Roy comes clean to Shojo on the purpose of the mission to Cliffport, and Shojo reminds him of the cost.
Cast[]
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶
- Nale (as Elan) ◀ ▶
- Shojo ◀ ▶
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Wizard Guy ◀
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Roy, Nale and Belkar talk with Shojo. Belkar uses a ball of yarn to play with Mr. Scrufy. A bag lies next to them.
Shojo: ...and now you know the Secret Lore of the Sapphire Guard. Again.
Nale: Thanks! I'll try not to forget it this time.
Roy: I should hope not. Some of us don't get to fast-forward past the retelling, you know.
- Panel 2
Shojo: On to other business. Other than the unfortunate accident, how did your attempt to track down Xykon's associate go?
Roy: What? Oh, right. Well, it, uh... well actually, we... ah, crap.
- Panel 3
Roy: It turns out we forgot to actually ask him anything useful about Xykon. We just kicked his ass and sent him to prison.
Belkar: We were supposed to ask him questions? I thought—OWW!
Belkar is interupted by a swift kick to the chest by Roy.
- Panel 4
Roy: The truth is, while yes, Nale is a known associate of Xykon's, we actually went to Cliffport because he had kidnapped my little sister.
Roy: I guess we could head back there to ask Nale. He's just rotting in prison...
Nale: What?!?
- Panel 5
Shojo: Sorry, no. I'm going to have to veto the redundant side-trip to question the ex-minion.
Nale: Whew!
Shojo: We're in a hurry here. I want you at Girard's Gate as soon as possible.
- Panel 6
Roy: Hey, don't order me around, Shojo.
Roy: I'm not one of your fawning subservient paladins. Let's not forget that I'm doing you a favor here.
- Panel 7
Shojo: Ah yes, the favor of downsizing my personal staff for me?
Roy: Hey, he teleported us into a—
Shojo: What do you think, loyal wizard follower? Do you think Roy is doing a good job so far?
- Panel 8
Shojo produces Wizard Guy's skeleton from the bag and holds it like a puppet.
Shojo: "Oh yes, Lord Shojo! I'm enjoying being a partially digested skeleton!"
Shojo: "Especially now that I've learned it happened on a trip that had no actual bearing on the mission for which he had been paid in advance!"
Belkar: Oooo! Burned by the geezer!
- Panel 9
Roy: OK, fine. You're right, we'll head to Girard's Gate right now.
Shojo: Great idea! Here, I'll have my best wizard teleport you!
- Panel 10
Shojo: "Sure thing, Lord Shojo!"
Shojo throws Wizard Guy's skeleton at Roy.
Shojo: "TELEPORT!!"
Roy: Gah!!
- Panel 11
Shojo: Oh, look at that. It didn't work.
Shojo: I guess you'll have to wait until we're done resurrecting him. Come back tomorrow.
- Panel 12
Belkar: That was friggin' fantastic. I wish this was a democracy so I could vote for that guy.
Roy: Really? 'Cause right now, I feel like he's been too soft on crime.
Roy: Specifically, yours.
D&D Context[]
- As the title notes, Perform is in the Aristocrat's skill list. Shojo is a level 14 Aristocrat. Perform is actually nine different subskills, each requiring a skill slot to gain proficiency. Shojo apparently has devoted slots to Perform (Puppetry), or if one is to fit it into the canonical categories, it would be Perform (Comedy).
Trivia[]
- This is the final appearance of Wizard Guy. He first appeared in #340.