Not Marduk; he’s got four arms in the Stickverse. It’s probably a good guess that they’re from that pantheon, though.
Marduk’s depicted as human, though. That looks like, I don’t know, a horned lion? Wielding fire? I’d say Nergal. Which would make that Ereshkigal or Laz next to him,I guess.
Eh, I was thinking for some reason they might be some of the people from the group that originally sealed up things. Probably have my head on backwards.
Hmmm… If that is Nergal and Ereshkigal, then they are definitely appropriate gods for an evil empire…
From the Wikipedia article:
<<Nergal actually seems to be in part a solar deity, sometimes identified with Shamash, but only a representative of a certain phase of the sun. Portrayed in hymns and myths as a god of war and pestilence, Nergal seems to represent the sun of noontime and of the summer solstice that brings destruction, high summer being the dead season in the Mesopotamian annual cycle.
Nergal was also the deity who presides over the netherworld, and who stands at the head of the special pantheon assigned to the government of the dead (supposed to be gathered in a large subterranean cave known as Aralu or Irkalla). In this capacity he has associated with him a goddess Allatu or Ereshkigal, though at one time Allatu may have functioned as the sole mistress of Aralu, ruling in her own person. In some texts the god Ninazu is the son of Nergal and Allatu/Ereshkigal.>>
In-teresting… The god of destruction and of the underworld, together with his partner in ruling the Babylonian equivalent of Hades. Yep. Definitely the kind of gods that feel “right” for a lawful evil empire to be worshipping!
#719 up: The Seat of Power.
Uh Oh even though they have no beef with Elan and Haley, V may be in big trouble…
I think she’s got enough beef for everybody.
Ha! See what I did there?
…Ok, I’ll go now.
So rich is reduced to fat jokes again?
I’d hate to have to paint the Empress’ miniature. I’d run out of paint.
What I was thinking, too. Then again, as the IIFC pointed out, evil is not one big happy family. Maybe the red dragons never liked the black dragons that much anyway.
Who was the victim of fat jokes before, then? I don’t remember any.
The Empress - V made a crack about her throne suffering to save other chairs or something.
Hypno-Toad said “again”, which implies this is not the first time.
doh! Yet again I fail at reading for comprehension. I recently re-read the archives and I don’t recall a previous fat joke myself.
just tried to order Start of Darkness, but it’s out of stock 
“Your Momma is so fat, they use a grapefruit for her miniature” --Posthumous Roy to the oracle.
check. and i literally have just finished a reread. My only defense is - it’s a LOT of material.
And Og forbid that someone makes a humorous allusion related to fat individuals twice in 153 strips separated by almost 2 years 
In other news, NOOTS!
“…and I’m only ‘Empress of Blood’ a few days each month.” Bwahahahaha!
“Hey, wait. Weren’t you tied up a moment ago?” “That was a moment ago.” Har!
I am still flabbergasted at Elan’s stupidity and terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease.
Hmm… Maybe Haley could cry out, “Elan, Elan, lama sabachtani?!”
OUCH! OW! OK, OK, I will stop! NO! NOT THE WIFFLE BATS!!