The high priests of the demigods enter the Great Nave and drive the vote to a second tie, with one vote remaining. Gontor Hammerfell, raised as a vampire, infiltrates the Mechane.
Cast[]
- The Order of the Stick
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Haley Starshine ◀ ▶
- Elan ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield (as vampire) ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- High Priests of the Northern Pantheon
- Bandana Secundus ◀ ▶
- Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator (as lizard) ◀ ▶
- Gods of the Asgardian Pantheon
- Gontor Hammerfell (as vampire and in gaseous form) ◀ ▶
- Little Whiskers ◀ ▶
- High Priests of the Northern Demigods
- High Priestess of Hermod (also possessed) ▶
- High Priestess of Iounn (also possessed) ▶
- High Priestess of Sigrun (also possessed) ▶
- High Priest of Thrym (also possessed) ▶
- High Priest of Dvalin ▶
- High Priest of Bragi (also possessed) ▶
- High Priest of Surtur (also possessed) ▶
- Demigods of the Asgardian Pantheon
Transcript[]
- Panel 1, Page 1
The High Priests of the Demigods enter the room, seven in total.
High Priestess of Sif: Seven?!?
High Priestess of Frigg: I've never seen more than three show up before.
High Priest of Mani: I didn't even know this pantheon had seven demigods!
- Panel 2, Page 1
Hel: Any last words before we tear this world apart and build a new one in my image?
Loki: Really? The premature villain gloat? I'm a failure as a parent.
- Panel 3, Page 1
Odin: The priests of the demigods have assembled. Let the tie be broken!
The High Priests of the Demigods are zapped with a "ZOT!" sound while Roy attempts in vain to attack the High Priest of Hel through his antilife shell.
- Panel 4, Page 1
Surtur: It's no Ragnarok, but it'll do.
Surtur: Surtur, Lord of Fire Giants, votes Yes.
- Panel 5, Page 1
Sigrun: The souls of the dead are too precious to risk oblivion.
Sigrun: Sigrun, Queen of the Valkyries, votes Yes.
- Panel 6, Page 1
Bragi: There are still tales waiting to be told in this setting.
Bragi: Bragi, demigod of poetry, votes No.
- Panel 7, Page 1
Iounn: All that stuff Hel said sound, like, totes lame.
Iounn: Iounn, demigoddess of youth, votes No.
- Panel 8, Page 1
Thrym: ...My reasons are my own.
Thrym: Thrym, Lord of Frost Giants, votes Yes.
- Panel 9, Page 1
Hermod: I have... OK...well,, uh, see, the thing is...
- Panel 1, Page 2
Hel: What are you waiting for, Hermod? Seal this wretched planet's fate, as we agreed!
Hermod: Yeah, but... I didn't think you actually had the votes to, you know, actually do it. I thought this was more of a protest vote.
- Panel 2, Page 2
Hel: You pledged yourself to my cause, you cowardly twit!!
Hermod: Yeah, the cause of getting our voices heard. Not ending the world!
- Panel 3, Page 2
Hermod: I'm sorry. I can't be the one to deliver this news.
Hermod: Hermod, demigod of messengers, votes No.
- Panel 4, Page 2
Hel: Damn you!!
Roy, now atop the Anti-Life Shell, stops attacking.
Roy: Is that us winning? Because it sounds like us winning.
"Durkon": There is still one vote outstanding, actually.
- Panel 5, Page 2
"Durkon": And while my mistress may have preferred the quick and easy result of Hermod delivering the vote—
"Durkon": —I confess that I am very much looking forward to finishing our back-up plan.
- Panel 6, Page 2
Cut to the Mechane.
"Durkon" (inset): A plan, I might add, that I could never have devised without your help, Roy.
- Panel 7, Page 2
Bandana: Any signs?
Vaarsuvius: A good deal of yellow light and a few solid thumps, but nothing conclusive.
Vaarsuvius: It is difficult to surmise how heated discussions at such a convocation might normally become.
- Panel 8, Page 2
Haley: Oooo, five hotels on Park Place. That's going to cost you, sweetie.
Elan: Awwww! And I thought it was hard playing Jenga with you!
- Panel 1, Page 3
Mist enters through one of the windows.
- Panel 2, Page 3
Vampire eyes appear in the mist as it begins taking form.
- Panel 3, Page 3
Mists continues taking form.
- Panel 4, Page 3
The mist takes the form of Gontor Hammerfell, Exarch of the Creed of Stone, now a vampire.
- Panel 5, Page 3
Image broadens to show the rest of the room: Blackwing, Little Whiskers, Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator and Mr. Scruffy are lying together in the corner of the room.
Blackwing: Uhh...
Blackwing: Hey.
- Panel 6, Page 3
Blackwing: I think you might have the wrong airship—our vampire dwarf cleric is a bit younger and has a shield.
D&D Context[]
- The High Priests of Surtur and Thrym are half-giants, or humans with giant ancestry. This is why they are significantly shorter than the other giants seen in the comic. A half-giant has a far lower Level Adjustment than a full-blooded giant, and lacks racial hit dice, giving them significantly more room to advance as Clerics.
- Ordinarily it takes 1d4 days after a creature slain by a vampire's energy drain to rise as a vampire spawn, but Malack's Staff has a spell which can create the spawn instantly, as he did with Durkon in #878. Thus Gontor is already about and using his gaseous form ability.
- Haley is good at Monopoly and Jenga because of her very high Bluff skill ranks and Dexterity ability score. Monopoly only allows one hotel or four houses on a property and so Haley is cheating.
Trivia[]
- Yellow Means Caution is the third strip referencing street light colors, following Green Means Go and Red Means Stop.
- This is the first appearance of the Demigods of the Northern Pantheon and their High Priests, with the exception of Surtur, who first appeared very early on in the comic.
- This is the second appearance of Surtur. He also appeared way back in #40, "The Gods Must be Busy". While only his voice appears here, it is the second longest gap between character appearances in the the entire comic, only eclipsed later by a flashback return of Hilgya Firehelm's ex-husband Ivan and her brother.