How to Kill the Snarl

[Orc Warrior]

So I was thinking about this theory the other day, and I think it makes good sense. As of right now, the Snarl is an immortal abomination with the power to kill gods and unmake all creation. It is literally created out of the god's hate and wrath. So how could this monster ever be defeated?

My theory is that the Snarl is somehow bound to something. Perhaps this world within the gates, or perhaps the remaining gods, working sort of like a phylactery. So how does the Order defeat the Snarl? They destroy the 'phylactery.'

Another idea I had was that the Order could somehow trick the Snarl into 'unmaking' itself. What do you guys think? Do you guys have any ideas on how to combat the Snarl?

[NerdyKris]

You're operating under the assumption that the Snarl is something that needs to be destroyed. We know that, yes, there appears to be a physical being in the rifts that just lashed out, but we still don't know for certain the details of why it's there or what it actually is.

But either way, I doubt it's going to come down to simply "Destroy the Snarl" or even "Seal the rifts". It just seems too simplistic given how much effort is being put into casting doubt on the Sapphire Guard/Redcloak's version of events.

[Karoht]

Imprison yet again? In some other fashion? Maybe. Seems too simple. Afterall, gods have come into play here, evidenced by the last few panels.
Destroy it by fighting it directly? Unlikely. Even with the help of Gods.
Make it lord and master over it's own realm, the one we are seeing inside the rifts? Perhaps.
Destroy the realm we see through the rifts, with the Snarl in it? This plan seems possible, yet if it were that simple the various Gates would not have been necessary.

Too many variables. As Tarquin put it, too many moving parts. Mostly hinging around this realm beyond the rifts. It throws the nature of the gates into question, their functionality, their purpose.

Re-imprisoning the Snarl seems more likely/plausible/workable, but again this sounds far too simple. I think the Order will try for containment first, seeing as there is still a functioning gate to work with.

[With a box]

tarquin's 1d4 +plot damage dagger will work well

[Trillium]

Put a helm of reversed alignment (or whatever it is called) on it.
I mean, Snarl is a being of purest chaos...

[Eerie]

So I was thinking about this theory the other day, and I think it makes good sense. As of right now, the Snarl is an immortal abomination with the power to kill gods and unmake all creation. It is literally created out of the god's hate and wrath. So how could this monster ever be defeated? ?

With LOVE! :smallbiggrin:

*cue MLP soundtrack*

[oppyu]

With LOVE! :smallbiggrin:

*cue MLP soundtrack*
It worked on Discord, and he's the MLP version of a malevolent force of pure Chaos. The Order just needs to do a dungeon crawl through the Everfree forest to find the Elements of Harmony.

EDIT: Although it occurs to me that Durkon would be the Element of Loyalty, so they'd have to deal with that first.

[jidasfire]

Put a helm of reversed alignment (or whatever it is called) on it.
I mean, Snarl is a being of purest chaos...

Now that I think of it, that would be equally terrible. A being that incessantly creates and calcifies would likely leave the universe a solidified mass that never moved or changed.

[Karoht]

Now that I think of it, that would be equally terrible. A being that incessantly creates and calcifies would likely leave the universe a solidified mass that never moved or changed.
Put helmet on snarl.
Snarl turns from chaotic writhing mass of... stuff... into a cube of solid mass. Moments later, the entire universe is converted into one giant solid cube of mass.
The Snarl thinks he's won.

The gravity, a law of the universe, one that must be obeyed) causes the mass to draw together and compress itself into a tighter and tighter cube, which eventually fuses, creating a new big bang.

Millions of years later...
[insert picture of OotS in Minecraft form]
I'm not a Minecraft fan, but I see the humor in this. And a possible end of the comic.
Stick figures = chaos. Cube bodies = law.
/mindblown_mindsplosion.exe

[Tombo]

My theory on how the Snarl will be defeated (not necessarily killed) involves an (unholy) alliance between the Order and Redcloak. How could this madness be. Simple -

Firstly - the Order either meet up with Seroni or find her notes on how the Order of the Scribble built the original gates. They now have a potential means of restraining/limiting the Snarl.

Secondly - Redcloak and/or the Dark One, who have the means to move said gates, realises that they has already created a means of advancing goblinkind without threatening the other gods and risking the complete destruction of reality, namely by creating a city/nation state where goblins can live in (relative) safety.

Thirdly - Realising that X is now a totally unnecessary loose cannon, Redcloak "arranges" for the liches destruction, either by the Order or by tricking him into touching the last gate, freeing him up to find a new powerful wizard, perhaps an elf of indeterminate gender.

Fourthly - The two sides arrange a meeting where they discuss each others abilities and agree that the aforementioned total destruction of all reality is a loose-loose situation and further agree to work together.

Fifthly - The Order works to build new gates around the rifts, securing the Snarl back into it's own plane once again. Redcloak than uses his spell to move the gates to the same plane - creating a Mobius strip like effect (think the Tardis materialising inside itself).

Like I said this is just my theory, but I like it.

[Orc Warrior]

Fourthly - The two sides arrange a meeting where they discuss each others abilities and agree that the aforementioned total destruction of all reality is a loose-loose situation and further agree to work together.

The only flaw I can think of is that the Order has no reason to trust Redcloak, especially if the Order meets up with the guard that survived the death of the Resistance.

[NerdyKris]

Fourthly - The two sides arrange a meeting where they discuss each others abilities and agree that the aforementioned total destruction of all reality is a loose-loose situation and further agree to work together.


Redcloak is well aware of the potential for the total destruction of reality, as is the Dark One. Both consider that an acceptable conclusion, as it means the Dark One will have a say in World 3.0. (Since the gods will simply flee to the outer planes again, which is even easier now that they'll have ample warning)

[Blisstake]

I'm not even entirely sure the Snarl exists. The last 2 comics are making it sound like we should throw out any presuppositions that we might have.

[Vinyadan]

Now that I think of it, that would be equally terrible. A being that incessantly creates and calcifies would likely leave the universe a solidified mass that never moved or changed.

It would be like Pamukkale, just everywhere.

I want to see that place.

[Kornaki]

I'm not even entirely sure the Snarl exists. The last 2 comics are making it sound like we should throw out any presuppositions that we might have.

The last two comics are when we confirmed that the snarl does in fact exist

[NerdyKris]

The last two comics are when we confirmed that the snarl does in fact exist

True, but we don't know what it is, exactly. The story given to the Order involved a being destroying the actual planet. However, we clearly see an ocean on the other side, and Blackwing saw continents.

While we see what appears to be the Snarl as described, we still don't know what it is or what it's capable of. We just see it lashing out at Laurin after being probed. For all we know, it might not be a threads of reality unraveling monster at all. It might even be a coverup for something else.

[veti]

My theory is that the Snarl is somehow bound to something. Perhaps this world within the gates, or perhaps the remaining gods, working sort of like a phylactery. So how does the Order defeat the Snarl? They destroy the 'phylactery.'

So let's get this straight: your proposal to kill the god-killing abomination is to...

... kill all the gods?

Now, what could possibly go wrong with that?

(And that's assuming your theory is correct. Personally, I think the Snarl is more like a waste by-product of creation. It's like the packaging that the world came in, which the gods threw away but didn't recycle properly. Which means it'd continue to exist just fine, even if all the gods vanished.)

[Orc Warrior]

So let's get this straight: your proposal to kill the god-killing abomination is to...

... kill all the gods?

Now, what could possibly go wrong with that?

(And that's assuming your theory is correct. Personally, I think the Snarl is more like a waste by-product of creation. It's like the packaging that the world came in, which the gods threw away but didn't recycle properly. Which means it'd continue to exist just fine, even if all the gods vanished.)

I know there's some flaws:smallconfused:

But this would work if the gods eventually reincarnate after death.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I know there's some flaws:smallconfused:

But this would work if the gods eventually reincarnate after death.
However, we have no evidence for this, and we have been told of things that have killed or have the power to kill gods, with no indication of them being able to return.

[geeky_monkey]

We simply don't know enough about it. The only guaranteed way to stop it that I can think of would be to kill Rich.

Although even that wouldn't destroy the Snarl, merely leave it frozen in time for all eternity.

[Smolder]

Solution: perform the ritual and send all the Snarl-infested gates to the Semi-Elemental Plane of Ranch Dressing.

[Mith]

Couldn't the Snarl be seen as an OOTS version of the Far Realm? I am not familiar with the Far Realm in DnD to know if that is a valid interpretation of it though.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Couldn't the Snarl be seen as an OOTS version of the Far Realm? I am not familiar with the Far Realm in DnD to know if that is a valid interpretation of it though.

Isn't the Far Realm a plane, though? As in, it is it's own universe and has inhabitants. The Snarl doesn't seem to be plane on it's own, despite it probably being the only denizen of the demiplane it is (or was) trapped in.

[Mith]

Isn't the Far Realm a plane, though? As in, it is it's own universe and has inhabitants. The Snarl doesn't seem to be plane on it's own, despite it probably being the only denizen of the demiplane it is (or was) trapped in.

It is, but I was thinking that what I have heard of the Far Realm is that it is a living Realm, and as such, can theoretically be killed. Although that may just be house rule.

[Vinyadan]

We could go by exclusion. How do you kill something in D&D, besides taking all of the available HPs away? And how do you do that?

[Jaxzan Proditor]

We could go by exclusion. How do you kill something in D&D, besides taking all of the available HPs away? And how do you do that?
Well, reducing ability scores usually kills or shuts down things. Of course, doing that is probably difficult as outright taking away all its HP.

[Vladier]

It worked on Discord, and he's the MLP version of a malevolent force of pure Chaos. The Order just needs to do a dungeon crawl through the Everfree forest to find the Elements of Harmony.

EDIT: Although it occurs to me that Durkon would be the Element of Loyalty, so they'd have to deal with that first.

That would actually be very interesting.
Now, who would be which element?
- V is obviously Magic
- Elan can be either Kindness or Laughter
- Durkon is either Honesty or Loyalty
- Roy is the same as Durkon, really, though Loyalty probably suits him more after the bandit camp
- Belkar is either Laughter (you can't write "slaughter" without also writing "laughter") or Generosity (he sure is generous with all the stab wounds he gives everyone)
- Haley is either Kindness or Loyalty

My preferred choice is: V - Magic, Elan - Laughter, Durkon - Honesty, Roy - Loyalty, Belkar - Generosity, Haley - Kindness.


On the topic, thought, I don't think that something like Snarl can actually be killed. It's supposedly made out of threads of creation, so it's probably not destroyable by the means of mortals anymore than we can destroy energy. Now, magic would probably work, but I doubt it, as it is also part of the universe and apparent lack of any energy-destroying spells (in fact, even energy-creating spells are under question - it's more likely that energy comes from changing magic into needed energy or matter or invoked from respective elemental plane) speaks for itself. The only thing I can think of would be something akin to the Sphere of Annihilation as it can actually destroy souls which are supposedly made of energy (which makes its name complete misnomer, by the way), perhaps other reality-destroying methods can be used as well. Wish or Reality Revision might be used to change and shape it, I suppose, but Miracle probably cannot as it is reality that doesn't comply to divine will. Unless, being reality that has some sort of intelligence it gets Will save against being changed by these spells and it's so tremendous that even deities can't beat it.

[DolGrenn]

I don't always kill Snarls, but when I do, I use scissors.
Why don't we just take the Snarl, and push it somewhere else?

[Lord Raziere]

Put a helm of reversed alignment (or whatever it is called) on it.
I mean, Snarl is a being of purest chaos...

No, I think that if we reversed the alignment of a god-killing world-ending abomination of purest chaos....

all it would lead to is it becoming a god-killing, world-ending abomination of purest order.

a void is the most orderly thing in existence after all, nothing is happening, therefore nothing can go awry. life, the universe and everything is very chaotic in comparison.

[WolvesbaneIII]

To kill the snarl, why not create another one? The 2 would clobber each other.

or combine to create an even worse god smiting abomination.

[martianmister]

To kill the snarl, why not create another one? The 2 would clobber each other.

or combine to create an even worse god smiting abomination.


This is the best idea ever. :smalltongue:

[cheesecake]

To defeat the snarl one must go into the snarl's world.