So many small gems here. “Rend,” Little Roc, Hurt and Burnie, the frozen smile on Bob’s face even as his co-host gets taken down by the Death Sq… er, amateur snorkeler…
Very funny stuff.
I imagine Rich sitting at his desk looking through the thesaurus for blood references.
The “Miss Bloodstain Pagent”? That’s just… doubly wrong.
He’s got the same smile at the beginning way before Judy Morningstar’s sudden, um, retirement so I think that’s his normal (on air?) expression.
Haley is looking kind of neutral but V is downright glum. I’m thinking they’re not liking what they see. Elan is just being Elan.
Yes, that’s why Leaper said it was a frozen smile.
And I think that all that Elan sees is “Parade!”. He’s not really paying attention to details.
I’m not entirely sure - Elan has been showing some distressing flashes of intelligence recently. Besides, he probably has the strongest moral core in the party.
Oh, definitely Lawful Evil. That’s devil-contract language there.
Yeah, it was pretty obvious how that was going to work out.
Elan was quite possibly having the very best day of his life (and he’s a guy who knows how to party, even when walking from one part of the city to the next) up until that fourth panel of the new comic. He’s reunited with his dad, his girlfriend has propositioned him, and there’s a parade in his honor. And now he starts to see what his dad really does for a living.
Thus comfirming the predictions of about eight zillion OOTS readers.
So… I guess the future Mrs. Tarquin, isn’t. (Or will she? Duhn duhn duhn).
Uh-oh…
I guess she will end up being the future Mrs. Tarquin, velis nolis…
Man, Tarquin is nasty, nasty, nasty… shudder
I had to read that bit again. The first time through I read it as her having told a pikeman on the south wall that she was married…
Wow. This is one of the darkest OOTSes since the whole Darth V. arc. Charming Tarquin just turned from raffish to nasty.
Though he was telling a decent cover story to start with – one that sweet-natured, naive Elan would probably buy – I don’t see how even Elan won’t see through this. Poor guy, he’s really doomed to familial disappointment.
I do like the “You are either a villain or a fool” exchange, though.
“Something Blue” indeed.
I like how the captain’s sword thrust cut Tarquin’s chin and the blood resembles Nale’s beard. A nice visual link. It points out that Tarquin is essentially the same as his son Nale. While Tarquin can claim that he wouldn’t destroy a city over some petty romantic issue, that’s exactly the kind of thing Nale would do. And Nale tried to win over Elan at first also - and has tried to kill Elan ever since he was rejected. Which implies that Tarquin will also turn on Elan when he realizes he can’t win Elan over to his side.
I don’t know… Tarquin and Nale are similar, of course, but I don’t think that T would actually kill Elan. Locked up in a tower where he visits him once per year seems much more like his style, to me.
I think that Tarquin would hold Elan’s comrades hostage in order to try to force Elan to do whatever. But remember, Tarquin doesn’t know that Roy and Belkar are also Elan’s comrades.
I’m counting on Belkar to get them out of this mess. Not because of any feelings of comradery, but because Belkar is so very Chaotic and the country is so very Lawful. Also because it would piss Roy off if Belkar managed to save the party this time, and pissing Roy off is one of Belkar’s reasons for living. Belkar will also be PISSED when he learns that he missed the Evil Banquet.
I hate to go out on a limb on such slender evidence, but I’m just going to throw caution to the winds and have at it: I don’t think Tarquin is such a nice guy.
Whew, I feel better getting that off my chest.
Now I’m very curious about Tarquin’s reason for getting Elan up there in the first place. A surprise, hmm?