Great strip, as always. I still can’t believe this comic hasn’t got more traction (yet) — I think it’s possibly the best webcomic ‘alive’ at the moment, so thank you not only for the great story, but also the amazing art, which keeps getting better and better!
I won’t lie though, I’m slowly losing track of how many rounds we’ve already taken on the ‘We know that they know that we know’ carousel, I’m not even sure I know how many players are playing the game any more. The princess is looking so self-confident and unphased, either Roxy has become better at acting and is displaying significant self-control (backed by Cube), or maybe — hear me out — the princess has entered the game again and we had a switcheroo some time ago without anybody noticing. Last we saw her, the Princess was having a serious bout of thinking, notably about responsibility, could it be that she decided it was time to come back in a time of dire need and to root out several threats at once by keeping up the masquerade of the masquerade?
I would say that that’s possible, but I think this and the prior 2 adventures are supposed to be in comic time, happening simultaneously. I figure the Princess will return eventually, but for now I think we have Roxy.
Also note, Roxy/The Princess two comics ago seemed quite reluctant to throw Malevolous out herself. Malevolous even seemed to imply that that was a common occurrence, and the real Princess seemed to generally ignore him or just cut right to the punching. The Princess is a very strong monk but I doubt Roxy, even if she is good with disguise, acting, and her CHA-based skills, she won’t have the direct power the Princess has, even if she has a decent DEX stat and weapon finesse. (I doubt she has a high STR score). It’d also be a huge tell if she started casting bard spells in court or used weapons, since the Princess doesn’t do/need either.
Presti sure is sweating a lot though. Given what happened to her in the circus I don’t blame her.
Not sure about “the” best webcomic (The Order of the Stick is still pretty “alive” after all), but Rusty defenitely is one of the best webcomics out there
As I recall, many of the derro that we met before became deceased during that meeting. Burnum may have decided to send his son with some of the surviving performers rather than spending money to raise the dead ones. Every villain has a budget, after all.
(And there’s still a chance that Burnum would to high Dunsinane come.)
Wait a second. Dog Town represents a “Superfantastical” Lair and Circus, but the deal he offers is merely “Superfantasical.” The deal’s a letter short. It has only one “t,” and it takes two to spell “trust.”
The really big question here is, is Mal running because he’s been handed the distraction he needed, or is he running because he knows how Dog Town fights and doesn’t want to be collateral damage?
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Great strip, as always. I still can’t believe this comic hasn’t got more traction (yet) — I think it’s possibly the best webcomic ‘alive’ at the moment, so thank you not only for the great story, but also the amazing art, which keeps getting better and better!
I won’t lie though, I’m slowly losing track of how many rounds we’ve already taken on the ‘We know that they know that we know’ carousel, I’m not even sure I know how many players are playing the game any more. The princess is looking so self-confident and unphased, either Roxy has become better at acting and is displaying significant self-control (backed by Cube), or maybe — hear me out — the princess has entered the game again and we had a switcheroo some time ago without anybody noticing. Last we saw her, the Princess was having a serious bout of thinking, notably about responsibility, could it be that she decided it was time to come back in a time of dire need and to root out several threats at once by keeping up the masquerade of the masquerade?
I would say that that’s possible, but I think this and the prior 2 adventures are supposed to be in comic time, happening simultaneously. I figure the Princess will return eventually, but for now I think we have Roxy.
Also note, Roxy/The Princess two comics ago seemed quite reluctant to throw Malevolous out herself. Malevolous even seemed to imply that that was a common occurrence, and the real Princess seemed to generally ignore him or just cut right to the punching. The Princess is a very strong monk but I doubt Roxy, even if she is good with disguise, acting, and her CHA-based skills, she won’t have the direct power the Princess has, even if she has a decent DEX stat and weapon finesse. (I doubt she has a high STR score). It’d also be a huge tell if she started casting bard spells in court or used weapons, since the Princess doesn’t do/need either.
Presti sure is sweating a lot though. Given what happened to her in the circus I don’t blame her.
Not sure about “the” best webcomic (The Order of the Stick is still pretty “alive” after all), but Rusty defenitely is one of the best webcomics out there
Spread the word!
If the princess were back, they would have had to do something with their prisoner. I doubt it.
Panel 5: Roxy, cool under pressure.
Panel 6: Duke Whatsisface, running for the hills
He who learns to run away, lives to… run away again some other day.
This is the guy who bribed Rusty and Cube with the information on how to get to his boss to make his own get away.
To be fair, his mental math checked out at the time.
Probably checked out now, too.
Burnum’s son, huh? Well, I recall the resemblance was noted.
In light of that, it is interesting, perhaps, that we met none of these four before?
As I recall, many of the derro that we met before became deceased during that meeting. Burnum may have decided to send his son with some of the surviving performers rather than spending money to raise the dead ones. Every villain has a budget, after all.
(And there’s still a chance that Burnum would to high Dunsinane come.)
Dogtown looked kinda like a beast tamer of some kind, with the whip and the teeth on his hat. There’s no animals with him though.
Maybe he does summoning magic, and hell hounds will turn the throne room into a literal dog town?
Wait a second. Dog Town represents a “Superfantastical” Lair and Circus, but the deal he offers is merely “Superfantasical.” The deal’s a letter short. It has only one “t,” and it takes two to spell “trust.”
I’m not sure we can trust this guy.
I’m sure we can not trust this guy.
Princess, you should sue your sweat glands for treason.
The really big question here is, is Mal running because he’s been handed the distraction he needed, or is he running because he knows how Dog Town fights and doesn’t want to be collateral damage?
doesn’t look like „handed a distraction“ run.
He wasn’t trying to leave before.
I love the Derro names. Reminds me of Amazing Maurice’s educated rodents.
Its a spicy reference for sure
I wonder if Dog Town knows he’s the only member of his troupe left that’s not yet taken down.
Hostage? Hmm — Dorilys’s argument about going straight for the treasury rather than holding her for ransom missed a possibility.