I’m wondering: how come the (previously) dead guard didn’t realize something had changed? Wouldn’t they have noticed the afterlife turn into a wretched hellhole?
I don’t think all afterlives have been changed, nor that everyone has the same afterlife. It is also possible that as revenants, their memories only go to the moment of their deaths.
Or Rich might surprise us with a quip about sending them to the hell that they just rose from.
As drawn, the mask would have little to no effect on her peripheral vision, and the one who did for her started out behind Glon’s left shoulder, so she should have been able to track him all the way in.
The one in panel 3 and 5 is not the Captain, who is the one who did the Gorgon in. If you look at the previous strip, you’ll see that his whole troop is out in the fog and they all kinda look the same. Sorry for the confusion.
So quick to assume the worst stereotypes about the undead? Don’t be a zombie-ist!
We still don’t know the details about the type of magic performed to Raise the Dead here. Their current form may not involve necrotic flesh. If, for instance, they were Resurrected, they could technically be alive again.
Ranna may be too busy creating a punishment for her to actually listen to any report. And, the report may not be complete enough to provide critical info.
Hmmm. On the other hand. It seems that nearly every, or every, Rannite in the city is about to end up in the afterlife. So, maybe you are correct. Even Ranna would probably notice a few dozen or a hundred or so of her followers suddenly showing up from the same city, and between all of them should probably would recover actionable intelligence. Again, assuming Ranna isn’t too busy punishing all of them for failure or otherwise busy.
According to the 3.5e SRD (I can’t find anything generic for ‘undead’ in newer editions), they’re immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, and energy drain.
So no, they’re immune to a lot of effects, but not to petrification. Which makes a certain sense – poison and disease may have no effect on their non-existent vitality, but turning the remains of their flesh to stone should still work.
It would also depend if they had eyes or not – non corporeal undead would be immune while physical would be depending on the state of preservation. this however are resurrected so not technically undead – just a bit malnourished and pinched there is also the fog vision limitation
"Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless)."
Nine times out of ten, a petrification effect requires a fortitude save. Unless these are the gorgons of legend that can turn any non-stone object into stone, the undead are wholly immune to petrification.
That said, this is Rich’s story. He has stated in the past that many of D&D’s rules are overlooked in favor of story… so we’ll have to wait and see.
Since we’re bursting bubbles… if I was going to use D&D game rules for determining the outcome of my stories -and I’m not- but I’d be using the stuff I’m familiar with, which includes Basic/1st/2nd AD&D and none of these talk about ‘fortitude saves’. They’d be using Magic Resistance % or Saves vs Petrification. Which I’m not going to look up tonight. 🙂
Oh, I’ve certainly no qualms about referring to to older editions 🙂 Technically, I started at 2nd edition, which was ended six months later to "test out" (and continue within) 3rd edition. I remember those saves… and THAC0… and… yeah.
Seeing as the brain doesn’t technically die until its been without oxygen for three to four minutes, this is actually possible. Supposedly during the French Revolution it even happened that the heads were clearly still alive for a short time (rarely).
Usually the sheer damage causes the brain to panic and go into shock in a (futile) attempt to conserve resources and survive a little longer. So it shuts down and may as well be dead.
Yeah, there’s some really freaky stories from French and Nazi guillotine executions.
(Fun fact: the Third Reich executed more people by guillotine than any other government. Possibly all other governments combined, but I’d have to double-check that.)
I am Thorin! Son of Thrain! Son of Thror! King under the mount-! Oh, wrong literature? Sorry.
A couple days ago you said you’d find a map, whenever you do, where could I find it? Do you have a blog or would you post it on a forum, or straight up as a comic? No need to rush, I think I’m a patient person.
Oooh.. NASTY thought… Don’t the Rannites have a bunch of ‘keep decapitated heads alive and aware’ powder…? I suspect they may be shortly about to experience their own torment…
Though unfortunately other Rannites would be immune.
But it could be an interesting way to save a friend from death. Say they ingested a deadly poison and you didn’t have the cure. Turn them to stone, find the cure, come back, stone to flesh, administer antidote, all lovely jubbly!
Of course I’m eager as hell to see the next strip, but if I had to come back and see the same one every day this week, what a great one to see again.
– The gray fog and mist effect is so effectively creepy.
– The shot of first one opposing side then the other in the first two panels is great.
– Then the Glon shot right after. Just him in the foreground, and the implied army in the background (represented by the indistinct solitary soldier). Great framing. And character-wise, as someone mentioned, fantastic. He still has doubts about his new role, but you push him, lady, and you will never even get a hint of them. All his focus will be on ending you. And rest assured, that will happen.
– Panels six and seven. Classic staging. The Shape appears – the fear moment. The Shape moves – then nothing. Chills.
That is exactly correct. Those last three panels are my tribute to John Carpenter’s marvellous Fog finale.
However, the clip you linked to is terrible! Why are all the colours washed out? What’s with the crappy last frame flip and cartoon blood effects? Having trouble finding a proper clip in YouTube, but for anyone for whom this might be their first view of the 1980 film "The Fog" by John Carpenter, trust me, it’s waaaay better than this clip suggests!
I searched and searched but couldn’t find a better clip of that specific scene. Would upload my own better version but I don’t have a channel that would draw in the views it deserves.
Pick up your copies of YAFGC Volumes 1 - 5 at our online store. Multi-book bundles and sketch editions available.
At least her last words weren’t "You and what army?"
At least it was enough of an army to "cut her off at the pass."
Well, at least the puns won’t have us rolling. Not like she is, anyways.
Ah now we have a new head for the pikes this morning!
John Carpenter much?
I love Glon’s sudden change in attitude. No longer hiding who he is and no longer afraid nor ashamed.
Go on, dear. Finish your words.
I’m wondering: how come the (previously) dead guard didn’t realize something had changed? Wouldn’t they have noticed the afterlife turn into a wretched hellhole?
I don’t think all afterlives have been changed, nor that everyone has the same afterlife. It is also possible that as revenants, their memories only go to the moment of their deaths.
Or Rich might surprise us with a quip about sending them to the hell that they just rose from.
I remember Arachne’s last words in #3001: "The afterlife belongs to Ranna. Be afraid to die."
Dont get ahead of yourself
Uh oh. I can see where this is (be)heading.
I know where this will beheading
Clever girl.
That mask did not do her peripheral vision any favours, did it? :p
As drawn, the mask would have little to no effect on her peripheral vision, and the one who did for her started out behind Glon’s left shoulder, so she should have been able to track him all the way in.
The one in panel 3 and 5 is not the Captain, who is the one who did the Gorgon in. If you look at the previous strip, you’ll see that his whole troop is out in the fog and they all kinda look the same. Sorry for the confusion.
The Revenant Soldiers wear very similar sets of armor, so it would be difficult to distinguish individuals in the fog anyway.
It’s the fog, not the mask. Those snakes grant 360 degree vision as well as a bonus to vision based perception checks according to the monster manual.
I gently remind everyone that this is Rich’s world, and any similarity to TSR & WotC products is purely coincidental.
https://iwastesomuchtime.com/65437
t!
You would think the snakes on hear head could have smelled all the rotting flesh nearbye
So quick to assume the worst stereotypes about the undead? Don’t be a zombie-ist!
We still don’t know the details about the type of magic performed to Raise the Dead here. Their current form may not involve necrotic flesh. If, for instance, they were Resurrected, they could technically be alive again.
on a side note, there were a lot of decaying heads in that area, they might just got used to the smell 😛
After all that time, they wouldn’t be rotting anymore. Whatever was left would be more like dirt than decaying flesh.
Remember: Rana now runs the afterlife for everybody… so she’s about to get a full report about things… :p
Ranna may be too busy creating a punishment for her to actually listen to any report. And, the report may not be complete enough to provide critical info.
Hmmm. On the other hand. It seems that nearly every, or every, Rannite in the city is about to end up in the afterlife. So, maybe you are correct. Even Ranna would probably notice a few dozen or a hundred or so of her followers suddenly showing up from the same city, and between all of them should probably would recover actionable intelligence. Again, assuming Ranna isn’t too busy punishing all of them for failure or otherwise busy.
I’m inclined to agree, 3Xp4t. Ranna… is not very bright.
Yeah … maybe it wasn’t that smart to announce who he is yet …
Light out. End of.
Thank you, Captain. She did tend to go on…
Even so, it was pretty rude to cut her off in mid-sentence like that. Then again, Revenants don’t usually care much about manners, do they?
Nor do Rannites. Do unto others, etc, etc.
I’ll not lie–that was immensely satisfying.
Nice knowing you… okay, that’s a lie.
Actually, I just had a thought: are undead vulnerable to stone effects? (I am seriously asking; it’s never come up in my D&D experience)
No. They’re immune to petrification, paralysis, most illusions, etc. Basically, the only way to handle undead is straight up combat.
According to the 3.5e SRD (I can’t find anything generic for ‘undead’ in newer editions), they’re immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, and energy drain.
So no, they’re immune to a lot of effects, but not to petrification. Which makes a certain sense – poison and disease may have no effect on their non-existent vitality, but turning the remains of their flesh to stone should still work.
It would also depend if they had eyes or not – non corporeal undead would be immune while physical would be depending on the state of preservation. this however are resurrected so not technically undead – just a bit malnourished and pinched there is also the fog vision limitation
Sadly, I have to burst your bubble here 🙁
"Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless)."
Nine times out of ten, a petrification effect requires a fortitude save. Unless these are the gorgons of legend that can turn any non-stone object into stone, the undead are wholly immune to petrification.
That said, this is Rich’s story. He has stated in the past that many of D&D’s rules are overlooked in favor of story… so we’ll have to wait and see.
Since we’re bursting bubbles… if I was going to use D&D game rules for determining the outcome of my stories -and I’m not- but I’d be using the stuff I’m familiar with, which includes Basic/1st/2nd AD&D and none of these talk about ‘fortitude saves’. They’d be using Magic Resistance % or Saves vs Petrification. Which I’m not going to look up tonight. 🙂
Oh, I’ve certainly no qualms about referring to to older editions 🙂 Technically, I started at 2nd edition, which was ended six months later to "test out" (and continue within) 3rd edition. I remember those saves… and THAC0… and… yeah.
Awesome! So y’all see where I’m going with this… vis-a-vis the gorgons and all… *nasty smile*
The last thing she hears is the thump! of her head hitting the ground.
Seeing as the brain doesn’t technically die until its been without oxygen for three to four minutes, this is actually possible. Supposedly during the French Revolution it even happened that the heads were clearly still alive for a short time (rarely).
Usually the sheer damage causes the brain to panic and go into shock in a (futile) attempt to conserve resources and survive a little longer. So it shuts down and may as well be dead.
But its possible.
Yeah, there’s some really freaky stories from French and Nazi guillotine executions.
(Fun fact: the Third Reich executed more people by guillotine than any other government. Possibly all other governments combined, but I’d have to double-check that.)
Yeah Hitler liked the Guillotine for executions.
I remember seeing a video of the last execution France did by Guillotine.
Some bold words coming from a gorgon who doesn’t even have a archive entry.
See you.
That was satisfying! 😀
I’m sorry, did you need your head?
What is that on the left in Panel 4?
t!
Reverse shot from panel 3, looking over Glon’s shoulder with part of Glon’s head in view.
Aha – I see the ear now!
Thanks. It’s now impossible not to see (which is good).
Before, it was like… are those movement lines… whaa ?
t!
"What mountain? I’m glad you asked; I’m building a new one. Out of Rannite corpses. And I just found the first one for the pile."
Also, I send you an email to your beholderking email address, that is still the right one right?
That email does still work, though it mostly gets full of spam and I sometimes miss personal emails. I’ll check it again tonight.
Alright, well no rush 🙂 It was just about the party and catching up 😉
I am Thorin! Son of Thrain! Son of Thror! King under the mount-! Oh, wrong literature? Sorry.
A couple days ago you said you’d find a map, whenever you do, where could I find it? Do you have a blog or would you post it on a forum, or straight up as a comic? No need to rush, I think I’m a patient person.
I do. I’ll post it up with the next strip.
Sorry, got busy with other things… will update as soon as I can.
Thank!
Oooh.. NASTY thought… Don’t the Rannites have a bunch of ‘keep decapitated heads alive and aware’ powder…? I suspect they may be shortly about to experience their own torment…
Would make a handy weapon. Hold up the head. Sprinkle dust. Watch enemies turn to stone.
Ah, the Perseus Manoeuvre.
Though unfortunately other Rannites would be immune.
But it could be an interesting way to save a friend from death. Say they ingested a deadly poison and you didn’t have the cure. Turn them to stone, find the cure, come back, stone to flesh, administer antidote, all lovely jubbly!
Rich Burlew did it first (in a book-only strip). Lithogenics Clinic.
I will be glad when the OP Ranna dies PERMANENTLY so I can dance on her grave.
Note for Ranna story arc:
DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE and stay that way.
Of course I’m eager as hell to see the next strip, but if I had to come back and see the same one every day this week, what a great one to see again.
– The gray fog and mist effect is so effectively creepy.
– The shot of first one opposing side then the other in the first two panels is great.
– Then the Glon shot right after. Just him in the foreground, and the implied army in the background (represented by the indistinct solitary soldier). Great framing. And character-wise, as someone mentioned, fantastic. He still has doubts about his new role, but you push him, lady, and you will never even get a hint of them. All his focus will be on ending you. And rest assured, that will happen.
– Panels six and seven. Classic staging. The Shape appears – the fear moment. The Shape moves – then nothing. Chills.
Definitely a strip worth coming back to.
t!
<blush> Flatterer. 🙂
SO Rich, am I right that this is based off of this scene at the end of "The Fog?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOD_Z2ra0KU
That is exactly correct. Those last three panels are my tribute to John Carpenter’s marvellous Fog finale.
However, the clip you linked to is terrible! Why are all the colours washed out? What’s with the crappy last frame flip and cartoon blood effects? Having trouble finding a proper clip in YouTube, but for anyone for whom this might be their first view of the 1980 film "The Fog" by John Carpenter, trust me, it’s waaaay better than this clip suggests!
I’m assuming that the normal version of the clip got flagged for copyright so they "Dirtied it up" so the video wouldn’t match.
I searched and searched but couldn’t find a better clip of that specific scene. Would upload my own better version but I don’t have a channel that would draw in the views it deserves.
Kinda torn between "SURPRISE MOFO!" and "GOTCHA BITCH!" for this page, maybe both?