Quote Originally Posted by woweedd View Post
Take heart: dying in battle saving a family member? What Dwarf wouldn't want to go out like that? That's, I imagine, partly why ALL of them came: Even if they die, they'll die swinging. Remember, to a Dwarf, dying at age 350, after a long and happy life, is the worst fate imaginable: The fact that you lived that long is a failure, because it means you never took the risks from which heroism is born.
Quote Originally Posted by Resileaf View Post
Eh, pretty sure that a point of the current storyline is that no, living in a society where you're forced to die heroically or you are doomed to an eternity of torment is not actually a good thing.
Couldn't this last part be taken as a bit of a counterpoint to that? I mean, the people who have really gone on and on about how horrible it is are Hel and Hylgia, one of whom is the villain (and complains on the grounds that it's an inconvenience for her) and the other of whom is kind of having her life philosophy stampeded right now.

Quote Originally Posted by Kaed View Post
The most interesting parallel to to me is between Sidgi and Hilgya. Both gained fantastic wealth through their own actions and mistakes, at the cost of their own family (granted, one was killed by a cave in fighting a troll, and the other was made destitute by Hilgya's meddling), while pregnant no less.

But whereas Sidgi used her wealth to make herself a new family that has grown into what is practically Clan Thundershield at this point, Hilgya has done nothing with the wealth but enrich herself.

Hilgya is a selfish individual, but we've always known that. The fact that she thinks about herself before anything else is one of her defining character traits. Sure, she's taking care of her son, but even that relationship has a sort of element of possessiveness to it - that's HER son, she's take care of him however she likes, taking him into danger notwithstanding. I'm wondering if, much like Belkar, seeing what she could accomplish if she wasn't such a colossal bitch might start turning her towards a better path. She hasn't spent her fortune yet entirely, she just used a few diamonds so far.
So, would that make Sigdi our analog to Shojo, if we were to compare the two character arcs? I mean, sure, Mr Scruffy provided the pathos, but it was Shojo that most directly influenced his new life philosophy. Or at least, weird acid-trip-whilst-unconscious Shojo did.