Took me a second to spot that too… and it took even longer for me to spot his last rhyme. At first, I thought, “Aw, he only had one sentence at the end, there’s no other half of the rhyme.”
Then I looked closer and realized that he rhymed both halves of a two-word sentence.
He dropped the poet’s equivalent of the ultimate pithy one-liner, and he made it sound polite. I absolutely believe that this guy taught the Viscount how to operate, and I am increasingly nervous about what else is behind all of their poker faces.
(Also, I’m glad Roxy got her breakthrough, and even if It’s A Trap, I’m still on-board with her smiling and revving up for what sounds like an anti-meta-counter-prank or something.)
Part of me is happy to see Roxy back on her game. The other part of me knows that it’s thanks to the boiler-stoker, so I can’t trust it and I’m worried that it’s going to trigger something bad.
It’s conceivable that the effect was not intended, but yeah, it’s a bad sign overall. especially since they almost certainly know what she needs the artifact for.
Wild hypothesis: What if these devils are seeing the mehmonsters approaching their plane (or have seen them already wreck a few layers of hell) and are trying to manipulate the people of this world into fighting them?
Exactly. The Rulers of hell are in the midst of a “Destroy the multiverse! EGADS! I hope not, that’s where I keep all my stuff!” moment.
I suspect the Meh’thuhlus are also in the midst of that. They’re just victims of a shrinking habit, these poor multi-dimensional bears being forced out of their natural beyond time and spaces into the suburbs of the prime material…
Xanatos Gambits 101: To get the heroes to do what you want, arrange circumstances such that accomplishing their goals helps you accomplish your goals. A smart villain knows how to put good heroes to use.
I appreciate how “off” our boiler stoking fiend looks in the closeups. There’s clearly something uncanny about the way his smile is drawn, but it’s subtle.
Good point, he does look off. And now that I look back on his first in-daylight appearance two pages ago, I think the uncanny bit isn’t just his puffy upper lip (though it is that, too), it’s that his smile is so thin.
And that makes sense, seeing as the Viscount’s sponsors all had some amount of pointy-ness to their teeth. To quote a certain uplifted wolf from another webcomic, “Too many teeth. I have to remember when smiling at people not to show too many teeth.”
I was gonna call foul on the trancing but then I checked myself. I thought Roxie was a half-elf this whole time, what with being raised among humans and the elves being… a certain kind of way about her.
My current theory for Roxy’s big realization: maybe the ghost feeds on riling up other people, either literally or he’s just a troll. These elves make for great targets because they’re so easy to embarrass/irritate/etc. So potentially, the solution is to just ignore him, and/or laugh off anything he does to them. (Not entirely sure how the bananas fit into that, admittedly.)
I’m not totally confident in this, but it’s the only through line I can find for all of the things Roxy just remembered.
I think the ghost is “eating” or at least thriving off being the biggest prankster around, if they want to get rid of him they a neither get everyone to stop reacting to him (which isn’t going to work) or they can become even bigger trolls themselves
Rusty and Co. and rustyandco.com is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. For more information about Wizards of the Coast or any of Wizards’ trademarks or other intellectual property, please visit their website at Wizards.com
If you like Rusty & Co., you may also like... Facet
I am reminded of the ad slogan “you’re not you when you’re hungry.” For the Snickers candy bar iirc.
Tricky how he rhymes across Roxy’s sentences. Almost like he knows what she’s going to say before she says it. 😉
Yeah, that rhyme took me a moment to find
I still don’t see the rhyme?
“A little less beaten” – “we haven’t eaten”
Took me a second to spot that too… and it took even longer for me to spot his last rhyme. At first, I thought, “Aw, he only had one sentence at the end, there’s no other half of the rhyme.”
Then I looked closer and realized that he rhymed both halves of a two-word sentence.
He dropped the poet’s equivalent of the ultimate pithy one-liner, and he made it sound polite. I absolutely believe that this guy taught the Viscount how to operate, and I am increasingly nervous about what else is behind all of their poker faces.
(Also, I’m glad Roxy got her breakthrough, and even if It’s A Trap, I’m still on-board with her smiling and revving up for what sounds like an anti-meta-counter-prank or something.)
That, or he’s incredibly good at improvising based on what either people say. Either way, it’s impressive.
Part of me is happy to see Roxy back on her game. The other part of me knows that it’s thanks to the boiler-stoker, so I can’t trust it and I’m worried that it’s going to trigger something bad.
It’s conceivable that the effect was not intended, but yeah, it’s a bad sign overall. especially since they almost certainly know what she needs the artifact for.
Wild hypothesis: What if these devils are seeing the mehmonsters approaching their plane (or have seen them already wreck a few layers of hell) and are trying to manipulate the people of this world into fighting them?
Exactly. The Rulers of hell are in the midst of a “Destroy the multiverse! EGADS! I hope not, that’s where I keep all my stuff!” moment.
I suspect the Meh’thuhlus are also in the midst of that. They’re just victims of a shrinking habit, these poor multi-dimensional bears being forced out of their natural beyond time and spaces into the suburbs of the prime material…
Either you meant “shrinking habitat” or those nuns are going to be very uncomfortable. 😉
Xanatos Gambits 101: To get the heroes to do what you want, arrange circumstances such that accomplishing their goals helps you accomplish your goals. A smart villain knows how to put good heroes to use.
I would be happy for Roxie if I wasn’t worried for her.
I appreciate how “off” our boiler stoking fiend looks in the closeups. There’s clearly something uncanny about the way his smile is drawn, but it’s subtle.
Good point, he does look off. And now that I look back on his first in-daylight appearance two pages ago, I think the uncanny bit isn’t just his puffy upper lip (though it is that, too), it’s that his smile is so thin.
And that makes sense, seeing as the Viscount’s sponsors all had some amount of pointy-ness to their teeth. To quote a certain uplifted wolf from another webcomic, “Too many teeth. I have to remember when smiling at people not to show too many teeth.”
Given the pale skin and shades covering the eyes, I’m guessing that might be an elf’s skin being used as a disguise.
I was gonna call foul on the trancing but then I checked myself. I thought Roxie was a half-elf this whole time, what with being raised among humans and the elves being… a certain kind of way about her.
She’s just a foreign elf, raised with the wrong ideas… and who even knows the providence of her parentage… these Elves have strong xenophobia.
I’m betting she’s the lost Princess of the Elven Kingdom and rejecting the Throne will be an arc n her personal story.
Just a small-town elf…
Living byyy herself…
She took the railship going an-y-where…
She’s from the Denerim Alienage; no self-respecting Dalish would be seen with her.
My current theory for Roxy’s big realization: maybe the ghost feeds on riling up other people, either literally or he’s just a troll. These elves make for great targets because they’re so easy to embarrass/irritate/etc. So potentially, the solution is to just ignore him, and/or laugh off anything he does to them. (Not entirely sure how the bananas fit into that, admittedly.)
I’m not totally confident in this, but it’s the only through line I can find for all of the things Roxy just remembered.
I think the ghost is “eating” or at least thriving off being the biggest prankster around, if they want to get rid of him they a neither get everyone to stop reacting to him (which isn’t going to work) or they can become even bigger trolls themselves
Oh dear… what rhymes with try?
DIE