Goblins XVII: The shocking end of the story arc

[Vinyadan]

Almost certainly this.

But I'm barely interested in how he loses his ears. What intrigues me is whether the name and character design was actually made with this exact moment in mind. Because that's a lot to plan ahead - how old is the comic? 10-12 years?

But maybe he just had a general idea, to begin with: This goblin has big ears that he will eventually lose in some gruesome manner. To me personally, that feels more likely =)

Ears was meant to die at the warcamp. But it's possible that he was going to lose his hears down there.

I like the idea of a Goblin tribe where names are given based on what they will lose.

[Lord Torath]

Is this helmet designed to fit a regular human? Most things in the Thuntverse (do we still call it that? Or do we call it the Ehuntverse?) are sized for humans. If that's the case, it should have no problem fitting a goblin, even one with big ears.

I call shenanigans!

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I like the idea of a Goblin tribe where names are given based on what they will lose.

Life Worth Living, Both Arms, follow me, we've got a mission. Keychain, Slippers, hold the fort.

[Lissou]

Is this helmet designed to fit a regular human? Most things in the Thuntverse (do we still call it that? Or do we call it the Ehuntverse?) are sized for humans. If that's the case, it should have no problem fitting a goblin, even one with big ears.

I call shenanigans!

Magic items resize to fit the wearer. The issue is that this magic item presumably resizes to fit the wearer's head. Not the wearer's ears. (I'd probably call it Elliverse. Her last name hasn't been Hunt for a while anyways, it's Stephens now).

[Draconi Redfir]

think Ell said we can still call it the Thuntverse, since she was never a big fan of having the world named after her anyways. this way it just has it's own unique name.

could be wrong about that though.

and last i checked, magic items only re-size if they're spesifically enchanted to re-size. the rule about them sizing up or down one size to fit the user is a homebrew rule.
(wait, that might just be for pathfinder. not sure what the case is for 3.5)

[Yuki Akuma]

think Ell said we can still call it the Thuntverse, since she was never a big fan of having the world named after her anyways. this way it just has it's own unique name.

could be wrong about that though.

and last i checked, magic items only re-size if they're spesifically enchanted to re-size. the rule about them sizing up or down one size to fit the user is a homebrew rule.
(wait, that might just be for pathfinder. not sure what the case is for 3.5)

Nope. Magic items resize to fit their wearer (or can be resized easily by the wearer) in D&D 3.5 and always have.

[Traab]

Havent they already dealt with issues with wearing gear wrong so it fits? Like I think complains is wearing arm guards on his legs or something? Yup

[Kaptin Keen]

Ears was meant to die at the warcamp. But it's possible that he was going to lose his hears down there.

I like the idea of a Goblin tribe where names are given based on what they will lose.

Well ... yes.

See, if Ears was really meant to die at the warcamp, he would have. I'd say that, quite specifically, Ears was meant to not die at the warcamp. The foreshadowing existed precisely to be overcome. Which, by the way, is part of what I like about this comic. And it's the same thing I'm getting at with the ears - I find it cool if he was named that way specifically so he could lose his trademark at some point. Particularly cool if it was planned this way - this exact fight - years and years in advance.

[DataNinja]

See, if Ears was really meant to die at the warcamp, he would have. I'd say that, quite specifically, Ears was meant to not die at the warcamp. The foreshadowing existed precisely to be overcome.

He was going to die until literally the panel where his death would have occurred was being written

[Draconi Redfir]

presumably then this particular encounter was going to go much differently. as Fumbles would have been the one wielding the now-broken axe.

[Kaptin Keen]

He was going to die until literally the panel where his death would have occurred was being written

I think you misunderstand me. I don't know and I don't care about Thunts decision making process.

Look, it's possible for both of the below to be true:
I want Ears to lose his ears in some gruesome display of determination
I want Ears to die in heroically spectacular fashion

Right? He can have set out - 20 years ago - with both goals in mind. And at some point, he felt the plot called for Ears to die, despite him still having his ears - but then he got another inspiration, and now we have the opposite situation: Ears loses his ears, but did not (yet!) die in a display of spectacular heroics and self-sacrifice.

But all of that ... doesn't matter. Ears factually did not die, no matter what Thunt's plans and thoughts were right up until the very moment he published the page. Thunt, in principle, is secondary. The narrative is primary. Ears was not meant to die, because if he was - then he would be dead.

[deuterio12]

But all of that ... doesn't matter. Ears factually did not die, no matter what Thunt's plans and thoughts were right up until the very moment he published the page. Thunt, in principle, is secondary. The narrative is primary. Ears was not meant to die, because if he was - then he would be dead.

To be fair, we had stuff like:

-Dies Horribly actually didn't die that horribly (his demise was relatively fast, while many others suffered slow, gruesome deaths, from being tortured by being chopped into pieces to being liquiefied by exotic diseases), then comes back to life seconds later completely fine.

-Saves a Fox turned out to be "Mercy kills a fox infected with some super rare incurable disease she had never heard on her life and is never mentioned again but would make the fox suffer a slow horrible death otherwise".

So plenty of leeway what fate a goblin's name holds. Dies Horribly was meant to die but that lasted what, one page? And the only character to come back to life so far to boot!

[Agi Hammerthief]

Forgath died hortiby and was re-assembled

[Gez]

I think you misunderstand me. I don't know and I don't care about Thunts decision making process.

Right? He can have set out - 20 years ago - with both goals in mind.

I know it's easy to forget, but for reference, it's "Ellipsis" and "she" now, not "Thunt" and "he".

[deuterio12]

Forgath died hortiby was saved and was re-assembled

It was a mercy kill, and thus by Goblins own standards counted as glorious saving, not as an horrible death.

[Draconi Redfir]

It was a mercy kill, and thus by Goblins own standards counted as glorious saving, not as an horrible death.

i dunno, there was a lot of panicking, and screaming... that poison looked kinda painful.

[Lord Torath]

Magic items resize to fit the wearer. The issue is that this magic item presumably resizes to fit the wearer's head. Not the wearer's ears.

Ears are part of the head. Plus, magic items resize to fit the wearer. If the wearer has an abnormally large head, the helm would resize to fit that. If the wearer had an abnormally small head, the helm would resize to fit that. If the wearer had an abnormal growth on the side of their head, the helm would resize to fit that.

I stand by my call of "Shenanigans".

[Willie the Duck]

Ears are part of the head. Plus, magic items resize to fit the wearer. If the wearer has an abnormally large head, the helm would resize to fit that. If the wearer had an abnormally small head, the helm would resize to fit that. If the wearer had an abnormal growth on the side of their head, the helm would resize to fit that.

I stand by my call of "Shenanigans".

D&D does not use the disadvantage system like GURPS/HERO/etc. However, I can imagine in this world, Ears having chosen 'Oversized Ears' as his disadvantage (getting points back in compense or the like), with the text explicitly calling out normal headgear (and even magically resizing helmets) not fitting being part of the downside.

[Kaptin Keen]

To be fair, we had stuff like:

-Dies Horribly actually didn't die that horribly (his demise was relatively fast, while many others suffered slow, gruesome deaths, from being tortured by being chopped into pieces to being liquiefied by exotic diseases), then comes back to life seconds later completely fine.

-Saves a Fox turned out to be "Mercy kills a fox infected with some super rare incurable disease she had never heard on her life and is never mentioned again but would make the fox suffer a slow horrible death otherwise".

So plenty of leeway what fate a goblin's name holds. Dies Horribly was meant to die but that lasted what, one page? And the only character to come back to life so far to boot!

But .. was I talking about that?

I think I've said two things:

1: I admire the ability to plan ahead, having plot points figured out many years in advance - this, in part, because I'm totally unable to myself, I always wing it.
2: If Ears was meant to die, he would be dead.

The second one is open to interpretation. Sure, maybe ... the author ... planned for him to die, then reconsidered. That's one view. Another is that what goes down on paper (or into online pixels) ... is.

My view is the latter. I have zero concern for the thought process of the author, all I care about is the narrative. In the narrative, things happen if they're meant to - and they don't, if they're not.

And you can have a meta-narrative, where stuff is explained to be fated - but then takes another path. Hell, there might even be a meta-narrative in which Ears is supposed to die at the camp. I wouldn't know, and it's essentially irrelevant to my point - though highly relevant to the conclusion, I guess. I have no idea whether that whole sentence makes sense to anyone but me.

I know it's easy to forget, but for reference, it's "Ellipsis" and "she" now, not "Thunt" and "he".

Um .. what? Not 'forget', I have no idea what you're talking about. Unless it's a gender change. Which, then, is news to me. I'm afraid I'm guilty of the most callous lack of interest in who draws the comics I read, I figure Thunt was the only one I had a name for. Ellipsis, if my guess is correct. I know the Giant draws OotS, Penny Arcade are Tycho and ... that other guy.

[Willie the Duck]

Um .. what? Not 'forget', I have no idea what you're talking about. Unless it's a gender change. Which, then, is news to me. I'm afraid I'm guilty of the most callous lack of interest in who draws the comics I read, I figure Thunt was the only one I had a name for. Ellipsis, if my guess is correct. I know the Giant draws OotS, Penny Arcade are Tycho and ... that other guy.

That's exactly what happened (gender change, that is) -- Tarol "Thunt" Stephens revealed/came out this year that they were transgender and transitioning their name to Ellipsis Hana Stephens. It's been referenced in-thread so I'm sure people assumed everyone in-conversation was aware (not really how these threads work, but not an unreasonable assumption either).

Edit: honestly it's rather refreshing for someone not to know anything about the author, given how often Questionable Content/Dominic Deegan/Sinfest/Ctrl_Alt_Del/etc. discussions tend to devolve into referendums on the author.

[Keltest]

That's exactly what happened (gender change, that is) -- Tarol "Thunt" Stephens revealed/came out this year that they were transgender and transitioning their name to Ellipsis Hana Stephens. It's been referenced in-thread so I'm sure people assumed everyone in-conversation was aware (not really how these threads work, but not an unreasonable assumption either).

Edit: honestly it's rather refreshing for someone not to know anything about the author, given how often Questionable Content/Dominic Deegan/Sinfest/Ctrl_Alt_Del/etc. discussions tend to devolve into referendums on the author.

With works like QC its rather difficult to separate the work from the author because of how much of themselves they put into their work. Jeph of QC, for example, wrote in a character who was poor growing up, but it was incredibly obvious that he didn't know what that would actually look like, because he wildly misjudged things like what foods would be available.

Ellipsis (she goes by Elli or Ellie or something for short, right?) meanwhile mostly just seems to be writing an interesting fantasy story, and her moment by moment thoughts mostly stay out of it.

[Yuki Akuma]

There was that one time she wrote a story about rape informed by her mother's experiences of being raped, but other than that...

[Vinyadan]

Nu update!

[Draconi Redfir]

Nu update!

... well then... that's interesting...

[DataNinja]

Nu update!

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Wonder if he's just buying time for the golem to run out?

[Traab]

Ok so its official, thats no dwarf. I mean, they tend to be tough, but there are limits.

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Having half your skull ripped off by an angry golem is probably past the limit. So, any guesses about what he is classified as? Is he a construct? A golem? An animated corpse of some sort? A flesh based warforged crafted by demons that spontaneously developed a strange intelligence? Future Forgath?

[Draconi Redfir]

Ok so its official, thats no dwarf. I mean, they tend to be tough, but there are limits.

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Having half your skull ripped off by an angry golem is probably past the limit. So, any guesses about what he is classified as? Is he a construct? A golem? An animated corpse of some sort? A flesh based warforged crafted by demons that spontaneously developed a strange intelligence? Future Forgath?

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A Dwarf with a curse.

[Lissou]

Ellipsis (she goes by Elli or Ellie or something for short, right?) meanwhile mostly just seems to be writing an interesting fantasy story, and her moment by moment thoughts mostly stay out of it.

Yes, she goes by Ell or Elli for short.

[paddyfool]

New theory as to what Kore is:

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A dwarf paladin who happened on a magic item that empowers the wearer with resilience by taking the souls of those he kills. He then went on a quest to kill as many evil creatures as possible, not only on the theory that evil creatures are evil, but also to deny evil gods / demons whatever power they may glean from these souls after death.

Over time, the process of the quest has corrupted him to become ever more brutal, even as the item has corrupted his flesh.

[Kaptin Keen]

That's exactly what happened (gender change, that is) -- Tarol "Thunt" Stephens revealed/came out this year that they were transgender and transitioning their name to Ellipsis Hana Stephens. It's been referenced in-thread so I'm sure people assumed everyone in-conversation was aware (not really how these threads work, but not an unreasonable assumption either).

Edit: honestly it's rather refreshing for someone not to know anything about the author, given how often Questionable Content/Dominic Deegan/Sinfest/Ctrl_Alt_Del/etc. discussions tend to devolve into referendums on the author.

Hm, I had no idea.

So .. Kore, eh? I think we can safely conclude that he isn't lying: He cannot die. Or at least, damage to his body will not kill him.

Also, he glows from within. If I had to guess, he's actually a portal straight to Hell. And that's actual hellfire lighting him up from the inside. And that makes me think he's not going to die, yet. And yet I'm slightly hazy on how he, or the goblins, can escape from this. But still this feels like .. the time for the big reveal. What he really is, and why. Or something. And then the goblins work out how to defeat him, and then next time, he's killed for good.