- For the other comic titled "Tied Up Nicely", see Tied Up Nicely (1252).
The Cloaked stranger is getting even closer, and is willing to kill to finish the job.
Cast
- Miko Miyazaki ◀ ▶
- Windstriker ◀ ▶
- Samantha's Father (Bandit King) ◀
- Samantha ◀
Transcript
- Panel 1
Samantha and her father are tied up in the Wooden Forest.
Samantha: This is all your fault, you know. I had beaten them before you screwed it up.
Bandit King: Oh, shut your yap. At least it was nice and quiet before you woke up.
- Panel 2
Samantha: When I get free of this rope, I am gonna—
Miko (off-panel): I cannot help but notice that you are in need of assistance.
- Panel 3
Miko: Can you, in turn, aid me in my quest?
Miko: I seek a brutal band of killers known simply as the Order of the Stick.
- Panel 4
Miko: According to my information, they consist of one elf, one dwarf, one halfling, and three humans, one of which is female.
Bandit King: Is one of the human men dark while the other is fair?
Miko: Yes.
- Panel 5
Miko unties them.
Samantha: HA! Oh, yeah, we know them.
Bandit King: Whatever you need, we'll gladly help you if they're your enemy.
Miko: Outstanding.
- Panel 6
Samantha: Hey, you'll be our first new minion. We lost our old followers just recently.
Miko: I am sorry, I already have a master. But I will gladly ally with you for now.
- Panel 7
Samantha: Yeah? Well I wasn't asking, I was telling. You work for us now!
Bandit King: Uh, Pumpkin, I'm not so sure—
Miko: And again, I serve no mortal save my master.
- Panel 8
Samantha: You'll serve me or you'll die!
Samantha: Hold Person!
- Panel 9
Miko cuts Samantha in half, "scheeenk!"
Miko: Then I will die.
Miko: But not today.
- Panel 10
Bandit King: You... you killed my daughter!
Miko: I must again request your assistance in finding this "Order of the Stick".
- Panel 11
Samantha's Father pulls his two swords, "woosh!"
Bandit King: You killed my little girl!
Miko: Very well.
Mkio slashes him with her katana, "skthutch!"
- Panel 12
Samantha and her father lay dead on the ground.
Miko: The tragedy here is that this could have been avoided if I had just made a Gather Information check instead.
D&D Context
- A Gather Information Skill Check represents how well a character can learn information from others.
- Hold Person is a 3rd-level Sorcerer spell that paralyzes a target if they fail their Will save.
Trivia
- This is the final appearance of Samantha's Father and Samantha, the one time leaders of the Bandit Clan of Wooden Forest. Samantha's Father appeared 11 times, first appearing in #152, and Samantha first appeared in #159.
- The title is a double entendre on the fact that the duo are tied up at the beginning of the strip, and that their deaths tie up the loose ends of their plot line.