oots


The heroes now have the initiative and are ready to counter-attack Xykon.

Cast

Transcript

Panel 1, Page 1

Haley: Sorry to keep you waiting, I needed to take care of something with Elan.
Roy: I do not want to hear details.
Roy: I'm still recovering from my mom...
Haley: Yeah, I wish. But Elan had this kinda sad story about this ninja chick who had a crush on him, then died.

Panel 2, Page 1

Flashback of Elan and Haley.
Elan: I'm torn, because on the one hand, I want to share something important that happened to me while we were apart...
Elan: But on the other hand, bardic tradition demands that I withhold it all so that at some later point, you can accidentally learn an incomplete version and jump to all of the wrong conclusions—
Elan: —thus leading to entertaining dramatic conflict later in our relationship.

Panel 3, Page 1

Haley: So... what are you going to do?
Elan: Tell you everything. How are we supposed to get a happy ending if we can't be honest?

Panel 4, Page 1

In the present.
Haley: I tried to tell him you guys were waiting, but he said he needed to tell me now because it was the "denouement", whatever that means.
Roy: We were supposed to meet over an hour ago... was his story really that long.

Panel 5, Page 1

Flashback of Elan and Haley.
Haley: Wow... OK...
Haley: Well, OK, I guess I have some stuff to tell you, too. Starting with my father, and ending with how I got my new dagger.
Haley: Just try not to hate me TOO much.

Panel 6, Page 1

In the present.
Haley: Yeah.
Haley: He really talked my ear off, heh.

Panel 7, Page 1

Hinjo: Well, now that all four of us are here, we should get this war council started.
Roy: I agree. We finally have the advantage, we need to coordinate our next moves quickly.
Haley: Uh, hello? Advantage?? Did Durkon forget to grow your brain back? Xykon is still an ultra-powerful lich with a huge army and we're... NOT.
O-Chul: Maybe. But we now have an opportunity to catch Xykon with his robes around his anklebones.
O-Chul: He may have all the strength, but we have the initiative.

Panel 8, Page 1

Haley: Initiative?!? Where? I got a 23!
Haley: I make a sneak attack! And a Spot check!
O-Chul: No, no, not that kind of initiative. Strategic initiative.

Panel 9, Page 1

Roy: O-Chul is right.
Roy: We know exactly what Xykon and his minions will be doing and where, for at least the next few days: looking for his phylactery.
Roy: If we can get to the next Gate before Xykon succeeds, we can warn its guardian—maybe even set an ambush for the cocky bastard.

Panel 10, Page 1

O-Chul hands Roy a piece of paper.
O-Chul: I believe this will help with that.
O-Chul: It's Xykon's spell list. Or most of it, anyway.
Roy: Are you kidding?!? How did you get this??
O-Chul: One saving throw at a time.

Panel 1, Page 2

O-Chul (off-panel): There's also a list of magic items carried by him, the goblin, and the theurge woman, as well as a partial list of feats.
O-Chul (off-panel): Some of the latter is a bit speculative on my part, for which I apologize.
The list reads: 

4th Level: Animate Dead, Grea..., Resilient Sphere, Ston...
5th Level: Cloudkill, Overland Flight, Symbol of Pain, Unknown
6th Level: Contingency, Unknown x2
7th Level: Finger of Death, Greater Teleport, Mass Hold Person
8th Level: Ghostform, Symbol of Insanity, Unknown
9th Level: Energy Drain, Meteor Swarm, Soul Bind
...: Cloister, Epic Mag... ...Dispelling...
Panel 2, Page 2

Roy: Apologize? O-Chul, this is incredible! I don't know what to say.
O-Chul: Say that when the time is right, you will use this information to tear that abomination apart, bone by bone.
Roy: You have my word.

Panel 3, Page 2

Haley: Well, gee, after that, my several-months-old troop distribution data just seems a whole lot less sexy.
Hinjo: Nonsense. Knowing that our comrade is leading a resistance that you constructed will be of enormous benefit to any plan to free the city.

Panel 4, Page 2

Hinjo: Plus, the information that Celia and you gave me regarding the Cloister effect is invaluable.
Haley: I don't see how. We still don't have the ability to bypass it.

Panel 5, Page 2

Hinjo: Sure we do. We just need to do it the old-fashioned way.
Hinjo: Before he turned in for the night, I asked Durkon to send a message to my contact among our last remaining allies.
Roy: Allies? What allies?

Panel 6, Page 2

Hinjo: Old allies, that are slow to go to war.
Hinjo: I've been trying to convince them to act for months.
Hinjo: But let's just say that your wizard hasn't been the only one frustrated by the lack of available intelligence on our homeland.

Panel 7, Page 2

A group of hobgoblins is walking on a mountain path to Azure City.

Panel 8, Page 2

A group of elves teleports into the middle of the hobgoblins, "POP!", knocking one off the edge of the path.

Panel 9, Page 2

The elves kill the hobgoblins, "thunk! thunk! slash! splortch! schlrkt!". The one who was knocked off the path falls to his death.

Panel 10, Page 2

Pink-Haired Peregrine Team Member: Sending.
Pink-Haired Peregrine Team Member: Team Peregrine to Elven Command: covert insertion successful.
Pink-Haired Peregrine Team Member: Will penetrate Cloistered territory on foot and rendezvous with designee "Thanh" to coordinate further insertions.

Panel 11, Page 2

Team Peregrine proceeds along towards a mountain tunnel, with the Castle of Azure City behind it.
Pink-Haired Peregrine Team Member: Liberation: commencing.

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