Hilgya explains a loophole in Dwarven theology.
Cast
- The Order of the Stick
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- Hilgya Firehelm ◀ ▶
- Minrah Shaleshoe ◀ ▶
- Kudzu ◀ ▶
Transcript
- Panel 1
Elan: Thanks again for helping us out on our upcoming big battle scene, Hilgya
Hilgya: You're welcome. To be honest, I still feel kinda bad about getting you stabbed by your brother.
Elan: It's OK, I've been stabbed way worse by an immediate family member since then.
- Panel 2
Elan: Also, don't take it personally if Haley says or does something that implies she doesn't trust you.
Elan: You have no idea how much progress her not saying so to your face represents.
Hilgya: Ha, it's fine. I'm a cleric of Loki, I'm used to not being trusted.
- Panel 3
Elan: is it hard? Worshipping Loki doesn't seem very...I dunno...dwarfy.
Hilgya: That's what everyone says, but I'm a dwarf, so it must be.
- Panel 4
Hilgya: Humans, you have it easy. When you die, you go to whichever Outer Plane best fits your beliefs or whatever.
Hilgya: For us, we have to be "honorable" or we end up enslaved by Hel—even if we think the concept of honor is a steaming load of gorgon poo.
- Panel 5
Elan: That doesn't sound fair.
Hilgya: Exactly! It's not. It's not fair at all.
Hilgya: It's totally bogus deal we didn't choose, and it shapes everything about our lives and culture.
- Panel 6
Hilgya: But it'll be OK, 'cause there's a loophole.
Hilgya: And that loophole is named Loki.
- Panel 7
Hilgya: See, Loki is dishonorable—it's one of his most essential traits.
Hilgya: If I live my life however I choose, breaking rules and ignoring stuffy old traditions, and then I die with dishonor...
Hilgya: ...Well, I was just following the path my god had laid out for me! Nothing more honorable for a cleric than living your god's truth, right?
- Panel 8
Hilgya: That should punch my ticket to Valhalla, easy peasy.
Hilgya: The cool lounge upstairs not the lame beer hall where everyone yells all the time. It's very chill, and I hear they have bottle service.
- Panel 9
Hilgya: And that's why it's important for me to spread the word of Loki to other dwarves: so they know that can opt out of this terrible system, too.
Hilgya: Every dwarf I convert is another dwarf saved not just from Hel, but from the tyranny of honor that limits who and what we can be.
- Panel 10
Elan: Wow, that's great, Hilgya! I would've thought they'd get mad at you for cheating the system.
Hilgya: That's the beauty of it!
Hilgya: Cheating systems is even more honorable for followers of Loki! It's like our main purpose!
- Panel 11
Elan: But wait! Your'e on your way to help save the world. You might die regular-honorably and betray Loki's teachings!
Hilgya: Yeah, but I'm doing it for petty, self-serving reasons. I like my chances.
D&D Context
- The Outer Planes in D&D standard cosmology are the domains of the gods and other powerful beings. There are sixteen and later seventeen outer planes, one corresponding to each of the nine alignments in the game (originally omitting true neutral), with eight additional transitional planes in between each of the core alignment planes.
- The hall of Valhalla lies in Asgard in the first layer of Ysgard, the transitional plane of Chaotic Neutral/Chaotic Good, according to 1st and 2nd edition sources. Ysgard was originally introduced in D&D as Gladsheim, in Dragon magazine #8 in 1977, and retained that name through the first edition. AD&D 2nd edition's 1994 Planescape setting dramatically reskinned the cosmology, distancing the game from real world paganism, and renamed it Ysgard, though Gladsheim was retained as an alternate name. In the 3rd and later editions, the name Gladsheim was dropped. Ysgard is an invented name, while Gladsheim comes from Norse myth.
- The fact that Hilgya hopes to spend her afterlife in Ysgard may suggest she considers herself Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Good, or else simply that she wishes to be in Asgard with the gods of the Northern Pantheon.
- A Gorgon in D&D is a bull-like monster which can turn creatures to stone with its breath. Thus Hilgya's comment is a D&D way of saying "bull s***". The D&D gorgon borrows its name and power of petrifaction from the Gorgons of Greek myth, who were not bulls, but three sisters with hair of snakes, the most famous of whom was Medusa, slain by Perseus.
Trivia
- Elan was stabbed by his twin brother Nale back in the Dungeon of Dorukan.[1], and more recently by his father Tarquin during their escape from the Empire of Blood after the destruction of the Draketooth Pyramid.[2]
- Dwarves in the Order of the Stick universe are condemned to Hel if they die dishonorably, a quirk of fate first discussed by Durkon.[3] The cause of this arrangement is a bet between Thor and Hel arranged by Loki.[4] It plays heavily in Hel's schemes.[5]
- Bottle service is a form of conspicuous consumption available at some clubs and lounges for customers to be treated as VIPs.
External Links
References
- ↑ Comic #56, "An Alternate Hypothesis"
- ↑ Comic #934, "All Hands on Deck"
- ↑ Comic #737, "Comparative Mythology"
- ↑ Comic #1083, "You Bet"
- ↑ Comic #1000, "Hel Polls for Thee"