Haley, Elan, and V's escape is blocked by a mysterious general.
Cast[]
- Haley Starshine ◀ ▶
- Elan ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- General Tarquin ◀ ▶
- Captain of Empress of Blood ◀ ▶
- Five Empire of Blood Guards
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Tarquin: Captain, do you know why Kilkil sent me up...
Captain: General!
Tarquin: ...Is that a Blade Barrier in the door to the throne room?
- Panel 2
Haley (unharmed), V (carried, harmed) and Elan (harmed) rush through the Blade Barrier. Blackwing made it somehow too.
Elan: Ow! Ow! Ow!
Haley bumps into the Captain, "WUMP!"
Captain: Ooof!
- Panel 3
Haley: Come on, the archway!
Haley: V, you can still cast Feather Fall, right?
Vaarsuvius: Indeed, it is my solitary castable spell remaining.
- Panel 4
Tarquin bull rushes Haley, "THUMPF!", and Haley drops out of the archway.
Elan: HALEY!!
- Panel 5
Blackwing follows as Haley falls, still holding Gannji's military fork.
- Panel 6
Elan: What did you do THAT for??
Tarquin: Well, elf? Will you not cast your spell?
- Panel 7
Tarquin: There are quite a few sharp rocks down there, you know. Due to the construction.
Vaarsuvius: Feather Fall.
Tarquin: A wise decision.
- Panel 8
Haley is protected by the Feather Fall.
Haley: *whew!*
- Panel 9
Tarquin: There. Now that you've used up your only viable escape plan, I suggest we return to the throne room.
Elan: To get eaten by a dragon?? No thanks, I'll take my chances!
- Panel 10
Tarquin: You have my word as a man of honor that you will come to no harm.
Tarquin: However, if my men catch her, I cannot guarantee the same can be said for your lady friend...unless I give them the order to take her alive.
- Panel 11
Elan: No! OK, OK, I surrender. Just don't hurt Haley!
Tarquin: GUARDS! Don't kill the red-haired woman. Capture her and bring her to the throne room.
Tarquin: Her allies have surrendered.
- Panel 12
Haley looks up. Five soldiers lay dead around her.
Haley: Darn it! Now I have to go find someone to let capture me.
D&D Context[]
- Haley is able to evade harm from the Blade Barrier due to the Evasion feature of the Rogue class. Elan and Vaarsuvius can only save for half damage at best.
- Tarquin uses a Bull Rush attack to knock Haley back through the archway.
- Feather Fall is a 1st level spell which causes the subjects to fall at a rate of 10 ft/sec, which will not cause damage on landing. The spell has only a verbal component, thus V is able to cast it while immobilized and unable to perform somatic components.
Trivia[]
- The title is a double entendre, the two meanings being: a pulley system for mechanical advantage, and the fundamental skills of American Football.
- Elan pulls a rapier in this strip, despite the fact that he lost the rapier given to him by Julio Scoundrél when he was taken by Gannji and Enor.[1] This rapier is the one which he got from Haley in #28, lost after being imprisoned in Cliffport, and retrieved from Nale after defeating him in Azure City.[2]
- This is the first appearance of General Tarquin since #50, and only his second overall.