OOTS #700 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Huh. No acknowledgment at all.

Though the implications... :smalleek:

...And how did MitD know it was half a ritual?

Isamu...:smallfrown:

[dogmac]

There are never acknowledgements of hundreds.

I'm not sure whose head he is munching, though. I was wondering if it was hers for a while.

And, I don't think you want him to sweep you in his arms, think of the levels lost in an instant!

[Acero]

Tsukio's officially crazy


However....
Eating a head=laughs all around:smallamused:

[CoffeeIncluded]

Tsukio's officially crazy


However....
Eating a head=laughs all around:smallamused:

The Wight eating the head is (Was?) Isamu... :smallfrown:

[ScottishDragon]

I wonder what the spell is that she needs to learn.Do you think it is important?love the picture of Xykon on her wall.And the little plushie is on her bed!

[kpenguin]

Hmmmm... can someone explain the title to me?

[Szilard]

The wight eating the head is funny.

[DabblerWizard]

I'm glad we're sticking with the MITD's quest to find O-Chul. His development as a potential ally to the good side, is intriguing.

And lols all around for teenage emo spellcasters who depend on undead liches to give them value.

[TimelordSimone]

Half a ritual?
To do with the gates maybe?
WHO KNOWS

(Also this is the first time the comic has updated while I've been on the site. Yaaaay! :D)

[Hurkyl]

I wonder what the spell is that she needs to learn.Do you think it is important?love the picture of Xykon on her wall.And the little plushie is on her bed!
Presumably it's Xykon's part of the gate ritual. The big question is just what Tsukiko figured out about it....

[heroe_de_leyenda]

So does the ritual involve Monster-san (who was unexpectedly smart but funny)?

[Lord Thurlvin]

I'm glad we're sticking with the MITD's quest to find O-Chul. His development as a potential ally to the good side, is intriguing.

And lols all around for teenage emo spellcasters who depend on undead liches to give them value.

Tsukiko's a teenager? I must have missed that...

[Mando Knight]

Gee, when you put it that way, Tsuki...

You're just dense. :smallamused::smalltongue:

Half a ritual?
To do with the gates maybe?
WHO KNOWS

(Also this is the first time the comic has updated while I've been on the site. Yaaaay! :D)
Not just any half a ritual. The divine half to the ritual to unlock the Gates. Tsukiko might need more Cleric/Favored Soul/Whatever levels to actually cast it, though...

[El Llamita]

Would someone please explain me the Isamu thing?


BTW, found a missed spell check: diving magic.
Rich is human. Isn't that just great to know?

[The Bookworm]

Oh, MiTD. We love you!

[Acero]

Presumably it's Xykon's part of the gate ritual.

agreed....

[Lord Thurlvin]

Would someone please explain me the Isamu thing?


BTW, found a missed spell check: diving magic.
Rich is human. Isn't that just great to know?

I think that's yet another example of TMitD mispronouncing something.

[Ertier]

Wow. Is Xykon thinking of replacing Redcloak?

[Blue Ghost]

Wow, I knew Tsukiko was evil, but I did not know she was so deranged like that. Hope she finishes the ritual thing, eh?

Hey, it's strip 700!

[Mauve Shirt]

Yay, MITD!
Ooo, yeah, I bet she's been asked to find out the second half of Redcloak's Gate ritual.
You know, I didn't even noticed it was #700.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Would someone please explain me the Isamu thing?

In an earlier strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0519.html), Isamu was killed and turned into a Wight. WightIsamu is the one eating the human head.

Wait a second...

If it's a complicated magic ritual that Xykon, an epic-level sorcerer, cannot understand...

...Then it's a divine spell.

He's using Tsukiko as backup. He doesn't trust Redcloak to be able to carry out the plan anymore.

[Blaznak]

Me Like-y! It was fun to read and I liked the Monster in the Darkness' easy come easy go attitude. I'm not sure I buy the "eternal love of a lich" bit, but I know Rich will make a go of it so I'm on for the ride!

[Dusk Eclipse]

MitD is AWESOME

Also I am sure that the spell(Ritual?) has to do with the gates, and techincally Tsukiko can fullfill both of the criteria IIRC it involves both arcane magic and divine one so I guess that technically she can do the ritual alone.

Edit:WOW 10 post in the time it took me to type the above....also NINJAS EVERYWHERE!!!!

[TimelordSimone]

Hmmmm... can someone explain the title to me?

I -think- the 'both' referred to is Isamu and the person Isamu is eating the head of.

[Mystic Muse]

so, Tsukiko isn't exactly Evil to be evil she just thinks all humans are B words and so Undead logically are the opposite.

There's a chance she could be redeemed then I guess.

[Aethir]

Well, I don't know about most of her argument, but who knows, maybe Tsukiko really does understand the undead better than the rest of us and she's actually a step ahead of the curve.

Still, excellent comic, and love seeing recurring wights.

[Lamech]

Err... what the heck is up with the MitD? Secondly, half a ritual?
SoD and predictions...So that half of a ritual must be the one that Redcloak gave Xykon, now Redcloak hasn't ever really lied to Xykon, IIRC he did say that the dark one is the one who got to control the rift, and he also said they would split up the world. Sure they don't actually control the Snarl, but Xykon wanted a weapon anyway. Of course, if Xykon isn't as blind as Redcloak he should be able to conclude that if the Snarl doesn't reach out of the rift...

I also note Solars have a lot of Spellcraft; would have been really nice for that theory if they had legend lore...

[Shale]

Xykon's learning.....oh, that's interesting. Certainly the most subtle plot advancement we've seen in a #X00 strip.

[Vire]

wee~ MiTD is gonna talk to O-chul again!!

[elonin]

This comic points to MITD having spontaneous casting ability. And for all that MITD acts naive he seems to get the story better than Tsuko (in that xyrcon is a user at heart)

[Azukar]

Oh man... :smalleek:

MitD barely even looked at the ritual and seemed to recognise its nature. That's pretty impressive, I think.

Also, of course it's Xykon's half of the gate ritual. What else would it be?

[TVTMaster]

...

Tsukiko is Messed Up. Like, wow. Yeah. When Xykon kills the heck out of her she's going to be in for a surprise. Of course, given her whole thing for the undead, one wonders why she doesn't make herself into one.

Anyway, #700 was character development for Tsukiko, and an omen that Xykon is beginning to suspect that Redcloak's Plan is less than totally evil. I love the return of Isamu and the Wight With Shoes, too.
Actually, we need to start a fanclub thread for the Wight With Shoes, now that he's shown up in 3+ strips. That's the trend, right?

[Acero]

...Then it's a divine spell.

He's using Tsukiko as backup. He doesn't trust Redcloak to be able to carry out the plan anymore.

or its Xykon's part, and he doesn't get it...

[DementedFellow]

I actually feel for Miko. She has been hurt and is obviously looking for love in the wrong places. Granted I haven't looked for love in the graveyard, but certainly bad places nonetheless.

[Mystic Muse]

I actually feel for Miko. She has been hurt and is obviously looking for love in the wrong places. Granted I haven't looked for love in the graveyard, but certainly bad places nonetheless.

I think you mean Tsukiko.:smallbiggrin:

[Shale]

Also, (SoD-ish): If Xykon didn't tell Tsukiko that it was only half the ritual, does that mean he didn't know? Did Redcloak only give him what he needs to know to cast it, and if so, how pissed is Xykon going to be when he finds out?

I vote for "very pissed."

[Zevox]

...huh. A 100-mark strip with neither anything really special nor acknowledgment of the lack of anything special for it. Odd.

Interesting that we seem to be officially in a MitD story arch though, and a few decent jokes.

Zevox

[Zexion]

Such amazing character development... MiTD might have more intelligence than he lets on...

[ScottishDragon]

...huh. A 100-mark strip with neither anything really special nor acknowledgment of the lack of anything special for it. Odd.

Interesting that we seem to be officially in a MitD story arch though, and a few decent jokes.

Zevox

I count the beginning of a mitd story ark as special.Besides every comic is special in its own little way.

[Zevox]

I count the beginning of a mitd story ark as special.
In which case you would count #699 as special. Not this one, which is the second strip in the arc.

Zevox

[TerrickTerran]

Yay, Tsukiko returns. :smallbiggrin: That was a lot of fun and I'm really interested in seeing where the MITD thing goes.

[Kokomo]

Belkar might get that 20gp after all.

[the_tick_rules]

So Tsukikio is an idiot then?

[Zexion]

MiTD=Genius.
Right? He didn't even LOOK at it.

[Conuly]

He's using Tsukiko as backup. He doesn't trust Redcloak to be able to carry out the plan anymore.

It'd be hilarious if Redcloak started having his own thoughts in that direction and then, ultimately, Tsukiko ended up ruling the world. (Not gonna happen, because of the whole "Tuskiko rules the world" thing, bit of a downer ending, but funny to contemplate!)

And no, I don't think he *does* fully trust RC to carry out Xykon's plan anymore. Or maybe he thinks the time is passing when he can readily kill Redcloak's inevitable betrayal and figures Tsukiko will be easier to manipulate.

[Asis]

He's using Tsukiko as backup. He doesn't trust Redcloak to be able to carry out the plan anymore.
Actually? I think he's just checking out what exactly is the spell that is supposed to let them control the Snarl. That lich has proven time and time again that he's too smart to be fooled, proven that he somehow decides to care.
So... Redcloak's plan will probably be found. Good thing, I guess: I have no respect for a guy who killed his baby brother in cold blood.


So Tsukikio is an idiot then?
Despite the fact that she looks and acts like Crystal, I just think that she's simply a confused goth teenager who is biting far more than she can chew.

[Grifthin]

Tsukio Is so Adorable!

[ref]

A subtle one definitely, but I have the feeling that it will be worth a double-zero-strip. This one shows that Xykon is planning on ditching Redcloak, that the MitD is more valuable than it shows (it'll be tricky when he has to say he's looking for O-Chul, though), and that Tsukiko is just messed up big time. Development for the whole Evil Team.

[Conuly]

So... Redcloak's plan will probably be found. Good thing, I guess: I have no respect for a guy who killed his baby brother in cold blood.

But you'd rather the world be ruled by Tsukiko and Xykon?

[Je dit Viola]

I liked this strip. It was pretty neat!

I love the Monster in the Darkness! He's so cool.

[Mystic Muse]

something about Redcloak's baby brother
.

Is this mentioned in the comic or only in SOD? If only in SOD you should probably delete that so that you don't spoil it for people who haven't Read SOD

[Crosswinds]

Oh dear. Did the MitD actually know something useful?

Also, Tsukiko: Deluded, blinded by her own version of the facts and unable to see the truth. Innocence gets you nowhere when your employer happens to be an epic-level Lich.

[derfenrirwolv]

Hmmmm.. its either turning xykon into a demilich, or xykons half of the gate ritual. If the latter, then MITD just glanced at and understood a complicated arcane ritual

[Exitus]

Look at Monster-San's eyes. He doesn't even glance at the scroll/paper/whatever after Tsukiko shoves it in his face.

I am not sure how to *spoiler* mark, but hopefully this isn't intense enough speculation to warrant one anyway.

Perhaps part of the MITD's perceived idiocy/childishness is partially because he does not realize other people don't realize/recognize things as much as he does, so some of the confusion is more of a "Why the heck do they think they need to explain this to me?" I know this won't apply to some of his more wisdom- or joke-based cluelessness, but it is a thought.

Going with my above observations, notice how he just throws out the 'Read your stupid half of a ritual.' He automatically assumes she knows what it is.

*Edited because I managed to lose the last paragraph above.

[RebelRogue]

Disturbing necrophiliac jokes FTW, haha... Not that we didn't already knew, but still.


so, Tsukiko isn't exactly Evil to be evil she just thinks all humans are B words and so Undead logically are the opposite.

There's a chance she could be redeemed then I guess.
Since she has the Wisdom to function as a reasonably high level level Mystic Theurge, I seriously doubt this!

[Starscream]

So awesome. Tsukiko is officially crazy, but her comment in the first panel had me in stitches.

And Monster-San continues to be fantastic. Strange that a character can start getting development so late in the game, and still have it be so natural and great.

[Querzis]

But you'd rather the world be ruled by Tsukiko and Xykon?

At least Xykon is honest about being evil. I really never got why some people actually sympathize more with Redcloak after reading SoD. I liked him before reading SoD but now I know hes just the biggest hypocrite in the world as well as a very delusional idiot. I really liked Right-eye though.

Anyway, great strip. I just hope that the MiTD wont get in trouble for contacting O-chul.

[Ted The Bug]

Well now, more light shed on the MitD. I'm liking this :smallbiggrin:

[StoryKeeper]

Love the undead casually munching on a head at the end there. XD

Also, anyone esle suspect that negative energy might be responsible for horrible, upside-down logic on Tsukiko's part?

[Hurkyl]

Wait, do my eyes deceive me, or did MitD call it diving magic?


And just for fun, I'd like to point out that MitD could have just overheard the others mentioning it was half a ritual.

[Hrairoo]

Wow, this strip just reminds me that i want an oots plushie!

interesting to see redcloak's spot getting ousted now that he's on xykon's badside... i'd assume, however, that the ritual is more likely to do with serini's coordinates to the gate then it is to the gates...

it's funny to see mitd mature and actually grow intelligently, even if it's unconsciously...

[The Wanderer]

Xykon learning more about the ritual is a major :smalleek: moment.

This could have all sorts of of repercussions for the story.

[Hurkyl]

A natural and instinctive affinity for arcane magic doesn't necessarily make him intelligent... although he could very well be.

I am inclined to suspect team evil has been intentionally trying to keep him, well, in the dark about his spellcasting abilities.

[Zxo]

Wow. MiTD is showing not only intelligence, but Wisdom as well (noticing that Xykon does not have any love to earn from). Did he level up ot something?

The joke in first panel is funny, but... male and female skeletons do differ and you'd expect that someone as fascinated with dead bodies and skeletons as Tsukiko would know this.

I must say I'm a bit disappointed with the Tsukiko development. I thought that she was, like Xykon, unapologetically evil, and now she turns out to be just confused... and she appreciates "caring, honest, sensitive souls", so there is some good in her. Until now, she was the only member of Team Evil, apart from Xykon, who I felt absolutely no sympathy for and I liked her as a well written 100% evil character. With Redcloak being a likely candidate for redemption (which is obvious if you read Start of Darkness) and MitD gravitating towards the Light Side, you kinda need at least one other irredeemable TE member except for Xykon, or what kind of Team Evil is that?

Overall, very good comic.

[silvadel]

I think the MITD is exceedingly intelligent actually -- just very immature and lacking in wisdom. Learning GO that fast on a 19x19 board is not at all easy.

And this definitely merits a x00 rating. That Xykon has Tsuikiko deciphering THE RITUAL of course without telling her what it is is huge.

[Mastikator]

It's strange to see a high int and high wis character be so deluded with the (un?)nature of undead. She's got to know on some level that the evil undead are a product of the evils of man, not the opposite.

[derfenrirwolv]

It's strange to see a high int and high wis character be so deluded with the (un?)nature of undead. She's got to know on some level that the evil undead are a product of the evils of man, not the opposite.

People are very good at convincing themselves what they want to believe. Smart people just make better excuses for it.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

MiTD makes yet another friend (hooray!), who we see is in the same boat as himself. In the gutter, sure, but still the same boat.

Decoding the ritual is pretty important, since it's the vehicle by which anyone who didn't read SoD gets to find out what Xykon and Redcloak are up to.

Too bad they may be indirectly killing the world in the process... Or maybe they're saving it, doubly-indirectly. It's hard to say. Perhaps they're unmaking the de-creation of nonexistence (quintuple-indirectly) but learning just enough to be able to avoid not fixing it (sub-inverse-directory) later?

[noiadodh]

...huh. A 100-mark strip with neither anything really special nor acknowledgment of the lack of anything special for it. Odd.

Zevox

*munch! munch!* http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0600.html

just me that see it ass odd too?

[Rotipher]

The joke in first panel is funny, but... male and female skeletons do differ and you'd expect that someone as fascinated with dead bodies and skeletons as Tsukiko would know this.

I agree, Tsukiko just Failed Anatomy Forever.



I must say I'm a bit disappointed with the Tsukiko development. I thought that she was, like Xykon, unapologetically evil, and now she turns out to be just confused... and she appreciates "caring, honest, sensitive souls", so there is some good in her.

Or maybe she was feeding MitD a line of hooey to make him go away and leave her alone. Frankly, she seems the sort to B.S. a naive teammate just for kicks. And he's the sort to keep right on asking "Why?", over and over, until she gives him an answer more coherent than "for the evulz".

[Darius1020]

Wait, how is Isamu still alive (undead, whatever)? Didn't Belkar kill him?

[AceOfFools]

Re: telling male/female skeletons apart.

That's prolly a lot harder in the simplistic art style Tsukiko actually sees.

[KeiranHalcyon]

Look at Monster-San's eyes. He doesn't even glance at the scroll/paper/whatever after Tsukiko shoves it in his face.

I am not sure how to *spoiler* mark, but hopefully this isn't intense enough speculation to warrant one anyway.

Perhaps part of the MITD's perceived idiocy/childishness is partially because he does not realize other people don't realize/recognize things as much as he does, so some of the confusion is more of a "Why the heck do they think they need to explain this to me?" I know this won't apply to some of his more wisdom- or joke-based cluelessness, but it is a thought.

Going with my above observations, notice how he just throws out the 'Read your stupid half of a ritual.' He automatically assumes she knows what it is.

Interesting theory. Following this train of thought, "Gate? What gate?" really means, "All I see is a fragile buttress preventing the expansion of the Rift to the demiplane of the Snarl. No 'gates' in sight."

[Shale]

Wait, how is Isamu still alive (undead, whatever)? Didn't Belkar kill him?

Tsukiko probably took issue with that.

[Kairamek]

"I don't think Xykon has any love to give."

Wow. Just wow. O-Chul had a PROFOUND impact on Monster-san, and it wasn't until that moment that I could truely apreciated it.

[Studoku]

I just randomly checked the site because I couldn't sleep and found a new comic. :smallsmile:

Sleep is overrated anyway- it's not like I have spells to prepare.

[Yiuel]

So many questions...

Well, at least, it explains why Tsukiko's a necrophiliac. But, the whole comic is loads of questions that popped in. Woah.

Great comic.

[CapedLuigiYoshi]

Wait, how'd he get out of the box?:smallconfused:

[Fish]

Interesting. I suspect many here are right, and this is one half of the Gate ritual. Xykon appears to be grooming a replacement for Redcloak, just in case.

My prediction:
Redcloak will turn up with his half of the ritual, because he's grooming a replacement for Xykon. Darn lich won't let me regrow my eye...
Of course, if Tsukiko can cast divine and arcane magic, she doesn't need EITHER of them.
I've been expecting this for some time. I can't wait to see how it plays out.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

Hmmmm... can someone explain the title to me?

I do believe it to be in reference to the MitD's line in the last panel.

I'm quite excited to see where this one goes. My initial thought was that either Tsukiko will be brainwashed (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/modifyMemory.htm) or killed by Redcloak or Redcloak will have some 'splaining-to-do' v. death regarding the apparent duplicity concerning the ritual. Then again, Xykon may take to Redcloak's inevitable betrayal (it's the evil thing to do, etc.). Of course, the MitD's further development is cause for interest as well (Did Monster-san 'defeat' Xykon by 'Stealing His Kills (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0661.html)'? How much xp is that?). I'm interested to see if this will lead to Monster-san being revealed, or at least what further powers spring up. But more than that, the MitD seems to be more aware than ever, and (like Celia, in fact) to be able to sense things beyond mere human perception.

Finally, I wonder when this happens? Is it before the OotS have reached Sandsedge? After? Have La Resistance and Team Peregrine (and any other elven 'Raptor Teams' that may be operational and in play) been harrying Team Evil's forces or are they waiting and plotting? Has Xykon really got the right co-ordinates for Girard's Gate, or has Serini concealed them? Is Lord Tyranar really Girard in disguise, and Nale/Elan's father, and holding Ian Starshine hostage, or is Girard really Ian Starshine in disguise (or mayhaps the other way around), or (for something really wild) how is a 'First Edition Thief' going to work in a d20 world?

In all, what I really can't wait for is to see these threads (and the others which will surely pop up) weave together...there's a lot going on in the West, and a lot going on in (the former) Azure City, and like a horribly mixed metaphor, they're going to effect each other in ways we didn't think possible.

[B. Dandelion]

That's an uh-oh.

Despite the very very bad things it foreshadows, I really liked this one a lot for the character development on display. MitD's line that "Xykon doesn't have any love to give" was perfect -- I think, actually, it works a little better if I don't think of it as a huge cognitive leap forward for him. Monster-san's levels of perception and intelligence have definitely improved, but the beauty of that line is that it is, indeed, a very simple truth. It's just not one Tsukiko wants to hear.

Tsukiko's willingness to delude herself doesn't make me like her any more than I had, but her actual expressed gratitude does. I have an inkling of a suspicion that the irony of her character is going to be that she is actually quite a bit like the minion she's trying to displace. Tsukiko, Redcloak is you after having endured 30 years under the lich's thumb.

[JonestheSpy]

I cannot believe the folks now willing to believe Tsukiko is anything other than a dangerous, murdering psycho - geez, some emo dialogie and the moral compass goes haywire.

I think RB specifically put that grisly last panel in just to short circuit Tsukiko-sympathy, though obviously the sight of a person we actually knew the name of transormed into a canniblaistic monster is more of a giggle than otherwise to some.

[Mystic Muse]

I cannot believe the folks now willing to believe Tsukiko is anything other than a dangerous, murdering psycho - geez, some emo dialogie and the moral compass goes haywire.

I believe she COULD be something other than that given time. However, The same could have been said of Miko.

[SoC175]

Well, if that's indeed the divine half of the ritual, than if Tsukiko learns it and starts praying to be granted this spell, her patron deity (rat??) would learn of it too. Guess the Dark One will have a lot of explaining to do when this happens.

[Ellen]

Tsukiko is an Edward Fan Girl. Who knew? Or she will be if she ever meets Edward. She also has a bit of Haley in her.

Disturbing all around.

I just hate to see girls find out the hard way object of their crush is nothing like they thought he was AND a complete jerk who's just using them, which is where it looks like Tsukiko is going.

[M84]

Heyall,

I just realized that, thanks to O-Chul's influence, MitD is probably the OnlySaneMan in Team Evil. Xykon's, well, Xykon, Tsukiko is a posterchild for Mad Love mixed with Necromantic and a heaping helping of denial, and Redcloak is wholly dedicated to a plan that may wipe out all life on the planet and has succumbed to the "Sunken-cost fallacy". MitD is just childish (and extremely powerful but that's beside the point). The only reason he's still with them is probably out of a misplaced sense of loyalty (since they did help him avoid life in a zoo) and having nowhere else to go and no idea what else he could do with his life.

[Mystic Muse]

Tsukiko is an Edward Fan Girl. Who knew? Or she will be if she ever meets Edward

This other comic I read finally found the team that beats team edward and Team Jacob.

Team rocket.:smallbiggrin:

[Raging Gene Ray]

Am I the only one concerned that by checking on O-Chul to make sure he's safe, the MitD is actually guiding Team Evil right to him?

[Elfey]

The way it is presented it seems she's learning the Arcane part of the Ritual. I doubt she'd be learning the divine part because of the phrasing. She mentioned Big X said he was to busy to learn it, not that he couldn't cast it. X, is after all, very lazy.

Ultimately I find MitD to be progressing in interesting ways. I wouldn't be shocked if by the end of the current arc-book his identity is revealed, but alas it won't be as cute as the darkness.

[Prowl]

Two thumbs up for plot advancement and character development.

[Exitus]

Interesting theory. Following this train of thought, "Gate? What gate?" really means, "All I see is a fragile buttress preventing the expansion of the Rift to the demiplane of the Snarl. No 'gates' in sight."

It is similar to a PSA I saw when I was younger. A mother insisted her kid shouldn't go "to the corner." No sooner does she say this (30 second ad) then the kid heads to the corner, leading to a frantic race between the mother reaching the kid or the kid reaching the corner. She catches him, and starts blubbering about "Why didn't you listen to me?" and the kid just says "Mommy, what's a corner?"

The MitD obviously sees it...but nobody explicitly says "This is what a gate is."

[Dancing_Fox]

First silly idea - in response to:

Wait, how'd he get out of the box?:smallconfused:

He didn't. The MitD is still in his box.
This is a caster from Team Perrigrine under an illusion spell checking out Team Evil's headquarters. They have already observed MitD, and now are checking out Tsuiko. (No, not like that! Wrong thread.) Why do you think that the MitD is so observant all of a sudden?

Second silly idea - in response to:
MitD: "He doesn't hide anything beneath his bones. I've seen."

Say the above line with dramatic emphasis. "I've seeeeeen."

Maybe the MitD sees down to underlying truths/realities? He really does "see right through Xyklon" (And not like we see through him.)

I like a previous poster's idea that he actually sees MORE of what is going around, rather than less. And that he is confused because he sees things differently (like the gates) to other people, because he sees more than what they see.


Disclaimer: These ideas are not to be taken seriously. Even I don't support them.

[Trixie]

And, I don't think you want him to sweep you in his arms, think of the levels lost in an instant!

Um, Liches don't work like that.

And technically, she may be right - while simple, mindless undead are simply a force of nature, there's nothing stopping the intelligent ones from being caring and loving. Well, except for the fact that some of the guys undergoing the transformation are pricks and PCs need a source or moral-issues free XP, so they automatically assume them to be evil.


...huh. A 100-mark strip with neither anything really special nor acknowledgment of the lack of anything special for it. Odd.

Technically, this could be pretty important, we'll wait and see :smalltongue:


Such amazing character development... MiTD might have more intelligence than he lets on...

Or Redcloak did the dumb thing and said wrong things around MitD underestimating him.


But you'd rather the world be ruled by Tsukiko and Xykon?

Xykon and Tsu don't want to crush humanity, sumply to rule and be worshiped.

Which could be much better than Red and co plans.

[B. Dandelion]

I cannot believe the folks now willing to believe Tsukiko is anything other than a dangerous, murdering psycho - geez, some emo dialogie and the moral compass goes haywire.

I think RB specifically put that grisly last panel in just to short circuit Tsukiko-sympathy, though obviously the sight of a person we actually knew the name of transormed into a canniblaistic monster is more of a giggle than otherwise to some.

Because the babies thrown into dumpsters calling out for their mothers are in so much better taste? Or how about opening with a joke about lesbian necrophilia? You're taking people to task for being irreverent over the fates of characters in a humorous stick figure webcomic, really?

[Phexar]

Am I the only one concerned that by checking on O-Chul to make sure he's safe, the MitD is actually guiding Team Evil right to him?

You aren't the only one. :smallfrown:

[Elan's Modron]

Okay, I still don't get the title, even after reading all the posts on this thread.

Feeling a bit stupid for asking, but that's never stopped me- so:
Who's the 'both' referred to? Tsukiko is one, but who's the second?
Monster-san? (But why would he disagree with a sentiment that he just tendered?)

There doesn't seem to be a second person referenced in Monster-san's last line- no matter how many times I read it, so again, who's the other half of 'both'?

Xykon? Wight-Isamu? The unfortunate person whose decapitated head will now never get to serve as headwear for Belkar? Who, darn it??? I just don't get the joke.

I still love strip #700 as a whole however. More facets of Tsukiko revealed still equal more facets of character, even if they're completely delude-a-noid facets. And I always, always, always dig Monster-san, esp. now that he's a taken a level or three in cluelessnessless (man, I'm just full of neologisms today!)

But still, someone please break the title down in small bits for my brain! I swear I've gotten the joke of way more complicated OotS-titles than this before, but we all have our hard-of-thinking moments...

[Chronologist]

Hmm. Monster-san's perceptive abilities seem to me like True Seeing coupled with a ridiculous Intelligence and Wisdom. He may or may not have spellcasting ability, but he may be well-versed in Spellcraft racially.

Great comic, definitely worth the wait AND #00 status.

[JonestheSpy]

Because the babies thrown into dumpsters calling out for their mothers are in so much better taste? Or how about opening with a joke about lesbian necrophilia? You're taking people to task for being irreverent over the fates of characters in a humorous stick figure webcomic, really?

Well, I don't particularly care about form - a good engaging story is a good engaging story, whether told by rhyming couplets or stick figure cartoons. And I'm not sure about "taking people to task" about the last panel - more about the "Awww, Tsukiko..." thing. But yeah, I think the intent of the last panel was getting a laugh from the dichotomy of the MitD thinking she's not so bad while a horrible scene she's responsible for is hapening right behind him, not so much "wraiths eating heads is funny".

But y'know, whatever turns yer screws...

[LCR]

Actually, it's pretty easy to differentiate between a male and a female skeleton, especially if the pelvic bones are still all in place.

[Querzis]

Okay, I still don't get the title, even after reading all the posts on this thread.

The MiTD last line in this comic was: «I guess shes not that bad». And then we see poor Isamu eating the head of someone. Isamu and the guy who is getting eaten would most definitly disagree with: «shes not that bad».


Actually, it's pretty easy to differentiate between a male and a female skeleton, especially if the pelvic bones are still all in place.

Its still a lot harder then differentiating between a normal male and female. Especially inside a crypt, its dark in there.

[factotum]

She mentioned Big X said he was to busy to learn it, not that he couldn't cast it. X, is after all, very lazy.


He's also easily bored, and we know he can only spend 8 hours in every 24 making magic items and has to find something else to do. He's also a known manipulator and liar. Given those facts, I think it unlikely that he would give the arcane half of the ritual to Tsukiko when he should surely be far more interested in what the OTHER half of it does--recent events must have shown him that he can't necessarily rely on Redcloak to the extent he thought he could.

[Shpadoinkle]

I find Tsukiko's conviction that doing this for Xykon will get him to fall in love with her (or whatever) to strongly imply (to me at least) that when she finds out that he doesn't really give a damn about her in any way besides as a useful subordinate, she's going to become upset and possibly (okay, probably) murderous.

Who wants to start a betting pool on whether or not she snaps and attacks Xykon, only to be killed with a single spell?

[B. Dandelion]

Well, I don't particularly care about form - a good engaging story is a good engaging story, whether told by rhyming couplets or stick figure cartoons.

Sure, I just mean, it's humorous to begin with and also it's a stick-figure comic which tends to underline that. Not that it's limited to being unserious because of its medium.


And I'm not sure about "taking people to task" about the last panel - more about the "Awww, Tsukiko..." thing. But yeah, I think the intent of the last panel was getting a laugh from the dichotomy of the MitD thinking she's not so bad while a horrible scene she's responsible for is hapening right behind him, not so much "wraiths eating heads is funny".

But y'know, whatever turns yer screws...

The thing is, when it comes off as somewhat morbidly funny, it doesn't so much hit me that Tsukiko is an awful person as it does that she's profoundly warped. The wights don't have the mental capacity to understand that cannibalism is revolting and taboo, they simply are what they are. She doesn't love them because of it, she's just so broken she's not fazed by it.

[Elan's Modron]

The MiTD last line in this comic was: «I guess shes not that bad». And then we see poor Isamu eating the head of someone. Isamu and the guy who is getting eaten would most definitly disagree with: «shes not that bad».



Ah, okay, that makes more sense. Thanks!:smallredface:

[Kobold-Bard]

I like it, they just treat the captives as a light snack :smallbiggrin:

also Yay character development all round.

[Caleniel]

You aren't the only one. :smallfrown:

That was my immediate reaction to the strip as well "Oh no, Monster-San! Getting Tsukiko to scry on O'Chul is NOT a good way to help your friend!"

Funny how most people focus on other aspects of the strip. Of course there _are_ a lot of interesting angles to this one, but to me the bottom line is: Tonight the MitD will lead team evil to O'Chul.

[Mercenary Pen]

Okay, it would appear that Tsukiko is almost as disturbed as some of the female characters out of early series of Gundam (and they manage it without resorting to necrophilia)

Beyond that, good comic- plenty of foundational stuff that will develop the upcoming plotline I'm sure.

[Shmuel]

Okay, I still don't get the title, even after reading all the posts on this thread.
I may have been the only person to read it this way, but I'd been pretty certain it was referring to Tsukiko's assessment of people and undead. People would likely disagree that they're all jerks, and the undead would likely disagree that they're caring, sensitive, honest souls.

[derfenrirwolv]

I may have been the only person to read it this way, but I'd been pretty certain it was referring to Tsukiko's assessment of people and undead. People would likely disagree that they're all jerks, and the undead would likely disagree that they're caring, sensitive, honest souls.

I thought "they both" were the wight and the guy being eaten.

[Athaniar]

At first I was diappointed by the lack of major events in this comic, but the subtle implications are intriguing, to say the least.


*munch! munch!* http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0600.html

just me that see it ass odd too?

Didn't notice that, nice reference.

[JoseB]

Wait, how is Isamu still alive (undead, whatever)? Didn't Belkar kill him?

Very likely Tsukiko took care of the undead "casualties" of the battle that took place between comics 519 and 522, bringing them back to unlife (she acts very maternal with them).

Also, my personal opinion regarding Tsukiko's "doing both": She *knows* enough anatomy to distinguish between a male and a female skeleton, she *really* does both, but she is in denial about it :)

[RMS Oceanic]

Well this was interesting for all concerned. It would appear the Xykon-Goblin alliance, always strained, could possibly be starting to crack. Either Tsukiko's figuring out the Arcane side so Xykon can carry it out in a hurry, or the Divine side so he doesn't need Redcloak and his baggage of thousands of hobgoblins. Given the events of 662, I'd think the latter.

As for MitD, he reveals an improved perception of the whole situation, and possibly a savant-like ability to understand magical rituals, which might translate into a huge racial modifier for Spellcraft or Knowledge (Arcane). The fact he now shows concern for someone other than himself is an important part of his character development.

I suspect, when the Phylactery is eventually recovered, Xykon is not going to give it back to Redcloak. The trust there, if there ever was any, has been shattered. I only hope Redcloak is smart enough for his own sake to realise the shift of balance in Team Evil, so he can come up with his own plan. Maybe MitD will mention Tsukiko's research off handedly and this will tip him off.

[Super_slash2]

Eh. I dont actually like character development that works like this. I dont like it when naive and silly characters "grow up" and have a personality shift. I like those characters because theyr silly and charming in a world gone mad, if you want seriousness you can always look at the other parts of the story. Which is why I really liked Elan's events, he still remained, at his core, Elan. You wouldn't look 100 pages ahead and say, is this the same guy?

I understand fully well that this is a logical progression of events. What O-Chul advised him about Xykon, about thinking for himself and not blindly trusting people should have sunk in given how much he cared for O-Chul.

I just don't like that we might never get another "I ate all the Os because I thought they were doughnuts" moment again. :(

Nice comic though. Lots of stuff to look forward to.

P.S. - I know it's not important what I think. I just felt sad about the possibility of no more "Let's see who can hit the lightest!" and needed to express it somewhere.

[magic9mushroom]

I still think that somehow, the two that end up casting the ritual will be Redcloak and Vaarsuvius.

[Hatchet]

Uh-oh. So the MiTD is going to tell Tsukiko that he's friends with O-Chul, and that probably he's the one who wished him away? Even if he doesn't tell her that, Tsukiko will learn O-Chul's location. What if she tells Xykon, in her deluded attempt to gain his love? :smalleek:

[Dr. Simon]

Actually, it's pretty easy to differentiate between a male and a female skeleton, especially if the pelvic bones are still all in place.

But it might not be in stick-figure form, where characters can't tell if they are wearing shoes or trousers (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0675.html), and where one human skeleton looks much like another (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0431.html). :smallwink:

[HandofShadows]

Excellent. Growth for the MitD, though I do worry that his wanting to see if O-Chul is ok will turn out badly. I think with the MitD he has gone through a bit of a breakthrough. Like when a dam breaks. First there is a little water and them more and more. Soon an unstopable flow.

[Roderick_BR]

The plot thickens =O
First he apparently used teleportation magic, and now, just passing his eyes over Tsukiko's notes, he noticed it was only half of a magic.

I foresee a increase in MitD discussion threads.

[dsavereide]

That was my immediate reaction to the strip as well "Oh no, Monster-San! Getting Tsukiko to scry on O'Chul is NOT a good way to help your friend!"

Funny how most people focus on other aspects of the strip. Of course there _are_ a lot of interesting angles to this one, but to me the bottom line is: Tonight the MitD will lead team evil to O'Chul.

That was my reaction too. And not only that, but the gate O'Chul should be at right now is nowhere near our heroes. According to the Oracle, team evil only has to pass within some distance of Girad's gate on the way there.

As far as the MitD intelligence goes -- what we've seen is an unquestioning child. O'Chul helped him grow up and gave him questions. Now his concern has forced him to think even more. He has his own questions. So this development makes sense as he matures into an adult. We don't know his capabilities. He doesn't know them himself.

[spoonodoom]

Not exactly a plot-centric point, or even plot-relevant, but...when do you think the Giant will get round to changing that copyright at the bottom to 2010?

[LCR]

Its still a lot harder then differentiating between a normal male and female. Especially inside a crypt, its dark in there.

Yeah, but wouldn't you feel it? I'm pretty sure, I could do that.


Wait, that sounds weird.

[lothos]

A subtle one definitely, but I have the feeling that it will be worth a double-zero-strip. This one shows that Xykon is planning on ditching Redcloak, that the MitD is more valuable than it shows (it'll be tricky when he has to say he's looking for O-Chul, though), and that Tsukiko is just messed up big time. Development for the whole Evil Team.

Hmm Yes. Though on the shallow surface not a strip of enormous significance, the ritual must be important and this strip will probably be looked back on as easily being deserving of occupying the 700 slot... well I hope so anyway.

I concur with those who have suggested it's gate related... quite likely It is the Arcane half of the gate ritual. Xkyon doesn't have the patience and perhaps Knowledge (arcana) ranks to figure it out the ritual. Presumably then Tsukiko with her arcane and divine capabilities could actually figure out both halves if she had the whole ritual.

I really like where this is going.

So maybe Mitd has both arcane and divine spells or spell like abilities ? I don't seem him having a high wisdom.. so favoured soul and sorcerer abilities ? Probably not. Just speculating. Though I could believe he has a moderately high intelligence, I cannot buy him having a high wisdom. I think his abilities like "escape" are most likely innate anyway.


Interesting theory. Following this train of thought, "Gate? What gate?" really means, "All I see is a fragile buttress preventing the expansion of the Rift to the demiplane of the Snarl. No 'gates' in sight."

Interesting idea ... I hope something like this does happen. Would be pretty funny and reveal a lot about him however something like that played out.

[pjackson]

Wow, Tsukiko is even loopier than Miko.

[Soranar]

wow , I totally misread that comic at the end

I thought MitD ate her and gave her head to the wigth :

You know, I really didn't like her at first, but I guess she's not that bad

munch munch munch...

apparently my mind is even more warped that Rich's

[Dr.Epic]

Meh. A disappointment for a '00 strip, but for any other, it was alright. Good to see Isamu again.

[Kish]

That was my reaction too. And not only that, but the gate O'Chul should be at right now is nowhere near our heroes. According to the Oracle, team evil only has to pass within some distance of Girad's gate on the way there.
Within a thousand feet. That's not just "some distance."

The chances of Xykon passing within a thousand feet of Girard's Gate and proceeding to Kraagor's Gate without interacting with Girard's Gate are pretty much nonexistent.

[Faoga]

Tsukiko called it "crypt-thing". We all know that necromancers love to mix and match bones from different creatures to achieve their goal. Some like their undead to look scary and ofc extra horns and bone spikes equals more power. Signs of gender could therefore be easily overlooked at first glance only to be discovered in the middle of something.

[silversaraph]

Not exactly a plot-centric point, or even plot-relevant, but...when do you think the Giant will get round to changing that copyright at the bottom to 2010?

Huh. Does that mean that this was a filler strip, too, or Rich just does some comics a month in advance?

[Water-Smurf]

I think Xykon's trying to use Tsukiko to replace Redcloak! :smalleek: She can use divine magic, so if she knows the ritual, then he doesn't need to deal with Reddy. Everything would be for naught.

And it's nice that we get a little insight into Tsukiko.

[infiniteviking]

Subtle! I didn't get all the implications about Xykon's machinations at first, but man, this doesn't look good for Redcloak. Or O-Chul, for that matter. Don't do it, MitD! D:

It was the Xykon portrait on Tsukiko's wall that killed me dead, though. :D

[Selene]

So Tsukiko doesn't wonder how MitD knew it was only half a ritual?

[Jagos]

Tsukiko is redeemable

Two Words: Bellatrix Lestrange.

Anyway, I liked the comic, but I'm still in a toss up for Tsukiko. The necrophilia is getting more and more disturbing. However, given that she's a part of team Evil AND she's spent a lot of time with undead, it makes sense. I just don't see her as redeemable, merely by having newer quirks in personality that say that humans are stupid.


MitD

I'm of a school of thought that says, just because someone has a high wisdom/INT score, doesn't necessarily mean they use it all. The Monster could have high enough wisdom to recognize the spell but not know all the parts. OR he could have the intelligence to recognize a ritual but not enough wisdom to see what the heck's going on. Finally, he could just bomb his Wis/Int check. Or maybe (final one I promise) it was sheer plot induced luck. Regardless, I know everyone wants to unmask him, but it's funny how so little says so much.

[Lissou]

Weird development for Tsukiko. I thought she was a necrophiliac, turns out she's disgusted by the living rather than attracted to the dead, and if she's telling the truth, she's pretty clueless too.
But it's interesting.

Since Tsukiko appeared (or rather, since it was shown she could cast both arcane and divine magic) I've been waiting to see what would happen with her and the gates. Clearly she could replace either Xykon or Redcloak in the ritual. However she doesn't get along with Redcloak, since he hates humans, and Azurites even more, and apparently she hates the living period.
But her replacing Redcloak, when he's the one who knew about the ritual, seemed hard too.

And now... Just like we saw earlier that Redcloak doesn't trust Xykon, we have proof yet again that Xykon doesn't trust Redcloak (not that it's new). I don't know exactly which half of the ritual he gave Tsukiko... Could be the arcane one, the one he does possess, so that he can understand what the ritual actually does (he only know what Redcloak told him). Could be the divine one he managed to get his hands onto and that he wants Tsukiko to learn so she can replace Redcloak.
I'm leaning towards "it's the arcane half" though.

I'm also very nervous about what's going to happen next. Is O-Chul going to be in trouble because of MitD? Is Tsukiko not going to really worry about it since O-Shul was Redcloak's prisoner anyways? Is she going to want to capture him to show off in front of Xykon? Is she going to be totally clueless about it?

The plot thickens!

[Dvandemon]

Poor mixed up Tsukiko and her delusions. By her logic, since there are some people genuinely good, then certain undead must be truly despicable.

[DomaDoma]

Tsukio Is so Adorable!

Please. She's adorable as Misa Amane. Which is to say, she's one vacationer short of a hotel.

Anyway, I'm thinking this is, in fact, Redcloak's half of the ritual. Ulp. I was thinking that it had something to do with finding the pendant, but yeah, that makes no sense.

...Not to mention that a) MitD's little stunt is going to be discovered very, very soon and b) Tsukiko is going to know where the escaped Azurites are. Aaaaarrrgghh.

[Kome]

Ahhh the stupidity of youth. Poor Tsukiko, going against all natural inborn logic that predisposes us to stay away from the (un)dead because of the really high chances of filth, disease, and pestilence in order to concoct some screwy teenage/young-adult idiot logic about the undead being the opposite of the living (instead of realizing the opposite of the living is dead, and undead is a separate category entirely that tends to encompass the least desirable traits of both). It's amazing what kinds of things we can convince ourselves are logically true when we ignore basic bits of logic to begin with.

Also... I think since Tsukiko can utilize both arcane and divine magic, maybe Xykon (and perhaps Redcloak as well) is thinking of using her for BOTH ends of the ritual just in case there are any nasty side-effects (you know, god-eating abomination and all).

BTW, just a weird thought, but assuming Tsukiko does at some point die in the story, do you think Rich would make the X's-for-eyes she'd have to indicate she's dead be different colors?

*edit* About the title - I'm thinking it refers to both Isamu and the guy he's eating. I'm pretty sure both of them would disagree with the sentiment that Tsukiko isn't that bad.

[Zonkerbl]

Reference to Tsukiko being a teenager:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0518.html


That was my immediate reaction to the strip as well "Oh no, Monster-San! Getting Tsukiko to scry on O'Chul is NOT a good way to help your friend!"

Funny how most people focus on other aspects of the strip. Of course there _are_ a lot of interesting angles to this one, but to me the bottom line is: Tonight the MitD will lead team evil to O'Chul.

How is the plot going to advance if this doesn't happen though? Team evil is the only one that knows where the gate is.

Also, could someone point me to the strip that mentions the ritual we are all discussing?

[Lissou]

[QUOTE=Zonkerbl;7729679]Reference to Tsukiko being a teenager:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0518.html

Interesting. I saw it as Haley insulting her. Like, saying "you're still stuck in your goth phase? I got tired of it when I turned 17 but I guess you don't have the maturity".

But I guess it could mean that Tsukiko actually is a teenager, too.

[Kome]

I know it's a "noodle incident" type gag, but I really want to know what the MitD did with peanut butter that apparently got him perma-banned from Tsukiko's room. If for no other reason than to try it on my roommate. :smallbiggrin:

[Enlong]

Maaaan. This can't be good.
If Tsukiku actually finds out where O-Chul is...

Oh wait. Wait a second. She CAN'T!
Unless Xykon taught her how to bypass the protections of the Cloister spell, she ain't going to be able to find him!

[Gamerlord]

I am going to be sick.....Tsukiku is such a creep...:smallyuk:

[DomaDoma]

Maaaan. This can't be good.
If Tsukiku actually finds out where O-Chul is...

Oh wait. Wait a second. She CAN'T!
Unless Xykon taught her how to bypass the protections of the Cloister spell, she ain't going to be able to find him!

Does Cloister keep you from scrying out? Somehow, I doubt it...

[Raging Gene Ray]

Does Cloister keep you from scrying out? Somehow, I doubt it...

No, but if you've merely been in the area of a Cloister spell, and then leave (like O-Chul and V), you can't be scryed on for 1/week per caster level.

[John Cribati]

The joke in first panel is funny, but... male and female skeletons do differ and you'd expect that someone as fascinated with dead bodies and skeletons as Tsukiko would know this.

Blame it on the Art style. Remember Haley's long pants?

[SaintRidley]

Maaaan. This can't be good.
If Tsukiku actually finds out where O-Chul is...

Oh wait. Wait a second. She CAN'T!
Unless Xykon taught her how to bypass the protections of the Cloister spell, she ain't going to be able to find him!

Or it wore off. Which it quite likely could have by now.


No, but if you've merely been in the area of a Cloister spell, and then leave (like O-Chul and V), you can't be scryed on for 1/week per caster level.

Works for O-Chul, he was there when it was cast. Not for V, though.

[derfenrirwolv]

oooo i just noticed, thats not Isamu, its the wight that wanted boots. I bet he wanted a bandana too.

[Super_slash2]

No, I understand now! What Xykon is doing is probably going to lead to checking back with Redcloak's role in the ritual. That's why he wants it explained back to him, he wants to know the effects of the ritual.

That means he'll eventually realise the part of the ritual that

DOESN'T exert Xykon's will on The Snarl and instead unleashes it, raising the potential of it killing everyone and fighting The Gods. When Tsukiko actually looks at what the ritual will do, she'll see the lines that say "Do not pass Go. Do not collect 200 Dollars when you summon The Snarl" and when she passes this information onto Xykon, he'll realize Redcloak was lying all this time!

On an unrelated note, I still hope The MiTD makes more silly jokes. :(

[B. Dandelion]

Please. She's adorable as Misa Amane. Which is to say, she's one vacationer short of a hotel.

Wow, I was just making the same mental comparison a few minutes ago. I think Tsukiko might have it together a little bit more -- Xykon doesn't actually hate Tsukiko and treats her relatively well by comparison*, and in saying that Xykon is a good person who just doesn't "realize it" yet she's implicitly acknowledging that his behavior is not lining up with her idealized conception of him. Essentially, she thinks she can "change him," where Misa remained oblivious that there was behavior that needed to change.

*gotta love the implications of "Light manages to make Xykon look good" about something

[Snowyowl]

First, is this ritual likely significant? I think it's probably the spell for taking control of the Snarl, but since Tsukiko is trying to figure out what it is, perhaps she could misuse it for her own purposes? Though this is idle speculation, since this strip also shows that what she's trying to do is to seduce Xykon. Anyway, the ritual could also be for something else.

Her spiel about people being basically bad and the undead being basically good is probably just a philosophical thing Rich is tossing out there. For one thing, most stories have it the other way around (though it still makes sense like that), and for another, I think she's just trying to rationalize her feelings. She's an anecrophiliac (a-necro=un-dead); get used to it.

Third, nice character development here; Tsukiko could suspect that there is more to :mitd: than meets the eye. Certainly she likes him a bit more.

Finally, this has been pointed out repeatedly, but :mitd: must have epic knowledge of magic, since he realized that the ritual (which Tsukiko had been studying for hours) was incomplete within a few seconds of entering the room, and thought it so obvious he didn't even point it out except by accident. Alternate reading: he has amazing luck. But that seems unlikely at best, given what we already know about him.

And I would like to reiterate the point about O-Chul still being under the effect of Cloister. I checked comic 484 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0484.html), to confirm my suspicions, and O-Chul was in the city when Cloister was cast. It might have worn off in the meantime, though. Alternately, :mitd: could cast the spell, if he/she/it had a higher caster level than Xykon. Scary.:smalleek:

[Sijo]

Rich doesn't do special celebrations for "anniversary" strips anymore; he probably feels that it forces him to do things at specific times rather than let the story flow naturally. Which is not to say that #700 was not good, just not singled out.

Well, it seems the last strip wasn't a fill-in, and we're in now for MitD's part of the story. Good, because these past two strips have been better than most of the previous ones. Maybe Rich should've intercalated this with the desert trek; it would've been less boring.

Nice to see MitD becoming less clueless, though it sort of feels out of nowhere; last time we saw him, he was still all "Xykon and co. are so nice!" and now he knows ol' Bone Head cannot be trusted?

And it's also nice to see that Tsukiko isn't as evil as she sounded (though she WANTS to be evil, which is what the title implies, I think.)

Speaking of the title, I think it refers to the TWO wights in the last panel, not to the wight and the head it's eating (it's not animated that we see.)

Let's hope that, if Tsukiko helps MitD to find O'Chul, it will be a good thing for him, and not lead to more suffering for the poor paladin.

And finally, I agree that the ritual she's been given is one of the parts of the Snarl spell, which points at Xykon no longer trusting his goblin partner anymore. That's just not going to end well (for Team Evil.) ;)

[Nilan8888]

This was a GREAT strip and the first "real" look, so to speak, that we've gotten of Tsukiko. Things only hinted of many strips ago are full front and center here.

Clearly this is someone who went through some hard times before she was fully emotionally developed. It reminds me a bit of Therakla's moral abivalence, but twisted far, far beyond that. She's taken a simplistic conclusion and used its logical inverse as her moral guiding principle.

Great eye-catching stuff without anything visually eye-catching. It's this sort of stuff that sets OOTS apart from what one would expect from a stick-figure comic.

[Allan Surgite]

I'm not a fan of the "Tsukiko is replacing Redcloak in the ritual" train of thought.

For one thing, Redcloak isn't a fan of Xykon. Prior to becoming a lich, Redcloak would have only told Xykon his part of the ritual, since telling him more would probably confuse him. After he became a lich, Redcloak doesn't trust Xykon enough to let him have his part of the ritual.

On the other hand (SoD);

Redcloak says "...the knowledge of how to warp the gate is intrinsic to the Crimson Mantle." So it could be perceived that this ritual isn't the knowledge on how to warp the gate; rather, it's something else, like an Epic spell of some sort. It just seems that this being the ritual to warp the gates seems a little too... obvious.

...or I'm overthinking this a little.

Just my thoughts on this.

[Thrax]

I'm starting to think MitD is just some human wizard/sorcerer amnesiac - just nothing else fits but a human - only humans canonically can do anything in DnD.

[Taiyama]

Well, Tsukiko has the right idea about humanity--humanity IS a bunch of lying, untrustworthy jerks--but she's got the wrong idea about the undead. While I suppose unlife is the antithesis of life, you still have to make undead from the bodies of humans. It's similar in principle to that "you can't shine crap" old wives' tale. Bad goes in, bad comes out.[/misanthropy]

Also, yeah, comic number 700!

[Elan's Modron]

I may have been the only person to read it this way, but I'd been pretty certain it was referring to Tsukiko's assessment of people and undead. People would likely disagree that they're all jerks, and the undead would likely disagree that they're caring, sensitive, honest souls.



I like this interpretation even better!

[Mystic Muse]

I'm starting to think MitD is just some human wizard/sorcerer amnesiac - just nothing else fits but a human - only humans canonically can do anything in DnD.

Doesn't fit with SOD. The Stereotypical big game hunters were surprised to find him and Righteye's family were fans of him. There were also a lot of humans that were scared of him

[danielmayer]

Did anyone of you realize that the MitD has his eyes place-changed in the last two panels? He even changed the umbrella from right to left hand ;)

Edit: eyes changed: last panel; umbrella: last two panels...

[Thrax]

Doesn't fit with SOD. The Stereotypical big game hunters were surprised to find him and Righteye's family were fans of him. There were also a lot of humans that were scared of him

You didn't meet humans I did. ;)

[Omergideon]

Well well well well well. This appears to have been a part of an extremely interesting plot development. I think of it as the fragmentation of team evil. But since that includes speculation I will wait until after my review.

The good:
1) Firstly I think I want to talk about Tsukiko. She is finally becoming an interesting character. What I mean is that when she first appeared whilst an obviously entertaining joke she was not quite distinctive enough for me to become excited. The later interplay with redcloak was better, but still we knew little beyond the obvious about her. This has changed. Her reasoning for disliking the living/necromancy obsession is quite the new perspective and along with her grattitude to the MitD certainly fleshes out her character in a major way. This also suggests to me that she is going to become more important to the plot as time goes on.
2) Secondly, the little details in this one are quite lovely. The most obvious are the picture of Xykon and the head munching wight (I forget his real name) but the picture on the door and the cluttered desk are also very good small touches. I always think these background characterisation elements, the ones that nobody really draws our attention to, are the best for understanding the characters. I hate to impose my interpretation but to me they suggest that Tsukiko is more misguided and frustrated with the living than inherently evil.
3) The MitD. I love this guy. He is so innocent and naive. And oddly thinking back I don't think that ever before we have seen him really put his mind to trying to do something like this so this is a new facet of his personality to explore. And still the childlike nature (not thinking carefully enough about the likely consequences of team evil finding O'Chul) is enough to keep a sense of continuity going, allowing for organic characterisation rather than sudden. Very good writing. And his finally recognising Xykon as having no love is a sign that he is growing up. A hell to face turn seems likely to me sometime.
4) Considering the amount of speculation in the forum it seems that there is a very real plotline developing here. If the spell IS the gate ritual (in my mind quite likely) the Xykon may well be grooming Tsukiko to replace Redcloak if need be. If not then we have a new plot introduced. Either way the unobtrusive way it enters the story is very deftly done. I heartily approve of subtlety in storytelling and this is very masterfully underplayed.
5) Also whilst there are not so many big jokes (and I think this is not a joke but a plot script here) the ones we have are very good. They build out of characterisation and not arbritary outside events a la slapstick making them all the more amusing to me.
6) Finally, the last panel. It is not so much a punchline to a joke in my opinion though it may act as very dark humour. The juxtaposition of the comment and the sight we witness I think is intended to really drive home the point that team evil are the bad guys. It undercuts Tsukiko's kinder behaviour to MitD by reminding us she is a proper villain (albeit as I said one who is not inherently evil like Xykon is). Whatever it does apart from this though I would call it a single panel that to me really lets us see visually the arguments concerning how sympathetic Team Evil are. I like it.

The bad:
1) As with many strips I can find no real flaws with this one. And yet I still find myself a little dissatisfied with it. Maybe because it is setting up a later strip and so is not meant to be as standalone as many of the more comedic ones are. I am certain that once we can read it in sequence it will come across as more fulfilling.

Seperate to all the above I must comment on the art. The colours as as dull as ever but the more interesting landscape means I have nought to complain about really. And overall that is this strip. Nothing especially eyegrabbing or attention getting (bar the last panel) in and of itself. But all very well done. However I think the last panel shows us why visual art/the comic book format is legitimate to storytelling. It helps suggest to me a whole lot of things to think about in a single image, but that draws on the sequential nature of the storytelling. I often call the Giant I master of his artform and of comic book storytelling for his mastery of the medium and it is moments like that one that convince me of this. so all in all a 4 star strip.

[Aedilred]

There are never acknowledgements of hundreds.
#100 and #600 were referenced, as in "look, it's a hundred panel and nothing interesting is happening". Every other hundredth panel so far has seen some sort of major occurrence, usually the start or end of a plot arc::

#200: Introduction of Miko in person
#300: Xykon and co. leave for Azure City
#400: Haley and Elan hook up
#500: Return to the land of the living several months after Roy's death

So far, Rich has either given us something big, or he's lampshaded the fact that he hasn't. This suggests that either he couldn't be bothered this time, or that the contents of this strip are important. If it is the divine half of the gate ritual with everything that implies... well, we'll have to wait and see, I guess.

[Turalisj]

I wonder what the spell is that she needs to learn. Do you think it is important? love the picture of Xykon on her wall. And the little plushie is on her bed!

You have to wonder what she does witht that plushie..... :smallamused:

[Ultimate Dragon]

Wait a moment, doesn't Cloister prevent teleporting unless the entity casting teleport is higher lvl than the caster of Cloister? because if this is true, then TMITD has to be a higher level than Xykon, making TMITD epic level at least.

I know this should be on a MITD speculation thread, but it seems important

[Itamarcu]

Wait a minute - I've got something!
This is strip 700. In every 100 strip (except 100 and 600, and Rich won't do the same joke only a 100 strips after 600) there was something special or important. Rich won't forget it's strip 700, and it's only 1 page, so SOMETHING must be important in it.
Now, the important thing CAN'T BE "Xykon's mistrust in Redcloak", because the Snarl-Controlling-By-Rituals-Of-Divine-And-Arcane thing is only mentioned in SoD...And Rich said he doesn't want to make people that do not buy prequels miserable, so he won't make the plot understandable only by some people.

So there's something else hiding in this strip.....waiting to be understood in the future.....

Or maybe I'm just reading too much The Da Vinci Code.

EDIT: oh, I see Aedilred already said that.

[Terbovus]

Oo-er! Careful who you help, monster-san! :smalleek:

[Linkavitch]

Whooohoo! Seven hundred!

(That was really creepy.)

[ocdscale]

Wait a moment, doesn't Cloister prevent teleporting unless the entity casting teleport is higher lvl than the caster of Cloister? because if this is true, then TMITD has to be a higher level than Xykon, making TMITD epic level at least

It blocks teleporting in, but I'm not sure it blocks teleporting out.

I also agree with the sentiment that MitD's sudden shift in perception is a little disconcerting. In this comic, we've seen evidence of much improved mental capabilities (especially wisdom), and even a little bit of sarcasm: "And the bloodsucking, and level-draining?"

Of course we know the reason why MitD has started going through this change, it just feels like the tone has been too sudden. It could just be because we haven't seen the MitD talk this much before (so haven't been able to observe his evolving perceptions first hand).

[WreckedElf]

Wow! Thank you Giant!

Not only is this some unexpected (and much appreciated) insight into the previously unexplained Tsukiko, but it is also a perfectly timed mention of the ritual. As just last night I read the part in Start of Darkness that explains what that ritual is.

I can imagine a chain of events like this happening in Tsukiko's life:

She doesn't fit in, and people treat her badly.
She decides to meddle with necromancy, finds undead interesting.
People discover her necromancy, and begin to hate\fear her.
She uses undead to protect herself, and finds them to be quiet, agreeable a far more loyal and trust worthy than living people.
She's caught and thrown in jail.
She decides that living people are clearly oppressive jerks, and her experience 'prooves' undead are nice and friendly.
This is the opposite of everything people say, but she assumes that of course they would say that because they're oppressive jerks.

She's quite delusional of course, but it is amusing to see that her brand of 'evil' is the result of a warped desire for acceptance, rather than a direct embracing of cruelty (like Xykon does). I'm now more intrested than ever in finding out how the story will end for her...


And plenty of character development for the Monster in the Dark as well. He recognizes that Xykon is not a good guy, yet he doesn't yet seem to grasp that he's on 'Team Evil' as he still seems to trust the others around him.

So many questions and possibilities raised by this comic: What will happen when MitD tells Tsukiko who his friend is? And what will happen if she finds him? And about that ritual Is the rift between Xkyon and Redcloak growing? If she learns the divine half, Xykon can replace Redcloak. If she learns the arcane half, could Redcloak replace Xykon? (not that Tsukiko would agree to that). Any whichever half of the ritual it may be, will Tsukiko learn detail about that Redcloak didn't want Xykon to know?

And a couple people pointed this out already, but I'll note it again. The "munch munch" in the last panel is the same ending that strip #600 had. A very different context of course, but I doubt the parallel was accidental.

I don't think The Giant neglected to do something special for #700, I think this strip is foreshadowing a whole new era for Team Evil.

[Bagelz]

noone seems to pay much attention to MITD,
I'm suprised everyone is assuming that he could recognize the "half of a ritual" with barely a glance. Has it occured to anyone that he recognized it because he's seen it before? maybe when redcloak was figuring which part he could figure out (the divine half) and which part he needed someone else to look at (the arcane half). or he was around when it was made/used the first time BEFORE team evil got their hands on it

also redcloak is lazy, anything he can pawn off on someone else he will. Since redcloak can't decipher the arcane half, he gave it to Tsukiko.

[Random832]

Not exactly a plot-centric point, or even plot-relevant, but...when do you think the Giant will get round to changing that copyright at the bottom to 2010?

He did - my guess is that these strips were drawn in late-ish 2009 and he was waiting to have the desert plot wrapped up before running them.

[ShippoWildheart]

"I didn't know that crypt thing was a woman"

Fetish Fuel, anyone?



If it's a complicated magic ritual that Xykon, an epic-level sorcerer, cannot understand...

...Then it's a divine spell.

He's using Tsukiko as backup. He doesn't trust Redcloak to be able to carry out the plan anymore.

This is terrible on Redcloak's behalf. But wait......... will that mean Redcloak will turn to the Light side? Dun duun duuun!

[Shale]

At best, he'd openly acknowledge that his Evil goals are directly opposed to Xykon's Evil goals. At worst, he joins the dead side.

[Hyoumu Yau]

Hooray, the MitD got smarter! Brains for the win!:smallbiggrin:



Did anyone of you realize that the MitD has his eyes place-changed in the last two panels?

I think that's because he looks back at Tsukiko

[Ron Miel]

Also, could someone point me to the strip that mentions the ritual we are all discussing?

It's discussed in Start Of Darkness. I don't think there's much about it in the main comic. But the ritual to control the gate requires two spellcasters, one divine and one arcane.

Note that Xykon's magic is arcane, and Redcloak's is divine. Together they could perform the ritual. Tsukiko uses both types of magic, so could replace either one of them in the ritual. Or maybe she could do the whole ritual herself.

[Kome]

Hooray, the MitD got smarter! Brains for the win!:smallbiggrin:

Technically, I don't think he got smarter. He's just using what intelligence he has to actually think for a change.

[Ron Miel]

oooo i just noticed, thats not Isamu, its the wight that wanted boots. I bet he wanted a bandana too.

No, he's in panel 1 holding the door.

[dsavereide]

Within a thousand feet. That's not just "some distance."

The chances of Xykon passing within a thousand feet of Girard's Gate and proceeding to Kraagor's Gate without interacting with Girard's Gate are pretty much nonexistent.

I didn't remember the distance, only that I thought specified much too big a number. Especially if some of that distance is a few hundred feet in the air. Girard's Gate isn't visible, they'd have to be thinking about it in terms of the cooridnates to realize how close they are. Very easy to pass it by when they have something else on their minds.

[Kish]

I didn't remember the distance, only that I thought specified much too big a number. Especially if some of that distance is a few hundred feet in the air. Girard's Gate isn't visible, they'd have to be thinking about it in terms of the cooridnates to realize how close they are. Very easy to pass it by when they have something else on their minds.
Really? Even though they know the general location of both gates, and one was described as "across the ocean" and the other "through eight kingdoms" in a different direction? You're arguing that they'll pass through the desert where Girard's Gate is located, within a thousand feet of Girard's Gate, and just keep going?

[Hyoumu Yau]

Technically, I don't think he got smarter. He's just using what intelligence he has to actually think for a change.

You know, if he begun to think for himself - he is already smarter than he was before, when he did not do it, because now he is smart enough to do that - before, he wasn't.

[fishboy]

#100 and #600 were referenced, as in "look, it's a hundred panel and nothing interesting is happening". Every other hundredth panel so far has seen some sort of major occurrence, usually the start or end of a plot arc::
So far, Rich has either given us something big, or he's lampshaded the fact that he hasn't. This suggests that either he couldn't be bothered this time, or that the contents of this strip are important. If it is the divine half of the gate ritual with everything that implies... well, we'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Ahhh, but he has: The wight-in-boots chewing the head is a "spoof" of Roy munching his snacks in #600.
Rich is subtly referencing his former lampshade :smallbiggrin:

[Richard J.]

You have to wonder what she does witht that plushie..... :smallamused:Indeed. :smallamused:

There's a lot to love in this strip. MITD's character development, proving that he's gained a lot from his successful ESCAPE of O'Chul (he had to have taken some levels somewhere from that right? I'm not totally savy on D&D rules but it would make sense that he had to get some stat hikes from it.)

I've always liked Tsukiko (how she reacted to Xykon's attack and how he recruited her were just priceless) and it's great to get a better idea of how she thinks. Most likely she is extremely wrong but then again, Xykon's evil enough to pretend to care if she proves useful enough. Especially now that Redcloak's a bit less worthy in his eye sockets.

Actually, I wonder how powerful she might get before realizing Xykon's not hiding any feelings. Given her potential to do the ritual and the whole "woman scorned" thing. . . .

[Deliverance]

Note that Xykon's magic is arcane, and Redcloak's is divine. Together they could perform the ritual. Tsukiko uses both types of magic, so could replace either one of them in the ritual. Or maybe she could do the whole ritual herself.
I doubt she has the magical power to replace either Redcloak or Xykon in the ritual at the moment and certainly not both. The ritual requires a "powerful" arcane caster and divine caster and Tsukiko has not given any evidence until now of being either.

The spells we have seen her use is consistent with a level 12 wizard3/cleric3/mystic theurge 6 and while that does not rule out her being higher level than we have witnessed, she is probably not much higher or we would have seen something her do something more powerful than casting the occasional level 5 spell with a preference for level 3 spells.

[SoC175]

I doubt she has the magical power to replace either Redcloak or Xykon in the ritual at the moment and certainly not both. The ritual requires a "powerful" arcane caster and divine caster and Tsukiko has not given any evidence until now of being either.

The spells we have seen her use is consistent with a level 12 wizard3/cleric3/mystic theurge 6 and while that does not rule out her being higher level than we have witnessed, she is probably not much higher or we would have seen something her do something more powerful than casting the occasional level 5 spell with a preference for level 3 spells. Note that Redcloak was also only capable of casting at max level 6 spells when he and Xykon tried to seize the first gate (he only mastered level 7 spells years later). As a Wiz3/Clr3/Myt6 she would already be at 5th level spells.

The spell to create gates is epic level, the spell to one over should be at max lvl 6

[Gift Jeraff]

My favorite of the arc/book/volume thus far. :smallbiggrin: A Noodle Incident, return of the booted wight, some character development, and a potentially big twist? Great!

Another possibility I considered for the half-a-ritual:
It is Xykon's half, and he plans on her playing his role in the Gate ritual with whatever divine spellcaster they have at the time (be it Redcloak, Jirix, Random Cleric Mook #256, or even herself). And he is doing this because he thinks Redcloak may have been hiding something about the ritual (some potential side-effect, having to die, the possibility of the Snarl destroying* them, or whatever). Thus, if she does it and it works as he was led to thinking it did, he still gets control over the Gate since she'll do whatever he wants. If it doesn't, then it's just some minion who had a crush on him. As for why he would want her to explain, he would want to make sure she gets it right. Yes, this is all very unlikely and would be very unsatisfying, but it occurred to me as a possibility.

*Is Xykon aware the Snarl supposedly unmakes its victims? I can't find anywhere in the comic where it suggests that he knows. Plus, as Nale points out (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0378.html), Xykon likes existing way too much, so Redcloak may have withheld that to prevent any second thoughts.

Also, undead-related Q: Do wights have the souls of the former person, or are their personalities created from negative energy or something?

[DoctorIllithid]

Triumphant return of the Wight Who Wanted Shoes.

[GenPol]

Edit: Massively ninja'd, of course.

Wow, I hope O-Chul doesn't get recaptured when Tsukiko finds him... Of course, I'm not sure if Team Evil has the resources to go hunt down a single Paladin escapee, or if they even care that much. Then again, they do have more or less all of the resources and Azure city...

And what ever happened to Team Peregrin?

[Degnared]

About MiTD possibly leading Tsukiko to O-Chul:

I suspect he would prevent her from alerting Xykon to the location of his favorite prisoner, either through violence or some hitherto unseen magical power of his.

[Gift Jeraff]

O-Chul has at least one thing guaranteeing his safety for the time being: Rich specifically said in DStP that he will "be offstage for most (if not all) of the next book."

[t3h l3g1t m4g3]

O-Chul has at least one thing guaranteeing his safety for the time being: Rich specifically said in DStP that he will "be offstage for most (if not all) of the next book."

That's reassuring, at least.

[Kish]

Xykon could certainly scry for O-Chul if he wanted to, and for whatever reason, he hasn't chosen to do so. Whether Tsukiko, lacking backup from either Xykon or Redcloak, could recapture O-Chul or even survive meeting him again is uncertain.

[Snails]

I am quite certain that Tsukiko is being groomed for a potential replacement for Redcloak. Xykon is plenty smart enough to figure out any arcane workings, when he sees good reason to be motivated.

Tsukiko is a lampooning of goth chicks (and dudes) and their romanticism of the emotionally wounded, only over the top enough to be inoffensive to the targets. For a second tier character, this is solid and welcome stuff. But really now, her moral perceptiveness makes Miko look like the Dalai Lama. She is entertaining as someone who is so unastute as to hang with people who literally might snuff her on a whim -- I keep wondering if she will live to the last panel.

[Snails]

Xykon could certainly scry for O-Chul if he wanted to, and for whatever reason, he hasn't chosen to do so. Whether Tsukiko, lacking backup from either Xykon or Redcloak, could recapture O-Chul or even survive meeting him again is uncertain.

Yup, it is not Xykon's style. Both O-Chul and V are certainly on Xykon's A-list of people to kill, but Xykon just does not bother to hunt people down like that.

[Zanaril]

Yup, it is not Xykon's style. Both O-Chul and V are certainly on Xykon's A-list of people to kill, but Xykon just does not bother to hunt people down like that.

He's also more worried about his phalactery at the moment. He want's to be in Azure City to he can get it back the moment it's found, and he can't put himself at any risk in the meantime anyway.

[Jephre]

Was wondering, aside from comic effect... does the peanut butter comment suggest that someone (perhaps Tsukiko) has peanut allergies...? Aka deadly weakness?:smallconfused:

[Forbiddenwar]

Was wondering, aside from comic effect... does the peanut butter comment suggest that someone (perhaps Tsukiko) has peanut allergies...? Aka deadly weakness?:smallconfused:

Deadly only if the peanuts' bonus can overcome their DR (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0607.html) (What is the equivalent to Dill resistance for legumes? I'll have to look it up.) :smallwink:

[Teleporker]

Xykon giving you only half a spell can only mean two things:

1- He does not want you to know what was on the top verse(s) of it.

2- Whatever is on top either involves something nasty for you or means you're going to be used as a spell component yourself.

Even if the spell for the gates is half divine and half arcane, why o why would Xykon hand you only half of the half?

Dunn Dunnn DUNNNNNHHH!!!:smallamused:

[Southern Cross]

Well,that was interesting. A Team Evil strip focusing on the MiTD AND Tsukiko?
And we've also learned that Xykon hasn't found his phylactery yet,as Team Evil is still in Azure City.
I Am A: Lawful Neutral Human Wizard (4th Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength-10
Dexterity-9
Constitution-11
Intelligence-13
Wisdom-12
Charisma-11
Alignment:
Lawful Neutral A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs him. Order and organization are paramount to him. He may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or he may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government. Lawful neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you are reliable and honorable without being a zealot. However, lawful neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it seeks to eliminate all freedom, choice, and diversity in society.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
<br><br>Find out <a href='http://www.easydamus.com/character.html' target='mt'>What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?</a>, courtesy of Easydamus <a href='mailto:[email protected]'>(e-mail)</a><br><br>


Detailed Results:

Alignment:
Lawful Good ----- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (22)
Neutral Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (15)
Chaotic Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (16)
Lawful Neutral -- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (29)
True Neutral ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (22)
Chaotic Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (23)
Lawful Evil ----- XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Neutral Evil ---- XXXXXXX (7)
Chaotic Evil ---- XXXXXXXX (8)

Law & Chaos:
Law ----- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Neutral - XXXXXX (6)
Chaos --- XXXXXXX (7)

Good & Evil:
Good ---- XXXXXXXXX (9)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (16)
Evil ---- X (1)

Race:
Human ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Dwarf ---- XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Elf ------ XXXXXX (6)
Gnome ---- XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Halfling - XXXXXX (6)
Half-Elf - XXXXXXXX (8)
Half-Orc - XX (2)

Class:
Barbarian - (-27)
Bard ------ (-19)
Cleric ---- XXXX (4)
Druid ----- (-2)
Fighter --- (0)
Monk ------ (-6)
Paladin --- (-17)
Ranger ---- (-4)
Rogue ----- (0)
Sorcerer -- (0)
Wizard ---- XXXXXXXX (8)

[Evil Mustache]

I wonder why the CitD knew it was half a ritual.
Coincidence? Genuine intelligence? Or just a bad insult? :confused: loved the comic however. Especially the fact the undead were casually just muching on a head. :biggrin:

[Azukar]

Xykon giving you only half a spell can only mean two things:

1- He does not want you to know what was on the top verse(s) of it.

2- Whatever is on top either involves something nasty for you or means you're going to be used as a spell component yourself.

Even if the spell for the gates is half divine and half arcane, why o why would Xykon hand you only half of the half?

Dunn Dunnn DUNNNNNHHH!!!:smallamused:

3- It's the Divine half of the incantation, and Xykon can't figure it out on his own.

[Kish]

3- It's the Divine half of the incantation, and Xykon can't figure it out on his own.
4 - It's the Arcane half of the incantation, and Redcloak never gave Xykon the other half, and while Xykon could demand it, he couldn't demand it without alerting Redcloak that Xykon is suspicious.

[triple zero]

Awesome. I love the little details (I didn't even see the Xykon doll on the bed until after a few looks) and the continuity nods (which have already been mentioned in this thread). And it was cool to see the character development of the MitD, along with some of Tsukiko's motivations.

I am seriously squicked out by that last panel, though. Yet I can't stop looking at it...

Some theorizing, some SoD stuff, and a lot of tl;dr...better just spoiler it all.

I question whether the ritual has anything to do with the gate. At this point, Xykon's greatest concern is his phylactery. I think he would probably be devoting his energy and that of his minions to finding it. Xykon said they would teleport out as soon as the phylactery was found, but time is still on his side since he's a lich and he still doesn't consider the Order to be much of a threat. He's is a rush to find the phylactery, but less so to get to Girard's gate. Therefore, it would make more sense to get Tsukiko to do a ritual to find the phylactery rather than have her work on the gate ritual, a secondary goal at this point. In addition, the fact that Tsukiko was learning the ritual and then explaining it could imply that it is something completely new (unlike the gate ritual).

The ritual could be some way to get past the anti-detection spells on the phylactery or something like that. I don't have a full understanding of how these things work. The fact that it's half a ritual might not necessarily mean that it is half-arcane, half-divine. It could just be incomplete.

If the ritual is gate-related, it would carry some interesting implications. The idea that Xykon no longer trusts Redcloak and is grooming Tsukiko as his partner has been discussed in this thread. I think this scenario is unlikely. Xykon doesn't need to worry about Redcloak for the time being. In the past, Redcloak has submitted after Xykon's displays of power and verbal smackdowns. In SoD, Redcloak didn't openly betray Xykon. He still ended up killing his brother to protect Xykon, he only lied about it. As a result of that incident, Xykon knew that Redcloak was committed to the Plan because there was even more was at stake with the death of his brother. Besides, Xykon wasn't even in any real danger at the time because he saw it coming. With he way the situation played out, Xykon was able to put Redcloak on an even shorter leash.

Xykon did the same thing here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0662.html). Xykon gave the awesome badass villain speech again, because he knew that when he pulled out the discipline stick, Redcloak would submit. In both cases, Redcloak lied to Xykon rather than openly betraying him. But Xykon put the smackdown on Redcloak because he needed to reestablish the dynamic where Xykon knows he can trust Redcloak because Redcloak lives in fear of him. Plus, with the MitD as the ace up his sleeve, Xykon does not think Redcloak is a threat.

So I'll throw in a long-term prediction: Redcloak will never turn against Xykon. He doesn't have the stones, and Xykon keeps him on too tight a leash. The MitD might, though.


EDIT: Teleporker, you have an awesome name. Just wanted to let you know.

[Tobimaro]

Wow. :mitd: is surprising me more and more.

But the best part of this strip was not at the end, but the incidents involving peanut butter and the female crypt thing. I'm not sure about what the peanut butter was about, but we can all read between the lines about Tsukiko and her "fascination" with the undead. :smalltongue:

[ShippoWildheart]

He's also more worried about his phalactery at the moment. He want's to be in Azure City to he can get it back the moment it's found, and he can't put himself at any risk in the meantime anyway.

What risk? Xykon's an epic level Sorcerer. :tongue:

[Mr. Spock]

I think the ritual is something to create a whole new army of undead minions.

[Teleporker]

3- It's the Divine half of the incantation, and Xykon can't figure it out on his own.

Yep! I get you! But don't we have a complete arcane part and a complete divine part to consider here?

We have half something here. So either Redcloak did not hand over a complete half of the spell, or there is a part of the spell Xykon does not want anyone to know (or he's too friggin lazy, alright).

Or maybe this is some other spell altogether!

Or maybe I'm too deep into my own crackpot theory, and there's something I'm missing... To the archives!

[salinan]

We have half something here. So either Redcloak did not hand over a complete half of the spell, or there is a part of the spell Xykon does not want anyone to know (or he's too friggin lazy, alright).
Why would Redcloak hand over his part of the spell? He prefers to keep Xykon on a need to know basis (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0548.html), and he'd have to consider the possibility (probability?) that Xykon would ditch him in a flash if he didn't need him, at the first sign that he'd outlived his usefulness, unless he had the ritual as an ace up his sleeve. At the moment they put up with each other because they need each other. I very much doubt that there's any incentive or threat that would make Redcloak cough up his part of the ritual.

[Shpadoinkle]

What risk? Xykon's an epic level Sorcerer. :tongue:

Yeah, because he totally hasn't (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0114.html) been defeated (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0115.html) once before, or anything.

[delguidance]

I find myself agreeing with Tsukiko tonight. Thanks for a great comic.

[Dancing_Fox]

But the best part of this strip was not at the end, but the incidents involving peanut butter and the female crypt thing. I'm not sure about what the peanut butter was about. . .

Maybe MitD tried to lick it while Tsukiko was using it?

[Teleporker]

Why would Redcloak hand over his part of the spell? He prefers to keep Xykon on a need to know basis (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0548.html), and he'd have to consider the possibility (probability?) that Xykon would ditch him in a flash if he didn't need him, at the first sign that he'd outlived his usefulness, unless he had the ritual as an ace up his sleeve. At the moment they put up with each other because they need each other. I very much doubt that there's any incentive or threat that would make Redcloak cough up his part of the ritual.

Agreed. "Valuable ally but no goblin".

And yet, this half spell thing keeps bothering me. It is true that the spell is half arcane-half divine, but shouldn't each half be like self-contained? It is one spell alright, but I would find it weird that it was something like line 1:divine, line 2:arcane, and so on. It needs two casters, and each caster needs to understand its part. Right? It keeps drilling holes in my head! What's the missing part?

:roach: I have your missing part right here sucker!
:roach: Your name was my idea you thief!

[Vemynal]

yeah, i'm not sure myself whether tsukiko could preform the ritual by herself like some people have been thinking, depends on how the ritual is designed I guess

[Hans of Frysia]

I've been wondering about something, but am not familiar enough with the D&D magic system to know the answer. In the tenth frame Tsukiko implies that she has the second half of the ritual ('reading the middle [...] and thinking it's the beginning'). If it is the ritual that Xykon and Redcloak want to enact when they capture a gate, and thus requires both a divine and an arcane caster, would the casters cast their part of the ritual one after the other or simultaneously? If it's simultaneously, than the part that Tsukiko has is neither the arcane nor the divine part, but a mixture of both.

Regardless, it seems unlikely to me that it is part of their ritual. Xykon would've (probably) already learned his half when they attempted to capture Lirian's or Dorukan's gates. Redcloak, on the other hand, has no need to write his half down (as the knowledge is inherent in Redcloak's red cloak) and definitely has no need to give a written version to Xykon.
So, here's an alternate hypothesis: What if Xykon found the ritual Lirian and Dorukan used to CREATE a gate? Unlikely, I know, but still, it'd save him a lot of walking if he could just make a new gate around the embiggened Azure City rift (and yes, I know 'embiggened' is not a real word, but I put it to you that: Forum Post < Forum Post with Simpsons reference).

[Selene]

Agreed. "Valuable ally but no goblin".

And yet, this half spell thing keeps bothering me. It is true that the spell is half arcane-half divine, but shouldn't each half be like self-contained? It is one spell alright, but I would find it weird that it was something like line 1:divine, line 2:arcane, and so on. It needs two casters, and each caster needs to understand its part. Right? It keeps drilling holes in my head! What's the missing part?

It's half a ritual. It's a whole spell.


Fine! Read your stupid half of a ritual, I'll find someone else to help me!

[Helinon]

Did anyone else notice that the wight opening the door in the first panel is the one who got Thanh's boots?

[orrion]

Am I the only one who noticed that the last panel references #600?

They both end with a panel of someone eating with the "munch, munch, munch" thing.

[warrl]

Xykon giving you only half a spell can only mean two things:

1- He does not want you to know what was on the top verse(s) of it.

2- Whatever is on top either involves something nasty for you or means you're going to be used as a spell component yourself.

Even if the spell for the gates is half divine and half arcane, why o why would Xykon hand you only half of the half?

A couple theories about that:

a) Xykon is working on a modification to the ritual, and wants another set of eyes (another arcane caster) to look over the part he's modifying and make sure it still makes sense.

b) Xykon gave Tsukiko the entire arcane half of the ritual. There isn't an arcane ritual and a divine ritual, there's an arcane-and-divine ritual. It just so happens that in this single unified ritual, the first portion - one chant line or more - is divine.

(In Mercedes Lackey's book "Oathbreaker" the ritual of the oathbreaker is extremely powerful magic. The first stage requires a priest, a mage, and a common person as the casters. Omit any one of the three and you just have some people grumbling, no magic at all.)

[Ted The Bug]

Am I the only one who noticed that the last panel references #600?

They both end with a panel of someone eating with the "munch, munch, munch" thing.

Sharp eyes, I didn't see that at all.

[gosh]

To me, the four most likely possibilities as to what the ritual is are:

1) Xykon gave Tsukiko the arcane half of the ritual to see if she
could use that to deduce the divine half.

2) Xykon gave Tsukiko the arcane half of the ritual because he's too
lazy to figure the arcane half out himself; this I find less likely as
he should've had the arcane half for years.

3) Xykon gave Tsukiko the arcane half of the ritual so she could learn
it and do it instead of him (in case there were some side effects
Redcloak never mentioned)

4) It's not part of the ritual for a Gate at all, but something
involving his phylactery.

Regardless, I wonder what the repercussions for Monster-san helping
Tsukiko figure it out will be. I also wonder what Tsukiko's reaction
to Monster-san's best friend being a paladin (and O-Chul no less) will
be.

[Elan's Modron]

You guys - it's perfectly OBVIOUS why Xykon only gave Redcloak half of the ritual: What would be the point of giving Redcloak the *whole* ritual to read when [waitforit...waitforit...] R.C. only has one eye???

[SteveMB]

To me, the four most likely possibilities as to what the ritual is are:

1) Xykon gave Tsukiko the arcane half of the ritual to see if she
could use that to deduce the divine half.

2) Xykon gave Tsukiko the arcane half of the ritual because he's too
lazy to figure the arcane half out himself; this I find less likely as
he should've had the arcane half for years.

If he needs Tsukiko to deduce the divine half, that would imply that Redcloak isn't voluntarily letting him see the divine half (Xykon has enough of the upper hand to force the issue, but perhaps wants to see the divine half without Redcloak's knowledge.)

That said, I find the "too lazy to figure the arcane half out himself" theory fairly plausible -- it's perfectly in character for Xykon not to put forth any real effort unless and until he has to.

[Shale]

But why would he care enough to try and learn the ritual now if he didn't bother when he was sitting next to a gate? Surely he'd want to be ready to TAKE OVER THE WORLD as soon as he got the thing unlocked, without having to wait however-long-it-takes to master the ritual

[ShippoWildheart]

Yeah, because he totally hasn't (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0114.html) been defeated (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0115.html) once before, or anything.

He didn't take Roy seriously, and paid for it through sheer epic failure (not doing anything while beheaded, as well as being subjected to a full blast of Gate POWAH!). That doesn't count because he would have killed them right there if he wasn't screwing around.

[Zevox]

Yeah, because he totally hasn't (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0114.html) been defeated (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0115.html) once before, or anything.
To add to what ShippoWildheart said, even the Giant, in commentary to War and XPs, said that Roy's defeat of Xykon in those strips "amounted to a cheap deus-ex machina."

Heck, he also that of their encounter during the Battle of Azure City: "Really, it's only Xykon's insistence on using the least amount of effort possible that kept Roy alive for as many strips as he was." Stands to reason that this holds true for their first encounter, too, as ShippoWildheart was saying.

Zevox

[Code Black]

Oh gods, she's Harley Quinn...

I see this ending badly for her.

[FuegoAzul]

Classic! And Tsukiko's theory is, of course, completely reasonable. It's great.

[RoninAngel]

Yay! New Strip!

I just wanted to know if I am the only one who finds Tsukiko incredibly sexy. :smallredface:

Also, the monster in the darkness is adorable as always!

[Mystic Muse]

I just wanted to know if I am the only one who finds Tsukiko incredibly sexy. :smallredface:



I do as well but then I'm also a teenager.

[Fragenstein]

I do as well but then I'm also a teenager.

As do I, though I'm half crypt-thing.

[ShippoWildheart]

Oh gods, she's Harley Quinn...

I see this ending badly for her.

Xykon = Joker?

..................... I never thought of it this way. Now all we need is a variation of "Why so serious?" from Xykon. :xykon:

[Solara]

I'm thinking that Xykon could easily cast the spell, but never bothered to study it in detail to find out what it was all about, which in why he wants Tsukiko to explain it to him...probably because he no longer trusts Redcloak, assuming he ever did to begin with. Like a lazy schoolkid getting someone else to take the time to read and summarize a book for them before the test on it.

Either that or at some point he made Redcloak write down the divine half of the ritual and is now training his replacement.

[rewinn]

... at some point he made Redcloak write down the divine half of the ritual and is now training his replacement.

:redcloak: "You can't kill me now! You need me for the ritual!"

:xykon: "Nah. I got what's-her-name."

:roach: "Who saw THAT coming?"

[Zanaril]

Hold on a moment.

O-chul is headed to Kraagor's gate.

If Tsukiko finds where O-chul is...

[Lecan]

Hold on a moment.

O-chul is headed to Kraagor's gate.

If Tsukiko finds where O-chul is...

Xykon already knows where the other 2 gates are, thanks to Serini.

Also, it's my impression that Tsukiko wouldn't particularly care about O-Chul being at Kraagor's gate. The benefit to Xykon would be possibly learning about the defenses, and, really, Kraagor's gate is probably the most vulnerable to someone like Xykon. Besides, he doesn't go there until after being within 1000 feet of Girard's gate.

[Ron Miel]

Xykon already knows where the other 2 gates are, thanks to Serini.

They are in code. I think he's decoded the location of Girard's gate, but perhaps not Sereni's.

[Shale]

He decoded all three of the ones he didn't know yet (or rather, Redcloak did), back in comic 300.

[Allan Surgite]

If he needs Tsukiko to deduce the divine half, that would imply that Redcloak isn't voluntarily letting him see the divine half (Xykon has enough of the upper hand to force the issue, but perhaps wants to see the divine half without Redcloak's knowledge.)
It's better for Redcloak not to know. Redcloak is utterly dedicated to the Plan, not to Xykon. If Xykon threatened Redcloak into giving him the divine half, then Redcloak would simply refuse. If Redcloak dies, Xykon doesn't get anything until he gives the Mantle to Jirix - who will realise why Redcloak was so devoted to the Plan and refuse to give it to Xykon as well.

Regarding Kraagor's Gate - it seems like another dungeon-crawl, once again. Xykon won't even need to know what's in there, when he's slinging things like Still Meteor Swarm around.

[Gift Jeraff]

He decoded all three of the ones he didn't know yet (or rather, Redcloak did), back in comic 300.
Xykon did the decoding (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0197.html), Redcloak just further analyzed his answers and put them on color-coded parchments (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0300.html).

[Teleporker]

Hold on a moment.

O-chul is headed to Kraagor's gate.

If Tsukiko finds where O-chul is...

If we consider the Oracle's prophecy, Xykon is going to Girard's gate first. So I think O-chul is safe... for now.

[Zanaril]

If we consider the Oracle's prophecy, Xykon is going to Girard's gate first. So I think O-chul is safe... for now.

Unless the OOTS making use of that prophecy changes the future....

Nah, that's too sci-fi. :smalltongue:

[RoninAngel]

Xykon = Joker?

..................... I never thought of it this way. Now all we need is a variation of "Why so serious?" from Xykon. :xykon:

Seriously? I always thought the similarities were intentional.
Both are Chaotic Evil sadist villains who compulsively need to entertain themselves.

[Zasshi]

Xykon = Joker?

Well, according to Therkla (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0562.html), Hinjo is the joker...

[Teleporker]

Unless the OOTS making use of that prophecy changes the future....

Nah, that's too sci-fi. :smalltongue:

Even if they do, the sad thing about that Kobold in pajamas is that so far he has shown 100% accuracy.

Besides, I'm almost counting on Tsukiko caring too little about MitD's business to even stay and watch him. If the spell works in any way like Eugene Greenhilt's scrying, she will do the casting but MitD will do the concentration.

:roach: Concentrate... concentrate... (Blrrrrrp)
:roach: Ewww! What the heck did you have for lunch?

[Teleporker]

Oh gods, she's Harley Quinn...

I see this ending badly for her.

In the comics, Harley is kinda sorta more-or-less moving away from Joker and siding with the Gotham City Sirens.

All in all, I don't think anyone can end any worse than Miko.

[BillyJimBoBob]

Ahhh the stupidity of youth. Poor Tsukiko, going against all natural inborn logic that predisposes us to stay away from the (un)dead because of the really high chances of filth, disease, and pestilence in order to concoct some screwy teenage/young-adult idiot logic about the undead being the opposite of the living (instead of realizing the opposite of the living is dead, and undead is a separate category entirely that tends to encompass the least desirable traits of both). It's amazing what kinds of things we can convince ourselves are logically true when we ignore basic bits of logic to begin with.But as a Mystic Theurge she is very well equipped to ward herself from all of those things you mention. And once those are gone, there is nothing else getting in the way of her particular fetish. So her logic isn't quite as bad as you may believe.

[Kish]

All in all, I don't think anyone can end any worse than Miko.
Ten gold says Redcloak and Xykon will.

[Hithros]

On a really minor note...
Do wrights really eat flesh? Or need to eat? I was under the impression they "ate" by draining levels off of people...

[gosh]

Besides, I'm almost counting on Tsukiko caring too little about MitD's business to even stay and watch him. If the spell works in any way like Eugene Greenhilt's scrying, she will do the casting but MitD will do the concentration.


Considering the fact that Rich said in his commentary (for Don't Split The Party, I believe) that O-Chul would not be seen much in the next book, I realize this is very likely.

[Kelvin360]

Prediction for the furture:

Tsukiko makes herself into a lich to impress Xykhon and he either -

1. Totally rejects her causing an epic battle between the two that MitD breaks up using a new astonishing power like 'mass make people friends with eachother' or

2. Xykhon pretends to be impressed but plans to use Tsukiko as a decoy (leading to another "hes having an internal monologue give him a minute" joke) by dressing her up the exact same way leading to a humorous conversation between Her and Redcloak.... "Youre acting very strangely Xykon....and why are there whights following you- wait, TSUKIKO?!?!"

[JosephHeller]

Here's my take on everything.

The ordeal with O-Chul and his phylactery has shaken Xykon out of his recent "just go with it" attitude, that we can be sure of. Redcloak abandoning Xykon (at least, that's how he sees it) has made it very clear to the lich that he is not #1 on the goblin's priority list. The "I ever see you with more eyes than ***holes" line might not just be a throwaway. Give the cloak to the hobgoblin, or employ Tsukiko (a Divine caster who is the Harley Quinn to Xykon's Joker) in the task, and know his own half of the ritual, and he can completely divorce his plan from Redcloak.

Remember from Start of Darkness that
Xykon keeps Redcloak around because he is easy to control
and he is beginning to lose that. A good evil overlord wants minions who will do what you say, when you say it, not someone with their own goals in mind.

Also Lich!Tsukiko would be crazy awesome.

[Kome]

But as a Mystic Theurge she is very well equipped to ward herself from all of those things you mention. And once those are gone, there is nothing else getting in the way of her particular fetish. So her logic isn't quite as bad as you may believe.

Tsukiko's logic is that the un/dead are the antithesis of the living and that the living are jerks, therefore the un/dead are not jerks. It's that kind of twisted and simplistic syllogistic reasoning that is common among children, adolescents (and some adults, for that matter). Sure, you can imagine it not being so bad if you can use magic to prevent negative stuff from happening if you engage in something most people are disgusted at the thought of. But cold logic is sometimes not as effective as simple human instincts (I'll admit, those situations are very rare, but this is one of those rare times).

Heck, even Xykon (who has access to Epic level magic) called Tsukiko (who is probably around level 10) out on it in comic 446: "I'm not one of those disgusting biophiliacs." Xykon, who sacrificed his entire humanity for personal gain, won't cross that line.