OOTS #1211 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Schroeswald]

Minrah continues to be amazing, and we can finally get people to shut up about Durkon not mentioning TDO not surviving!

i know I know, I’m just trying to be an optimist here

[Quebbster]

Nice big squares. Also cool to see the statue do something.

[ChaosOS]

I think Durkon might feel dwarfed by Maxrah's demands

[Grey_Wolf_c]

i know I know, I’m just trying to be an optimist here

... I was about to say.

I do like that Durkon had a reason to not bring it up, though. A good reason, too.

Rich: the number of pinned comic threads is maybe starting to get a bit too many?

Grey Wolf

[Verappo]

To be fair, that is a lot of exposition to relay all at once. Had I been Redcloak I'd have tuned out at the mention of color coded deities

[Bartok]

Thank you Minrah for pointing out how vital that information would have been. That's been bugging me for pages.

[EmperorSarda]

Durkon can't be faulted about not knowing about Redcloak's sunken cost fallacy. Or that he's just as nuts as the gods willing to burn everything to start over.

[understatement]

C'mon, Durkon, we've been telling you to say it for ages!

[Fyraltari]

I know this won’t stop people but: yet another proof the Gate is not inside the statue.

Why does Minrah has Negative Energy Resistance? Is it the hammer? Or did Durkon cast Mass Death Ward? How long does that last, if he did?

Also I’m surprised the ruckuss hasn’t attracted Xykon yet.

[dancrilis]

... staying around seems like a very bad plan, far worse then trying to talk to Redcloak in the first place.

[understatement]

I know this won’t stop people but: yet another proof the Gate is not inside the statue.

Why does Minrah has Negative Energy Resistance? Is it the hammer? Or did Durkon cast Mass Death Ward? How long does that last, if he did?

Also I’m surprised the ruckuss hasn’t attracted Xykon yet.

Probably Mass Death Ward, and it lasts aminute/level.

If Xykon didn't notice the huge dwarf, he'd definitely notice the...animated Kraagor?

[Dragonus45]

Looks like things are escalating fast, less escape plan and more ill thought out 2v1. That poor fool Redcloak though. He really will cut out his own metaphorical eye to spite his face.

[Gray Mage]

Very telling that RC thinks the world being undone is about him losing and no thought is given to all the other goblinoids that would be unmade with him.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Why does Minrah has Negative Energy Resistance? Is it the hammer? Or did Durkon cast Mass Death Ward? How long does that last, if he did?

I'm guessing Durkon is using the flawed backdoor'ed Mass Death Ward spell he crafted with help from Malack. Now that the latter is dust, it is a lot less dangerous to use. If duration is similar to the non-mass one, it should last about a quarter of an hour.

Grey Wolf

[EmperorSarda]

If Xykon didn't notice the huge dwarf, he'd definitely notice the...animated Kraagor?

Even if Xykon is inside a tent, they are probably making enough noise to warrant his curiosity.

Also, it'd be a shame if Xykon heard Redcloak saying any of this. Xykon doesn't want to blow up the world. He just wants to rule it.

[Hiro Quester]

“A bad plan we planned for”. Awesome.

[Fyraltari]

Probably Mass Death Ward, and it lasts aminute/level.

But then I wonder, did he cast it on the whole order? Or could he cast it back in cloudform?

If Xykon didn't notice the huge dwarf, he'd definitely notice the...animated Kraagor?

Look, even with teleportation spells, it’d take him at least a round to get anywhere, no? I was expecting him to intervene because of the sudden paradox crashing in the village.

Very telling that RC thinks the world being undone is about him losing and no thought is given to all the other goblinoids that would be unmade with him.

Yup.

[SlashDash]

I know this won’t stop people but: yet another proof the Gate is not inside the statue.

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if the fact that Redcloak moved the statue will be a plot point later on.

Why does Minrah has Negative Energy Resistance? Is it the hammer? Or did Durkon cast Mass Death Ward? How long does that last, if he did?

Most likely Durkon cast the mass version he learned in the 5th book.
Considering nobody from Tarquin's gang is likely to show up (as far as Durkon knows), he should be casting that all the time.
They know Xykon has a thing for energy drain.

Also I’m surprised the ruckuss hasn’t attracted Xykon yet.

I'm guessing he's either monitoring Redcloak to see if there's a hint that Redcloak will turn on him or possibly that he's just elsewhere (like his fortress) or just watches his Tivo.

[littlebum2002]

It's really hard to take the statue seriously as a threat with that tongue hanging out.

[hroþila]

It would be totally in character for Xykon to have noticed Durkon from the start and just pretend he hadn't to see what Redcloak did. Or to enjoy the show, in which case he'd only intervene if Minrah and Durkon came close to defeating Redcloak.

[Fyraltari]

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if the fact that Redcloak moved the statue will be a plot point later on.

The Gates can’t be moved without breaking them. Soon had to commission a castle big enough to reach the Rift above Azure City.

[Psyren]

I do like that Durkon had a reason to not bring it up, though. A good reason, too.

I don't see what was good about his reason at all - especially since they literally arrived at the same conclusion Redcloak did before Thor explained that wouldn't work. How could Durkon expect Redcloak to also not arrive at that conclusion/see it as a viable alternative absent a theological explanation?

Maxrah

Is this going to be a thing? I feel like this is going to be a thing.

[Rinazina]

I think Durkon might feel dwarfed by Maxrah's demands

oh, good crack joke, I though them exhausted here

[KorvinStarmast]

I love Minrah!

This may have been a bad plan but it's a bad plan we planned for

Nice one Giant, and very much in Minrah's voice.

I also like Redcloak's decision to use Animate Object. Good tactics!

Also, Redcloak has a fair point
"According to a random dwarf who I have no reason to believe"
Giant does a good job in not having his characters possess narrative omniscience. If we put ourselves into Redcloak's shoes, it is a valid point of view for him to take:
"Why should I believe you? Why should I trust you?"

We, the audience, with a bit more 'narrative omniscience' to hand so that we can see why he should trust Durkon. But beyond his own obsession with The Plan, the grounds for a trust relationship have not been established. That takes time to grow and nurture when the previous relationship was based on lethal animosity. And to get him to change his dedication to The Plan, it's gonna take a lot more than one dwarf's word ... a dwarf he doesn't trust (yet).

Durkon's job/task from Thor boils down to this: get Redcloak to trust you.

(The rest of the dialogue is a rehash of points already covered on the forum in the past five strips, but I am glad to see most of us were pretty much on the same page with the Giant)

And of course, Kraagor's pedastel is now missing its statue. I wonder what little twist will arise with that, beyond the statue keeping up its attack on the only other dwarves at the North Pole. (Slight irony there, I think).

[Crœsos]

To be fair, that is a lot of exposition to relay all at once. Had I been Redcloak I'd have tuned out at the mention of color coded deities

Yeah, but Redcloak is the kind of goblin that puts his reports on color coded parchments and worries about cover sheets. He'd eat up minutiae like that.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I don't see what was good about his reason at all - especially since they literally arrived at the same conclusion Redcloak did before Thor explained that wouldn't work. How could Durkon expect Redcloak to also not arrive at that conclusion/see it as a viable alternative absent a theological explanation?

"RC cares about goblin lives" is a good reason to place the emphasis on the fact that the world may be blown up. It's the wrong approach, sure, but Durkon didn't have a way to know that in advance.

GW

[Hiro Quester]

I love how the thicker outlines on Maxrah make it clear that this isn’t a normal large creature, but a medium creature, enlarged.

Nice artwork detail!

[Drogorn]

Durkon can't be faulted about not knowing about Redcloak's sunken cost fallacy. Or that he's just as nuts as the gods willing to burn everything to start over.

The gods being willing to preemptively destroy the world is partially motivated by the fact that the snarl eats the souls of everyone when it gets out. If the gods destroy the world, everyone gets to go to the afterlife.

[Lord Torath]

"It's a bad plan we planned for!" Gotta love Minrah!

Thanks, The Giant!