The Order of the Stick

So that leaves the Diamonds and a cleric able and willing to perform the spell.

Fortunately, they're under a mountain in dwarf lands for the purposes of finding diamonds.

Thus the obstacles amount to: persuade the able cleric right there to do the spell somehow, obtain diamonds.

Edited by RainehDaze on Aug 7th 2018 at 5:31:42 PM

Possible complications could be either the Order feeling too pressed for time or not being entirely sure Durkon is trustworthy enough to bring back.

Why would they not trust Durkon?

They know the vampire spirit isn't Durkon.

No they don't. Roy said 'At this point I don't know if you're Durkon or not but at this point I don't really care and it doesn't matter.' That leaves room for him feeling there's a high chance of it Durkon having been twisted into that form, which may not have been undone (so far as he knows) by the resurrection. Low chance, but given how dangerous Durkon could be, is it a chance the party is willing to take?

Don't get me wrong, I don't actually think it'll happen and even if it does it probably won't stick. It just wouldn't contradict anything.

I really don't think anyone would have that as a serious concern — it seems too contrived. Destroying Durkula so they could resurrect Durkon has literally been one of the establishing reasons for this whole arc.

Also Durkon would be down every single spell slot expended in the fight, so if they were rested, not really a threat to a whole party.

But Roy spent that money. That's an indication that they feel it's not the top priority.

That was before they found out Greg was actually evil.

Yes, all the money spent getting here in the first place. Preventing the end of the world is slightly higher priority, but holding onto money for a resurrection when the dead body you want resurrected has gotten away from you is also rather difficult.

"Havent spent much time talkin' to Elan, then?"

Yes, I'm sure after years of mild criticism for The Smurfette Principle Rich is going to show the Order dismissing a potential female recruit on the grounds that she hasn't been able to make suitable childcare arrangements.

It might, if the joke wasn't specifically about how improbably all of that happening is at this point. Which just makes it more likely to happen, hence the Elan comment.

That's a pretty gross misinterpretation. Hilgya totally could have kept Kudzu out of harms way during this fight; she just chose not to. It says nothing about women, it says something about Hilgya.

Edited by LSBK on Aug 7th 2018 at 1:55:13 PM

I was just going back and forth on whether I really needed to put a disclaimer on what is clearly a joke. Guess I should have.

Obviously — obviously — it's not anti-feminist to tell a woman not to bring her baby into battle. If any of you tropers ever find yourself in that position, be content that you have my blessing. If anyone objects, feel free to direct them to this post.

Ah, sorry. It's just that I wouldn't be surprised if someone actually meant that.

Edited by LSBK on Aug 7th 2018 at 2:09:10 PM

I do now expect Durkon to get revived at the end of the arc, but I don't think it's going to be happening right now. They still need to stop the Exarch. There's no time to stand around figuring out where to get 10,000 gp in diamonds right now.

They can do that between the imminent threat of complete global annihilation and the impending threat of complete global annihilation.

Maybe it really was a Dwarf Fortress joke from Rich.

More seriously, I wouldn't like Hilgya as part of the Order, no matter how likely or unlikely it is that he would join. Why? Because she is a horrible person. Yes, she had a good excuse for why she did all those bad things, but that doesn't make her that much better. And yes, Belkar is evil, too, but he is the likable kind of Token Evil Teammate / Heroic Comedic Sociopath, but Hilgya does not even hit the Anti-Hero line. It is perfectly OK for her to be a supporting character or even an antagonist, but not one of the main protagonists. In a grim, Black-and-Gray Morality work, maybe, but not here.

Edited by petersohn on Aug 7th 2018 at 9:11:29 PM

I don't want Hilgya to be a main character, either, and I doubt she will be. Once the Exarch is stopped, there should be enough time to take a break and resurrect Durkon, especially since the dwarves are likely to have more than a few diamonds lying around.

Here the thing: Do anyone there know that the Exarch is still a threat? Who's to say that Belkar and Hilgya aren't just finishing off that last spawn and patting themselves on the back for saving the world right now?

Like, maybe somebody could put together that the vampire that attacked the airship wasn't present in this battle, but that would be a pretty precise observation made at a time when they all probably had more pressing concerns. So, in fact, they might not realize they have more pressing concerns than figuring out how to get the diamonds- diamonds that would allow the one character who definitely does know about that problem to get back in the game.

Edited by Gilphon on Aug 7th 2018 at 3:43:49 PM

Roy at least knows what Greg was planning, and when he wakes up he’ll know to go check up on the council.

Obviously neither Belkar or Hilgya had any idea what was going on in the first place. They just wanted to kill Durkon for personal reasons.

This was a climatic confrontation, sure, but this arc is not over yet. "Greg is killed, mission accomplished, let's go resurrect Durkon" just does not sound good to me. There will be more conflict here, though the majority should already be over with. I guess that compared to the previous book, we are approximately at the point where the Order destroyed the Gate.

So uh if I have this straight: Belkar, who up until recently ruthlessly slaughtered all in his way without a second thought, is fine, tonally. Because it's funny.

But Hilgya isn't because she tried to murder one dude and is irresponsible with her kid?

I mean I guess there was whatever her plan with Nale was but like. Hey, everybody loves Thog! He's so goofy and lovable.

Edited by Wackd on Aug 7th 2018 at 4:42:08 AM

I'll note that they didn’t try especially hard to get her not to bring the baby to the fight with a vampire.

I don't know that they had much of a choice.

She's way to paranoid to trust anyone else with her child. She's consistently thought the worst of those around her, of course she's not gonna check Kudzu into a day care; those things are run by monsters who are only in it for the money and to brainwash the sucseeding generation.

I'm a big fan of Hylga. I don't want the plot to slow down so to allow her to be established, but I'm happy for her to carry on in a supporting role. It's not often this comic has explored the chaotic/order conflict and she taps into that really well.