Will Haley and Belkar get back on the boat before it leaves? [PREDICTIONS/SPOILERS]

[Porthos]

Haley and Belkar (and Roy) are an indeterminate amount of time away from the boat. There are a bunch of Hobgoblins and Redcloak at the dock attacking the boat. The ship's Captain is itching to leave the dock as soon as possible, and was only sticking around because Lord Hinjo told him to stay. And, oh yeah, Hinjo just went down in combat (perhaps temporarily).

So the question I have to all of you is this: Will the boat leave before Haley and co can get back on it? Or will the boat stick around till the bitter end.

BTW, I'm not asking should the boat stick around. I'm simply asking if the boat will stick around. You can certainly think that the boat should leave, but that some set of circumstances will occur that will make it stay (or vice versa).

I'd make a poll out of it, but we don't have polls anymore. :smallwink:

[dehro]

I think:
they will arrive just in time to see the boat leave and then sink just when taking of
they will then observe Julio Scoundrel fish for survivors from aboard his flying vessel and come pick them up too

I know it's never gonna happen, for at least a dozen reasons... I said it just for fun

[Surfing HalfOrc]

No, I don't think they'll make it back, and sometimes I wonder if they will get captured while sneaking through the city.

Even if Celia is summoned, it's hard to say if she will be able to get them to the ship on time, or all at the same time.

Celia was able to fly Roy on New Years, but that was after Roy took off all of his armor, and changed into a shirt. Now it's Roy (180+ pounds), Roy's Armor (20-30 more pounds), Belkar (30 pounds) and Haley (120 pounds) for a total of at least 360 pounds! That's a LOT of weight for Celia to have to fly, then add in the effort of flying to avoid hobgoblin archers...

I'm of the opinion that the OotS is about to be split for part of the next story arc. And if Haley isn't able to get Roy back on his feet fairly quickly, she will get even MORE experience in being the Team Leader.

[Krytha]

Oh I thought the title was going to be "Will Haley and Belkar get it on?" but then the full title came and dashed my hopes.

[BobTheDog]

Oh I thought the title was going to be "Will Haley and Belkar get it on?" but then the full title came and dashed my hopes.

Nice roll on your Craft (disturbing mental image) check.

[FujinAkari]

Yes they will... Rich wouldn't have devoted this much time to Hinjo waiting for them if they weren't gonna make it back, IMO.

[Thexare Blademoon]

Nice roll on your Craft (disturbing mental image) check.

Yeah, really putting that Skill Focus feat to use. :smalleek: I just hesitate to call it good use.


FujinAkari: It's also possible, albeit unlikely, that showing Hinjo's attempt to wait for Haley is intended to make it all the more dramatic when he is forced, for whatever reason, to leave without her.

[mockingbyrd7]

I made my will save, so I only took 1d6 sanity damage.

Back to the topic: It's really up in the air in my opinion. This is on the topic of whether or not Hinjo's junk can launch without the last three passengers? It could go either way. It could go BOTH ways. :smallamused:

Roll your will saves, DC 20. 4d6 sanity damage on a failed save, 1d6 on a made save.

[Jasdoif]

Celia was able to fly Roy on New Years, but that was after Roy took off all of his armor, and changed into a shirt. Now it's Roy (180+ pounds), Roy's Armor (20-30 more pounds), Belkar (30 pounds) and Haley (120 pounds) for a total of at least 360 pounds! That's a LOT of weight for Celia to have to fly, then add in the effort of flying to avoid hobgoblin archers... They have an ace up the sleeve on this one: A bag of holding's weight isn't affected by its contents. Shove Roy and Belkar into one, and Celia's got a much easier load.

[factotum]

Yes they will... Rich wouldn't have devoted this much time to Hinjo waiting for them if they weren't gonna make it back, IMO.

I see it exactly the opposite way. Spending so much time waiting for them, then having to leave when Haley etc. are within sight of their goal, is exactly what I'd do if I was writing the strip. Heck, leave it late enough that Elan and Haley can cast a mournful look at each other before they get back to the important business of surviving!

[Porthos]

Back to the topic: It's really up in the air in my opinion. This is on the topic of whether or not Hinjo's junk can launch without the last three passengers? It could go either way.

I think it is all going to come down to the how quickly Rich wants to get to the Next Major Story Arc (the Journey to the Western Continent). If he wants to get there semi-quickly, then I think that the OotS will be reunited in fairly short order. If, however, he wants to extend Teh Drama a bit, then I can certainly see the boat being forced to leave, just as Haley and co reach the docks.

Of course I'm not quite sure how Haley would then rendevous with the rest of the Order, but it would be fun to find out. And it would certainly delay the Roy Gets Raised subplot (giving Rich plenty of time to follow Roy's antics in heaven while having a Weekend at Bernie's motif back in the "real world").

I think the clincher for me is that the boat sailing away without Haley, Roy, and Belkar would make for a pretty evil cliffhanger for the next book. Besides, Splitting The Party is a Time Honored Tradition in DnD games. This could lead to all sorts of hilarity, parody-wise. And no, being kidnapped/being in different places on the battlefield during a war does not count as Splitting the Party.

But having exactly half the group sail away certainly would. :smallbiggrin:

So, after reflection, I think that the party will be split. But that's only because the DM in their game is a big mean meanie-head. :smalltongue:

[Forealms]

Roll your will saves, DC 20. 4d6 sanity damage on a failed save, 1d6 on a made save.

I got a 4 :smalltongue:

Good thing for online dice rollers... 17 sanity damage. Crap.

On tiopc, I tinhk tehy wlil mkae it bcak to the baot jsut bferoe it lveaes. But the baot wlil pbalroby snik or lnucah eraly bcuesae my lcuk is jsut taht hrirolbe, of cursoe.

For those of you who can't read that, I said this:

On topic, I think they will make it back to the boat just before it leaves. But the boat will probably sink or launch early because my luck is just that horrible, of course

[mockingbyrd7]

I think it is all going to come down to the how quickly Rich wants to get to the Next Major Story Arc (the Journey to the Western Continent). If he wants to get there semi-quickly, then I think that the OotS will be reunited in fairly short order. If, however, he wants to extend Teh Drama a bit, then I can certainly see the boat being forced to leave, just as Haley and co reach the docks.

Of course I'm not quite sure how Haley would then rendevous with the rest of the Order, but it would be fun to find out. And it would certainly delay the Roy Gets Raised subplot (giving Rich plenty of time to follow Roy's antics in heaven while having a Weekend at Bernie's motif back in the "real world").

I think the clincher for me is that the boat sailing away without Haley, Roy, and Belkar would make for a pretty evil cliffhanger for the next book. Besides, Splitting The Party is a Time Honored Tradition in DnD games. This could lead to all sorts of hilarity, parody-wise. And no, being kidnapped/being in different places on the battlefield during a war does not count as Splitting the Party.

But having exactly half the group sail away certainly would. :smallbiggrin:

So, after reflection, I think that the party will be split. But that's only because the DM in their game is a big mean meanie-head. :smalltongue:

You know, after reading this, I agree with you. And the Booty Talisman will be shattered one way or another, making the teams...

The Order of the Haley - Roy (dead), Haley, Belkar, Celia
The Order of the Elan (or Hinjo) - Hinjo, Elan, Durkon, V, Kazumi and Daigo, Lien (give or take a few, some of them may die before leaving)

[David Argall]

With Hinjo down, the ship will pull off as the celestial lion is exposed as a fake. There will be a couple of hi-jenks as they escape.

In the meantime, Haley, Belkar, & Roy arrive on scene and watch the ship leave. In the frustration of having arrived just a moment too late, somebody will more or less accidently hit the not-booty call and Celia shows. As suggested, Belkar and Roy are stuffed in the bag and Celia carries bag and Haley to the ship, this taking 9 minutes and 59 seconds due to goblin distractions, etc. Maybe Haley will need to dump the bag before they hand and Belkar takes a little falling damage too.

The book will not end just yet. We will need a few pages to get the lich out of the city and off to the next gate.

[Ithekro]

So people are starting to think this will be the Order of the Broken Stick soon? With Elan and Haley as the leaders of each piece of the stick? (Why not Durkon or V? or Hinjo for that matter?)

I can say that it could happen. I don't want it to happen. That doesn't stop it from happening however.

Just a quick thought....one party has all the physical damage people, the other has all the spell casters in the other. Hmmmm.

[stabbybelkar]

why aren't there any more polls?

[Siwenna]

I agree that the order will probably split up. Hinjo was the only one keeping Captain Axe from launching the ship, and now that he's been severely injured the Captain will want to leave even more.


They have an ace up the sleeve on this one: A bag of holding's weight isn't affected by its contents. Shove Roy and Belkar into one, and Celia's got a much easier load.

DIdn't Haley say that they couldn't do that with O-chul because he would suffocate? Roy they can put in the bag, if they're willing to risk activating the Mark of Justice, but not Belkar.

Also, why are people putting Elan as the leader of one group. He's at the bottom of the hierarchy. Sure, he seems to have gotten somewhat smarter and more mature, but he would be an awful leader. V or Durkon is the most likely choice. I guess Hinjo might take charge, but I don't think that would really work out. He has been a really poor leader through the Battle for Azure City, he's too proud and "honerable" to do the smartest thing much of the time, and I think he would be more concerned with going back to save Azure City than stopping Xykon in the long run.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

I agree that the order will probably split up. Hinjo was the only one keeping Captain Axe from launching the ship, and now that he's been severely injured the Captain will want to leave even more.



DIdn't Haley say that they couldn't do that with O-chul because he would suffocate? Roy they can put in the bag, if they're willing to risk activating the Mark of Justice, but not Belkar.

Also, why are people putting Elan as the leader of one group. He's at the bottom of the hierarchy. Sure, he seems to have gotten somewhat smarter and more mature, but he would be an awful leader. V or Durkon is the most likely choice. I guess Hinjo might take charge, but I don't think that would really work out. He has been a really poor leader through the Battle for Azure City, he's too proud and "honerable" to do the smartest thing much of the time, and I think he would be more concerned with going back to save Azure City than stopping Xykon in the long run.

Breaking this into four parts:

1. Roy can't go into the bag by himself, since it could activate the MoJ. Belkar won't take the risk.

2. Elan tends to get the top billing of Leader because of the nature of the rest of the characters. Durkon would be the best pick, but he's more of a coach than a quarterback. Vaarsuvius doesn't have the personality or ability to lead others. S/he's too self-centered. Hinjo isn't a member of the OotS, and will be needed elsewhere in just a few more strips. Dealing with the politics of the nobles, reorganizing the citizens of Azure City, and leading the counter-attack will be occupying his time.

Elan, goofy and dumb as he may be, has a very high charisma, and can get people to work to the best of their abilities. Leadership isn't always about your own skills, it's about getting those around you to use their skills!

3. Hinjo's not a poor leader either, he was just overwhelmed by the situation and the sudden changes. Until the Death Knight took out the Giant Soldiers, the wall was being held. Battles can be won or lost in a moment, it's the overall strategy that determines who wins the war.

4. Taking back the city will be a long term goal, and Hinjo would be a terrible leader if he left ruling the city to chase down Xykon. As a ruler, it's not his job to chase down Redcloak and Xykon, it's his job to make sure he has a team to go out and do just that. His job is to make sure he has the resources to support his team out in the field.

[Dalenthas]

I think they will be forced to flee, and then there will be a relatively short "retaking of Azure City" subplot that rejoins Haley et. al. with the rest of the OotS.

[Acyberexile]

I agree with the two orders thing. Do we know Celia's abilities? Maybe she can resurrect Roy, or at least fly him to someone who can resurrect him while Belkar and Haley hides. Then they would go to the Western Continent with hopes of finding the rest of the order, in a LotR-esque way.

[jamroar]

DIdn't Haley say that they couldn't do that with O-chul because he would suffocate? Roy they can put in the bag, if they're willing to risk activating the Mark of Justice, but not Belkar.


There's enough air in there for a few minutes, enough for a short jaunt across the water if the ship leaves as they arrive, but surely not enough for flying the entire way back.

[Siwenna]

Elan, goofy and dumb as he may be, has a very high charisma, and can get people to work to the best of their abilities. Leadership isn't always about your own skills, it's about getting those around you to use their skills!

Oh, like V did with Elan. Elan doesn't understand his own skills well enough to use them, let alone help others with there's. While when the OOTS first started adventuring, V's charisma would effectively stop her from leading. Now everyone, with the exception of Belkar (who wouldn't be in her group,) gets along with and respects Vaarsuvius.


Taking back the city will be a long term goal, and Hinjo would be a terrible leader if he left ruling the city to chase down Xykon. As a ruler, it's not his job to chase down Redcloak and Xykon, it's his job to make sure he has a team to go out and do just that. His job is to make sure he has the resources to support his team out in the field.

Yes, as the ruler of Azure CIty it would be a bad idea to go chasing after Xykon. THe OOTS, however, needs to focus on stopping Xykon, not rescuing Azure City. So major conflict of interests.


There's enough air in there for a few minutes, enough for a short jaunt across the water if the ship leaves as they arrive, but surely not enough for flying the entire way back.

Ah, OK. I wasn't sure how exactly bags of holding work, so I was just going by Haley's earlier comments.

[Porthos]

BUMP

Well, while it isn't offical yet (some miracle could still occur ), it sure doesn't look good for the [i]Weekend at Roy's gang. :smalleek:

[Cousinbj13]

Yeah. But, it appears Hinjo has just woken up, so he might make the ship turn around and pick them up.

[Jher'c Kelborn]

Answer: no!