Order of the Stick

[DrinksTooMuchCoffee]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0893.html

Gack!

[SamWiser]

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Woah. I wonder if they will be able to tell what the fairy-thing is saying. It doesn't seem to be making noise.

[willpell]

That was fast! Love how Malack says it all with an ellipsis.

Re: SamWiser -

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The little blue person is one of Hinjo's Azurites. We don't hear anything because it's a Sending, which obviously only Haley is receiving. Judging by her expression, it's bad news. Quite probably, Very Bad Newx.

[RocketScientist]

Belkar would need a Restoration spell to fix his drained Constitution.

Crap.

We are so screwed.

[DrinksTooMuchCoffee]

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The little blue person is one of Hinjo's Azurites. We don't hear anything because it's a Sending, which obviously only Haley is receiving. Judging by her expression, it's bad news. Quite probably, Very Bad Newx.

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Somewhat appropriate typo, as the bad news likely starts with an X. And Tarquin's still up to something as well.

Oh, also by word of the Giant to clarify, Nale was the only one affected by the runes in the previous page, not just the last to break out.

[willpell]

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It was intentional, as that was the point I was making.

Also since the last strip was "Walled In" and this one is "Closing In", I hope the next strip will continue the theme.

[SamWiser]

Ok, I though sending could be heard by everybody. It seemed that way earlier.

[willpell]

See panels 4 and 12. Belkar knows something happened, but not exactly what.

Also, most of the die-hard fans probably already noticed this, but one of Tarquin's original confederates? I just figured out that we know his last name.

[SamWiser]

In my defense that wouldn't seem out of character even if Belkar could hear what was going on. He never seemed to be the most observant of individuals.

[SamWiser]

Sorry for the double post, but new comic.

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I guess that's good news?

[Sumguy]

I like Oots, but it's the second slowest updating webcomic I read. Only one that is slower (and omg slower) is WTF comics. You'd think it was dead, but it gets a new page every couple of months, more or less.

[LooksAndSmiles]

Bah, you have seen nothing of slowly updating webcomics, then.

Back on topic, @Sam

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Well, I don't know.
1) The creator of this pyramid is a master of deception. If you put a sign saying something without any magic at all, that can seem totally legit. However, you can still have the portal on the next level of the tower, or in the basement... anywhere, but there. Magic aiming to detect fraud will fail, as there is no fraud there. Only a misleading sign.
2) If the portal really is NOT in the vicinity, then I think it's indeed bad news. Not only the OOTS is locked with a quasi deathmatch with the evil team, they are also losing valuable time in finding the real pyramid and stop whatever Xykon is scheming.

[Zathyr]

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I'm thinking it's a bluff. He can build a pyramid in a desert, he can afford to line the inside of that box with lead and/or make it over a foot thick and/or cook up some swanky Nondetection magic.

[SamWiser]

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It could still be there. All we see is a giant rock. Based on the past, we know that there isn't one way to hold back the rift (the first one was a literal gate, while the next one we saw was a gemstone) so I see no reason as to why it can't be held back by a giant rock. It was probably nearby.

[LAYF]

Sooo... why all the spoilers? Its an OOTS thread... people are to expect a spoiler or two arent they?

[willpell]

I for one often come to this thread and learn that a new OOTS is up, so having spoiler boxes to prevent me from learning too much before I read the comic is handy. A forum is more worth checking every day than the webcomic mainsite, and I'm banned from GITP's own forum, plus there every comic gets its own new thread which I'd have to randomly notice, whereas here there's a single thread which I can subscribe to and receive updates when new comics are noticed by other posters here.

[ThroughTheWell]

I'm thinking

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nesting dolls. In other words, the gate is right there inside another pyramid shaped box, which is probably the room that has the writing on it. Particularly since the word pyramid can mean more than a d4 shape.

This is good for team good, since they will likely be smarter and do a slower examination after team mini-evil leaves.

[DrinksTooMuchCoffee]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0895.html

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That's not the right tool. Stupid fighters thinking hitting things with swords is the right answer.

[SamWiser]

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Well, I suppose that's one way to guard the gate. They will need to guard the next gate though.

[willpell]

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Looks like people here and on the GITP forums were right in their guesses. Malack did see them but choose not to say anything, and the sign was indeed a double-bluff with lead sheeting. I love that, with the OOTS down to 3.5 members and the Linear Guild more than double that, this was the perfect time for luck to even the scales by using Nale's hot head to make him fail a challenge which Roy's cool intellect handled easily.

Hah! Roy's ranks in K:Architecture strike again! I'm beginning to think fighters should get that as a class skill in my campaign.

"Stop suppressing our rupture, you electroresistive niche?" I don't get it. I mean, I know what he's referencing, but these words make no sense to me in the context, and it's not much of a joke if he just picked random words that sound the same.

And only a half-page at the end! Wonder what Roy's planning. Guess he wants to weaken the fabric of the universe or something; at least there aren't any paladins around to arrest them anymore. Now would be the time for Elan to do a "Duh-duh-duh!"

[DrinksTooMuchCoffee]

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"Stop suppressing our rupture, you electroresistive niche?" I don't get it. I mean, I know what he's referencing, but these words make no sense to me in the context, and it's not much of a joke if he just picked random words that sound the same.

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The lead (electro-resistive) sheet revealed by Roy cutting a chunk out of (a niche into) the column hides the rift (rupture) gate, AFAICT.

[nikohl]

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Niche only rhymes with bitch if you're american *shifty eyes*

[willpell]

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Niche only rhymes with bitch if you're american *shifty eyes*

Abbot: "A niche is a notch, catch?"
Costello: "Natch!"
Abbot: ANNOYED GRUNT

[Zathyr]

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I do get a little annoyed by the Giant's use of the phrase "double-bluff." A double bluff involves telling the truth and making someone think you're bluffing. The note on the box was just a regular bluff. It says something that isn't true. It's believable, like any good bluff, but there's nothing double about it.

Earlier in the desert when Girard's illusion tells them he lied to Soon about the gate's coordinates ( http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0694.html ) Roy bounces the idea off Haley that it could be a "double-bluff" and the use of the phrase bugged me then, but I was willing to stretch the interpretation that it wasn't the illusion's words that he was talking about, but the coordinates given to Soon or the overall situation. In that case Girard has said one thing then says something later to make the first ting seem like a bluff, when in fact it may be true (even though it wasn't) in which case it'd become a double bluff. Here I suppose there's a similar situation but it's just an implied premise that the gate is there - it was never explicitly stated, was it? So I don't see how it can be called a double bluff, unless the words are true and the "gate" inside is a fake..

[willpell]

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Agreed, it's not really accurate to call this a double bluff, but I figure Roy is counting the entire pyramid as one bluff, and reasoning that a second bluff negates it. Not quite proper, but it doesn't bother me.