The OotS Thread III

[Gaidin]

And Tarquin. "How did you get to be so high level without someone teaching you your place?" You get to be high-level by not letting people push you around or kill you off when they decide it's narratively convenient.

It's a classic case of Tarquin not doing his research. Roy's been taught his place before, so to speak, by Xykon during the siege. He just got better.

[Ralin]

And Miron is out of the game! Good pile-on by the Order.

Laurin has really gotta be scraping the bottom of the barrel for PP after all of this. I don't like the look of this spell though. Tarquin can soak a bit of aoe damage, while much more than 10 points is gonna put Belkar down.

Odds are decent he can teleport himself back.

Also I suspect that was some sort of mental attack, judging from how they're reaching for their heads and Durkon looks uneffected. So odds are good it wasn't dealing hit point damage.

[Ahriman238]

Roy did use the move, though V didn't see the illusion and may or may not know about that move.

[Simon_Jester]

I like the code word; V and Roy are both highly intelligent and having them communicate to each other in subtle ways to take advantage of that is nice.

Also, I suspect V knows about Roy's sword move- Roy wouldn't keep it a secret, and heck, he might even have asked V to help him practice it.

[Rogue 9]

I like how confused Tarquin looks at being completely bypassed by Roy. He's so caught up in his own self-assigned role as the primary antagonist that he can't conceive of the heroes going after his support rather than having a climactic duel with him.

[Civil War Man]

Odds are decent he can teleport himself back.

Also I suspect that was some sort of mental attack, judging from how they're reaching for their heads and Durkon looks uneffected. So odds are good it wasn't dealing hit point damage.

It's questionable whether he can just teleport back. The fight is in the middle of nowhere in the desert, and he can't just say "X miles east of Y" since the Wormhole chase made their path really erratic, so it would probably count as "Viewed once" in terms of familiarity. In order to get there reliably once he heals up, he'd need to blow a Greater Teleport or some type of scrying spell on one of the people in the fight before using a regular teleport. And that's assuming he is either a Sorcerer with enough spells per day of the appropriate levels, or a Wizard who for some reason decided to memorize multiple castings of a spell he already had holding in a contingency.

On top of that, it all assumes that he has any interest in going back. If Tarquin dies, it's not like he's going to be able to go after Miron for reneging on the favor. If he survives, Miron can still claim he fulfilled his end of the bargain, since it's not his fault that the Order accidentally triggered his contingency. After all, the favor was technically just to assist Tarquin in his attempt to kill Roy. Nothing about having to see it through to the end.

As for the psionic attack, I agree that it's probably not a damaging attack. There doesn't appear to be any physical damage done (if only because Belkar's still not dead), and Durkon just looking surprised means that it was probably a stun or a mind-affecting power, since he's now immune to those effects.

[Ahriman238]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Miron is out of this fight. If he returns it'll be after everything is over. Just for narrative reasons.

[Bedlam]

If he does return after it does give him a motive to get Tarquin resurrected.

He gets to bring back someone who now not only owes him one but now two favours.

[Civil War Man]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Miron is out of this fight. If he returns it'll be after everything is over. Just for narrative reasons.

Pretty much. If the goal was just to take him out of the fight for a couple rounds, "The Order deals so much damage it accidentally triggers his escape contingency and teleports him hundreds of miles away" is one of the most convoluted and awkward ways to do it.

The only way I see him coming back before the end of the fight is if he brings backup with him, and that still will involve him going to the other kingdoms and tapping the rest of the old team. And that requires multiple teleport spells since the team is so spread out, which probably won't happen short of burning through some of the scrolls or magical artifacts that he undoubtedly has stashed at his contingency teleport destination. I don't see him wasting that much money and time for Tarquin, given his already expressed disgust for his shenanigans. At most, if he comes back, it would probably be just to make sure Laurin doesn't get killed.

[Imperial Overlord]

Teleporting isn't the problem. Miron could easily have a couple of scrolls with teleport on it. Healing up, getting reinforcements, and deciding to come back are different issues. It'll probably be long over by the time he does all that. He may be pissed at Tarquin, but he's also a long time comrade and they're integral parts of the Master Plan. Also, Laurin clearly has a thing for Tarquin and if she survives or is resurrected, then she'll probably do the same for Tarquin even if Miron doesn't.

[Sharp-kun]

I don't see him wasting that much money and time for Tarquin, given his already expressed disgust for his shenanigans. At most, if he comes back, it would probably be just to make sure Laurin doesn't get killed.

I don't see him wasting that much money and time for Tarquin, given his already expressed disgust for his shenanigans. At most, if he comes back, it would probably be just to make sure Laurin doesn't get killed.
I'm not so sure. Remember that they're a party who have stuck together a long time and we can assume are all good friends, even if they don't always agree with each other's motives.

Remember Malack had grand evil designs that I don't imagine the group would have been too ready to go along with (assuming they knew and with the exception of Tarquin) but that didn't stop Laurin from being ready to dispatch Nale the instant she found out he had killed him. Friends are friends, especially after the grand quest Tarquin and Co no doubt had.

I agree that Miron won't be back during the fight, but I don't see him just abandoning T&L.

I'm curious how this is going to end. Feels too soon for Elan's final confrontation with Tarquin and all of Tarquin's buddies aren't here. One side is going to retreat with a bloody nose and it could go either way at this point.

[Ted C]

I'm personally rooting for an ignominious death in the desert for Tarquin, putting this plot thread to rest for good. Tarquin's old buddies won't be pleased, but they're likely to see it as something he brought on himself by letting his personal "legacy" issues get in the way of their group operation.

[PainRack]

Actually........... just how would Tarquin death be a failure here?

In terms of his personal quest for story, he did it. Elan was instrumental in helping to defeat Tarquin and an epic battle, using an entire division against a hero party, then dinosaurs and the final epic boss level fight........... its all there.

[Alkaloid]

But Roy is still the leader of the order, so the story will be about how he defeated Tarquin and went on to quest further and blah blah. He wants Elan to take over leadership of the order so the story is about Elan. Why he assumes Elan will be in charge with out Roy is another question entirely.

[Isolder74]

But Roy is still the leader of the order, so the story will be about how he defeated Tarquin and went on to quest further and blah blah. He wants Elan to take over leadership of the order so the story is about Elan. Why he assumes Elan will be in charge with out Roy is another question entirely.

Oh he assumes that because he is a sexist bastard. He can't conceive that a woman could be second in command.

I hope Tarquin has a anti-climatic end just to spite him.

[Lord of the Abyss]

Actually........... just how would Tarquin death be a failure here?

In terms of his personal quest for story, he did it. Elan was instrumental in helping to defeat Tarquin and an epic battle, using an entire division against a hero party, then dinosaurs and the final epic boss level fight........... its all there.

Elan: "And let us never mention this again."

Roy: "What?"

Elan: "My Dad wanted to end his villainous career as a legend, going down to a dramatic defeat at the hands of a hero, right? If we don't talk about it, there's no dramatic end to his story! He just vanished one day in the desert after a poorly thought out battle. The only other people who know what really happened are his fellow villains, who have no reason to talk about how they lost to a party of lower level adventurers."

[Grumman]

But Roy is still the leader of the order, so the story will be about how he defeated Tarquin and went on to quest further and blah blah. He wants Elan to take over leadership of the order so the story is about Elan. Why he assumes Elan will be in charge with out Roy is another question entirely.

Because he has an overinflated opinion of Elan's capabilities. And it's not like he couldn't take another stab at things if the first attempt to put Elan in charge didn't work.

[Alphawolf55]

Because narrative wise it's never the second in command that takes up the mantle after the original leader dies. It's the idealistic, young one that everyone rallies around even though it makes no sense. Plus it would only be Haley and Elan left, he probably figured that if Elan felt he was too weak to save Roy and his comrades he'd go through some of character development scene, maybe a training montage and get serious.

[Lord of the Abyss]

929 up! Spoiler

Annnd, things swing back against the Order! Neat to see that Burlew didn't forget the whip.

[Crazedwraith]

Oh FFS. Enough already.

[Kuja]

Uh. Shit.

[Ahriman238]

Huh. He really is ruthless, and correct that it should work.
Spoiler

V and Durkon are out of it, unless they can overcome the psion. Durkon is also having some sunshine issues. Belkar got punted, Roy and Elan are skewered, but Tarquin forgot about and turned his back to the Rogue. I believe the technical term is "sneak attack, bitch!"

[Sharp-kun]

I would be surprised if anyone can sneak attack Tarquin.

[Gaidin]

I'm getting tired of this. I'm just sort of waving my hands to bring on the next stage of the story. Tarquin is getting overwritten. Would've been better if he gave his blessing to go after the lich and jumped them after just to mix up the bad guys. Maybe even come up with a reason to bring in Tarquin's entire team. But no, he's drawing this out.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Ok, show of hands, who here is annoyed that Spoiler

Tarquin and his group basically "KO'ed" the order in a hand full of panels and then Sworded Roy?

I mean enough already! move on with the plot!