With the pit fiend occupying Hinjo and the Azurites, Elan and Therkla rush back to the fleet to thwart Kubota's plans.
Cast
- Elan ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Hinjo ◀ ▶
- Lien ◀ ▶
- Daigo Da- ◀ ▶
- Kazumi Kato (pregnant) ◀ ▶
- Therkla ◀ ▶
- Pit Fiend ◀ ▶
- Veiled Soldier (as a soldier) ◀
- Therkla's Guards ◀
- Two Azurite Soldiers
- Eight Ninjas
Transcript
- Panel 1
Vaarsuvius casts Cone of Cold on the pit fiend who meanwhile unleashes a Meteor Swarm on the party, hitting Durkon, Hinjo, Elan and the Veiled Soldier, killing the latter and two other soldiers. Lien smites the fiend with her spear.
- Panel 2
Therkla disables the two soldiers holding her. Mule-kicking one, "nuts!", and strangling the other with the chains on her wrist shackles.
Guard: *gasp!*
Therkla: Sorry if this hurts.
Therkla: I'm a little rusty on NOT killing people, but I'm doing my best.
- Panel 3
Elan: Aww, man, Therkla! Therkla, stop! Where are you going?
Therkla throws away the shackles that bound her.
Therkla: Elan! I need your help. I need to get off this island. You came in a row boat, right?
- Panel 4
Elan drinks a potion.
Elan: Therkla, listen: If you help us now, maybe Hinjo will, like, pardon you or something.
Therkla: Yeah, I know. I thought of that, too.
Elan: You did? Then why are you running away?
- Panel 5
Therkla: Look at that thing, Elan! What am I going to do against THAT? My sword isn't sharp enough to give it a pedicure, much less seriously injure it.
Elan: Yeah, I know what you mean...it didn't even HEAR the great pun I made on the word "thaumaturgy" last round...
- Panel 6
Therkla: Besides, I'm not running AWAY from the devil, I'm running TOWARD the fleet.
Elan: Oh, I get it!
Elan: ...
Elan: Wait, no, I don't.
- Panel 7
Therkla: Our plan has always been to place Ku—uh, our master—on the throne. But he's not actually directly in line.
Therkla: So there's two parts to the plan: Kill Lord Hinjo before he can sire an heir, and then convince the Council of Nobles to elect our master as the new Lord.
- Panel 8
Therkla: That big devil means that Qarr has pinned down our primary target—Hinjo—AND our secondary targets—you guys, the Order of the Stick.
Therkla: So Qarr is going to order an attack on our tertiary targets, to maximize our chances of winning the council vote.
- Panel 9
Therkla: We can row this boat faster than I can swim, which might let us get there before—
Elan: Tertiary targets? Wait, I'm confused, who are the tertiary targets?
- Panel 10
Cut to Kazumi and Daigo in a room and lots of ninjas running past the window.
Kazumi: Ooof! The baby's really kicking a lot tonight!
Daigo: I guess Mommy's got her own little monk in there, doesn't she?
D&D Context
- Cone of Cold creates a cone of extreme cold which deals 1d6/level damage, up to a maximum of 15d6. However the pit fiend has damage reduction against cold attacks, soaking up the first 10 point per round for with no harm.
- Meteor Swarm is a powerful 9th level spell which pit fiends can cast as an inherent spell-like ability. The spell creates four meteors, each of which does 2d6 damage to its target and 6d6 damage in a 40 foot radius.
- Therkla dealt her guards nonlethal damage, which can only render the subject unconscious, not kill them.
- The Monk class are masters of unarmed combat, and can attack with their hands and feet interchangeably.
Trivia
- The title plays on the famous line from John Donne's 1624 Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, "No man is an island". This is the second Order of the Stick strip to bear a title which is a pun on Donne's Devotions, the other being #396, The Door Knocks on YOU, which plays on the famous last line from the meditation, "never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee." #1000, "Hel Polls for Thee", also references Donne's Devotions.
- This is the final appearance of the Veiled Soldier, who first appeared as a tree due to Vaarsuvius' Veil spell in #582.
- This is the final appearance of Therkla's Guards. They first appeared in #584.