An unexpected guest arrives at the desert gate.
Cast[]
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Laurin Shattersmith ◀ ▶
- Miron Shewdanker ◀ ▶
- Snarl ◀ ▶
- Two Soldiers of the Empire of Blood
- Hundreds of Soldiers of the Empire of Sweat
Transcript[]
- Panel 1, Page 1
Vaarsuvius: Should I depart, then? Begin penance—in whatever form it ultimately takes—at once?
Roy: I won't stop you, but I can't recommend it. Not when this whole thing is coming to a head anyway.
- Panel 2, Page 1
Roy: Plus, based on the timing, it sounds like those three archfiends are interested in the Gates.
Roy: Thwarting whatever their plans are may not count as atonement, but sometimes you have to stop the bleeding before you can start to heal.
- Panel 3, Page 1
Vaarsuvius: I suppose if the world is obliterated, there will be no one left to whom I might make restitution.
Roy: That, too. Though honestly, I don't even know if we are saving the world anymore.
- Panel 4, Page 1
Roy: Obviously, Xykon is a menace that needs to be put down hard no matter what his plan really is.
Roy: But after seeing that ocean through the Rift... and what you say that bird of yours saw...
- Panel 5, Page 1
Cut to the Rift that used to be Girard's Gate. Empire of Sweat soldiers have occupied the blast crater and the surrounding desert in Windy Canyon.
Roy (inset): Can we even be certain that this "Snarl" really exists?
Laurin: You were better off getting out when you did. The whole thing was a fiasco.
- Panel 6, Page 1
Miron: I'm surprised he agreed to your favor.
Laurin: Well, I may have asked him before agreeing to 'port him back to his palace.
Miron: Heh heh.
- Panel 7, Page 1
Miron: Still, I don't get it. Why ask for control of this valley?
Laurin: Because our usual "Finders Keepers" rule meant that he was entitled to—
Miron: No, I mean, why spend a favor on it?
- Panel 8, Page 1
Laurin: I peeped a look in this weird portal thing with Clairvoyance before the battle started.
Laurin: When you're close, you can see a whole ocean in there! Enough water to support a new city, with the right desalination magic.
- Panel 9, Page 1
Miron: Well, gosh, Laurin, it sounds like some lucky plumber will be getting the job of a lifetime!
Laurin: Now you're catching on! Ha ha!
- Panel 10, Page 1
Miron (off-panel): This isn't going to be like that time with the marids, is it?
Laurin uses her Clairvoyant Sense power.
Laurin: No, it's definitely not the Plane of Water.
Laurin: I've been telepathically scanning into this hole and I haven't even sensed any...
- Panel 11, Page 1
Laurin: ...fish.
Laurin: Wait, I think...
- Panel 12, Page 1
Laurin's eyes turn from yellow to purple
Miron (off-panel): ...Laurin?
- Panel 1, Page 2
Tendrils of the Snarl suddenly burst out of the portal and attack. One of the guards is impaled by a tendril, while Miron desperately pulls Laurin away from the Rift.
- Panel 2, Page 2
The scene changes back to Roy and Vaarsuvius.
Roy: The truth is, we don't know what is really going on anymore.
D&D Context[]
- Laurin reveals that she has the Clairvoyant Sense power.
- In D&D, Marids are genies from the Elemental Plane of Water, based on the supernatural beings from Arabic folklore.
Trivia[]
- This is the first appearance of the Snarl which was not a flashback. It appeared four times in The Crayons of Time series, as well as trapped within the sapphire of Soon's Gate in a flashback in #411.
- In Panel 9, Page 1, Miron and Laurin were referring to Laurin's daughter Hannah, a plumber, who was mentioned in "Shot Down".