I don’t get this thing of Madeline being part fiend and it affecting her afterlife’s destination. Barring the lava thing, she’s shown no signs of being Hell or Abyss blooded
I can believe reality rift shenanigans redirecting her soul to a holding plane of some description though
What I do find interesting still is the idea of the Prodigal Daughter – i.e. a person who leaves home to lead a prodigal life (a life of excess or lavishness) but later makes a repentant return. (kudos to Google and Oxford Dictionary)
Correct me if I’m being silly, but doesn’t this fit the Princess more than anyone else in the story at this point? She did temporarily quit to live a life as a gang leader and has now returned home to resume her duties?
I just think The Paladin and The Prodigal Daughter in the fiend’s previous statement are two separate beings
The story of the Prodigal Son has a few more nuances to it that just “sinner comes home”, such as the prodigal son took his share of the birthright and squandered it, not coming home until he hit rock bottom asking only to be hired as a workhand, and when he came home his father threw a feast at the protest of his OTHER son the one who kept his birthright and stayed faithful.
If Madeline does have infernal blood she sure did squander that birthright by being a goodie-goodie.
Plus I think it’s hard to get much more rock bottom than dead…
Buddy, good in this universe is literally a substance you can measure and smell, and Maddie needs to have a lot of it in her to be a paladin at all. This is not a case of adhering to the wrong set of morals.
Ekshully… in 5e paladins don’t need to be good at all. Many an edgelord has picked Oath of Vengeance or Oath of Conquest. Though Maddie is probably Oath of Devotion, and their oath tenets are pretty much textbook LG.
I checked with Forgotten Realms wiki and I would guess this is the Fugue Plane, were the recently dead go to either be judged or get claimed by their deity. I hadn’t heard of that plane before, I thought souls gravitated directly to the outer realm matching their alignment. But if it exists you would expect to regain awareness there.
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Well, it beats the hells, but I imagine it will be a shock to everyone that she didn’t get a gold plated limo straight to the heavens.
These could still be the grey wastes, though it seems the ghosts have a lot of color in them.
Scrounge up some diamonds. Revive Whitey. Ask him about the afterlife.
Then we know whether it was something that happened to HER, or something that happened to the afterlife.
(I suspect that the Rule of Drama will determine whether this will happen.)
That first panel is breaking my heart… especially Rusty’s reaction, for whatever reason. And, of course, the look on Derek’s face says a lot.
Yes, Rusty is deeply moved.
It’s hard to tell from a distance, but even Princess seems like she’s taking this seriously.
Oh, poor maddie.
That — does not look good.
I don’t get this thing of Madeline being part fiend and it affecting her afterlife’s destination. Barring the lava thing, she’s shown no signs of being Hell or Abyss blooded
I can believe reality rift shenanigans redirecting her soul to a holding plane of some description though
What I do find interesting still is the idea of the Prodigal Daughter – i.e. a person who leaves home to lead a prodigal life (a life of excess or lavishness) but later makes a repentant return. (kudos to Google and Oxford Dictionary)
Correct me if I’m being silly, but doesn’t this fit the Princess more than anyone else in the story at this point? She did temporarily quit to live a life as a gang leader and has now returned home to resume her duties?
I just think The Paladin and The Prodigal Daughter in the fiend’s previous statement are two separate beings
Yeah, prodigal daughter fits the princess more. However, prophecies are often deceptive and it could be referring to Maddie for that reason.
And regarding “the lava thing”, note that in 7-4 Presti was specifically asked to prep volcano survival spells. Guess who she cast them on?
The story of the Prodigal Son has a few more nuances to it that just “sinner comes home”, such as the prodigal son took his share of the birthright and squandered it, not coming home until he hit rock bottom asking only to be hired as a workhand, and when he came home his father threw a feast at the protest of his OTHER son the one who kept his birthright and stayed faithful.
If Madeline does have infernal blood she sure did squander that birthright by being a goodie-goodie.
Plus I think it’s hard to get much more rock bottom than dead…
Both curious about her story and worried about her telling everyone, since that seemed to be what the baddies *wanted* her to do.
Your versatility in art styles never ceases to amaze, Mike. I can’t wait to see more of this spiritual world. Great page!
The downside of Pascal’s Wager: assuming your religion is the only option other than atheism.
Buddy, good in this universe is literally a substance you can measure and smell, and Maddie needs to have a lot of it in her to be a paladin at all. This is not a case of adhering to the wrong set of morals.
Ekshully… in 5e paladins don’t need to be good at all. Many an edgelord has picked Oath of Vengeance or Oath of Conquest. Though Maddie is probably Oath of Devotion, and their oath tenets are pretty much textbook LG.
this isn’t 5e
I checked with Forgotten Realms wiki and I would guess this is the Fugue Plane, were the recently dead go to either be judged or get claimed by their deity. I hadn’t heard of that plane before, I thought souls gravitated directly to the outer realm matching their alignment. But if it exists you would expect to regain awareness there.
A Ghost of a Tale?
Hate to be ‘that guy’ at such a touching moment, but good thing her armor is bronze seeing as Rusty is rubbing up against her!
.. the story is bad enough without ending with, “… and now I am standing here NAKED!”
Rusty can eat any metal. But eating Maddie’s armor at a moment like this? He’s a good boy, he wouldn’t do that.
Rusty dragged Maddie back to Ye Proverbial Hook without eating her armor. Presti pointed out that therefore, she must be important.
If he survived that trek, this is no problem.
(He’s learned quite a bit about “No eat.”)
He only eats metals which his antenna tips touch, and he is very obviously keeping them well away from anything other than maybe her shins.
Sorry this was supposed to be a reply to DaGecko.
I will not be surprised if she ends up redeeming a ton of lost souls. Because that’s just how GOOD Maddie is!!!!
Looks like the basis for an indie game.