Xykon's concern

[Mc. Lovin']

When he was diving for Redcloak telling him to get away do you think it was because he was worried about Redclock dieing or worried about his phychalcteraryeer (cant spell it) getting broken?

[Bucephalus]

does it really matter?

[Shapechanger]

Xykon has show blantent disregard for the value of his minions' lives in the past, so I'm willing to bet it was the fact that his Phy... the amulet with his soul in it was in danger.

[Mc. Lovin']

does it really matter?

Maybe, but the point is to post your veiws on stuff here. Anyway if he was concerned about redcloak then they are more of a team, rather than Xykon being selfish like he usually is. The point is that one way he is just as horrible to Red as he was in the earlier strips, the other he actually is showing concern for one of his 'minions'

[TheNovak]

Oh, no. I don't care how much he might actually like Redcloak, Xykon was way more concerned about his soul-hidey-place.

[Wildrose]

I wondered the same thing. I don't think Xycon would be able to cope without Redcloak - he needs someone to take care of the details, somehow I don't imagine he's too good at that part of it himself. So, maybe it was a bit of both? And just maybe, there's a touch of fondness for his loyal (ish) sidekick - after all, he's very used to having Redcloak around. Bless.

[bluewind95]

does it really matter?

No, it doesn't, really. In that logic, none of our speculations matter either, though. :smalltongue:

Anyways, on topic. I think it was a bit of both, really. I mean whether or not he actually cares for Redcloak's life, I think even he would see it wouldn't be precisely easy to get such a loyal keeper for his phylactery.

[Rincewind]

When he was diving for Redcloak telling him to get away do you think it was because he was worried about Redclock dieing or worried about his phychalcteraryeer (cant spell it) getting broken?

His soul hidey thingy of course. RedCloak is valuable, but not more than his own unlife.

[kirbsys]

Ima guess that although the soul-hidey-thing was more important to him, at some level he does like RC because if you check near the end he is having a buddy-buddy about to die conversation.

[TheNovak]

Just a bit of explaining my reasoning: if you're going to go to the effort of discovering and performing the rituals to turn yourself into an immortal, nigh-unkillable mockery of life, you have some serious issues when it comes death. You DO NOT want to die. You'd rather become this hideous, soulless creature without flesh or muscle or even lungs than succumb to death's cold embrace.

(The following is a movie spoiler, not an OotS one: click carefully).
Look at the last two Pirates of the Carribean movies. Davey Jones crewed his ship with those who would rather become twisted mockeries of life than die. Jack Sparrow was willing to betray and conspire against friends and comrades countless times in a bid for even Jones' horrifying version of immortality.

Jones: "Do you fear death?"
Sparrow: "You have no idea."

Xykon's the same way. Xykon does not want to die. He is terrified of the prospect, and hey, considering most Chaotic Evil folks end up as miserable, tortured currency for evil outsiders, wouldn't you be, too?

Sorry, fellow Team Evil lovers, but Redcloak getting away was just a bonus to the whole "not dying permanently" thing.

[Ganurath]

What confuses me is that Xykon flew toward Redcloak when he could have held Soon back with a Moderately Escapable Forcecage or something. More distance from Redcloak means more time for Redcloak to react, and fewer lichs to get bull rushed into him.

Also, it's spelled Phylactery.

[RocketBard]

When he was diving for Redcloak telling him to get away do you think it was because he was worried about Redclock dieing or worried about his phychalcteraryeer (cant spell it) getting broken?

Seeing as how he dived for Redcloak right after his phylactery was mentioned, I would say that he wasn't diving for the life of his minion.

[Smiley_]

There might be more to it than Redcloak being another minion. Sure, his Phylawhatsit was in danger, but I am thinking that they must have some deeper connection between them. I mean, Xykon and Redcloak play Yahtzee together!
Maybe Redcloak knew Xykon back before he was a lich.

Well, hopefully it is explained in Start of Darkness when it comes out.

[Tyrmatt]

I guess we'll find out in Start of Darkness whether or not Xykon really does have a reason to care for Redcloak or it's just panic over possibly being finally sent to his final punishment.

[the_tick_rules]

phalactery 100%. Xykon was betting on Miko to kill redcloak in round 4 of the tower remember? His life is meaningless compared to Xykon's phalactery.

[Mc. Lovin']

I mean, Xykon and Redcloak play Yahtzee together!


'Cus thats a huge commitment. :smalltongue:

[LordVader]

What confuses me is that Xykon flew toward Redcloak when he could have held Soon back with a Moderately Escapable Forcecage or something. More distance from Redcloak means more time for Redcloak to react, and fewer lichs to get bull rushed into him.

Also, it's spelled Phylactery.

Soon gets an attack of opportunity, right? Thus, Xykon most likely wouldn't be able to get the spell off.

[Mc. Lovin']

What confuses me is that Xykon flew toward Redcloak when he could have held Soon back with a Moderately Escapable Forcecage or something. More distance from Redcloak means more time for Redcloak to react, and fewer lichs to get bull rushed into him.

Also, it's spelled Phylactery.

Also (althoguh I am not too knowledgeable about DnD rules) wouldn't his 'incorpreilness' let him go right through it?

[Demented]

Can you imagine if Xykon were destroyed, then Redcloak true resurrects him?

:xykon: Donglefarnit! Do you know how much work it took to become a lich? I'm going to have to do that ALL OVER AGAIN!

:redcloak: I'm surprised that worked. Shouldn't you be past the due date for dying of old age?

:xykon: Don't say it too loud and maybe nobody will notic—*CROAK*

:redcloak: Ah, I shall miss thee, 25,000gp of diamonds.

[TheNovak]

Also (althoguh I am not too knowledgeable about DnD rules) wouldn't his 'incorpreilness' let him go right through it?

Nope, for the same reason Redcloak was telling Xykon to use Magic Missiles; they're both made of pure, magical energy that effects ghosts and stuff.

[TiamatRoar]

Red Cloak and Xykon are probably friends (the "Dying" panel in this latest strip isn't the only time in the comic that they've talked as if they were good buddies) but in this case, it was definately the phylactory. The fact that Xykon dived for RC right after Soon mentioned it and grinned like that couldn't make this more obvious.

Also, because someone mentioned it, Xykon did NOT leave Red Cloak to die at Miko's hands. He was betting on when Miko would beat Red Cloak, not KILL him. He did interupt when it got to that point, after all.

[holywhippet]

Nope, for the same reason Redcloak was telling Xykon to use Magic Missiles; they're both made of pure, magical energy that effects ghosts and stuff.

The cage spell doesn't cover the floor though as I recall. He could sink down through the floor and pop up elsewhere.


His soul hidey thingy of course. RedCloak is valuable, but not more than his own unlife.

Which raises a good question. It's unknown why Redcloak follows Xykon (although it's probably because his God wants revenge for all the killed Goblins) and unknown why Xykon chose Redcloaks holy symbol as his phylactery. But the real question is why does Xykon allow his phylactery to be carried around openly like that. Most liches hide theirs carefully to prevent heroes from just coming along and smashing it. Xykon's is sitting in plain sight on the neck of a goblin. Redcloak is a high level mage admittedly, but his holy symbol could get destroyed just by some wizard blasting him at range.

[ZeroNumerous]

The cage spell doesn't cover the floor though as I recall. He could sink down through the floor and pop up elsewhere.

Normal Forcecages can become a 5x5 windowless cube. So I'd assume it can.

And no, it can't. Items being attended to by a PC(or NPC) cannot be destroyed by AoE effects except on a Natural 1 on a save. And the spells that can destroy it need to hit a dimunitive object hanging from the neck of a goblin. Even if a wizard could hit that, he'd have to use something like Disintegrate to destroy it.

And even then, who's going to aim a Disintegrate spell at a medallion hanging from a goblin's neck without knowing what the medallion actually is? It's the basis of "hide in plain sight". Even if someone managed to destroy Xykon and kill Redcloak, are they really going to strip the cleric's holy symbol? No, they're going to go looking for where the lich hid his phylactery, which they don't realize is right under their nose.

[Wrecan]

1) Xykon didn't have any high level spells left. Forcecage is a seventh level spell.

2) Xykon might not actually know Forcecage. We have only ever seen him cast Xykon's Moderately Escapable Forcecage (which is also probably a sixth-eighth level spell, so he was probably out of those slots too), which has no floor.

3) Forcecage requires 1500 gp of ruby dust. Xykon probably only planned to use the spell once -- on the paladin he wanted to manipulate into being the target of his Teevo. I doubt he had more ruby dust in those pockets of his.

So, no, it is very unlikely that Xykon would have been able to Forcecage Soon to protect his phylactery (and, incidentally, Redcloak).

[Hel65]

Well, the concern was for the phylactery and Xykon's unlife, but there must be some reason why Redcloak carries it. I think that at least Xykon thinks that without Redcloak he wouldn't survive long. Or maybe he wouldn't want to. SoD may answer that.

[ZeroNumerous]

3) Forcecage requires 1500 gp of ruby dust. Xykon probably only planned to use the spell once -- on the paladin he wanted to manipulate into being the target of his Teevo. I doubt he had more ruby dust in those pockets of his.

Xykon is an NPC. He has whatever he needs in his pockets.

[Wrecan]

Xykon is an NPC. He has whatever he needs in his pockets.

No, he doesn't. As an NPC, he has a treasure distribution. And he spent most of his treasure on tht widescreen crystal ball (unless, that is, he found his receipt).

[Lord Zentei]

I think people are reading too much into the whole PC vs NPC thing. Sure, its included for gags every now and then, but ultimately, this is a story, not a game.

[tanonev]

Xykon is an NPC. He has whatever he needs in his pockets.

Soon's an NPC too. Rod of cancellation, anyone?

[Kreistor]

Xykon never worried about Redcloak until Soon mentioned the Phylactery. Xykon was oncerned only for his own existence.

[Shapechanger]

Also, it's spelled Phylactery.

I'll try to remeber that, but probably fail.

[nocker]

He was going for the philactery, but Xykon quite obviously enjoys having Redcloak around, even if it's just for tormenting him ("I totally conducted a job interview during a battle!").

[metalgazebo]

Redcloak's Xykon's cohort. That's a valuable feat he's gonna lose if hte dies.:smallamused:

[Black of Night]

Oh come on, this isn't even a question. :xykon: loves :redcloak: and would willingly die for him if....

Seriously, his Phylactery was in danger, no other motivation. Whatever :xykon: may be or think, he has his priorities straight:

1. :xykon:'s existence
2. :xykon:'s amusement

I think that about covers it.