The party reels from a second acid attack from the aerial Linear Guild. Roy and Haley spring into action, but rue the absence of Vaarsuvius. Belkar and Elan contemplate Yukyuk's karma.
Cast[]
- The Order of the Stick
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- The Linear Guild
- Yukyuk (dominated) ◀
- Tarquin's Pteranodon ◀ ▶
Transcript[]
- Panel 1
Inside the pyramid.
Roy: Is everyone OK?
Durkon: Wha wuz tha???
Elan: Haley! Roy! What happened?
Belkar: Ahhh! It's burning! Get it off!
- Panel 2
Roy: It was tough to see, but I think your brother happened. And it looked like he brought a full team, including that drow.
Haley: Zz'dtri?! That would explain the big green ball of acid.
Elan: But my Dad's troops arrested him back at—
- Panel 3
The room is again filled with acid as the second Vitriolic Sphere hits, with a great "SPLOOSH!"
- Panel 4
Haley prepares her bow and a green-fletched arrow.
Haley: OK, screw this!
Belkar: What are you complaining about, Miss I-Dodged-Two-Balls-Of-Acid-In-A-Row? I'm like a hobbit fajita over here!
Durkon: Mass Resist Acid! That oughta stop it from doin' us any more harm.
- Panel 5
Haley fires a pair of arrows from a doorway. "Fft! Fft!"
- Panel 6
Both arrows miss any of the Linear Guild who are still silhouetted against the sun.
- Panel 7
Haley: Darn it! Between the range and the sun. I can't even hit a dinosaur, much less whoever that is riding it!
Haley: What we need is a good old fashioned Fireball. Roy, where's Vaarsuvius.
Roy: I don't know.
- Panel 8
Roy: Could be hiding out there invisibly, could be dead, could be on another plane again.
Roy: It all depends on who spotted whom first.
Roy: I do know that without a wizard, we're sitting ducks in here against a Linear Guild sniping spells at us from a thousand feet up. And that I'm not leaving V out there alone.
- Panel 9
As Roy and Haley mobilize, Durkon and Belkar notice that the Vitriolic Spheres have killed Yukyuk. Mr. Scruffy hides under his corpse.
Roy: Everyone, out the door and get ready to fight. Durkon, keep your True Seeing up and grab the flying carpet.
Durkon: Aye, lad...
Belkar: Ha! The kobold tried to kill Mr. Scruffy, and in the end, he died shielding him from acid!
Belkar: Payback's a bitch!
- Panel 10
Elan: But...what about all the awful stuff you already did to him as payback for that?
Belkar: You gotta pay down the interest before you can touch the principle, kid.
- Panel 11
Roy: Hey! Both of you! Stop misapplying the philosophical concept of karma and MOVE!
Elan: Awwww. I probably deserved that.
Roy: I said stop it!!
D&D Context[]
- Due to her Evasion ability, Haley took no damage from either Vitriolic Sphere.
- Mass Resist Acid is the multiple subject form of Resist Energy. It was not released in the SRD; it was published for D&D 3.5 edition in the 2004 Complete Arcane.
- Likewise, Vitriolic Sphere is not in the publicly available SRD, having been released in Complete Arcane. It deals 1d4/level damage to a maximum of 15d4, with additional damage possible in the two following rounds.
Trivia[]
- This is the final appearance of Yukyuk, the third kobold member of the Linear Guild. He first appears in #790. He is Dominated by Vaarsuvius between #799 and #800, and remains so for the rest of his life. From #835 on, his head serves as Mr. Scruffy's litter box, continuing the running gag where Belkar turns the heads of Linear Guild kobolds into "something wacky." He appeared in 14 strips in total.
- Belkar refers to himself as a 'hobbit' in panel 4. In D&D, hobbits were renamed halflings due to copyright reasons.