Belkar climbs up a mountain, planning a speech for when he gets inside the temple, when his path is suddenly blocked by a vampire.
Cast[]
- Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- Gontor Hammerfell (in gaseous form) ◀ ▶
- Goliath (as vampire) ◀ ▶
- Gnome Artificer ◀
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Belkar is climbing up the mountain, heavily bruised.
Belkar: Stupid vampire.
Belkar: Stupid mountain.
Belkar: Stupid Roy stupid Greenhilt.
- Panel 2
Belkar: Throw me off a mountain? I'll throw you off a mountain!
Belkar: And who cuts away when a beloved character is in danger like that?
- Panel 3
Belkar: I'm going to climb this ridiculous unnecessary mountain and burst into the temple all like, "That's not really Durkon!".
Belkar: And Roy will be like, "Yes, it is, because I'm not emotionally equipped to deal with bad things happening to good people."
- Panel 4
Belkar: Then I'll say, "Sort it out with your therapist, 'cause this vampire is dust!"
Belkar: Maybe some sort of flip first? I don't know, I'll play it by ear.
- Panel 5
Belkar: And then I'll just stab him in the heart.
Belkar: The vampire, not Roy.
Belkar: Though, you know—options open.
- Panel 6
Belkar: Oh, and I'm not even going to mention to Roy how I survived getting dropped off a mountain.
Belkar: It'll just be much more badass if I just show up like, "What? No big." That'll really mess with everyone's head.
- Panel 7
Flashback to Belkar with a Gnome shopkeeper in Tinkertown, Vaarsuvius and Blackwing visible outside the window.
Gnome Artificer: I'm sorry, I don't have anything to prevent you from being mind-controlled. You should try the young lady down the block.
Belkar: Damn it! I don't suppose you've got a Feather Fall item to help with the part where I keep jumping off the ship?
Gnome Artificer: Actually...
- Panel 8
Belkar: I should be able to get a couple of sweet burns on Roy about how some of us can handle a little fall without dying for a whole arc.
Belkar: Heh heh.
- Panel 9
Belkar: Ok, almost to the temple. I got to remember to go upstairs and grab my daggers before I—
Gontor Hammerfell in mist form passes by Belkar with a "WOOOSH!".
Belkar: WHOA!
- Panel 10
Belkar: What the—? That just looked like Dead Snake Guy in his funky smoke form.
Belkar: Ah, crap! Fake Durkon must've vampirified that other dwarf dude and used the staff to speed it up.
Belkar: Great! Just what we need—
- Panel 11
Godsmoot temple entrance comes into view, revealing the new Creed of the Stone vampire guarding it.
Belkar: —another frickin' vampire.
Trivia[]
- The title is a reference to the song Climb Ev'ry Mountain, from the beloved 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music.
- The flashback is to the shop of the Gnome Artificer who crafted Blackwing's bracelet in #967, "Craft Wondrous Bauble". This is the only other appearance of the artificer. The young lady down the block he referred to is the Gnome Merchant from #969, "It's Only His SECOND Favorite Cuisine".
- Belkar's comment in Panel 8 references Roy's death in #443, "The First Step is a Doozy".