Is book 6 about to end?

[KorvinStarmast]

I think they could still have to confront Xykon before the next sunrise,

I am not sure that I can find a point in the story, before they got to the godsmoot, where Roy defined a number of days necessary to get to the last gate. He surely wanted to hurry, since Xykon and RedCloak teleported out near the end of BRitF.

Given the information being passed to the Order from O'Chul and Lien via sending, the time line to doomsday (what with the "pick a door, any door" problem Xykon and company face) is unclear. (I may have missed something in comic, though, so hopefully one of the more sharp eyed readers will have picked up on it).

[Kish]

The Order wasn't flying to Kraagor's Tomb, being that they were flying to Durkon's homeland to stop Greg from rigging the Council vote. Thus the length of time they've been traveling does not translate to "how close they are to Kraagor's Tomb."

[Aveline]

I am not sure that I can find a point in the story, before they got to the godsmoot, where Roy defined a number of days necessary to get to the last gate. He surely wanted to hurry, since Xykon and RedCloak teleported out near the end of BRitF.

Given the information being passed to the Order from O'Chul and Lien via sending, the time line to doomsday (what with the "pick a door, any door" problem Xykon and company face) is unclear. (I may have missed something in comic, though, so hopefully one of the more sharp eyed readers will have picked up on it).

Julio suggested a travel time in #937. It was a week and a half since then before Durkon's soul was freed. (Correction: It were only aboot a week.)

The Order wasn't flying to Kraagor's Tomb, being that they were flying to Durkon's homeland to stop Greg from rigging the Council vote. Thus the length of time they've been traveling does not translate to "how close they are to Kraagor's Tomb."

They were heading there initially. IIRC, neither Tinkertown, nor Zenith Peak, nor Firmament were very far out of the way.

[Jasdoif]

They were heading there initially. IIRC, neither Tinkertown, nor Zenith Peak, nor Firmament were very far out of the way.

That's not how it looks to me.

[Aveline]

That's not how it looks to me.

It looks that way to me if they came from the southwest, which they did.

[Fyraltari]

Oona's tribe came to Monster Hollow fleeing the "dwarves".
One dwarven soldier who worshipped at the same temple as future High Priestess Rubyrock died fighting a bugbear wearing gear similar to Oona's.

Kraagor's Tomb is (relatively) close to Firmament. Like maybe a day or two of flying?

The Order knows Xykon is "being delayed by Kraagor's tomb", an info they got a few hours before fighting the vampires.

Assuming this is the same day (and since Thor would have told Durkon if Hel's plot were either thwarted or successful, I am sure it is), I Don't find it unreasonable that the order will spend the rest of the day/night in Firmament to:

1) Get some much needed rest and healing.
2) Letting Durkon catch up with family and friends. (Party at Sgdi's house!)
3) Getting the Mechane repaired again. Possibly buying new ballistas and hiring new crewmembers to replace the losses.

Being in hurry doesn't mean you must never stop. It means you mustn't stop too long.

[Jasdoif]

They were heading there initially. IIRC, neither Tinkertown, nor Zenith Peak, nor Firmament were very far out of the way.

That's not how it looks to me.

It looks that way to me if they came from the southwest, which they did.

Hm. Looks to me like if you were trying to get to the North Pole from the south-west, you'd go to the right and travel through the pass to near Bartervault, and then head North; because the gentle angular offset between that and the direct route (as in, the "pretend mountains didn't exist" measurement) means you're still making good headway towards your destination...as opposed to heading to a spot like Firmament where the sharper angle is adding a lot more distance you'll have to recover, which is why I think it's "out of the way".

[Gluteus_Maximus]

Hm. Looks to me like if you were trying to get to the North Pole from the south-west, you'd go to the right and travel through the pass to near Bartervault, and then head North; because the gentle angular offset between that and the direct route (as in, the "pretend mountains didn't exist" measurement) means you're still making good headway towards your destination...as opposed to heading to a spot like Firmament where the sharper angle is adding a lot more distance you'll have to recover, which is why I think it's "out of the way".

No, note where the ocean is on the map. They came from the direction aveline suggested; Zenith Peak, Passage Pass, and Firmament are pretty much straight ahead on their path, if you think about the location of the northern continent in relation to the western.

[Jasdoif]

Hm. Looks to me like if you were trying to get to the North Pole from the south-west, you'd go to the right and travel through the pass to near Bartervault, and then head North; because the gentle angular offset between that and the direct route (as in, the "pretend mountains didn't exist" measurement) means you're still making good headway towards your destination...as opposed to heading to a spot like Firmament where the sharper angle is adding a lot more distance you'll have to recover, which is why I think it's "out of the way".

No, note where the ocean is on the map. They came from the direction aveline suggested; Zenith Peak, Passage Pass, and Firmament are pretty much straight ahead on their path, if you think about the location of the northern continent in relation to the western.

You may notice that the North Pole is not near that path.

[Aveline]

You may notice that the North Pole is not near that path.

Firmament is not that much farther from the North Pole than Bartervault. At most, it's 50% further. Plus, Firmament strikes me as closer to Tinkertown than Bartervault is. It may be out of the way, but not very much so. I honestly think it's a wash.


Either way, the terrain is smooth from here out, and I don't think it's a stretch for the Mechane to make the distance between sunup and sundown.

Oona's tribe came to Monster Hollow fleeing the "dwarves".
One dwarven soldier who worshipped at the same temple as future High Priestess Rubyrock died fighting a bugbear wearing gear similar to Oona's.

Kraagor's Tomb is (relatively) close to Firmament. Like maybe a day or two of flying?

The Order knows Xykon is "being delayed by Kraagor's tomb", an info they got a few hours before fighting the vampires.

Assuming this is the same day (and since Thor would have told Durkon if Hel's plot were either thwarted or successful, I am sure it is), I Don't find it unreasonable that the order will spend the rest of the day/night in Firmament to:

1) Get some much needed rest and healing.
2) Letting Durkon catch up with family and friends. (Party at Sgdi's house!)
3) Getting the Mechane repaired again. Possibly buying new ballistas and hiring new crewmembers to replace the losses.

Being in hurry doesn't mean you must never stop. It means you mustn't stop too long.

Fair points. I'm not 100% sure Thor would have told us that the Godsmoot had ended, though. It's not critical information that only the gods could provide. In fact, Veldrina has this explicit task, assuming Hel fails. What's actually unlikely is that Gontor's plans get crushed offscreen - but as was hinted at the Godsmoot, the Council of Clans' procedures can take a long time.

[Peelee]

Firmament is not that much farther from the North Pole than Bartervault. At most, it's 50% further. Plus, Firmament strikes me as closer to Tinkertown than Bartervault is.

Florida strikes me as closer to Africa than Maine is, and yet. Maps are fun.

[Joerg]

If that map is a Mercator projection, it distorts east-west distance in the north. Then it would be much better to turn east in the north than in the south (in fact, it's best to never turn east at all and just continue north), meaning that the fastest way from Zenith Peak to the north pole is over Firmament.

[Fyraltari]

Fair points. I'm not 100% sure Thor would have told us that the Godsmoot had ended, though. It's not critical information that only the gods could provide. In fact, Veldrina has this explicit task, assuming Hel fails. What's actually unlikely is that Gontor's plans get crushed offscreen - but as was hinted at the Godsmoot, the Council of Clans' procedures can take a long time.

I dinnae suppose ye could just pop down thar an' smash `em wit yer holy hammer?
No need, your friends dealt with them alredy./Actually just forget about that, Moot's over Hel won, we're blowing the world up. This blows.

[martianmister]

Dude, I directly quoted you. You can click on it and go straight back to your comment. You said that. And I quoted GW's response to your claiming it wouldn't be a gift. You're literally gaslighting right now (hilariously poorly, but still).

I'm not sure what you're trying to accoplish here, but that's obviously not true. Not only I didn't say that, I even said that it shouldn't be treated as a gift. Everyone can check my post to see that. In fact GW was the one who bring up "gift" thing.

[Jasdoif]

If that map is a Mercator projection, it distorts east-west distance in the north.

It couldn't show the North Pole as a point like the map does, though; the distortion would be infinite at that point. This whole exercise would be a great deal easier if the map included latitude and longitude lines....I've been operating on the assumption that this is a reference to fantasy maps frequently using a simple grid for any scale, planet curvature be damned.

Firmament is not that much farther from the North Pole than Bartervault. At most, it's 50% further. Plus, Firmament strikes me as closer to Tinkertown than Bartervault is. It may be out of the way, but not very much so. I honestly think it's a wash.

Hm. Okay, that's fair; let me take some measurements....

Looks like Firmament<->NorthPole is 25% longer than Bartervault<->NorthPole. Also like overall distance is comparable between "North Pole by way of Firmament" and "North Pole by way of Bartervault" measured from that farthest hill in the lower-left...which, if I rotate the map so the labels align with east-west (another fantasy map thing), is on the direct south-by-southwest line from Zenith Peak, which Tinkertown presumably lies along, outside the map boundaries.

I would like to change my answer to "the map mocks me with its lack of navigational lines".

[Aveline]

It couldn't show the North Pole as a point like the map does, though; the distortion would be infinite at that point. This whole exercise would be a great deal easier if the map included latitude and longitude lines....I've been operating on the assumption that this is a reference to fantasy maps frequently using a simple grid for any scale, planet curvature be damned.

A couple of notes about the map's projection (and a thank-you to Joerg for bringing up this important detail)

• Any planar projection could be projected from somewhere other than the geological poles. Our map doesn't have to be heavily distorted anywhere on the page just because it's a projection.
• The North Pole might not actually be located at the north pole.

Bit of a toss-up. So you could still be right, Jasdoif.

[Gorm_the_DBA]

Bit of a toss-up. So you could still be right, Jasdoif.

Of course, what everyone is forgetting is that the Mechane is enchanted to always arrive at the most dramatic moment possible.

so, I guarantee that if the Order takes an extra day to recharge and recoup their losses, the tomb will have an extra hole to discourage Xykon and etc,.

On the other hand, if the Order rushes and goes into battle half prepared, the tomb gets defeated that very same day.

[D.One]

Well, I'm 100% that they didn't, wouldn't and won't be passing through Nottinstory.

[nolongeralurker]

I am quite certain Durkon will not be charging anyone to cast Regenerate on his mother's arm.

Well sure a random encounter or the like at that point in the story is unlikely but cmon it could happen. It's certainly more likely then Durkon demanding payment to cast Regenerate for his mom or something like that.

Facepalming because I just reread what I wrote and realized I mixed up Sigdi's arm regeneration and Durkon's resurrection in my mind. Durkon's resurrection is what people thought the Dinner Party would pay for.

I would blame this on my being tired because I was posting in the middle of the night, but... it was in the middle of the afternoon. Oh well.