Changes: Raising a Family

Revision as of 07:26, 22 July 2018

Sigdi reveals what she did with her fortune. The Order of the Stick lies open to a TPK.

Cast

The Order of the Stick
- Roy Greenhilt ◀
- Elan (dominated) ◀
- Haley Starshine (dominated) ◀
- Belkar Bitterleaf (dominated) ◀
- Vaarsuvius ◀
- Durkon Thundershield (as vampire) ◀
Mr. Scruffy ◀
Blackwing ◀
"Durkon" ◀
Hilgya Firehelm (dominated) ◀
Minrah (blind) ◀
Creed of the Stone Vampire with Long Hair ◀
Kudzu ◀
Sigdi Thundershield ◀
Vampire Dwarf with Blue Curly Hair ◀
Thirden ◀
Durkon's Aunt ◀
Hoskin ◀
Kandro ◀
Shirra ◀
A Cleric of Thor
Three Dwarves

Transcript

Panel 1, Page 1

Roy struggles under his wounds while Elan and Haley press the attack.

Panel 2, Page 1

Roy erupts in green flames, knocking Haley off her feet with his sword, "WHAK!"
Roy: Stop it.

Panel 3, Page 1

Cut to Durkon's memory.
Sigdi: I weren't alone in tha temple ward much longer.
Sigdi: A few days later, thar were an accident.

Panel 4, Page 1

Sigdi: Who're they?
Cleric of Thor: Miners. There was a leak of poisoned gas in one of the copper mines this morning.
Dwarf #1: It happened too fast for them to get out.
Dwarf #1: 37 dead.

Panel 5, Page 1

Dwarf #1 (off-panel): These five are the ones with no living family to claim the bodies.

Panel 6, Page 1

Cut back to the fight.
Roy: I am going to do my best to pull my punches—
Roy: Unnh!

Panel 7, Page 1

Cut to the memory.
Cleric of Thor: Such a shame. An accidental death likes this means they're probably all bound for Hel.
Dwarf #2: I'll start up the cremation furnace ma'am.
Sigdi: ...Wait.

Panel 8, Page 1

The fight
Roy: —but we have a lot of healers if we can get through this.
Roy: And worst case scenario—

Panel 9, Page 1

Memory
Sigdi: Would these help?
Cleric of Thor: Uh, yes! Are those friends of yours, Sarge?

Panel 10, Page 1

Fight
Roy: —we can get enough diamonds to get you raised from the dead!

Panel 11, Page 1

Memory
Sigdi: Ne'er seen any o'em b'fore 'n me life.
Sigdi: Cast yer spells.

Panel 1, Page 2

Back at the fight, Roy attacks Elan, knocking him unconscious, "SLASH!"
Roy: So no more flanking.

Panel 2, Page 2

Roy attacks Haley, knocking her unconscious, "SLASH!"
Roy: and no more sneak attacks.

Panel 3, Page 2

Roy: Minrah, come on, let's go.
Minrah: Is everyone—
Roy: They'll be fine. We need to get V up, then dispel the domination effect on each of the three of—

Panel 4, Page 2

Hilgya: Empowered Flame Strike.

Panel 5, Page 2

Roy and Minrah are engulfed in a flame strike. Minrah is killed.

Panel 6, Page 2

Roy (weakly): Four...
Roy (weakly): The four of them...

Panel 6, Page 2

Cut to inside Durkon's head
Cleric of Thor: Raise Dead!
"Durkon": What? Why would she...? Why would anyone?
Durkon: ...

Panel 7, Page 2

Thirden: I can't believe it!

Panel 8, Page 2

Durkon: I cannae believe it.

Panel 9, Page 2

Cut to the banquet hall.
Vampire with Long Hair: I can't believe it!

Panel 10, Page 2

Vampire with Long Hair: We WON!

D&D Context

The title is a pun on the 5th level cleric spell Raise Dead. The material cost for raise dead is a diamond worth 5,000 gp. Thus the total cost of raising all five of the miners who would become Sigdi's close friends was 25,000 gp, as she stated in the previous comic. The spell is cast by the cleric of Thor on page 2 panel 7, where you can see her holding the material component.
In the second panel, Roy uses one of the Legacy Powers of the Greenhilt Sword, a Weapon of Legacy. This power completely heals him as well as increasing the power of his strikes. Weapons of Legacy was a 2005 supplement for D&D 3.5. Since Roy is known to have over 150 hit points, and the maximum an empowered flame strike could do is 135 hp and accounting for the strikes from Haley and Elan after he was healed, it is possible that Roy has not been knocked unconscious (below 0 hp but above -10 hp) but is rather playing dead.
Roy continues to use nonlethal attacks with his sword on Haley and Elan until page 2, where he switches to lethal attacks, as evidenced by the change of sound effects from "whak" to "slash".
Flame Strike is a 5th level cleric spell which deals 1d6 damage per level. Hilgya has demonstrated that she is at least 13th level, but based on her status as the "evil opposite" of Durkon, she may have retained level parity with Durkon (like Crystal and Haley), which would put her at 15th level, reaching the maximum damage for the spell, 15d6.
- Hilgya uses the Empower Spell feat when casting Flame Strike, using a 7th level spell slot, with the effect that the spell does 50% more damage.
Having almost all of the party get Dominated is not credible, given how high a level most of them are. While very dramatic, it doesn't fit the situation, severely overestimating the powers of vampires.

Trivia

The Order has been completely defeated in combat twice before, once when facing Samantha, and again when facing Miko Miyazaki. Both times Durkon did not participate in the combat.
This comic confirms and expands on Thirden's claim in #991, "A Sergeant and a Sapper", that he and his other mutual friends did not meet Durkon's father in life.
This is the latest appearance of:
- The vampire spirit who controls the body of Durkon Thundershield, known as "Durkon" (aka the High Priest of Hel, though that title has passed to another). Counting strips since he was freed of his thralldom to Malack, and where he either speaks or appears as a spirit in Durkon's head (since in the other strips only Durkon's corpse is shown), he has appeared in eighty-one strips. His first appearance as an independent entity is in #907.
- Hilgya Firehelm, the original divine spellcaster of the Linear Guild who attempted to kill her husband and fell in love with Durkon before he cut it off with her for her wickedness. She has appeared in thirty-six strips in total, first appearing with the rest of the Linear Guild in #43.
- Minrah, Assistant Overnight Caretaker Acolyte of Thor. She first appeared in #1093, "Night's Templars" and has appeared in twenty-eight strips overall.
- The Creed of the Stone Vampire with Long Hair (aka "Ponchula"), first appearing in #1017. She has appeared in twenty-one strips.
- Kudzu, Durkon and Hilgya's infant son, first appearing in #1105. He has appeared in eightteen strips.
- Sigdi Thundershield, Durkon's mother. She has only appeared in Durkon's memories called up by the vampire spirit which occupies his body. She first appeared in #947, "Keep in Mind" and has appeared in fifteen strips in total.
- The vampire dwarf with blue curly hair, first appearing in #1101.
- Thirden, Hoksin, Kandro, Shirra and Durkon's Aunt, close friends and "aunts" and "uncles" to Durkon. They first appeared in #958.
In the final panel, the bench extends beyond the border of the panel.

@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
 == Trivia ==
 * The Order has been completely defeated in combat twice before, once when facing [[Samantha]], and again when facing [[Miko Miyazaki]]. Both times Durkon did not participate in the combat.
+* This comic confirms and expands on Thirden's claim in #[[991]], "[[A Sergeant and a Sapper]]", that he and his other mutual friends did not meet Durkon's father in life.
 * This is the latest appearance of:
 ** The vampire spirit who controls the body of Durkon Thundershield, known as "Durkon" (aka the High Priest of Hel, though that title has passed to another). Counting strips since he was freed of his thralldom to [[Malack]], and where he either speaks or appears as a spirit in Durkon's head (since in the other strips only Durkon's corpse is shown), he has appeared in eighty-one strips. His first appearance as an independent entity is in [[Always Hiring|#907]].