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View Full Version : Roy and the Afterlife [SPECULATION] (NCftPB and SoD SPOILERS)



Porthos
2007-07-10, 10:24 PM
A thought stuck me as I was driving home tonight about Roy's overall fate in the comic.

(SPOILERS for SoD):

At the end of SoD, Eugene Greenhilt is told that he can't enter the Celestial Realm until he completes his Blood Oath of Vengeance. And while we have seen evidence that he can run around parts of the Outer Planes (from comments he's made in the main comic), he can't Go To His Final Reward.

So what does this have to do with Roy? Everything. Roy, thanks to the hereditary affect of the Oath, is under the same fate as his dad. The way I read it, he will, quite literally, be kept from entering "heaven" until Xykon is destroyed once and for all.

Kinda sucks for Roy, but there you are. :smalltongue:

So now we have a legitimate literary reason for Roy to come back. In fact, one might go as far as to say that, for story purposes, he has to come back, even if it is only as a ghost.

As for NCftPB....


.... Heck, if Miko had killed Belkar, we probably would have had a few strips showing Belkar in the Afterlife before he was brought back. (Aw, man, that would have been great...sigh...another opportunity missed.)

What this tells me is that Roy isn't coming back right away. After all, Rich is already, as seen from the quote, on record as wanting to explore the Afterlife. Well, now that he has a Main Character who is dead, he has that chance. :smalltongue:

So when I combine these two little points, I come to the conclusion that we're going to see Roy's trials and tribulations in the Afterlife while he waits to be raised/ressed (Roy/Eugene conversation, Roy/Celestial Bureaucrat confrontation, Roy/Miko Smakdown, et etc).

[Point that references SoD spoiler from above]::: After all, just because he can't get into the Celestial Realm, it doesn't mean he can't find something to do while he waits around.

As for how long it will take Roy to get Returned From the Dead, and this is only my gut feeling on the matter, I suspect that Roy will eventually come back, it's gonna be a while before it happens. Both for the Meta Reasons (Rich wants plenty of time to explore the Afterlife) and the In Story Reason (it doesn't look like the OotS are going to have immediate access to any diamonds).

Hopefully, if they escape in Hinjo's boat, they'll eventually run into a Pirate Ship that just happens to have a Diamond or two in it's treasure hold. :smallsmile:

Solharath
2007-07-10, 10:28 PM
You forget about the package holding Hinjo's family jewels. Perhaps those could be used to raise Roy?

BRC
2007-07-10, 10:29 PM
You forget about the package holding Hinjo's family jewels. Perhaps those could be used to raise Roy?
Wrong thread

Porthos
2007-07-10, 10:32 PM
You forget about the package holding Hinjo's family jewels. Perhaps those could be used to raise Roy?

Errr... I think you are confusing a joke/speculation made in the Hinjo's Junk thread with an actual in-comic reference. :smalltongue:

Solharath
2007-07-10, 10:32 PM
No, I'm serious, Doesn't Hinjo have Family Jewels sent to his ship? Or did I mistake myself?

Porthos
2007-07-10, 10:35 PM
No, I'm serious, Doesn't Hinjo have Family Jewels sent to his ship? Or did I mistake myself?

Nope. At least it wasn't mentioned in the Double Entrende comic. :smallsmile:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0418.html

Hinjo: Now, did you deliver that package for me?
Random Soldier: Yes sir. I handled your package personally.
Hinjo: Outstanding.

Solharath
2007-07-10, 10:37 PM
I just read that on my own to find you had the link for me. *sigh* Anyway, thanks, look as if I did jump the gun. It didn't say anything about Family jewels. Sorry.

Although, what about Haley's orbs, the ones shown way back at the Hotel. EDIT: Or did those explode with the rest of it?

Porthos
2007-07-10, 10:39 PM
I just read that on my own to find you had the link for me. *sigh* Anyway, thanks, look as if I did jump the gun. It didn't say anything about Family jewels. Sorry.

Although, what about Haley's orbs, the ones shown way back at the Hotel.

Has to be diamonds. Haley's orbs, as nice as they are, just won't cut it when it comes to the spell. :smallsmile:

Solharath
2007-07-10, 10:41 PM
They can't be spherical diamonds? I know next to nothing on DnD terms, but couldn't you cut diamonds with Magic, or something along those lines?

Porthos
2007-07-10, 10:49 PM
They can't be spherical diamonds? I know next to nothing on DnD terms, but couldn't you cut diamonds with Magic, or something along those lines?

Here is the Haley's Orbs comic:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0123.html

Now, never mind where they would get a Gemcutter to tackle one of those beauties, those look nothing like diamonds, not even rough ones. :smallsmile: And no DM worth their salt would allow something like that to past muster anyway. Especially if the DM was trying to make a Plot Hook out of the lack of diamonds. :smallbiggrin:

Also, the diamonds have to be worth at least 5,000 gp for the spell to work, so even if you had an extremely lenient DM that somehow allowed those orbs to be changed into diamonds, all they would have to say is that they weren't worth enough money for the spell to work. :smallsmile:

Now there is a Quick Fix possibility. There are a bunch of Rich Nobles just outside of the city who didn't lift a finger to try and save Azure City from falling. I can certainly see Haley trying to search one of their boats to find the requisite diamonds. :smallsmile:

Jewel Thief
2007-07-23, 06:07 PM
I'm hoping Roy meets Mizo in the afterlife.

malakim2099
2007-07-23, 06:13 PM
A thought stuck me as I was driving home tonight about Roy's overall fate in the comic.

(SPOILERS for SoD):

At the end of SoD, Eugene Greenhilt is told that he can't enter the Celestial Realm until he completes his Blood Oath of Vengeance. And while we have seen evidence that he can run around parts of the Outer Planes (from comments he's made in the main comic), he can't Go To His Final Reward.

So what does this have to do with Roy? Everything. Roy, thanks to the hereditary affect of the Oath, is under the same fate as his dad. The way I read it, he will, quite literally, be kept from entering "heaven" until Xykon is destroyed once and for all.

Kinda sucks for Roy, but there you are. :smalltongue:


One problem.


The oath specifically says (leaving out the grunts of pain from Eugene as the glyph was being carved into his back):

"I, Eugene Greenhilt, swear on the blood that flows from my wounds this day that I shall not rest, in this life or any other, until I or my heirs have enacted horrible vengeance on those that have slighted me, named here as Xykon the Sorcerer."

So Roy, technically, can go right in, because he only has to complete the Oath to get his dad off the hook. HE doesn't have to complete anything in order to get in.

Additionally, one thing that I just noticed here, is that Xykon does NOT HAVE TO BE KILLED. Technically, horrible vengeance could involve decapitating Xykon and having him be Belkar's Pet Skull Part II... which would be far more cruel than mere death, IMHO. :smallamused:

Though I do agree with you that there will likely be an extended Afterlife segment... either for the 15-20 strips up to #500... or starting at #501.

Charity322
2007-07-23, 08:39 PM
Hopefully, if they escape in Hinjo's boat, they'll eventually run into a Pirate Ship that just happens to have a Diamond or two in it's treasure hold. :smallsmile:

They'll run into Julio Scoundrel's ship where he will be tragically killed in accordance with the prophecy he made to Elan if they were ever to meet again and we'll find out he left everything to Elan in his will! :smallbiggrin:

kpenguin
2007-07-23, 09:05 PM
I'm hoping Roy meets Mizo in the afterlife.

*lame mispelling joke"

Anyway, I think that, if Porthos is correct, then we might be seeing Miko and Roy together. Some speculation after Miko died said that Miko won't make it to heaven and if she and Roy both end up in Limbo (in the normal sense, not the plane of pure chaos), hilarity will ensue.

Belkar's Left Foot
2007-07-23, 09:54 PM
I predict that Roy will spend the afterlife dealing with his father, and near the very end meet Miko, he will make some very good points, convince her that she did do something wrong, and right when she starts to say "You were-(Roy gets raised)right...." and he misses it.

kpenguin
2007-07-23, 10:01 PM
I predict that Roy will spend the afterlife dealing with his father, and near the very end meet Miko, he will make some very good points, convince her that she did do something wrong, and right when she starts to say "You were-(Roy gets raised)right...." and he misses it.

The problem here is that Roy knows when he's about to be raised and can refuse. He probably won't choose to be interrupted.

Belkar's Left Foot
2007-07-23, 10:13 PM
True.....but then Rich could just choose to have Roy be forcibly drawn off, because (I'm not up on D&D rules) how many times can Durkon cast Ressurect?

Callista
2007-07-23, 10:30 PM
Hey, if somebody were spending 5,000 gp to resurrect me, I wouldn't wait to finish a conversation, either.

But doesn't it have a long casting time? Roy would probably have a chance to finish up whatever he was doing before he left.