While Roy deals with his friends attacking him, Durkon recalls his mother's secret donation to the Church of Thor and "Durkon" uses Kudzu as a dwarven shield.
Cast[]
- The Order of the Stick
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Elan (dominated) ◀ ▶
- Belkar Bitterleaf (dominated) ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield (also as vampire and as spirit) ◀ ▶
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- "Durkon" ◀ ▶
- Hilgya Firehelm (dominated) ◀ ▶
- Minrah Shaleshoe ◀ ▶
- Creed of the Stone Vampire with Long Hair ◀ ▶
- Kudzu ◀ ▶
- Sigdi Thundershield ◀ ▶
- Vampire Dwarf with Ponytail and Cap ◀
- Vampire Dwarf with Blue Curly Hair ◀ ▶
Transcript[]
- Panel 1, Page 1
Minrah strikes at Belkar who takes no damage. Mr. Scruffy is trying to snap him out of it, while Blackwing lies unconsious. Roy is double-teamed by a vampire spawn and a dominated Elan.
Minrah: So I don't know how big of a deal this is, but the talking bird is down now, too.
Roy: It's not ideal.
The last vampire spawn attacks Roy. Elan stabs him.
Roy: Nnnnh!
Elan: Hinjo called and told Haley that you should totally listen to Durkon, so you probably should.
- Panel 2, Page 1
Roy kills the vampire.
Roy: On the plus side, this is the last of the spawn, unless there are more hiding somewhere.
Roy: We've just got Durkon and two other clerics, so if we can hold on and—
- Panel 3, Page 1
Cut to inside Durkon's head, where he recalls the memory of his mother.
Durkon: —an' then we saw tha Wall o' Donors.
Sigdi: ...Oh?
Durkon: Aye.
- Panel 4, Page 1
Durkon: It's this big plaque whar they inscribe tha names o' anyone who's donated more'n 20,000 gold pieces ta tha Church o' Thor.
Durkon: But wha I couldnae figure out—
- Panel 5, Page 1
Durkon: —is why yer name were on it, Ma.
Sigdi drops her spoon into her bowl with a "CLANK!"
- Panel 6, Page 1
Cut back to the banquet hall.
"Durkon": Urgh!!
- Panel 7, Page 1
Durkon is impaled by the Greenhilt Sword.
"Durkon": OK, that's just incredibly distracting. The sword throwing, not the memory.
The Greenhilt Sword disappears with a "FWUMF." Durkon casts a Cause Wounds spell on himself.
Vampire with Long Hair: Memory?
- Panel 8, Page 1
"Durkon": Come here.
- Panel 9, Page 1
Cut back to the memory.
Sigdi: Wow, I guess all them copper pieces in tha collection plate really add up!
Durkon: No, I asked aboot tha. Tha wall is only fer folks who donate tha much all at once.
- Panel 10, Page 1
Durkon: So...izzit a mistake?
Durkon: When I go in ta work t'morrow, do I need ta tell 'em ta take yer name off it?
- Panel 11, Page 1
Sigdi: ...
Sigdi: It's na a mistake.
Sigdi: An' it were twenty-five thousand, if'n memory serves.
- Panel 1, Page 2
Durkon: Twenty-five thousand gold pieces? Are ye—are ye kiddin' me?!?
Durkon: Tha's more money than I e'er seen in my whole life, put t'gether!
- Panel 2, Page 2
Sigdi: An' this is parta why I dinnae tell ye...
Durkon: Ma, I love Thor an' tha church, but we coulda used some o' tha money! We been livn' on handouts me whole life!
- Panel 3, Page 2
Sigdi: HEY!
Sigdi: First o' all, me pension is na a handout. I earned ev'ry one o' those coins defendin' this down, young lad.
- Panel 4, Page 2
Sigdi: An' second...Och, it's more complicated than tha.
Sigdi: Things happ'ned, Durkon. B'fore ye were born.
- Panel 5, Page 2
Durkon: I'm an adult now, Ma. An' I already know about Pa an' tha troll.
Durkon: Squeaky told me years ago.
- Panel 6, Page 2
Sigdi: I figured tha when ye stopped askin' once a week.
Sigdi: But ye dinnae know ev'rything. I promise.
- Panel 7, Page 2
Cut back to the banquet hall.
Roy: Damn it, Elan, get out of the way!
Roy pulls Elan to the ground.
Elan: The Cliffport Gazette called being dominated by Durkon, "the feel-good compulsion of the year," and gave it three-and-a-half hypno-swirlies.
- Panel 8, Page 2
Roy: I know he can heal himself, but if I can shake his concentration, maybe—
- Panel 9, Page 1
Durkon sits on a chair with Kudzu in his lap as Hilgya stands by.
- Panel 10, Page 2
The green flames on the Greenhilt Sword dissipate.
- Panel 11, Page 2
"Durkon": Can you say "Anti-Life Shell" for Daddy?
- Panel 12, Page 2
The shell surrounds Kudzu and "Durkon". The Vampire with Long Hair casts a spell.
Kudzu: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
"Durkon": Close enough.
D&D Context[]
- Antilife Shell is a 6th level cleric spell which creates a mobile hemispherical energy field which blocks most living creatures from entering. The spell prevents the entrance of living things without affecting those already inside the area of effect. Hilgya and Kuzdu, who were inside the shell when it was created, are not harmed or forced out.
- On page 2, panel 7, Roy apparently uses a Trip attack, a special attack which causes the opponent to be knocked prone if they fail a contested strength check. In the case of Roy and Elan, Roy greatly outclasses Elan on strength.
- If Sigdi's wealth follows the wealth-by-level table in the Player's Handbook, the fact that she had this amount of money suggests she is approximately 6th level as a Fighter assuming Tenrin was also around that level and she inherited his wealth.
- "Durkon"'s use of Kudzu as a dwarven shield was apparently enough to cause Roy to fail a Concentration check, causing his sword's Legacy Power to be disrupted. Roy mentions in panel 8, page 2, that he was hoping to make "Durkon" fail such a check by attacking him. Weapons of Legacy was a 2005 supplement to D&D 3.5. These rules are not in the SRD.
- In the final panel, the Creed of the Stone vampire casts a spell which lands off-panel (in the next strip, actually). She doesn't shout the name of the spell, as is the convention in Order of the Stick, but the spell turns out to be Blindness, the 3rd level cleric spell. It is unclear what the other cleric is casting.
Trivia[]
- This is the final appearance of the vampire dwarf with ponytail and cap who first appeared in #1117.
- Durkon seeing his mother's name on the Wall of Donors was shown in #1112, when he was taking a work-orientation seminar.