The Order of the Stick

It IS relevant. The more powerful the cleric, the more powerful the vampire that rises from its corpse.

Couldn't have been that powerful though. Had the wisdom score of two lemmings.

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you

Ehh. The instant Vampire spell doesn't refresh spell-slots, so it's still not terribly relevant.

While he could wait for the spell slots to refresh, somehow I doubt the party would believe him if he said the cleric offered to become his vampire minion out of the goodness of his heart. So whatever he wants from this cleric is probably immediate.

Although, vampires are capable of shapeshifting aren't they? He could conceivably be hidden since True Seeing is a cleric spell, not a wizard one. I think.

edited 30th Jul '15 11:07:01 PM by Arha

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True Seeing is available to both clerics and wizards. But anybody spellcasting in the building is a cleric anyway so I don't get your point about wizards even if it was right.

edited 31st Jul '15 4:12:07 AM by Adannor

Well, in theory one of the clerics could have brought a wizard as a bodyguard. Not likely, but possible.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

An important detail about Belkar's death is that he either does not or cannot be raised ever. He has to die in such a fashion that Roy either sees no value in bringing him back, or he physically cannot be brought back - such as being disintegrated and then gust of wind'd like Nale, or having his soul destroyed by the Snarl.

Right now, he's standing in a temple full of high-level clerics, and the protagonists explicitly have the resources to have at least one resurrection performed. This is pretty far from optimal conditions for Belkar to be Killed Off for Real.

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I've still got my money on a heroic sacrifice that gets him obliterated by the Snarl.

Theoretically, Durkula could vampirise him and tell him to go watch the sunrise. Or just dispose of the body by chucking it off the mountain.

Agreed.

I mean, I suppose it could happen, but that feels like a pretty pointless death for such a major character.

But. Although I usually dislike this kind of thing, Belkar becoming a Vampire does actually fulfill the precise wording of the prophecy. Especially we went out of our way to establish that Vampires don't breathe.

Not the "not long for this world" part.

The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.

Or the part where he wouldn't have another birthday.

The different ways we've heard the prophecy of Belkar's demise have strongly indicated that he will never be raised, nor will he persist as an undead lifeform of some sort. His death will be absolute and irrevocable.

edited 31st Jul '15 10:43:26 AM by TobiasDrake

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This endless discussion of Belkar's prophecy is starting to feel like a years-long Tonight, Someone Dies promotional event to me. I'm getting tired of it...

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

Adannor: I meant that the cleric has some immediate use unless Durkula plans to do something like smuggle him out. Which I find very unlikely, but I was noting that it may be possible.

Doesn't help that I don't really even remember what this is all about (I figured it was something from the oracle, but now there are different prophecies?).

There is no beginning. There is no end. There is only... Hooty.

Not different prophecies, just different wordings. The Oracle made a few off-record remarks about it outside the official prophecy.

• Belkar shouldn't bother funding his IRA.
• Belkar should really savor his next birthday cake.
• Belkar isn't long for this world.
• Official Prophecy: Belkar will draw his last breath - ever - before the end of the year.

The prophecy itself refutes any possibility of revival, while he's strongly alluded in his off-hand comments that the spirit of the prophecy will be kept, not just the letter; Belkar is permanently going bye-bye and will not continue to exist in the living world in any form.

edited 31st Jul '15 11:06:27 AM by TobiasDrake

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The birthday cake thing is probably the key clue, because if taken at face value it means that Belkar does get a cake prior to his death. Since we haven't seen a cake yet...

If we can't take it at face value, then none of the off-the-cuff comments can be taken at face value, so there's your wiggle room.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

Are you suggesting that "birthday cake" cannot be taken as a metaphor? Because I don't think that characters in OOTS-verse have literal IRAs either.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

If he should savour his next birthday cake, that implies he dies after his next birthday. Otherwise he should have savoured his last one.

Especially since there's no Northern Ireland in this universe.

They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!

By the way, what's an IRA?

The universe is under no obligation to make sense to us.

Individual retirement account. It's like a 401k. You put money into it as a savings for when you get old.

Were Belkar hanging around as a vampire, he could reasonably still use his IRA. In fact, it would be significantly more effective; imagine 200 years of interest.

edited 31st Jul '15 11:52:20 AM by TobiasDrake

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Undead Tax Exemption? No, that's not quite the required trope.

edited 31st Jul '15 11:52:48 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

It would not surprise me if the OOTS verse had Invested Retirement for Adventurers funds.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

I could totally believe that the OOTSverse has IRAs in some form. Whether Belkar would actually open one...

edited 31st Jul '15 4:38:04 PM by Geoduck