What blows my mind is that THAT blond god Thor was…Vincent D’onofrio!
I’ll grant you he’s not much of a wencher. But Durkon seems to like drinking as much as the next dwarf.
In the prequel dead tree volume On the Origin of PCs, Durkon and another of Thor’s priests are shown drinking beer for breakfast, and saying “Praise Thor!” or something similar. In the same volume, Durkon orders a beer in a human tavern, and nearly getssick from it. So I’d say that he doesn’t have a problem with drinking, he just doesn’t want to drink human beer, which is what’s generally available to him these days. Give him access to some proper beer, and he’d be a much happier dwarf.
Same goes for wenching. Durkon seems to be attracted to at least one dwarven woman. Human women (and at least one androgynous elf) don’t seem to be that appealing to him. I’m sure that if he was in a situation where there were a number of attractive (by dwarven standards) dwarven females around, that he’d be happy to try to get to know at least one of them better. A lot better.
As long as she wasn’t married!
It’s kind of weird, though, that of all of the members of the Order, Durkon was the first to get laid (at least in the online strip).
He might prefer dwarf beer. But he’ll drink human beer when the opportunity arises.
But in overall continuity, he was the last to get laid. Despite being the second oldest, he was the only member of the group that was still a virgin when the strip started.
Once again, Roy ignores an invitation to figure out a deeper truth.
Still, perhaps it’s fatigue, but I’m not 100% sure what Tarquin’s game is at the moment…
Yeah, they don’t know that everyone inside is dead, so they should still be expecting to face the Draketoooth clan. Drawing out a many-against-one fight is an interesting move.
Yes. Durkon’s confirmation that there’s an illusion going should have made Roy suspicious. They’re hampered by V’s absence, though. I don’t think 3.5 clerics have a prayer that dispels illusion…that’s mage territory.
Durkon’s got True Seeing, which means he can see straight through the illusion. The problem is that under the illusion is just another suit of armour.
This is true…I forgot that even without the illusion Tarqin’s still wearing a helm, so Durkon can’t tell that he’s not Thog at all.
Has there been any indication of why he’s doing it? Why should he pretend to be Thog at all?
No doubt he has a clever plan. Which it appears we’ll see in the next strip.
Because OOTS don’t know that Tarqin is siding with the Linear Guild. They don’t know that either Tarqin or Malack are currently working against them and Tarqin wants to keep it that way. I’m assuming that both Tarqin and Malack are higher levels than either the Linears or the Sticks, which means our heroes could be in for quite a surprise in this fight with “Thog”.
The more suspicious part (to me) was Tarquin’s pleasure at being attacked by the Order in the last panel. Is he a distraction? Whose plan is he thinking “magnificent”?
Okay, I’m going on record with some lone-term guesses.
This will not be the final battle. There are two more gates in existence and I figure Kraagor’s Gate is like Chekhov’s Gun. Burlew wouldn’t have put it into the story if he didn’t plan on using it.
So I’m guessing Girard’s Gate will serve a different purpose other than the final confrontation between Good and Evil. And I’m putting my money on Evil vs Evil.
I thinking we’re going to see the Order of the Stick getting into a big fight with the Linear Guild. And then right before the climax, that fight will be interrupted by Xykon. That will be the climax of the current arc.
The next arc will feature a change of alliances. The Linear Guild, while evil, has no interest in having Xykon win or in seeing the universe destroyed. So the Linear Guild will be forced to change sides and temporarily work with the Order of the Stick to defeat Xykon and prevent him from opening Girard’s Gate.
This arc will allow Burlew to address some of the plotlines he’s planted: Elan and Nale, Elan and Tarquin, Sabine and her loyalty to the Nale, maybe even Haley and her family history. Burlew will clear up the Linear Guild plotlines, Xykon will be semi-defeated once again, and everyone left standing will head off to Kraagor’s Gate for the final battle. Where, among other things, Burlew will work out the Xykon vs Redcloak plotline.
And finally reveal what the MITD actually is. He’d better, anyway…
Nah, it will be one of literature’s great unanswered mysteries, like who killed Edwin Drood. 
Burlew has said he has an answer to this and will reveal it eventually in the story.
It’s not anyone’s plan, it’s the drama. Tarquin is all about manipulating the drama. He identified the protagonists awhile back. Now he has a chance to size them up AS protagonists and they’re meeting or exceeding his expectations.