Desert Scry Plot Point?

[Surfie]

This may have been mentioned elsewhere, but I didn't see it (if so, Mods, I apologise, and please move my post to that thread).

Now that we know that it was not someone from the family scrying the explosion location (They were all dead from the Familcide), who was it that was scrying the location that Soon was told the gate would be? Callback! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0698.html)

One option that I can think of; Girard himself (having dodged the Familcide by turning himself to stone, only to be brought back to flesh if the gate is under threat). Having said that, I fail to see how a spell caster who has been turned to stone, would have the ability to see what is happening ANYWHERE. So, this is not (by my reckoning) likely.

No one outside of the Azurites (and the order) knew the location, and (as far as we know) the Linear Guild had no knowledge that the Order were searching out the gate at that place (meaning, that Zz'drit either didn't DO the scry, or that he simply did not say anything to Nale about it). To be clear, i'm not saying that Zz'ditri didn't scry it - but it seems odd that he would just scry that location (being?) without telling Nale the results.

It's possible that Serini DID know the location (perhaps she was part of the pool?), and as such she might have arranged a Scry to go off to check the results of the deception, but there are two things about this that make me dubious - 1) The Scry appeared right over Belkars Cat (forgot the name - Mr Scruffy?), and 2) The Scry appears to be an evilish green to me - a similar colour to what is used for Zz'ditris castings.

Is there some other party who i'm missing who may have done this?

[Whiffet]

A common interpretation (and the one I hold to myself) is that Zz'dtri was behind the scrying, and he was scrying on the Order instead of a specific location. Scrying (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/scrying.htm) is described as "You can see and hear some creature," after all. There's precedent in OOTS for scrying on locations (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0292.html), but I find it quite likely that Nale wanted Zz'dtri to keep tabs on the Order occasionally. This may even have happened more than once. Who knows?

[rrgg]

Would the eye have a pupil if it was Z's though?

[Lorick]

Zz'drit is the most likely candidate. While he probably didn't know the location, the spell sees people (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Scrying), not places. Additionally, Nale knows they were in the middle of the desert, in the 5th panel (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0801.html).

[SaintRidley]

Would the eye have a pupil if it was Z's though?

That would be the scrying sensor, not Z's eye.

[allenw]

To be clear, i'm not saying that Zz'ditri didn't scry it - but it seems odd that he would just scry that location (being?) without telling Nale the results.

Zz'ditri did it (or at least we're meant to believe that he did, and I have no reason to doubt it), and he did tell Nale about it. That's the most likely reason for Nale to know that they had been "hundreds of miles away in the desert" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0801.html). Between that and the color-scheme, Rich as much as told us it was Zz'ditri.

Ninja'ed. But I'll add: note also that the sensor found the cat, not the rest of the party. If you're trying to scry on your enemies, your best bet for success is to scry on the party member (or pet) with the lowest Will save (since Scrying fails if the primary target makes a Will save). You then get to see whatever's near your target, with no other saves involved.
Zz'ditir would presumably assume that the cat has the lowest Will save... whether or not that's the case. :smallsmile:

[Gift Jeraff]

Ninja'ed. But I'll add: note also that the sensor found the cat, not the rest of the party. If you're trying to scry on your enemies, your best bet for success is to scry on the party member (or pet) with the lowest Will save (since Scrying fails if the primary target makes a Will save). You then get to see whatever's near your target, with no other saves involved.
Zz'ditir would presumably assume that the cat has the lowest Will save... whether or not that's the case. :smallsmile:Plus he can't tell the rest of the party what he saw.

[Fish]

Did he know about Belkar's attachment to the cat which once belonged to the wacky old dude? I can't imagine how even Nale would know of Mr Scruffy as anything other than Lord Shojo's (back when Nale impersonated his brother). Belkar didn't meet up with Mr Scruffy until well after the fall of Azure City; the Linear Guild bailed out mid-siege.

PS. Can the cat be targeted with scry? He and Belkar and Haley were in a Cloister not long ago.

[BaronOfHell]

But how would Z know about mr. scruffy travelling with the order? Is it something obvious in a given strip or is it more likely information delivered off-panel. From the fiends for example.

Which reminds me, I never figured out how Belkar knew about Redcloak here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0579.html). When they first met (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0115.html), they didn't even consider RC, who managed to escape easily. Since then they only saw him shortly (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0454.html) on the back of the fiendish mammoth, if they could even recognize him that is, when the goblins were laying siege to the town.

[Kareasint]

Nale mentions in 821 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0821.html) that they were using Zz'drti's divinations to search the desert for Girard's Gate. This is why he told Elan that he knew that Elan was in the middle of the desert during strip 801.

[Nimrod's Son]

But how would Z know about mr. scruffy travelling with the order?
Mr Scruffy is the only member of the Order to see the eye. This by no means indicates he was the only member to be seen by the eye.

[BaronOfHell]

Nale mentions in 821 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0821.html) that they were using Zz'drti's divinations to search the desert for Girard's Gate. This is why he told Elan that he knew that Elan was in the middle of the desert during strip 801.

Unless Nale had the cordinates which, of the entire order, only Roy had, then when considering how large the desert is (we're talking about a major area of an entire continent here), I find it an incredibly unlikely event that just as when the order is at the location of where they think the gate is, it also happens to be the part of the desert Z is scrying currently for Girards Gate.

It makes much more sense, if Z were scrying on the order in specific.

Not that there couldn't have been others involved in scrying as well.



But how would Z know about mr. scruffy travelling with the order?
Mr Scruffy is the only member of the Order to see the eye. This by no means indicates he was the only member to be seen by the eye.
My question was how did Z know about mr. scruffy traveeling with the order. Had Z now known about mr. scruffy, I would imagine it'd make sense to scry on mr. scruffy. I'm not questioning if the scrying was performed on mr. scruffy though I guess that's not certain either.

[Gift Jeraff]

My question was how did Z know about mr. scruffy traveeling with the order. Had Z now known about mr. scruffy, I would imagine it'd make sense to scry on mr. scruffy. I'm not questioning if the scrying was performed on mr. scruffy though I guess that's not certain either.Perhaps he scried on another OOTSer, saw there was a cat now, and decided to scry on him from then on.

[Sir Conkey]

Which reminds me, I never figured out how Belkar knew about Redcloak here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0579.html). When they first met (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0115.html), they didn't even consider RC, who managed to escape easily. Since then they only saw him shortly (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0454.html) on the back of the fiendish mammoth, if they could even recognize him that is, when the goblins were laying siege to the town.

Probably just one of the perks of being in the resistance fighting against Redcloak and Tsukiko

[Euodiachloris]

Z does know all about Mr Scruffy. Remember back during the Games, in the Arena? He's the glaring 'Elf' sitting in the same box.

So, here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0775.html) and here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0781.html) count. :smallsmile: Easy.

[CharityB]

So, here and here count. Easy.

ha ha!

but seriously, that event obviously happened after the scrying incident, so he couldn't have used the information from the future to support the scrying since... it hadn't happened yet...

[Shale]

Two words: Future psychic.

[OPM]

Hmm, if they were scrying the cat and the timing was just coincidental, that opens up some new possibilities. For example, it could be RC watching the party. Tsukiko saw Belkar with the cat and RC is totally the type to be keeping tabs on the party (whereas Xykon can't even remember their names).

[Dr. Gamera]

In It's a Shame She Didn't Grab That Script While She Was There (#649) (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0649.html) and successive strips, Vaarsuvius, Belkar, and Mr. Scruffy are all together while Qarr and the IFCC are still scrying on Vaarsuvius. Qarr is Zz'dtri's familiar. We can safely assume that Qarr communicated the existence of Mr. Scruffy to Zz'dtri.