What is Blackwing? (maybe someone have discuss this before)

[cuckadoodledoo]

Anyone remember strip #674? V tried to convince everyone else that there is a raven on her shoulder.
Everyone seems quite sincere in their disbelief of the existence of raven. Especially obvious is Durkon, who cannot lie and who heal the bird himself.
This also does not seems to be a single strip joke either, as it was mention briefly again in strip #698 by Roy.
One thing especially striking is that only Roy can see it, though he believe it as an illusion. Some possible reason why Roy can see it could be the Greenhilt Sword, or his high Strength (doubtfully), or his high Intelligence (as the Mind Flayer strip all the way back to the beginning of the comic show) compared to the rest.
Another thing is that Haley have forgotten about she naming the familiar, which would be rather strange considering it was during the bandit camp quest and the naming go hand in hand with the scouting, which is vital to the attack. It would rather be strange for Haley to forget the whole sequence.
Now, we move on to strip #714 and #715, now suddenly Enor and Gannji can see and hear Blackwing, and even capture it as well.
In strip #775, Haley obviously acknowledge Blackwing's existence, as she mentioned V hanging out with animals all of a sudden: "animals" cannot be Mr. Scruffy as V express annoyance at having to look after it, and there is no other animals but the raven. Haley do not mention that the bird is Blackwing or a familiar in the first place, so it's possible that she see the raven but still disbelieve in the raven being V's familiar.
In strip #780, V is ignoring Blackwing again, when it is trying to warn V about the cat. However, according to strip #715, Blackwing should be disappeared when V forget about it. Then, Blackwing might not be a familiar after all.

After all this, I'm confused. What is Blackwing?

[HappyBlanket]

A normal Raven familiar with Common as his selected language.

It was just a joke :P

[Themrys]

I think he (or she - really, it is annoying how I tend to think of every non-gender-defined creature as male), is V's familiar.
Why the others don't see Blackwing, I am not sure, maybe it is a running gag about how D&D players only remember familiars when they need them.

However, I am quite sure that Blackwing is NOT a raven. Raven's don't have yellow beaks and feet. A crow, more likely.

[HappyBlanket]

I think he (or she - really, it is annoying how I tend to think of every non-gender-defined creature as male), is V's familiar.
Why the others don't see Blackwing, I am not sure, maybe it is a running gag about how D&D players only remember familiars when they need them.

However, I am quite sure that Blackwing is NOT a raven. Raven's don't have yellow beaks and feet. A crow, more likely.

Blackwing is drawn as a crow, but he or she is a chicken. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0440.html) raven.

Edit: I swear that was a typo.

[Seraphem]

He's V's raven familiar. As to what's up with no one remembering it, that's a bit more difficult to figure out. Prior to the Darth-V arc Blackwing was simply used as a running joke about how a players animal companions tend to be ignored and forgotten about until they were needed for something specific. After that though things are a bit less clear.

Previously it was the other Order members that kept reminding V s/he had a familiar, but post Darth-V when V acknowledge Blackwing and makes sure to keep him around all the time, the rest of the Order don't remember ever knowing about him, and no one knows why. The two most likely reasons are it was either just intended as a continuation of the joke, or something happened to Blackwing when he flew close to the opened tear above Azure city that caused people other then V to forget about him.

[The Linker]

This is just a case of a joke being taken way too seriously. I'm sure there's no rift shenanigans going on here. :smalltongue:

[Juggling Goth]

I figure V sees Blackwing all the time because ze's had hir epiphany about treating people better. The rest of the Order have had no such epiphany, so as far as they're concerned, it's business as usual - the familiar is totally forgotten about until it's needed for something.

[TheProfessor]

This is OOTS. Anyone who's read enough of it has realized that ANYTHING can become important, even an old joke.

It's very possible that the Raven is something important that hasn't been revealed.

[martianmister]

This could be a practical joke on V. Only thing I could't understand is Haley and Durkon's whisper to each other in 10th panel of 674th strip.


In strip #775, Haley obviously acknowledge Blackwing's existence, as she mentioned V hanging out with animals all of a sudden

Maybe she mean V's imaginary raven?

[Ron Miel]

Can wizards' familiars cast spells? My guess is that BW cast a spell to make the rest of tOOTS forget him. Or maybe he persuaded the others to prank V. This done for the purpose of teaching V a lesson.

[HappyBlanket]

Can wizards' familiars cast spells? My guess is that BW cast a spell to make the rest of tOOTS forget him. Or maybe he persuaded the others to prank V. This done for the purpose of teaching V a lesson.

If the wizard permits it, any spell cast on him or herself can be cast by the familiar, as if the familiar cast it as well. That's how Blackwing "casts" True Seeing. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0691.html)

I do like the idea of Blackwing convincing the others to pull one over on V. Seems like the most likely, with the exception of the simple RoF.

[druid91]

I think he (or she - really, it is annoying how I tend to think of every non-gender-defined creature as male), is V's familiar.
Why the others don't see Blackwing, I am not sure, maybe it is a running gag about how D&D players only remember familiars when they need them.

However, I am quite sure that Blackwing is NOT a raven. Raven's don't have yellow beaks and feet. A crow, more likely.

IIRC if the gender is not defined it is assumed to default to he.

[blazingshadow]

it's a recurring joke like the forgetting about the gates

[Xacal]

If the wizard permits it, any spell cast on him or herself can be cast by the familiar, as if the familiar cast it as well. That's how Blackwing "casts" True Seeing. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0691.html)

I do like the idea of Blackwing convincing the others to pull one over on V. Seems like the most likely, with the exception of the simple RoF.

While we're on the subject of familiaral abilities, I have a quick question:
If Blackwing is killed, does V lose half of his/her wizard levels as a result? :smalleek:

I think I read that somewhere in the 3.5 player's handbook. Might be good to confirm/refute.

EDIT: Ok, I think I found something about that, for any interested.
"If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the sorcerer, the sorcerer must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per sorcerer level; success reduces the loss to one-half that amount."
This could apply only to Sorcerers, I suppose. Still, my knowledge is, of course, still incomplete. :smallsigh:
Probably bad things happen, though.

[blazingshadow]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#sorcererFamiliar

v loses some xp if his familiar dies

[HappyBlanket]

Actually, unlike his master, Blackwing is unquestionably male.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0154.html



While we're on the subject of familiaral abilities, I have a quick question:
If Blackwing is killed, does V lose half of his/her wizard levels as a result? :smalleek:

I think I read that somewhere in the 3.5 player's handbook. Might be good to confirm/refute.

Ooh, forgot a few things about a familiar's abilities. They're over here if anyone is still interested. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#familiars) None of them let Blackwing cast spells without the master's permission though.

As for exp: he does lose some, but it's not equal to half of his wizard levels :smalleek:



If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the sorcerer, the sorcerer must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per sorcerer level; success reduces the loss to one-half that amount. However, a sorcerer’s experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a familiar’s demise or dismissal. A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day. A slain familiar can be raised from the dead just as a character can be, and it does not lose a level or a Constitution point when this happy event occurs.


edit: Ninja'd.

[Xacal]

Actually, unlike his master, Blackwing is unquestionably male.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0154.html




Ooh, forgot a few things about a familiar's abilities. They're over here if anyone is still interested. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#familiars) None of them let Blackwing cast spells without the master's permission though.

As for exp: he does lose some, but it's not equal to half of his wizard levels :smalleek:



edit: Ninja'd.

Well, I guess that's still a big XP loss, though not as dramatic as losing half the Wizard levels :smallbiggrin:
Dang, you all are fast posters. Got Ninja'd while editing my own post! :smallamused:

[HappyBlanket]

:3

Incidentally, wizards and sorcerers use the same rules for their familiars.

edit: @The Linker

Oh, my dearest apologies, I will endeavor to correct my entirely unreasonable ways and refer to every character in oots as him/her and he/she. :smalltongue: "So then Elan talked to him/her and he/she went back to him/her."
Joking :D

[The Linker]

Actually, unlike his master, Blackwing is unquestionably male.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0154.html

What, just because someone referred to Blackwing as 'him'? People do that for V, too. Just like Rich mentions (http://www.giantitp.com/FAQ.html#faq10) in the FAQ.

Do you know how many people have come to the forums saying "V was referred to as 'her' by someone, I finally figured out her gender!" :smalltongue:

Granted, though, the next comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0155.html) provides more definitive proof, as V probably knows his own raven's gender.

[Barstro]

The two most likely reasons are it was either just intended as a continuation of the joke, or something happened to Blackwing when he flew close to the opened tear above Azure city that caused people other then V to forget about him.

I had never noticed until you pointed it out. Blackwing is not noticed by any other humanoid* after the Tear Incident. Also, he never spoke Common before TI, and has only spoken Common since then. Rich might have something planned.

*He is still seen by Mr. Scruffy. I wonder if the other humanoids are simply confused by Mr. Scruffy's antics, but don't seem to notice that he chases "imaginary shadows".

[EmperorSarda]

I had never noticed until you pointed it out. Blackwing is not noticed by any other humanoid* after the Tear Incident. Also, he never spoke Common before TI, and has only spoken Common since then. Rich might have something planned.


http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0672.html

It is heavily implied that Blackwing has spoken Common before.

[The Linker]

Well, we know that the Order can see Blackwing -- Roy just thinks it an illusion (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0674.html). So there's nothing like that going on. Belkar can't see it, but that's a running gag.

[Barstro]

Excellent points. I had forgotten the exact wording of why he wouldn't speak Common to V and I had completely ignored the fact that Roy saw him.

My previous post is without merit.

[Gift Jeraff]

Also, the magic shop clerk (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0679.html), Gannji (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0714.html), and Enor (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0715.html) have all interacted with him.

[snikrept]

I lean more toward plot point than recurring joke. Consider that the OOTS spent a whole strip trying to convince Vaarsuvius of the reality of his own familiar, then later spent a whole strip trying to convince him of the reverse. If they truly thought the raven was an illusion, they wouldn't have told V to use it to scout the bandit camp. And yet now they act as though that is what they believe.

What changed in the interval? One event was: Blackwing got in close proximity to the Snarl. It's possible that the Snarl messes with memory. We don't really know much about what is inside those rifts; and much of what we do know was told to us by a self-admitted highly skilled liar.:smallbiggrin:

[Themrys]

Granted, though, the next comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0155.html) provides more definitive proof, as V probably knows his own raven's gender.

I wouldn't be surprised if s/he didn't. After all, it is hard to tell with birds where both sexes look the same, which is the case with ravens, as far as I know.
It would underline V's lack of interest in Blackwing. :smallwink: (Although s/he keeps up the "he" when s/he acknowledges Blackwings existence...so he's probably really male.)

[Ceaon]

Or maybe he persuaded the others to prank V. This done for the purpose of teaching V a lesson.

This is... actually really witty. A hundred points for you sir; preserving the joke AND having it make sense without the Rule of Funny.

[Toofey]

I took V not paying attention to it during the gladiator scene to be because s/he was distracted/couldn't hear him.

[Dvandemon]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0672.html

It is heavily implied that Blackwing has spoken Common before.

It's explicitly stated that Blackwing is capable of speaking Common but finds it demeaning to speak [it]to V