Major character who has only appeared on 1 page in the entire OOTS saga

[dancrilis]

Indeed; not only is he in Celestia, he's also with his mommy in Celestia. I have a toddler, and I can wager that if one were in a place that made him happy at all times, and he had his mommy to boot, he would probably never want to leave. Getting rezzed is a decision for more mature people, I'd hardly expect a baby to do it. That being said, I have a toddler, so I don't think I'd say a word if Roy wanted to be able to give the little guy a chance to grow up with him. I just don't expect it.

Roy seems to value life (as does the Giant from me reading) so Roy might feel that Eric deserves one - and Roy once this quest is done could make the decision ...

Spoiler

Show

... Eugene did and put family above adventuring.

I don't see it happening but it would not be off the wall.

I do wonder if it would be a selfish (although not intentionally so) decision from Roy.

[Ron Miel]

The Giant has commented several times that being alive is preferable to the afterlife. Here's two notable examples.

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...5#post19680985

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...0#post19684300

And I agree that it is a decision for mature people. Eric as a toddler is not meaningfully able to make that choice for himself. Allow the grown ups who love him to choose what's best for him.

[RatElemental]

And I agree that it is a decision for mature people. Eric as a toddler is not meaningfully able to make that choice for himself. Allow the grown ups who love him to choose what's best for him.

The issue is that the way the magic works, Eric is the only one who can make the decision. No spell can bring back a soul that is unwilling to return.

[Ron Miel]

Which is why I theorized that the plan is for Roy's Archon to tell Eric to accept the call.

[Peelee]

Which is why I theorized that the plan is for Roy's Archon to tell Eric to accept the call.

But Eric's mom is there. She would have a better link to Eric, as well as more standing to make choices for him. I already said I wouldn't complain one bit if Eric was brought back to life, but if Roy passed over their mother for this decision and just used the Archon instead, I would be upset about that.

[Potatopeelerkin]

My vote still goes to Xyklon the Consequential. I mean, it's even in the name, right?

[Peelee]

My vote still goes to Xyklon the Consequential. I mean, it's even in the name, right?

I would like to purchase a ticket for this hype train.

[Metastachydium]

I'll nominate Yellow Plume Bodyguard from strip #998

So mulling it over, I was drawn, as many were, to the Godsmoot because there are lots of powerful characters there, it's geographically close to where the Order is now, and those characters would have motivations for following the Order. Of course the Gods are out because they can't interfere, and the high priests are locked in the room. Bodyguards and guests are prohibited from attacking other high priests, but not from leaving, and as I was rereading I noted that in #998 there's a female knight with a yellow helmet plume in the gallery with Roy who says "Destroy the world? Why??"

Every other character on the balcony or in the room appears in different strips*. She's out of frame every other time the action cuts to the balcony- the only Godsmoot bodyguard who appears only once. I don't have any sensible way to sort out whose bodyguard she would be. Her pale yellow tabard looks most like Sunna's high priest garb, but it could be anyone.

*I've seen some use 'page' here as in page in the eventual printed book and some as in web page. I think it's ambiguous enough that either is acceptable for a guess. Yellow Plume Bodyguard does appear on the other book pages that compose strip #998.

You might want to check strip no. 1179 (last panel).

[Jaziggy]

You might want to check strip no. 1179 (last panel).

Gosh darnit! Suggestion withdrawn.

[MartytheBioGuy]

On behalf of my own pet parrot, I officially vote for Polly from strip 564. A worthy ally indeed.

[Metastachydium]

What about the blue-haired female archer from strip no. 417? While I can't see too many realistic ways in which she could become a major ally, she has a distinctive design and spoken lines in addition to the fact that the news of her continued survival would definitely give Haley a morale boost.

[knag]

What about the blue-haired female archer from strip no. 417? While I can't see too many realistic ways in which she could become a major ally, she has a distinctive design and spoken lines in addition to the fact that the news of her continued survival would definitely give Haley a morale boost.

I mean, in my head, she dead.

[Metastachydium]

I mean, in my head, she dead.

Show me the body.

[Silverionmox]

Aarindarius? Could be instrumental in gaining access to the astral plane, if they need to chase Xykon for some reason. Especially since V excluded Conjuration. And V has gotten over his reluctance for asking help from his teachers, so that helps.

He did appear twice but one was hypothetical, so eh, who knows.

[Manty5]

I think we should start with motivations and appropriate levels first and reason backwords from there. Who would know there's a gate up north? Everyone in the original party that sealed it, since it was built on a site that everyone had been at. And any of the defenders of the gates would have a vested interest in keeping the last gate from being unsealed.

So, a survivor from the forest gate might be it.
The mountain gate appeared to have only one defender.
We pretty much know all of the high-level characters from the Azure city gate.
But what if one of the defenders of the maze/pyramid gate accepted resurrection?
Remember that we see a whole bunch of dead in exactly one panel, then the focus narrows down. Plenty of those corpses were seen in that one panel but not in subsequent ones. One of those corpses must have been the leader of the clan after draketooth the patriarch died.

[Peelee]

I think we should start with motivations and appropriate levels first and reason backwords from there. Who would know there's a gate up north? Everyone in the original party that sealed it, since it was built on a site that everyone had been at. And any of the defenders of the gates would have a vested interest in keeping the last gate from being unsealed.

So, a survivor from the forest gate might be it.

Spoiler: Start of Darkness

Show

All known defenders were burned or killed.

But what if one of the defenders of the maze/pyramid gate accepted resurrection?
Remember that we see a whole bunch of dead in exactly one panel, then the focus narrows down. Plenty of those corpses were seen in that one panel but not in subsequent ones. One of those corpses must have been the leader of the clan after draketooth the patriarch died.

It's a bit odd that you suggest resurrection for Girard's clan but not for any Azurites. Anyway, there's an even bigger flaw - your base premise here is that nobody knows about the gates except the people who were involved with them. So who would resurrect any of Girard's clan? Nobody knew who they were or what they were doing. Much like the druids in ancient times hundreds of years before the dawn of history.

[Metastachydium]

But what if one of the defenders of the maze/pyramid gate accepted resurrection?
Remember that we see a whole bunch of dead in exactly one panel, then the focus narrows down. Plenty of those corpses were seen in that one panel but not in subsequent ones. One of those corpses must have been the leader of the clan after draketooth the patriarch died.

It's a bit odd that you suggest resurrection for Girard's clan but not for any Azurites. Anyway, there's an even bigger flaw - your base premise here is that nobody knows about the gates except the people who were involved with them. So who would resurrect any of Girard's clan? Nobody knew who they were or what they were doing.

Gotta agree with Peelee there. I'd also add that Girard's pyramid was blown to smithereens by an exploding Gate, and it is far from unreasonable to believe that so did the bodies inside.

I think we should start with motivations and appropriate levels first and reason backwards from there. Who would know there's a gate up north?

A bunch of gods, for instance. For one that would care to interfere, my favoured guess would be Tiamat. She knows everything (the Oracle told Elan he knows how the story's going to end, and the idea that some kobold has knowledge his PATRON GODDESS does not strains credibility), and has an agent on the ground, who will readily dispense information about the Gates to anyone who's asking (and paying enough; we're talking about the Oracle again, obviously).
Now, to quote myself, „I personally believe that the voices might very well be chromatic dragons/half-dragons on her payroll (they have the size, the speech bubbles, and the ability to fly), and I would be less than surprised if the major ally the Order gets turned out to be the pair of lizards (who strike me as relatively high level casters[: Shojo only had one wizard to spare who could cast Teleport, while Resurrection doesn't seem to be on the list of any random nobody who happens to serve a god, either]) who raised the Oracle (who works for Tiamat, which would mean it stands to reason that a cleric regularly bringing him back from the dead belongs to her church as well). It would also explain the whole restriction with ”for the first half of the book”, since I fully expect Team Tiamat to have goals that may clash with those of the good guys.”
To preemptively respond to the possible counter-argument that there are two funny robed lizards, I would add that (1) they can be read as a dividual character (cf. the IFCC) – they regularly work as a team, look very much alike and take turns talking – and (2) the Giant never specified that the someone he was talking about does not come in a package with other characters whom we have or haven't seen before.

[MartianInvader]

Has anyone nominated Giggles the Clown yet? He holds sway over an entire tribe of orcs who might prove important, or maybe he'll provide another quiddity to help seal away the snarl.

[RatElemental]

Has anyone nominated Giggles the Clown yet? He holds sway over an entire tribe of orcs who might prove important, or maybe he'll provide another quiddity to help seal away the snarl.

I sincerely hope Rich is a better writer than that, and to date he appears to be.

[understatement]

Aarindarius? Could be instrumental in gaining access to the astral plane, if they need to chase Xykon for some reason. Especially since V excluded Conjuration. And V has gotten over his reluctance for asking help from his teachers, so that helps.

He did appear twice but one was hypothetical, so eh, who knows.

V's master also appears in the Order's prequel story.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Which also told us A's a specialist Evoker as well, so he won't have Conjuration either.

[Ruck]

A bunch of gods, for instance. For one that would care to interfere, my favoured guess would be Tiamat. She knows everything (the Oracle told Elan he knows how the story's going to end, and the idea that some kobold has knowledge his PATRON GODDESS does not strains credibility), and has an agent on the ground, who will readily dispense information about the Gates to anyone who's asking (and paying enough; we're talking about the Oracle again, obviously).
Now, to quote myself, „I personally believe that the voices might very well be chromatic dragons/half-dragons on her payroll (they have the size, the speech bubbles, and the ability to fly)

I think the whole joke there is that Tiamat has five heads and all of them are yelling at the IFCC. I don't think it's a secret sleight-of-hand joke so that Rich could set up his note in the commentary at the end of book six.

Has anyone nominated Giggles the Clown yet? He holds sway over an entire tribe of orcs who might prove important, or maybe he'll provide another quiddity to help seal away the snarl.

Has Giggles only appeared on one page? I'd be surprised. (Before I get into any of the other issues with that being the answer.)

[The MunchKING]

Has Giggles only appeared on one page? I'd be surprised. (Before I get into any of the other issues with that being the answer.)

They talk about him a few times, but he's introduced here, and stays with the orcs at the end of that strip, and we don't see them again, so I don't think we see Giggles again...

A bunch of gods, for instance. For one that would care to interfere, my favoured guess would be Tiamat. She knows everything (the Oracle told Elan he knows how the story's going to end, and the idea that some kobold has knowledge his PATRON GODDESS does not strains credibility), and has an agent on the ground, who will readily dispense information about the Gates to anyone who's asking (and paying enough; we're talking about the Oracle again, obviously).

Tiamat's been seen on loads of pages hasn't she? At least once in the prequal books that I recall off the top of my head, here Thor shows her, here there's a statue of her (I don't know if that counts), here the Oracle Invokes her image, etc. And that was just a cursory check of where I remembered her. There could be more I've forgotten.

[Mightymosy]

Did Fyron's son actually on panel some time?

[Peelee]

Did Fyron's son actually on panel some time?

Spoiler: Start of Darkness

Show

No, which is odd; we never see or hear of Fyron's son except by Roy's exclamation that Xykon killed him, IIRC.

[Gurgeh]

Which also told us A's a specialist Evoker as well, so he won't have Conjuration either.

Third edition D&D doesn't force any specific schools to be barred based on which school a wizard specialises in - they're able to bar whichever schools they like as long as they're not Diviniation. V explicitly mentions this in 340.

[Peelee]

Third edition D&D doesn't force any specific schools to be barred based on which school a wizard specialises in - they're able to bar whichever schools they like as long as they're not Diviniation. V explicitly mentions this in 340.

IIRC, 3e Evokers only had to ban one school if they chose Conjuration or Transmutation, 2 schools if they picked from a set list, or three schools with no restriction. The "any two schools except Divination" was not third edition, but 3.5. In strip 340, V mentions Conjuration as their banned school, singular, and that when they chose Conjuration, Teleport was still Transmutation, both of which heavily imply that V has a single banned school under 3e rules, not two under 3.5 rules.

[Manty5]

It's a bit odd that you suggest resurrection for Girard's clan but not for any Azurites. Anyway, there's an even bigger flaw - your base premise here is that nobody knows about the gates except the people who were involved with them. So who would resurrect any of Girard's clan? Nobody knew who they were or what they were doing. Much like the druids in ancient times hundreds of years before the dawn of history.

The Azurites had few high level members, and they're all tied up with the guardian spell. Also they appeared in multiple pages.

So who would resurrect any of Girard's clan? Nobody knew who they were or what they were doing.

Tarquin wants to meddle but he doesn't know where the gates are, and he's sitting on a pile of bones of people who DO know where one of the gates are (although he doesn't know for a fact that they know). Do the math.

Admittedly, the bones are rather... scattered... but all it would take is some residue clinging on to some symbol of leadership.

[Peelee]

The Azurites had few high level members, and they're all tied up with the guardian spell. Also they appeared in multiple pages.

A.) What guardian spell? Do you mean the oaths that bound their spirits to the world, which Soon explicitly said had ended?
2.) The dead Draketooths also appeared in multiple pages, since Malack turned them into undead and they fought the Order.

[RatElemental]

Which also told us A's a specialist Evoker as well, so he won't have Conjuration either.

Not necessarily, though it is possible they chose the same barred schools as V. Or, in universe, that V chose the same barred schools as A.

IIRC, 3e Evokers only had to ban one school if they chose Conjuration or Transmutation, 2 schools if they picked from a set list, or three schools with no restriction. The "any two schools except Divination" was not third edition, but 3.5. In strip 340, V mentions Conjuration as their banned school, singular, and that when they chose Conjuration, Teleport was still Transmutation, both of which heavily imply that V has a single banned school under 3e rules, not two under 3.5 rules.

I'm pretty sure V has necromancy banned. If I recall correctly there's a giant comment (summon banana?) explaining that the soul splice was meant to give V everything they were missing when it comes to arcane magic. Namely, conjuration, necromancy and spontaneous casting.