Thanks, everybody!
Edit: snicker “Bio-philiac”
I noticed that Redcloaks spellhand is wreathed in red when he casts his spells, and Xykon (in the linked panels in #446) had grey. Tsukiko’s has both light and dark blue.
I assume that’s a clue to the “school” or type of magic being used?
Magic generally seems color coded according to the individual. Tsukiko probably has two colors (and two eye colors) to match her mix of clerical and mage spells.
And looking back I see this isn’t quite true. Several prisoners were offered a 5 year reduction in sentence if they fought for the city. So they released her to fight, then she switched sides.
I’m pretty sure she’s looking for the other half of the ritual. Of course, there’s no reason Redcloak would have written it down in the first place, is there? He had the knowledge beamed into him when he put on the Crimson Mantle, and there’s no reason he would share.
So, did Tsukiko brazenly tip her hand as being a competitor of Redcloak, or was there already earlier warning signs?
It seems to me that breaking into the study while he’s away, and acting relatively nonchalant about it when he catches her in the act was a pretty dumb move on her part. (When caught, bluff your way out with a threat?) If there was no clear indication before that she views herself as a competitor with Redcloak, it’s clear now. Redcloak, of course, is playing it cool.
Of course, evil organisations routinely backstab each other up the ladder of power, like true Sith!
So I’m confused about this half-a-ritual. Have we heard anything about it save this one strip?
I believe Start of Darkness mentioned it, but I don’t have the book handy.
Redcloak told Xykon the ritual will let him control the gates. The ritual needs one high-level arcane caster and one high-level divine caster. (Read Start of Darkness if you can). Tsukiko can do both arcane and divine magic, so there’s some speculation Xykon’s going to try to replace Reddy with Tsukiko, or at least have her as a back-up caster. Or something.
Not that it would help anyway, since Redcloak lied. The spell only lets someone be able to shift the gates to another plain.
Come to think of it…
If Tsukiko and/or Xykon did the spell without RC, without knowing exactly how it worked, would control of the gates go to the Dark One anyway? Or is the spell that you can give the power to anyone you choose?
How difficult is it to reverse-engineer a spell and figure out exactly what it does? Is that what Tsukiko was doing in #700
Hell, if he hadn’t burned a bunch of high-level spell slots just before that comic, she might be toast now.
I think Redcloak is foregoing a move against Tsukiko because he’s got a bigger plan going on. His goal is to win a place for the goblins. Eliminating Tsukiko might provoke Xykon into action so Redcloak tolerates Tsukiko.
Tsukiko, as I’ve said, is mostly clueless. She apparently doesn’t see the danger of putting herself in the middle of a conflict between two much more powerful beings, neither of whom has any concern about her survival.
The catch is that if Xykon has plans for her as a backup/replacement for Redcloak, he’s going to be pissed enough to not listen to excuses – even if he believes Redcloak’s story (not a given; he’s not as dumb as he seems), he might take it out on him for failing to keep her from getting killed and messing up his plan.
Not so much a competitor, but they’re definitely not friends.
“I ordered my Super-Sized Impotence Special to go!”
See? That’s the problem with reading 800 strips in three work days. They all blur together…
As pointed out early on.
Yep. It’s been a while since I have read the older stuff. Seems time to go back and read all of the books!
Thanks!
vislor
And a bit later:
Hey, he started it.
And in keeping with my point about not relying on Xykon, here was his response when Tsukiko complained about Redcloak. That should have tipped her off.
Redcloak’s speeches and some of his perspective seems more and more like Roy’s.
You know, I never noticed before but Haley’s got a back tattoo.