Hinjo, Redcloak and Tsukiko theory (speculation/spoilers)

[TheAlmightyOne]

Heres my theory. Hinjo kills Redcloak. Hayley, Belkar and Roy get back and everyone sails away. Then at the aftermarth Tsukiko turns up and as an act of ultimate vengance animates Recloaks corpse! What do you think?

[Gundato]

Not gonna happen. After the events/release of SoD, there is no chance in hell of Redcloak going down before he has an epiphany or a stroke of nobility or something along those lines.

[TheAlmightyOne]

Havnt read Sod. Dam. Still a good theory though right?

[Kioran]

Heres my theory. Hinjo kills Redcloak. Hayley, Belkar and Roy get back and everyone sails away. Then at the aftermarth Tsukiko turns up and as an act of ultimate vengance animates Recloaks corpse! What do you think?

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Hinjo will seriously inconvenience or even threaten Redcloak, however, Tsukiko will drive him off/kill him, and thus have Redcloak indebted to her. Then she will make him pay....

[Yoritomo Himeko]

Havnt read Sod. Dam. Still a good theory though right?

While it's a good theory, I'm afraid it couldn't work. Redcloak is the only one who can restore Xykon's soul. He's still the key to defeating Xykon, and the comic isn't ending anytime soon.

And I think the Tsukiko reanimating a body thing was only a red herring. But we never know. I don't think she'd want to animate the body of the guy whose job she wants.

While the upcoming battle may end up in somebody's death, it is not going to be Redcloak's.

[ag30476]

Havnt read Sod. Dam. Still a good theory though right?

No way dude. Redcloaks kicks a**

[yoshi927]

Eh, even Miko almost lost. All I'm saying is that Hinjo would need his lucky dice and more than a few buffs to even have a shot at this one.

[Ithekro]

It all depends on just what Redcloak can do and what Hinjo and Durkon can do together.

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Well there is still Redcloak's "Smite" ability he has used on at least one paladin before. A shattered skull is not a glorious way to die.

It also depends on how far away Haley's group and Tsukiko are from A) each other. B) the docks.

[Fitzclowningham]

Redcloak really, really hates paladins. Also, he seems a lot savvier than Hinjo. He might underestimate Durkon, though. Anybody know if he can use Thor's Might more than once a day?

[Chronos]

Anybody know if he can use Thor's Might more than once a day?

Depends on how many copies of it he memorized. Durkon can cast 3 or 4 5th-level spells a day, depending on his wisdom (plus a domain spell, but we don't know exactly what domains he has), and we've seen him cast two of them today (the previous Thor's Might, plus the Spell Resistance he cast on Roy before his battle with Xykon). He may have only prepared one Thor's Might; he may have prepared more and converted them to healing spells.

In any event, Redcloak isn't going to die in this battle. He has no pressing need to sink the ship, and if the battle starts going against him, he has a few thousand hobgoblins who can cover his retreat. Really, the only way the good guys could actually beat him here and now is to do so in the first round or two of the fight. In theory, Durkon could finish it that quickly with a Destruction spell, or possibly something like Hold Person, but I've a hunch that he wouldn't be able to get past Redcloak's saving throws if he tried (the Azure City high priest certainly couldn't).

[David Argall]

Heres my theory. Hinjo kills Redcloak. Hayley, Belkar and Roy get back and everyone sails away. Then at the aftermarth Tsukiko turns up and as an act of ultimate vengance animates Recloaks corpse! What do you think?

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Hinjo might die here, but Redcloak is rather clearly marked as going to the final encounter. Of course, he might die temporarily like Roy has, but even that seems unlikely, even harmful to the storyline.
Hinjo has no reason to stay in the story much longer. None of the AC characters do. So killing him off is no big loss that way. It also builds up the villains as studs, making the PC victory all the more dramatic. However, he seems to have a role of city leader he can fill.
A possible scene is Red kills Hinjo, but is driven off by our dwarf, who carries the body back to the ship, where he is able to raise him the next day.
An alternative is that Hinjo and Durkon [maybe with Haley/Blekar help at the last moment] beat Redcloak, who flees. But Redcloak is near certain to survive the fight.

[Nakun]

I don't think Redcloak will die in the fight, and I'm hoping that Hinjo won't. I don't see Redcloak using the Hobgoblins to cover his retreat, because if he was willing to kill that many, he wouldn't be there now and soooo many things would be different.

An interesting twist, that almost definitely won't happen, could be Durkon's death, making the whole resurrection thing much harder.

[Yoritomo Himeko]

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Hinjo might die here, but Redcloak is rather clearly marked as going to the final encounter. Of course, he might die temporarily like Roy has, but even that seems unlikely, even harmful to the storyline.
Hinjo has no reason to stay in the story much longer. None of the AC characters do. So killing him off is no big loss that way. It also builds up the villains as studs, making the PC victory all the more dramatic. However, he seems to have a role of city leader he can fill.
A possible scene is Red kills Hinjo, but is driven off by our dwarf, who carries the body back to the ship, where he is able to raise him the next day.
An alternative is that Hinjo and Durkon [maybe with Haley/Blekar help at the last moment] beat Redcloak, who flees. But Redcloak is near certain to survive the fight.

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If Hinjo dies here, he should not come back. And that goes for anyone outside the OOTS. It's not that I don't like Hinjo or the other characters, but I think all of this dying and ressurection would take away the dramactic impact of the death in the first place.

It's bad enough Roy had to die, but he's still too important to let go. Hinjo isn't. Roy's death didn't really effect me because I figured they were eventually going to raise him anyway. He'll just lose some levels, that's all.

Once the OOTS are reunited, there will no longer be a place for Hinjo. He can't travel with Belkar. There are already two other leaders, Roy and Haley. There are plenty of funny characters so he isn't needed there, either. Plus there is no need for a paladin. He just doesn't add anything to the mix like Miko did.

I see Hinjo as either dying or going on a quest of his own. He's already got a nice party with Kazumi, Daigo, Lien, and Captain Axe. And they already have a built-in mission, reuniting with the other members of the Sapphire Guard.

Personally, I really like the Sapphire Guard story and I hope Rich does something with it.

[Purple_cloack]

naah.

Redcloak is'nt going to die yet. But Tsukiko maybe animate someone else, like Miko, but first he sewed his body bak, or somthi'n.

[Kjata]

But Tsukiko maybe animate someone else, like Miko,

Ahem.

filler

[mockingbyrd7]

I HIGHLY doubt Redcloak will die in this battle. He's far too plot important, and having him get rezzed or animated would just be boring. We've already lost Roy and Miko, and a third loss would be pushing it. Now what could be crazy would be if Hinjo died, and Lien or Daigo or Kazumi stepped up to lead the city against the corrupt nobles.

[Ithekro]

"Well, sometimes crazy works."

[mockingbyrd7]

"Well, sometimes crazy works."

Indeed, by crazy I meant both far-fetched AND cool, and not so far-fetched that it COULDN'T happen, just not likely.

[Yoritomo Himeko]

Now what could be crazy would be if Hinjo died, and Lien or Daigo or Kazumi stepped up to lead the city against the corrupt nobles.

That could work. Rich has spent an awful lot of time developing a character who is supposed to disappear after this story arc.

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Hinjo could die, Lien could swear a blood oath against Redcloak, and she could lead Azure City. And it would be a nice, if tragic, twist.

[Tekraen]

I thought Hinjo was going to be focusing on retaking the city, not necessarily following OOTS on their crazy adventures.

[BobTheDog]

That could work. Rich has spent an awful lot of time developing a character who is supposed to disappear after this story arc.

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Hinjo could die, Lien could swear a blood oath against Redcloak, and she could lead Azure City. And it would be a nice, if tragic, twist.

So what, the kid's got a shark for a mount and that makes her eligible to rule a city?

[TheAlmightyOne]

It was just a theory. OK so its not going to happen but I just thought it woul be cool if it happened.

[newcresty]

well, certainly miko was going to kick RC's ass, and that was full restored both miko and RC, so...

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i don't see the razon why Hinjo can't actually defeat RC on his own, remember hinjo is full HP (or lost any of them with the drop from the octupus's tentacle, if durkon didn't heal him off-panel) and RC has spent most of his high lvl spells, plus durkon is with hinjo. So i totally see a retreat from RC, followed with a persecution form durkon and hinjo, and a front encounter with haley belkar and roy's corpse

[RAGE KING!]

Redcloak rocks too hard, and is too important for stuff like that to happen to him, i like the Tsukiko drives off hinjo idea.