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This is the thread for discussion of The Order of the Stick plot, characters, etc. We have a separate thread for discussing game rules and mechanics. Excessive rules discussions here may be thumped as off-topic.

OP edited to make this header - Fighteer

edited 18th Sep '17 1:08:08 PM by Fighteer

KSonik Since: Jan, 2015
#21251: Jul 11th 2013 at 11:44:36 AM

No, but the prophecy could be double subverted for humour, tricking the reader into thinking that the prophecy did not mean what they thought it meant initially.

Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#21252: Jul 11th 2013 at 12:13:57 PM

I would have thought the obvious solution would be to ban him from ever leaving and giving every border crossing his description. tongue

Followed quickly by getting him hooked up so a family and a job that pays OK... but, not quite OK enough to finance trips abroad would happen. tongue

But, no... way too sensible.

joesolo Indiana Solo Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Indiana Solo
#21253: Jul 11th 2013 at 12:21:06 PM

[up] I think one of the books had somedwarf suggesting they justdont let him leave, but he was ignored.

I'm baaaaaaack
ATC Was Aliroz the Confused from The Library of Kiev Since: Sep, 2011
Was Aliroz the Confused
#21254: Jul 11th 2013 at 12:32:05 PM

" Ye've sent him on a trip! Ye've doomed us all! We should just tell 'im to come back before he reaches the border (of the dwarven lands) and never let 'im leave!"

"He would have left eventually, to get food or to go visit his uncle. It'd never work. If we put him in prison, he'd escape. But I know the Durkon Lad. He's so honorable and Lawful he'll never come back unless I send for him."

"May the gods have mercy on his poor damned soul."

"Wanna beer?"

"Don't mind if I do."

Slightly paraphrased, but you get the gist.

edited 11th Jul '13 12:57:06 PM by ATC

If you want any of my avatars, just Pm me I'd truly appreciate any avatar of a reptile sleeping in a Nice Hat Read Elmer Kelton books
infalliableliar Void Waiter from Future nothing Location Since: Oct, 2012
Void Waiter
#21255: Jul 11th 2013 at 12:56:20 PM

I am missing something about Durkon? I thought he was just banned from coming home.

Stop caring and embrace nullness.
MusikMaestro from Ireland Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Heisenberg unreliable
#21256: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:10:40 PM

Technically, if he comes home as a Vampire, it's posthumous (ie: after his death), and as a Vampire. Being a Vampire would cause the destruction of his old personality.

About the two swords: Actually, that might work too. That's exactly who prophecies seem to work in this universe.

TotemicHero No longer a forum herald from the next level Since: Dec, 2009
No longer a forum herald
#21257: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:11:52 PM

@infallibleliar: No, he was tricked to go on a journey away from home, with the dwarf that tricked him (the high priest, if I recall) having had a prophecy that Durkon would bring "death and destruction" when he returned.

Said high priest is now dead, and apparently never told anyone of the prophecy. As a result, Durkon was going to get to go home, but the messenger delivering that news (Miko) was waylaid by Xykon and co., and lost the letter. So...

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#21258: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:13:27 PM

[up][up][up] He's banned from ever coming home because of a prophecy foretelling that when next he returns home, he will bring death and destruction upon his people.

edited 11th Jul '13 1:13:36 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
infalliableliar Void Waiter from Future nothing Location Since: Oct, 2012
Void Waiter
#21259: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:25:24 PM

So was it a legit prophecy, or was the priest lying?

Stop caring and embrace nullness.
ATC Was Aliroz the Confused from The Library of Kiev Since: Sep, 2011
Was Aliroz the Confused
#21260: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:27:13 PM

It was a legit prophecy from the highest priest of Thor. Thor, IIRC, corroborates this.

If you want any of my avatars, just Pm me I'd truly appreciate any avatar of a reptile sleeping in a Nice Hat Read Elmer Kelton books
unnoun Since: Jan, 2012
#21261: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:31:13 PM

The priest didn't exactly tell Durkon about the prophecy. All Durkon knew was that he was being sent on a pilgrimage to the human lands.

infalliableliar Void Waiter from Future nothing Location Since: Oct, 2012
Void Waiter
#21262: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:40:01 PM

Ah. See that changes everything. This entire time I thought a priest sent him away on lies and that when he got the news he could come back as a corpse that was good. He gets his happy ending.

Now it seems like him coming home as a corpse is bad and he really doesn't get his happy ending.

And is his home the same dwarf place where the last gate is?

Does this comic have a map?

edited 11th Jul '13 1:40:29 PM by infalliableliar

Stop caring and embrace nullness.
MusikMaestro from Ireland Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Heisenberg unreliable
#21263: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:43:57 PM

Yep. And him coming home is a bad thing.

He's a vampire now.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#21264: Jul 11th 2013 at 1:50:00 PM

He got to die happy, though. Durkon never knew about the Priest of Odin - not Thor - and his prophecy. When they told him that he was going on a diplomatic mission to study humans, he took them at face value, and he's been convinced ever since that this fake mission is actually his purpose here.

Returning to the Dwarven Homelands as a vampire is certainly going to be gruesome and horrible, and fulfill the prophecy that was told of his return. But he got to die never knowing that.

edited 11th Jul '13 1:50:27 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#21265: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:03:04 PM

Also I should note that Durkon was never promised a happy ending. That was Elan's prophecy.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#21266: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:09:54 PM

And also the idea that Elan's happy ending has to mean a Golden Ending where everything is perfect for everyone has recently been Jossed, so what Elan's "happy ending" actually constitutes is up in the air right now.

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Hodor Cleric of Banjo from Westeros Since: Dec, 1969
Cleric of Banjo
#21267: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:13:37 PM

I think the prophesy is sort of subverted in that since Nergal is the god of death and destruction (or something close enough), Durkon will be bringing death and destruction to his hometown even if he just showed up to bring free beer.

Edit, edit, edit, edit the wiki
hcobb Since: Jan, 2001
#21268: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:15:26 PM

Who is Durkon a cleric of now?

Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#21269: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:18:13 PM

[up]Unsure: I'm holding out for Hel. <shrugs> If vampirism isn't a disease, I don't know what is. wink

edited 11th Jul '13 2:18:54 PM by Euodiachloris

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#21270: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:19:05 PM

It's likely to be Nergal, just like Malack. The alignments would be compatible.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
infalliableliar Void Waiter from Future nothing Location Since: Oct, 2012
Void Waiter
#21271: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:32:22 PM

I was aware that only Elan is promised a happy ending, but Durkon also seemed to be getting one.

Stop caring and embrace nullness.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#21272: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:35:27 PM

Are you referring to the illusion? That had nothing to do with the Oracle's prophecy.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#21273: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:39:26 PM

Durkon's Oracle prophecy was that he would return home posthumously. He interpreted this to be a good thing, because that meant his body would be returned to his beloved homeland after he passed on rather than being left to wither away in human lands, but at no point was it actually promised to be a happy ending.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
infalliableliar Void Waiter from Future nothing Location Since: Oct, 2012
Void Waiter
#21274: Jul 11th 2013 at 2:46:42 PM

[up]Right, what he said.

Stop caring and embrace nullness.
LogicDragon Somewhat Anomalous Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Get out of here, STALKER
Somewhat Anomalous
#21275: Jul 11th 2013 at 3:14:23 PM

Word of God says that Durkula is, at least while under Malack's thrall, a non-theistic cleric, presumably drawing his spells from the Negative Energy Plane.

Personally, my opinion is that Durkula, when Malack's hold breaks, will be the Durkon we always knew, only conflicted by horrible hunger and possibly rejected by Thor. Durkon's condition, coupled with the tormented-vampire cliché (tragically, even in death, Durkon cannot escape being generic) should be a rich font of comedy and Character Development. We have some hinting that vampires are free-willed but have compulsions from Haley's Imagine Spot, where she imagines Roy as a vampire when she finds his body missing after the siege of Azure City.

I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

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