Annotated 50-23
Bandit recognizes Lectrus’s lamp from her own experiences with it, and so she knows that “You’re no better than me” and “I’m going to make you pay for this” are lies, even if Jemmington doesn’t yet know they’re lies. She recognizes a lot of herself in Jemmington, from the misfit status to the thieving impulse to the bitterness. And while she’s still bitter about her ex-squad, she can offer Jemmington some advice that would’ve helped her in her younger days.
Bandit’s group took nothing from this “heist” except the orcs to free them, so it’s a totally nonprofit venture—a loss-leader, if you count labor costs. Her warning to Jemmington means that they will be looting other slave-owning travelers, if only to support their continued operations. But just now, Bandit gains more from leaving the ring behind than she would from taking it. She’s more than a thief. And she doesn’t need Peacemaker status to prove that.
(I did try one last time to sneak in one of Bandit’s squad members referring to her as “Command’r Keynes” or just “Keynes” to drive home the point, that she had shed the designation “Bandit” even if she was still putting her thief skills to use. I don’t remember why Flo nixed this, but she had other tweaks for this part; we may just not have had room. Can’t win ’em all!)
FB: Bandit’s a good enough thief that she can occasionally give up a valuable just to prove a point. It’s not that consequential to her bottom line… really, it’s just a Tolkien gesture.
Heh, “Don’t let people label you”, funny.
Had to go back to page 19 to figure out what the thing was about the ring: It fell off Jemmington’s finger, she grabbed it in her initial attack (hard to notice unless you look for it), and now she dropped it while heading off.
Probably doesn’t feel right stealing Jemmington’s personal things when there’s a cart full of stuff that belongs to the Goblin who was keeping the Orcs as slaves (as well as using Jemmingston’s predicament to acquire his services).
Would like to know what becomes of Jemmington later. According to the archives, we’re not seeing him again.
I guess he might end up figuring out the lantern and using that for profits, or Bandit’s friendly words here (as well as the lantern?) might end up helping him “see the light”. But then again, we can’t be tracing *everybody’s* personal story all the way, I guess.
Close, but not quite. The ring belongs to the goblin couple, and Jemmington was admiring it (holding it between his fingers, not wearing it) and contemplating stealing it himself when he was interrupted by the gnomebush. So it wasn’t one of his “personal things”. Also, although the comic itself is ambiguous, T’s commentary indicates that Bandit’s posse *didn’t* steal the goblins’ goods (instead, she advises Jemmington to recover them before they get burnt up).
Yeah. There’s a strategic element to that, too. Even without portals and conjuring, Jemmington is a formidable magician…their three heavy hitters barely held their own against him, briefly, and sacrificed a piece of equipment to do it. If they stole all the goods Jemmington was transporting, then he’d be chasing after them with his magick lightning, his levitation, and possibly other spells like “detect lifeform.” And they’d be weighed down carrying the stuff while trying to escape his wrath. This way, they get to make off with what they really want…the orcs…and his power is too occupied protecting the merchandise to go after them.
But the ring doesn’t figure into those calculations. It’s light enough that Bandit could carry it easily and Jemmington’s too occupied saving the rest of the merch even to have realized it was gone. The reasons she leaves that one behind are more about making a statement, to him, to the world, and to herself.
(The next orc-borne carriage is likely to be steered by a couple of goblins, who could be robbed more thoroughly at much less risk.)
whoopsie, seems you’re right about the ring not being Jemmington’s property either.