Trigak was supposed to be a recurring villain

[NihhusHuotAliro]

So, as the title says, Trigak was supposed to be a recurring villain (but Belkar messed that up by killing him). What would have happened if things went the way they were supposed to go? What role would Trigak have played in the later comic? What other things were supposed to happen before the Order messed things up?

Was the Order not supposed to skip all those levels of Dorukan's dungeon (going through those levels have meant that they would have been at a higher level facing Xykon)?

If things had gone properly, would the Order have gotten the Cloister headband, SOD spoiler: the black stone with Lirian and Dorukan's souls in it, the Amulet that lets you control all those second-edition monsters...

:haley: and Treasure!

So, yeah, what other things were "supposed to happen"?

[FlawedParadigm]

Actually Trigak was going to slowly become a rival and then, as s/he and the order continually met up and stalemated, a grudging respect would build up between them. Eventually Belkar would forgive Trigak for calling him short (which only happened in Roy's head, but nevermind) and convinced Trigak that Xykon pays beans anyhow.

Comic 935 was supposed to be Trigak swooping in, Gilgamesh-in-Final-Fantasy-V-style and knocking Laurin and Tarquin off the airship, deciding that s/he wants to be a hero after all, and causing Laurin to use PP to save herself and Tarquin to fall and break his neck before Laurin could save him.

Of course, in true Belkar fashion, he just stabbed Trigak instead, so now they're going to have to get out of this mess on their own power and Belkar doesn't have a flying chimera mount that would make Hinjo and Lien both jealous.

[Sir_Leorik]

As Sigmund Freud said: sometimes a lame-a$$ Chimera hired by Xykon to kill adventurers is just a lame-a$$ Chimera hired by Xykon to kill adventurers.

:smallwink:

[Pokonic]

He gets injured in Dorukan's dungeon and escapes through an emergency exit, but eventually catches up with Redcloak by the simple wish to get payed. After Redcloak kills the chimera, a mostly-rebuilt Xykon raises it him as an undead creature and brings him to Azure City as his flying mount, leaving the Zombie Silver Dragon to be 'spared' for further usage post-city take over.

After he meets Tsukiko, he figures she's Ridden enough undead and decides to kill two birds with one stone and give the mid-level Theurge a 'welcome to evilcorp, here's your company ride' gift in the form of the now-headless chimera, seeing that he has Flight. Of course,he is later repaired by her and placed under an enchantment or two to protect it. Trigak is later the creature ordered to eliminate all of Tsukiko's wrights and Tsukiko herself, and is ordered to rip itself to part after doing so.

[Benthesquid]

The Order, already having a Secondary Recurring Villain, wouldn't have met the Linear Guild, who would have given up on getting a bunch of saps to activate the sigils for them, and taken off on another of Nale's hairbrained schemes to get even with his father. Consequently, the Order would never have met Celia, who would have died in the explosion Elan sets off at the end.

Without Sabine to send them off on a side quest, Roy would have gotten his sword fixed in town, and wouldn't have needed to rope Haley and Belkar in on the Starmetal quest. With the sword reforged, Eugene would have reappeared to Roy to tell him that Xykon couldn't be killed without destroying his phylactery. With their contracts thus still in effect, the team would head off towards the Oracle to try and figure out Xykon's next move. They'd have a couple of minor side adventures on the way, which Miko would later misinterpret.

Before they reached the Oracle, Miko would track them down. Durkon, knowing that the party right now was on their way to do something greatly important for the safety of the world, wouldn't assume that they were supposed to go with Miko, and Roy would have his ancestral sword handy. It might not even be raining. Miko would be soundly defeated, but during the Order's interrogation of her, it would become clear that the ruler of Azure City knows something important about the Gates and Xykon's quest.

The trip to Azure City would ensue, with the major change being that Miko, not the Order, would be prisoners. She would escape during the fracas in which Roy was mistaken for the King of Nowhere, and while Roy was feeling bad about how he'd been treating her. Miko is, however, recaptured when she tries to attack the entire Order, and grumbles about the stupid railroad plot.

Camping some distance outside Azure City, Durkon prepares Sending and tries to negotiate with Shojo. Hilarity ensues, as Shojo doesn't trust any of his Clerics enough to drop the Obfuscating Senility act. Meanwhile, Belkar is thrown out of the group after trying one too many times to murder Miko. He swears revenge and wanders off.

Eventually, the Order and Shojo manage to come to an understanding, wherein Hinjo and O-Chul come out to retrieve Miko, and Hinjo remains behind as insurance while Vaarsuvius and Roy head into Azure City.

Without Eugene, and with the Order in a better bargaining position, the trial doesn't take place, but via Shojo's machinations, the Order is cleared of any wrongdoing, and the truth behind the Gates is explained. The party prepares to go visit the Oracle (again). Hinjo, having bonded with Haley, Durkon, and Elan in the absence of Roy and V, and noting that the Order is down a warrior, offers to join them on their quest.

Meanwhile, Belkar meets up with Trigak, and the two plot their revenge on the Order together!

To be continued!

[Ramien]

No, Trigak was supposed to have died when Elan set off the self-destruct rune, cursing the Order as he died.

[Sir_Leorik]

:elan: Y'know what, these "What If?" scenarios are entertaining, so let's go ask Uatu the Watcher to tell us:

What If Trigak Had Not Been Killed By Belkar?


"Behold! I am Uatu the Watcher! From time immemorial I have watched Earth-616 in my citadel in the Blue Area of the Moon. Due to my sacred oath of non-interference, I am sworn never to interfere in the affairs of other creatures, merely to watch! (Unless there is a major Marvel Comics cross-over, in which case I usually manifest at some climactic point and stare ominously or make a cryptic statement that is ultimately meaningless. Seriously, they need to stop letting Bendis write those things.)

"But I do not watch only the Earth! No, my gaze stretches to other dimensions and realities, such as one where the Fantastic Four never gained super-powers, one where Wolverine became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent instead of joining the X-Men, and one where Conan of Cimmeria was catapulted to the modern era by a spell, became a mugger, a pimp (with a panther) and fought Captain America. I have also cast my gaze across dimensions inhabited by versions of the Order of the Stick!

"Behold one such dimension that answers the question:
"What If Trigak Had Not Been Killed By Belkar?"


:elan: Thanks Uatu!

:roy: Why are we doing this, again?

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/DurkonVampire_zps6711c6b8.png Ta pay fer the Regenerate spell fer Haley's arm.


"Behold, the Dungeons of Dorukan! Built by the Epic Wizard to guard one of five Gates..."

:haley: Whoa, easy big guy, no need for pompous narration! Just the facts, as Jack Webb might say.


"*sigh* Fine. Never get this sort treatment from the Avengers. Not even Hawkeye."

:belkar: Hey! I made my Listen check! Are you comparing us to those losers?


"Those "losers" made over $1 billion dollars at the box office world wide. Now may I continue with no further interruptions? Because there's a clause in my sacred oath of non-interference allowing me to smack people who don't shut up when I'm narrating."

Belkar rolled a 1 on his attack rolls against Trigak, allowing the Chimera to flee, swearing vengeance on the Order. Just as in your reality (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0022.html), Roy ordered Belkar to track the Chimera back to Xykon's throne room. Belkar set off to track Trigak, and soon lost the trail.

As in your reality (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0025.html), The Order became distracted by Elan's fashion sense, encountered a monster that's not in the SRD (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0031.html), which was duly removed from play by a killjoy and his Junior Associate (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0032.html).

Meanwhile, the Linear Guild had entered Xykon's employ, and Nale was setting his plans in motion, at the same time that Trigak arrived in Xykon's Throne Room. Suffice to say Xykon was enraged, but luckily for Trigak, Xykon saw Roy set off dozens of traps at once (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0037.html), and the Lich's delight at the suffering of others kept him from snuffing Trigak on the spot. Trigak witnessed the Ogre Chieftains get Zombified, and wisely decided to keep his mouths shut about the money Xykon still owed him.

Stan Lee: "Stay Tuned True Believers! More to come!"

Trigak mostly hung out with the MitD and the Demon Roaches, until shortly before the Order broke into Xykon's Throne Room. As per Xykon's instructions, Trigak mostly hovered above the floor, trying to herd Elan or Durkon close to the Rune on Dorukan's Gate. However, when he saw Belkar separate from the rest of the Order, Trigak sprang down to fight the Halfling. As a result, the Chimera was caught off guard when Roy hurled Xykon into the Gate, and his employer spontaneously combusted. Trigak flew for one of the emergency exits, swearing vengeance a second time on the Order of the Stick.

Trigak wandered from place to place, performing odd jobs as a mercenary, bounty hunter, sky pirate, before the Ancient Black Dragon whose son had been disintegrated by Vaarsuvius, the Order's Elven Wizard, sought Trigak out. She had gone to visit the Oracle of the Sunken Valley, and among other tidbits of information, the Oracle told her about several villains foiled by the Order who might be interested in revenge. She was seeking to assemble: The Order of the Stick Revenge Squad!

Consisting of the Ancient Black Dragon, Trigak, a Hydra she had liberated from Goblin Dan on her way out of the Sunken Valley, and a pair of Flumphs she had conned into helping her, the Revenge Squad prepared their assault on the Azurite Fleet, preparing to kill Vaarsuvius, Durkon and Elan at a time when the Azurite fleet was under attacked by aquatic menaces, they were surprised to see Vaarsuvius fly off on her own. The Revenge Squad captured Vaarsuvius, and planned to use her to lay a trap for the rest of the Order of the Stick. Trigak told the Ancient Black Dragon that he cared not what happened to Vaarsuvius, or the Elf's family, but he insisted that he be allowed to capture the Order and bring them to Xykon in Azure City. Only that could make up for the shame he had endured of being beaten twice by such inept adventurers.

Badly beaten, V managed to cast Explosive Runes on a napkin, and then asked Blackwing to drop it in front of the villains and fly off to find Durkon and Elan, before passing out. One of the Flumphs read the napkin, which exploded in the middle of the Revenge Squad. The treacherous imp Qarr presented himself to the Revenge Squad, offering his services, but that was a step too far for the honorable Flumphs, who floated away angrily.

Blackwing arrived at the Azurite Fleet, only to discover that Durkon and Elan had headed to Greysky City to meet Haley, Belkar and Celia. One of Hinjo's Clerics Sent to Durkon, warning The Order about Vaarsuvius falling into the Revenge Squad's claws.

As Durkon cast Resurrection on Roy, Haley made plans for the Order to sneak into Azure City to rescue Vaarsuvius. Once he was alive again, Roy agreed, but only on the condition they do it his way. First, he decided to have the Clerics of Loki Send to Trigak and ask to ransom V. Trigak told them to meet the Revenge Squad at the remains of Fort Blueriver. The Order instead teleported to the edge of the Cloister (courtesy of Hank setting them up with a caster) and met up with the Azurite Resistance. They snuck into Xykon's tower, and found the Revenge Squad bartering with Xykon for Vaarsuvius. Seeing the Order sneaking in, O-Chul broke the loose bar on his cell, and used it to kill one Demon Roach, put out Redcloak's eye, and kill Jirix. The Order leapt in and began fighting the Ancient Black Dragon. Just as Xykon was about to join in the fun, he saw O-Chul trying to destroy his phylactery! Xykon ran to fight the Paladin, only to be caught up in a six way game of keep away. Just as Belkar grabs the phylactery, Trigak leaps at the Halfling. Wearing a +20 Ring of Jumping, Belkar leaps onto his back, puts the phylactery on one his horns and stabs.

"Gak!"
"Gak!"
"Gak!"

Xykon hurries to catch the phylactery before it falls into the Rift, and it lands in the sewers (or ocean, or obligatory-sewer-themed dungeon), with Belkar leaping to safety. The Order of the Stick kill the Ancient Black Dragon together. Xykon flies back, angry he launches Meteor Swarms at them, and the MitD says that O-Chul must "Escape!"

The Order, along with O-Chul, appear on the deck of Hinjo's junk, where they happily reunite. Hinjo Sends to the Elves, who promise to assist the Resistance. Vaarsuvius Sends to her spouse, and reconciles with Blackwing. Trigak is turned into a Zombie by Tsukiko. And in the Windy Canyon, a clan of Illusionists are about to encounter a squad of nefarious scoundrels: The Linear Guild!


:elan: DUN-DUN-DUN! Thanks a lot Uatu!


It was my pleasure Elan.

[SavageWombat]

It is becoming clear with this thread (and the fancy calendar artwork) that Rich now needs to find a way to drop Trigak into the Gygax strips.

[Sir_Leorik]

It is becoming clear with this thread (and the fancy calendar artwork) that Rich now needs to find a way to drop Trigak into the Gygax strips.

Or the Snail.

[JDMSJR]

"and one where Conan of Cimmeria was catapulted to the modern era by a spell, became a mugger, a pimp (with a panther) and fought Captain America."

I actually have that issue of "What If" :smallbiggrin:

[Heksefatter]

This is an awesome thread.

[Sir_Leorik]

"and one where Conan of Cimmeria was catapulted to the modern era by a spell, became a mugger, a pimp (with a panther) and fought Captain America."

I actually have that issue of "What If" :smallbiggrin:

There was a second issue of "What If" where Wolverine traveled back to the Hyborean Age, battled Conan and romanced Red Sonja, which ended with Conan traveling to the Blue Area of the Moon during the X-Men's fight against the Shi'ar Imperial Guard during the "Dark Phoenix Saga". Conan beheads Cyclops, and Logan's stuck in the past, so there's no one to keep Jean from going full Dark Phoenix. Conan's last thought, as Jean incinerates the Moon is "Crom!" :smallbiggrin:


This is an awesome thread.

Yes. Yes, it is. :smalltongue:

[Oddity222]

FlawedParadigm, Benthesquid and Sir_Leorik your What if?'s are awesome!

[thereaper]

Personally, I'm still waiting for Trigak to come back in some form.

[Sir_Leorik]

Personally, I'm still waiting for Trigak to come back in some form.

Personally, I'm waiting for the Snail to come back, but he might not fit in with the Old-School gamer style of "Gygaxian Magazine". :smallsigh:

[davidbofinger]

Why single out Trigak? Surely he was just one of many characters killed by player characters who briefly slipped The Giant's leash.


Hak-Tonog the Moderately Incontinent
Kuurkk the Anemic
Lokor the Chronically Insecure
Whoever was living in the Dungeon of Dorukan when it self-destructed (destroyed?)
The gnome who only listened to fox news.
There are lots of others


What might they have done together, as an adventuring party?

I'm thinking these don't count:

Buggy Lou (because he was probably supposed to die earlier).
The goblin Redcloak killed to become leader of the tribe (because that was an NPC).

[FlawedParadigm]

The gnome who only listened to fox news.



I wonder if that strip now retroactively qualifies as an answer to "What Does the Fox Say?"

[Sir_Leorik]

Why single out Trigak? Surely he was just one of many characters killed by player characters who briefly slipped The Giant's leash.


The gnome who only listened to fox news.



That Gnome had a name! It was Solt Lurkyurg, and he liked chocolate! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0539.html) Who are you to condemn him for not taking the Toughness feat?!? :smallfurious:

[ThePhantasm]

Haley thought he was supposed to be a recurring villain, but she was wrong. She noted that he / they had a name, but she didn't take into account that the name is a one-off joke: three "GAK!"s, the sound he made when he / they died.

[Joe the Rat]

Personally, I'm waiting for the Snail to come back, but he might not fit in with the Old-School gamer style of "Gygaxian Magazine". :smallsigh:Perhaps if he was armed with a snail flail?

[Sir_Leorik]

Perhaps if he was armed with a snail flail?

Yeah, but he's got half a dozen templates, and that's six templates too many for the publishers' tastes. (Though seeing him command an army of Snail Flails and Giant Slugs by taking levels in a Prestige Class would be very funny.) He's just too 3.X/Pathfindery for an Old-School Renaissance magazine. :smallsigh:

[Jay R]

Eventually, Vaarsuvius was going top kill Trigak, and Trigak's mother was going to seek out Vaarsuvius, as well as Inkyrius and their children, for revenge. The only way for Vaarsuvius to save the family was going to be making a deal with a devil, daemon, and demon, and casting a familicide spell, which would have accidentally killed all the goat-, dragon-, and lion-related monsters guarding Kraagor's gate.

But Belkar killed Trigak too early, so the DM had to come up with a new side-quest to introduce a young black dragon. Since it was a dragon, the familicide plot was re-assigned to the sorceror illusionists at Girard's gate. The addition of the familicide plot explains why the Girard's gate quest was so much longer than any other, since originally, Girard's people would have helped the Order against Tarquin's army, and the whole thing would have been over much earlier.

To get the party past Tarquin, the DM had to introduce Julio early, so he could be brought back to save the Order. That's why we never saw Elan use the plan involving the corkscrew and the giant wooden alpaca stuffed with potato salad.

The DM also needed to change the ending of the first Nale story, to make it fit Eugene's prophecy, which was of course supposed to be about Trigak.

[Ghost Nappa]

Personally, I'm still waiting for Trigak to come back in some form.

He did. He's in the calendar.

[martianmister]

He did. He's in the calendar.

Why are you using the sarcastic tone? What you said is nothing but true.

[Bogardan_Mage]

Why single out Trigak? Surely he was just one of many characters killed by player characters who briefly slipped The Giant's leash.


Hak-Tonog the Moderately Incontinent
Kuurkk the Anemic
Lokor the Chronically Insecure
Whoever was living in the Dungeon of Dorukan when it self-destructed (destroyed?)
The gnome who only listened to fox news.
There are lots of others


What might they have done together, as an adventuring party?

I'm thinking these don't count:

Buggy Lou (because he was probably supposed to die earlier).
The goblin Redcloak killed to become leader of the tribe (because that was an NPC).

Shelby the Dragonslayer?

[Sir_Leorik]

Shelby the Dragonslayer?

Xykon made a major mistake killing Shelby. If he'd promoted Shelby to third in command, rather than murder him, and had Shelby (now a high level Fighter, rather than a 1st level Warrior) survived the Battle for Azure City, Shelby might have been able to prevent O-Chul and V from stealing Xykon's Phylactery. Unlike Redcloak, who ran off with a Word of Recall, or Jirix who got a Smite Evil-enhanced metal rebar through his chest, Shelby might have been able to stand up to O-Chul for three rounds! Then Shelby would have died like a punk, because O-Chul is awesome. But he would have held out longer than Jirix, that's for sure. :smalltongue:

[DeliaP]

Haley thought he was supposed to be a recurring villain, but she was wrong. She noted that he / they had a name, but she didn't take into account that the name is a one-off joke: three "GAK!"s, the sound he made when he / they died.

Oh, man, I only just got that! :smallredface: duh!

(+1 Internet to Sir Leorik for the Uatu/OotS interaction)

[Sir_Leorik]

Oh, man, I only just got that! :smallredface: duh!

(+1 Internet to Sir Leorik for the Uatu/OotS interaction)

I'm glad we got to enjoy that, because I've heard that Marvel is planning to have Uatu the Watcher killed off in some sort of cosmic crossover. :smallfrown:

[DeliaP]

I'm glad we got to enjoy that, because I've heard that Marvel is planning to have Uatu the Watcher killed off in some sort of cosmic crossover. :smallfrown:

Aww... I've heard your opinion of DC's Nu52, but I do fear that Marvel NOW! is going to become Marvel NOOOOO!!!! (To much trying to make Earth-616 look like MCU. I like MCU, but it's just not Earth-616).

But back to the plot, which was about killing rats in a cellar, wasn't it?? :smallsmile:

[Keltest]

Perhaps if he was armed with a snail flail?

or maybe a flail snail? (don't google that, snails are disgusting).

[NihhusHuotAliro]

or maybe a flail snail? (don't google that, snails are disgusting).

Says the mammal.

[Ghost Nappa]

Why are you using the sarcastic tone? What you said is nothing but true.

Maybe I just like the color.