The Order of the Stick

@Fighteer-

I missed it too. But as per commentators on the Giant forums, the people she paid to rez are the same people who we see in flashbacks as Durkon's surrogate family members. Nice foreshadowing in this strip, "An' ye know how tha five o' us all feel aboot ye payin' us back anythin.'" One theory in relation to this is that they are going to show up and will fight the vampires (they are the people who use the Hall on the days the Odin worshippers aren't using it), but in any case, it seems like a decent way to induce a Villainous BSoD, because it shows dwarves as being the victims of Hel, not Thor, and it shows a selfless/good act by Sigdi paying off as the recipients became her devoted friends.

Also, and I'm still unclear about this, but this means that Sigdi chose not to rez her husband/Durkon's father, right? In part, because he had died honorably. Which would also reinforce showing Greg that Hel is a bad guy here.

Edited by Hodor2 on Jul 19th 2018 at 11:52:46 AM

...whoa.

Still wondering why Sigdi wanted so much to keep this a secret? Are we back to the idea that being raised is somehow shameful and she wanted to protect her "family's" honour?

(I think)That part is a Flashback Within a Flashback, as Durkon listens to the story his mother told about why they have no money.

Edited by Daremo on Jul 19th 2018 at 12:53:35 PM

The math works. They had recovered wholly intact bodies that had not been dead for more than 1 day per caster level, so a 5th-level Raise Dead would work. The material cost is 5,000 gp in diamonds. Five miners at 5k apiece comes to a 25k "donation".

But this is really weird and awkward. Why wouldn't she tell Durkon about this?

Please tell me this doesn't end with Durkula having a Heel–Face Turn. Because that would be weird.

Well, if it were me, I wouldn't tell my children about it either. That sort of debt can weight really heavily on a relationship. Durkon might end up wondering whether all these people that shaped his life took care of him because they were his family, or because they owed their lives to Sigdi.

I don't think we've seen quite everything, however.

Interesting how Greg doesn't seem to be celebrating.

Edited by Kayeka on Jul 19th 2018 at 7:02:52 PM

And who knows how long it'll take to conclude the most likely answer is "both, they're family because of what Sigdi did for them"

Edited by sgamer82 on Jul 19th 2018 at 11:03:19 AM

Not sure why people are raising (ha) a heel/face turn for Greg as a possibility? He knows Hel is the goddess of non-violent deaths, and here are some people dying in a mining accident who should be hers by right, only they get resurrected by a compete stranger purely to deny her their souls. If anything, Hel is the one being screwed over here.

Unless the idea is that he doesn't understand why they're so averse to going to her afterlife, and the answer to that will open his eyes? But it seems like he could slot that easily into the "Thor and Odin have convinced all the Dwarves that my mistress is their enemy" mindset.

I think there has to be a further twist coming if this is supposed to sway him.

Oh wow that is subtle. owhhh my heart.

I think the whole thing was that neither of them could believe someone was so selfless they paid raise dead for five completely random strangers

Let us all bow our heads for Minrah.

She died as she lived: a Guest-Star Party Member.

I mean, the chances of her getting resurrected is high. Even Roy was mentioning it.

Noes! She was so young! I think. Probably.

A thought occurs: how much will the ressurected five remember ofv their brief stint in Hel? If "Thor and all are the enemy" is Hel's propaganda, a first hand account of entering Hel seems like just the thing to expose it as such.

I think the reason she didnt want to tell Durkon is that she didnt raise his father when she had the chance.

Absent unusual circumstances, souls do not remember anything of their afterlives after being raised.

Didn't Roy have some recollection, though?

He had vague memories of it being a nice place and had a neat idea for a new sword technique, but had no clue where it came from.

Roy remembered his time as a ghost, which is different. Once he got past the Pearly Gates, everything he experienced was locked away save that one specific thing.

This is internally consistent. When Redcloak raised his right-hand goblin, Jirix, after O-Chul killed him during the escape, Jirix brought back a message from the Dark One. This means that it is possible for souls to remember aspects of their afterlives if and only if they are especially significant.

Edited by Fighteer on Jul 19th 2018 at 2:34:34 PM

Minrah probably won't be coming back. She died honorably so she is Thor's. Not only did she die in battle, but she died fighting an agent of Hel.

Also, isn't that vampire priestess next to Greg one of those Sigdi had rezzed?

Man, I'm so glad there's a purpose to how everything went beyond the Diabolus ex Machina of everyone (including a high level cleric) getting mind controlled to screw the order over.

Especially since they had multiple aces in their favour (an extra member Durkula was unaware of, the element of surprise...since while he knew they were coming, he didn't know they had scryed him and seen his preparations, etc).

I do remember wondering how things would go since Unspoken Plan Guarantee seemed to be in effect for both sides, but Durkula still had an ace...dramatic convenience.

That being said, I'm interested in how things will go now, what with the ongoing scanning of Durkon's memories in effect.

It's been ages since I posted anything in here...but I'm shocked. I really don't see how this memory can help other than level of ex machina that Rich probably won't go with...

And everybody is down. There is nobody else coming.

So...what now?

Something in Durkon's memory will reveal that Hel's plan wont work. Durkula will have no choice but to stop what they are doing and go fix the problem.

They should probably at least wait until they get this whole "end of the world" thing sorted. No sense bringing her back just to die unheroically and end up with Hel.

Can a god refuse to hold onto a soul? Or refuse to return one? What happens if a high enough level soul dies and is able to combat the god?