# Order of the Stick - Book 6 Discussion Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755 "2014-03-03T16:07:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 73
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1441 "2015-08-18T00:34:08Z")
… At this Godsmoot. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1442 "2015-08-18T01:42:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > “The Gods can only hear each other” – 😕 So what’s the point of prayer?! > [@Leaper](#): > > … At this Godsmoot. Yes, I think the point was that Roy was basically speaking to the magical equivalent of a giant TV screen. Heimdall and Loki were addressing the meeting but it wasn’t a two-way conversation. ---
**Author:** ![satogata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@satogata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satogata)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1443 "2015-08-20T12:25:13Z")
**[999](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0999.html)** is up – one more to 1000! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1444 "2015-08-20T12:27:06Z")
NM ---
**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:** [August 20, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1445 "2015-08-20T12:31:56Z")
So that’s why Hel wanted a representative at this moot! ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1446 "2015-08-20T12:44:59Z")
Quite a cliffhanger. I thought that it was going to come out as a tie and Hel was going to tip the balance to “No” because she has a plan for the gate, but now the only meaningful thing Hel can do is cause a tie. Do we know what happens in the case of a tie? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1447 "2015-08-20T12:53:41Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > Quite a cliffhanger. I thought that it was going to come out as a tie and Hel was going to tip the balance to “No” because she has a plan for the gate, but now the only meaningful thing Hel can do is cause a tie. Do we know what happens in the case of a tie? The Vice President breaks the tie. Or maybe the MITD. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1448 "2015-08-20T13:18:12Z")
Or perhaps Hel will sell her vote for some kind of power. But that assumes that a tie would be bad. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1449 "2015-08-20T14:05:48Z")
Ok, so we know that the gods deciding to end the world would be anticlimactic and is an unlikely outcome. Though it’s possible that things will be made to look like that will happen, but then something will postpone or cancel it. Hel and Durkula are either going to be thwarted soon (possibly spurred by a surprise return of Belkar), or Hel’s immediate plan is not to cast her vote, but to stall the proceedings or something. Or a tie will itself stall the proceedings. Or she has two votes somehow and can tip the scales. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1450 "2015-08-20T14:07:27Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Or perhaps Hel will sell her vote for some kind of power. But that assumes that a tie would be bad. I’m guessing that the tie will take the form of some sort of Sword of Damocles over the entire world. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1451 "2015-08-20T14:20:37Z")
If we didn’t already know that Durkon’s going to remain a vampire for some time (thank’s to the Giant saying so) then I’d be expecting something like Durkon saying, “As high priest of Hel…” and getting interrupted as Roy jumps down and smashes him with his sword. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1452 "2015-08-20T14:23:30Z")
Where’s Belkars cat all this time? Maybe Belkar tied a note or something to him to tell Roy an important bit of information. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1453 "2015-08-20T15:20:58Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Where’s Belkars cat all this time? On the airship, I should think. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1454 "2015-08-20T16:06:29Z")
There must be some rule for ties, since even if the Northern Gods expected an odd number of deities, we know that the Southerners have Twelve, an even number. Ordinarily I’d guess that the chief of the pantheon would get the tiebreaker, but Odin voted to save, so that would leave Hel’s vote as meaningless. Maybe it goes to a simple-majority popular vote of all gods combined, regardless of pantheon? That could potentially swing the vote either way, depending on how large the majorities were in the West and South. Also, even if Hel does create a tie, there are still other deities who might break it. Other gods are counted as part of one of the three main pantheons, for purposes of Godsmoot voting, and we don’t yet know which Moot the Dark One, Banjo, or Giggles would attend. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1455 "2015-08-20T16:10:24Z")
That’s what we need – Elan as high priest of Banjo being the tie-breakers 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1456 "2015-08-20T16:26:14Z")
I’m still not convinced this is about voting, for Hel. There’s got to be a reason she had to sneak her priest into the moot, and I don’t think it’s just because she’s evil: Fenrir is also represented, and he sure doesn’t seem like a good guy. There’s probably also a good reason why Durkon’s been killing off the earth clerics, and I don’t think it’s just because he’s evil, either. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1457 "2015-08-20T16:33:25Z")
What if Durkula or one of his raised victims 86’d another high priest? Is that god no longer represented at the moot and therefore, non-voting? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1458 "2015-08-20T16:35:42Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > What if Durkula or one of his raised victims 86’d another high priest? Is that god no longer represented at the moot and therefore, non-voting? I doubt it. The Stoneshaper guys are supposedly exhausted of their high level spells from forming the temple. And Durkon trying to kill another priest right now would just get himself smoked. Vampire-Durkon is powerful but not “take on a room full of high priests and their bodyguards” powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1459 "2015-08-20T16:37:41Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I doubt it. The Stoneshaper guys are supposedly exhausted of their high level spells from forming the temple. And Durkon trying to kill another priest right now would just get himself smoked. Vampire-Durkon is powerful but not “take on a room full of high priests” powerful. Still, I wonder why he killed them, then. He didn’t need to in order to get Hel a vote. That’s what he told them he’s there for in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/1460 "2015-08-20T16:43:29Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I doubt it. The Stoneshaper guys are supposedly exhausted of their high level spells from forming the temple. And Durkon trying to kill another priest right now would just get himself smoked. Vampire-Durkon is powerful but not “take on a room full of high priests and their bodyguards” powerful. But if he fast-raised them using his staff, they’re not earth elemental priests anymore. They’re not even the same people. It could be that whatever spirits animate them now have a full complement of spells. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755.md?page=72) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755.md?page=74)