Is Belkar getting better?

[Hippoboy]

in the latest comic i noticed while Belkar is still ill he now sounds somewhat more sane.

Any thoughts on why?

[mockingbyrd7]

Strip 579: panel 1. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0579.html) "Hey, I think my head is starting to clear..." He's also sane (by comparison) in that strip.

[someonenonotyou]

the effect of Moj is wearing off duh

[Hippoboy]

Strip 579: panel 1. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0579.html) "Hey, I think my head is starting to clear..." He's also sane (by comparison) in that strip.

interesting but what is causing the relief?

[mockingbyrd7]

the effect of Moj is wearing off duh

We're wondering WHY. It's supposed to make him get sicker and sicker until he can't fight. We were assuming that it didn't wear off for a long, long time. Duh.

And I have no idea why, Hippoboy. :smallbiggrin:

[Firestar27]

The pain probably comes and goes so that he doesn't get used to it. (And constant stomach issues could get him to dehydrate and die).

[Hippoboy]

We're wondering WHY. It's supposed to make him get sicker and sicker until he can't fight. We were assuming that it didn't wear off for a long, long time. Duh.

And I have no idea why, Hippoboy. :smallbiggrin:

Well just take a shot, if you're wrong well there wasn't much to go on if you stumble on the right answer, you become awesome.

either way will make for good reading :smalltongue:

[AtomicKitKat]

Actually I suspect the insanity is precisely because he's dehydrated.

Linky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydration)


Untreated dehydration generally results in delirium, unconsciousness, swelling of the tongue[1] and in extreme cases death.

[David Argall]

Belkar is definitely getting better. The question is why.

The obvious idea is that Belkar gets sick when he considers violence. So he is getting better because he is not thinking about violence.

The alternate is that the magic functioned precisely as descripted. It made Belkar weaker and weaker until he was too weak to do anything. And then it was over, and he is free to get back to normal, say after a week or so rest. The spell had no permanent effect.

The first idea is in line with the spirit of the spell, but there is an old tradition of magic doing exactly what is said, not what is meant.

[busterswd]

Belkar is definitely getting better. The question is why.

The obvious idea is that Belkar gets sick when he considers violence. So he is getting better because he is not thinking about violence.

The alternate is that the magic functioned precisely as descripted. It made Belkar weaker and weaker until he was too weak to do anything. And then it was over, and he is free to get back to normal, say after a week or so rest. The spell had no permanent effect.

The first idea is in line with the spirit of the spell, but there is an old tradition of magic doing exactly what is said, not what is meant.


This, or another explanation is he only feels sick while he's losing stats. His stats may have bottomed out, so while his str/dex are too low to fight, he's at least coherent.

[FujinAkari]

I assume that the sickness is brought on by a desire to do violence, as someone suggested earlier in the thread. The Mark of Justice may be an homage to "A Clockwork Orange" wherein the sickness will assert itself violently whenever Belkar attempts violence, but leave him largely unaffected otherwise.

[holywhippet]

I was wondering if his illness clearing could be due to some kind of flaw in the spell parameters. It was set to trigger if he got too far away from Roy's body. However, now Roy's body technically doesn't exist. Instead there's a bone golem walking around which is made out of his body.

Another possibility is that the spell goes into remission if Belkar performs a good deed. In strip 576 he does try to come to Celia's rescue.

[NikkTheTrick]

I was wondering if his illness clearing could be due to some kind of flaw in the spell parameters. It was set to trigger if he got too far away from Roy's body. However, now Roy's body technically doesn't exist. Instead there's a bone golem walking around which is made out of his body.
Distance from Roy's body was one of the triggers to the spell. Since MOJ was activated through another trigger (dealing lethal damage in a sufficiently populated area), proximity to Roy's body became irrelevant.

Basically, the logic was the following:

Function 'Belkar suffers'

MoJ = 0

While 'Belkar is alive' = 1

If 'Distance to Roy's body' > 1 mile OR 'Belkar deals lethal damage within city limits' = 1 OR 'Roy said the key word' = 1

MoJ = 1

End

End

End

In other words, once one condition is met, other conditions become irrelevant.

[Felixaar]

I think the fact that his attempt to attack "Herman Munster" triggered a relapse is what he's recovering from - he's about as healthy now as he was after they had left the oracles tower. Then he'll start to get into the insanity again, probably. I want to see what other animals Belkar can become.

And yeah, as said above, I think once his Mark of Justice is activated, it's activated - the only reason the girls think it will work is because they dont remember it getting activated before.

[ZerglingOne]

Belkar is definitely getting better. The question is why.

The obvious idea is that Belkar gets sick when he considers violence. So he is getting better because he is not thinking about violence.

The alternate is that the magic functioned precisely as descripted. It made Belkar weaker and weaker until he was too weak to do anything. And then it was over, and he is free to get back to normal, say after a week or so rest. The spell had no permanent effect.

The first idea is in line with the spirit of the spell, but there is an old tradition of magic doing exactly what is said, not what is meant.

Duration of Mark of Justice is permanent :/. So as has been stated before, his stats have likely bottomed out as low as they're going to get. It was a greater MoJ so that means he lost as much as 6 to every stat.

Edit: however, since MoJ states you can come up with your own curse, it could simply be a persistent sickened state. Instead of a 75% chance to lose action, he's sickened so he can't attack, but he can take move actions.

[Neopolis]

I think the fact that his attempt to attack "Herman Munster" triggered a relapse is what he's recovering from - he's about as healthy now as he was after they had left the oracles tower. Then he'll start to get into the insanity again, probably. I want to see what other animals Belkar can become.
If I recall correctly, Herman Munster was a construct, and not a living being.

[Nerdanel]

It is possible that Lord Shojo settled on a short-duration version of the curse in exchange of making it a lot more powerful than it would be otherwise. I think the effects on Belkar have been greater in power than ever the bestow greater curse allows, which could suggests a weakening in somewhere else, since the maximum total power of the curse is fixed. Perhaps Shojo thought that there was no point in making the curse permanent, since Belkar had a cleric friend with him who would likely be convinced to undo the curse.

[Taekwondodo]

Yes but the oracle said he was going to die, though i guess it might not be from the MOJ.

[Morty]

Maybe Belkar has simply managed to overcome the sickness so that it doesn't render him completely helpless. He's preety tough, after all.

[Jigsaw Forte]

Yes but the oracle said he was going to die, though i guess it might not be from the MOJ.

No, The oracle said Belkar was going to stop breathing (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0572.html).

And Belkar is, among other things, currently in a city which contains a certain someone that specializes in not-quite-dead things.

Hmm.

[OverWilliam]

What if the MoJ is a multiple-use thing? The whole dramatic 'Shojo's head showing up and telling you you're boned' seems like it would only happen once, but what if the MoJ repairs itself after a while and then re-activates when he re-breaks the terms of the curse?

Although, on second thought, it'll probably be funnier when Belkar eventually breaks the Mark again (not remembering that he's already broken it) and thinks 'you mean they were screwing with me the WHOLE TIME?!? :smallfurious:'

:smallbiggrin:

[Lorn]

Sleep deprived theory here:

What if the MoJ keeps track of who the person marked has killed by way of their memories?

It would explain why Belkar is clearing up a lot now, as he seems to have been doing (slowly) since they left the Oracle.

Maybe it sort of workes in surges or something - it makes them ill once, which lasts for so long, maybe x days per caster level. Then it triggers again. And again. Each time getting stronger, perhaps. Each time making the person weaker.

The Sapphire Guard would have a problem upholding themselves as being Lawful Good if there was a possibility that someone could be rendered seriously, disablingly ill for the rest of their lives because they had the misfortune to be hit by a memory charm. The paladins, at least, would probably have a serious moral dilemna with it.

[SPoD]

Belkar vomiting nonstop or Belkar being constantly delirious would eventually wear thin, so Rich is having him go through various stages of sickness for a few strips each, to keep things funny. Therefore, he IS still getting sicker, but it comes in waves and changes each time. It looks like we are moving on to an "explosive diarrhea" phase next--which I hope doesn't get too much onscreen time, actually.

[Taliesan]

What if the mark operates on the following:

Belkar killed the oracle: Mark activates.

Oracle gets raised: Mark de-activates.

Belkar still suffers through being sick, because it takes a while for the mark's effect to wear off.

[Kato]

Hm... I don't like the last 'oracle raised' arguments... for once B doesn't know about the oracles state, so it probably doesn't really matter. Also it was raised days ago, the effect has weakened just recently.
I like to think it has to do with Roy's body being non-existent anymore. I don't know how to explain it by the given rules of the MoJ. Maybe it's like minus*minus=plus, meaning killing and removing from the body equals in cure. (Yeah, I know how dumb it sounds, thank you all ^^)

[Mina Kobold]

I think its one of these reasons 1: since his body doesn´t work its transfering all power to the brain 2: the curse shifts throug his stats so he so he first vomit because of con damagde then it moves to int and he becomes insane, and now it has moved further.

[Hippoboy]

Maybe the MOJ has a reform system and so by trying to do good, gets a little better (ignoring that he vomited a bunch a soon as he did).

[Kish]

What if the mark operates on the following:

Belkar killed the oracle: Mark activates.

Oracle gets raised: Mark de-activates.
Then the Mark is radically different from how it was described. It's supposed to go on any damage of the type "lethal."

[Grokvar]

I just hope he gets back to how he was before. Imo he was alot funnier that way.

[Holammer]

I'm guessing... Belkar might be getting better because he haven't been able (or had reason) to get his stab on for a little while now. The MoJ is probably designed to work like aversion therapy when it's in effect.

[Manga Shoggoth]

The Sapphire Guard would have a problem upholding themselves as being Lawful Good if there was a possibility that someone could be rendered seriously, disablingly ill for the rest of their lives because they had the misfortune to be hit by a memory charm. The paladins, at least, would probably have a serious moral dilemna with it.

It was nothing (or very little) to do with the Guild - Shojo was working on his own, and he appears to be CG.

[brilliantlight]

I'm guessing... Belkar might be getting better because he haven't been able (or had reason) to get his stab on for a little while now. The MoJ is probably designed to work like aversion therapy when it's in effect.

That's my guess. The mark completely not working anymore would be lame.

[Mercenary Pen]

I'd quite like the MoJ to go through an 'excruciating rash' phase (if it is going through phases)...

I would quite like for Belkar to 'buy the farm' helping Haley beat Crystal- if only for the irony of Belkar dying performing a heroic act...

[ShellBullet]

Perhaps the Moj lets belkar body to rest a bit from sickness, so it doesn't kill him...Of course, we can expect Belkar to start vomiting or showing other..Inconviences.

[Cizak]

I'm gonna go with the theory that it activates when he thinks about doing something violent.

[Mortith]

I thinks hes getting better. Better at keeping himself in check around others. When he has lost control a bit, he reveals himself to be the same funny blood thirsty miget.

"I am a sexy shoeless god of war!" :belkar: LOL

[David Argall]

Our last sight of him is on the way to the loo, so it's definitely too early to declare him cured.

[Shpadoinkle]

I throwing my hat in with the people who thinks the MoJ works like aversion therapy- it only activates when Belkar is either trying to do something violent, or seriously considering it.