Belkar takes control of the situation with the hellhound, but finds himself lost in the passages beneath the pyramid where he is about to encounter Malack.
Cast
- Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- Malack ◀ ▶
- Giant Hellhound ◀
Transcript
- Panel 1
Belkar hangs on to the hellhound as it chases Mr. Scruffy down a ramp.
Belkar: Stupid giant hellhound! Why does no one ever breed Abyssal shih tzus or Tarterus pugs? Or Pandemonium chihuahuas?
Belkar: Actually, I think all chihuahuas may be Pandemonium chihuahuas.
- Panel 2
Mr. Scruffy steps on a pressure plate, "click!"
- Panel 3
Arrows fly out towards Belkar.
Belkar: Crap!
- Panel 4
Belkar stabs the hellhound in the rump, "SHTHNKK!", causing the hound to rear up, taking all three arrows, "thnk!! thnk!! thnk!!"
- Panel 5
The damage from the arrows sends the hellhound back to the Nine Hells, "POOF!"
- Panel 6
Belkar grimaces as he tumbles out of control down the ramp.
- Panel 7
Belkar: Unnnh. You OK?
Mr. Scruffy: Meow!
Belkar: OK.
Belkar: Let's get back to the others before they totally freak.
- Panel 8
Belkar: "Oh, Belkar, you were out of our sight for 4.3 nanoseconds, how many people did you murder?"
Belkar: None, thanks.
Belkar: And I find it offensive that you would think anyone could bleed out that fast.
- Panel 9
Belkar: Wait—did we come down this ramp, or that one?
Belkar: Ugh, I can't even pick up our own scent with the stench of those corpses all over the place.
- Panel 10
Belkar: Wait—do you hear that? Someone's coming. Someone in robes, sounds like.
Mr. Scruffy:Meow! Meow! Meow!
Belkar: Ha! This is perfect.
- Panel 11
Belkar: Oh man, Roy's gonna have to admit that I'm a valuable part of the team when he finds out we found Vaarsuvius and reunited the party!
Belkar: I can't wait to see his face!
- Panel 12
Belkar: No way he ever saw THIS one coming!
Malack waits around the corner.
D&D Context
- In the D&D ordering of the Outer Planes, the three planes mentioned by Belkar in the first panel are the planes associated with the Chaotic Evil alignment. The Abyss (which has 666 layers) is the plane of pure Chaotic Evil. Tartarus (also known as Carceri in later editions, and has 6 layers) is the plane of Neutral Evil/Chaotic Evil. Pandemonium (which has 4 layers) is the plane of Chaotic Neutral/Chaotic Evil. All three planes were first published in Dragon #8, and subsequently in the 1978 1st edition Players Handbook, and the 1987 1st edition Manual of the Planes. D&D cosmology has been reformulated in subsequent editions, particularly the 4th edition, but the current 5th edition returns to this basic structure, which was most fully formalized in the 2nd edition Planescape supplement.
Trivia
- The title makes reference to Belkar's comment, "Let's unleash the fury!", when he anticipates buying a vicious riding dog in #140, My Little Pony. He instead receives a dachshund. He references the term a second time in #432, Let Slip the Dogs of War, when he sees Hinjo's paladin mount, Argent, and is jealous that Hinjo gets to "unleash the fury". In this strip Belkar finally does get to ride a vicious dog.
- This is the final appearance of the Giant Hellhound from the previous strip.