Vaarsuvius explains the magnitude of the vengeance which has been wreaked upon the Ancient Black Dragon.
Cast[]
- Vaarsuvius (Soul Spliced) ◀ ▶
- Qarr ◀ ▶
- The IFCC
- Ganonron ◀ ▶
- Jephton the Unholy ◀ ▶
- Ancient Black Dragon (as reanimated head) ◀ ▶
- Haerta Bloodsoak ◀ ▶
- Duke Blue Devil
- Sparky the Sun Devil
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Black Dragon: No...No!
Spliced souls: Yes. Yes. Yes.
Vaarsuvius: Yes.
- Panel 2
Vaarsuvius: Every living creature that directly shares your bloodline is dead.
Vaarsuvius: Every living creature that is directly related to any of those creatures is also dead.
Vaarsuvius: Anyone who could possibly make a claim to be part of your family is gone now.
- Panel 3
Vaarsuvius: Given you kind's low rate of reproduction, I estimate that I have eliminated approximately one-quarter of the black dragons on the planet.
Spliced soul: A lot of unguarded treasure...
Spliced soul: They should melt it down and make a statue of you!
Spliced soul: Out of gratitude! And fear!
- Panel 4
Undead black dragon: You...you MONSTER!
Vaarsuvius: We are all in the Monster Manual somewhere, are we not? My entry lies between Elemental and Ethereal Filcher.
- Panel 5
Vaarsuvius: Now no one will come to avenge your defeat. No one will lament your passing.
Vaarsuvius: Think about the fate you have brought upon your family as you suffer in the afterlife.
Spliced soul: You started it anyway.
Spliced soul: Well, sort of.
Spliced soul: You started this part of it, at least.
- Panel 6
Vaarsuvius: This—and no less—is the price of threatening my family.
Vaarsuvius: Disintegrate.
The Black Dragon's head is destroyed.
- Panel 7
Cut to the Nine Hells where the IFCC watches surprised and silent.
- Panel 8
Qarr: Wow...you guys weren't kidding when you said the elf's alignment might be affected.
Lee: Actually...
Cedrik: ...we were
- Panel 9
Lee: The truth is, those three souls have absolutely no power to alter the elf's alignment or actions at all.
Cedrik: They have about as much effect on what the elf does as a cheerleader has on the final score of a game.
- Panel 10
Nero: A good way to get a decent person to do something horrible is to convince them that they're not responsible for their actions.
Cedrik: It's like if you were at a party where someone has been drinking beer that they didn't know was non-alcoholic. They might seem drunk anyway, simply because they were expecting it.
- Panel 11
Nero: Geez, can you come up with one similie[sic] that isn't a thinly-disguised reference to your university days?
Cedrik: Sorry...
Cedrik: I just always have my old college buddies on my mind at this time of year for some reason.
- Panel 12
A snapshot of Cedrik with the Duke Blue Devils mascot and the Arizona State Sun Devils mascot.
D&D Context[]
- Vaarsuvius' quip in panel 4 refers to the entry for "Elf" in the D&D Monster Manual.
- Ethereal Filchers are bizarre inhabitants of the ethereal plane.
- Elementals of various sorts come from the Inner Planes.
- Disintegrate is a 6th-level spell for sorcerers and wizards, which causes up to 40d6 damage (as V would while Soul Spliced). It is worth noting that this is also the spell which V used to kill the dragon's child.
Trivia[]
- The last two panels and the title draw the reader's attention to the fact that at the date of this strip's publication, the annual NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament (a.k.a "March Madness") was underway and had progressed to the regional round ("sweet sixteen").
- The two college mascots in the final panel both represent colleges which have historically had strong basketball programs. They are:
- The Duke Blue Devil
- Sparky the Sun Devil, the mascot of Arizona State University.