While the Linear Guild tries to cope with the smoke in the corridor, Malack is separated from the pack, and Durkon emerges to say a four letter word.
Cast
Transcript
- Panel 1
The Linear Guild is in a smoke-filled corridor after Haley's arrow explodes.
Kilkil: I can't see! What the hell happened?
Zz’dtri: Me too.
Tarquin: Heh. Pretty clever.
Nale: It's just a smokestick! Quick, everyone move up and out of the cloud's—
Sabine: Nale! The traps!
Nale advances forward, steps on a pressure plate with a "click!"
- Panel 2
A giant circular saw on linkages descends out of a trap door in the ceiling, slicing into Nale. "WHHHHHRR!" Sabine, trying to pull Nale back, trips a second traps with her tail. "click!"
Nale: AAAAggh!
- Panel 3
Malack: What is going on up there?
Malack: Is this enemy action or—
A vault door begins to close across the passageway. Qarr flies back towards Malack to avoid it.
Qarr: Whoa!
- Panel 4
The door closes, sealing off the hallway. "SLAM!"
Malack: Hrrm.
- Panel 5
Tarquin: Well, Nale? Orders? Or are you going to let a 20-gp novelty throw your Linear Guild into disarray?
Nale: Shut up! Just shut up! I'm thinking!
- Panel 6
Nale: OK…we would hear them if they were engaging the mummies, and they can't target us through this smoke cloud…
Nale: Sabine, jam this trap ahead of us.
Sabine: No problem.
Durkon's face emerges from the stone wall between Tarquin and Nale.
- Panel 7
Durkon steps bodily out from the stone wall he had been melded into.
Nale: Zz'dtri? If you can hear me, use some wind magic to disperse this smoke.
Nale: "Thog," try to get to the front of the—
- Panel 8
Durkon: holy.
- Panel 9
Divine radiance emanates from Durkon, sending out increasingly more pained and alarmed echoes of the Linear Guild in all directions.
D&D Context
- Durkon hides within the stone of the wall using the 3rd level spell, Meld Into Stone.[1] While inside the stone, the caster can still hear what is going on outside, which allowed Durkon to time his attack.
- Holy Word is a 7th level cleric spell which causes non-good creatures hearing the word to become deaf, blind, paralyzed, and possibly die, depending on their level relative to the caster. Creatures from other planes, like Sabine, who hear the word are banished back to their home plane for 24 hours.
- The standard cost of a smokestick is 20 gold pieces.
Trivia
- Durkon tried to use this spell against Nale and Sabine in #806, but was drained of the ability to cast it by Nale's enervation wand.