You know, I have to wonder… what are these traumatic memories that Madeline “almost said yes” to erasing?
She died, yeah, which would have been painful, but pain by itself isn’t all that emotionally traumatizing. In my experience, once the immediate pain subsides, it’s hard to believe it was ever such a big deal.
And it was an honorable death. She was protecting the innocent, repaying those who had helped her in the past, and opposing evil. Any paladin would be proud of that. Dying for a worthy cause and then being lovingly resurrected by your friends… that’s a memory to cherish, not shun.
So just what did Madeline experience in the afterlife? And why would she experience something like that in the Lawful Good afterlife? Something is wrong here.
I disagree, she is a paladin, yes, but she is also a person. When she died it was by the hands of some eldritch horror that completely overwhelmed her. She suffered greatly before she died.
Pain can be overcome. Great pain, especially coupled with great loss (her own life in this case) is not so easily forgotten.
That is is what Madeline had to/is dealing with. Being hurt, utterly overwhelmed and even killed. That is a source of immense trauma that any person will have trouble dealing with, paladin or not.
Actually, she beat the eldritch horror just fine. Well, maybe not so much “beat” as “survived against for a while until her allies unsummoned it”, but she seemed no worse for wear from it.
She died to a pack of dynamite (after severe hit point depletion from other heavy, but ordinary-for-the-setting, combat). Pretty ordinary.
Also, 8-44 shows that Derek believes Madeline’s trauma comes from the afterlife. In 8-113, Madeline herself describes weird and fuzzy feelings after the explosion, which is when she would have been dead. According to the Viscount (who’s evil, but reporting to people that it would probably not be a good idea to lie to) in 8-191, Madeline had “experiences in the afterlife” that had been repressed but that she has since remembered. In 9-3, Zar claims that Madeline has important information about the villains’ motives, but doesn’t yet realize the significance of that information. He doesn’t say where she learned that information from, but it does seem to be implied to be connected to what happened to her in the afterlife.
It’s entirely possible she was redirected to one of the BAD afterlifes. You know, on purpose by some bad guys, who rhyme and like being backlit by flames.
The Formians seem to be falling under the traditional “we will do what is best for you at all costs”.
The hotel itself is obviously a cover for something more sinister, but we don’t know how much more sinister persay; it could easily be that a LOT of heroes have had memories they could not live with and the original methods used were less than gentle. ALternatively, they’re enchanting people to subtly drain their considerable coffers, or possibly even just to keep them calm and stop them from poking around and finding the other part of the hotel.
Strictly speaking, we know that they Formians are being “the bad guys” of this chapter, but we don’t know that they’re really evil.
The way that Madeline tells the boss “you need someone to help you”, and apologizes to the guards before attacking them, strongly implies that she’s sniffed out that they aren’t Evil. That’s the advantage of having a paladin along, and a big reason why many of us voted for her on this mission. (It was my biggest reason, anyway.)
Canonically, formians are Lawful Neutral, and as strongly tied to that alignment as angels are to being Good or demons to being Evil.
We’ve yet to learn exactly what’s going on, but it’s definitely something more subtle than “evil villains being evil”.
Evil artifact? Oh no, we’re talking a neutral artifact, which coupled with their initial alignment, makes for incredibly neutral situations (we don’t know the alignments of everyone else in the hotel, and if they get everyone, regardless of pasts, into a happy, carefree existence, that’s the ultimate neutral experience)
No good, no evil, no conflict, just happy thoughts at such a lovely place.
Thing is, “carefree” is more on the chaotic side of things – Lawful is more “there is this thing to do and you must do it” (whether that’s saving people [LG], subjugating people [LE] or just Rules Are Rules [LN]).
“Corrupted” is a very vague term. We have a rough idea of what’s going on, but the details are still unclear. I also don’t see what erasing memories has to do with necromancy.
Years ago, I was starting up a campaign where interparty conflict was a key element. The players were warned.
Each character had at least one other character they really ought to have significant conflict. The point was to find ways to overcome these conflicts over the course of the campaign through hared experience and mutual threats.
The party has a huge fight with a group of five… things. One of them fights the party to a standstill while the other four escape. After finally dispatching the “Delayer” (barely), the group tracks the other four down to a large metal door with a pile of rubble and detritus before it.
Discussion ensues. Most of the party has now realized that they are in over their heads – except the cleric. He’s gung-ho to force the door open and head on in (the player is convinced that this is the hook for the night – it’s not). The cleric’s bodyguard begins trying to explain to him that this is a bad idea. No soap. The bodyguard begins apologizing to the cleric about how sorry he is, that he didn’t want to take this option but he feels that the cleric has left him no other choice…
At which point the rogue, who was sent to investigate the doors and has wandered back behind the cleric, cold-cocks the cleric, scores a natural 20, and lays the cleric out cold.
And that pretty much ended the campaign, as the cleric’s player got mightily ticked off at everyone
Side Note: Dead party had they gone inside – one guy dropped every party member but two into unconsciousness and the remaining two to single digit HP, so winning the argument would have ended the campaign too… ::shrugs::
=======
They might be xxx, not ant.
The costumes would hide the extra pair of legs. 6 legs = insectoides, 8 legs = xxxoides. It’s a primary school notion that you can make joke about.
But where are the 4 pairs of eyes? The queen can conceal the extra 3 pairs with her scarf, but not the employees. The queen caught my attention, acting mysterious, since the first panel.
See the freckle, they amount almost always to match the missing 3 eyes on each cheek. They could be scars, or eyed shut. They made the servant ant cute, but they range as being odd and being big on the bodyguards.
When revealed, the hotel will appear A LOT less welcoming. Who would come along willfully into a xxx den?!
Also, in DnD, those natural animals are set as “neutral” or unaligned, so Madeleine cannot see if they’re evil with her paladin detect evil skill.
=======
I have two objections. First, this ants have antennae, and the arthropods you’re implying they secretly are have not. And second, and most importantly, that would ruin the “hotel califormian” gag, and that is unforgivable.
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always nice to see Tae Kwon Leap in action.
Boot. to. the. head!
And also, a lifetime supply of ice cream.
“Ice cream? Well, what flavor is it?”
Boot to the Head.
and another for Jenny and the wimp
There’s the Madeline we know 🙂
Canada’s greatest paladin!
It’s great how classic Madeline can still be played so seriously. She’s our girl ;w;
I’m not sure if I’m more impressed by the kick, or by how you made a profile of a largely featureless face show surprise.
Either way, go Maddie!
You know, I have to wonder… what are these traumatic memories that Madeline “almost said yes” to erasing?
She died, yeah, which would have been painful, but pain by itself isn’t all that emotionally traumatizing. In my experience, once the immediate pain subsides, it’s hard to believe it was ever such a big deal.
And it was an honorable death. She was protecting the innocent, repaying those who had helped her in the past, and opposing evil. Any paladin would be proud of that. Dying for a worthy cause and then being lovingly resurrected by your friends… that’s a memory to cherish, not shun.
So just what did Madeline experience in the afterlife? And why would she experience something like that in the Lawful Good afterlife? Something is wrong here.
I disagree, she is a paladin, yes, but she is also a person. When she died it was by the hands of some eldritch horror that completely overwhelmed her. She suffered greatly before she died.
Pain can be overcome. Great pain, especially coupled with great loss (her own life in this case) is not so easily forgotten.
That is is what Madeline had to/is dealing with. Being hurt, utterly overwhelmed and even killed. That is a source of immense trauma that any person will have trouble dealing with, paladin or not.
Actually, she beat the eldritch horror just fine. Well, maybe not so much “beat” as “survived against for a while until her allies unsummoned it”, but she seemed no worse for wear from it.
She died to a pack of dynamite (after severe hit point depletion from other heavy, but ordinary-for-the-setting, combat). Pretty ordinary.
Also, 8-44 shows that Derek believes Madeline’s trauma comes from the afterlife. In 8-113, Madeline herself describes weird and fuzzy feelings after the explosion, which is when she would have been dead. According to the Viscount (who’s evil, but reporting to people that it would probably not be a good idea to lie to) in 8-191, Madeline had “experiences in the afterlife” that had been repressed but that she has since remembered. In 9-3, Zar claims that Madeline has important information about the villains’ motives, but doesn’t yet realize the significance of that information. He doesn’t say where she learned that information from, but it does seem to be implied to be connected to what happened to her in the afterlife.
It’s entirely possible she was redirected to one of the BAD afterlifes. You know, on purpose by some bad guys, who rhyme and like being backlit by flames.
She died to dynamite (http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-7-84/)
Soon after she starts remembering (http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-8-185/), the Viscount says she ‘remembered her experiences in the afterlife’ (http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-8-191/)
If she went to some kind of paradise, then remembering it in comparison to the mundane world might well be sheer torture.
I remember that season of Buffy…
Possibly the transition to the afterlife is a somewhat prolonged and possibly dangerous process. And hers was bad.
I think she let him know in advance of the kick because she recognizes they are NOT evil. Not sure if she can smell Neutral though.
She can, and it smells like a Starbucks skinny cinnamon dolce latte, according to critical missives #6
#7, not #6. But yeah, good call!
Anyone who hasn’t checked the alt-text on this one, I encourage you to do so. A classic.
How true!
Clown to the left of me, Joker to the right…
It’s a bit of a Rorschach test.
The Formians seem to be falling under the traditional “we will do what is best for you at all costs”.
The hotel itself is obviously a cover for something more sinister, but we don’t know how much more sinister persay; it could easily be that a LOT of heroes have had memories they could not live with and the original methods used were less than gentle. ALternatively, they’re enchanting people to subtly drain their considerable coffers, or possibly even just to keep them calm and stop them from poking around and finding the other part of the hotel.
Strictly speaking, we know that they Formians are being “the bad guys” of this chapter, but we don’t know that they’re really evil.
The way that Madeline tells the boss “you need someone to help you”, and apologizes to the guards before attacking them, strongly implies that she’s sniffed out that they aren’t Evil. That’s the advantage of having a paladin along, and a big reason why many of us voted for her on this mission. (It was my biggest reason, anyway.)
Canonically, formians are Lawful Neutral, and as strongly tied to that alignment as angels are to being Good or demons to being Evil.
We’ve yet to learn exactly what’s going on, but it’s definitely something more subtle than “evil villains being evil”.
It’s probably the evil artifact taking control.
Evil artifact? Oh no, we’re talking a neutral artifact, which coupled with their initial alignment, makes for incredibly neutral situations (we don’t know the alignments of everyone else in the hotel, and if they get everyone, regardless of pasts, into a happy, carefree existence, that’s the ultimate neutral experience)
No good, no evil, no conflict, just happy thoughts at such a lovely place.
Thing is, “carefree” is more on the chaotic side of things – Lawful is more “there is this thing to do and you must do it” (whether that’s saving people [LG], subjugating people [LE] or just Rules Are Rules [LN]).
We know what is going on as of page http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-9-4/
The antfolk are being corrupted by an artifact of necromancy
“Corrupted” is a very vague term. We have a rough idea of what’s going on, but the details are still unclear. I also don’t see what erasing memories has to do with necromancy.
So, standard James Bond plan: get captured, escape the deathtrap and disable the villain.
‘I think we can handle one little girl. I sent two soldiers, they’re bringing her down now.’
‘No queen, your ants are already dead.’
Atta girl!
Well, that’s one way to step on an ant…
“How to step on an ant larger than you are: a demonstration.”
Formians-In-Black trying to remove memories find they get the gritty reboot.
Nice to see her going toe-to-toe again (or, toe-to-forehead). Now if only Derek was here to provide the heels..
So the farn implement Madeline went with this time is a boot? Maybe a +5 boot of stomping?
Hmpf. The only footwear I’ll accept as a “farm implement” is a clog.
You’ve clearly never needed a muck boot,
Years ago, I was starting up a campaign where interparty conflict was a key element. The players were warned.
Each character had at least one other character they really ought to have significant conflict. The point was to find ways to overcome these conflicts over the course of the campaign through hared experience and mutual threats.
The party has a huge fight with a group of five… things. One of them fights the party to a standstill while the other four escape. After finally dispatching the “Delayer” (barely), the group tracks the other four down to a large metal door with a pile of rubble and detritus before it.
Discussion ensues. Most of the party has now realized that they are in over their heads – except the cleric. He’s gung-ho to force the door open and head on in (the player is convinced that this is the hook for the night – it’s not). The cleric’s bodyguard begins trying to explain to him that this is a bad idea. No soap. The bodyguard begins apologizing to the cleric about how sorry he is, that he didn’t want to take this option but he feels that the cleric has left him no other choice…
At which point the rogue, who was sent to investigate the doors and has wandered back behind the cleric, cold-cocks the cleric, scores a natural 20, and lays the cleric out cold.
And that pretty much ended the campaign, as the cleric’s player got mightily ticked off at everyone
Side Note: Dead party had they gone inside – one guy dropped every party member but two into unconsciousness and the remaining two to single digit HP, so winning the argument would have ended the campaign too… ::shrugs::
potential SPOILER, with slight auto-censure
=======
They might be xxx, not ant.
The costumes would hide the extra pair of legs. 6 legs = insectoides, 8 legs = xxxoides. It’s a primary school notion that you can make joke about.
But where are the 4 pairs of eyes? The queen can conceal the extra 3 pairs with her scarf, but not the employees. The queen caught my attention, acting mysterious, since the first panel.
See the freckle, they amount almost always to match the missing 3 eyes on each cheek. They could be scars, or eyed shut. They made the servant ant cute, but they range as being odd and being big on the bodyguards.
When revealed, the hotel will appear A LOT less welcoming. Who would come along willfully into a xxx den?!
Also, in DnD, those natural animals are set as “neutral” or unaligned, so Madeleine cannot see if they’re evil with her paladin detect evil skill.
=======
end of the potential SPOILER
I have two objections. First, this ants have antennae, and the arthropods you’re implying they secretly are have not. And second, and most importantly, that would ruin the “hotel califormian” gag, and that is unforgivable.
Madeline is a master of the Way of the Foot in Mouth.
The evil artifact might be the golden lotus.