“Okay, everyone roll your Perception check.”
Be on the lookout for The “Thing.”
And don’t open it.
I’m going to go on record as predicting that sometime during the Big Fight with Xykon, one or more of the Order get tossed into or otherwise touch the Threads of Creation. What happens then is up to Rich, but I could see them being transported to the place Blackwing saw inside the rift. Those things are too big a Chekov’s Gun to be left unfired.
Yeah, I really went out on a limb with that prediction, didn’t I? 
Oh, and I don’t want to alarm anyone, but look at the top of panel 4…
Snarl? Or whatever it is Rich calls it
No, just some loose Threads of Creation, as seen in the previous strip. My take is that they’ve gone down a level and are seeing some stick through the floor.
1293 - Acid Wash
OK that’s the best strip for a long long time. Very amusing, and follows the character’s established traits. Reminds me why I used to love this strip rather than grinding through it like a sunk cost.
Belkar putting the animals on his shoulders is what’s going to get him into the Good afterlife when he meets his preordained, plot-driven death.
Are we going to see strips more often? Hope so.
Good: maybe. Chaotic: definitely.
Not really much of a waste, though, since clerics prepare spells in advance. If they do later encounter real acid, they’re ready for it now, and if they don’t, then that spell wasn’t going to be used anyway.
I’ve been assuming he’ll end up wherever Shojo is. Chaotic Good? Chaotic Neutral?
It only lasts 10 minutes, though. And I believe Durkon would prepare resist ENERGY, able to choose what type of energy to resist at the time of casting. So we better hope they don’t have to deal with the power of SONIC!!!
[I did not actually cast a spell there, I just yelled “SONIC” loudly]
And also, it was less than 2 weeks after the prior strip!
I note that it’s right next to a door that Burlew chose to draw but otherwise called no attention to.
Personally, my guess is that it’s not a matter of proximity to the Gates any more at all: That right this moment, Threads like this are popping up all over the world. Things are getting serious.
“Nothing good happens on a walkway,” gave me flashbacks.
Any guesses who orange text is? The Snarl itself?