Haley learns what happened to Roy and they formulate a new plan to get his body back.
Cast
Transcript
- Panel 1
Haley: YOU LOST ROY'S BODY?!?
Celia: No! I know exactly where it is
Haley: Why didn't you tell me about the golem when we were inside??
Celia: Because you told me to forget it and come help you! You seemed like you knew what was going on!
Belkar: Hey, I think my head is starting to clear...
- Panel 2
Haley: How was I supposed to know what had happened to Roy, Celia?
Celia: I don't know, you're always telling me that you know more than I do about this stuff, I figured you could just tell by looking or something.
Celia: You're always expecting ME to know things I would have no way of learning...
- Panel 3
Haley: Darn it, Celia, The ONE TIME you actually listen to me...
Haley: How can you be so smart sometimes and still be such an...an AIRHEAD!
Celia: HEY! There's no need for racial slurs!
- Panel 4
Haley: What were you possibly thinking, bringing Roy's body to Grubwiggler?
Celia: I was thinking we could get this whole thing finished quicker, so Roy would be OK and I could get back to school, where I actually understand what's going on.
Belkar: What IS going on?
- Panel 5
Haley: Well, you were right, we're finished. We can't raise Roy without his body, not without a 17th level cleric and a heaping cartload of diamonds.
Haley: And I'm not even sure there ARE any 17th-level clerics in the world!
Belkar: Oooo! I bet Redcloak is 17th level!
Haley: Not helping!
- Panel 6
Haley: OK, OK, just let me think...
Haley: Grubby always keeps the windows and doors sealed with wards. The secret passage was clear—but the hunchback saw me try the door to that so that'll be sealed now, too. The front door is wide open but there are about a dozen flesh golems which the three of us have no chance to beat.
Haley: At least not alone. If we could get a little more power...
- Panel 7
Haley: OK, here's the plan: We keep heading toward Cliffport. We trade the donkey and cart for a fast horse, and we can be there in a few days.
Haley: Once there, we use the money I just swiped to hire a few mercenaries to help us raid the castle, grab the corpse, and escape.
- Panel 8
Celia: What about Belkar? He still can't travel more than a mile from Roy's body.
Haley: Darn it! I forgot about that. I guess we need to abandon him for now. We can pick him up when we return
Celia: I'm not leaving him behind
- Panel 9
Haley: ...
Haley: What?
Celia: We can use him as an alarm.
Celia: If Grubwiggler sells Roy's golem to a customer, Belkar's Mark of Justice will activate when they try to leave the area—and then we might be able to catch them.
- Panel 10
Haley: Oh! Oh man...you had me there for a second! I thought you actually—
Celia: —cared about Belkar at all? Eww, good gods, no.
Belkar: Yeah, that would have just been weird.
- Panel 11
Haley: Either way, we need to get off the streets, now that the rain has stopped
Celia: Haley, if you grew up here, shouldn't there be some people you know here that could help us?
Haley: You don't understand...
- Panel 12
Image of building with a sign saying, "THIEVES' GUILD No soliciting"
Haley (inset)The fact that there are some people I know here is the reason we need to get of the streets.
Bozzok: Mr. Grubwiggler! Good to see you. How may we be of service this fine evening?
D&D Context
- Sylphs like Celia are beings from the Elemental Plane of Air, as such she takes the term "airhead" as a "racial slur".
- In Panel 5, Haley is describing True Resurrection, a 9th-level cleric spell (requiring a 17th-level cleric) that takes 25,000 gp worth of diamonds and can resurrect a creature without the body.
- Contrary to Belkar's comment, Redcloak was not 17th level (and therefore could not cast True Resurrection) at the time of this strip. He was not seen casting 9th-level spells until #826, in which he implied that he only recently gained the ability to do so. However, he was able to do the maximum of 15d6 damage with Blade Barrier in #457, making him at least 15th-16th level.
Trivia
- Regarding the title, a writ of habeas corpus is a legal recourse whereby a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment before a court. The Latin term "habeas corpus" means "you may have the body". Presumably this would be helpful in getting Roy's body back.
- This is the first appearance (in voice only) of Bozzok, the current leader of the Greysky City Thieves' Guild.
- Due to the effects of the Oracle's Memory Charm in #570, Clean Slate, Haley, Belkar, and Celia are unaware that Belkar's Mark of Justice has already been activated, and therefore think that he still needs to be within a mile of Roy's body.