Nale and Malack quarrel as they trip the traps surrounding Girard's Gate.
Cast
- The Order of the Stick
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Haley Starshine ◀ ▶
- Elan ◀ ▶
- Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield (as vampire) ◀ ▶
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- "Durkon"◀ ▶
- The Linear Guild
- Spiky the Barbed Devil ◀ ▶
- Zz'dtri's Piscodaemon ◀ ▶
- An Azurite Cleric (in Sending)
Transcript
- Panel 1
Roy: Crap—here they come. Everyone stay quiet.
- Panel 2
The Linear Guild enters from the other side of the room.
Nale: Is this it? Is this the Gate room?
Malack: How should I know? One can hope, certainly.
- Panel 3
Roy (whispering): Durkon...
- Panel 4
Nale: I don't see my brother or Greenhilt. I was looking forward to destroying them both.
Nale: Ah, well. Once we've seized the Gate, I can track them down and—
- Panel 5
Nale gets blasted by the ring trap, "ZZAAPP!"
Nale: AAAAH!!
- Panel 6
Nale: Whoa! Did you see that?
Malack: Yes.
Nale: ...Before or after I triggered it?
Malack: ...
- Panel 7
Malack dispels the ring trap.
Malack: As I recall, you were instructed to let the heroes trip the defenses before moving in.
Nale drinks a healing potion.
Nale: As I recall, you were instructed to shut the hell up.
Malack: By whom?
Nale: Me. Shut the hell up.
- Panel 8
Malack: I will not be spoken to by you in this way.
Malack: You are only tolerated as a concession to my alliance with Tarquin.
Nale: Funny, that's what I was about to say.
- Panel 9
Nale: Don't worry your precious dead head, Malack.
Nale: Once I secure this Gate, you won't have to worry about me anymore.
Malack: The thought it foremost in my mind at all times.
Roy (whispering): Whew...
- Panel 10
Roy (whispering): ...I really thought we were in trouble there for a moment.
Haley looks shocked as she's getting a Sending from an Azurite.
D&D Context
- Malack does not call out his spell as is convention in this comic, but he is apparently using Dispel Magic, a 3rd level spell, to remove the magical ring trap around the center of the pyramid.
Trivia
- The last panel depicts Haley receiving a Sending connected to that in #865, Getting Defensive, where Hinjo learned about the events of #827, Crushed.
- In #895, Plain Sight, it is confirmed that this is indeed a Sending avatar and that it warns the Order about the imminent arrival of Xykon. The Azurites have made previous attempts at communication for three hours while the Order was in the phantasm dream.