (though that could be an accident of dramatic necessity). I'm interested to see where he takes this.

Really, I would argue that it's a question of "acts in own interests" versus "acts in another's interests".

Good: Acts in other's interests, even to the detriment of their own.
Neutral: Acts on own interests, except where it conflicts with others, or acts on others interests, except where it conflicts with their own.
Evil: Acts on their own interests, even when it's a detriment to others.

Of course, as Rich has said before, alignments are guidelines, not straightjackets... An evil character can still be selfless once in awhile, and a good character can still be selfish every now and then. The relative dominance of these attitudes is what determines their alignment.

[Hiro Quester]

Garlic. I smell garlic coming.

Vampires are repelled by it, according to SRD.

I thought that was what the smell was going to be when Durkula smelled it.

Perhaps the mess hall serves garlic bread on Tuesdays (Dwarves might never change such a routine), so all the people there will be armed with a way to keep them at bay?

[woweedd]

In that same sentence Durkon says the hall owners are Odin-worshipers, though I'm not sure why Odin's church would consider wetness holy...

Wednesday is actually named after Odin, just as Thursday is named after Thor. In certain traditions, Odin as known as Woden. Hence, Woden's Day, hence, Wednesday.

[Hiro Quester]

Ooh. Tuesday is named for the Germanic god of law, heroic glory, and war (according to Wikipedia's entry on Tyr).

And Tyr is god of war in the Godsmoot voting.

So perhaps if it's Tuesday, the hall is nowadays filled with the city's finest Tyr-worshipping warrior Fearless Vampire Hunters?

[Ron Miel]

For Odin's followers, Wednesday is the holy day. Durkon specifically mentions Odin.

This confused me too. I always thought that Odin and Woden were different gods. I just looked it up and now I know differently.

[King of Nowhere]

On the other hand, it may have been safer to direct the vampires to kill some people. that way, they would die with honor, and if hel wins they would at least be spared.

then again, durkon is a supporter, and supporters tend to be trusting; it would be hard to devoting all your skills to helping someone else if yoou don't trust that someone else to then do a good job with what you're giving him.

[woweedd]

On the other hand, it may have been safer to direct the vampires to kill some people. that way, they would die with honor, and if hel wins they would at least be spared.

then again, durkon is a supporter, and supporters tend to be trusting; it would be hard to devoting all your skills to helping someone else if yoou don't trust that someone else to then do a good job with what you're giving him.

I DO NOT like what that logical chain implies. Seriously, you sound like Eugene , with his "Have every dwarf on the planet throw themselves at a dragon." solution.

[Jay R]

And now I'm wondering what in the name of Thor's Unsanitary Ear Canal could have gotten around that good ol' "+2 vs Poisoning" to give Durkon "Food Poisoning"

Spoiler: Warning. This visual is not for the squeamish!

Show

[TheBeggarDwarf]

Though I feel like the reason Durkon is directing Greg towards the banquet hall is probably for the reason he gives, I do wonder if there might be enchantments that come into play only on Odin's holy day. Perhaps a hallow effect, or something like that. I know there's no indication that banquet hall has any other significance to their religion other than being owned by Odin's followers, but I could see it. It would trap the vampires in the room, weaken them against turning attempts, and prevent any other victims from immediately being turned into undead. Just a thought.

[Talion]

Spoiler: Warning. This visual is not for the squeamish!

Show

Ah, probability, thou art a cruel and fickle mistress.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Hey, someone finally found a use for those horrid memories of puberty!

[NihhusHuotAliro]

Durkon isn't a spectator in his life just because he's not always the center of attention. One can have many roles at many points in life. People and dwarves are social animals.

Without the men who worked the off-stage microphones, Rocky would have been a silent movie. Without the citizenry, a nation is nothing. Without someone to make the tools and dig the marble from the Earth, there is no Michelangelo's David.

Humility doesn't make you think less of yourself, it helps you thinks less about yourself. There are other, valid things on which one can focus, things that are not "me".

So shut up, you parasitic soul-snatcher, because you aren't alive and never will be. You don't understand life at all. You're a mirror to it, but mirrors get everything backwards.

[danielxcutter]

Durkon isn't a spectator in his life just because he's not always the center of attention. One can have many roles at many points in life. People and dwarves are social animals.

Without the men who worked the off-stage microphones, Rocky would have been a silent movie. Without the citizenry, a nation is nothing. Without someone to make the tools and dig the marble from the Earth, there is no Michelangelo's David.

Humility doesn't make you think less of yourself, it helps you thinks less about yourself. There are other, valid things on which one can focus, things that are not "me".

So shut up, you parasitic soul-searching, because you aren't alive and never will be. You don't understand life at all. You're a mirror to it, but mirrors get everything backwards.

That's... actually super neat. Can I sig this?

[Ironsmith]

Durkon isn't a spectator in his life just because he's not always the center of attention. One can have many roles at many points in life. People and dwarves are social animals.

Without the men who worked the off-stage microphones, Rocky would have been a silent movie. Without the citizenry, a nation is nothing. Without someone to make the tools and dig the marble from the Earth, there is no Michelangelo's David.

Humility doesn't make you think less of yourself, it helps you thinks less about yourself. There are other, valid things on which one can focus, things that are not "me".

So shut up, you parasitic soul-snatcher, because you aren't alive and never will be. You don't understand life at all. You're a mirror to it, but mirrors get everything backwards.

I'm convinced this will be at least part of Durkon's "You were always going to lose" speech to Greg.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

Certainly, Danielxcutter.

Just, please, fix the mistake my auto-correct made in changing, "soul-snatcher" to, "soul-searching".