OOTS #1092 - The Discussion Thread

[Jasdoif]

I still have some hope that the Giant's planned something interesting.

...huh. I notice that the Exarch only said they plan to dominate the Dwarven elders. Not to what end. I mean, to directly shift Dvalin's vote would be the obvious expectation, but I think that's because we don't know what else the elders might be capable of that could involve dominating all of them. To bounce a thought off the outlandish wall, maybe it's the dwarven elders who can reveal the location of Kraagor's Gate, the destruction/corruption of which would prompt the gods to destroy the world anyway?

[Cazero]

The 3 other dwarven high priests all know (think?) it will be a domination attack, and yet they fear Dvalin will go along with it and follow a dominated council's decision.

So your line of reasoning is that Dvalin perceives every little thing that every single dwarf in the wolrd can sense? Because some dwarves knowing doesn't imply that Dvalin himself knows.

[Kardwill]

So your line of reasoning is that Dvalin perceives every little thing that every single dwarf in the wolrd can sense? Because some dwarves knowing doesn't imply that Dvalin himself knows.

Well, Dvalin knows about Hel's global plan (damn all dwarfkind to use them as evil fuel during the creation of the next world), and Dvalin's high priest knows about the vampire attack (even if he didn't hear the exarch because he was in god-mode, the other dwarves would have informed them afterward). The question is then : Can/will Dvalin communicate with his high priest? And would the high priest communicate that information? We know gods listen to their followers' prayers, but will Dvalin listen right now, in the middle of an important decision? The other dwarven priests don't look like they believe Dvalin will listen (maybe part of the whole "the mortals shall not influence the moot" thing that made Roy's speech totally ineffective), or they believe that if he listens, he is just THAT lawful and will stick to the letter of his word anyway. Which, for a lawfull dwarven god-king of law and dwarviness, is not that far-fetched.
Or the whole "communication magic is blocked at the moot" applies to priest-god communication too. Might explain why Dvalin is oblivious to the threat.

Though there is another possibility : We know that when a cleric is in god-mode, the god is in control and only hears the other gods (we can see a godmode yellow-eyed conversation between Dvalin, Odin and Thor at the end of the moot), and the godmoot protocol seems to be that gods must cast their votes though their high priest by godmoding them. Even Hel does this, and throws her vote through Durkon's lips rather than through her proxy.
So since Dvalin has not yet cast his vote, maybe he's still possessing his priest? A 2-days possession is a little hardcore, but we know he's a stickler for rules, and technically, he IS in the process of casting his vote.
If that's the case, then Dvalin's HP don't know about the vampire plan, Dvalin himself can't hear any mortal in the room, and unless another god gets the information from a mortal and then warns him, he has no way to know about the threat on the elders.

EDIT : Nah, forget that last theory. We can see Dvalin's HP with normal eyes right after the fight, so it's not a "traped in godmode" scenario. More likely the fact that with the moot, gods are not listening to their followers right now and don't know what is happening on the mortal side.

[Quebbster]

Well, Dvalin knows about Hel's global plan (damn all dwarfkind to use them as evil fuel during the creation of the next world)

Not necessarily. The high priests of the demigods weren't present in the chamber when Hel explained her Evil Plan, so he may in fact not be aware of it. Sure, Hel negotiated with at least Hermod and Thrym before the Godsmoot, but it seems unlikely she would have negotiated with Dvalin since she knew he wouldn't cast his vote without polling the Council first.
Besides, everyone knows plans only work if you keep them secret first, so there will likely be more plot twists about the plan. We'll see in due time.

[Kardwill]

Not necessarily. The high priests of the demigods weren't present in the chamber when Hel explained her Evil Plan, so he may in fact not be aware of it.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1016.html
From his "I have no desire to see my people condemned to Hel's care. However..." statement, I'm pretty sure he knows that Hel wants to consume dwarvenkind. Especially since Hel herself is still in the room gloating about "her" next world.

He knows the stakes, but still wants to stay true to his word and let his people decide for him. Which is commendable, really, but the kind of devotion an evil bugger like Hel will take advantage of.