Is book 6 about to end?

[Procyonpi]

We're at just over 200 strips, which is a good length, and it feels like the plotlines of this book are wrapping up. I feel like we're probably gonna see a few strips of OOTS post-resurrection, followed by a short-ish section with team evil where something big happens to raise the stakes for Book 7, probably with them finding Kraagor's Gate.

Thoughts?

Also, what do y'all think Book 6 is going to be called?

[Peelee]

Also, what do y'all think Book 6 is going to be called?

Running with the Devils. sick guitar riff

[Fyraltari]

Like a Bat out of Hel?
Clerics: the Masquerade?

[Peelee]

Like a Bat out of Hel?

I Would Do Anything For Loki (But I Won't Do That)?

[Ruck]

We're at just over 200 strips, which is a good length, and it feels like the plotlines of this book are wrapping up. I feel like we're probably gonna see a few strips of OOTS post-resurrection, followed by a short-ish section with team evil where something big happens to raise the stakes for Book 7, probably with them finding Kraagor's Gate.

Thoughts?

Also, what do y'all think Book 6 is going to be called?

I thought we were going to have about 20-30 strips after Durkula was killed, but I didn't know we'd spend this long in the afterlife. I'm going with that again, but leaning to the longer side. I'm assuming we get, at the least:

-Durkon's resurrection and Hilgya not killing him again
-The Order defeating the Exarch
-Durkon reuniting with his mother
-Setup for book 7 (The Order heading for Kraagor's Gate, whatever Team Evil does, etc.)

My first guess on a title was "To Hel With Good Intentions." I thought of another possibility a while back but have since forgotten it.

I Would Do Anything For Loki (But I Won't Do That)?

Valhalla by the Dashboard Light?

[Peelee]

Valhalla by the Dashboard Light?

Undead Ringer for Love?

[KorvinStarmast]

Hel's Angles seems a good name for the book, or even, "A Hel of a Note" or even "The Prodigal Scion Returns"

That, or "The Wondrous Journeys of Captain Bandana!"

[Peelee]

Hel's Angles seems a good name for the book, or even, "A Hel of a Note"

That, or "The Wondrous Journeys of Captain Bandana!"

Thanks for ruining the rock and roll theme, Texas. Couldn't even have pulled out some ZZ Top? Sharp Dressed Fangs? Gimme All Your Bleedin'? Beer Drinkers and Hel Raisers?

[KorvinStarmast]

Beer Drinkers and Hel Raisers?

Ok, I'll go with that one.

[Ruck]

Thanks for ruining the rock and roll theme, Texas. Couldn't even have pulled out some ZZ Top? Sharp Dressed Fangs? Gimme All Your Bleedin'? Beer Drinkers and Hel Raisers?

La Grange, But La Grange Is, I Dunno, Firmament, Let's Say

[Peelee]

Since it's dwarves, we could also go to more hard rock and heavy metal. The Evil that Dwarves Do? Run To The Hel? Sigdi I'm Comin' Home? A Vampiric Touch of Evil?

[Sadsharks]

Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves?

[Peelee]

Killing After Midnight?

[Ruck]

Ride Thor's Lightning

[Peelee]

Ride Thor's Lightning

For Whom the Hel Tolls? Gimme fyoo, gimme fie, gimme dabajabadah! Don't care if it's the wrong song, that's my favorite Metallica joke.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Given that even with minimal bonus material this is going to be a freaking brick, something related to Tennessee Ernie Ford's Sixteen Tons may be more apropos.

Or maybe "The Vampire Went Down to Firmament".

[Peelee]

Given that even with minimal bonus material this is going to be a freaking brick, something related to Tennessee Ernie Ford's Sixteen Tons may be more apropos.

Or maybe "The Vampire Went Down to Firmament".

Highway to Hel? Killer Queen of the Damned? Gimme Shelter from the Sun? Sympathy for the Devils?

[Ruck]

For Whom the Hel Tolls? Gimme fyoo, gimme fie, gimme dabajabadah! Don't care if it's the wrong song, that's my favorite Metallica joke.

Tougher sell with "Hel Polls For Thee" already as a strip title.

My favorite Metallica joke is Beatallica. Look 'em up if you've never heard of them. I recommend "Everybody's Got a Ticket to Ride Except For Me and My Lightning."

[Ron Miel]

Of Moots And Men.

[Procyonpi]

-The Order defeating the Exarch

Honestly I think there will be a strip or two, tops, and maybe just a throwaway like about this, since it's not really that difficult to imagine how it happens and has no emotional stakes. I do think we will have at least a couple strips more definitively wrapping up the Godsmoot business, though.

Also, while we're at it, which character to y'all think will "write" the preface for book 6? So far all the compilation books have been Order members, and that would leave only Haley, but I honestly think it might be more fun to have Thor or Hilgya do it.

[GooeyChewie]

The party was in an airship, either with The High Priest of Hel or chasing said High Priest for most of the book. My money would be on The High Way to Hel.

[Ruck]

Honestly I think there will be a strip or two, tops, and maybe just a throwaway like about this, since it's not really that difficult to imagine how it happens and has no emotional stakes. I do think we will have at least a couple strips more definitively wrapping up the Godsmoot business, though.

I don't think it has to be long, but given that Durkon believes he needs to warn Roy about some of the Exarch's plans, I think we'll at least get that. In any case, we have the battle with the Exarch / the decision by the Council of Clans, Durkon coming to a resolution with Hilgya, and Durkon reuniting with his family to deal with, all before we leave Dwarven Lands. (And I'd guess we're going to get a decent chunk of strips with Durkon and his mother.)

[Jasdoif]

Highway to Hel? Killer Queen of the Damned? Gimme Shelter from the Sun? Sympathy for the Devils?

"To Hel and Back Again" still hasn't lost a peel for me. Durkon Inside? The Gentle Art of Raising Enemies? Peace Sells But Hel's Buying? Earthen Soul? He's (Not Just Un-) Dead, Roy? The Dream is Durkon? Tunnel of Tears?

[Ron Miel]

Hel's Teeth.

[Riftwolf]

Also, what do y'all think Book 6 is going to be called?

No rez for the Wicked.

And I think there's still a final act to come. Just because this threads most powerful villain in terms of d&d is eliminated, doesn't mean things are wrapping up quickly. It could mean the Council of Elders won't be exactly what we think it'll be, and the plot must be resolved... Without character sheets D:

[PirateMonk]

Honestly I think there will be a strip or two, tops, and maybe just a throwaway like about this, since it's not really that difficult to imagine how it happens and has no emotional stakes. I do think we will have at least a couple strips more definitively wrapping up the Godsmoot business, though.

Also, while we're at it, which character to y'all think will "write" the preface for book 6? So far all the compilation books have been Order members, and that would leave only Haley, but I honestly think it might be more fun to have Thor or Hilgya do it.

The emotional stakes are that if they fail, the world gets destroyed and all the dwarves go to Hel. The comic has spent upwards of ten strips on much less significant enemies (for example, the bandits, the ogres, the island orcs, and the frost giants). Plus, we get to see Durkon and Hilgya interacting.

It's definitely weird to have the book's main villain defeated well before the end by a spirit inside his head with one of his lackeys still at large and an imminent threat that probably has to be dealt with before the next book, but it would be even more anticlimactic to dangle that and then wrap it up quickly.

[Gluteus_Maximus]

I'll go with "Low-Wisdom Party" to keep it in a D&D theme. Since Wisdom has to do with knowing/feeling things, it means Roy and everyone besides Belkar felt Durkon was still normal, Belkar knew he wasn't, and then everyone knew he wasn't, and the climax of the book involves 4/7 of the OOTS having low enough Will saves to fall under the effect of the vampires' domination gaze. It also identifies what the party is without Durkon, while being vague enough for the 1-2% very few OOTS-readers who don't look at the online comics. Obviously this could be punned better, but this seems like a likely base to a name to me.

But stuff like "Bat out of Hel" and "Hel's Angels" and "The Prodigal Scion Returns" are all good ones too.

[Procyonpi]

The emotional stakes are that if they fail, the world gets destroyed and all the dwarves go to Hel. The comic has spent upwards of ten strips on much less significant enemies (for example, the bandits, the ogres, the island orcs, and the frost giants). Plus, we get to see Durkon and Hilgya interacting.

Not the point. Nobody really cares that much about the Exarch, and it's easy to see how the Order could defeat him. The fact that it might be like a 4 hour gaming session if this were an actual DnD campaign doesn't mean that the story is going to choose to dwell on it after the climax of the book.

[martianmister]

Yes. Hel's Angels sounds good.

[PirateMonk]

Not the point. Nobody really cares that much about the Exarch, and it's easy to see how the Order could defeat him. The fact that it might be like a 4 hour gaming session if this were an actual DnD campaign doesn't mean that the story is going to choose to dwell on it after the climax of the book.

My argument was about narrative concerns, not game mechanics. There would be no point in having the Exarch outlive the rest of the vampires and go off to put the plan into motion, then go "wait, never mind" and kill him off in a strip or two.

Also, if it's easy for you to see how the Order could defeat him, it would also be easy for Hel and Durkula, and they would devise countermeasures (as Durkon explicitly said they did in 1134). They have been very good at planning for the obvious, losing only when someone manages to surprise them (Roy unlocking his sword's abilities, Hermod voting No, Hilgya showing up, Durkon's memory trick). Admittedly, Durkula seems to think in 1111 that it's very important to kill the Order before the council vote, and the plans were made when they thought the Order would have one low-level cleric, not two high-level ones, but given that Durkon still seems concerned, I don't see it being a complete non-issue.