Qarr voices his suspicions about Therklas divided loyalties.
Cast[]
- Qarr ◀ ▶
- Therkla ◀ ▶
- Kubota ◀ ▶
- Kubota's Assistant
- The Former Valedictorian of Therkla's Class at Ninja School
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Kubota: —and I want chilled caviar served at my coronation dinner. Nothing but the finest.
Assistant: Daimyo, we have limited supplies on board. Where would we get—
Kubota: It's fish eggs. We're on the ocean. Twelve Gods, work it out somehow.
- Panel 2
Kubota: Therkla! I take it from your return that this tedious event planning is worth the effort. Shojo's whelp sleeps with the fishes.
Therkla: Well... he sleeps sort of near the fishes. Because he's on a boat.
Therkla: Does that count?
- Panel 3
Kubota: Oh, Therkla, my dear. Please, please, PLEASE tell me you're not getting seawater on my imported rug without better news than that!
Therkla: I'm sorry, Master. I have failed you again.
- Panel 4
Qarr: I knew it!
Qarr: See, Kubota, I knew that the half-orc chould no longer be trusted! I kept getting feelings through the telepathic link.
Qarr: Strange, tingly feelings... coupled with an urge to write them down in my diary...
- Panel 5
Kubota: Nonsense, little one. Therkla has been my most trusted assassin for seven years.
Therkla: Yeah, I've been here a heck of a lot longer than you have—ever since I graduated valedictorian from Ninja School.
- Panel 6
Cut to Ninja School. Therkla throws her mortarboard like a ninja star, slaying a schoolmate.
Therkla: I am salutatorian—
Therkla: —no more!
- Panel 7
Kubota: Her loyalty to me is beyond reproach. I will not hear of it again.
Kubota: Though I am starting to doubt her effectiveness...
Therkla: No, Master, you don't understand! It's that bodyguard of Hinjo's! He's too clever!
- Panel 8
Kubota: The bodyguard AGAIN? Odd. I had been left with the distinct impression that he was a simple-minded buffoon who had lucked into success by following the dwarf and the elf...
Therkla: Not at all, Master. That is simply... uh... a cunning facade. Beneath lurks a canny warrior!
- Panel 9
Qarr: Then perhaps our next move should focus on killing just the bodyguard.
Kubota: Yes, Qarr, that would seem prudent to—
Therkla: No!!!
- Panel 10
Therkla: I mean... um... he's too strong for any assassination attempt to work!
Therkla: We need to... uh... distract him! Find a way of getting him away from Hinjo, so that we won't hurt him.
Therkla: I mean, so that he won't hurt us.
- Panel 11
Kubota: I suppose. The two of you coordinate on the details, then.
Qarr: Maybe a plan that doesn't involve me charming a few dozen monsters, for once?
Therkla: OK. I just need to stop by my quarters and write something down before I forget the details.
- Panel 12
Qarr: HA! See? I told you! Diary!
Therkla: It's not a crime to keep a poetry journal!
Therkla: YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERIES OF MY HEART!
D&D Context[]
- The title refers to the Difficulty Class of the lock on Therkla's poetry journal were a rogue attempt to pick it.
- Qarr is an imp, a type of Devil.
Trivia[]
- This is the first time we see the imp Qarr and learn his name. This is his fourth appearance overall, having appeared previously off-panel and unnamed in #484, #503, and #506.