Girard's tomb

[Jubal_Barca]

The short question is this:

If Girard is indeed dead... why is his tomb so easy to open? I mean, yes, the lever is hidden, but generally a tomb is designed for permanence, not easy-opening and release. I guess this is a point towards G being illusioned and alive, or perhaps something else is hidden there. Or maybe it's just done so that the little ones of the clan can see Girard's corpse and be told how cool he was, but that would seem a little odd even for the G-man's nutty desert-living illusionist serial bigamy and theft to save the world cult.

Thoughts?

[doodthedud]

The short question is this:

If Girard is indeed dead... why is his tomb so easy to open? I mean, yes, the lever is hidden, but generally a tomb is designed for permanence, not easy-opening and release. I guess this is a point towards G being illusioned and alive, or perhaps something else is hidden there. Or maybe it's just done so that the little ones of the clan can see Girard's corpse and be told how cool he was, but that would seem a little odd even for the G-man's nutty desert-living illusionist serial bigamy and theft to save the world cult.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are that the corpse wasn't just being stupid. He was right about Girard being "under his own feet."

[Themrys]

Girard placed the skeleton there before his own death, in order to make people believe he was dead. That's my guess.

Of course, they have to open the tomb to be able to see the skeleton, but it shouldn't be too easy, therefore the lever is hidden.

[King of Nowhere]

now I see how conspiracy theories are born...

[Leecros]

The short question is this:

If Girard is indeed dead... why is his tomb so easy to open? I mean, yes, the lever is hidden, but generally a tomb is designed for permanence, not easy-opening and release.

why make it very hard to open? It's not like Girard was buried with all of his worldly possessions. The biggest risk would be his corpse being raised into a skeleton by a necromancer...assuming he found the body...and managed to find the the place....and managed to get through the entire Draketooth clan whom were (presumably) still alive when Girard died.


Most tombs built a similar way to his were kept shut only by the weight of the lid anyways...So i'd call a hidden mechanism better than most.

[Beanjamish]

now I see how conspiracy theories are born...

And yet I am wondering if "below is own feet" is a secret passage (under a skeleton).

[Jay R]

You have no idea how hard it was to open before all the illusions and defenses stopped working.

[Nephrahim]

The last gate was literally defended by the dead spirit of Soon. There seems every possibly Girard's remains will figure into this one.

[Kish]

Why would his tomb not be easy to open?

Of all the things he would go out of his way to defend even after his death, why would his dessicated, nearly-toothless corpse be one of them?

Who's going to steal it? Even if a necromancer looking for undead slaves killed all the Draketooths, how many spells would that necromancer need to have that day, and how obsessively completionist would that necromancer need to be, to even bother to animate the ancient corpse of an ancient man instead of/as well as all the corpses of the living Draketooths who would have to be dead for any intruder to be free to search the statue for secret panels?

[thepsyker]

Most tombs built a similar way to his were kept shut only by the weight of the lid anyways...So i'd call a hidden mechanism better than most.I think that is kinda of the question being asked. Why does the tomb have a mechanism that can be used to access the remains instead of just being sealed by a large stone slab with a large stone statue on it? It is not like there is any readily apparent reason anyone would need access to the body after it has been interred. So why bother making it openable at all, let alone making the effort to provide an easy to use push button that activates a mechanism that smoothly shifts a heavy stone slab and statue in order to provide access? The only reason that comes to mind is that there was some reason that someone would want to access the body, or at least the chamber it was stored in, even after it had been interred. So the question is what was that reason?

[rgrekejin]

I think that is kinda of the question being asked. Why does the tomb have a mechanism that can be used to access the remains instead of just being sealed by a large stone slab with a large stone statue on it? It is not like there is any readily apparent reason anyone would need access to the body after it has been interred. So why bother making it openable at all, let alone making the effort to provide an easy to use push button that activates a mechanism that smoothly shifts a heavy stone slab and statue in order to provide access? The only reason that comes to mind is that there was some reason that someone would want to access the body, or at least the chamber it was stored in, even after it had been interred. So the question is what was that reason?

I was just gonna make a snarky comment about yet another conspiracy thread, but this is actually an entirely reasonable question. There's probably an entirely reasonable answer, too. I don't think that it is ultimately going to figure in to the plot in any way, but I hope it gets answered in some future comic.

[RebelRogue]

It's a D&D trope, that's why.

[theNater]

The only reason that comes to mind is that there was some reason that someone would want to access the body, or at least the chamber it was stored in, even after it had been interred. So the question is what was that reason?
A couple of possibilities off the top of my head:

1)The clan places great value on family, and especially on their founder(as shown by the halo on the family tree). As such, they wanted to be able to show new recruits the remains of their revered ancestor.

2)The room with the statue is on the way to the dining area. Early on in decomposition, odor may have been an issue. So they needed access in order to place good-smelling items with the corpse to mask the scent, and there was no reason to move the remains after it was no longer an issue.

[Forikroder]

when you look at the level of adventurer needed to even get to that tomb past all the illusions, theres no way to fortify the tomb to make it hard to get into

[deathsli'helper]

I would Imagine it is in case his poterity, in desperation, destroyed his gate, just as The first guy set up the self destruct rune. Asuming the gate is "Between his buttcheeks", it is so they dont have to break into the tomb first.

[Dr.Epic]

I think the real question is who is buried in Girard's tomb?

[martianmister]

I think the real question is who is buried in Girard's tomb?

Maybe I'm a little bit paranoid, but he could be Girard! :smalleek:

[Jay R]

Based on the evidence provided in these threads to date, I conclude that the reason it's so easy to open is that every day or two, some forum reader Draketooth would decide that it was all just an illusion, or not really Girard, and open it to cast Dispel Magic and some divining spells.

[Purgatorius]

… why is his tomb so easy to open? I mean, yes, the lever is hidden, but generally a tomb is designed for permanence, not easy-opening and release.

It is a family tomb. The tomb is meant for the remains of more people, but Girard is the only person of the family who is dead died in time to get a proper burial.
This is also shown by his halo on the family tree.

[Gift Jeraff]

Maybe I'm a little bit paranoid, but he could be Girard! :smalleek:It's probably Right-Eye's daughter, Therkla.

[Jay R]

It's the second illusionist from the grassy gnoll!

[rgrekejin]

It's the second illusionist from the grassy gnoll!

But wait, don't Gnolls have hyena-like skeletons?:smallbiggrin:

[OPM]

From Girard's perspective, the primary threat was Soon or his minions taking over the gates after breaking his oath. Yes, that's idiotic, but that's what he believes. Based on that, I suspect that this whole thing was intended as some kind of "take that" aimed towards Soon, though it's a bit hard to see what. I suppose it could arm some traps or something, which might or might not be a good thing. No one else has any reason to get into his tomb.

Also, that same logic leads me to conclude that there will be some sort of anti-lawful traps, because he expected people like that and I doubt that anyone in his family was lawful. Naturally, that would hinder Roy & co. more than Xykon, though I guess such things could also get Redcloak or even Tarqin.

[Skavensrule]

It's probably Right-Eye's daughter, Therkla.

As much as I like this theory, Therkla could not be Right-Eye's daughter. Let alone be the skeleton in the sarcophagus.

comic #509 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0509.html) She was working for him for seven years and in SoDRight Eye's daughter was still a small child only about 4 years ago.

comic #555 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0555.html) She is half orc not half goblin (note the lack of tell-tale ears), also in this and all other scenes with her mouth open she has the bottom tusks but lacks the fangs of goblins and orcs confirming the half human side. (note: no tusks on the twenty year old skeleton either)

Now to put the thread back on track, I feel the tomb is probably another false lead. I expect the real gate is at the bottom of the pyramid as the descriptions from the Crayons of time strips show the gate at ground level.

[martianmister]

As much as I like this theory, Therkla could not be Right-Eye's daughter. Let alone be the skeleton in the sarcophagus.

comic #509 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0509.html) She was working for him for seven years and in SoDRight Eye's daughter was still a small child only about 4 years ago.

comic #555 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0555.html) She is half orc not half goblin (note the lack of tell-tale ears), also in this and all other scenes with her mouth open she has the bottom tusks but lacks the fangs of goblins and orcs confirming the half human side. (note: no tusks on the twenty year old skeleton either)

Also, it's ridiculous and impossible to happen...:smallwink:


Now to put the thread back on track, I feel the tomb is probably another false lead. I expect the real gate is at the bottom of the pyramid as the descriptions from the Crayons of time strips show the gate at ground level.

"False lead"? Why and how? :smallconfused:

[Skavensrule]

Also, it's ridiculous and impossible to happen...:smallwink:
Admitted, I kind of assumed that Gift Jeraff was joking on all counts but I have seen other threads where Therkla/Right-Eye has been proposed by people who are not joking. In this case I took the approach of Col Flagg from the episode of MASH where the only flaw he finds in Hawk-eye's ridiculous theory was that they "Don't do three shows on Saturday at 'The Sands'."



"False lead"? Why and how? :smallconfused: Not so much a pre-planned false lead by Girard, but instead a chance for one of his paranoid relatives to get one last joke in. Knowing that the tomb could be opened he would expect them to find it and concentrate in that area. Of course The Giant has thrown all of us curve balls before so who knows how this will turn out.