What Next for Count Durkula?

[The_Tentacle]

Well, Durkon's been vamped. We kinda saw it coming. But what now?

Will he kill or be killed by the OotS? What will he go through? What's he thinking? Is Belkar next to go? What about Mr. Scruffy? Will he manage to get around his condition and rejoin the OotS? Or will he be destroyed and leave the comic entirely?

I personally don't think that more than one of the OotS will be vamped, so that leaves out Belkar. I can't see Durkon killing his allies, and I can't see him being taken out of the comic entirely. To me, it seems as if he'll either be destroyed then raised, or continue to adventure as a vampire. He won't be under Malack's or the LG's control for long.

[Koo Rehtorb]

Belkar's not going to be little brother, he's going to be a snack.

Unless maybe Durkon threatens Mr Scruffy and that helps breaks Belkar free long enough to run back to the Order and tip them off!

[ti'esar]

Belkar's not going to be little brother, he's going to be a snack.

Unless maybe Durkon threatens Mr Scruffy and that helps breaks Belkar free long enough to run back to the Order and tip them off!

Or Malack actually honors the spirit of Durkon's last words. But I'm not really expecting that, honestly.

[Alaris]

Or Malack actually honors the spirit of Durkon's last words. But I'm not really expecting that, honestly.

Well, people theorize he is "Lawful Evil." Now, even if you're lawful, you don't HAVE to follow requests.

So... we will see... >.<

There aren't many other "living" entities in the Pyramid. The Linear Guild and the Order of the Stick...

[Surfing HalfOrc]

I don't know, but Durkon's Amulet/Holy Symbol just turned BLACK. Never a good sign in this strip.

Darth Vaarsuvius might have a helpful suggestion of two for bringing Durkon back from the dark side.

[The Pilgrim]

It looks like Malack and Durkon should share their first meal on Belkar. However, two main characters killed in a row seems to mucho.

Perhaps Malack will withdraw with his new "sibling", then the Order will march on the Empire of Blood to rescue Durkon in the next book? They have still too many subplots to resolve there (Ian and Geoff, bringing down Tarquin, etc.)

[Rorrik]

My guess is they withdraw, since both are largely out of spells (does Durkon get new spells all of a sudden?). They may run into V, who I don't think can handle two vampires, one of them a grapple expert.

Those two on the loose, nothing good can come of it. No bets on whether Belkar is safe, food, or the vampire pet.

[wickedcoolghost]

Of course, posthumously means after death, not while dead. So Durkon can return to the dwarven lands at any point now, ress'd or not.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

My guess is they withdraw, since both are largely out of spells (does Durkon get new spells all of a sudden?). They may run into V, who I don't think can handle two vampires, one of them a grapple expert.

Those two on the loose, nothing good can come of it. No bets on whether Belkar is safe, food, or the vampire pet.

Interesting thought. Would Durkon get spells? Who would his patron god be now? Hel, Loki, or someone else?

I believe Strahd from Ravenloft was a wizard/vampire, hecuvas are undead clerics, and lichs can be either cleric or wizards while living, using similar spells to become undead.

The best move might be to withdraw, but Nale is in charge, and may want to press the attack.

[DoctorIllithid]

Shouldn't we be calling him Darth Durkon? Got to keep the theme going and what not.

Regardless of what catches on, I'm excited to see what this does to Durkon's personality.

[Rorrik]

The best move might be to withdraw, but Nale is in charge, and may want to press the attack.

But neither Durkon nor Malack like Nale very much. Somehow I doubt he'll be calling the shots for those two. This could end very dangerously for the little twit.

[Stormlock]

My guess is they withdraw, since both are largely out of spells (does Durkon get new spells all of a sudden?). They may run into V, who I don't think can handle two vampires, one of them a grapple expert.

Those two on the loose, nothing good can come of it. No bets on whether Belkar is safe, food, or the vampire pet.

Actually, V could deal with them quite easily. A sealed Forcecage for Malack will leave him trapped for over a day. Durkon is a complete newbie vampire, and his plate armor is going to leave his touch AC somewhere in the realm of 'I surrender' which accompanied by his Fort save of 'Dear god please no' (Ok, it's like 8 or 9, so not THAT bad, but still disadvantaged without any Con bonus) makes him a one shot kill for disintegrate.

Though I'd expect V to behave rather sub-optimally when confronted with a vampiric teammate.

At any rate, I can't imagine they just leave Belkar there, unless perhaps to make use of his Dominated status. Durkon definitely can't go back to the order alone, and is currently enslaved. I'd expect them to go meet up with Tarquin, possibly along with Belkar, who may or may not become a vampire as well on the way.

[Joe the Rat]

Actually, I don't think he has a Fort save any more. No Con score and all.

Although that's moot for Disintegrate, since it's equally effective on furniture and walking corpses.


No, my real question if Malak teaches Durkon von Thundershieldovich his handy dandy resist daylight spell.

[Emmit Svenson]

Well, the Giant took pains to point out that Durkon had two particular spells in mind before he died and rose. He may retain either or both of them.

One was Planar Ally. Squint at the rules just right and you might interpret this spell as being able to call back Sabine from her banishment. Can't imagine that Malack is particularly eager to have the devil whore around, though.

The other was Resurrection. Which is like Chekov's Orbital Laser Cannon. Who might die and be brought back, and to what unholy purpose?

One thing's for sure...he's not going to pass himself off as unchanged. Yeesh. It's amusing to think that he, too might Dominate Belkar now, if indeed he does not drain the halfling. Malack could not control Belkar and Durkon both as his thralls...but Malack could control Durkon while Durkon controls Belkar.

Mr. Scruffy, run! Run before the Giant thinks of a way to demonstrate Count Durkula's newly evil nature!

[Jay R]

I've already guessed wrong about where this comic is going three times this week. I'm not guessing any more.

[Dr.Epic]

Hopefully, never referring to him as "Count Durkula.":smallyuk:

Until this moment, I thought "Dooku" was the stupidest word you could combine with "Count."

[sockmonkey]

Hopefully, never referring to him as "Count Durkula.":smallyuk:

Until this moment, I thought "Dooku" was the stupidest word you could combine with "Count."

Or "Darkon."

[rodneyAnonymous]

Shouldn't we be calling him Darth Durkon?

Or Count Thundershield. Or something. Anything but Durkula. Reminds me of Duckula.

[SaintRidley]

I guess it depends on what vampirism does to the personality. I'll repost this from the main thread:


Vampire Durkon should be a different person from living Durkon because that's how the logic of becoming undead (usually) works: the person dies, and their body is subsequently animated by supernatural forces. That is how the undead template is described in the SRD. We don't know how it works in the OOTS-verse.


Well, what we've seen so far is two types of undead creation - template acquisition and transformation into a completely new creature with nothing in common to the prior creature's abilities.

The latter is seen in the zombies and wights. We'll ignore the zombies, since they have no personalities. The wights pretty much seem to change personality completely, basically to that of level-draining children (perhaps in part due to the way Tsukiko treated them).

The former we have now witnessed twice. We have Durkon, who is as yet inconclusive. The other example we have is Xykon. Start of Darkness Spoilers ahead.

Xykon's personality hasn't really changed as a result of becoming a Lich. He's smarter, wiser, and more charismatic than before, but he was always needlessly cruel and completely sadistic before becoming a Lich. What changed is that in becoming a Lich, Xykon lost his ability to feel and take pleasure in anything normal, namely drinking coffee. All that's left for Xykon is causing pain and misery, because it's about the only thing that arouses any feeling in him at all anymore. He can still experience emotions, like anger and boredom, but he's lost any non-destructive means of obtaining pleasure.

Obviously, Xykon is not necessarily the best precedent. But he's our only precedent. The personality hasn't changed all that much. However, new necessities and limitations of the undead state do inflect upon that personality.

Durkon, if Xykon is precedent, will retain much of his former self. He'll still be a staunchly loyal dwarf, committed to doing his duty. He will probably hate what he has become, though Malack seems to think experience as an undead creature will teach Durkon a new perspective there. That may be slow in coming, if it comes. His new situation, however, will inform his understanding of that duty and loyalty. His duty is now to his master, Malack. He's not going to be able to stay Good without a lot of effort as a result of his need to drink the blood of the living and Malack's influence.


Durkon may become a very nuanced and complex character here if the retention of the abilities of his living self means that the living personality is inflected by the undead condition rather than replaced.

[hamishspence]

Or Count Thundershield. Or something. Anything but Durkula. Reminds me of Duckula.

There's a lot of "cula" vampire names out there- Blacula, Chocula, the aforementioned Duckula, Bunnicula- and these are just the first that spring to mind.

Maybe Durkula will become his official name rather than a nickname- but it would surprise me.

[rodneyAnonymous]

There's a lot of "cula" vampire names out there...

Yeah I know, I just think Durkula is a dumb name.

[factotum]

I thought the OP was deliberately going for the Duckula/Durkula pun, myself...

[luc258]

If this is a contest for worst vampire names I enter with Count Bloodsuckula

[Mastikator]

It looks like Malack and Durkon should share their first meal on Belkar. However, two main characters killed in a row seems to mucho.

Maybe The Giant has been reading A Story of Fire and Ice?

[i6uuaq]

If this is a contest for worst vampire names I enter with Count Bloodsuckula

Count Bloodsucka fits the rhythm better. Might attract giant worms though.

[Psyren]

Will he kill or be killed by the OotS?

Slaughtering the Order doesn't seem likely to me, though fighting at least some of them does.


What will he go through? What's he thinking?

That depends on how much of him is left in there. Creepy undead-roar notwithstanding, we still don't know yet.

We certainly can't tell from Malack - he's evil now, but was he that way before, or did he simply fall to a vampire himself long ago?


Is Belkar next to go?

My theory is yes. Scruffy will probably be the bearer of bad news.



Will he manage to get around his condition and rejoin the OotS? Or will he be destroyed and leave the comic entirely?

Difficult to say. Certainly he can, in that there's nothing in his prophecies to suggest he's un-rezzable, but it's unlikely to happen anytime soon given his prophecy towards his homeland.


Actually, I don't think he has a Fort save any more. No Con score and all.

He does - he's still a cleric. He lost whatever bonus he got from his Con score (which, being a dwarf, was likely substantial) but the bonus from his class levels remains.

[Demonicbunny]

Obviously the first priority here for Count Thundershield is to find someone who has eaten Gouda recently.

[Balmas]

Obviously the first order of business is to find a decent source of ale.

[Roland Itiative]

One thing's for sure...he's not going to pass himself off as unchanged. Yeesh.
Actually, D&D has a nifty spell that can allow him to do just that. It's a wizard/sorcerer spell, though, so unless Nale for some reason has it in his very limited sorcerer spell list, or Malack has a magic item or something, we won't be seeing it :smalltongue:

[Poppy Appletree]

Well, I'm going to throw in a prediction that somewhere in all of this, Nale gets vamped.

[Demonicbunny]

Obviously the first order of business is to find a decent source of ale.

Vamps can't drink anything but blood. So where do you find a heavily intoxicated gouda-eating victim?

[Roland Itiative]

Durkon will clearly use his dominating gaze to force his victims to go drunk before he snacks on them :smalltongue:

[Rorrik]

Actually, V could deal with them quite easily. A sealed Forcecage for Malack will leave him trapped for over a day. Durkon is a complete newbie vampire, and his plate armor is going to leave his touch AC somewhere in the realm of 'I surrender' which accompanied by his Fort save of 'Dear god please no' (Ok, it's like 8 or 9, so not THAT bad, but still disadvantaged without any Con bonus) makes him a one shot kill for disintegrate.

Though I'd expect V to behave rather sub-optimally when confronted with a vampiric teammate.

Not even if Malack wins initiative and grapples V? I don't expect V to get the chance to cast spells against the vampire pair. Admittedly, if he gets a spell or two off it would be over quickly.

[DarkEternal]

There's a lot of "cula" vampire names out there- Blacula, Chocula, the aforementioned Duckula, Bunnicula- and these are just the first that spring to mind.

Maybe Durkula will become his official name rather than a nickname- but it would surprise me.

How in Gods name have you forgotten the most famous of them all, Dr. Acula?

[hamishspence]

Never heard of it before, so that's probably why.

[SteveDJ]

Someone please help me understand a bit about vampire behavior. From what I've read in other posts (in the big '# strip' threads), when a vampire is reduced to 0 HP, they turn to their gaseous form and return to their coffin (not just any coffin, but their special 'home' coffin).

Now, somehow I got the impression that said coffin had something to do with the coffin they were initially buried in, and rested in for 3 days, before rising as a vamp.

If I am understanding all of this correctly - then how is this going to work for Durkon? Is his 'home base' going to just be lying on his shield (as that is where he rested for 3 days minutes)?

[hamishspence]

Could be that he won't have a home coffin, and if reduced to gaseous form, he will eventually be destroyed.

We may have to wait and see.

[mike1970]

I predict...

The rest of the gang shows up just in the nick of time (Belkar), but also way too late (Durkon), as the Durkula is chowing down on Belkar. Much hilarity ensues, but Durkon and Malack escape. The Order drops everything and pursues the vampire brothers to the Dwarven Kingdoms.

But I'm pretty new at this prediction thing (2nd post).

Mike

[martianmister]

He should kill (not vampirize!) Belkar and his human-murderer kitty.

[Rorrik]

Someone please help me understand a bit about vampire behavior. From what I've read in other posts (in the big '# strip' threads), when a vampire is reduced to 0 HP, they turn to their gaseous form and return to their coffin (not just any coffin, but their special 'home' coffin).

Now, somehow I got the impression that said coffin had something to do with the coffin they were initially buried in, and rested in for 3 days, before rising as a vamp.

If I am understanding all of this correctly - then how is this going to work for Durkon? Is his 'home base' going to just be lying on his shield (as that is where he rested for 3 days minutes)?

Lying on his shield would be a convenient to carry coffin, but also to close to the combat for usefulness. Maybe he'll be able to establish a coffin later, Malack could have a spell for that too. Or maybe the entire basement of the pyramid is his new coffin.

Edit: Malack's items went gaseous with him, so would Durkon's shield, presumably.

[Prospero7]

Vamps can't drink anything but blood. So where do you find a heavily intoxicated gouda-eating victim?

Wisconsin! <I kid. I kid. :smalltongue:>

[zql]

Well, I don't know if anyone have already said this, but Odin's cleric prophesy on Durkon says:

"When next he returns home, he will bring death and destruction for us all"

and in this comic (www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0737.html) is stated that Nergal is god of Death and Destruction.

So, I'm pretty sure that vamp Durkon is going to be a thing from now on. He will take Nergal as his Patron God and do some nasty staff to the dwarves. Or maybe he just bring Malack with him. In any case, Nergal and the Dwarven Kingdom seems to be tragically attached, and looks like Durkon is the deadly string.

[mike1970]

Vamps can't drink anything but blood. So where do you find a heavily intoxicated gouda-eating victim?


Wisconsin! <I kid. I kid. :smalltongue:>

I'm a Cheesehead and you are spot on. Seriously, 4 out of 5 people on a Friday or Saturday night. 3 out of 5 any other night. :smallwink:

Sorry if this is OT.

Mike