Theories as to what happens next

[MoonCat]

I personally think that, once again, everyone will be paired off, with Nale and Sabine intercepting Elan and the figurine. V will lose to Z, and when the Order is getting solidly trounced (in case you haven't noticed, everything is equally matched or more powerful in the Guild's favor), Durkon, of all people will save the day. He hasn't had very many moments in the spotlight, especially as time to be the big hero, and we haven't seen him in a long time.

What do you think will happen?

[Blisstake]

Didn't Durkon save the day for the last Linear Guild fight? I'd be a bit dissappointed if that happened again.

[MoonCat]

When Nale was masquerading as Elan? I thought that was just the rest of the Order walking in on an already steadily unraveling plan

[Gift Jeraff]

I'm thinking Belkar will save the day somehow, with Durkon and Malack doing a lot to help, too. I also think one or more of the following will be killed by the Linear Guild:Belkar (by Nale)
Tarquin (by Nale)
Ian (by Sabine)
Geoff (by any Linear Guilder)
Empress of Blood (by Thog)

Another idea I had is that Tarquin will save the Order, allowing them to grudgingly trust his help regarding Girard, all the while he plots his own scheme for the Gates.


When Nale was masquerading as Elan? I thought that was just the rest of the Order walking in on an already steadily unraveling planHe means in Cliffport, against Leeky.

[Paintomancer]

How about Nale having his grand evil scheme unfold in a way that (maybe voluntarily) impresses Tarquin with being all style and effort.

This would satisfy Tarquin's love for dramatics and Nale's love for overly complicated plans and BOOM! they're loving father and power-hungry son again and chase the Order out of the Empire.

The Linear Guild is stopping to look like a real threat - they have to have a small victory once in a while.

Oh, and on a long shot:

Mr. Scruffy is not a normal cat, not even a normal cat companion. Maybe something supernatural, like an avatar of some mischievous God (Loki's southern pantheon counterpart?)

Also, Belkar will die in a semi-hilarious accident trying to rescue the cat(?) with his halfling victory pebble.

The neutral characters (Durkon and V) will have him raised eventually, but not without some tension that nearly splits the Order in twain.

The ruckus caused by a group of high level adventurers busting out of Tarquins prison and "kidnapping" Elan will be noticed by Girards allies/successors/himself. He/They will contact the party as potentially useful allies. After all, the Guardians of Girards Gate have to be CG and appreciate this whole "in the face of the evil tyrants" thing.

For this is quite some subplot woven into the mainplot, they will have to dispose of Nale and Tarquin first, with their newfound epic spellcaster allies.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand then it all goes back to the main plot.

Bet?


DU DUNH DUNH!

[Blisstake]

When Nale was masquerading as Elan? I thought that was just the rest of the Order walking in on an already steadily unraveling plan

No, I mean when they were fighting that gnome druid. I didn't really consider that other fight, since it wasn't really the whole Order vs. the whole Guild.

[MoonCat]

No, I mean when they were fighting that gnome druid. I didn't really consider that other fight, since it wasn't really the whole Order vs. the whole Guild.

Oh, that one. Hmm. I suppose he did. But still, when you haven't seen him since strip #764, it's pretty likely he'll be making a big entrance.

[Stumblebee]

Hilgya will return as the Guild's sixth member.

Blackwing will be incapacitated or otherwise rendered unable to communicate his knowledge of Qarr to V.

Nale's ultimate plan will be an overthrow of the Empire of Blood, starting with the death of the Empress. Nale and Tarquin fight a titanic duel which ends with the latter being mortally wounded. Nale steels himself to fight Elan, but Elan has conflicted feelings and instead escapes with his injured father.
If Nale defeating Tarquin sounds implausible, don't forget he fights dirty and has at least two allies we haven't seen yet.

Belkar saves Mr. Scruffy and almost certainly kills Yukyuk, but will be overpowered and captured or killed by the Guild.

The rest of the Order, scattered and exhausted from the battle, will be forced to withdraw and regroup, leaving Belkar (or his corpse) behind. Tarquin grudgingly agrees to lead them to Girard if they'll let him (or help him) regroup with his other allies.

Nale assumes the mantle of Emperor and deploys his new armies to find Girard's Gate and the Order of the Stick.

And, uh, I think I got a little carried away there.

Alternate comedy theory: Everyone dies and the strip ends in an abrupt anticlimax.

[veti]

Oh, and on a long shot:

[...]
The neutral characters (Durkon and V)
[...]


I've no wish to derail this into yet another Everlasting Alignment Thread, but I'm pretty sure Durkon is not "neutral".

[Barlen]

Hmmm, With Belkar's impending death this is a tough call. Yea he could (and probably should) die defending the cat. He needs to get out of where he is first. Story wise this is still up for grabs. Will this kobold who is his real evil opposite be the one to take him down. I dont know but there is foreshadowing that its going to be soon (Belkar's comment to the cat about it being just the two of them).
V on the other hand isn't in any real danger. The imp works for the fiends and he knows they don't want V dead yet. They still need V for their plan at the gates. This means Z's instructions are to incapacitate, but not kill.

With that said I am going with the following for the overall:

Its a fair bet Tarquin knows pretty much knows everything thats going on and has been playing dumb to Elan on the details. He probably knows Roy, Belkar and Durkon are part of the party. He knows Nale is alive and in the area (he has Thog in the arena). He may even know the elf ambassador was Z or at least an agent working for Nale. Nale's ultimate plan is to take over the Kingdom and dispose of his father, if he can get rid of his brother and the Order in the process so much the better.
But Tarquin is smarter than both Nale and Elan, and he has been using Elan and his friends as bait to lure Nale out. Seriously, a huge celebration in Elan's honor. What do you think that will do to Nale's ego. Tarquin will show up to "save the day" and squash Nale, but won't show his hand until Nale exposes himself. Whether Tarquins plan works or not has yet to be seen but it probably will. Tarquin then gives the party the information they need to find the gate.

[Virtu]

So far, I have to say it seems pretty likely that Nale is there on advice from Qarr about the Gate. While in the neighbourhood, due to the convoluted nature of all Nale's plans, he decides to take revenge on his father by trying to usurp control of the Empire yet again.

I'm willing to bet he manages to have the Empress killed. He won't gain control, but this will throw a very, very big wrench into Tarquin's plans to live it up as a villain and go down in history after being trashed by his son, the "Hero", Elan. After all, the Empress IS the figurehead. The Empire "knows" she's the true ruler, regardless of whether anyone feels Tarquin might be the real power behind the throne.

Summary of my predictions, and then some:
-Linear Guild arrives looking for the Gate, Nale detours to get even with father dearest.

-Empress is killed, sending the Empire into chaos and effectively shutting down Tarquin's plan/dream.

-Belkar dies, metaphorically. He has true character growth, either in defending or avenging Mr Scruffy. He learns what it is to fight for someone other than himself. A new Belkar is born.

-Ian dies.

-The match between Thog and Roy is interrupted, neither dying.

-Tarquin provides the Order with information regarding Girard, in order to both prevent Nale from succeeding in his plan and get back at him for his fall from power.

[grimbold]

How about Nale having his grand evil scheme unfold in a way that (maybe voluntarily) impresses Tarquin with being all style and effort.

This would satisfy Tarquin's love for dramatics and Nale's love for overly complicated plans and BOOM! they're loving father and power-hungry son again and chase the Order out of the Empire.

The Linear Guild is stopping to look like a real threat - they have to have a small victory once in a while.

Oh, and on a long shot:

Mr. Scruffy is not a normal cat, not even a normal cat companion. Maybe something supernatural, like an avatar of some mischievous God (Loki's southern pantheon counterpart?)

Also, Belkar will die in a semi-hilarious accident trying to rescue the cat(?) with his halfling victory pebble.

The neutral characters (Durkon and V) will have him raised eventually, but not without some tension that nearly splits the Order in twain.

The ruckus caused by a group of high level adventurers busting out of Tarquins prison and "kidnapping" Elan will be noticed by Girards allies/successors/himself. He/They will contact the party as potentially useful allies. After all, the Guardians of Girards Gate have to be CG and appreciate this whole "in the face of the evil tyrants" thing.

For this is quite some subplot woven into the mainplot, they will have to dispose of Nale and Tarquin first, with their newfound epic spellcaster allies.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand then it all goes back to the main plot.

Bet?


DU DUNH DUNH!

these are some pretty good ideas
your first one in partcular would fit the nature of the Nale/Tarquin relationship

[Paintomancer]

I've no wish to derail this into yet another Everlasting Alignment Thread, but I'm pretty sure Durkon is not "neutral".

You are right of course... make that "non-good" :smallsmile:

[ThePhantasm]

You are right of course... make that "non-good" :smallsmile:

Um. . . what?

Are you being serious?

[MesiDoomstalker]

Um. . . what?

Are you being serious?

I sure hope not.

[R. Shackleford]

I like the idea of Mr. Scruffy being some kind of divine thing.

The Chinese Zodiac in some incarnations (like the Vietnamese) replaces the Hare with the Cat, and there's the folk tale of how the rat tricked the cat into giving up its spot in the zodiac...I could see that fitting into the motif a la Fruits Basket.

Or he's just a house cat and the theoretical DM is seizing upon yanking an otherwise CE PC's chain for thinking he knows better. "Oh, so you're telling me the mid-bosses aren't a threat? Say, Belkar, I wonder where your cat went?"

I kinda hope Thog bites it. I never liked Thog.

My guess is that neither Thog nor Belkar makes it out of this arc alive.

[Paintomancer]

Um. . . what?

Are you being serious?

So lets take a look:

Durkon, in more than one occasion, nearly jeopardized the party's goals because of his law-abiding attitude and general dwarveness. He is for sure lawful. Then again, he holds his principals over the principles of good - or else he could, in a way, defy the laws of an evil tyrant (and thus saving lifes of innocents).
A lawful good priest with a code of honour such as Durkons would never ever be able to have a long-drawn friendly conversation with an evil priest. I know Malack said his belief is not necessarily evil, but... really? A long time party-member and fellow conman of Tarquin lawful neutral? Killing kings and toppling his own government? Thats Lawful Evil.

So Durkon is LN.

V for himself? He is not out there on a noble quest, but to accumulate power (the whole "saving the world" thing just came across. It is, of course, in his best interest to prevent such an event from happening). He abandons his comrades and puts the lifes of many innocents at risk to gain new magical powers (regardless the cause of him doing so). He even killed in cold blood to further his progress.

So how does that spell good? V is neither good nor lawful. True Neutral would be my guess.

So these two (and possibly Elan, for dramatic reasons), could go for raising Belkar. Haley and Roy couldn't possibly want that.

This does not really belong in this thread. But I suppose there will be some kind of Good vs. Neutral drama in the party. If I am mistaken in my observations, please do correct me.

[ThePhantasm]

So lets take a look:

Durkon, in more than one occasion, nearly jeopardized the party's goals because of his law-abiding attitude and general dwarveness. He is for sure lawful. Then again, he holds his principals over the principles of good - or else he could, in a way, defy the laws of an evil tyrant (and thus saving lifes of innocents).

A lawful good priest with a code of honour such as Durkons would never ever be able to have a long-drawn friendly conversation with an evil priest. I know Malack said his belief is not necessarily evil, but... really? A long time party-member and fellow conman of Tarquin lawful neutral? Killing kings and toppling his own government? Thats Lawful Evil.

So Durkon is LN.

....

This does not really belong in this thread. But I suppose there will be some kind of Good vs. Neutral drama in the party. If I am mistaken in my observations, please do correct me.

OMG you are serious. V I agree is ambiguous, but Durkon?

First, Miko's detection vision saw Durkon as good. Second, sure, he isn't defying an evil tyrant, but neither is Roy for that matter, at the moment. Durkon is, like Elan, Haley, and the others, undercover. Part of that includes fraternizing with Malack. Durkon and Malack have some things in common, both being clerics. So? Elan and Belkar laugh at the same jokes (Roy has boobies) but that doesn't make Elan evil. The Order allows Belkar to remain among them but they aren't evil or neutral. The OOTS world is a complex world. Plus, Malack hasn't really said much so far that is evil enough for Durkon to have a strong reaction to it. In other strips Durkon is clearly perturbed by the evil of other characters (Belkar on numerous occasions) and says so.

There's much more that could be said - I'm not even really sure where to begin, to be honest.

[Gift Jeraff]

A lawful good priest with a code of honour such as Durkons would never ever be able to have a long-drawn friendly conversation with an evil priest.What if Malack is making 0 mention of any involvement with Evil stuff? Or even saying he tries to stop/lessen the Evil stuff (whether that's true or not)?

Even if you were right about Durkon's alignment, I highly doubt Durkon would want to resurrect Belkar. Neither would V, one of the people who hates Belkar the most. The only one I could see wanting to bring back Belkar is Elan, because he considers him a friend.

Anyway, back to the actual discussion:

Hilgya will return as the Guild's sixth member.

Blackwing will be incapacitated or otherwise rendered unable to communicate his knowledge of Qarr to V.

Nale's ultimate plan will be an overthrow of the Empire of Blood, starting with the death of the Empress. Nale and Tarquin fight a titanic duel which ends with the latter being mortally wounded. Nale steels himself to fight Elan, but Elan has conflicted feelings and instead escapes with his injured father.
If Nale defeating Tarquin sounds implausible, don't forget he fights dirty and has at least two allies we haven't seen yet.

Belkar saves Mr. Scruffy and almost certainly kills Yukyuk, but will be overpowered and captured or killed by the Guild.

The rest of the Order, scattered and exhausted from the battle, will be forced to withdraw and regroup, leaving Belkar (or his corpse) behind. Tarquin grudgingly agrees to lead them to Girard if they'll let him (or help him) regroup with his other allies.

Nale assumes the mantle of Emperor and deploys his new armies to find Girard's Gate and the Order of the Stick.

And, uh, I think I got a little carried away there.
I like this. I used to be skeptical at the idea of Hilgya rejoining the Linear Guild, but upon rereading War & XPs commentary, I noticed something:
But I didn't want to bring Hilgya back for this battle, because her issues with Durkon would likely overshadow the other characters.(emphasis mine)

A way I can see Hilgya being worked into the picture is if the IFCC made some sort of deal with Loki. Or their scheme involves her dying once she has served her purpose.

And could "the Linear Guild has complete control over a rising, red-themed nation" be considered opposite to "the Order of the Stick is loosely allied with a fallen, blue-themed nation"? :smallbiggrin:

[Surprise!]

And could "the Linear Guild has complete control over a rising, red-themed nation" be considered opposite to "the Order of the Stick is loosely allied with a fallen, blue-themed nation"? :smallbiggrin:

The signomancy is strong with this one. :amused:

[Blisstake]

OMG you are serious. V I agree is ambiguous, but Durkon?

First, Miko's detection vision saw Durkon as good. Second, sure, he isn't defying an evil tyrant, but neither is Roy for that matter, at the moment. Durkon is, like Elan, Haley, and the others, undercover. Part of that includes fraternizing with Malack. Durkon and Malack have some things in common, both being clerics. So? Elan and Belkar laugh at the same jokes (Roy has boobies) but that doesn't make Elan evil. The Order allows Belkar to remain among them but they aren't evil or neutral. The OOTS world is a complex world. Plus, Malack hasn't really said much so far that is evil enough for Durkon to have a strong reaction to it. In other strips Durkon is clearly perturbed by the evil of other characters (Belkar on numerous occasions) and says so.

There's much more that could be said - I'm not even really sure where to begin, to be honest.

Paladins don't detect good; they detect evil.

Anyway, Durkon gets stunned by Unholy Blight in comic 11, so he's good.

[MoonCat]

You know, it looks like the LG might actually win this, although I do think Elan should have expected that he'd be confronted by the two of them, Nale loves mirror battles.

[Leecros]

You know, it looks like the LG might actually win this, although I do think Elan should have expected that he'd be confronted by the two of them, Nale loves mirror battles.

It's not over till the Fat Dragon sings!

I apologize for any damaged brain cells because of this post.