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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    Beholder

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    Default How this ends for Durkon

    So, I had a dream about how this whole confrontation ends for Durkon. It was an anxiety dream, so it's not a happy ending.

    Durkon and Minrah jump out of the floor and leave the canyon in a hurry, with a breather strip about their dynamic as they try to get away. (I don't know if "Greater Invisibility Sphere" is a spell, and if if is, it's almost certainly not a cleric spell, but it"s involved on the escape.) They run into Xykon, who explains that he has some permanent form of detect magic or something and so noticed them in the stone. (We did recently have a panel of V talking about magical residue.) He then proceeds to give a long villain speech, where the camera is zoomed in on him and we can see Durkon out-of-focus in the background, backing away. (Somehow, Xykon's face and Durkon are both in the shot.) At one point, he walks past Minrah's charred corpse, briefly in shot; Xykon is casting at them while he speaks, and has killed her. Xykon says that Durkon has earned something special, though, and in the last panel, Xykon casts Familicide on him.

    Now, I don't *really* expect this to happen; anxiety dreams just be like that. It hit me like a sack of wet mice, though, because the last book explains at length a) how important Durkon's family is to him, and b) how bad it would be for a large number of dwarves to die without reason.

    Of course, Durkon's definition of family is not limited to blood relations, which would confuse the emotional impact for the reader, but it still feels like plenty of a gut punch, especially with regard to Durkon's new son. It would also trigger a new round of discussions about how familicide works, which from my long-term lurking of this forum, I can guess would be a fun time.

    How Xykon would actually have this spell is an unanswered question, but the IFCC is up to something, clearly, and there was that line about sending someone to collect Haerta way back when; maybe they didn't finish that job, and the IFCC either planned it or didn't think it was that important.

    Regardless, while I don't think this would really happen, I'm still left wondering about it. What do y'all think?

    TL;DR: I don't want Durkon to have a bad ending, but an anxiety dream said he did, involving Familicide.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Titan in the Playground
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    I'm willing to bet all the money I have in my bank that not only will none of this happen, your...dream...won't even get within spitting distance of how Durkon's story ends.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    I'm reasonably certain that we will never see Familicide again.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Inle-rah View Post
    So, I had a dream about how this whole confrontation ends for Durkon. It was an anxiety dream, so it's not a happy ending.

    Durkon and Minrah jump out of the floor and leave the canyon in a hurry, with a breather strip about their dynamic as they try to get away. (I don't know if "Greater Invisibility Sphere" is a spell, and if if is, it's almost certainly not a cleric spell, but it"s involved on the escape.) They run into Xykon, who explains that he has some permanent form of detect magic or something and so noticed them in the stone. (We did recently have a panel of V talking about magical residue.) He then proceeds to give a long villain speech, where the camera is zoomed in on him and we can see Durkon out-of-focus in the background, backing away. (Somehow, Xykon's face and Durkon are both in the shot.) At one point, he walks past Minrah's charred corpse, briefly in shot; Xykon is casting at them while he speaks, and has killed her. Xykon says that Durkon has earned something special, though, and in the last panel, Xykon casts Familicide on him.

    Now, I don't *really* expect this to happen; anxiety dreams just be like that. It hit me like a sack of wet mice, though, because the last book explains at length a) how important Durkon's family is to him, and b) how bad it would be for a large number of dwarves to die without reason.

    Of course, Durkon's definition of family is not limited to blood relations, which would confuse the emotional impact for the reader, but it still feels like plenty of a gut punch, especially with regard to Durkon's new son. It would also trigger a new round of discussions about how familicide works, which from my long-term lurking of this forum, I can guess would be a fun time.

    How Xykon would actually have this spell is an unanswered question, but the IFCC is up to something, clearly, and there was that line about sending someone to collect Haerta way back when; maybe they didn't finish that job, and the IFCC either planned it or didn't think it was that important.

    Regardless, while I don't think this would really happen, I'm still left wondering about it. What do y'all think?

    TL;DR: I don't want Durkon to have a bad ending, but an anxiety dream said he did, involving Familicide.
    Ah yes, let's negate the ENTIRE last story arc for no reason whatsoever.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Halfling in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Xykon has no idea about Durkon's family. Xykon didn't witness the first use of familicide, and probably has no idea it even exists. If he did, he might research it for funsies, but I don't see at what point he might have gotten time to do that. But even if he did, he's not going to just waste it on a dwarf he's just met (from his perspective). Xykon likes his ludicrous applications of force, but familicide wouldn't kill Durkon any faster than a lot of other spells - familicide is just more personal.

    IF he's researched it, and IF he's really, really annoyed with Durkon and IF he finds out Durkon has a large family he cares about and IF he doesn't realise that most of that family isn't related to him by blood (familicide would kill his mum, Sigdi, Kudzu and Hilgya - devastating, but not the mass slaughter Xykon would hope for), then, possibly. So, no. Rest easy. All that's endangering Durkon's family is a reality-erasing apocalypse, you've got nothing to worry about.
    I Am A: Neutral Good Human Wizard (2nd Level)

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  6. - Top - End - #6
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    No one is going to have a pointlessly brutal ending. Rich's opinion of that writing style is not at all positive.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Malloon View Post
    Xykon has no idea about Durkon's family. Xykon didn't witness the first use of familicide, and probably has no idea it even exists. If he did, he might research it for funsies, but I don't see at what point he might have gotten time to do that. But even if he did, he's not going to just waste it on a dwarf he's just met (from his perspective). Xykon likes his ludicrous applications of force, but familicide wouldn't kill Durkon any faster than a lot of other spells - familicide is just more personal.

    IF he's researched it, and IF he's really, really annoyed with Durkon and IF he finds out Durkon has a large family he cares about and IF he doesn't realise that most of that family isn't related to him by blood (familicide would kill his mum, Sigdi, Kudzu and Hilgya - devastating, but not the mass slaughter Xykon would hope for), then, possibly. So, no. Rest easy. All that's endangering Durkon's family is a reality-erasing apocalypse, you've got nothing to worry about.
    If there's anything I can see the horrible bone-man doing with Familicide, it would be learning it and then purposely not using it, just hunting down everyone it would kill himself and rounding them up to kill in front of the person he would've cast it on.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    SwashbucklerGuy

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by WanderingMist View Post
    If there's anything I can see the horrible bone-man doing with Familicide, it would be learning it and then purposely not using it, just hunting down everyone it would kill himself and rounding them up to kill in front of the person he would've cast it on.
    I could see Xykon casting it on Ochul, Vaarsuvius, or Redcloak(after he becomes aware of Redcloak's betrayal). He's aware that they would be particularly upset at being partially responsible for the death of their kinsmen, and they've made him mad enough to get that personal.

    That said I think one genocide is enough for this comic. Doing it again but without the moral lesson seems too dark for Rich.

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Colossus in the Playground
     
    BlackDragon

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Malloon View Post
    Xykon has no idea about Durkon's family. Xykon didn't witness the first use of familicide, and probably has no idea it even exists. If he did, he might research it for funsies, but I don't see at what point he might have gotten time to do that. But even if he did, he's not going to just waste it on a dwarf he's just met (from his perspective). Xykon likes his ludicrous applications of force, but familicide wouldn't kill Durkon any faster than a lot of other spells - familicide is just more personal.
    In fact, I can see Xykon really not seeing the point of Familicide--what fun is it if you don't actually see the people dying? Not to mention, I doubt he'd be high enough level to cast it anyway--Haerta was supposed to be the most powerful splice V had in him by quite some margin, and the other two were both well into Epic levels, so I dread to think what her actual level was. 30+ at least, I would think.

  10. - Top - End - #10

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Inle-rah View Post
    So, I had a dream
    The top hit single Familicide from a few years ago is a case of the song doesn't remain the same. Let's say this: it's not a golden oldie, it's a one hit wonder.
    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    I'm reasonably certain that we will never see Familicide again.
    I'll back that up with a 100 quataloo bet.
    Doing it again but without the moral lesson seems too dark for Rich.
    Understatement of the week.

    For those unsure about the song reference, Led Zeppeling's The Song Remains the Same: the opening line is I had a dream
    Last edited by KorvinStarmast; 2020-10-11 at 09:19 AM.
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    Gosh, 2D8HP, you are so very correct!
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  12. - Top - End - #12
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    While the fact is that Xykon doesn't know how much Durkon values family (and that Durkon's one is not based on blood except for his mother) as we know, the main point against this happening is that it would be totally out of character for Xykon. Xykon has another weapon for people he really hates (and all of them are wizard and not clerics, maybe in future with the notable exception of Reddie) and it's Soul Bind. For all other living and undead being, there is fire, and sometimes lightning too.
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  13. - Top - End - #13
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Sadly, a part of me really wants it to be happen for real, but with a slight difference:

    It's not Familicide, but Greater Familicide. A spell not only works on blood relations but also on emotional links between people who see each other as family.
    Last edited by Precure; 2020-10-14 at 02:10 PM.

  14. - Top - End - #14
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Precure View Post
    Sadly, a part of me really wants it to be happen for real, but with a slight difference:

    It's not Familicide, but Greater Familicide. A spell not only works on blood relations but also on emotional links between people who see each other as family.
    The opening lyrics to that song are

    Rock fall and everyone dies.

    It's as short of a song as Bambi Meets Godzilla is a movie.
    Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Works
    a. Malifice (paraphrased):
    Rulings are not 'House Rules.' Rulings are a DM doing what DMs are supposed to do.
    b. greenstone (paraphrased):
    Agency means that they {players} control their character's actions; you control the world's reactions to the character's actions.
    Gosh, 2D8HP, you are so very correct!
    Second known member of the Greyview Appreciation Society

  15. - Top - End - #15
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by KorvinStarmast View Post
    It's as short of a song as Bambi Meets Godzilla is a movie.
    I'd watch that one, you know.

  16. - Top - End - #16
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    I'd watch that one, you know.
    It's on youtube.

  17. - Top - End - #17
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Precure View Post
    It's on youtube.
    Well. Thanks for the tip, I watched it.
    It is indeed short.

  18. - Top - End - #18
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    I'd watch that one, you know.
    I had heard about that in the early 70's. One of my teachers had seen it at a film festival. I got to see it between movies (at a double feature) the first time I ever saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show (in the 70's). Loved it.
    Last edited by KorvinStarmast; 2020-10-15 at 09:14 AM.
    Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Works
    a. Malifice (paraphrased):
    Rulings are not 'House Rules.' Rulings are a DM doing what DMs are supposed to do.
    b. greenstone (paraphrased):
    Agency means that they {players} control their character's actions; you control the world's reactions to the character's actions.
    Gosh, 2D8HP, you are so very correct!
    Second known member of the Greyview Appreciation Society

  19. - Top - End - #19
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by KorvinStarmast View Post
    I had heard about that in the early 70's. One of my teachers had seen it at a film festival. I got to see it between movies (at a double feature) the first time I ever saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show (in the 70's). Loved it.
    Heh. I can see why.
    (Also: this was actually shown at festivals? That's huge.)

  20. - Top - End - #20
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Lizardfolk

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Wow your Oots dream strips are way more coherent than mine.

    I was going to comment that Familicide wouldn't kill that many dwarves as it runs on blood relations (and none of Durkon's extended family are directly related to him), but it would kill Kudzu and Hilgya, which is bad enough tbh.

  21. - Top - End - #21
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Riftwolf View Post
    Wow your Oots dream strips are way more coherent than mine.
    Care to tell us more about that?

  22. - Top - End - #22
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Metastachydium View Post
    Care to tell us more about that?
    I wish I could, but it usually goes that I see there's an update on the comic, and it's usually Xykon doing something utterly unrelated to the comic and tying up loose threads in the MCU or Skyrim instead.

  23. - Top - End - #23
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    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    I have to confess, I've never had any kind of dreams about any fiction series as far as I can recall, unless you count some personal dreams about the female cast members in Firefly.

    But that wasn't strictly about the show, more about Morena, Jewel, and Gina. And special guest star Christina Hendricks. (Er... not all at the same time. )
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  24. - Top - End - #24
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Beholder

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    I doubt Xykon has had the time to learn another epic spell in the month or two since it was cast. He had to drop stuff off at his secret hidey hole, teleport to the prophesized location, and since then he's been fighting near epic monsters daily. Epic spell research takes weeks of concentrated effort and besides Superb Dispelling and Cloister, he probably knows one more epic spell, probably a blasting one.

    Besides, Xykon is probably only going to kill Belkar, unless the two die to the Snarl at the same time. Or at least the same comic. Any other character deaths (besides villains) are unlikely.

  25. - Top - End - #25
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    If Xykon somehow knows the Familicide epic spell and casts it, it will be on
    Spoiler: (Xykon casts Familicide on)
    Show
    Redcloak, when he betrays Xykon.

    And Xykon will stand there puzzled for a moment because the spell did absolutely nothing.

  26. - Top - End - #26
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    HalflingRangerGuy

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Oh no, it'll do something very important, it'll kill...
    Spoiler
    Show
    Redcloak's niece!!!

    Yep, I went there.

  27. - Top - End - #27
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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Bilbo Baggins View Post
    Oh no, it'll do something very important, it'll kill...
    Spoiler
    Show
    Redcloak's niece!!!

    Yep, I went there.
    At last, closure.
    Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Works
    a. Malifice (paraphrased):
    Rulings are not 'House Rules.' Rulings are a DM doing what DMs are supposed to do.
    b. greenstone (paraphrased):
    Agency means that they {players} control their character's actions; you control the world's reactions to the character's actions.
    Gosh, 2D8HP, you are so very correct!
    Second known member of the Greyview Appreciation Society

  28. - Top - End - #28
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Now thinking about this, a familicide spell would kill all of Durkon's clan, an important percentage of dwarven race.

  29. - Top - End - #29
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    RangerGuy

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    No it would not, because Durkon's family (except his mom, and Hilgya&Kudzu) are adoptive family. None of them share a bloodline, even with each other.

    (EDIT: Obviously the separate families share a bloodline with each other, don't @ me)
    Last edited by Ionathus; 2020-10-20 at 12:56 AM.

  30. - Top - End - #30
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    HalflingRogueGuy

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    Default Re: How this ends for Durkon

    Quote Originally Posted by Precure View Post
    Now thinking about this, a familicide spell would kill all of Durkon's clan, an important percentage of dwarven race.
    Durkon doesn’t seem to have many relatives. There may be only three Thundershields in the whole world. I’m thinking it kills Sigdi, Kudzu, and... all of Kudzu’s living relatives.

    Hilgya’s clan is toast.

    But as long as we’re imagining spells that won’t be cast, it probably also kills the jello jockey for some reason.
    Last edited by Dion; 2020-10-20 at 11:43 AM.

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