I’d guess that Sigdi would refuse the charity of a Regeneration spell and insist that there’s other dwarven soldiers who need or deserve it more. And she never earned enough on her pension to afford one on her own.
Belkar’s reaction is interesting. He’s not shocked/horrified, but he senses that something is very wrong.
Very likely. When Durkon wrote asking for permission to return so he could see his family again, he was told his grandfather had died. If his mother had also died, that would have also been in the letter.
The reluctance to accept charity is probably part of it, but I don’t think that can be all. If it were, then her superiors in the army would order her to accept it, so they can get the star of their monster-hunting squad back up to full fighting trim.
I guess there may be an implication that Durkon was already out of the dwarven lands when exiled, but if not, the other option would seem to be telling him to never leave.
That was clearly established in the story. Durkon was definitely in the dwarven homeland when he was exiled.
I was under the implication they didn’t know if it meant his homeland or just his house.
But, still, that’s easy. Tell him while he’s in his house, and he won’t leave. Or let him leave and destroy his house, but make sure he stays in the homeland.
I guess they could be worried he’d be forced out by circumstance, but, then, if they told him, he’d know not to return.
Guess the story is just going to lampshade how stupid the guy was. Because characters can be stupid and irrational.
If Durkon had stayed home, he never would have met Roy, never helped co-found The Order of The Stick, and the world might still be in danger anyway.
This does raise an interesting point. Hurak didn’t receive his prophecy from Thor. It was relayed to him from another cleric who said he had received the prophecy from Odin.
At this point, how do we know this is true? What if Hel was already working on her plan? Maybe she sent a fake cleric to deliver a fake prophecy.
Pshaw. The laws of narrative causality would have ensured that Roy would have met Murkon Lightinghammer instead. 
I blame Rich.
My first inclination is to say that she can’t because she never had a high-level cleric before. But then I note that she’s on relatively good terms with her own father, and Loki’s enough of an asshole to go along with a pointless practical joke, especially if he’s unaware of it being a part of a longer game.
You don’t have to be a high-level cleric to impersonate a high-level cleric. Not if you’re only delivering a message.
Yeah, that was the same issue I had, before I realize he said “fake cleric.” Some weakling she turned to fake it.
Though I’m unclear why she can’t turn someone and then have them take levels in cleric. Maybe they just get killed/vanquished before they have time?
I think that’s what Rich has said.
ETA: And if they’re already a high-level something else, the LA is going to make it a pain to get new levels to be cleric in.
Hm. Character development for Durkon, in a strip he’s not even in. Except that it’s not really developing him; it’s pointing out that he’s been quietly developing in the background all along.
Belkar’s line made me go back to the relevant strip which then had me read Durkon saying “Och, Thor… I guess yer na listenin’ either but it’s OK. I know this’s part a’ yer plan, right?”
Not Thor, but (unknown to Durkon), part of Odin’s plan.
Also, of course, the prophecy that Durkon DID know about: that he’d be going home.
Hel says in another strip that every time she tried to grant cleric abilities to a low level undead, they get killed as a starter dungeon boss.