Tsukiko starts her first day of work at Team Evil.
Cast
- Redcloak ◀ ▶
- Tsukiko ◀ ▶
- A Chlorine Elemental ▶
- A Squad of Hobgoblin Swordsmen
- Three Priests of the Twelve Gods
Transcript
- Panel 1
Redcloak: Chlorine Elemental, kill all the humans in the courtyard.
Chlorine Elemental: kill all humans.
The elemental kills two Azurite priests. It's periodic table entry reads, "17 Cl 35.453".
- Panel 2
Tsukiko flies in to the bailey.
Tsukiko: Excuse me, Xykon said I'm supposed to drop some paperwork off with you?
Redcloak: What? Who the hell are you?
- Panel 3
Tsukiko: I'm Tsukiko, mystic theurge. I'm on your team now.
Redcloak: You've got to be kidding.
- Panel 4
Redcloak: Putting aside for the moment the staggeringly high probability that you're some kind of Azurite double agent...
Redcloak: Do you actually expect me to believe that Xykon stopped in the middle of a battle to conduct a job interview?
- Panel 5
Tsukiko hands Redcloak a piece of paper.
- Panel 6
The note reads:
| “ |
Redcloak: |
” |
Redcloak: *sigh*
- Panel 7
Redcloak: Look, I'm pretty busy at the moment, I'll deal with this later.
Redcloak kills an Azurite Cleric with some sort of touch spell.
Tsukiko: I'm pretty sure Xykon wanted you to deal with it now.
Redcloak: Well, what Xykon wants and what's a good idea tend to diverge significantly.
- Panel 8
Tsukiko: That's OK, he's inside here, right? I'll just follow you up and we can ask him.
Redcloak: Oooo, I'm sorry, this party is invitation only, and you?
Redcloak: You're not on this list.
- Panel 9
Redcloak: If you have any questions, you'll have to take it up with my assistant. His name is "15d6 Points of Whirling Death for Humans."
Tsukiko: Fine. Where can I find him?
- Panel 10
Redcloak: Right here.
Redcloak: Blade Barrier.
Tsukiko stops short as the Blade Barrier appears in the doorway to the keep.
Tsukiko: AAAH!
- Panel 11
Tsukiko: HEY! I am SO telling Xykon about this!
Redcloak: Yeah? Don't forget to mention the elemental.
- Panel 12
Tsukiko: Huh?
Tsukiko: Mention what about the elemental?
Chlorine Elemental: kill all humans.
D&D Context
- Redcloak is likely using Summon Monster V in the first panel to summon the Chlorine Elemental, as it seems to be the normal variety and not a Greater Elemental.
- Blade Barrier is a 6th level cleric spell that creates a wall of spinning blades. The blades do 1d6 damage per level, to a maximum of 15d6. So Redcloak is at least 15th level, but possibly higher at the time of this strip.
Trivia
- This is the first appearance of the Chlorine Elemental, the second of the periodic table elementals summoned by Redcloak, the first being the five Titanium Elementals from #423.
- Xykon uses two hyphens (--) instead of an em dash (—) despite the fact that this is a handwritten note.