Order of the Stick: June '05 II

[kerberos]

Please tell me that page is a joke. Intergalactic Walrus? Blowing up souls with hydrogen bombs?

Just when I thought I was beginning to see a limit to the stupidity of humanity...

Nah, they didn't blow up the souls with H-Bombs, just the bodies. It really isn't any more bizare than creationism.

[deathregis]

The Blue Samurai's master is totally Soon.

[Circon]

So now we know the history of the gates!

I wonder what Redcloak did...


P.S. Scientology mentions an intergalactic walrus as part of their religious doctrine, for everybody watching the thread and wondering why it's being referred.

[Nightmarenny]

Man that was great. Soon looks awsome. Oh its up for those who are thick.

So now we know the history of the gates!

I wonder what Redcloak did...

Some sort of spell involving fire or a dropped match

The diary is the best part "I bet he just want into her magical gate" ;D

[Silverblaze]

The Blue Samurai's master is totally Soon.

I very much agree on this - colour and culture seem to fit the picture perfectly. Still - he has greyish tones in his hair, plus he looks both human and somewhat older than Dorukan did - and that was 65 years ago. If it's Soon, he must either be rather old by now, or have cheated time somehow - which in the world of TOotS isn't entirely impossible of course ;)

[Nerd-o-rama]

Secrets are revealed, and thickens does the plot. Hmm...too bad Dorukan's dead. Ah, well. I wonder what we'll find out about the rest of the group...

"What 'gate' do you guys keep talking about?"

Sonething tells me the Giant has had bad experiences with Spot checks...

[Silverblaze]

Btw - it's not like Rick to not let us sizzle a bit more before letting us in on the contents of the diary ??? I would have thought that with a cliffhanger like that, he would have spent at least a couple of uploads on making us squirm ;D

BUT this is not to be mistaken for a complaint - I mean even PCs are pleasantly surprised by their GM every now and then ;) Only when that happends it's usually time to be extra careful ;D

[kerberos]

I very much agree on this - colour and culture seem to fit the picture perfectly. Still - he has greyish tones in his hair, plus he looks both human and somewhat older than Dorukan did - and that was 65 years ago. If it's Soon, he must either be rather old by now, or have cheated time somehow - which in the world of TOotS isn't entirely impossible of course ;)

He could also be the blue samurais master.

[Silverblaze]

He could also be the blue samurais master.

??? That was the point I was agreeing with deathregis on ??? (if you read the quote on the top of my earlier posting...

[kerberos]

??? That was the point I was agreeing with deathregis on ??? (if you read the quote on the top of my earlier posting...

Sorry I somehow got the impression that you thought he was the blue samuria himself. I guess I just can't read. :-[

[phlip]

I like the annoying-yet-cleverly-placed speech bubble in the first panel... the text is talking about sealing something with a magical door... but what?

It's subtleties like that that are why I love this strip :D
Oh, also the humour of course. Humour is always good. Like the Scooby Doo reference.

Anyone else notice the similarities with OotS? Halfling, dwarf, elf, 3 humans? Also, for some reason I think Girard looks like Nale... Probably just the smirk.

[Sc00by]

"I would've got away with it too if it wasn't for those meddling kids!"

Xyklon is such a scoobydoo villian too...

Bets on the skull being a mask and it's really the caretaker? ;)

Great stuff!

[Silverblaze]

Sorry I somehow got the impression that you thought he was the blue samuria himself. I guess I just can't read. :-[

No harm no foul ;) The reason I spoke of the colours was that you could just see the edge of BG's master http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/Gian...tscript?SK=120 and that BG carries the same colours of said master ;)

[AtomicKitKat]

Anyone else notice the similarities with OotS? Halfling, dwarf, elf, 3 humans? Also, for some reason I think Girard looks like Nale... Probably just the smirk.

It's totally the goatee.

[nihil8r]

But ... why didn't a blue samurai come after Xykon after Lirian's gate was destroyed?

:-/ :-/ :-/

[Silverblaze]

But ... why didn't a blue samurai come after Xykon after Lirian's gate was destroyed?

:-/ :-/ :-/

Good question - It may be that it had been attributed to a natural forest-fire. Xykon's own magic might have hidden his and Redcloaks precense... Still - that only speculation... And who knows; a blue samurai might have come after Xykon - and we just still haven't seen the blue samurai zombie that was the result of it ;)

[GeeVee]

This is one of the better comic strips ever made.

The first panel is one of the best ever.
Yay for plot and funny!

[Psymon]

Sweet plot advancement!

I totally reckon Soon is the MBG's master, he even has the same boots, though that doesnt prove anything.

Im somewhat surprised that Rich didnt leave us hanging for a few weeks!

I got a shiny new avatar! Thanks Sneak!! EDIT: Its not working?!?!?!

[Nikolai_II]

But ... why didn't a blue samurai come after Xykon after Lirian's gate was destroyed?

:-/ :-/ :-/

I'll agree with Silverblaze, more or less.

A blue samurai was probably sent, but the forest fire (while it was destroying the gate) also eradicated all / most traces of foul play - also, since it was the first gate lost it was probably judged an accident.

now we have the second gate destroyed in a short time and possibly Durokan also sent some sort of message that he was in some sort of trouble before going forth to meet with Xykon (and possibly his fate), so Soon now had reason to suspect something was amiss when the second gate was destroyed so soon after the first.

[The Giant]

Im somewhat surprised that Rich didnt leave us hanging for a few weeks!

One of the things I hate about certain other webcomics is that there is never any advancement or resolution of plot points. So while I am careful to dole out such information in small doses, I do actually want to tell the story behind everything eventually. I had fun with my little cliffhanger, but the whole point of this Xykon interlude has been to disseminate the information in today's strip. It would be counterproductive of me to not have then done so.

[Sneak]

Hilarious!

"Look, it was an accident! Ok? Let it drop already! Geez!

"What "gate" do you guys keep talking about?"

Lol.

[GreyRat]

One of the things I hate about certain other webcomics is that there is never any advancement or resolution of plot points. So while I am careful to dole out such information in small doses, I do actually want to tell the story behind everything eventually. I had fun with my little cliffhanger...

As I've mentioned, I like a cliffhanger. I don't even mind a few weeks' hiatus as long as I trust the storyteller to give me a good ending. I think in the next book, Rich should indicate which strips appeared on a Friday so people know when to take a two-day break from reading. :-/ ;)

And now we know Xykon's evil- he's reading someone else's diary! Rat b*st*rd! If he digs into her secret stash of halfling foot fetishes, I'm gonna grind him up for calcium supplements!

[Aerysil1]

I have a question for Giant. I've always wanted to ask this of an author developing a plotline:

Did you have this backlore set up from the very beginning, or did it evolve over time as characters and events developed?

[Silverblaze]

Aerysil - when you go to a magicians show, you never go backstage to make him tell you his secrets, do you?! ;)

[Aerysil1]

I don't know, is it a secret?

I'm not asking for the rest of the backlore, just if it was always there.

[The Giant]

I have a question for Giant. I've always wanted to ask this of an author developing a plotline:

Did you have this backlore set up from the very beginning, or did it evolve over time as characters and events developed?

Most of this developed in my mind around the time Sylvia first explains Dorukan's disappearance in #71. Before that, it was just a random dungeon that I had named "Dorukan"; I wasn't even certain that Dorukan was a person and not a place or organization. A lot of it started due to my need to explain why Xykon would be living in a dungeon that had large vaults with magically-warded treasure that he hadn't just kept for himself.

Some details didn't become solidified until today, though, such as the names of some of the characters in the picture or what they looked like.

[Frojoe21]

Well, the forest fire thing was absoulutely hilarious. In one game I was in, I did something similar, and that caused many, many problems.

In any case, I think we found a little clue to the identity of the blue boy.

[Grey Watcher]

I'll agree, Soon's outfit matches what we've seen of the Blue Boy's Master, and his expression as rendered in the Diary matches the attitude we see. (All work and no play.) I love that Dorukan, this ancient, backdrop figure in the Stickiverse is labeled "New kid." And I like the reference to the crush Toormuck had on Gerard. :-) I can't wait to see his castle. :-)

Also, I evidently female dwarves can grow beards, but don't always. (Hilgya has no beard, but Kraagor is clearly labeled "Mean grrrl." I used to love the bearded lady thing for dwarves. :-)

Most of this developed in my mind around the time Sylvia first explains Dorukan's disappearance in #71.

Don't you mean Celia? ;)

[Sundog]

Does look like it. And by-the-by, who says a Blue Dude of Vengeance wasn't sent after Redcloak? If he wound up in the Dungeon of Dorukan he might have A) been gobbled by goblins B) been zapped by Xykon C) been eliminated by Elan (when he blew the mountain) lor even D) been terminated by traps. He might be good, but he's only one guy.

[phlip]

Also, I evidently female dwarves can grow beards, but don't always. (Hilgya has no beard, but Kraagor is clearly labeled "Mean grrrl." I used to love the bearded lady thing for dwarves. :-)

To me it looks like "Mean! Grr!" But I'm not sure. It's kinda hard to make out.


Ooh, I just noticed, the mysterious blue dude's master referred to him as "young one" in #120... I wrote it off as just that the blue dude is an apprentice or something, but it could also be that he is a relatively new guy, replacing the one that was lost "bathing his blades in the blood of" Redcloak.