"Durkon" takes advantage of Gontor's special status to kill him, beginning the execution of his plan for Godsmoot.
Cast
- Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield (as vampire) ◀ ▶
- "Durkon" ◀ ▶
- Gontor Hammerfell ◀ ▶
Transcript
- Panel 1
"Durkon": This cathedral is lovely, by the way. Am I correct in thinking that your people raised it?
Gontor: Yes, my sisters and brothers of the Creed toiled all morning, resting the stone from the mountain.
Gontor: Tomorrow, we will return it to its natural state.
- Panel 2
"Durkon": Tomorrow? Not this evening?
Gontor: Ha ha, I wish we had that many spell slots left!
Gontor: I can’t even remember the last time I used my entire allotment of high-level spells before today!
- Panel 3
"Durkon": And just to be clear: the Creed does not actually have a representative in the moot itself, does it?
Gontor: Sadly, no.
- Panel 4
Gontor: We have been negotiating reforms that would allow non-theistic religions to have a voice in such meetings.
Gontor: I think your goddess would be a natural ally in that cause. That’s why I wanted the chance to speak with you privately.
Gontor: For too long, Hel’s voice has remained unheard in these proceedings due to her lack of appropriately leveled clergy.
- Panel 5
Gontor: Perhaps when the moot has concluded, we could—
"Durkon": So what I’m hearing, apart from some meaningless political blather—
- Panel 6
"Durkon": —is that you have no spells left, no protection from the rules of the Godsmoot, and no deity to object on your behalf.
- Panel 7
"Durkon" casts a spell.
Gontor: Excuse me? What does—
"Durkon": Silence!
- Panel 8
Durkon sinks his fangs into Gontor.
Gontor: …
- Panel 9
In the background, Belkar pokes his head out from around the corner.
- Panel 10
Belkar is alarmed.
- Panel 11
He breaks into a run.
- Panel 12
"Durkon", holding the dead body of the the Exarch, looks back to see Belkar's cloak as he retreats.
D&D Context
- Silence is a 2nd level spell which creates a 20 ft radius area wherein all sound is stopped. One of the primary consequences of this is that no spells with verbal components can be cast, but in this case "Durkon" appears to cast the spell to conceal any screams.
- "Durkon" uses his vampire Blood Drain attack, which requires a grapple attack. Once he fully drained Gontor, the Exarch becomes a vampire spawn.
Trivia
- This strip reveals that the Creed of the Stone is a non-theistic religion and that is is not represented in this moot for that reason, despite being responsible for its administrative organization. The Creed worships elemental stone itself.