The Goblins Fan Forum

Oh shit oh shit oh shit.

Imagine that, Kore actually thinking things through and reasoning things out .. who would have thunk it.

Now to see if a high level Mage can cast an effective illusion spell at short notice.

Also, I keep hearing Marlene Dietrich "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvHqUnRzh0s" out of Kore's mouth, which is just bizzare!

Human custom is using the right hand, not the left.
That'll be the test!

@tofu: without the quote marks, that link would've been clickable... (automagic feature of PHPbb.)


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@Thunt_Goblins wrote:

I'll be kind of disappointed if Kin can't easily figure out how to avoid this offer. The way that comes most quickly to mind is to claim a religious/cultural proscription against touching a member of the opposite sex without a chaperone present. There are many such groups that exist in our world, living side-by-side with the rest of us - eg many flavors of Anabaptists, Ultra-orthodox Jews, many Muslims, Koreans, etc ad absurdum. (these are just the ones I know off the top of my head - I'm sure the collected forum readers could make a much longer list!)

It would seem extremely easy for the quick-thinking Kin to feign surprise/aversion (not even completely insincere!) "You want to touch me? But you're a male! That would be extremely inappropriate!" and then simply bow deeply and say something like "I wish you peace and honor in your travels, friend".

Krulle wrote:Human custom is using the right hand, not the left.
That'll be the test!

I think the more obvious reveal would be the fact that she doesn't have five fingers on her hands. Still, as said above, someone as intelligent as Kin should have no issue coming up with some excuse. And with no "proof" of evil, Kore will not attack. (Although Kore's idea of proof seems very lax, so who knows)

kesgarion wrote: I think the more obvious reveal would be the fact that she doesn't have five fingers on her hands. Still, as said above, someone as intelligent as Kin should have no issue coming up with some excuse. And with no "proof" of evil, Kore will not attack. (Although Kore's idea of proof seems very lax, so who knows)

Yeah. I just went back to look. In the Brassmoon guardroom, the humans had 5. Kore, forgath and the gobbos apparently have 4. She has 3.
With him calling her "human" twice in the last panel, I'm pretty sure he's ready to kill her now. An excuse won't cut it. She needs an illusion, or a distraction.

Also, I'm giving myself one-third of one meaningless point in my own head for getting close. I said Kore wouldn't allow her to continue on her own. And then in this strip, Kore's like "It's weird that you didn't bring up working together." and it looks like that's precipitating drams, so... Kinda far off, but ballpark, so yay me. +0.33 to speakslittle, from speakslittle! <3

So is using his left hand a test to see if she knows how to shake hands?

Or does Thunt not know how to shake hands either

AXIS wrote:So is using his left hand a test to see if she knows how to shake hands?

Or does Thunt not know how to shake hands either

He's offering his left hand because he expects to wield a weapon with his right hand.

Offering the left hand to shake is very strong evidence of imminent betrayal. Only a most evil person would ever offer his left hand. All of us humans know that.

Never Finishes Anyth wrote:
Offering the left hand to shake is very strong evidence of imminent betrayal. Only a most evil person would ever offer his left hand. All of us humans know that.

Kore is paladin so he is good by definition...

kesgarion wrote:

Krulle wrote:Human custom is using the right hand, not the left.
That'll be the test!

I think the more obvious reveal would be the fact that she doesn't have five fingers on her hands. Still, as said above, someone as intelligent as Kin should have no issue coming up with some excuse. And with no "proof" of evil, Kore will not attack. (Although Kore's idea of proof seems very lax, so who knows)

Kore's proof" seems to be "You aren't me".

Think Fast, Kin!

http://goblinscomic.com/comic/06152012

"I knew you were lying about this path as soon as you moved those hidden, little teeth of yours"

Biscuit is 600-ish years old, Kore is probably twice that.

Man I hope Kin's bluff score is way more than twice as high as those random goblins.

One thing that I thought of - Kore is offering his left hand, so she uses HER left hand.

Her right is the one that's currently armored or potentially magical. I believe he would see this as a potential threat, as well as keeping his right hand free in case of needing to use a weapon, as another has already mentioned.

Kin can save from this by not lying but telling the truth: her past life being continuously raped by GoblinSlayer that left her uncomfortable with contact. That's not a bluff check, it's the truth.

She's not going to be able to talk her way out of this. Kore is toying with her now, but he means to kill her. He has already figured out she's a 'monster' and therefore, by his standards, automatically evil. He just wants to make her admit she's been lying to him before he slaughters her.

Mind you, I think she has also pretty much made up her mind that she will have to fight Kore. She believes he killed Forgath, and he openly intends to kill Minmax. She is stalling now only to gather as much information as she can before combat begins.

She might bargain to have the two of them return back over the pit together. If she wins the fight at the other end, that would let her get back to the doors for another chance at getting to Minmax -- but if she loses, she would have helped Kore get closer to Minmax.

Sessine wrote:She's not going to be able to talk her way out of this. Kore is toying with her now, but he means to kill her. He has already figured out she's a 'monster' and therefore, by his standards, automatically evil. He just wants to make her admit she's been lying to him before he slaughters her.

Doesn't have to be he knows she's a monster. He does however, know she's lying.
His reaction came as soon as she said "Minmax." He never mentioned his name, so he knows she's lying because she misspoke.

Kore did mention Minmax's name, so that's not what tipped him off.

But I agree with what others have said: Kore already suspects Kin, so coming up with an excuse won't work. She needs either an illusion or a distraction. Maybe Parchment will distract Kore long enough for Kin to escape? He's hiding very close to Kore on the wall (Panel 1).

Quick solution: Have kin use parchment to simulate a gloved hand with four fingers or come up with an excuse to not shake hands. After all, shaking hands with a total stranger in passing is weird. Also, she could explain that she has a thing about being touched.

I think itÔÇÖs interesting to see Kore interact with someone that he believes to be a human. Then again, he probably has a whole checklist of things that he does to find a reason to call someone evil and kill them. Like, why would he think minmax is evil? He had to have seen that minmax was fighting the goblins yet he attacked minmax anyway and probably blames minmax and forgath for retaliating.

Conversely, I think sheÔÇÖs a lot more powerful than she lets on and might be able to muss Kore up well enough to make an escape but not go toe to toe in an extended battle.

Liquidmark wrote:Quick solution: Have kin use parchment to simulate a gloved hand with four fingers

Ooh, that's a good one! Claim her hand's burned from the spiders made of fire (from the last page) and is bandaged.

ForgetsKeys wrote:Kore did mention Minmax's name, so that's not what tipped him off.

But I agree with what others have said: Kore already suspects Kin, so coming up with an excuse won't work. She needs either an illusion or a distraction. Maybe Parchment will distract Kore long enough for Kin to escape? He's hiding very close to Kore on the wall (Panel 1).

Ah apologies it's a panel where you can't even see Kore so that's how I missed it.

Never Finishes Anyth wrote:Offering the left hand to shake is very strong evidence of imminent betrayal. Only a most evil person would ever offer his left hand. All of us humans know that.

The English word "sinister", originally meant left, or left handed.

There's also the issue that he appears to be standing more than an arms-length away from her and he's already stuck his hand out. She's also expected to get close enough to shake his hand.

And he'll either tell by her gait that she's not human or will be able to see her tail if she gets that close - clouds only give total concealment if you're more than 5 feet away.

So she's got more problems than her hand not having enough fingers on it.

Yuan-ti have a speed of 30' and hers is not reduced by armor. Dwarves have a speed of 20' and, while I don't think they are slowed by armor (they aren't in Pathfinder and I haven't played D&D in a while), I doubt Kore's extra height will make him faster than her. If she can manage to distract him and cast Protection from Normal Missiles or Shield, she has a decent chance of outrunning him back to the end of the room she came from. As his IME replaces hers in the panels as he pursues her, he will end up falling into the pit, and she can find another path.
Probably NOT what will happen, but it's the way I read the setup so far.

BTW, just noticed the permalink is missing in OP:

http://goblinscomic.com/comic/page-4-2018


edit: to avoid a new post, editing in the finished transciption:

http://goblinscomic.com/comic/page-4-2018 wrote:

► Show Spoiler

Kin: Well, goodbye now. I wish you luck in your hunt for Minmax.
Kore: Indeed.
IME effect: K E K N E N . . .

Kin (thinking): Whew

Kore: You didn't ask to join. ...k...
Kin: I'm sorry?

Kore: When adventurers encounter each other, it's common practice for them to join up. I would have ...kk... declined, as I work alone, ...k... but I find it odd that you didn't suggest it. ...k...

Kin: As the lower leveled adventurer, I didn't think it was my place.
Kore: Is that so.
IME effect: K E K N E N . . .

Kore: Well then. Let us shake hands and part ways peacefully.
Kore: ...kk...
Kin: You... want to shake hands?
IME effect: K E K N E N . . .

Kore: It is a Human custom, isn't it? You should have no problem with shaking my hand...
Kore: ...Human.

Note: Parchment is hidden in panel 1, flat on the wall. Sketches of panel 5 and again panel 5; panel 7 and again panel 7,

Sessine wrote: Mind you, I think she has also pretty much made up her mind that she will have to fight Kore. She believes he killed Forgath, and he openly intends to kill Minmax. She is stalling now only to gather as much information as she can before combat begins.

I thought so too after the last page where she "pondered" about how evil that dwarf was, but this page clearly shows otherwise: she thinks "whew" when Kore turns to walk away.