- For the other comic titled "All in the Family", see All in the Family (681).
The party puzzles on the mystery of how the entire Draketooth family was killed in an instant. They suggest that it's a decoy, or a ruse, or it was done by Xykon or Nale. V discovers a clue on the wall which alarms V greatly.
Cast[]
- The Order of the Stick
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- The Draketooth Family
Transcript[]
- Panel 1, Page 1
Haley: Roy…is that…?
Roy: The Draketooth family? Not sure.
- Panel 2, Page 1
Roy: Durkon, get in here and take a look at this.
Durkon: Och, sweet Thor above!
Roy: Is it real, though? Is it an illusion of some sort?
- Panel 3, Page 1
Durkon: Lad…it’s no illusion. ‘Least na one tha True Seeing can pierce.
Roy: Goddamn it.
Durkon: These bodies, they be real, alright. Tha poor souls…
- Panel 4, Page 1
Roy: Could it be some sort of other trick? A decoy, like you said?
Haley: I—I guess so…but I don’t know how that would help them.
- Panel 5, Page 1
Haley: If they make potential invaders think the Gate is less defended, that’s only going to encourage people to seek it out.
Haley: I suppose it could be some sort of lure, but…to kill two dozen people, just as bait?
- Panel 6, Page 1
Roy: But we can’t rule trickery out, then?
Haley: I guess. But I don’t think I like the implication of someone doing this just to fool us any better.
- Panel 7, Page 1
Haley: What I can’t figure out is why all these bugs didn’t start, you know…eating.
Vaarsuvius: This chamber was invisible until 20 minutes ago. They could not adequately perceive what they wished to devour until now.
- Panel 8, Page 1
Roy: Less entomology, more searching, V. I see pictographs all over this room. Find out if they matter.
Vaarsuvius: As you wish.
Roy: Haley, you take a look at the other end of the room.
Haley: Yeah, OK.
Belkar: Whoa. That is one room full of dead redheads.
- Panel 9, Page 1
Roy: You! You said that you didn’t smell any rotting corpses!
Belkar: Well I didn’t! And I still don’t!
Roy: Then your nose needs a tune-up!
Durkon: Dinnae get mad at ‘im, lad.
- Panel 10, Page 1
Durkon: These bodies’ve been mostly preserved by tha desert air whistlin’ through tha windows.
Durkon: They’ve been dead ‘least a fortnight, but thar’s precious little decay.
Durkon: I wouldnae expect Belkar ta know wha a natural mummy smell’d like ‘fore today.
- Panel 11, Page 1
Belkar: See? My nose is working just fine!
Roy: Then just stay out there and keep watch. I don’t want you cracking jokes in here.
Belkar: Not even about the—
Roy: GO!!
- Panel 1, Page 2
Roy: Any idea on the cause of death?
Durkon: Nay. Thar’s na one mark ‘pon any o’em, an’ Detect Poison came back negative.
Elan: Was it Nale? Did my brother do this?
Durkon: I dinnae think so, lad.
- Panel 2, Page 2
Roy: I don’t think Nale could have killed a room full of people—some of them wizards—before they could even get up from their meals?
Roy: If he had that kind of power, he’d have used it on us by now.
- Panel 3, Page 2
Elan: Do you think it was Xykon.
Roy: He could do it, yeah…but I would expect more collateral damage if he had.
Elan: Oh yeah. And he probably would have made them zombies by now.
- Panel 4, Page 2
Haley: Roy, check this out: It’s a schedule—
Haley: —for casting illusions.
- Panel 5, Page 2
The schedule reads:
ILLUSIONS (CANYON)
MONDAY/TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY
GINA - MIRAGE ARCANA.
ORRIN - PHANTASMAGORIA.
SAMI - SCREEN.
KANTA - SHIFTING PATHS.
YENNA - SHIFTING PATHS.
TIRAN SR. - ILLUSORY PIT.
TIRAN JR. - MISDIRECTION.
DYLAN - FALSE VISION.
LIANA - WALL OF GLOOM.
Haley: They were keeping this whole canyon blanketed with high-end phantasms and stuff.
Haley: The few illusions we saw were probably just the most basic ones that didn’t run out yet.
- Panel 6, Page 2
Roy: So right now, Girard’s Gate may have no defenses at all.
Haley: There’s more. Look at the last day checked off.
Roy: The day I was resurrected. That would fit with Durkon’s timeframe.
- Panel 7, Page 2
Vaarsuvius examines some pictographs on the wall.
Elan (off-panel): But if it wasn’t Nale, and it wasn’t Xykon…
- Panel 8, Page 2
Vaarsuvius and Blackwing's faces are struck with alarm.
Elan (off-panel): Then who did this?
- Panel 9, Page 2
The pictograph shows a family tree of people descended from a progenitor dragon and a red-haired human.
Elan (off-panel): And why?
D&D Context[]
- Detect Poison is a 1st level spell that detects poisons in a creature or area.
Trivia[]
- All in the Family was a hit TV sitcom that ran from 1971 to 1979, featuring its iconic protagonist, Archie Bunker.
- This is the only other appearance of the Draketooth with Armor from the previous strip.