I know where MitD teleported O-Chul and Vaarsuvius to!

[Beren]

I think he teleported them to strip #662! (Or maybe #663 or #664.)

[xyzzy]

I think he teleported them to strip #662! (Or maybe #663 or #664.)

Whoa, I think you might be right. This is a really solid theory! :smallbiggrin:

[[TS] Shadow]

Nah, you're wrong. I'm pretty sure they were teleported to strip 665.

[Deuce]

Shadow;6261647']Nah, you're wrong. I'm pretty sure they were teleported to strip 665.

NO, he's some kind of fiend, so he sent them to 666. :smalleek:

[OITS]

Mere speculation^^

[Beren]

Well, I don't have a very good track record of predicting anything. I could've said "a future strip" instead of listing 662, 663, and 664, but with my luck, if I tried to cover my butt like that, then I'd still be wrong, and we'd never see them again.

[Blue Ghost]

A future strip it probably is. I'm guessing somewhere in the 680s.

[T-O-E]

Into the snarl rift. :smalltongue:

[RebelRogue]

You're all wrong: He teleported them to strip #659, and now they're stuck in a time loop forever!

[Woodsman]

NO, he's some kind of fiend, so he sent them to 666. :smalleek:

Uh, 666 was basically the Hebrew numeral equivalent of "Kaiser Neron," or "Caesar Nero," referring to the Roman emperor Nero. It was never "satanic."

This annoys me to no end!

But as to where the MitD 'ported them too, it's somewhere in the future...

[Foryn Gilnith]

{Scrubbed}

[shadzar]

He teleported them to the circus. The one he used to be in.

Be real funny if they ended up in the Guild where Crystal has just been raised. A nekked Paladin appears in the middle of a thieves guild with one of Miss Starshine's companions. :smallbiggrin:

[Belkster11]

Knowing the MitD, he/she/it teleported O-chul and V to

the safest place he/she/it knows, the one place he/she/it believes to be the safest place. It can't be the jungle because obviously a) that's where he/she/it got captured and b) that would mean we'd have to spend a few dozen strips watching O-Chul and V make a mad race back to Azure City/The Next Gate/The Western Continent/The Paladin Fleet and I don't think Rich would do that.

The little box he/she/it is in. It seems to fit exactly with MitD's mentality and I doubt he/she/it knows about the rebellion group in Azure City. While yes, they'd still be very close to Xykon, I would think MitD would think up of a plan, or at least work it out with a healing/trancing O-Chul and V.

And yes, I intend to start a WHAT GENDER IS MITD IS!!!?? debate to compete with the V's Gender debate. I love the infamous-y. XD

[Foryn Gilnith]

My wild speculation is that MitD's teleportation effect operated like that of the Crypt Thing [Fiend Folio], and O-Chul and V are now random locations in the city. :)

[Mr. Mud]

I don't think Mr. Burlew would teleport them into MitD's box because that's be fairly redundant... Having ANOTHER fight with Xkyon in a few strips, Having to get saved AGAIN. No. Not his Style... I was thinking MitD teleported V&O to his prior lair, to his family if he has any, because that'd probably be the most sacred, and safe place. If he is so very rare, his race must be well hidden, no?

[Nerdanel]

I think V and O-chul are now

on the plane of Elemental Earth.

The existence of that plane in the OOTS cosmology was foreshadowed by V just before he decided to attack Xykon, and since I think the MitD is a Half-Earth Elemental using the Plane Shift spell-like ability of that particular template, it fits nicely.

[Morgan Wick]

The little box he/she/it is in. It seems to fit exactly with MitD's mentality and I doubt he/she/it knows about the rebellion group in Azure City. While yes, they'd still be very close to Xykon, I would think MitD would think up of a plan, or at least work it out with a healing/trancing O-Chul and V.

But that wouldn't be an "escape". They're more trapped than ever, and even if they can leave the box they're right back where they started.

[thalandus]

They could be directly outisde the tower, on the ground.

[EmeraldPhoenix]

yes, I intend to start a WHAT GENDER IS MITD IS!!!?? debate to compete with the V's Gender debate. [/spoiler]

...I always just assumed it was a guy. Huh.

[archon_huskie]

My first guess was the darkness the monster is in.

Other option could be that the Monster does not know where they went.

[multilis]

{Scrubbed}

[KillianHawkeye]

Uh, 666 was basically the Hebrew numeral equivalent of "Kaiser Neron," or "Caesar Nero," referring to the Roman emperor Nero. It was never "satanic."

This annoys me to no end!

:smallsigh:

Even if that's what it originally was, that is not what it has become over time. You cannot say that there is no relationship between 666 and The Devil, because that relationship in fact exists in modern popular culture and various current forms of media. Well, you could say there's no relationship, but you'd be wrong.

Believe me, I understand where you're coming from. I used to be just like that. But words and ideas gain more meaning over time. Do you have any idea how many words in the English language have gained different meanings over the years since their original usage? Language evolves. Ideas evolve. Sometimes into things they were never meant to become, but you can't stop evolution.

[faewynn]

{Scrubbed}

[Iferus]

{Scrubbed}

Now this is exactly what you SHOULDN'T bring up.

Some more off topic remarks: the word "thing" is one of my favourite words when it comes to word evolution. It used to mean assembly, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_(assembly)) i.e. a political gathering.

On topic:
My guess is that the MitD has teleported them to a random location, as he doesn't even know he has teleported them in the first place.

[JonathanC]

{Scrubbed}

[awibs]

And seriously you guys, *take a freaking joke.*

[Morgan Wick]

Okay, back on topic, here is one idea for how the next few strips will go.
First, a strip that I think is the same no matter where V and O went.
662
:xykon:: It was you, wasn't it? You and your stupid spell like abilities!
:mitd:: N-no! I-I didn't do a-anything!
:xykon:: You idiot! I have them right where I want them, about to punish them for losing my little trinket, and YOU had to come along and teleport them to God knows where! Where did you send them?
:mitd:: I- I don't know! I-I mean, I didn't s-send them -
:xykon:: You bungling idiot! What a day I've had! I have to fight some idiot elf who decides to teleport in and muck up the place, have a prisoner try and smash my phylactery, then he pops up like I never lightninged him and tries to throw it into the former gate -
:mitd:: Gate? What gate?
:xykon:: - then it blows up in my face and falls into the sewers and I'll never get it back at this rate, and I'm all ready to open up Mama Xykon's Patented Can of Whoop-Ass on them and YOU had to go and muck things up! Well, I only have one thing to say to you: thank you.
:mitd:: W-what?
:xykon:: I'm so proud of you. Redcloak thought this day would never come, that The Plan would be done by now. You've finally come into your true power; maybe we can get some stuff done faster now. Let's start on that right now. Wish for my phylactery to be returned to me.
:mitd:: N-no.
:xykon:: What?
:mitd:: You're not the boss of me. O-Chul says I can do whatever I want.
:xykon:: That paladin got to you, eh? I've got some talking-to to do with Redcloak. But let it be known, you have no way of knowing just how bad I can hurt you.
:mitd:: Fine. I hope Xykon is reunited with his phalactasomething. No? I hope Xykon is reunited with his soul hidey-place.
:xykon:: (sigh) Try "Redcloak's holy symbol."
:mitd:: I hope Xykon is reunited with Redcloak's holy symbol.
:xykon:: <pop!>
(Xykon appears in the middle of the ocean, clutching his phylactery)
:mitd:: Wow! I did that?
:roach:: This is not good.
:roach:: Don't you mean, "this is not bad"?
:mitd:: I wish I was out of this box and out of this darkness!
(cut to a long shot of the wrecked tower to avoid revealing MitD)
:mitd:: Hey, this is kinda neat!

The following strip is one example of where they might have gone:
663 "Deus Ex Monstro" or "Monstrum Ex Machina"
(Vaarsuvius frees himself from Xykon's spell. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and it's basically the anti-Azure City.)
:vaarsuvius:: Where are we?
:ochul:: I do not know. One minute Xykon's threatening to kill us, the next we're here. But where's here?
:vaarsuvius:: Wait, I see the fleet with the Azure City nobility down there. This is the abandoned island where I teleported them. My colleagues should be elsewhere on this same island.
:ochul:: That's a bit of a copout, even for this comic, no?
:vaarsuvius:: You are becoming attuned to how this place works very quickly. Hinjo and the rest of the Sapphire Guard should be down there. I need to rejoin my... friends.
:ochul:: Should I tell them that Xykon and his forces are weakened and they should strike while the iron is hot?
:vaarsuvius:: Possibly, but this is thousands of miles from Azure City and by the time they got there Xykon should have had plenty of time to recover. Unless you have some way to cut the distance significantly.
:ochul:: (shakes hands) Will I see you again?
:vaarsuvius:: That only the gods can say.
:ochul:: Thank you, uh...
:vaarsuvius:: Vaarsuvius.
:ochul:: Vaarsuvius, I owe my life to you.
:vaarsuvius:: The debt is entirely mine, uh...
:ochul:: O-Chul.
:vaarsuvius:: O-Chul, I wish you good luck on your endeavors.
:vaarsuvius: (thinking): Crap, I can't believe I just shook hands and said all that mushy crap to a human.
:ochul: (thinking): Crap, I can't believe I just shook hands and said all that mushy crap to someone who might have been a dude.

Now for one answer of mine to speculation on Haley's reaction to the Therkla story, mostly the same up to the point where it's influenced by the "where did V and O-Chul go" speculation:
664 (or 665)
:elan:: ...and then I leapt onto the boat where Kubota was getting away and prepared to fight him. But then he just surrendered on the spot.
:haley:: Wow. So what happened to him? Did he get tried and arrested?
:elan:: What happened? Um... he drowned. And... got eaten by giant man-eating piranha sharks.
:haley:: And what happened to Therkla? Did she get resurrected or anything?
:elan:: No, I buried her on that same island. And the demon we fought is now her tombstone.
:haley:: Wow. Elan, that is an amazing story. You have a very active imagination.
:elan:: A-active imagin...? B-but all that really happened! Just ask Durkon or - just ask Durkon. When he's done.
:haley: (smiling): Oh come on, Elan. A tribe of orcs worshiping your clown puppet? A "ninja superhero" who turned on her master just for you? And the clincher: you trying to tell me that you rejected her advances, especially when the chances were that I was probably dead.
:elan:: B-but I did! I always knew you were alive, Haley, I never lost faith in you! I- I never -
:belkar:: Elan's a stud!
:haley: (still smiling): Oh come on, Elan, I know you too well. Remember Samantha? I know you'd find any excuse to get inside a woman's - Vaarsuvius! You're alive!

(The exact reasons why Haley doesn't believe him don't matter so much as the fact of it, and only the implications of Haley's disbelief will come into play later, not the disbelief itself, despite mucho forum speculation. I particularly like this version for the implied vulgarity in the last line.)

(Pan out to reveal Durkon is still casting Resurrection.)
:vaarsuvius:: Yes.
:elan:: And not all fanged out and evil anymore!
:vaarsuvius:: That, as well.
:belkar:: Aww, man! Back to the same, boring old Vaarsuvius, I guess...
:celia:: "Fanged out and evil"?
:haley:: Wow! Did you actually manage to beat Xykon?
:vaarsuvius:: Beat him? Um... not exactly... But I did weaken him and get his phylactery lost. With a human paladin's help.
:haley:: But you managed to get out, right? You can still teleport? Can you get us closer to Girard's Gate?
:vaarsuvius:: Sadly, I lost my power in the heat of battle. And gained a new one. I owe my speedy return to a mysterious deus ex machina of some kind.
:elan:: Funny how those sorts of things work out...
Further discussions of this kind end the strip.

665 (or 664)
O-Chul has a heartfelt reunion with Hinjo (who is initially convinced he's seeing a ghost). They talk strategy (maybe even sharing a drink - see 422/463). Alternately, this is split across 664 and 665 and the above 664 is actually 667 and all subsequent strips except 666 are advanced one.

666
The IFCC discuss the situation. This may be the first strip in which we actually see Sabine.

667
Roy returns to the "land o' tha livin'", in Durkon's words.

668
The reunited OOTS talk strategy going forward.

If we need further padding, it can involve the OOTS hitching a ride to the Western mainland, and/or the Linear Guild's ongoing plotting. Or Team Evil's plotting going forward (though see below)

669 or later
Redcloak in the Word of Recall location, plotting his own strategy. If there are any pages after the end-of-book montage this could be one of them (if not the only one), or it could just be a panel in the end-of-book montage (as the Linear Guild could be almost as likely).

The book ends somewhere in the 670s.

[SteveDJ]

And yes, I intend to start a WHAT GENDER IS MITD IS!!!?? debate to compete with the V's Gender debate...

Sorry, but the gender of the MITD is not such a mystery -- see the last frames of this strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0549.html). He's male!

[Zanaril]

Or at least thinks she is. :smalltongue:

[averagejoe]

It was never "satanic."

Until it was!

Anyways, he said "Fiend." Obviously the number has a diabolical significance in whatever DnD cosmology he was talking about.

[Francis Davey]

{Scrubbed}

[Dark Faun]

The Monster in the Darkness unconsciously teleported them in the safest place he knows of.

The jungle! With his daddy!

Well, he does have an abysmal Wisdom score.:smalltongue:

[Dixieboy]

{Scrubbed}

[Zanaril]

Nero was a fiend
Is a fiend, in this comic. :smalltongue:

[Dixieboy]

Is a fiend, in this comic. :smalltongue:
oh...

coincidence? :smallconfused:

[Kaytara]

And yes, I intend to start a WHAT GENDER IS MITD IS!!!?? debate to compete with the V's Gender debate. I love the infamous-y. XD

I beat you to it (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110941&highlight=gender). :smallamused: Muahahahahaahaa.

Back on topic, I can't help but wonder if the MitD is capable of choosing the target location at all. I mean, he wasn't even aware that he was using that ability, why would he then have a specific location in mind?

You know what, here's a possible explanation for why it worked now and didn't work earlier: The Wish ability (or whatever it was) needs the target's consent for it to work. If the MitD already tried to use it to make O-Chul escape earlier, it didn't work because O-Chul didn't want to escape (he had to ENDURE) and thus was subconsciously resisting it (or rolled his save, or whatever). Now, V and O-Chul actually WANT to escape (even the paladin, as he says in this strip), so when the MitD uses that ability, it actually works (as they deliberately failed their saves, or something).

I really can't wait to see where they end up. I'm guessing back with the Order, but that seems a bit... lame. For one thing, V is still Held, and Durkon must be still busy raising Roy. For another, I'd like to see some out-of-battle interaction between V and O-Chul - I mean, they don't even know each other's names yet. It would be fun to see O-Chul ask what the hell the black-robed fangy effect was, anyway.

[daggaz]

{Scrubbed}

[Blackjackg]

My suspicion is that the MitD teleported them not where he wanted them to go, but to where they wanted to be:

Back with the Order and the Azurites on the western continent. Because Roy will be back any minute and the group needs to get back together, because we don't need any more of this "split up" arc. It's played out.

[Ahp77]

{Scrubbed}



And what says that MitD is a devil? He/She could just be powerful and somewhat unintelligent.

[F.H. Zebedee]

Well, a beast would be Lawful, I'd assume, since the whole "Marks in Hands/Foreheads" and New World Order thing and being a ruler. Just guessing.

About this? I think it may have sent them straight to the Order. I 'unno, though. The Order is most likely if going by the mind of Suvie, while I think the ruins of Dorukan's are most like for MitD's own mind. That was it's home for a long time, after all.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: Real world religion is an Inappropriate Topic on this Forum. Please don't go there, even when it intersects with gaming or comics issues.