OOTS #305 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

Late, but now present.

[Amotis]

Yes! I've waited and now! WHOOO! :)

[Evik]

Score!
Transcribe my what, now? :D

woot # 2 :D hehehe

[Amiria]

great strip

"ale rather than vomit", ;D properly played dwarves always rule

[Gengy]

Hehehe... It's good to see Roy with the sword at his back again.

And transcribing the accent... priceless.

[Xenon]

dwarf-tossing! hehe, i think durkon failed his sense motive check.

[ElfLad]

OK, that was really funny, but the view of the letter was the best part. It almost made the punchline redundant, but it's still great.

This is why Durkon's my favorite.

[GnollLord]

That was genius and well worth the wait

"ale rather than vomit" ;D

Keep up the good work Rich

[Zaku_III]

I need to start using that blessing with people.

Also, first page.

[Elkarbay]

This comic leaves one question. Why was he kicked out in the first place? I probably missed that story. :(

Liked the letter written with the accent, though.

Oh, and first page I guess.

[Zaku_III]

This comic leaves one question. Why was he kicked out in the first place? I probably missed that story. :(

I can't tell you, as I don't know, but I do know it was covered in the book On The Origin of PCs.

[mirado_lassik]

"Transcribe my what, now?"

Great comic Giant.

Edit: First time on the first page!

[Nighthawk4]

Hehe - the old 'accent' issue. :D



Edit: my first ever 'First Page'. Happy Easter to everyone. ;)

[RAMPAGE]

This comic leaves one question. Why was he kicked out in the first place? I probably missed that story. :(

Liked the letter written with the accent, though.

Oh, and first page I guess.

Guess we just will have to buy the book :D

[Nyax]

Awesome! I'm gonna use that beard dwarven greeting every time i can now! Dwarven accent rox! ::)

edit: First page! :D

[RemoJr]

awesome. i have the origen book and i was wondering what color his robe was when they threw him out.

[The Lady Auneredra]

One of my friends is from Texas, and she's the same way when it comes to accents:
A) she doesn't have one, everyone else does
and
B) she even write "y'all" in her emails

[Holy_Knight]

Very nice. My favorite part was that Thor's hammer "smooshes" the evil of the world. :)

[TinSoldier]

This comic leaves one question. Why was he kicked out in the first place? I probably missed that story. Sad

Liked the letter written with the accent, though.

Oh, and first page I guess.

Guess we just will have to buy the book :DWhile buying the book is a Good Idea (TM), you shouldn't have to in order to enjoy the comic. If it is related to the online story, it will be revealed online. Since it is an important part of the storyline, his reason for being kicked out will come out. You just have to RAFO. Or buy the book if you are impatient.

I did enjoy seeing the panel that was in OoPCs in the webcomic, though.

[Dreith]

Heh, "smooshes tha evil". Such a funny word.. :D

[metalphil]

Beautiful. :)

I really quite like nerdy language jokes.

[The Giant]

While buying the book is a Good Idea (TM), you shouldn't have to in order to enjoy the comic. If it is related to the online story, it will be revealed online. Since it is an important part of the storyline, his reason for being kicked out will come out. You just have to RAFO. Or buy the book if you are impatient.

It is important to realize that even Durkon doesn't know WHY he was kicked out. Remember, he told Hilgya in OOTS #84 (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=84) that he was told to travel in human lands until called for by the High Priest. This strip further reveals that he was "asked" rather forcefully, and that it has been close to 28 years since he last stepped foot in dwarven territory. Other than that, you guys pretty much know everything he knows.

So yeah, when it matters, the reasons will be discussed in the comic, just as the events are being shown here. Don't expect it soon, though.

[Brasswatchman]

What with the humorous and wonderful things about the comic having already been expressed in this thread, let me move onto the dark forbidden fruit that is speculation:

SPOILER: This comic suggests to me that Durkon's family may not even know that he's alive. High priests might have told them he was dead, for fear they'd try contacting him and/or bringing him home if they knew the truth. Oh, well. There was no way that this wasn't going to end in disaster for the dwarfen people; I think that's been pretty clear from the beginning.

[Fishies]

Oooh, Roy has a hellotta spelling correction to do... or he could just pass it to V. Either one, really.

[Gildes]

So "Praise tha High Priest o' Thor" is more appropriate than "O Mighty High Priest of Thor"...
Is it because of the o' or because of the Praise?

[Priceless_Ming]

Ha! The many madcap misfortunes of our favorite Dwarven Cleric.

So, I guess that leaves V to the xerox or fantasy equivalent.

Good stuff as always. You know you've got a good one when the Giant has to descend from upon high to explain it.

Cheers.

[Elkarbay]

Guess we just will have to buy the book :D

Figured I'd get that. I don't know anything about the book. Thought I'd ask anyway.

[Corestimah]

Transcribe accent. BRILLIENT! ;D ;D ;D

[idksocrates]

awww... just read the comic an hour or so after it came out hoping to be on page 1 but there's already 2 pages by the time I got here... :'(

oh well. I was actually hoping Roy would have some reaction to Durkon's story, but it seems it just kind of rolled off his back.

[n11]

Hmm... 28 years. I was trying to reconcile that with the numbers from OtOoPCs, but then I realized this (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=34). I don't think the OOTS has been together for 11 years, but I could be wrong, as a lot of time could have passed between comics 120 and 200.

Edit: No wait, Haley is still 24 when fighting Samantha, so Durkon's math is definitely suspect. But when you live as long as a dwarf, what's a decade here or there.

[The Giant]

Hmm... 28 years. I was trying to reconcile that with the numbers from OtOoPCs, but then I realized this (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=34). I don't think the OOTS has been together for 11 years, but I could be wrong, as a lot of time could have passed between comics 120 and 200.

Edit: No wait, Haley is still 24 when fighting Samantha, so Durkon's math is definitely suspect. But when you live as long as a dwarf, what's a decade here or there.

D'oh! Good catch, n11. In my original timeline, it was 27 years before the start of the online strip, but I shortened it to 17 years right before I sent OtOoPCs to print. I was in such a rush to get this up (since I was so late) that I didn't check my numbers. I'll fix today's strip.

EDIT: Fixed now. You might need to force your browser to refresh to see the change.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

Bah! Mistake or no mistake, this is a beaut of a comic. 'Transcribe your accent' indeed. Then why do we do it on the interweb?

[feeble psyche snaps a bit more] Yay! I get to say I posted right after the Giant for once! Squee! I must find my friends, pen pals, erronious acquaintances, and people I've never even met and tell them about it!

[Devils_Advocate]

So "Praise tha High Priest o' Thor" is more appropriate than "O Mighty High Priest of Thor"...
Is it because of the o' or because of the Praise?

Both.

[blackfox]

...I like it. I like the red feather. :) And, of course, the punchline.


[feeble psyche snaps a bit more] Yay! I get to say I posted right after the Giant for once! Squee! I must find my friends, pen pals, erronious acquaintances, and people I've never even met and tell them about it!*laughter*

[Hoseki]

Yay! For people who have OtOoPCs, juicy knowledge! Now, what will the High Priest's responce be...?

[ref]

Very interesting! We'll see how it turns out. Poor Durkon...

[RationalGoblin]

The High Priest will probably say, "Nah, Durkon, your doing just FINE."

[fithi]

"Transcribe my what, now?"

*snicker* Great punchline!

It will certainly be interesting to see how the High Priest responds to the request.

[Ravenwind]

Two doses of Sticky delight in a day; a fun new strip here, and a guest strip, in the style of OotS over at PvP! (http://www.pvponline.com/archive/2006/pvp20060415.gif for the linkless).

Thank you! Made my day!

[cuibono_219]

;)

[AyuVince]

May The Giant's beard be soaked in praise for this strip ;D

Damn, again I have failed my "Knowledge (obscure OotS facts)" check because I don't own Origin of PCs. I really have to get an international credit card to order that from Paizo.

[GM_West]

Durkon is awesome. It's great to see him every now and then as the central character of a strip.

I REALLY need to get that Origin of the PC's... Gonna hit Paizo.com tonight, I think.

Thanks for the laughs again, Giant! I love those dwarven blessings. And one of my dwarven PC's speaks in the same way as Durkon. Then again, don't they all... ;)

[narfi_ref]

OK, now I have to rant on one of my pet peaves when it comes to the depiction of Dwarves, and it goes back to Tolkien and John Rhys-Davies.
When created Middle Earth he borrowed heavily from other sources, namely Germanic mythology (which includes the mainland German, Scandinavian, and Anglo-Saxon traditions), from which Elves and Dwarves come. Also, he tried to create a new mythology for Britain, because alot of the Anglo-Saxon source material has been lost, and because he saw the Authurian Tradition as too French. In the process of doing this he more or less tied the peoples of ME with the peoples of Great Britain, this is mostly seen in the fact that the Elivish languages are phoenetically based partly on Welsh (but also partly on Finnish).
For the filming of the movies, John Rhys-Davies took this intent of Tolkien's into consideration when deciding how to play Gimli, and chose to gave him a slight Scottish accent (and accent that he had practice using, mind you, for his recurring role as MacBeth on Disney's Gargoyles).
This is all fine and good, in the context of Middle Earth and its being a metaphor for Great Brittain, but D&D is not a metaphor for GB, neither is World of Warcraft, nor is OotS, or any of the other post Tolkien fantasy settings that feature Dwarves with Scottish accents. The Scots are a Celtic people. Dwarves come from Germanic lore. Why should it be an axiom that Dwarves speak like Scots? I would like just once to hear/read Dwarves that speak like Germans or Norse.
OK, I'm going to end my rambling rant now.

[Winged One]

;D

Transcribed accents...where do you come up with this stuff?

[Fishies]

And one of my dwarven PC's speaks in the same way as Durkon. Then again, don't they all... ;)

Toliudar overdoes it in Arena of Gath

[tothecornfield]

Good strip. We don't see too much interaction between Roy and Durkon. The pair are not usually funny together since there is little reason for conflict between them. This strip was funny regardless of that.

[Midnight Son]

OK, now I have to rant on one of my pet peaves when it comes to the depiction of Dwarves, and it goes back to Tolkien and John Rhys-Davies.
When created Middle Earth he borrowed heavily from other sources, namely Germanic mythology (which includes the mainland German, Scandinavian, and Anglo-Saxon traditions), from which Elves and Dwarves come. Also, he tried to create a new mythology for Britain, because alot of the Anglo-Saxon source material has been lost, and because he saw the Authurian Tradition as too French. In the process of doing this he more or less tied the peoples of ME with the peoples of Great Britain, this is mostly seen in the fact that the Elivish languages are phoenetically based partly on Welsh (but also partly on Finnish).
For the filming of the movies, John Rhys-Davies took this intent of Tolkien's into consideration when deciding how to play Gimli, and chose to gave him a slight Scottish accent (and accent that he had practice using, mind you, for his recurring role as MacBeth on Disney's Gargoyles).
This is all fine and good, in the context of Middle Earth and its being a metaphor for Great Brittain, but D&D is not a metaphor for GB, neither is World of Warcraft, nor is OotS, or any of the other post Tolkien fantasy settings that feature Dwarves with Scottish accents. The Scots are a Celtic people. Dwarves come from Germanic lore. Why should it be an axiom that Dwarves speak like Scots? I would like just once to hear/read Dwarves that speak like Germans or Norse.
OK, I'm going to end my rambling rant now.Considering that OoTS is a spoof on the many and varied cliches that exist not only in D&D, but in the fantasy worlds in general, I have to say that giving Durkon a Scottish accent is dead on. Also, Who gives a fart what an author chooses to do with his own creation? Just because a story or legend is based off of a particular culture, doesn't mean that every single example or derivative of said item must be portrayed in the same way. Besides, ze dwarf just vould not be as funny in ze german accent.

[Finwe]

OK, now I have to rant on one of my pet peaves when it comes to the depiction of Dwarves, and it goes back to Tolkien and John Rhys-Davies.
When created Middle Earth he borrowed heavily from other sources, namely Germanic mythology (which includes the mainland German, Scandinavian, and Anglo-Saxon traditions), from which Elves and Dwarves come. Also, he tried to create a new mythology for Britain, because alot of the Anglo-Saxon source material has been lost, and because he saw the Authurian Tradition as too French. In the process of doing this he more or less tied the peoples of ME with the peoples of Great Britain, this is mostly seen in the fact that the Elivish languages are phoenetically based partly on Welsh (but also partly on Finnish).
For the filming of the movies, John Rhys-Davies took this intent of Tolkien's into consideration when deciding how to play Gimli, and chose to gave him a slight Scottish accent (and accent that he had practice using, mind you, for his recurring role as MacBeth on Disney's Gargoyles).
This is all fine and good, in the context of Middle Earth and its being a metaphor for Great Brittain, but D&D is not a metaphor for GB, neither is World of Warcraft, nor is OotS, or any of the other post Tolkien fantasy settings that feature Dwarves with Scottish accents. The Scots are a Celtic people. Dwarves come from Germanic lore. Why should it be an axiom that Dwarves speak like Scots? I would like just once to hear/read Dwarves that speak like Germans or Norse.
OK, I'm going to end my rambling rant now.


Hey kids! Its time for random history fact of the day!

The Celts went to Great Britain from Germany!

So, in a roundabout way, a Scottish accent is technicaly also a German accent. ;)

[narfi_ref]

Considering that OoTS is a spoof on the many and varied cliches that exist not only in D&D, but in the fantasy worlds in general, I have to say that giving Durkon a Scottish accent is dead on. Also, Who gives a fart what an author chooses to do with his own creation? Just because a story or legend is based off of a particular culture, doesn't mean that every single example or derivative of said item must be portrayed in the same way. Besides, ze dwarf just vould not be as funny in ze german accent.


I didn't say they should all be portrayed as German or Norse, only at least some; I did say that they shouldn't all be portrayed as Scottish. And if the Giant were to poke fun at the absurd notion that Dwarves should be Scottish, that would be great, but he has yet to do that.

Narfi Ref.

Oh, and all accents are funny if you try.

[mikoto]

dang it! i go for a workout at the gym and miss first page

but still a great comic

[Blaznak]

The best of the best was Smooshes, I thought.

As to Durkon's Accent, I aways read it in my mind as norse, not scottish. I can see the other reading (not that its pointed out to me) but, to me, still seems a bit Norwegian...

Go figure...

[Frito_Butterbuns]

I like Durkon quite a bit and wish he was involved in more cartoons. Very funny.

[Finwe]

Mabi Durkon Shuld Spake with ze Swedish accent, near the lovli lakes, and tha majestic moose.

[Bilbo27]

Well worth the wait, All praise Thor and hope are beards are soaked in ale!!

Whooohoooo!

[Shara_Littlebottom]

Me loves Durkon Thundersheild! What a great strip. I'm about to introduce a Dwarf into an ongoing campaign, maybe I'll try ze German accent, and see how it goes, Ja!

I wonder which character the next strip will focus on?

[CockroachTeaParty]

Poor Durkon. He always gets the shaft. All of the saddest strips involve him. No joy for dwarves.

[Devils_Advocate]

Evidently the demihumans in OOTS are like the foreigners in Bond films, who prefer to speak heavily accented English even to those with whom they share a native language.

It's perhaps worth noting that Durkon's accent isn't common to all dwarves in OOTS, just the ones where he comes from. Neither Hilgya nor her husband have it. Their skin color is different, too.

[CelestialStick]

There's nothing in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings to suggest that dwarves in Middle Earth have a Scottish accent.

Celtic tribes might have occupied the area of central Europe later occupied by Germanic tribes, but that doesn't make Celts Germanic. Both Celts and Germanic peoples belong to the Indo-European language family, however, so if you want to trace them far enough back they're all related. (If you follow that logic far enough back of course, we're all related.) That doesn't mean that Celtic-accented English would sound anything like German-accented English.

Interestingly, the Celtic Highlands Scots saw their language influenced by Old Norse during the years of Norse invasion and settlement in the British Isles in the 8th-10th centuries AD. The Scottish word "mickle" meaning "great" comes from the Old Norse word "mikill" having the same meaning. ("Mikill" is also the origin of the English word "much.")

Ok, history and linguistics aside, I love Durkon. Thor has always been one of my favorite gods, and in the D&D campaign I run the party has two worshippers of Thor. I hear them more as having Scandinavian accents, but I think Durkon's Scottish accent gives him an otherly quality that seems appropriate. (That's probably why Peter Jackson chose to have Gimli have a Scottish accent too.)

I often think that Durkon is the most honorable, upstanding member of the party, and it pains me to see him never catch a break. I just goes to show that no good deed ever goes unpunished. :'(

[Melnor]

Great comic, Giant!
Hee hee, reminds me of the dwarf in the book I'm writing...
And it's okay if it's late so long as we get it! ;D

[Bosh]

Well what people usually associate with the Scottish accent is the Lowlands dialect, which is an mix of all kinds of different stuff and not especially Celtic, that would be the Highlanders...

Also Celtic is not Germanic in any form although the Celts were in Germany before the Germans (Celts were all over the place, hence the Galicias in Spain and Turkey) they are completely separate language sub-families.

[Barazon]

A nice twist on an old theme (making fun of Dwarvish brogue), though it seems that the last frame should really read "Transcribe me what, now?"

[Winged One]

Well what people usually associate with the Scottish accent is the Lowlands dialect, which is an mix of all kinds of different stuff and not especially Celtic, that would be the Highlanders...
There can be only one! :P

[CelestialStick]

There can be only one! :P

Heh.;D Or as we might say with a Germanic accent, thar caan be only von! ;)

[ekedolphin]

Great strip, as usual! Good to see a panel from Origins finally make it to the web, and see what color Durkon's robe was-- I always pictured it as blue, but a little lighter blue than that. Now I know for sure, hee.

I also feel sorry for Durkon, and wonder what'll happen when he realizes the truth of his fate.

[taigen]

Quite a funny comic, though in a way the humor is only because we are used to spelling in this day and age. Back in the times that OotS appears to be set in, spelling was more or less up to the individual.. so I guess he would spell it like he speaks it. In a way its Roy once again being anachronistic.

-Taigen

[DEMONhunter]

May your beard be soaked in ale rather than vomit... gv! It was worth waiting for to say the least. And the punchline was clever too.

[Antina]

"Transcribe my what?" Un-beat-able!!! :)

And poor Durkon - never had imagined he had such a bad start to quests himself... (not only hyglia)

And a great WOW for what he´s achived! Getting an armor and so expensive equipment (not by stealing - considering his alignment)

[The Glyphstone]

"Transcribe my what?" Un-beat-able!!! :)

And poor Durkon - never had imagined he had such a bad start to quests himself... (not only hyglia)

And a great WOW for what he´s achived! Getting an armor and so expensive equipment (not by stealing - considering his alignment)

OtOoPC's spoiler:

In the folllowing panel, they toss his equipment out after him."

[themunck]

Just hit me, why does he write in common, and not dwaven?

[The Glyphstone]

Just hit me, why does he write in common, and not dwaven?

Maybe Roy can read Dwarven (he does have an Int bonus, so bonus languages), and it's just been translated for the reader's benefit?

[Dawnstrider_Moogle]

Just hit me, why does he write in common, and not dwaven?

Common seems to be the ultimate lingua franca, so perhaps all the OotSworld clergy use it.

[Illsbane]

You know, considering Durkon's bad luck with women, it's possible he got tossed out because the High Priest's wife said Durkon was a fine-looking young Dwarf and mumbled something about him in her sleep, making the High Priest suspect the worst ... I'm just saying it's possible.
Another possibility is that the High Priest foresaw the events surrounding the gate would occur and that Durkon needed to be there. The end of everything would be sufficient reason to send a young cleric out with less than courteous haste.

Poor guy. His mom and grandad must be worried sick, allowing for Dwarfish stoicism.

[Maxymiuk]

Besides, ze dwarf just vould not be as funny in ze german accent.


Not to mention that in writing, the German accent looks like something Dracula would say. ;)

[metalphil]

OK, now I have to rant on one of my pet peaves when it comes to the depiction of Dwarves, and it goes back to Tolkien and John Rhys-Davies.
When created Middle Earth he borrowed heavily from other sources, namely Germanic mythology (which includes the mainland German, Scandinavian, and Anglo-Saxon traditions), from which Elves and Dwarves come. Also, he tried to create a new mythology for Britain, because alot of the Anglo-Saxon source material has been lost, and because he saw the Authurian Tradition as too French. In the process of doing this he more or less tied the peoples of ME with the peoples of Great Britain, this is mostly seen in the fact that the Elivish languages are phoenetically based partly on Welsh (but also partly on Finnish).
For the filming of the movies, John Rhys-Davies took this intent of Tolkien's into consideration when deciding how to play Gimli, and chose to gave him a slight Scottish accent (and accent that he had practice using, mind you, for his recurring role as MacBeth on Disney's Gargoyles).
This is all fine and good, in the context of Middle Earth and its being a metaphor for Great Brittain, but D&D is not a metaphor for GB, neither is World of Warcraft, nor is OotS, or any of the other post Tolkien fantasy settings that feature Dwarves with Scottish accents. The Scots are a Celtic people. Dwarves come from Germanic lore. Why should it be an axiom that Dwarves speak like Scots? I would like just once to hear/read Dwarves that speak like Germans or Norse.
OK, I'm going to end my rambling rant now.

Except that long before those movies came out Dwaves had scottish accents. Bruenor Battlehammer, for example, had a Scottish accent (and the first book he was published in was in 1988 ) and every guy that "roleplayed" a Dwarf in my campaigns uses a Scottish accent.. I think Dwarves and Scots are inseperable at this point. Given Bruenor and Gimli( in the movies), you're never going to escape it now. I'd chill out and enjoy the plethora of terrible accents you're going to hear! ;)

Secondly, the first Elven language that Tolkien created was based on Finnish. Was it not, also, the more frequently used one?


Mabi Durkon Shuld Spake with ze Swedish accent, near the lovli lakes, and tha majestic moose.

"The løvli lakes. The wønderful telephøne system. And many interesting furry animals. Including the majestic møøse. A møøse ønce bit my sister... No realli! She was Karving her initals on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: 'The Høt Hands of an Oslo Dentist', 'Fillings of Passion', 'The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink'."

"We apologize for the fault of the subtitles, those apologized have been sacked."

"Mind you møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti..."

:D

[n11]

Just hit me, why does he write in common, and not dwaven?

For the same reason the aliens encountered in sci-fi TV shows almost always speak English.

[Tawkis]

For the same reason the aliens encountered in sci-fi TV shows almost always speak English.
Everyone knows thats because of a universal translator that not only translates the language BEFORE they utter so much as a syllable; but also forces their mouths to syncronize to english.

Great stuff today/yesterday....

[Brasswatchman]

Just hit me, why does he write in common, and not dwaven?

What makes you think he isn't writing in dwarven?

Basically, I think dwarven in this universe is just Common spoken with an accent. :D

[n11]

What makes you think he isn't writing in dwarven?

Basically, I think dwarven in this universe is just Common spoken with an accent. :D

Actually, page 42 of OtOoPCs kind of backs you up on this.

[gadren]

I want to see a Dwarf with a Minnesota accent.

[Holy_Knight]

Everyone knows thats because of a universal translator that not only translates the language BEFORE they utter so much as a syllable; but also forces their mouths to syncronize to english.

Great stuff today/yesterday....

I like the Farscape method, where the translation is done by symbiotic microbes that live in people's bodies.

[Dawnstrider_Moogle]

I like the Farscape method, where the translation is done by symbiotic microbes that live in people's bodies.

Mmm. Farscape is also awesome for many other reasons.

Like the Farscape method of sabotaging a ship using jello-like vomit. You REALLY don't want to soak your beard in THAT stuff >.<

[Brasswatchman]

I like the Farscape method, where the translation is done by symbiotic microbes that live in people's bodies.

Which is more or less the same as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy method, where all translation is done by a small fish that lives in people's ears.

[Devoured_Dude]

Uncanny! "May yer beard e'er be soaked in ale rather than vomit" is an Old Milwaukee blessing as well!

[geez3r]

From now on, all of my characters shall have a horrible accent, their own weird sayings and of course no knowledge that the above behavior might come off as odd. Then again, much of my characters are raving lunatics to begin with, being berserkers and all... :-/

Great work Giant.

[Nightmarenny]

I want a dwarf wit h a Jamacien accent
I want to see a Dwarf with an English accent
I want to see a Dwarf with a Hawien accent.
I want a dwarf to speack in american slang
I want a Dwarf that speaks in an Italian accent
...With a Japanese accent
...With a Chinese accent
...With a Korean accent
...In 50's American slang
...Like an elf
...Like Sanji
...Like Cornal Klink
...Like Picard
...Like a real frenchman
...without any accent as everybody he meets asks him why he doesn't have an accent.

[plainsfox]

Never played Shadowrun, Nightmarenny?

[Buzzaro]

Late, but now present.

DUDE!
I cant find the easter egg in the script. not an actual easter egg but the the hidden features included in computer programs. its is the perfict time of year to include that in a strip.

ps.
hey, look at me, I've made it on page 6. I must be a real hotty.

[Ikelberg]

Excellant tie in with the 'prelude' book not on the internet... which is a work of art by the way.

[Xianthe]

First of to Giant: Great comic, as usual. I've always felt a bit bad for Durkon...kicked out of his home for so long...

Second thing:



"The løvli lakes. The wønderful telephøne system. And many interesting furry animals. Including the majestic møøse. A møøse ønce bit my sister... No realli! She was Karving her initals on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: 'The Høt Hands of an Oslo Dentist', 'Fillings of Passion', 'The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink'."

"We apologize for the fault of the subtitles, those apologized have been sacked."

"Mind you møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti..."

:D


Okay...I know I've seen this before...care to jog my memory? I must know *frantic stare* It's going to drive me crazy.

[lunar]

Ah, I see. We're going over Durkon's backstory fer thos that don have OOPCs. Cool.

[Lyc]

Okay...I know I've seen this before...care to jog my memory? I must know *frantic stare* It's going to drive me crazy.


The opening credits for Monty Pythons Holy Grail.

Next we shall discuss the migration of coconuts ;D

[Antina]

Totally reminds me of roleplaying-Sessions where characters got startet with the attitude:
GM (before 1st time gaming) asks:
"Why the heck did your dwarf leave his dwarfen homelands with nothing in his hands and wants to explore human lands?"
And the Player answered: "Aah - come on - he - he - ahem - somewhat got thrown out so I got nothing to explain (or to think about a fitting background story :))"

Now that "Durkon" has "lived"/was played for such a long time the player got to love his character and now wants to explore the (until-now-not-existent) background himself :)

[CelestialStick]

Except that long before those movies came out Dwaves had scottish accents. Bruenor Battlehammer, for example, had a Scottish accent (and the first book he was published in was in 1988 ) and every guy that "roleplayed" a Dwarf in my campaigns uses a Scottish accent.. I think Dwarves and Scots are inseperable at this point. Given Bruenor and Gimli( in the movies), you're never going to escape it now. I'd chill out and enjoy the plethora of terrible accents you're going to hear! ;)

Secondly, the first Elven language that Tolkien created was based on Finnish. Was it not, also, the more frequently used one?


"The løvli lakes. The wønderful telephøne system. And many interesting furry animals. Including the majestic møøse. A møøse ønce bit my sister... No realli! She was Karving her initals on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: 'The Høt Hands of an Oslo Dentist', 'Fillings of Passion', 'The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink'."

"We apologize for the fault of the subtitles, those apologized have been sacked."

"Mind you møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti..."

:D





Heh, nothing like a little Python to improve the mood. :)

Who's this "Bruenor Battlehammer" anyway? He was in some movie in 1988? Well some of us played D&D for a decade before that and we didn't have any dwarves with Scottish accents. The only Scottish accent I've had in my current campaign is the one used by a human character who came from a place not unlike Scotland.

So where does this notion come that Tolkein took his elven languages from Finnish? I've been reading Tolkein for 30 years and that's a new one on me.

[Smajie]

...I've been reading Tolkein for 30 years...
Whoah, you're a slow reader.

[Nowingsforbalrog]

I haven't read the whole thread, so someone else may have mentioned it, but does anyone else think that Durkon's pen looks like a carrot? ;D

[CelestialStick]

Whoah, you're a slow reader.


LOL. It's the attention deficit disorder. ;D Though I have managed to read Lord of the Rings 15 times over that period. ;)

[CelestialStick]

I haven't read the whole thread, so someone else may have mentioned it, but does anyone else think that Durkon's pen looks like a carrot? ;D


Aye, lad, I was thinkin' tha same thing meself.

[Solara]

Great comic! I LOLed at the 'traditional dwarvish blessing', but mainly I'm just happy to see a strip focusing on Durkon. He's not quite as funny as the others so it seems like he hardly ever gets the spotlight.

Having not read OotPCs this was the first time I realized that his leaving might have been less than voluntary. (But poor, honest, naive Durkon...did he ever even stop to think about how suspicious the abrupt manner of the High Priest's 'request' was?)

As for the dwarven accent, it seems like every single RPG I've ever played has had the dwarf character talk with the same accent, and I've always wondered what started the whole thing. Like someone else already mentioned, there's nothing in Tolkien's books to suggest it, so perhaps this Bruenor Battlehammer is to blame?

Whatever the case, it was set into place well before the Tolkien movies, and while the way Gimli spoke wasn't really surprising to me I'm glad it was toned down at least a little. I've heard some that were a lot more overbearing.

And an offtopic note to the person on the front page who mentioned their friend in Texas - What are you talking about? People in Texas do NOT have accents! :P

Seriously though, I've noticed it's the people who are a little north of us who usually have the heavy 'southern' accents, and while I do say "y'all" in normal conversation, I never use it when typing because it just looks weird to me.

[Laman_Stahros]

Heh, nothing like a little Python to improve the mood. :)

Who's this "Bruenor Battlehammer" anyway? He was in some movie in 1988? Well some of us played D&D for a decade before that and we didn't have any dwarves with Scottish accents. The only Scottish accent I've had in my current campaign is the one used by a human character who came from a place not unlike Scotland.

So where does this notion come that Tolkein took his elven languages from Finnish? I've been reading Tolkein for 30 years and that's a new one on me.

Bruenor Battlehammer is from the Drizz't series of books. He was wrote with a quasi-Scottish brogue.

Tolkein stated that he based Quenya (I think) on Finnish. Or at least the beginnings of it. Most conlangs (constructed languages) are loosely based on existing languages.

[snelson66]

I just love how I now know that Thor's hammer "smooshes" evil. Nothin' worse than a good smooshin'.

Nice work, Giant. Where can I get me one of them carrot pens?

[AggieDan]

Woo-hoo!!! Roy's first appearance with the greatsword strapped to his back in HOW MANY strips?

Good to see him outfitted correctly after all this time.

[Gleanerizer]

Woo-hoo!!! Roy's first appearance with the greatsword strapped to his back in HOW MANY strips?

Good to see him outfitted correctly after all this time.
And the first time we've seen it with the art upgrade, no less!

[Zeekar]

So where does this notion come that Tolkein took his elven languages from Finnish? I've been reading Tolkein for 30 years and that's a new one on me.

The notion comes from Tolkien himself (note spelling btw). You might enjoy reading some of his nonfiction stuff; you can find collections of his letters and whatnot where he talks about the inspiration. It's pretty fascinating to me. Of course, YMMV; may not be the sort of thing that interests you.

Anyway, in the case of The Hobbit and LoTR, Tolkien invented the languages first, and then the mythology, and the actual story in the books came last. Which isn't surprising, since he was by profession a professor of linguistics and philology. For Elvish, his primary goal was to make a language that sounded beautiful, and the most beautiful language in his opinion was Finnish. It was, in fact, the Finnish epic tone poem The Kalevala that moved him to create his own language.

Tolkien didn't actually derive Qenya (which evolved into Quenya and Sindarin) from Finnish - that would have been anachronistic - but the phonetic structure is designed to achieve what he perceived as the same euphony. There are obvious Latin and Greek influences as well.

[Zeekar]

Woo-hoo!!! Roy's first appearance with the greatsword strapped to his back in HOW MANY strips?

Well, since you asked...

the sword was last seen whole in #112, but it was last seen strapped to Roy's back in #101. So that's 204 strips - more than twice as many as there were total before the sword's destruction.

[Tariskat]

Bah. These background stories will be the end of me.
**mutter mutter** back stories
**grumble** dwarves
**mumble** books

**runs away to Paizo.com and orders book**

[abc.d]

Hehehe... It's good to see Roy with the sword at his back again.

Yea, though I kinda expected his sword to look at least a little special, now that it is a +5 sword...

[Antina]

If +5 swords would usually happen to look different, Roy would have known in the first place that there was something wrong with his "ancestors-family-tradition-magic-sword"... ;)

[Kish]

If +5 swords would usually happen to look different, Roy would have known in the first place that there was something wrong with his "ancestors-family-tradition-magic-sword"... ;)
Explain?

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

First of to Giant: Great comic, as usual. I've always felt a bit bad for Durkon...kicked out of his home for so long...

Second thing:

Okay...I know I've seen this before...care to jog my memory? I must know *frantic stare* It's going to drive me crazy.


Monty Python and the Holy Grail...the opening credits sub-titles, right before the famous llama credits.

Edit: oh...that had been answered about 3 times already....dang. *slinks away to newbie corner*

I'm excited about the appearance of Durkon's backstory. It always makes me feel good for someone's backstory to come into play; except for the time it was the gnome who escaped from a lich lord in Gehenna. He didn't think the GM would bring the lich to the material plane after him.

[Tariskat]

Explain?

Roy went on the side quest for the star metal because he beleived (from Sabine/dwarf smith) that his sword was made from star metal. The saphire sword-smith told him it was not, but that he could make it into a star metal sword. If the +5 sword looked 'different' because of the +5, Roy would have known that his ancestral sword was not because it didn't look how normal +5's look. Does that help?

[Albion]

Ahem, Albion's notes/review. I thought about "writing-in-accent" before I had read the comic through, I guess that particular joke gets kind of old once you've seen it executed once or twice. But there was no way to leave that one out in this situation, and it was good and all. ;) I like almost anything with Durkon anyway. "Now who's tha short one?"

Oh, and *typical excited reaction to seeing Roy with the sword on him.*

[Kish]

Roy went on the side quest for the star metal because he beleived (from Sabine/dwarf smith) that his sword was made from star metal. The saphire sword-smith told him it was not, but that he could make it into a star metal sword. If the +5 sword looked 'different' because of the +5, Roy would have known that his ancestral sword was not because it didn't look how normal +5's look. Does that help?
Not really, no. First because I don't know if your interpretation is what Antina meant, and second because, if it is, well--it hinges on two assumptions and one idea that we know is inaccurate.
1) Roy knows what a +5 sword should look like.
2) All +5 swords look alike, or at least distinctive in the same particular, known to Roy way.
3) Roy would have known that a starmetal sword would be a +5 sword. (This is the one we know is inaccurate, since the blacksmith had to tell him.)

The most we can accurately say on the subject is, "If Roy had known his sword wasn't made of starmetal he would have realized Sabine was lying." He certainly didn't know anything related to starmetal; he didn't realize that a "starmetal sword" was made of a starmetal alloy rather than pure starmetal, he didn't realize that the chunk of starmetal he'd found qualified as a huge rather than tiny amount, and he didn't know anything about the effects of a starmetal sword.

[Tariskat]

Kish:
While I have to agree with you, I offer this:
1) Roy went to fighter college, and presumably does know what a +5 sword and (2) others should look like, if they do indeed look different. Unless stated in origin of PC's, which I haven't read yet, shouldn't swords, numbers, and basic stats be taught there? We know he knows plenty of weapons, re: the strip when he's searching for a suitable replacement for his sword.
3) Your point is completely valid. I stand corrected. I didn't think of it that thoroughly.
Star metal must be rare enough for colleges not to bother mentioning.
Antina?

[Devils_Advocate]

I don't think that a +5 sword could reasonably look different from a normal one. That sort of thing would make magic item identification too easy. ("I swing it around to see if it's magical!") Of course, the enhancement bonus on Roy's sword isn't due to it being enchanted, but the small percentage of starmetal in the alloy probably wouldn't effect the color much. Or would it? I know little about metallurgy. Actually, I think it IS a lighter grey now than before, but that's probably due to the art upgrade. You could think of it as the starmetal making the sword shinier if you wanted, though.

[Gamefreakguy]

Nice one. :) Smooshing and fun accents are always welcome. :P

[Mal_the_Mad]

amazing, we get a comic about gods smooshing things and dwarf tossing, and it evolves into look he got his pointy stick back and its shiiiiiny that and I'm suprised we haven't heard the but its supposed to be a green hilt not a turquoise one. but hey maybe everyone got that out of their system after the art upgrade..


May your beard be soaked in ale rather than vomit.

[Umbral_Arcanist]

Totally reminds me of roleplaying-Sessions where characters got startet with the attitude:
GM (before 1st time gaming) asks:
"Why the heck did your dwarf leave his dwarfen homelands with nothing in his hands and wants to explore human lands?"
And the Player answered: "Aah - come on - he - he - ahem - somewhat got thrown out so I got nothing to explain (or to think about a fitting background story :))"

Now that "Durkon" has "lived"/was played for such a long time the player got to love his character and now wants to explore the (until-now-not-existent) background himself :)


Heh, my dwarf got kicked out for taking of vow to abstain from alcohol....


Does this comic mean that Durkon isn't speaking common, but rather Dwarven that is so similar to common everyone thought it was common?

[JustyUekiTylor]

I haven't read the whole thread, so someone else may have mentioned it, but does anyone else think that Durkon's pen looks like a carrot? ;D


Its just a orangish-reddish pen (possibly a quill?). The 'carrot' look is due to his fingers being in front of it, giving it the lines that make it look carrot-ish. Hadn't noticed it before your comment. As to the Scotish-accent comments people have been making, I seem to remember a comment in one of the comics (or maybe on one of the discussion boards. I've been a lurker for a long time and don't remember for certain) that his accent is in fact an inconsistent mix of Scottish, Russian, Norse and a few others. My copies of OtOoPCs and OotS: DCF are on loan to friends at the moment so can't look through there at the moment for it (and my internet is being funny, so may not be able to go through the archives. I'll be happy if this comment posts). Later all.

[Blaznak]

What makes you think he isn't writing in dwarven?

Basically, I think dwarven in this universe is just Common spoken with an accent. :D

I have to agree. It looks like classic Dwarven runes to me...

[mastroyo]

It's so good to be back from vacations and read like 12 OotS in a row. Well, more like 6 but anyway...

[Holy_Knight]

You could think of it as the starmetal making the sword shinier if you wanted, though.

Yeah, the sword really ought to twinkle now. :D

*rimshot*