O-Chul escapes from his cage.
Cast
- O-Chul ◀ ▶
- The Monster in the Darkness ◀ ▶
- A Demon-Roach ◀ ▶
Transcript
- Panel 1
O-Chul is straining to pull out one of the bars of his cage.
Monster in the Darkness: Excuse me? Mr. Elf? Could we maybe get another Sunburst spell over this way?
O-Chul: Nnngh!!
Monster in the Darkness: Hey, what are you doing, Mr. Stiffly?
O-Chul: Keep your—nnnnngh!—voice down, please.
Demon Roach: Don't you know Bend Bars rolls have been gone for awhile?
- Panel 2
The cage bar snaps free with a "KATANG!"
Monster in the Darkness: Oh, man! The cagesmith is not gonna be happy about that!
O-Chul: I will be sure to weep for his lost masterpiece later.
Demon-Roach: HEY! Jailbreak! Helloooo, we have a jailbreak over—
- Panel 3
O-Chul impales the Demon Roach with the broken bar, "SQUILCH!"
Demon-Roach: Ah, crap.
- Panel 4
Monster in the Darkness: How did you—
O-Chul: This bar has been loose for several weeks.
Monster in the Darkness: Then why didn't you—
O-Chul: Because then was not the time for action. Now, is.
- Panel 5
The Demon-Roach's body disappears to the Lower Planes, "poof!". O-Chul leaves his cage.
Monster in the Darkness: Wait! Mr. Stiffly, the exit is the other way! Where are you going?
O-Chul: To do my duty.
Monster in the Darkness: Again? They just brought the bucket around an hour ago.
- Panel 6
O-Chul: No, my duty. My obligation to my dead comrades and my late Lord. Or Lords, as the case may be.
Monster in the Darkness: But Xykon will kill you if you go out there!
O-Chul: Almost certainly. I go nonetheless.
- Panel 7
O-Chul: Listen to me, my friend. Listen carefully. We must all do what we think is right.
O-Chul: Whatever happens to me next, I want you to think about all that I have taught you.
- Panel 8
O-Chul: Think about the game we just played. Think about how I have treated you, and how your so-called friends have treated you.
O-Chul: You have the power to leave the vile path down which they would have you led.
O-Chul: I know this because you have shown me enough clues over these long months for me to finally understand you.
- Panel 9
O-Chul: You may not know exactly what you are—but I do.
Monster in the Darkness: You do? Really? Than[sic] what am I?
- Panel 10
O-Chul: A good man.
- Panel 11
O-Chul charges in Xykon's direction.
O-Chul: Farewell, my gentle friend.
Monster in the Darkness: Wait, Mr. Stiffly! Come back!
- Panel 12
Monster in the Darkness: Mr. Stiffly!
Monster in the Darkness: MR. STIFFLY!
Monster in the Darkness: O-CHUL!!
D&D Context
- Sunburst dispels all types of magical darkness in its area of effect, which is what the MitD was after in the first panel.
- In AD&D 1st and 2nd editions, there was a specific check for "Bend Bars/Lift Gates". It was a percentile roll based on a score in the Strength table. In D&D 3.0 this convention was discarded, and bending bars or lifting gates is a strength check with an appropriate difficulty class depending on the situation.
Trivia
- This is the first time MitD refers to O-Chul by his real name.
- O-Chul repeats his assessment of MitD as a "good man" in the first panel of #1042.