Suddenly I am reminded of GRR Martin’s “The Plague Star.” Only with a slightly different ending.
So Bloodfeast IS stuck in big mode now. Unless they have a shrink spell or some other solution in their possession. Maybe one of Haley’s wands can help.
Or maybe Serini has a solution. They need to wait for her to come back.
I don’t think there’s a solution. I think Burlew is purposely benching Bloodfeast before the final showdown. He made an important contribution vs the dragon, and that’s it.
That’s too bad. I’m sure Redcloak will be summoning some elemental, monster or planar servant that Bloodfeast could tussle with.
If Serini has the capability of resetting the stasis trap, Bloodfeast can take over Calder’s role as guardian monster of this room. Not nearly as effective as a full-grown red dragon, of course, but still better than leaving the room empty.
Probably an ignorant question (actually, there’s no “probably” about it; I’m ignorant of the mechanics of bags of holding). Isn’t a bag of holding kind of like a portable stasis field in itself? If someone put, say, a cocooned caterpillar into a b-o-h and took it out after a year, would they remove a cocooned caterpillar or a dead butterfly?
Okay, I did a little quick research. Only 10 minutes of air in a bag of holding.
BUT! Flesh-to-stone! If that’s of indefinite duration, could they shrink Bloodfeast, petrify him, then put him in? Kind of roundabout, but better than abandoning him.
ETA: or just petrify him and have Durkon shrink the statue, like he did with Haley that one time.
Today I texted a link to Episode 1 to a friend who I only just now found out plays D&D.
And I got a little time-sucked into reading from the top (as one does). And I noticed something that may be nothing, but may be a HUGE twist. In strip 0078, we’re shown a flashback scene of the evil sorcerer Xykon slaying Gerald Greenhilt’s wizard mentor.
I know the art has evolved a LOT in the intervening years, but does anyone else suspect that Xykon may be an ancestor of Tarquin/Elan/Nale?
I think you mean Eugene Greenhilt there.
I didn’t get the impression that young Xykon engaged in the sort of activities that produce heirs. 
Wasn’t he sleeping with the other evil apprentice at the beginning of Start of Darkness?
Maybe I’m confusing the “about to lychify” Xykon with young Xykon.
Yes, I do.
I wouldn’t know. I haven’t been able to get my hands on the older stuff. And I’ve never been motivated to pursue it digitally.
He lost all interest in that sort of thing on becoming a lich, after having lost most interest in that sort of thing on becoming an old man. But yes, in his youth, he was sexually active.
Checking Start of Darkness, Xykon was a small boy (probably five or so?) “103 years ago”, so there might have been time for him to be Tarkin’s father, but probably not any more distant an ancestor than that.
And the art in that book of him at “about 60 years old” looks basically like in that strip, and he resembles Elan/Tarkin, but as a young adult, he looked very different from them.
Arrrgh. Tarquin. Tar-QUIN. Stop it, you’re giving me a headache.
General Takin?
Plus given the limited art aesthetic of this strip I don’t think you can hang such a theory purely on how the characters look, either way.
OOTS #1308