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New Comics Every M/W/F - Written by T Campbell & Phil Kahn - Illustrated by John & Jason Waltrip

It was a radical new incarceration method involving life-deprivation techniques.

Chapter 12 – Page 2

on July 25, 2011
Chapter: Chapter 12
└ Tags: Bandit, Syr'Nj
Comments RSS

Discussion (100) ¬

  1. Joe
    Joe
    July 25, 2011, 12:03 am | # | Reply

    “But the armor, well, let’s just say Berserkerboy owes me anything he rolls on for the next few dungeons.”

    • Acadian Bacon
      Acadian Bacon
      July 25, 2011, 2:09 am | # | Reply

      “We’ll make sure to let you take it up with him… the next time he’s berzerking.” :P

      She wasn’t the only one in danger of being killed by Byron during his fit; none of them knew he’d become a raging murderous machine that would kill friend and foe. She just happened to have failed her perception check, which is pretty sad considering it’s supposed to be one of her strong points as a rogue. x3

      • Acadian Bacon
        Acadian Bacon
        July 25, 2011, 2:10 am | # | Reply

        Wow, the “quote” thingy I just posted goes AWESOME with the gravatar I got! For being random, they sure do end up being good coincidental visual aids. :3

  2. Moe Lane
    Moe Lane
    July 25, 2011, 12:07 am | # | Reply

    “I jus’ woke up and was fine.”

    …Riiiiiiiiiight.

    • Valdrax
      Valdrax
      July 25, 2011, 2:06 am | # | Reply

      Carol: “One day they woke me up, so I could live forever.”

      • SotiCoto
        SotiCoto
        January 20, 2015, 5:23 am | # | Reply

        It’s such a shame the same will never happen to you.

    • MoodyDK
      MoodyDK
      July 26, 2011, 10:39 am | # | Reply

      What? That’s what happened to me. Okay, there was the whole “consume the souls of the living and lay waste to the world in the name of the Lich King” thing, but I’m working on that.

  3. Katlamos
    Katlamos
    July 25, 2011, 12:08 am | # | Reply

    Troll’s Blood: Curing everything since forever

    • bargamer
      bargamer
      July 25, 2011, 12:11 am | # | Reply

      If we consider Harky’s extra-potent blood against Bandit’s extra-small body… No. Still wouldn’t work that way. She’s lying… but why?

      • Karishi
        Karishi
        July 25, 2011, 12:15 am | # | Reply

        …Because “I respawned” breaks the fourth wall, and that’s against the rules?

      • gangler
        gangler
        July 25, 2011, 12:37 am | # | Reply

        I don’t think she’s lying. I think she doesn’t know. There are forces at work here beyond our ken.

        • Robtimus
          Robtimus
          July 25, 2011, 5:57 am | # | Reply

          Like Shoryuken?

          • Ampersand
            Ampersand
            July 25, 2011, 8:03 pm | # | Reply

            You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.

            • Robtimus
              Robtimus
              July 25, 2011, 10:53 pm | # | Reply

              YOU WIN!

              PERFECT!

      • Doop doop
        Doop doop
        July 25, 2011, 1:32 am | # | Reply

        I don’t see why it wouldn’t work if it’s really extra potent trolls blood.

        Obviously troll blood in the Guilded Age universe is a panacea and in its diluted form is sold as potions for very minor injuries (papercuts, scrapes, etc). Actual trolls blood would be used to heal greater (but still minor) injuries, cuts, lesser stab wounds, blunt trauma.

        Harky’s blood is concentrated troll blood that allows fixing of GAPING WOUNDS and HAVING YOUR ARMS TORN OFF. If you could then concentrate his extra potent troll blood, you have as close to immortality as possible.

        Could be that the only way to effectively kill a supertroll like Harky would be to bleed him dry, burn him to death, or use some kind of disease/virus that kills off his body faster than he can heal.

        • Acadian Bacon
          Acadian Bacon
          July 25, 2011, 2:11 am | # | Reply

          Mainly it’s his gem in his belly that was enhancing his natural abilities. If his blood went on her, it would have most likely only had the normal effects, not the same effects that Harki gains from his magical enhancements.

          • TsunamiJane
            TsunamiJane
            July 25, 2011, 9:15 am | # | Reply

            So he’s a Treasure Troll?

            • Acadian Bacon
              Acadian Bacon
              July 25, 2011, 11:47 am | # | Reply

              Nah, he doesn’t turn to stone by the light of the sun. :3 Oh wait, that’s a Tolkien Troll. D:

        • centuriancode
          centuriancode
          July 25, 2011, 3:42 am | # | Reply

          All in favour of Ebola? It kills by exsanguination.

          • Valdrax
            Valdrax
            July 25, 2011, 6:08 pm | # | Reply

            When are people ever /not/ in favor of Ebola!?

    • Locke
      Locke
      July 25, 2011, 6:36 pm | # | Reply

      Hell, I was dying from cancer before I killed and devoured a guy who started a flame war on the internet. Now I’m fine! My doctor prescribes only the best cures!

      Now, if you’ll excuse me, he’s invited me over to dinner. Wants me to bring some farva beans and a nice Chianti. Don’t know why anyone would want to eat farva beans, but the dude saved my life, so what do I care?

  4. Strongholm
    Strongholm
    July 25, 2011, 12:12 am | # | Reply

    I know they say not to share needs for risk of disease, but what’s the rule of thumb on blood covered axes?

    • Karishi
      Karishi
      July 25, 2011, 12:19 am | # | Reply

      If a berserker comes at you with a blood-soaked axe, it is in your medical best interest to avoid sharing that blood.

      • Timelost
        Timelost
        July 25, 2011, 12:35 am | # | Reply

        Pfffft, wuss.

    • Valdrax
      Valdrax
      July 25, 2011, 2:13 am | # | Reply

      They have a major risk of acting as a vector for hemorrhaging and other undesirable medical conditions.
      This is why modern SCA reenactors insist on covering them with a rubber first.

  5. Karishi
    Karishi
    July 25, 2011, 12:14 am | # | Reply

    “…But y’were nowheres. Where were you?”
    Answered yer own question, there. They were nowheres.

  6. bwernard
    bwernard
    July 25, 2011, 12:17 am | # | Reply

    Yes, I think thats not exactly credible. Sounds like the bullcrap it probably is. So, if Syrn’j acts like she believes, I say either she is playing along, or the party members lean toward believing anything that keeps the status quo of their world as it is (words from bandit, or words that explain somewhat their respawning, or whatever) despite common sense. Either of those is easier to believe than Syrn’j being simple minded.

    • Aydr
      Aydr
      July 25, 2011, 1:59 am | # | Reply

      She’s suspicious but doesn’t have the ground to come up with other possibilites, so she’s kinda at an impasse. It sounds like a lie, but what IS the lie? And why? She can’t really answer those questions yet, so there’s no reason to press.

      • Aydr
        Aydr
        July 25, 2011, 2:00 am | # | Reply

        Oh sweet, I’ve got the best avatar ever.

        • Ash
          Ash
          July 25, 2011, 6:05 am | # | Reply

          Best knows how to make the background work for him.

        • Twigs
          Twigs
          July 25, 2011, 10:49 pm | # | Reply

          The Best avatar!

    • Mr Ak
      Mr Ak
      July 25, 2011, 3:38 am | # | Reply

      I don’t know. She’s obviously alive, after all. It’s pretty hard to come up with an alternate in-world explanation.

      • FoolishOwl
        FoolishOwl
        July 25, 2011, 2:47 pm | # | Reply

        Bandit’s explanation is weak, and Syr’nj is suspicious of it, but tentatively accepts it. Our attention is drawn to both points.

        At this point, I’m inclined to think that Bandit is Carol. I’m pretty sure she’s making an effort to keep hidden the facts that she knows that she’s in an MMORPG, and that she knows that Syr’nj and company don’t know it.

        • Aydr
          Aydr
          July 26, 2011, 1:47 pm | # | Reply

          That’s exactly my thoughts on the matter. She’s real world, probably Carol, and can’t offer a better in-game explanation. “I dunno” is a pretty hard excuse to break, even if it is fishy.

  7. Timelost
    Timelost
    July 25, 2011, 12:20 am | # | Reply

    I find myself distracted by Bandit’s cleavage in the second panel.

    • Thor
      Thor
      July 25, 2011, 12:50 am | # | Reply

      Then you should really check out the fanart thread in the forum.

      • Thor
        Thor
        July 25, 2011, 12:55 am | # | Reply

        Oh, wait, sorry. That thread was lost in the Script Kiddy Debacle.

        So whatya gotta do is do a Google Image Search for “Bandit Keynes” dedalus and scroll down a few pages. You’ll know it when you see it.

        (Safe search off)

        • Thor
          Thor
          July 25, 2011, 12:56 am | # | Reply

          That’s “Bandit Keynes” dedalus . Stupid unclosed code.

          • Valdrax
            Valdrax
            July 25, 2011, 2:10 am | # | Reply

            Well, thanks. That will kill off any sexy thoughts of Bandit forever.

            • Lestantes
              Lestantes
              July 25, 2011, 4:33 am | # | Reply

              Speak for yourself. I see nothing wrong with that picture. Reminds me of my usual friday nights.

            • Dusty668
              Dusty668
              July 25, 2011, 4:48 am | # | Reply

              Dockworkers need love too!

    • JarrysKid
      JarrysKid
      July 25, 2011, 1:01 pm | # | Reply

      I see what you did there. :-)

  8. Jack Vermicelli
    Jack Vermicelli
    July 25, 2011, 12:35 am | # | Reply

    The RSS updated tonight with the previous comic. Links to this one, though.

  9. Urth
    Urth
    July 25, 2011, 1:15 am | # | Reply

    Ok, just wanted to ask as I never read the comment section.
    Everyone here already knows that bandit and Best are played by the same guy, right?

    • Guest
      Guest
      July 25, 2011, 10:31 am | # | Reply

      Currently up for debate as there are a few strips where they’re both seen at the same time.

      • centuriancode
        centuriancode
        July 26, 2011, 7:19 pm | # | Reply

        There’re the alternate theories that allege Bandit is an NPC, and therefore we shouldn’t care about her (which is part of the Bandit versus Best argument), and that she is played by either Dedalus or Carol (his assistant). No-one actually knows anything, and this is all based on Bandit and Best seeming to tag-team as fifth member of the party, and Bandit wearing purple.

    • Dusty668
      Dusty668
      July 26, 2011, 6:12 am | # | Reply

      Damn dual boxers!

  10. ZQFT
    ZQFT
    July 25, 2011, 2:24 am | # | Reply

    SQUARE! PRESS SQUARE! DOUBT IT AND SHE’LL CRACK!

    • Redo19
      Redo19
      July 25, 2011, 6:53 pm | # | Reply

      *snerk* The facial angles are a little reminiscent of LA Noire, aren’t they.

  11. Valdrax
    Valdrax
    July 25, 2011, 2:39 am | # | Reply

    So, wait, seriously… what?

    If Bandit is controlled by Daedalus (or his secretary, though I’m not a big believer in that sub-theory), why on Earth would “Bandit” play along with the idea that respawning is unusual? …Or is this one of those “hardcore” MMOs in which you legitimately can’t respawn normally?

    OTOH, if Bandit is a normal NPC, then why would she revive? Harki’s blood being that strong is such an odd and unsatisfying explanation. Could she be alive simply because up to 4 of the 5 people shaping the world wanted her to be, and the world looked for some thin justification to allow it? Gah, this is a mind screw.

    • A passer-by
      A passer-by
      July 25, 2011, 3:29 am | # | Reply

      Perhaps whoever is her player dislikes breaking the fourth wall for some reason? Perhaps he/she is afraid that the players could get a bit mad if they found out that their created memories are just that and that alone?

    • Ishmael
      Ishmael
      July 25, 2011, 4:45 am | # | Reply

      Because the five don’t know that they’re in an MMO, that’s why. And, as I’ve said before, they’re likely tucked into their own private test server, so that Arag0rn_teh_Mighty can’t ruin what they’re trying to do.

      • Valdrax
        Valdrax
        July 25, 2011, 6:07 pm | # | Reply

        Wait, which question was that “because” an answer to?
        It doesn’t really fit as an explanation to any of them.

        • Ishmael
          Ishmael
          July 26, 2011, 2:56 am | # | Reply

          “If Bandit is controlled by Daedalus (or his secretary, though I’m not a big believer in that sub-theory), why on Earth would “Bandit” play along with the idea that respawning is unusual?”

          Because the five don’t know they’re in an MMO. Returning from the dead should be unusual, even in most fantasy MMOs people don’t acknowledge just returning from the dead as something that happens every fifteen minutes.

          • FoolishOwl
            FoolishOwl
            July 26, 2011, 9:23 pm | # | Reply

            I’ve played on two MMORPGs where many of the roleplayers did treat returning from the dead as a frequent occurrence. In Asheron’s Call, I don’t think the game developers anticipated it; roleplayers generally treated the process with suspicion, as if there was some subtle corrupting influence in the process. In EVE Online, it was more emphatically understood as part of a profound alienation the player characters experienced.

            In both cases, it was played out that returning from the dead was dehumanizing, that coming back each time meant you were less human. In EVE Online, in particular, the roleplayers had the sense that player characters rapidly became inhuman monsters — making it very difficult to roleplay in a satisfying way.

            • Ishmael
              Ishmael
              July 27, 2011, 4:38 pm | # | Reply

              Difference is, that’s the roleplaying crowd. Not the NPCs themselves.

            • The Sandman
              The Sandman
              August 4, 2013, 9:51 pm | # | Reply

              But…but everybody who plays EVE Online for long enough becomes an inhuman monster.

    • ahdok
      ahdok
      July 25, 2011, 8:22 am | # | Reply

      NPCs respawn all the time in MMOs though

      • Valdrax
        Valdrax
        July 25, 2011, 6:05 pm | # | Reply

        Normal NPCs don’t act like they were ever dead. It’s like the event never happened.

    • Joe
      Joe
      July 25, 2011, 5:58 pm | # | Reply

      I think it would actually make more sense for Bandit to play along if she’s really Dedalus or Carol. They’re the only ones who know the true nature of the adventuring party’s real life counterparts. I don’t think they’d just go shattering their worldview.

  12. Hexabolic
    Hexabolic
    July 25, 2011, 3:18 am | # | Reply

    Bandit could be Best’s alternate character. I mean, have we seen them together in the same scene?

    • Thor
      Thor
      July 25, 2011, 11:28 am | # | Reply

      Yes. Three times.

  13. ahdok
    ahdok
    July 25, 2011, 4:48 am | # | Reply

    Mr John Sir… Did you mean to leave the last panel with a yellow background?

    • NetherNox
      NetherNox
      July 25, 2011, 10:09 am | # | Reply

      Yeah, I was wondering about that – is it supposed to represent Syr’nj’s shock or something?

      Why’d she lie? I suppose saying, “We died and got rezzed by Tombdirt!” is too abrupt?

      • Thor
        Thor
        July 25, 2011, 11:29 am | # | Reply

        Her back is to the fireplace.

    • John Waltrip
      John Waltrip
      July 25, 2011, 11:28 am | # | Reply

      That’s just some warm lamp light coming from the hallway behind Syr’Nj. Probably should’ve put a few wooden beams back there or something. It IS sort of a close-up shot, and the hallway was shown on the previous page, so… oh well.

      • Thor
        Thor
        July 25, 2011, 11:29 am | # | Reply

        Yeah, what he said.

      • ahdok
        ahdok
        July 25, 2011, 1:49 pm | # | Reply

        Ah yes, I see. A beam would have helped me there :)

  14. Robtimus
    Robtimus
    July 25, 2011, 6:06 am | # | Reply

    Bandit: I got a nine in playin’ dead!
    Syr’nj: *Sigh*

  15. Hopeless
    Hopeless
    July 25, 2011, 6:26 am | # | Reply

    Her lucky rabbits foot blocked the axes and when she woke up she assumed it was troll blood, well the rabbits’ foot and the bottle of Heinz ketchup she had stuffed down her jumper…
    She was so paralysed with shock at the sight of all that ketchup that she passed her play dead roll until she could sneak off of course those trollkin that spotted her assumed she was a ghost or a ghoul infected with battle madness and decided to take the rest of the night off and drink themselves senseless…

  16. Gillsing
    Gillsing
    July 25, 2011, 6:45 am | # | Reply

    Yeeeaaah, that’s what happened… That’s the ticket!

  17. Chibimod3
    Chibimod3
    July 25, 2011, 8:19 am | # | Reply

    Nah I’m pretty sure it’s a plot point. You know maybe they resurrected her and are controlling her actions? Or maybe she multi classed? Pointless conjecture aside I’m sure that it is in fact important.

  18. Connie
    Connie
    July 25, 2011, 11:20 am | # | Reply

    I wonder if there’s a RP filter in place. You talk about something RL or in Leet and it translates it to something more appropriate. I used Eloquence on WoW for a while and it did something similar. A filter would translate a lot of Frigg’s comments and could logically make ‘I just rez’d’ into something like ‘A force beyond my ken brought me back.’

    Or she’s playing along with the immersion.

    • Thor
      Thor
      July 25, 2011, 11:46 am | # | Reply

      If we had never found out about Sepia World, there would be mystery and tension. Now it’s just “Meh, a mod did it.”

      I’m sure there’s supposed to be some good reason why we have been shown the action backstage in the middle of the play, but for now it’s acting like a huge momentum deadener and mood-killer. It’s like if you were watching Star Wars, and you saw several “dead” Stormtroopers get up, wander off-stage, and take a smoke break.

      I may be gasping with delight later when the Big Reveal comes along and shows how it all fits together like a Chinese box, but for now, I’m relying on the quirky characters and fun banter to see me through. That, and the hope that Best is really gone for good.

      • Jean-Luc
        Jean-Luc
        July 25, 2011, 12:27 pm | # | Reply

        I predict at least one of those hopes will be crushed. :P

        • Jean-Luc
          Jean-Luc
          July 25, 2011, 12:29 pm | # | Reply

          Just realized there is only one hope mentioned in your post, I kinda extended the notion to your entire line of thought. I’ve no idea if you know what I mean but this is what you get without an edit/delete comment option.

          • Jean-Luc
            Jean-Luc
            July 25, 2011, 12:30 pm | # | Reply

            The half-drunken ravings of a Picard wannabie.

            • Jean-Luc
              Jean-Luc
              July 25, 2011, 12:31 pm | # | Reply

              I’m also a correct spelling *wannabe.

              • ahdok
                ahdok
                July 25, 2011, 1:50 pm | # | Reply

                You are?

      • SotiCoto
        SotiCoto
        March 30, 2016, 9:28 am | # | Reply

        Nah. Its totally fine. You’re just an insufferable whiner.

  19. mightysmiley
    mightysmiley
    July 25, 2011, 1:52 pm | # | Reply

    I honestly think bandit is probably an npc made by Daedalus and i wonder if she can tell that Syr’Nj is lying

  20. ahdok
    ahdok
    July 25, 2011, 1:56 pm | # | Reply

    Troll’s blood might be good for minor injuries, but it doesn’t heal temporary-lack-of-eyes-disease.

    • ahdok
      ahdok
      July 25, 2011, 1:57 pm | # | Reply

      Now I said it, you CAN’T UNSEE IT. Can you?

      • mightysmiley
        mightysmiley
        July 25, 2011, 2:03 pm | # | Reply

        Da-Da DAAAA you’ve earned an achievement “can’t be unseen”

      • Locke
        Locke
        July 25, 2011, 6:55 pm | # | Reply

        Hey, John let Slenderman draw that scene, don’t be cruel about it. You’ll hurt his feelings, the poor Eldritch Abomination.

        • John Waltrip
          John Waltrip
          July 25, 2011, 10:13 pm | # | Reply

          Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we?

        • Thor
          Thor
          July 26, 2011, 3:21 am | # | Reply

          ZaLGo, hE cOMEs . . . bUt sLoWLy anD CAreFulLy bECaUse hE cAN’t sEE.

  21. coldelectrons
    coldelectrons
    July 25, 2011, 7:36 pm | # | Reply

    What Byron’s axes taketh, they can also giveth away.

  22. EatThePath
    EatThePath
    July 25, 2011, 7:43 pm | # | Reply

    I find it odd that everyone jumps to the conclusion that it must be a player respawning or a ‘game master’ intervening that has Bandit back, or even that Bandit is making things up. Sure those are possibilities. Also possible is that some in-game force caused her to survive, she honestly doesn’t know what it is, and is grasping at straws. The true nature of her return will probably be important in any of these cases.

    Also, I find the imprisonment line odd. Why not tell the truth? All I can think of is that she doesn’t trust bandit, possibly due to suspicion that Bandit is lying? Weird.

    • gangler
      gangler
      July 25, 2011, 11:34 pm | # | Reply

      Syrnj is lying because they came back from the dead. That’s not something that happens. It’s crazy talk. You don’t just go telling people that you were dead and came back.

      • Naranth
        Naranth
        July 26, 2011, 2:23 am | # | Reply

        If for no other reason than that then people keep asking you to rez them, and then you never get a quiet moment again

        • Robtimus
          Robtimus
          July 26, 2011, 6:19 am | # | Reply

          Didn’t anyone ever tell Gravedust? If you don’t bring enough resurrection for everyone, don’t bring any at all.

      • Dusty668
        Dusty668
        July 26, 2011, 6:15 am | # | Reply

        No you tell them you were mostly dead.

        • centuriancode
          centuriancode
          July 26, 2011, 7:24 pm | # | Reply

          Or you felt a really strong need to “blaive”.

      • MoodyDK
        MoodyDK
        July 26, 2011, 10:49 am | # | Reply

        Not unless you want them throwing rotten fruit at you and /spitting on you in the street. For starters.

      • EatThePath
        EatThePath
        July 26, 2011, 12:02 pm | # | Reply

        “Yeah I was trisected but some trollsblood got in the wound and thats probably how I survived having my arms hacked off. Sounds plausible anyway”

        “Okay cool. We were dead, it seems our mystic healer had a get-out-of-death-free card, one time thing”

        “NO WAY! You’re lying!”

        Seems to me in a world such as the one we’ve seen so far, coming back from the dead might be taken a little better than it would be in reality.

        • gangler
          gangler
          July 26, 2011, 3:28 pm | # | Reply

          Even in their world there’s things that are possible and things that are not. It follows its’ own rules.

          Bandit survived a wound that should have been fatal. A premise that’s plausible even within our own world. These things happen. Within a setting where regeneration is a thing the notion that she grew back her lost limbs is also acceptable.

          People don’t come back from the dead though. That’s been established as a very specific rule that they broke in this single instance basically because cosmic and unknowable forces were at work. “We were dead” would probably be met with at least a little skepticism.

          Just because regeneration and resurrection are equally implausible to us does not make it so for the characters in this setting. Regeneration was just an improved application of an existing phenomenon. Something that might be described as “A remarkable recovery”. Resurrection was a moment in which the principle of gravity (or some similar absolute law of reality) ceased to apply.

  23. J
    J
    July 26, 2011, 10:16 am | # | Reply

    Tiny problem on the archive page… The thumbnail is that of the last page of last chapter.

  24. al_tech
    al_tech
    July 26, 2011, 5:42 pm | # | Reply

    It is the avatar of the president of the gaming corp.
    dun-dun…..;-P

  25. Khazzpah
    Khazzpah
    July 26, 2011, 11:59 pm | # | Reply

    I am surprised, ashamed, and slightly miffed that this has gone without puns for so long. I mean, there are none in the comments for this WHOLE PAGE! Get it together, people!

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Guilded Age is co-written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn, and illustrated by John Waltrip. Site design by Samantha Kyle. Fonts by Blambot.com.
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