Predictions for book 7

[Dion]

I question why the author had her say "I can't detect any fish" instead of "I can't detect any life", especially considering there IS a "fish detecting spell" in 3.5 but no "life detecting spell".

She said, “I’ve been telepathically scanning into this hole and I haven’t even sensed any... fish”

I’m not sure if a telepathic scan mimics a known spell. I really don’t have a clue how psionic power works in this world.

But my read is that she doesn’t say she’s trying to detect life because she’s not trying to detect life. She’s telepathically scanning for anything with a mind; i.e. probably sensing anything with intelligence, wisdom, or charisma.

Initially she sensed nothing, not even very primitive minds such as fish.

Then... she did sense something.

[KorvinStarmast]

I My personal prediction is that it is home to those "killed" by the snarl, like Kraagor and Mijung.

who then started a family ...

[littlebum2002]

I just thought of another prediction. Durkon finally Regenerates Sigdi's arm, and we cut to Valhalla, where Tenrin has been holding her disembodied arm for fifty odd years while drinking beer. We see the arm slowly fade from his grasp, and with a tear in his eye he whispers "finally"

[Peelee]

I just thought of another prediction. Durkon finally Regenerates Sigdi's arm, and we cut to Valhalla, where Tenrin has been holding her disembodied arm for fifty odd years while drinking beer. We see the arm slowly fade from his grasp, and with a tear in his eye he whispers "finally"

Why? Like, everything in the afterlife is shaped by belief, so Roy and Horace can both have the Greenhilt family sword with no problem, so why would he believe that all of a sudden the arm disappears? And it's not as if Regenerate takes the old arm back, it creates a new arm. It'd also be weird to think that, if Tenrin were holding anything for the last however many years, he'd probably want to hold his wife rather than her disembodied arm (which he probably wouldn't know about, since he died when she lost it), and her arm almost certainly wouldn't form a part of how he sees himself. Even if he did maintain a "i never let go" attitude with the same ferocity as Sigdi, the claim there is "never let go of Sigdi," so it'd be more than just her arm there with him.

Also, it'd just be weird for him to be walking around the afterlife, partying it up in Valhalla, holding a detached arm. But that's just me.

[Sigako]

Redcloak communes with The Dark One, explaining the plan with quiddities, but TDO orders him to refuse, because he long since ceased caring about his followers or the world and only wants for his plan to succeed to get back at other gods.

The ally only seen once will be revealed as Giggles, who sort of ascended through the worship of a tribe ignorant of all pantheons. This will lend him and Bajo the fifth quiddity, and that will allow to actually destroy Snarl.

The planet will be revealed as the first world - Snarl killed green gods and everyone ensouled, but wasn't interested in the planet itself.

Xykon will reveal that he was aware of Redcloak's ruse for a very long time, and has no intention to follow his plan, instead planning something fun (and by fun I mean horrible, cruel and possibly apocalyptic), and Redcloak will be forced to ally with the Order to stop him, going to his fortress in the process.

The Monster will get out of darkness... offscreen. The characters will comment on how impressive it is, it'll do some battling and then leave (possibly to play go with O-Chul), never revealing itself to readers. If someone recognizes it's species, they'll tell it other characters offscreen, again.

The Gate will be revealed to sit not behind one of the doors, but somewhere else completely, though close. Possibly the true door is walled by stone, hidden with illusion, or rift is small enough to fit into the statue.

Oona will duke it out with Belkar, briefly. Then they'll become fascinated by each other and their pets, say "Screw you all, we have more interesting things to do" and leave the battle.

Dwarves will be shown to resume the vote... with the final clan head hesitating and delegating the vote to their clan instead, starting the fun all over again, with said tie giving additional time to the team (while gods look at this in utter exasperation).

[brian 333]

I have predicted since the Oracle promised Elan a happy ending that he and Haley would enter a rift and be at the very beginning of a new campaign world. (One road, one village, and one dungeon, with the rest of the world blank and full of as yet unrealized potential.) At that time I thought the Snarl was a new (defacto) DM who was stealing ideas from the OoTSverse. I think that is still a good bet.

But tonight I had an epiphany:
The Giant has been leading us through storylines which show character growth and which have shown us that D&D itself can grow to become more than a game based in 2D morality where killing because evil is okay and has no consequences. In fact, one might argue that every plot element of OoTS is dealing with the consequences of just such 2D thinking.

So, this leads me to believe that the final page of OoTS will be drawn in 3D as Elan and Haley stand in the road they discover beyond the rift.

Elan: Haley, you are even more beautiful in 3D.

Haley: (ahem) Thanks, Elan, you look real nice too. Wanna go check out that inn?

Elan: More than anything!

[Squidtm]

Hmm, the art style has been getting more and more 3D. There used to be no shadows, but they've started appearing.

[CriticalFailure]

Maybe a four or five quidditt world could make things more real and this result in more detailed art.

[MilesBeyond]

My ridiculous, totally out there, incredibly unlikely prediction:

There is no Dark One. What we've seen as the Dark One is actually some sort of manifestation or projection of the Snarl, which is actually a fair bit more intelligent than the gods thought. The Snarl is using the visage of the Dark One to manipulate Redcloak into releasing it and manipulate the gods into not directly intervening so that it can consume all the gods and finally end the cycle (just, you know, the other way).

[C-Dude]

The Gate will be revealed to sit not behind one of the doors, but somewhere else completely, though close. Possibly the true door is walled by stone, hidden with illusion, or rift is small enough to fit into the statue.

I bet Kraagor's Gate is in his statue, not his tomb. The statue being crafted before the gates is irrelevant, because Merini knew a Divine and Arcane caster, and there's a spell split over those disciplines to move a gate. I bet it's been cast once already, to move the gate into the statue.

[Peelee]

I bet Kraagor's Gate is in his statue, not his tomb. The statue being crafted before the gates is irrelevant, because Merini knew a Divine and Arcane caster, and there's a spell split over those disciplines to move a gate. I bet it's been cast once already, to move the gate into the statue.

You know, with all the other problems inherent in the "Gate is in/under the statue" theory, I don't think most people even got so far as the statue being built first.

[b_jonas]

Belkar will die soon and will never get resurrected.

I still think this one is right. But I've mentioned elsewhere that I thougth Minrah would replace him as the sixth member of the Order. I'm so glad I didn't say that in this thread, because Rich just dissed that prediction in his 2020-07 Patreon answers post, question 4.

[understatement]

Since yesterday's strip was such a charmer...I predict:

*the mysterious allies will show up to save Durkon, because he really needs it at this point

*Xykon doesn't come out of wherever he is, or else Durkon and Redcloak are both toast

*Redcloak won't be persuaded by Durkon, but will 'think it oveer' -- because the alternative of Durkon dying again depresses me. Durkon needs to go back home to his son!

I guess I mentioned this in the main thread, but technically the third point was correct...still, I'm swapping it out with:

*Durkon makes his save. Minrah comes in and throws the hammer at Redcloak, buying them time. Xykon shows up at the same time as the Order.

I look forward to be proven wrong.

[ShaneWegner]

Predictions:

* The next time V gets summoned by the IFCC, she goes on an epic ass-kicking spree thanks to Still Spell + Silent Spell. (Both of which have been specifically called out by name as far back as the Forest Bandit King's daughter specifically not having them.)

Or maybe just does something like Plane Shift to go back to the battle, ignoring them. That would be the harder dis, all told.

* Green quiddity comes into play somehow. Like, maybe Roy copies the Dark One and ascends to deity level, restoring the green pantheon? That opens the door to a 5 color seal, if Redcloak can somehow bring purple onto the team. Or maybe Redcloak dies, making victory seam impossible, but Roy comes through with Green to get back to a pretty-good 4 color seal.

*It would also be awesome if Roy _and his sister (Julia?) both simultaneously ascend to green godhood. Like Julia is taking her final exam and not doing great, and her teachers are like "Hope you have something better planned", and then she turns into a god and kicks an unspeakable amount of ass.

*Obviously Sirini needs to come into play, completing the arc of the legendary gate heroes each having some role to play.

[C-Dude]

I bet Kraagor's Gate is in his statue, not his tomb. The statue being crafted before the gates is irrelevant, because Merini knew a Divine and Arcane caster, and there's a spell split over those disciplines to move a gate. I bet it's been cast once already, to move the gate into the statue.

Whelp, my prediction is dead as of strip 1211... if the gate was inside Kragor's statue, then Redcloak animating it would have ripped it out (and subsequently interrupted the fight).

While I think that would have been a really cool twist on an opening round of combat, it was not to be.

[Peelee]

I bet Kraagor's Gate is in his statue, not his tomb. The statue being crafted before the gates is irrelevant, because Merini knew a Divine and Arcane caster, and there's a spell split over those disciplines to move a gate. I bet it's been cast once already, to move the gate into the statue.

Whelp, my prediction is dead as of strip 1211... if the gate was inside Kragor's statue, then Redcloak animating it would have ripped it out (and subsequently interrupted the fight).

While I think that would have been a really cool twist on an opening round of combat, it was not to be.

Technically, it was dead as of nine years ago (hey, almost exactly!), since the Gate cannot be physically moved to start with. It can only be moved to a different plane, and even that feat was only devised by a god; there's no reason to believe that the Order of the Scribble knew how to do it.

[dancrilis]

Xykon manipulates the ritual to kill The Dark One.
Redcloak for the first time since he put on The Crimson Mantle finds himself with no master (Xykon has betrayed him and left, and The Dark One is dead) finds himself in still holding the last spells his god will ever give him - and he has a choice seal to make:
1. The rifts and perhaps allow the goblins to survive
2. Withhold the power and expect that when the gods or the snarl destroy the world they will end Xykon.
Sabine will betray the IFCC for mistreating Nale (somehow) and help Vaarsuvius distrupt their plans (somehow).
Belkar will die saving Hinjo's life - his afterlife will be awesome.
Eugene knows he is not getting into the same afterlife as his family - which is why he agreed to Roy's request without concern.
Haley will the story either pregnant or with a child born.
Jirix will be a fine ruler for Gobbotopia.
Xykon will not be destroyed - but he will be dealt with somehow (perhaps kicked upstairs as a deity).
Hel will be released from her bet.
Redcloak will end up teaching science to goblinoid children.
Durkon will work it out with Hilgya, she will turn from Loki.
Loki is using Hilgya to to convince the Dwarves against honour - but was never planning to fight Hel for their souls in order to help her out.
Roy begin a family with Celia.
Fyron's son will not appear.

Edit:
Tarquin will survive the story.
Tarquin's group will fragment.
Belkar will apologise to Vaarsuvius for feeding them to an Owlbear.

[hungrycrow]

Xykon will destroy the last gate. He previously said that he wouldn't destroy the world, unless he got really really bored. He will at some point or already has realized that Redcloak is betraying him, and the ritual won't help him at all. With the entirety of his undead life being a waste of time, he might decide to break everything, wait out the storm in his astral castle, and start over on a new world, unaware that Redcloak still has his soul-hidey thing.

[Emanick]

I thought I had posted a prediction here along the lines of "Kraagor's statue will play some minor role in the plot, besides just standing there," but apparently not. Darn it.

Ah well, gonna give myself half credit anyway, despite how vague and minor a guess it was.

[b_jonas]

Xykon will destroy the last gate. He previously said that he wouldn't destroy the world, unless he got really really bored. He will at some point or already has realized that Redcloak is betraying him, and the ritual won't help him at all. With the entirety of his undead life being a waste of time, he might decide to break everything, wait out the storm in his astral castle, and start over on a new world, unaware that Redcloak still has his soul-hidey thing.

His undead life wasn't a waste of time. Redcloak did everything for the Plan only, Xykon did not, and Redcloak was often frustrated about how little Xykon cares about the Plan. Xykon gained experience, killed Lirian and Dorukan and got Dorkuan's headband, crafted magic items, built a fortress on the Astral plane, perhaps researched magic spells, perhaps looted some goodies from Azure City, had fun paralyzing and killing and raising goblins. Those years of his unlife were well spent. If Redcloak's Plan fails, Xykon is still an epic lich sorcerer. The only problems are that (1) the gods might destroy the world, (2) Roy will destroy Xykon at the end of the story.

[hungrycrow]

His undead life wasn't a waste of time. Redcloak did everything for the Plan only, Xykon did not, and Redcloak was often frustrated about how little Xykon cares about the Plan. Xykon gained experience, killed Lirian and Dorukan and got Dorkuan's headband, crafted magic items, built a fortress on the Astral plane, perhaps researched magic spells, perhaps looted some goodies from Azure City, had fun paralyzing and killing and raising goblins. Those years of his unlife were well spent. If Redcloak's Plan fails, Xykon is still an epic lich sorcerer. The only problems are that (1) the gods might destroy the world, (2) Roy will destroy Xykon at the end of the story.

Its true that he's probably better off so far, but I doubt he'd see it that way when he realizes he can't win.

[dancrilis]

Its true that he's probably better off so far, but I doubt he'd see it that way when he realizes he can't win.

Why can't he win - the Gods have all sorts of rules preventing them from acting (and the higher and lower planes seem to be similiarly bound), in theory there does not seem to be anything stopping Xykon conquering the world the old fashioned way.
Ganonron is claimed to have done that with world after world.

[Jason]

Prediction: The news that the Snarl has devoured Gobbotopia will be the spur that finally gets Redcloak to give up on The Plan, turn against Xykon, and result in his being eaten by the MitD.

[KorvinStarmast]

Predictions:

* The next time V gets summoned by the IFCC, she goes on an epic ass-kicking spree thanks to Still Spell + Silent Spell. (Both of which have been specifically called out by name as far back as the Forest Bandit King's daughter specifically not having them.)

Actually, I don't think V can or will do that. V made the agreement up front, and I think will honor it and even 'has to' honor it.

* Green quiddity comes into play somehow. Like, maybe Roy copies the Dark One and ascends to deity level, restoring the green pantheon?

To ascend, would Roy not also have to die? (I am a bit unclear on how ascension works ...). Roy has already done the "die" thing. Not seeing Rich rehashing that as a good bet.

*Obviously Sirini needs to come into play, completing the arc of the legendary gate heroes each having some role to play.

Sirini is sitting on a rocking chair, surrounded by grandkids, grand nieces, great-grand nephews. News of the end of the world reaches here ears and she sighs, hugs her grandkids, and says: "I hope these young whipper snapper millenial NextGen adventurers are up to the challenge; they are the heroes that the world needs now. I'm well past my prime, and I earned my retirement" - and then her heartstrings are tugged by all of the cute little halfling kids running around and she thinks "Well, if they can't, then my little grand kids/nieces, etc" will have their souls devoured by the Snarl." So she heads back into the house, opens that old chest, and realizes "Uh oh, don't fit that studded leather any more, gonna need to do some shopping before I come out of retirement ...."
Well, that's my head-canon. I don't think that she's dead. (Though why her diary was found and isn't with her is a snag in my theory there ... she's a rogue, maybe she went into hiding for other reasons.

Redcloak will end up teaching science to goblinoid children.

That would be his happy ending.

Tarquin will survive the story.

Sincerely hope not. Between Ian and that lady whose city he betrayed, I'd like to see his one panel "what happened here?" (like the pole arm dealer's flash back) be X's in the eyes and a sword through his heart. The 200 foot high flaming letters alone warrant his becoming carrion-chow at the end.

Xykon will destroy the last gate. He previously said that he wouldn't destroy the world, unless he got really really bored. He will at some point or already has realized that Redcloak is betraying him, and the ritual won't help him at all. With the entirety of his undead life being a waste of time, he might decide to break everything, wait out the storm in his astral castle, and start over on a new world, unaware that Redcloak still has his soul-hidey thing.

And Xykon ends somewhere on the Astral plane, bored, and unable to solve his boredom. That would be a fitting end.

If Redcloak's Plan fails, Xykon is still an epic lich sorcerer. The only problems are that (1) the gods might destroy the world, (2) Roy will destroy Xykon at the end of the story.

His contingency is that fortress thingy in some dimension ...

in theory there does not seem to be anything stopping Xykon conquering the world the old fashioned way.

He made that point to Redcloak during the "three courses of action briefing" before the decision to assault Azure City.

Prediction: The news that the Snarl has devoured Gobbotopia will be the spur that finally gets Redcloak to give up on The Plan, turn against Xykon, and result in his being eaten by the MitD.

I would love that as an ending for Redcloack, but that math and science teacher thing probably fits too.

[Dausuul]

Here's my prediction: The final guardian of the final gate will be the father of the Monster in the Darkness.

My reasoning:

• Assuming that MitD is not a universally known species, Rich will need to introduce that monster type before MitD's big reveal, so that readers unfamiliar with the monster in question can become acquainted with it.
• If you need to introduce a new monster type, and your book takes place around a dungeon complex full of monsters, the solution is pretty obvious.
• There has already been a specific reference to MitD's "dad" in the comic, and Rich went to some effort to work it in. The conversation in the first few panels is pretty clearly set up to give MitD a chance to talk about its dad.
• MitD has already been shown to be extremely powerful; yet in the above link, it says that its dad was "BIG" and ate way more than it does. Such a creature could well be the most powerful monster on the planet. For a gate defense whose theme is raw strength, what better guardian?
• Troubled paternal relationships are a recurring theme in OotS.

[dancrilis]

Sincerely hope not. Between Ian and that lady whose city he betrayed, I'd like to see his one panel "what happened here?" (like the pole arm dealer's flash back) be X's in the eyes and a sword through his heart. The 200 foot high flaming letters alone warrant his becoming carrion-chow at the end.

He is still Elan's father - I doubt that Elan's plan involves him dying.

[Squire Doodad]

He is still Elan's father - I doubt that Elan's plan involves him dying.

It could involve Tarquin losing his empire and being held prisoner by the Free City of Doom though.

[Worldsong]

He is still Elan's father - I doubt that Elan's plan involves him dying.

Given that part of Elan's storyline was him maturing a little and accepting that his father and brother really are screwed up beyond repair it's not outside the realm of possibility that he might decide that the world is better off without Tarquin.

That said I agree with you that it's more likely that Elan's plan doesn't involve killing Tarquin, although I imagine Ian Starshine has a different opinion on that.

[Metastachydium]

Possibly with Thog as party fighter.

Nah, Thog is obviously going to be the vessel for the secret weapon of the IFCC. That's why his ”ultimate” fate was left uncertain.

[JSSheridan]

With the weight of Familicide hanging over her, I think V will be willing to risk her soul being unmade to investigate the world in a world

The IFCC might object