# Order of the Stick - Book 5 Discussion Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323 "2009-08-31T04:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 45
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/881 "2010-06-01T20:05:39Z")
Personally, I’m suspicious about the festival. He’s a practical enough guy to know the expense of something like that, especially on the spur of the moment, and he could get plenty of celebration, bonding, etc. in with Elan without a public to-do. He obviously has some reason he’s not sharing for wanting to detain the heroes for three days. Which raises all sorts of questions about how much he knows, who he’s working with, what his goals are, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/882 "2010-06-01T20:07:28Z")
So… what color ribbon should the Campaign to Cure Mysterious Causes use? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/883 "2010-06-01T20:12:52Z")
\*\* ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/884 "2010-06-01T20:14:00Z")
Invisible ribbon, of course. More mysterious that way. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/885 "2010-06-01T23:34:14Z")
9 wives. That reminds me of several old conversations about how much of a pain in the ass marriage and Probate law must be in a world with resurrection spells. Like if someone reanimates your dad as a zombie, do you have to give him back all the stuff you inherited? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/886 "2010-06-10T05:21:21Z")
[Ah, finally, new comic!](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0728.html) Perhaps the (story) streams are going to be crossing once more…? And I’m glad to see there’s one mercenary out there not willing to do teat-sucking! ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/887 "2010-06-10T07:08:03Z")
Will I regret asking… what the heck ylang-ylang is? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/888 "2010-06-10T07:43:37Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Will I regret asking… > > what the heck ylang-ylang is? It’s the scent in the moisturizer Haley bought. > **[711 The Rouge's Guild - Giant in the Playground Games](https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0711.html)** ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/889 "2010-06-10T09:17:48Z")
Roy’s got Haley’s bow with him. Nice touch. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/890 "2010-06-10T09:27:49Z")
Hooray! I was afraid that I, personally, was delaying the new comic by checking multiple times a day, on the theory that a watched pot never boils, so I had dropped down to threeish times per day, and look! It worked! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/891 "2010-06-10T09:28:53Z")
Belkar is getting more useful by the strip. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/892 "2010-06-10T10:14:39Z")
Of course. It’s not painful when he dies if everyone still hates him. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/893 "2010-06-10T11:08:16Z")
A question- do the books really state that halflings have such a sharp sense of smell, or is that just one of Rich’s "house rules? ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/894 "2010-06-10T11:22:24Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > A question- do the books really state that halflings have such a sharp sense of smell, or is that just one of Rich’s "house rules? Well, here: [98 Mmmmm...Tasty - Giant in the Playground Games](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0098.html) Belkar is able to detect the ingredients with which they’ve all just been sprayed. And here: [383 What's Really Scary is That He Knows the Words - Giant in the Playground Games](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0383.html) Belkar figures out Nale from his smell. Aaaaaaaand I just realized that you mean the AD&D books, not the OotS books, so, um … never mind. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/895 "2010-06-10T12:06:00Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > A question- do the books really state that halflings have such a sharp sense of smell, or is that just one of Rich’s "house rules? Well, Belkar is a ranger, so detecting the ylang-ylang might be within his set of tracking skills. But I’m not familiar enough with 3.5 to know if that’s official. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/896 "2010-06-10T12:14:29Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Well, Belkar is a ranger, so detecting the ylang-ylang might be within his set of tracking skills. But I’m not familiar enough with 3.5 to know if that’s official. You need a Wisdom bonus for tracking skills. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/897 "2010-06-10T15:59:18Z")
There’s a Scent feat. It’s generally animals only, but hey. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/898 "2010-06-10T19:17:34Z")
> [@](#): > > what the heck ylang-ylang is? It’s a scented [flower](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ylang-ylang). ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/899 "2010-06-11T11:00:46Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > Hooray! I was afraid that I, personally, was delaying the new comic by checking multiple times a day, on the theory that a watched pot never boils, so I had dropped down to threeish times per day, and look! It worked! I simply subscribed to this thread. When it pops up in my mailbox, I go straight over to Giantitp. Why yes, I depend on the kindness of strangers; why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/900 "2010-06-11T16:50:54Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I simply subscribed to this thread. When it pops up in my mailbox, I go straight over to Giantitp. > > Why yes, I depend on the kindness of strangers; why do you ask? You know, GITP has an [RSS feed](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.rss) for OotS. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323.md?page=46)