OOTS #943 - The Discussion Thread

[Kish]

So, people in the know, what is a Chaos Sabre?

There is only one person in the actual know: Rich. The rest of us can speculate*, but only he could answer that, and I doubt he will.

*From the name, probably an anarchic weapon. Presumably works with Dashing Swordsman class abilities as well as a rapier does. Probably an upgrade from Elan's previous +3 Keen rapier.

[Velazquez]

Giant is slowing down the narrative structure for a couple of strips now-I bet that in less that 10 strips, the story will start accelerating again to unknown directions.

[137beth]

Seems suspiciously like the "death" of Kazumi and Daigo.
Now we know Daigo's last name: Da-Scoundrel

[Angralad]

I like how this is a funny strip, but still manages to convey lots of key points for how the dynamic is evolving:
- Blackwing is "upgraded" to a full speaking-part party member
- Belkar's new familiar is probably also here for a while (it would be great if he could speak a magic word to Shazam him into full size...)
- Elan is being forced into that leading man's role, as his father wanted: control of a flying ship, epic weapon... but also needing to rely on his on strength now his mentor is retiring

Great lessons in storytelling

I noticed about Blackwing too. Pretty cool because now he has input and I love his quippy remarks.

Belkar's Familiar should be easy to return to full size, Dispel Magic (I think). He's small because of Baleful Polymorph only. (I'm too lazy to lookup the link just now).

[otakuryoga]

rofl...what a twist!

[Angralad]

Hm, why would Julio need to go to the bathroom before flying, if he is using flying carpet?
I mean, c'mon, he's Chaotic...

Peeing off the side of a Flying carpet can have dire consequences to you, the carpet and anything else in it. Peeing off the back of the carpet... well what kind of Savvy adventurer takes his eyes off the front of his flying vehicle for more than a second? Anything could happen!

So yeah, visit to the loo before embarking on a long trip is a good idea


Edit: And no need to mention if your emergency is number two... unless you plan on bombing someone you dislike

[Dunsparce]

There is only one person in the actual know: Rich. The rest of us can speculate*, but only he could answer that, and I doubt he will.

*From the name, probably an anarchic weapon. Presumably works with Dashing Swordsman class abilities as well as a rapier does. Probably an upgrade from Elan's previous +3 Keen rapier.

But he DID answer, when Julio first used it against Tarquin, and was named in #932. Like I said in my post on the last page, It's called Chaos and not Anarchic so non-roleplayers will have a better idea of what it is

[Trillium]

Peeing off the side of a Flying carpet can have dire consequences to you, the carpet and anything else in it. Peeing off the back of the carpet... well what kind of Savvy adventurer takes his eyes off the front of his flying vehicle for more than a second? Anything could happen!

So yeah, visit to the loo before embarking on a long trip is a good idea


Edit: And no need to mention if your emergency is number two... unless you plan on bombing someone you dislike

I didn't think about number two... you know, Tarquin is still out there in the desert...

[stench]

i kinda just love when anyone gets new equipment..
also elan with a chaos blade? seriously?
totally bad-ass..

[Ivrytwr]

Hahahaha!
Julio is full of awesome-ness!

I still wonder if Elan is smarter than he lets on, just so he can uphold bardic tradition. I mean yeah he is smarter than he lets on, he just has a completely different tool-set than everyone else. Anyway ...

Funny strip Giant!
Loved Haley's dialogue, too!

[Quartz]

Excellent comic. Thank you.

[Ezekiel]

I love Elan's continued daftness with not noticing Julio & the can. Also, Bloodfeast is co cute

[Angralad]

To me the funny thing is I always say the same thing "Ok let's go... wait, now that I think about it, I should go pee first." So I felt really identified! lol

[Kornaki]

Neatly wrapping up the "but Julio can just return and solve all their problems later too!" crowd.

[HeeJay]

That was HILARIOUS!

(Cue the first "This stip was lame!" comment in 3... 2... 1...)

[HeeJay]

Neatly wrapping up the "but Julio can just return and solve all their problems later too!" crowd.

Well, of course Julio will return and solve all their problems!

With his finely tuned dramatic instinct, he will choose just the right moment to check on Elan, using Arborea's epic scrying pool, and will plane shift to save the Order as a lame Deus Ex Arborea. Really, Giant's writing is just SO bad!

[Clistenes]

Wow, just wow. I didn't expect julio being the type for retiring.
Wonder he's been put on a bus for good or if we'd get to see more of him, thought.
Edit: I didn't got his last sentence either. Does it means "I'll need brain bleach" or something else?

Julio doesn't to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. He probably knew that one of "his B-list villains" like Taquin wouldn't be the one who could kill Elan's mentor in front of him to make the story more dramatic, but Xykon? Yeah, that sounds more like it.

So he's getting the hell out of dodge.

[Angralad]

Well, of course Julio will return and solve all their problems!

With his finely tuned dramatic instinct, he will choose just the right moment to check on Elan, using Arborea's epic scrying pool, and will plane shift to save the Order as a lame Deus Ex Arborea. Really, Giant's writing is just SO bad!

Lol.

One question, since I'm new on the forum, is this some etiquette thing? I didn't need the blue color to get that you're just kidding and being sarcastic but is it like a standard thing among the etiquette-minded in the forum? Any other colors I should know about? It's not the first time I've see it (might have been other posts by you, not sure).

[Kish]

But he DID answer, when Julio first used it against Tarquin, and was named in #932.

Link?

'Cause if all you have is "I think I remember," I'm afraid I don't play Telephone Game; I don't remember Rich posting what the Chaos Saber was, nor can I find such a post now.

Lol.

One question, since I'm new on the forum, is this some etiquette thing? I didn't need the blue color to get that you're just kidding and being sarcastic but is it like a standard thing among the etiquette-minded in the forum? Any other colors I should know about? It's not the first time I've see it (might have been other posts by you, not sure).

No, it's just something some people in the forum do. Put sarcasm in blue text or don't as you see fit; I don't, and the moderators explicitly declined to tacitly or actively support it as a forum standard.

[Shining Wrath]

OK, today's strip is just silly. I guess The Giant needed to get high-level Julio off the ship, and a vacation to Arborea does sound lovely.

[M.A.D]

Julio is doing really well, trope-wise. He changes his position from aged Mentor to the Sixth Ranger, which even increases his coolness factor since he's also avoiding as much screen time as possible. Plus, he didn't announce his retirement before actually doing it.

[Shale]

For reference, if the Chaos Sabre is based on an Anarchic weapon, it's enchanted to penalize Lawful characters who try to use it, and to deal extra damage when it hits someone with a Lawful alignment.

[Lexible]

Blackwing has no shiny!

NO SHINY!

[Eugenitor]

Blackwing has no shiny!

NO SHINY!

If it's not a permanent fixture around V's head the next time we see vit, I'll be very surprised.

[Aasimar]

Ok, I know it could just be lack of detail, but I absolutely love that it looks like the letter itself is empty.

The idea that Julio wouldn't even write it down, just wait and be ready to voice it over when it got opened cracks me up.

[Terrador]

Denouement is wrapping things up quite nicely, and there's one quick thing I'd like to point out:

I definitely like that Elan didn't turn around to talk to Julio. He's still the guy who believes in the drama of the story, and is still glad to play it up--he's maturing, but he's still the same guy, and the gag at the end emphasized that.

It's a big haystack, but I think this piece is one I really like.

[DaggerPen]

"So is he also just-"
"Probably not, no."

Oh, Elan. Never change.

And Elan and Julio are really a match made in... somewhere.

All in all, great fun.

[BrotherMirtillo]

I just love Elan's need to play tropes straight.

I flashed back to Nale having a migraine at the willful ignorance it involves. Fortunately, Haley's more accustomed to it, and Julio doesn't seem to have a problem with it.

Until proven otherwise I choose to believe [the Chaos Sabre]'s similar to a Holy Avenger. A +5 Anarchic Rapier at least.

I read what Anarchic means, but what else does a Holy Avenger do?

[Elan]'s one of the two most chaotic characters in the entire comic. And the other one is Xykon.

Really? I'd have thought Belkar, Ian, or Haley would be up there. I never arranged a top 5 countdown, granted, but I figured chaos was a will to undo forceful nature of law... [thinking] and Elan's always been willing to see people brought to justice... [thinking some more]

Wait, I see it now. I was confusing his thirst for good endings with thirst for justice and thus for law/order, at least to a storytelling extent. That's a faulty conclusion. Elan made all those speeches about people being allowed to choose their own roles, mixing and matching their goals and battles without someone else telling them what they can't think -- Tarquin vs. everybody, Kubota vs. Therkla (though she had her own viewpoint there), etc. That's about the people being able to live and flourish -- Good, but not Lawful.

I still doubt he's at top 2, but I think that's because I haven't seen him manage upheaval on the wide scales of other characters. However, his strategy for Ian could have some vicious fallout. I won't give him a number, but I can appreciate that idea -- the concept that a happy-go-lucky guy with a tendency to say whatever's on his mind (whether that's a lot or a little) would lend itself to his visibility as a champ for Chaos.

-Elan is being forced into that leading man's role, as his father wanted: control of a flying ship, epic weapon... but also needing to rely on his on strength now his mentor is retiring

The weapon's true enough. However, his "control" only extends to temporary steering privileges for the ship, and I doubt the crew would want to tangle with Team Evil, nor would Elan ask them to put their lives on such a perilous line. As for other command, seeing as he didn't even bother Roy with the airship battle, I think he's still willing to let Roy set the pace.

But I agree completely on him finding his own strength, as well as the possibilities of Bloodfeast. (A dispelling would get him back, but how cool would it be if Belkar was able to switch him back and forth from travel-size at will?)

[rbetieh]

Wait, now if Julio comes back a second time he would be a mentor coming out of retirement to save his pupil.....pressing his luck much?

[Angralad]

If it's not a permanent fixture around V's head the next time we see vit, I'll be very surprised.

If you mean in the same style Laurin had it, then yes, I'd be VERY surprised too since that would mean V acquired new Psi powers. Might be he uses it as an earring or pendant or as part of the band that holds his hair in a pony tail.

EDIT: He/she, his/her, disregard gender bias please. I think I read somewhere the articles used in gender neutrality (New Frontier series I think) but I can never remember the right ones.