I was expecting Tyrinaria to show up -- I think a long time ago someone else on one of these threads posited there would be a dramatically significant connection between Elan's father and the being already identified in previous sblocks. But the way the names Geoff and Ian were brought in, in the last panel, I knew we were supposed to recognize them, and I was racking my brain to figure out where. It had not occurred to me that the aforementioned sblocked creature had a given name known to us already.
-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Oots 0758
- Thread starter hamishspence
- Start date
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
Wow, that was great! A lot of reveals in there. 
Nifft
Penguin Herder
It's hilariously been done for the opposite reasons, though, and that's why I like OotS so much. The Blood-Sweat-Tears triumvirate purportedly exists to avoid unnecessary conflicts, and of course the names of the empires change regularly so "we have always been at war with... " makes no literal sense.
Cheers, -- N
It occurs to me that this strip may also have provided a hint at a future reveal:
[sblock]
I think there's a clue that Tarquin and Nale are not in fact estranged. The clue is that Tarquin believes Elan to be the leader of OotS. The only other person we know with that misapprehension is Nale.
When I'm grading exams, I look for two students (who invariably were sitting next to each other during the exam) who make the same, very unusual mistake not made by any other students in the class. That's strong evidence of copying. Likewise, the two people who made the same very unusual mistake here have been in comunication with each other.
My guess is that Nale is the source of Tarquin's intelligence about Elan and OotS.[/sblock]
[sblock]
I think there's a clue that Tarquin and Nale are not in fact estranged. The clue is that Tarquin believes Elan to be the leader of OotS. The only other person we know with that misapprehension is Nale.
When I'm grading exams, I look for two students (who invariably were sitting next to each other during the exam) who make the same, very unusual mistake not made by any other students in the class. That's strong evidence of copying. Likewise, the two people who made the same very unusual mistake here have been in comunication with each other.
My guess is that Nale is the source of Tarquin's intelligence about Elan and OotS.[/sblock]
Last edited:
StreamOfTheSky
Adventurer
[sblock]OR... It's because Tarquin hasn't even heard of Roy (I'd say met, but he technically has now) and him being the leader. He's Elan's dad and thus has a high starting opinion of him. Despite Elan displaying his childlike personality and general idiocy on multiple occasions, he hasn't seemed to notice, blinded by his parental affection. Or schemes to use his goody two shoes son for something, whatever.
Also, Elan has a very high charisma score and likes to talk a lot (even when the party doesn't want him to), which would cause people to assume he's the leader until shown otherwise, what with him "speaking for the group" and being all dashing and all.[/sblock]
Cerebral Paladin
First Post
Orsal: Your spoiler blocked suggestion is interesting, and in keeping with the layers of deceit theme of the Empires of Blood, Sweat, and Tears, but I think there's a simpler explanation. Tarquin assumes that Elan is the leader because Tarquin is the leader of his group, because he wants his son to be a great leader "just like me," and because he has only seen the Order in the absence of its true leader and with Haley keeping her operations secret. So, you might be right, but there's an equally good explanation based simply on assumptions of familial similarity/parallelism.
Since when does Nale believe Elan to be the OotS leader? Nale's had plenty of interaction with the Order, to the point of masquerading as Elan for a while. I haven't seen anything to indicate that he believes Elan to be in charge.
After a little browsing through old strips (which fortunately is more fun that the work I had hoped to get finished this evening), I found this one, in which Nale refers to "the elf chick that follows my idiot brother Elan". If memory serves right, it isn't the only time he's implied that other members of OotS are Elan's followers, but it's the only one I can find right now.
Orius
Legend
I sasy it's because Tarquin isn't aware of the full OotS. If he knew Roy was part of the group, then he'd probably know better.
Also, I'm fairly sure both Malack and Tarquin believe Nale is dead. Probably either during the destruction of Dorukan's Gate or the fall of Azure City:
Giant In the Playground Games
(possibly the exploding castle is another matter entirely, but I'm going to assume it's one of the gates).
In any case, if Tarquin thinks Nale is dead, then he's not going to be in contact with him. If Tarquin knows Nale is alive, then Malack would know as well.
Speaking of which, it would be interesting for Nale to show up again. Prefereably after the gladiator fights. And it would be even funnier if the Linear Guild somehow managed to really mess up Tarquin's master plan.
Also, I'm fairly sure both Malack and Tarquin believe Nale is dead. Probably either during the destruction of Dorukan's Gate or the fall of Azure City:
Giant In the Playground Games
(possibly the exploding castle is another matter entirely, but I'm going to assume it's one of the gates).
In any case, if Tarquin thinks Nale is dead, then he's not going to be in contact with him. If Tarquin knows Nale is alive, then Malack would know as well.
Speaking of which, it would be interesting for Nale to show up again. Prefereably after the gladiator fights. And it would be even funnier if the Linear Guild somehow managed to really mess up Tarquin's master plan.
