OOTS #910 - The Discussion Thread

[RMS Oceanic]

If Elan wants to go over that plan of his with Durkon, I would strongly recommend it.

[Roland Itiative]

Hmm, Xykon will re-invent aerial supremacy again: flying zombie dinosaurs! Tarquin's army--impressive though it looks--is a mere speed bump for an epic magic-user, not to mention a cleric wearing an artifact.

Xykon is on a whole different continent, no way he'll get to meet this army (for now, at least).

[Porthos]

BTW, all the nitpicking about Gate aside, if this is indeed Gate, that means that Tarquin has a freakin' caster/manifester who can use ninth level spells/powers.

Yeah. Team OotS ain't standing up to THAT at the moment.

[One Skunk Todd]

I wonder how many times "GAAH!" has been used as an exclamation of surprise in the comic by now. :)

[Alaska Fan]

Wouldn't someone as sophisticated and experienced as Tarquin scry before committing a big army like this? So wouldn't he know that the pyramid, gate and all are blown up?

Would scrying show him the planet where the Snarl is supposed to be, so that he is setting out to conquer the planet in the rift? But it's all water, as far as we can see. And would he go there not knowing if he can get back?

The Giant has astonished and bewildered me again. "Marching On." I love it.

[Fish]

There is the possibility that the army was summoned to defend the Gate. Tarquin has no idea what might pop out of it, after all.

It is also possible that Tarquin knows more about Xykon than Nale told him. The army could be there against the possibility of catching Xykon.

[The Zealot]

Does Tarquin intend to replace Malack with Nale?

You can't replace a cleric with a rogue/fighter/sorcerer. Heck, Elan would be a better replacement than Nale because at least he could heal!

I will be honest that I have no idea what Tarquin intends, however. He's been shown to be fairly resourceful.

[137beth]

Bam! Now we have some idea what Tarquin did before he left the city

[Porthos]

Why not just use one Teleportation Circle? Gate is 1 round/level and has to go to another plane, teleportation circle lasts far longer and can go to the same plane.

The point is more the power level required to pull it off than the actual spell. Teleportation Circle being a 9th level spell as well.

[Psyren]

I have to admit, it was amusing to watch the Order ransack Z's body like a burlap bag. You can take the murder hobo out of the loot-filled dungeon...

[Forikroder]

maybe he intends to cast a ritual on the rift itself to get power instead of relying on a third party gate as a medium

[SavageWombat]

I'd guess that whatever weird paternal feelings Tarquin has for Nale are keeping him from executing Nale outright. I don't know if he's going to offer him a throne or anything - but I'm betting it's going to be a "here's how it's going to be" speech.

[Goosefeather]

I suppose this would be in keeping with previously established themes.

[ellindsey]

Am I misunderstanding the art, or does the closer (tan, not reddish) allosaur have two left legs?

[luc258]

Called it with the army Now where are all the people that made fun of that idea?

[Mutant Sheep]

While I doubt Tarquin borrowing another country's "advisor" is much of a threat to his plan, I still wonder about the Reptilian ambassadors private conversation with the Empress of Blood... Anything that takes power away from Tarquin would be nice.

I'm leaning towards "Tarquin does something dramatic" as my prediction, though.

[Quild]

lol, seriously?

Also I have the feeling that Roy is acting as a jerk toward Durkon. Sure, there's no way to rez him right now but still...

Is Haley's loot somehow linked to the topic asking why she isn't using wands?

[Quorothorn]

That, uh, that is an army right there...definitely Imperial March listening time.

I see three possibilities regarding headband-person's casting.

1. It's a Gate, the "cannot be opened to another point on the same plane; the spell works only for interplanar travel" clause waived because why is it even there in the first place (I would be tempted to houserule it away in a campaign), or gotten around via casting it twice.

2. This army actually was stashed on a different plane (seems unlikely but including it anyway).

3. It's not actually a Gate, just some other ability that allows for swift transportation of large numbers of creatures via a big gate-like hole in the air.

I, ah, kind of lean to #1, shall we say. Of course, that means they're a 17th+-level Wizard or 18th+-level Sorcerer so, yikes.

Alternatively, the headband-person is actually a channeler from the Wheel of Time 'verse and that's a Travelling weave.

Also am i the only one getting a palpatine/Dooku vibe out of that last panel with Tarq/Nale. Deliberate maybe?

Very very unlikely to be "deliberate" but we shall see if it ends up being somewhat...similar, in at least one or two ways.

[cavalier973]

Dinosaur Army FTW!!!!

[Drakeburn]

AAAAAAHH!!!!! OH THE SUSPENSE!!! It's killing me!!!!!

[Gift Jeraff]

Note she has the same dweomer as Nale, and Rich said casters pick their magic colours. It would make sense if she was the one who taught Nale magic, as people have been speculating that all of Tarquin's party members were Nale's teachers.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Holy Crap!!!

[Henry the 57th]

So, now what? The LG is gone, but Tarquin's brought at least one other party member and an army, and Nale will no doubt be healed shortly.

Guess it's time to bail.

[littlebum2002]

I don't know what to think. It makes sense for T to use his army to control the gate, he even said he would. It doesn't make sense to mobilize an entire legion just to eliminate the Order. But then again, it would make for VERY bad planning (not to mention VERY bad storytelling) for him to have not scried on the area to make sure the objective was still obtainable prior to mobilizing his troops. Can you imagine the next strip? "Oops, sorry guys, turn around and go home".


Also, for all the people posting "Imperial March", this is the ultimate, epic-win Imperial March.

[Sir_Leorik]

Eep!

Mama mia! That is one huge army! And they have dinosaurs! This looks like it's time for the Order to pull out plan Q! No, not run away (that's plan B), Plan Q: Negotiate! No, wait, Plan Q is where Elan is disguised like a marsupial. Negotiation is Plan L, subsection 1, paragraph e.

I noticed that Mr. Scruffy is hissing at Durkon. Animals are instictively hostile to Vampires.

[Porthos]

As I said in the CL&G thread, since Ioun Stone Caster is concentrating to hold open the opening into spacetime, I am leaning more and more to Gate.

Either houseruled or two castings thereof.

[Toper]

This comic is so freakin' awesome.

Looks like Tarquin's been scrying on Nale, most likely. It's possible that he doesn't know what happened to the Gate and wanted to seize it intact, but somehow I think he knows what's going on and has his own plans for the rift.

I noticed that Mr. Scruffy is hissing at Durkon. Animals are instinctively hostile to Vampires.

I liked that detail, too.

[Gift Jeraff]

As I said in the CL&G thread, since Ioun Stone Caster is concentrating to hold open the opening into spacetime, I am leaning more and more to Gate.

Either houseruled or two castings thereof.

They're teleporting from a pavement in a desert with the same sky as the Western Continent, so I'd rule out two castings.

[Hopeless]

I have to admit, it was amusing to watch the Order ransack Z's body like a burlap bag. You can take the murder hobo out of the loot-filled dungeon...

Isn't Z a Wizard?
So shouldn't he be carrying a spell book?
Hmmm?

V might not be able to use all of his spells if he's truly her whoops hir opposite but nobody said Hayley couldn't use up or sell off what they can't use?

[TRH]

Question: How will this develop to make V's return from possession dramatically appropriate?

Answer: It won't. V won't return from possession until after the Order has fled into the Rift, leaving her stranded. Not sure what happens from there, but she for sure isn't going with them.

On an unrelated note: yeah, the "old adventuring party" roundup wouldn't be as cool without Malack, would it? Call this a consolation prize. A damn cool consolation prize.