Belkar comes to the startling realization that the Oracle foresaw his own death.
Cast
- Haley Starshine ◀ ▶
- Belkar Bitterleaf (also sickened) ◀ ▶
- Celia ◀ ▶
- The Oracle of the Sunken Valley (also on a city sign) ◀ ▶
- Two dozen or so kobold villagers living in Lickmyorangeballshalfling
Transcript
- Panel 1
Haley: BELKAR!!
Belkar: What? He totally had it coming.
Belkar: Now hold his feet, I want to turn his head into a litter box for Mr. Scruffy.
- Panel 2
Haley: I cannot believe you! I just cannot BELIEVE you!
Belkar: Really? Because the whole kobold-head-into-an-object thing is sort of a running gag with me.
- Panel 3
Haley: You killed the Oracle!
Belkar: Yeah, so? He was a kobold! You told me it was OK to kill monsters!
Haley: We were gonna get answers! Answers that may have led to getting Roy back!
Belkar: Answers that would have been obscure and useless!
Haley: The one he gave me wasn't!
- Panel 4
Haley: He told me not to look the gift horse in the mouth, which I did when I accepted Nale's invitation to dinner without examining my suspicions too closely.
Haley: That directly led to me getting my voice back!
Belkar: Yeah, but who really cares about your inner turmoil crap anyway? People tune into watch me stab things.
- Panel 5
Haley: I swear, I'm going to—
Belkar: Oh, don't get your thong in a twist, Haley. Come on, we can search for treasure.
Belkar: All that meaty character development hasn't made you stop loving treasure, has it?
- Panel 6
Haley: Fine. But only because we still need money to get Roy raised. Don't think you're off the hook for this yet.
Belkar: Yeah, yeah.
Celia: Actually, I don't think he's off the hook at all.
Celia: Take a look out the back window.
- Panel 7
Celia stands beside the panoramic back window. The back of Belkar's shaved head in the foreground, the window frames a kobold village just outside, black-clad kobolds milling around grass-roofed round huts nestled amidst a forest with mountains in the background. In the middle of the village is a large billboard with a likeness of the Oracle's head. It reads:
| “ |
Welcome to the village of |
” |
- Panel 8
Belkar: I don't get it. What does that—
The faintest possible outline of the Greater Mark of Justice appears on Belkar's forehead.
- Panel 9
Belkar: —mean?
The Mark grows clearer.
- Panel 10
Beat. A bright blue magical symbol is distinct on Belkar's alarmed face.
- Panel 11
The panel turns blue. The mark begins to smoke.
Belkar: AAAHHHHH!
D&D Context
- Greater Mark of Justice is a fictitious spell of unknown level, but based on the published 4th level paladin spell Mark of Justice.
Trivia
- Belkar receives the Greater Mark of Justice from Lord Shojo shortly after #293 and prior to #294.
- A full exposition of the rules of the Greater Mark of Justice is given in #295 (Belkar Leashed) where the mark is revealed on Belkar's forehead by Vaarsuvius.
- Belkar turns Yikyik's skull into a "swanky new leather hat" in #63. (He refers to it as such in #69).
- Belkar turns Yokyok's skull into a tortilla chip bowl in #358, as well as using his tail and other parts to make extra chunky salsa.
- In a later comic, we will see Belkar follow through on his planned use of the Oracle's head in this comic by turning the still-living head of Yukyuk into Mr. Scruffy's litterbox in #835, continuing to embrace the running gag of turning the head of kobolds into "something wacky".