The Linear Guild plans the final destruction of the remaining Order of the Stick and Gates in some new fiendish allies with the help of vampire-Durkon.
Cast[]
- The Order of the Stick
- Durkon Thundershield (as vampire) ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- "Durkon" ◀ ▶
- The Linear Guild
- Spiky the Barbed Devil ▶
- Zz'dtri's Piscodaemon ▶
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Malack: At any rate—yes, they know. The Halfling was there
but…escaped.
Malack: But he is weakened by blood loss and energy drain. I doubt he poses much threat.
Nale: Even better! With Durkon turned and Belkar crippled, they're fighting at 2/3rds power!
Tarquin: One-half, perhaps. The elf wizard was present for neither of our two skirmishes, at least as far as I could see. And I can see far.
- Panel 2
Tarquin: Nale, I think it's about time I give you the chance to see how you lead a team on your own.
Nale: I'm already the leader of this team.
Tarquin: Oh, right. Well, even more so, then.
- Panel 3
Tarquin: You have two vampire clerics and a wizard here—more than enough to clear the board of your brother's remaining pawns.
Tarquin: They must be pretty close to finding the target by now, so just shadow them until you can snatch it.
Tarquin: Just don't get cocky. This is your chance to impress me with what you've learned during your time abroad.
- Panel 4
Tarquin: Kilkil, you stay up here with me.
Kilkil: Yes, General.
Malack: Tarquin, I—
Tarquin: Business, Malack. I'll catch up when we're done.
Nale: This is it, Z. The Linear Guild is strong enough to defeat the Order of the Stick, and we've finally shaken that ridiculous "evil opposites" theme.
Nale: Just four spellcasters under my command, crushing them with magical power.
- Panel 5
Nale: Though I admit, I don't look forward to Greenhilt swinging away in my face. Z, summon a fiend to serve as a meat shield.
Durkon: Master, may I also summon a fiend to help?
Malack: Anything that hastens this tiresome struggle's overdue conclusion is welcome.
- Panel 6
Durkon and Zz'dtri cast summoning spells, producing a barbed devil and a piscoloth, respectively. "poof! poof!"
Zz’dtri: Two fiends lost. Two gained.
Nale: Hardly a fit comparison. Sabine is an integral part of this team and a tireless champion of Evil—
- Panel 7
Cut to Sabine, sitting on a couch in the Abyss, flipping through channels on a TV, "clik! clik! clik!"
- Panel 8
Nale: —while that lame imp familiar of yours couldn't so much as inconvenience our foes.
- Panel 9
Cut to the tunnels under the pyramid where Vaarsuvius has fled. Qarr has just teleported in, "pop!"
Qarr: Check it out! It's history's worst mass-murder and his dim-witted bird!
Blackwing: HEY!
Blackwing: History isn't over yet, mister!!
Vaarsuvius: *sob!*
D&D Context[]
- Planar Ally is a 6th level spell that summons a Outsider of up to 12 HD to aid the caster. In this case a barbed devil, also known as a hamatula or baatezu, was summoned by Durkon. Durkon twice mentioned earlier that he had the spell prepared.
- It is not clear what spell Zz'dtri is using to summon the piscoloth, but it is likely the 6th level spell Planar Binding, which is capable of summoning a daemon of the piscoloth's size and power.
- Qarr continues to use his non-canonical Teleport spell-like ability.
Trivia[]
- Sabine was banished back to her home plane (Abyss) for 24 hours in #860
- This is the first appearance of the Barbed Devil (later known as Spiky) and the Piscoloth summoned by Zz'dtri.