Malack's Necklace

[Dig]

I've always found Malack to be an interesting, believable, and engaging character. He has never been depicted without his red and gold necklace, which appears to have been abandoned in #907.

What do we know for sure about this item? Does it still have a role to play?

[DaggerPen]

It's his holy symbol, isn't it? I don't think those tend to have much value to them beyond their role in spellcasting, except of course in Redcloak's case.

[Dig]

It's his holy symbol, isn't it?

Dang, that is a very fast and reasonable answer! Thanks :smallsmile:

I guess I am disappointed that it probably won't be looted to buff one of our heroes, or play a greater role.

[DaggerPen]

Dang, that is a very fast and reasonable answer! Thanks :smallsmile:

I guess I am disappointed that it probably won't be looted to buff one of our heroes, or play a greater role.

Heh. Jury's still out on Z's spellbook, though - fingers crossed that V might get V's hands on that houseruled 3.0 Fly spell.

[EnragedFilia]

It's less important now that he has his own houseruled (can target others (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0835.html)) overland flight.

[Dig]

Indeed... I wonder what shall become of that priceless spellbook?

I also wonder what that evil crustacean monster had to say to ZZ' before it poofed.

[Tock Zipporah]

Dang, that is a very fast and reasonable answer! Thanks :smallsmile:

I guess I am disappointed that it probably won't be looted to buff one of our heroes, or play a greater role.

Fast and reasonable? Not on THIS forum! QUICK, we need some wild and crazy crackpot theories about what the amulet might mean!

It's really his vampire-phylactery, and whoever wears it will have Malack's blood seep into their bodies, transforming them into a vampire so that the undead scourge can unlive again!

Whew, that was a close one, things almost got reasonable here for a second...

[EnragedFilia]

My guess is the piscodaemon's parting words amount to "Our contract is fulfilled. I'll see you downstairs to collect."

[DaggerPen]

Fast and reasonable? Not on THIS forum! QUICK, we need some wild and crazy crackpot theories about what the amulet might mean!

It's really his vampire-phylactery, and whoever wears it will have Malack's blood seep into their bodies, transforming them into a vampire so that the undead scourge can unlive again!

Whew, that was a close one, things almost got reasonable here for a second...

Feh, that's ridiculous! It's obviously a magic item casting the persistent illusion of a vampire cleric, and the greater dispel magic destabilized it, causing the illusion to go dormant. Girard's been secretly alive all along and keeping an eye on Tarquin through the Malack illusion! No one'd ever suspect, because Girard was a Chaotic Good illusionist with human and dragon blood and Malack was a Lawful Evil cleric vampire lizardfolk, thereby making him Girard's evil opposite and fulfilling the theme.


My guess is the piscodaemon's parting words amount to "Our contract is fulfilled. I'll see you downstairs to collect."

It's actually been translated to "If the boss is dead, I'm clocking out early." Though I am not entirely sure that that is relevant to the topic at hand.

[Dig]

My guess is the piscodaemon's parting words amount to "Our contract is fulfilled. I'll see you downstairs to collect."

Spoken like an authentic piscodaemon :smallbiggrin: It has to be something to that effect. I really love how the author chooses to leave certain things to the imagination of the reader, leaving the terms of such a "contract" to be implied and kept behind the scenes, instead of being explicitly shown (TBD).

[DaggerPen]

Spoken like an authentic piscodaemon :smallbiggrin: It has to be something to that effect. I really love how the author chooses to leave certain things to the imagination of the reader, leaving the terms of such a "contract" to be implied and kept behind the scenes, instead of being explicitly shown (TBD).

While I agree with the "leaving to the imagination" thing, the piscodaemon's text was written in the Miskatonic font and has been translated to "If the boss is dead, I'm clocking out early."

[Dig]

...The piscodaemon's text was written in the Miskatonic font and has been translated to "If the boss is dead, I'm clocking out early."

I learned something today!

Edit: Multiple things! Thank you EnragedFilia and DaggerPen (and Tock Zipporah for having some fun)

[EnragedFilia]

Upon looking up Miskatonic font, I notice that it also seems to resemble the epic illusion runes from 885 et. al. Presumably, someone has already done a similar substitution on those.

edit: yup, someone sure did (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15221617&postcount=5)!

[Tock Zipporah]

Feh, that's ridiculous! It's obviously a magic item casting the persistent illusion of a vampire cleric, and the greater dispel magic destabilized it, causing the illusion to go dormant. Girard's been secretly alive all along and keeping an eye on Tarquin through the Malack illusion! No one'd ever suspect, because Girard was a Chaotic Good illusionist with human and dragon blood and Malack was a Lawful Evil cleric vampire lizardfolk, thereby making him Girard's evil opposite and fulfilling the theme.



It's actually been translated to "If the boss is dead, I'm clocking out early." Though I am not entirely sure that that is relevant to the topic at hand.

And since there's no evidence to prove that ISN'T true, then it clearly MUST be the only reasonable answer, because that's how logic works!

[KillianHawkeye]

It's his holy symbol, isn't it?

Technically speaking, it would be his UNholy symbol, since Malack was an EVIL vampire cleric.

[Malistrae]

Technically speaking, it would be his UNholy symbol, since Malack was an EVIL vampire cleric.

I always thought that villains using words like unholy for their own stuff doesn't make a lot of sense. For Malack, that was a holy symbol of Nergal. For a good-aligned cleric, it would probably be an unholy symbol. I think the holy symbol is the most appropriate expression, since we don't really know a lot about Nergal, so it would be rude to call his symbol unholy. Especially, since it is only unholy to a Nergal-opposed religious view. For a pro-Nergal person, it would be quite holy.

[Chronos]

Eh, in a D&D world, good and evil are objective, quantifiable phenomena. Malack knows that there's a spell called "Detect Evil" that'll detect him, and one called "Detect Good" that doesn't. He's more likely, instead of saying that he's not evil, to say that yeah, he's evil, but that evil isn't so bad.

[Malistrae]

Eh, in a D&D world, good and evil are objective, quantifiable phenomena. Malack knows that there's a spell called "Detect Evil" that'll detect him, and one called "Detect Good" that doesn't. He's more likely, instead of saying that he's not evil, to say that yeah, he's evil, but that evil isn't so bad.

You are probably right. If we take into account that Good and Evil are objective, detectable phenomenons, then it makes a lot more sense. And I just remembered the Unholy Blight spell which a gob cleric casted in the early strips...

[137beth]

It's actually been translated to "If the boss is dead, I'm clocking out early." Though I am not entirely sure that that is relevant to the topic at hand.
Outrageous! Of course it is relevant. See, the piscodaemon is Malack's holy symbol. That's why they are both gone. Also, the piscodaemon is also Girard, and decided to leave shortly after his gate was destroyed (just like Soon did, Evil Opposites, see?)

[NerdyKris]

I've always found Malack to be an interesting, believable, and engaging character. He has never been depicted without his red and gold necklace, which appears to have been abandoned in #907.

What do we know for sure about this item? Does it still have a role to play?

The Giant said he specifically showed the items and cloak fall to the ground so people would know he was dead and not just gas. And that his gas form was shown earlier specifically so people would know what it would look like compared to being dusted.

So my impression is that the necklace was just to show him dying and dropping his items, and holds no further significance.

[F.Harr]

The necklace is also an ancient source of mistical power that, when invoced, produces a plate of blood-chip cookies for a light snack.

[Amphiox]

Technically speaking, it would be his UNholy symbol, since Malack was an EVIL vampire cleric.

Well, while we generally associate the word "holy" with good, there is actually not much in its epistemology that insists on this being the case. Since Nergal IS a god, and IS divine, the fact that he is an evil god doesn't mean that his stuff isn't still "holy".

[Amphiox]

The Giant said he specifically showed the items and cloak fall to the ground so people would know he was dead and not just gas. And that his gas form was shown earlier specifically so people would know what it would look like compared to being dusted.

So my impression is that the necklace was just to show him dying and dropping his items, and holds no further significance.

Oh, so THAT's what it was doing in that panel?

I had been wondering why the necklace was floating suspended and unsupported in midair even after the body that once supported it had crumbled into ash....

[KillianHawkeye]

Well, while we generally associate the word "holy" with good, there is actually not much in its epistemology that insists on this being the case. Since Nergal IS a god, and IS divine, the fact that he is an evil god doesn't mean that his stuff isn't still "holy".

That's not how it works in D&D. Good = Holy, Evil = Unholy. Both are divine.

See above:


Eh, in a D&D world, good and evil are objective, quantifiable phenomena. Malack knows that there's a spell called "Detect Evil" that'll detect him, and one called "Detect Good" that doesn't. He's more likely, instead of saying that he's not evil, to say that yeah, he's evil, but that evil isn't so bad.

[Snails]

Well, while we generally associate the word "holy" with good, there is actually not much in its epistemology that insists on this being the case. Since Nergal IS a god, and IS divine, the fact that he is an evil god doesn't mean that his stuff isn't still "holy".

Nor is it obvious that Nergal was evil. Was that ever definitively resolved?

Would the symbol of a Neutral god in the hands of a worshipper be holy or unholy?

[EnragedFilia]

Redcloak still calls his divine focus item a "holy symbol (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0662.html)". I suppose if they used different terminology depending on the cleric's alignment, neutral clerics of neutral deities would have to think up a third word.

[Kish]

"It's my Boring symbol."

[GSFB]

The necklace be recovered by the ghost of Miko, who will use its power to destroy Belkar once and for all.