Order of the Stick Comment thread MK2

[The Minx]

809

Whoops, looks like they're in for some quality time with Tarquin. That is probably going to get awkward later on.

[The Minx]

OMG we've missed FOUR updates.



Are we still following this?

Anyhow:

810

Nale is in trouble now. Of course Nale would fall for the old "ally shows up behind villain's back" ploy.


811

Yes, Nale, enrage the lizard Death Priest some more just because you're you.

Of course, having a DD spell handy is just common sense, especially when you've been thwarted before and are in enemy territory.


812

Not much to say about this one, though the joke at the end made me smile. :)


813

Belkar makes himself useful! Funny thing is that I can see that he's arguably right about at least two of those crimes he mentions. Don't know about the racketeering, though. Any thoughts?


814

And he makes himself useful again!

Sigh. Ian's mouth is too big for his own good. I guess Haley didn't inherit her smooth talk skills from him.

[The Minx]

815
Ian and co. make a break for it, and the sense of the dramatic still runs in the family.

We'll probably be seeing Ian again.

816
Interesting - so the Draketooth clan has been going strong for the past few generations to maintain the defense of the Gate. Makes sense, though they could hardly keep their presence a secret forever. Especially if they ditch their wives like that. Bad, bad Orrin.

Bonus half-page too.

"Spoiler alert: they failed." Hehe.

[frigidmagi]

I'm wondering if Ian is brained damaged. Honestly, he baits the the evil overlord when he's right out of prison and then ducks out dramatically so as to ensure that said evil overlord is now paying attention to him. That's a bad way to run a resistance.

As for the Draketooths, Chaotics can be like that. I'm thinking most of them are Chaotic Neutral with Self Righteous Asshole leanings.

[The Minx]

I'm guessing Wisdom was his dump stat. He certainly doesn't seem to have Haley's knack for subterfuge.

Or maybe... [tinfoil]there's more of a connection between Haley and the Draketooth clan than Haley and Ian.[/tinfoil]

[frigidmagi]

She is a redhead and all but if her mother was a Draketooth, why did she travel to a whole another continent and why didn't she take Haley with her?

[The Minx]

No idea, it's just a crazy conspiracy theory.

Actually, she might have had the girl nine months later.

[frigidmagi]

9 months later then what?

[The Minx]

Nine months after being abandoned.

As in, she was pregnant with Haley when her husband (Orrin or whoever) left with an older sibling, Haley's mother moves after that let-down to start a new life, meets Ian, then the baby is born. Or maybe she meets Ian first, then moves. Or something like that.

Probably just being silly, though.

[frigidmagi]

I think it unlikely honestly Ian had red hair to after all so it's just as likely that he is Haley's natural father. If anything I would say any connection would have to be through the mother. She's the one we know nothing about after all expect that her disappearance/death is what caused Ian to teach a life style of unrelentingly paranoia to Haley. Maybe she was ditched due to a lack of magical talent?

[The Minx]

Maybe, though I somehow get the impression that Haley knows what the deal with her mother is.

And The Giant commented at one point that Sabine and her are opposites in ways not yet revealed, so some on the GitP forums have speculated that Haley's mom may have been some kind of celestial or half-celestial.

Perhaps it is Ian who is a Draketooth or part Draketooth and it was he who was booted out for lack of magical talent.

Or maybe the hair is a huge red herring.

[frigidmagi]

You take Occam's razor and you put right back where you found it young lady! I'll have none of that parsimony in this thread!

[The Minx]

You take Occam's razor and you put right back where you found it young lady! I'll have none of that parsimony in this thread!

Awww.

But since it's a webcomic, the parsimonious solution probably isn't true anyway.


Anyway, new update:

817

Well that was convenient. Humorous coincidence or does Tarquin suspect the truth?

The carpet seems a bit small for six people, but maybe they'll manage to fit somehow.

[frigidmagi]

I would say some of column A and some of column B. Not that he'll tell Elan, there are dramatic laws to uphold after all.

[The Minx]

Seems likely:

- Hi! I'm Elan! What's your name, Roy?
- ... Roy.

And Tarquin just smiles.

[frigidmagi]

818

Gee, you think?

Ah Tarquin, I'd kill you in seconds but you are such an magnificent bastard born, son of a bitch!

I really hope he isn't a complete Bluebeard, but while I'm sure he's killed some of his wives, I'm thinking Nale got a couple to.

[Dark Silver]

Man Tarquin...your a sly bastard.

I love you.

[Lys]

Unless you're a total airhead like his 8th wife, being proposed by Tarquin must be a terrifying experience. Remaining life expectancy drops down to the low single digits. It's impossible to believe his promises that no harm will come to you, because he can always weasel out on a technicality. Can't say no because he'll just torture you until you say yes. It basically amounts to spending the next few years of your life awaiting the inevitable "mysterious circumstances". About the only upside is that you do get to live like royalty until that time, since there is no indication that Tarquin actually mistreats his wives so long as they behave, and it's implied he's rather attractive for a middle aged man. Of course life in general sucks terribly for a substantial portion of the population under Tarquin's boot. Indeed his wives have it less bad than a lot of the others, but somehow that is the part that bothers me.

[The Minx]

Well, it does seem very likely that he's a bluebeard at least with regards to some of his wives. Besides, he's certainly rich enough to afford the Raise Dead spells if he really cared. As for living standards, I suspect I'd take my chances in the city. Or maybe try and get a boat ride to less dangerous lands.

Don't know what place that would be, though. All the places we've seen so far has people dying horribly, even a relatively nice town like Cliffport.

But as for Tarquin's sneakyness:

819

Yup.

[Dark Silver]

Loved the look on Nale's face

We need more villains like Tarquin damn it.

[Charon]

Tarquin, you may be an evil bastard bent on continent domination and ruling with an iron fist but dammit I love you.

[LadyTevar]

Nale's damn lucky the cleric didn't have See Invisible at that point.

If you pay attention, Tarquin looks in that direction more than once. He meant Nale to hear every word, and some of those words were "helpful hints". I think Tarquin's going to let Nale run away this time.

[Charon]

Of course he is. If Tarquin didn't mean for him to get away he'd have simply drawn his sword and gutted Nale while he wasn't expecting it.

Because that's how Tarquin roles.

[The Minx]

Whoops:

820

The game is afoot.

Tarquin will be rather more competent than Nale at this business.

[Dark Silver]

Well....

They're boned.

They have a real and competent villain to deal with now.