Preview:Durkon's changing "rebirth" moment nearby?

[Oslecamo]

Ok, plot derailment asides and ignoring how much Celia is trying to railroad the party right now as an unstopable DMNPC, I noticed a trend in the order.

First it was our favorite bard, wich took that badass Prc and become usefull to the party.

Then it was Roy, who got killed and bides his time, learning how to sit by the sidelines and how to relax for once.

Third was Haley, forced to become in charge, changing from "Miss girly burglar" to "Redheaded master sniper", who shoots first and then runs away whitout taking everything that's not nailed down.

Fourth it was V, doing his best to put the party back in one piece, ends up turning to the dark side and abandoning his old companions.

Fifth it was Berklar, wich after a near death experience passes from "Death's little helper" to the "Sexy shoeless god of not using excessive violence to solve his problems".


Every party member has suffered a major change on their personality due to a series of events. All but Durkon, who still keeps being the low charisma dwarf.

So, I preview that in a near future Durkon will also suffer a personality shift due to a series of events that will impact directly on him. I personally foresee that Durkon will receive the message, and with V gone and the bard being the bard, Durkon will have to go to great lenghts to reunite with Haley, and the experience will leave a mark upon him.

Do you also see this trend, or is just my lack of sleep?

[Kaytara]

Maybe. While I agree with the idea that the characters are changing (I called something similar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4806495&postcount=118) a while ago, including Belkie's change to a more cunning psychopath as opposed to an impulsive one), I don't think this is really about Durkon here. In that part of the Order, the arc is pretty clearly focused on V and Elan. Durkon's only noteworthy participation up till now was either
a) support, i.e. as the mandatory healing machine
b) as foil for the craziness of the other two guys. Like suggesting that they ditch Haley in Azure City where she could be facing imprisonment and torture for all they know...

In short, Durkon would have to suddenly get a lot more focus than he's been getting so far in this arc.
Then again, this could be his moment to shine, so you could be right.
But then, how do you envision that character development? What great lengths would Durkon have to go to?

[High King Iggy]

I don't call it personality shift; but, yes each character in turn has had an opportunity for character development. Durkon , cleric of Thor, faced with the clerics of Loki ... this would be a great time for that character development, certainly.

[Oslecamo]

Indeed, in the last dozen comics, the action has sudenly shifted to one character at a time instead of the party as a group like we used to see before the Azure city battle.

We had:
1-Elan's solo quest to escape from jail, and then fighting that mini boss.
2-Roy's visit to heaven.
3-Belkar being restrained by the mark forcing Haley to do all the dirty job.
4-V doing it's best to advance the plot.
5-Belkar awakening to a world where all the other nearby party members are dying, leaving him the duty of saving them from eminent death.

In all those parts the action had a great focus on a party member at a time, and Durkon is the only one who didn't get his big self discovering solo quest so far.

So I preview the giant will shape the events in a way Durkon will be the one on the spotlights once we end this whole city of thieves arc. Sure, right now there aren't much reasons to believe this would happen, but who would have previewed Haley would be forced to run into the city of her former guild anyway?

And in that story, durkon will finally learn how to step forward and do what he wants, imposing himself over those who would try to abuse his goodwill, instead of being Mr. Suport bot who tries to keep everybody happy no matter how humiliating it gets.

[Optimystik]

But then, how do you envision that character development? What great lengths would Durkon have to go to?

It would be nice to see his reverence for tradition shaken in some way; to learn that something is not bad simply because it is new and unfamiliar. His views on the matter were quite stark in #84.

[Arctic]

Yeah, that was something I was thinking about, even before Belkar gets his own change. Durkon used to be the party member with the least character development, tied-in with V, but with the most recent events, V took her share of character development and shall receive much more once it cuts back to him (and Qarr?).

Durkon's our steady little cleric. Now what do we know about him and his personality? He was kicked from his homelands, and will only get back there posthumously. He likes alcohol. He is scared of trees. He worships Thor and is a loyal party member. Durkon had his little side-story with Hilgya long ago too.

Now why don't we see Durkon do much, and why do we know so little in fact?

The issue here, is his lack of initiative. Our little dwarf likes to stay quiet and follow, rather than make his own decisions. Why did he have his story with Hilgya in the first place? He was forgotten. He doesn't speak much in groups, unless someone asks him to do something, or advice.

The only real moments where he speaks his mind and gets out of his quietness are :
- Aaaargh trees!
- Talking about Gods. PUPPETS CANNAE EVEN EAT PIE!!

So if Durkon is about to get a change, I predict him to lose a good chunk of passivity. But, that is if he really gets one. He might subverts the "Everybody gets a change" thing by staying the exact same for the whole comic :smallwink:.

[Berserk Monk]

We had:
1-Elan's solo quest to escape from jail, and then fighting that mini boss.
2-Roy's visit to heaven.
3-Belkar being restrained by the mark forcing Haley to do all the dirty job.
4-V doing it's best to advance the plot.
5-Belkar awakening to a world where all the other nearby party members are dying, leaving him the duty of saving them from eminent death.

In all those parts the action had a great focus on a party member at a time, and Durkon is the only one who didn't get his big self discovering solo quest so far.

First off, Roy's gone through a lot of character development:

-the "I shouldn't like Miko's because she's hot, I should dislike her because she's a jerk" decision
-the "I'm through listening to daddy and I don't care about his blood oath (although I will stop Xykon because he could destroy this world)" realization
-the "Shojo's a jerk who manipulates the paladins, and I shouldn't do this to my fellow party members" realization as well

As for Durkon, he doesn't really need any change or rebirth. Out of all the party members, he's the most forgiving. This is the man who pleaded with Miko not to attack. He's a cleric with probably the highest wisdom score in the party. He doesn't really need any character development. It's not like he has any vices. The only real thing that he could grow with is conquering his fear of trees, although I doubt the giant is going to make a tree side quest for him. This trait is more to be used for comedy which is what the strip is about.

[bluedolphin359]

Ok, plot derailment asides and ignoring how much Celia is trying to railroad the party right now as an unstopable DMNPC, I noticed a trend in the order.

First it was our favorite bard, wich took that badass Prc and become usefull to the party.

Then it was Roy, who got killed and bides his time, learning how to sit by the sidelines and how to relax for once.

Third was Haley, forced to become in charge, changing from "Miss girly burglar" to "Redheaded master sniper", who shoots first and then runs away whitout taking everything that's not nailed down.

Fourth it was V, doing his best to put the party back in one piece, ends up turning to the dark side and abandoning his old companions.

Fifth it was Berklar, wich after a near death experience passes from "Death's little helper" to the "Sexy shoeless god of not using excessive violence to solve his problems".


Every party member has suffered a major change on their personality due to a series of events. All but Durkon, who still keeps being the low charisma dwarf.

So, I preview that in a near future Durkon will also suffer a personality shift due to a series of events that will impact directly on him. I personally foresee that Durkon will receive the message, and with V gone and the bard being the bard, Durkon will have to go to great lenghts to reunite with Haley, and the experience will leave a mark upon him.

Do you also see this trend, or is just my lack of sleep?

I see your point, except for one thing: We don't know that V has turned to the "dark side." For all we know, Qarr just followed V to try to get back on the ship, knowing that s/he was a member of the Order. There are a lot of other possibilities, such as *gasp* V being smart enough to not sell his/her soul!

Sorry about ranting, this has been bugging me for a while. Back to the main topic, I agree with you that Durkon needs to do something soon.

[Niley]

Hm... Maybe Hilgya is finally coming back?

[Surprise!]

Hm... Maybe Hilgya is finally coming back?

She is definitely an estranged dwarf living with humans because she likes their impulsiveness. And there is the matter of the church of Loki in Greysky city.

Hmmm, I can see it but Durkon seems pretty stiff in his morals, why would he break them for her now if not then?