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The disgruntled looks on the part of the dwarves reminded me of the disapproving stares one gets when someone makes a lot of noise for a specific person at a high school commencement ceremony. At my high school, anyway, the audience was asked at the beginning to save all their applause until afterwards, lest the person they were cheering for not receive their diploma on stage.
Including the guy in the front row on the right?
That row has four priests, Durkon’s mom and (I’m guessing) his Uncle Thirden. I’d guess his mom and uncle have a spot of honor in the front row among the priests and that’s an annoyed priest glaring back at the noisy family.
Yeah, I can see thinking fourth guy, front row is unhappy about what he’s looking at. And we do know they try to get rid of him later. So maybe this is the start of that.
Actually, I take that back. Thirden and Hosken are cheering behind that row. I guess the old fat dwarf next to his mom is his grandfather? No idea what he’s grumpy about – I assumed he’s just old and cranky but he’s with the rest of the family leaving the hall.
Also we see that Hosken eventually married someone who wasn’t Durkon’s mom 
Isn’t that Thirden in the second row saying Huzzah?
I’d guess the grumpy older dwarf with a stick is Durkon’s grandfather.
ETA - Ninja’d
Awww. 186 was a great strip.
I’m also enjoying that dwarf and the door!
And on thinking about it some more, that particular dwarf is a genuine expert on doors and walls and such. He is (or was) the Exarch of Stone, the one who was in charge of constructing the Godsmoot cathedral on the mountaintop.
Yes, but now his body is possessed by an evil spirit, just like Durkon’s. Yes, he can access the memories, but it’s not quite the same. He’s also likely still enslaved. When Durkula was enslaved, he exhibited immature behavior. This may have been because an enslaved vampire does not access those memories efficiently or something along those lines. At any rate, the obession with the door is rather immature behavior.
It was also, although it wasn’t obvious at the time, one of the story’s major plot points.
I am actually left with a question. They stole the stone from someone they killed, so the stone disintegrated when used. But what if he had turned that guy instead? Would that still have counted as a different person “taking” the stone?
I wonder if Burlew knew that at the time…
Yes, he had the major points of the plot arc worked out by about #100.
Probably. He discusses his work in the books and he’s planned out all the major plot lines and character arcs of the story. The situation with Vaarsuvius accepting the evil power, fighting the mother dragon and Xykon, losing his/her family, and developing new character traits would certainly qualify.
The rule was that the stone had to be given freely and couldn’t be taken by force. I would feel that converting a person into a vampire against their will would qualify as taking the stone by force.
Strip has been renamed.
Huh. I feel like there’s an important clue in that strip, but I can’t figure it out at all.