The order prepares to attack "Durkon" in the banquet hall, knowing that he has prepared a trap for them there and he knows that they are coming.
Cast[]
- The Order of the Stick
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Elan ◀ ▶
- Haley Starshine ◀ ▶
- Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield (as vampire) ◀ ▶
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- "Durkon" (in scrying) ◀ ▶
- Hilgya Firehelm ◀ ▶
- Minrah Shaleshoe ◀ ▶
- Kudzu ◀ ▶
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
"Durkon": You escaped my spawn—
Roy: Hey, I'm getting a Sending spell from him right now!
- Panel 2
Haley: Yeah, we know. We can hear him talking on this end.
"Durkon": You escaped my spawn—
"Durkon": —but if you want a rematch, I have time to kill.
- Panel 3
"Durkon": Banquet hall, one level down. Whenever you're ready.
Roy: We'll be there! Just as soon as we figure out where that is. And drink some potions.
- Panel 4
Belkar: This sucks! I thought we were gonna get the drop on Count Clownshoes and go all ninja stealth kill—
Belkar: —but now he's waiting for us so he can spring a big trap!
- Panel 5
Roy: Now we know he's springing a trap.
Belkar: Anyone would know that! He wasn't super subtle about it, so what benefit did we get from Dwarf Mom's Greater Peepin' spell?
- Panel 6
Roy: Ah, but he doesn't know that we know that it's a trap—
Roy: —and even if he did know we know, he doesn't know we know that he thinks he knows what we don't know.
Belkar: Sometimes I miss when you didn't bother explaining stuff to me.
- Panel 7
Roy: We watched his exact preparations, while he's just guessing at what we'll do. That gives us the edge.
Minrah: Especially since he doesn't know you have two clerics!
Roy: Exactly! that's why I lied about us needing some potions.
- Panel 8
Hilgya: I can cast Death Ward on your wizard before we attack, since we know that's who they'll be targeting.
Blackwing: You got a Restoration for the energy already lost? My elf got jacked up back there.
Hilgya: Sure.
Belkar: Hmmm. Alright. Should Haley cosplay as Space Ghost again then? That worked great with the giants.
- Panel 9
Haley: Nah, Sneak Attack doesn't do much against people whose vitals...aren't.
Haley: But Elan and I do still need a spell to keep the swirly eyes away.
- Panel 10
Hilgya: I have a wand of Protection from Law. I can tap everyone with it right before.
Roy: Perfect! Although, maybe skip me. I'm already protected, and I'll just end up with a splitting headache because I'm—
- Panel 11
Elan: Whoa, whoa, who [sic], Roy. Hold on just one moment.
Elan: Are you telling me that we're going to plan out the skills, equipment, and magic abilities we're going to use in advance, rather than rushing in and winging it?
Roy: Uh, yeah, Elan. That's the general idea.
- Panel 12
Elan: Roy, you're brilliant!
Elan: If he's relying on Durkon's memories, he'll never see that coming!!
D&D Context[]
- Sending is a 4th Level cleric spell that allows the user to send a message of 25 words or less to anyone they are familiar with. Including the "Hello, Roy" from the previous strip, "Durkon"'s challenge to Roy is exactly 25 words. The spell also allows the receiver to give a response of 25 words or less, which Roy does with 17 words.
- Restoration is a 4th level cleric spell which dispels negative levels, and restores experience levels lost to energy drain attacks. Vaarsuvius was energy drained by vampires in #1102 and again in #1105, acquiring at least two negative levels (possibly more depending on whether the dwarves were full vampires or vampire spawn), which might have become permanent had 24 hours passed. This spell would restore V to full (16th level) abilities.
- Protection from Law is a 1st level spell which gives protection from creatures of a Lawful alignment, including, among other things, protection from vampiric Domination. Roy himself is Lawful Good, which is why he says it would give him a headache. Belkar has a Protection from Evil item which causes this effect in him due to his evil nature.[1]
- As Haley notes, Sneak Attack does not work on undead and creatures without vital organs.
Trivia[]
- In panel 8, Belkar refers to Space Ghost, the 1960's Hanna-Barbara superhero with a cartoon TV show of the same name, or his later incarnations on the Cartoon Network or in DC Comics. His super powers include the power of flight and invisibility, amongst others. In the show, invisibility is depicted by the character being draw in only white outlines, much like in this comic. Haley fought the frost giants of Passage Pass using fly and invisibility spells starting in #1051.
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Comic #969, "It's Only His SECOND Favorite Cuisine"