Panel 4: The attack on the OotS was thrown together at the last minute. Nale wasn't planning to fight them. He just took his chance because they appeared to be following him. He may not have had the opportunity to hire a high level divine caster.
The last-minute thing sort of makes sense, but remember that Nale is also planning on overthrowing Tarquin, Malack and the Emperess. He would definitely need a high level cleric to handle Malack.
The only thing I can think of is that he hasn't been able to find one that is both sufficiently high level and willing to fight Malack. I really doubt there's any such in the Empire of Blood, so he should have found one before getting there.
Perhaps he thinks he can ally himself with the Draketooths and one of them can fill that position.
__________________
Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas.
Could just be a design choice. Could be indicating something we haven't seen just yet...
Given that it is all the current LG pictured, I don't think the gnome is in the lineup just to fill up space. But that's my personal interpretation.
I find it pretty implausible that rich would let something slip in a way like this. It's sorta like people trying to read stuff into the Oracle's position on the OoTS poster.
__________________ RIP Durkon Thundershield, Cleric of Thor. As he travels to the afterlife, may his beard be e'er soaked in ale rather than Vomit. Thor watch over his soul.
I find it pretty implausible that rich would let something slip in a way like this. It's sorta like people trying to read stuff into the Oracle's position on the OoTS poster.
It could be a scenario like the Oracle's position on the poster, but I don't feel that it is. It was suggested in the Holiday Stuff thread and Rich hasn't yet contradicted it. It isn't like it would be letting some huge detail slip if it is true - not exactly a big plot twist or anything. Anywho, we'll see as the plot progresses.
__________________ Thanks, Bradakhan, for the avatar!
It could be a scenario like the Oracle's position on the poster, but I don't feel that it is. It was suggested in the Holiday Stuff thread and Rich hasn't yet contradicted it. It isn't like it would be letting some huge detail slip if it is true - not exactly a big plot twist or anything. Anywho, we'll see as the plot progresses.
Rich has been keeping his posts in that thread to most business stuff. It's not his job to shoot down every fan's minor theory. Seriously, there are several examples of merchandise not really matching reality. The cover of SoD is another.
__________________ RIP Durkon Thundershield, Cleric of Thor. As he travels to the afterlife, may his beard be e'er soaked in ale rather than Vomit. Thor watch over his soul.
Has it occured to you that we may not have seen him or her yet?
What are you trying to say? That Rich has plans and revelations for this comic that we as an audience have to be patient to learn of because it's all part of his storytelling method? Impossible I say!
Unless Pompey and Leeky's bromance was decidedly more short-lived than was necessary for a spinoff comic, I don't see him in a hurry to help the Linear Guild, especially not now, especially not here, in the desert, where there are no trees, which he likes.
__________________
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair.
Anyone think of a good reason why the linear guild were stupid enough not to hire a counterpart for Durkon.
Let's see...
Durkon is a law-abiding, reliable, dwarven cleric of Thor.
Therefore they hired his opposite, Nokrud, who is a Chaotic Evil Fire Giant worshipper of Sutur who immediately voided his contract because he couldn't be bothered to turn up for the fight.
__________________ Warning: This posting may contain wit, wisdom, pathos, irony, satire, sarcasm and puns. And traces of nut.
Rich has been keeping his posts in that thread to most business stuff. It's not his job to shoot down every fan's minor theory. Seriously, there are several examples of merchandise not really matching reality. The cover of SoD is another.
I stated in my initial post that it could mean nothing. It could very well be a marketing choice. If the LG even has another member right now, however, that sticker is all we have to go on at the moment. I know there are many reasons why Rich may not respond to a theory.
I don't have a lot hanging on the theory, I just thought it was interesting that in a very up-to-date picture of the LG, Leeky of all people was chosen to fit that spot. To me that either means there isn't another LG member, or the member is Leeky. To have someone show up and not be Leeky would render the merchandise highly inaccurate, since it is of the Desert LG and not just LG in general.
Anywho, this is one of those threads where there is no real answer at the moment because we just don't know.
__________________ Thanks, Bradakhan, for the avatar!
Durkon is a law-abiding, reliable, dwarven cleric of Thor.
Therefore they hired his opposite, Nokrud, who is a Chaotic Evil Fire Giant worshipper of Sutur who immediately voided his contract because he couldn't be bothered to turn up for the fight.
Hilarious! It explains everything so neatly and is a good joke besides.
I doubt there's an Anti-Durkon, though -- after all, this attack on the Order wasn't planned, as other people have pointed out. It was just some accidental mayhem that went badly for the Linear Guild.
__________________
Great avatar courtesy of Xander Morhaime. Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintRidley
Stats of the Snarl:
HP: Lots.
Armor Class: Can't touch this.
Saving Throws: Yes.
Attack: Successful - undoes target.
Challenge Rating: Too high.
Unless Pompey and Leeky's bromance was decidedly more short-lived than was necessary for a spinoff comic, I don't see him in a hurry to help the Linear Guild, especially not now, especially not here, in the desert, where there are no trees, which he likes.
Might be another druid. Or Nale realised that Leeky was actually the only member of the LG ever to be effective in combat with the OotS, and "forgave" him (obviously planning to take his cruel revenge later once he's no longer needed). Or Leeky pretended he had been working on a way to get them out all along when they found him, and Nale failed his Sense Motive.
Or... Nale could finally have tossed the whole stupid "evil opposite" idea out the window, and they have no divine caster, because they're stupid.
Regardless of how much time the Guild had, there will be an anti-Durkon shortly, and it seems improbable that it would be Orrin, let alone Girard himself, since Illusionist is Arcane . More likely Nale just won't bother springing Z as escaping Tarquin's justice system has already been proven to be impossible, and Orrin will be the new arcane caster. Not to mention for all we know Girard is dead by now and the gate is guarded solely by his son (or possibly grandson). Who knows? Only the Giant.
Last edited by King Bosco III : 11-22-2011 at 11:14 AM.
Anywho, this is one of those threads where there is no real answer at the moment because we just don't know.
OK, now I just feel like you're fishing for quotes for your compilation thread.
The presence, absence, position, or style of any character on any piece of merchandise has no bearing on any future (or past) plot points. I design the merchandise to look good and sell well. Usually, I specifically design the merchandise in order to avoid any sort of plot relevance; the Thog kids shirt still has all his tusks unbroken, for example. I generally choose the most "iconic" look for each character, if there is such a thing.
In the case of Leeky, there were three reasons I chose him:
He was shorter than Hilgya, and thus better parodied the "child" slot of the original family stickers.
He is the only druid in the comic, and has strong appeal to people who like druids.
He is significantly less of a pain in the ass to convert to line art than Hilgya is, due to differences in how I constructed the art way back during the first book. And I had a lot of art to make for those shirts.
I assure you that reason #3 was the biggest factor, by a fair margin.
Also, my lack of commenting on a topic does not implicitly confirm or deny the proposition being put forth. Sometimes, I just don't care enough to respond. I may be low on time and decide that something is too trivial to bother answering. Heck, the fact that I respond to things at all is a relatively recent development.
I thought the reason Nale picked Leeky was 'cause Leeky is a druid (likes trees), and Durkon hates/is terrified of trees...
Yes, that was the way Leeky was Durkon's opposite. That's not the question that was asked. ThePhantasm was referring to Leeky's appearance on the Linear Guild bumper sticker, despite the newest kobold's and Zzdtri's presence. You'll notice Hilgya and Pompey are absent, and that the sticker therefore spans multiple incarnations of the Linear Guild.
Couldnt Nale just go back to the people that sent him a Church of Loki representative and get another? I mean Hilgya isnt the only Priest of Loki in the comic, and one of them now knows how to solve his problems with violence....
OK, now I just feel like you're fishing for quotes for your compilation thread.
I actually didn't expect a response to this, but it is much appreciated all the same!
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Giant
In the case of Leeky, there were three reasons I chose him:
He was shorter than Hilgya, and thus better parodied the "child" slot of the original family stickers.
He is the only druid in the comic, and has strong appeal to people who like druids.
He is significantly less of a pain in the ass to convert to line art than Hilgya is, due to differences in how I constructed the art way back during the first book. And I had a lot of art to make for those shirts.
I assure you that reason #3 was the biggest factor, by a fair margin.
Makes a lot of sense. Thanks.
__________________ Thanks, Bradakhan, for the avatar!
Couldnt Nale just go back to the people that sent him a Church of Loki representative and get another? I mean Hilgya isnt the only Priest of Loki in the comic, and one of them now knows how to solve his problems with violence....
He didn't go to anyone to get Hilgya specifically. She sought him out on Loki's orders to steal the amulet from Nale.
And sure, he could just go get another cleric of Loki, but then we'd have missed the Leeky Windstaff jokes. There's no reason to get another cleric of Loki over anyone else, really. And he had magic items on hand to deal with Durkon instead of finding someone new, assuming there isn't a sixth member still running around the castle or the canyon.
Panel 4: The attack on the OotS was thrown together at the last minute. Nale wasn't planning to fight them. He just took his chance because they appeared to be following him. He may not have had the opportunity to hire a high level divine caster.
That's an argument that would be a lot more convincing if he hadn't gone to the trouble of recruiting a cat-hating, dual-wielding kobold.
I incline more to the explanation that we haven't seen Durkon's counterpart yet.
(Or that it is indeed Malack, and the whole balcony scene was staged, which would explain why the Inflict Wounds attack missed. But that seems a bit of a stretch even by forum-conspiracy-theory standards.)
__________________
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by warrl
"They didn't change the alignment system, they just augmented its inherent weaknesses and limitations with a few gaping holes."
Quote:
"Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed." - G K Chesterton
As was pointed out in another thread, fatherhood seems to be a running theme lately. I can't think of a more apt time to re-introduce Hilgya with Durkon's child as a statement on fatherhood. After all, Elan and Nale show the case as to how different a father figure can make a child and Haley and Roy both demonstrate how having a father figure present might not work out for the best. Then our be-bearded cleric has to make a moral call about whether to split from the Order to raise his child, or abandon the child in order to continue the quest, thus generating tasty, tasty character growth.
__________________
Proof that avataring standards in the Playground have reached an all-time low:
She's basically a bonus-material-only character (SoD). So putting her on merchandise seems to be less wise than using some character that is known from the online strip with more than a few obscure hints or one or two appearances.
Panel 4: The attack on the OotS was thrown together at the last minute. Nale wasn't planning to fight them. He just took his chance because they appeared to be following him. He may not have had the opportunity to hire a high level divine caster.
Not having a divine caster in your adventuring party is incredibly stupid, though. Even for Nale.
RSS Feeds: 
Anti Durkon
It explains everything so neatly and is a good joke besides. 
