Alt-text: The only way I could ever laugh at something so horrific. (That said, I laughed my ass off, imagining the Rage Thread sure to follow in the comments)
An axe would have to be incredibly fucking sharp to cut hair that’s not under tension, so depending on his exact axe stroke & the exact position of her hair, whatever.
Well it’s also quite possible that he’s doing the stereotypical “looks like he’s attacking his friend but is actually attacking the person sneaking up on him” thing.
Upon close inspection it does appear to me like his arms are past her shoulders. in order to cut his arms would have to be decently farther considering the size of the axe handles
No, no, no, the boss is basically down and one dps still has all the buffs needed to take him down. Just be patient and wait for the out of combat rez.
Holy hell! I’ve been following this comic for a long time, and this is the first time I feel the need to comment, because HOLY SHIT! Good job on getting the “berzerk” part so perfectly!
and yeah, Bandits gonna survive, I’m sure….Right…?
HOLY SHIT I did not realize I was invested enough in Bandit to be so stunned by this development. OH MAN I may just have to continually loop through the archives up until this storyline and just pretend it never ever happened ever.
. . . OK, I think it is actually my investment in Byron that is causing the negative reactions of holy shit and etc, but STILL.
I feel kinda bad that I would dig that. I don’t dislike Bandit, but she’s probably the character I’m least interested in. Whereas Best, I just love to hate Best.
Can’t tell without more data points. Straight linear growth says 362. Factoring in number of days makes for 50 per day increasing to 128, so… 2.56x, hunh convenient that, which would make 655. Seems unlikely though.
Of course, I can swing the odds in favor of whichever set of numbers I want by tons of frivolous posts. If I had the kind of time available for that. And lacked any kind of life.
I don’t know why this has captured my curiosity, but it has. *shrug*
Freemage: Okay, sorry for being off-topic for here, but now that strips are getting 100+ posts on the “comments” section, when is the Guilded Age Forum gonna be up and running? If nothing else, Byron the Berserker’s REAL entrance deserves some long-overdue discussion…
TCampbell: Great question. Phil and I keep having one little difficulty after another. We’ll talk about it in the next 24 hours.
Yeah, although fora are more of a pain to manage than blog comments, once you start getting upwards of 100 comments per strip on an ongoing basis, especially if there are lots of replies-to-comments, then you do need a forum.
I wonder why David Willis went with a comment system for his comics, instead of the old Blank Label fora. Those blog-comments are way overflowing too.
Over at Wapsi Square, Pablo left Blank Label and went to straight comments. Makes it hard to keep up when we pull seventy-five or more, which the current story-line is pretty consistently drawing.
Yes, but of course, that begs the assumption that Wapsi square is, in fact, a webcomic, rather than a barely-coherent jumble of roughly related words and images.
I actually like the comments–it’s an immediate view and I don’t have problems scanning the threads. OTOH, I gave up on netnews groups (whoops, showing my age), discussion-oriented mailing lists, and forums years ago because I just didn’t have time to sift through the piles of posts and e-mails anymore.
I see it like a bunch of people going to see the same movie:
In a forum, people would go see the movie, then they’d all go home or to different places to talk amongst themselves about the movie.
In the comment section though, everyone’s in the big hall in the theater just after seeing the movie, conversing and talking to one another about the movie they just saw.
I like the immediacy and the quickness of the comments. But to each their own. Forum would be good for other stuff but I’d hate to lose the large amount of comments we’re getting now, I love reading through them!
261 (well, 262 now) in just over 1 day. Which is how much monday’s comic got in two days.
We might be going exponential here.
(How long until everyone on the internet sees the comic and posts? Will have to sit down and do some math… *scribble scribble* *carry the two…*)
The blood splatter would be more upwards, plus shoulders would be less…attached looking if those axes really did go straight through poor Bandit’s collarbone.
Instead, I think those axes pierced her back some, and she should be good to go after a good night’s rest at the nearest inn.
Maybe he hit someone with invisibility spell on and standing behind Bandit? Let us not forget, that previously Byron managed to not harm Sy’ring when in [KILL] mode.
0.0 …. That’s… that’s… gonna need a Band-Aid…. >.>
Yeah, this is a total party wipe… there’s no way they have the gold to pay for TWO True Resurrections and the medical bills for whatever Frigg’s not waking up from yet. Especially with the reputation they now have with the Church… they aren’t getting anywhere near a member of the Clergy to get healed up…
Sooo…. CUE AWESOME ROYAL MAGIC MS. Syrnj!
C’mon… we all know she’s got it… she’s like Zelda!
I… I just can’t pun to this. They’re all so obvious but it feels… Cruel. Wrong.
Not the page, of course. Too many people view Berserkers as “awesome cool crazy fighters with no drawbacks!” My guess is that other berserkers in the Guilded Age Universe were taught to control their rage, but Byron discovered his ability at a very young age and most likely in a very dire situation and, as such, possesses no control at all.
Finally, what hurts me most is that I don’t know whether you guys would actually “do it” or not. I mean, you’ve set up Bandit well enough without tailoring her to be the “sacrificial plot lamb”, but, then again, you’ve shown that you like pushing boundaries when it comes to storytelling.
Poor Bandit. I hope she’s okay, for her sake AND Byron’s. This would destroy the poor guy once he snaps out of it.
Actually, I don’t know we can assume other berserkers have more control. Note the troll’s words in the previous strip–“devil”, in particular. That suggests that, even among the monstrous races, a berserker is considered a destructive force of nature, damaging friend and foe alike. It also explains why berserkers are so much a matter of legend and rumor, even in this setting–either they use their power and get put down like rabid dogs, OR they suppress it all the time like Byron does.
But Byron labels himself “The Berserker”. People still hire him. No one has demanded his head on a plate or ran away at his title. If they were infamously destructive and dangerous, you’d think that’d affect his business.
That might explain why Field Marshal Pornstache sent a self-proclaimed berserker into a delicate diplomatic situation…unless of course he was banking on this so he’d have an excuse to go to war.
I thought he was pleasantly surprised. He was seeing if they could each operate out of their respective elements. Unfortunately, it seems that the one he had the most confidence in turned out to be the least stable. Well, least stable in combat, anyways.
Hey does anyone in the party have illusions that we know of? In the fourth panel I can’t tell if it is the layering or on purpose but Bandit looks see through and kind of like an illusion…anyone else?
No – it’s the only use of that effect to such an extreme in this whole page.
The whole “He’s actually hacking something behind her” scenario does seem possible, too – i agree that as we see it, his wrist appear to be coming down on her shoulders., indicating that all that blood is somewhere behind her.
Oh, well, unless The Powers That Be get cruel and start a two-week sequence flashing back to Syr’nj’s time in the Field Medics, we have less than twenty-four hours before we find out something.
Nice catch! And comparing the axe in the third panel of that page to the axes in the third panel of today’s page, they have definitely grown in size. Artistic freedom I guess: Axes become bigger with rage.
But…Harki, a big ol’ troll managed to block Byron’s blow even taken by suprise (piggybacked :) and later evaded his whirlwind attack. On the other hand, superquick Bandit (quicker than Harki – she evaded his stab) was cut clean, even though Byron was at least 2 paces away and she was warned.
OMGF! This is actually the first time I choked and paused for a moment during my breakfast while reading this. Bandit noooooooooooooo! I hope she lives and without physical disabilities later on. This is so cruel.
It wouldn’t be the group throwing Byron out as much as the group running like hell to get away from Byron.
Would you tell that guy he’s fired? Hell no, you say you quit and run like hell!
We don’t have any comics showing the future past this point and showing Bandit alive, do we? I mean, we’re stretching the likelihood that Byron’s going to live badly enough with that blade through the gut, but unless Syr’Nj has got some /serious/ mojo going on…
Bandit’s present when Frigg and Syr’nj are taunting about Gastonia working on airships to force someone to sign a peace treaty while they’re on diplomatic missions, isn’t she?
That was also the past. They subsequently rejoin Byron and Gravedust, who have discovered the massacre at Leafport, which is where we first hear the spirits of the dead utter “Harki.”
I am *so glad* it’s not a ‘skill’ he can just switch on and off. Seeing a berserker actually be *berserk* is a nice change of pace. Wonder if Frigg will go Round 2 on that Pinned bet now. ;)
Actually i expect Gravedust to appear after Byron is pretty much done with all possible targets on two feet. The guy has connection with the dead nonetheless. it wouldn’t take him long to barter on his soul.
Frigg? Bandit? Syr??
Sorry but at this point they’re all..ehmm…..pardon the expression……scr*wed!
Naw, mace to the head equals “night-night”, no matter how ‘zerked out you are. I think blunt weapons were more effective against Norse berserkers than blades. Harki was simply more agile than Frigg and could recover easily from whatever injury she gave him.
Think of it this way, it’s a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors”. Frigg’s the rock, Harki’s the paper, and Byron’s the scissors.
Here’s hoping the last frame is what he imagines happening (as in the hallucination before, unless I completely misunderstood), and not what’s actually happening.
After waiting that long, I was hoping you guys would let him be awesome for at least another page or two before starting the obligatory “THIS is why he doesn’t ‘zerk out often” scene. Now it looks like you’re covering your butts by making his rage more of a danger to the party than to their enemies, and I bet it’s going to take like four pages to subdue him while he tries to kill the only people present who DON’T have it coming.
To be fair; They need to pull a “Byron can’t do this as a party trick” vote, because it’s a pretty F**king Imba party trick to just slip out your sleeve.
Screw that, if I ever play, I’m still going with a berserker.
I’d try to give him a decent amount of self-control, though, and, unlike Byron, he’d warn his allies before they went into their first fight to stay the heck away should he rage out.
… In fact, Byron, you dummie, why DIDN’T you warn everyone before hand? Careless.
In D&D, you ALWAYS stay away from the berserker. Because you know of the danger – they don’t have to warn you. Clearly, Bandit never got the memo because Byron was betting on never having to rage out.
Look at the leather straps on his wrists/hands compared to those of her arms. There´s no way the axeheads would even touch her shoulders except for maybe a flesh wound down her upper back because of the crooked blades.
Unless he only got her with the bottom half of the blades. Everyone argues “But look at all the blood”, but the fact is that even a glancing two inch deep wound would cause a lot of blood. He most definitely greivously wounded her, though. If she doesn’t get some killer first aid soon, she WILL die.
The moment Bandit appeared in the panel I just knew she was going to get it. I still hoped for Best and for the best but it didn’t make seeing those axes on poor Bandit hurt my heart place any less.
I would like to see Best totally flub a heroic rescue and lose an arm. Nothing against Best, but it’d give Syr a chance to hopefully work major mojo on Bandit and would be really, really funny.
Side note: With all the wonderful detail and effort put into everything, the teeth stuck out until panel 1. I hope every set of teeth is rendered like that, not just a razor-straight white bar, you know?
Oh my! What a page!
I like the little Harki’s floating around Frigg. And on an other note, I feel stupid for not being reminded of the third panel of sooner.
Great job with the blocking in this strip, it’s a fucking ballet man, look at the position of the foreground and background figures in each panel until you reach Bandit’s full face with the shadow of the raised axe in the background and then BAM they colllllllliiiiiidddde!!!! I bet the next time we see Bandit she’ll be wrapped tightly around Byron, trying to hide under his chin wondering how to get the fuck off!
And while all this drama is going on there’s the quintessential Bandit sight gag when her eyes go from as big as saucers down to two little buttons…dweep. (Insert your own Wile E. Coyote sound effect here).
For the moment, I won’t speculate too much–after all, Byron himself appeared to be dead a few pages ago and as far as it appears still has a mortal wound. But this is a fantasy with plenty of magic, and we appear to be at a critical plot setup with unresolved character subplots, so wiping out 3 or more major characters doesn’t seem productive–I think the GA team has shown itself to be more clever than that. Also, IMHO, the fact that the last several pages has drawn such a huge response–the fact that I will reload my browser at midnight despite having to get up at 5:30–demonstrates that this is a truly good piece of fiction with characters people are invested in, so I feel confident things will continue to be interesting, if not happy or resolved in exactly the way one might hope.
Mostly I wonder how we might ever return to the comedy aspect of the story.
“We’re sorry…we cannot complete your call as screamed in terror. The Byron you have reached has been disconnected…”
My thoughts exactly. Well said too. I’m trying to rationalize, like many of you, how bandit could *not* be dead but I’m not seeing many realistic options. I also don’t see how she could be saved either. That looks like she was cut into three little bandit pieces if those axes continued on and exited through her pelvis. Hopefully it is merely an optical illusion and some of the previous posters are correct. It may just be wishful thinking though. I have a sweet spot for Bandit.
Though her name IS Bandit… I’m mean that’s more descriptive than an actual name…. maybe she was always destined to be ensign Ricky from Star Trek….
Well, seems people aren’t exactly happy to see Bandit get the axe, but I think it would be a great move to keep her dead. I don’t respect senseless “kill-them-all” plots, but I have less respect for the “heroes-can’t-die” plots. Sometimes you just have to cut people out for drama and realism. But any way you slice it Bandit was a secondary character throughout the comic and having her chopped from the roster wouldn’t be fatal to the story in any way. On the contrary, I think it provides fuel for much more interesting story development than “Oh wow Byron, you really laid into those savages! Lets all go drink some Ale and laugh at how futile it is to ambush the PC!”
Besides, maybe Byron will get himself a new axe and call it Bandit, to keep Bayen and Brayen (probably brothers of his he killed while ‘zerking?) company.
Somebody has actually mentioned this before in one of the earlier strip’s comments. Too lazy to go back and look for it though. It didn’t get this much play though.
However, as a thief, who’s to say she hasn’t been carrying around a bunch of magical artifacts that will revive her on death, just in case? She may have even lifted such a thing from Harki.
Damn, this chapter is shocking me at every turn. The part where Gravedust relizes the other dwarf has killed all the mystics and is going to kill him? Finding out Byron ACTUALLY IS a berserker? And now Bandit looks to have been litteraly dis-armed? Holly %&*$.
I hope they don’t all die, preferably that none of them die. But yeah, this is awesome.
It looks a lot like the axes are overshooting Bandit. I’m betting only the lower edge of their blade has actually cut her in any way, and all the blood is just artistic styling.
Looking at it a bit closer now, I think Bandit got ‘stabbed’ by the lower portion of the blade. Notice how the blade of the axe curves back up before meeting the handle? That pointy bit could definitely hurt and draw blood, yet not be 100% fatal.
Only thing is, bandit’s hair makes me wonder just how the frak did Bryon get those axes where they are? Either he overshot them and then stabbed her (which would match what I’m thinking), or he instead has the axes clean through her because she tried to lean back and, instead of her hair getting cut, now has two lovely gaping wounds.
Not only that, but Byron’s elbow guards are right above Bandit’s shoulder pads. There is no way his axes could cut into her. He is killing some invisible being behind her.
“Snick-snack and chop-schlop the axes went, ‘Oops~’ yer f*ckin’ dead!”
Oh I love unbridled ragings of a Berserker.
It’s feels sooo stimulating, ah~
Also I just love Byron rageface.
Now that I’ve dealth with my denial stage. I can see now this was probably part of the script handed to John with the instructions “make sure its obvious she’s been fatally wounded.” I think its our love for this comic and its characters that have us saying the “oh, no’s” and “It can’t be’s”. I don’t think John could have been any more obvious than if he had shown her decapitated head resting on the ground.
The reason those axes are so far forward is because he’s buried them so far into her torso they’re bursting out the other side.
I love seeing a comic take the legendary berzerker so seriously. Too many people have been sidetracked by the D&D version, where you get angry for a few minutes and then let the adrenaline rush wear off. I wonder how much of the army surrounding them will survive the coming massacre?
Also, if their GM uses group experience, everyone could level enough from his kills for their wounds to become minor in comparison to their new vast reserves of HP. Or maybe Gravedust will just level enough to heal everyone before resurrecting himself.
The last thing Harki said was “Summon the archers”.
I think there’s a good chance he’ll get hit with an arrow and then go up the stadium walls to kill the archers (and then everyone else he can see), rather finish off Bandit his friends right away.
now , if that’s an option, i WOULD LOVE to see him chopping an entire stadium into little bits!!
the one thing that’ll ensure the party’s safety seems to be a greater distraction anyway. =s
This is what it’s like partying with a Frenzied Berserker. NEVER ends well for somebody. Standard operation is now to buy these guys collars loaded with a calm emotions spell. The guy with the highest AC holds the trigger for that. Funny part is, I’m not even kidding.
A game I played in had a barbarian who later went Frenzied Berserker. We had three different Will and Fort save conditions set up for him, including my gnome Wizard crafting him a talking sword with a high enough Ego to allow it to try and take over if necessary.
One day he made all his saves. It was almost very very bad.
Bandit, we hardly knew ye! I wonder if this character’s purpose was merely 1) to trick us into thinking Best would be gone, at least for a while, and 2) to be berserker fodder in this very scene. Ah well. I resign myself to the inevitable return of the Shittiest of the Shit Elves.
Grousing aside, this is by far one of the best comics online, hope to see more!
That would appear to be confirmation for all of you hopefuls, unless John hasn’t seen enough future scripts to know for sure!
(So…the Gnomes don’t have the technology? The capability to build the world’s first bionic gnome? Yes! Bandit Keynes will be that Gnome. Better than she was before. Better…stronger…faster…*insert sound effect*)
Well…they are Gnomes…the Sisters had Gigundus…
Poor Bandit, poor Byron. :-( That aside, good job, John…
Looks to me like Bandit tried to jump back, but Byron caught her, hooking the blades in her back. If so, he punctured lungs. She’s dead meat without immediate healing.
We can only pray the archers hit him and make byron climb the walls. otherwise the fight is over. He’s deep enough in his rage, he won’t stop till all his blood is spent, or he exhausts himself into unconciousness.
(at least based on traditional berserkers, and what we’ve seen here)
I figure it is something like Deathless Frenzy. You’re okay – as long as you’re frenzied. Once you drop out of it… well, better hope someone healed you.
He might feel better if he dies. I imagine the guilt would crush him, deserved or not. I see this as something like a medical condition. I don’t blame schizophrenics who don’t have access to medicine for anything they do. Poor Byron. And Bandit. And especially Gravedust, who died while his hopes were crushed! Poor everybody!
Do you think that if Byron survives and does not remember what he did, the others might not tell him he was the one who killed Bandit, out of compassion?
I feel like Syr’nj slipped Byron something… She had a vial in hand before it cut away and she started shooting.
Also, what causes Bandit to turn her head? Syr’nj and Frigg are on the other side of Byron (they’re against the wall, Harki cornered them there, Byron came up behind him), so why would she look away from him? Is there something behind her?
She turned to look at Syr. When someone shouts to you, it’s kinda hard not to look. Besides, she didn’t know Byron was a threat until it was far too late.
What I’m saying is that Syr would be in front of her, so her head turning confuses me. Byron attacked Harki when he was pinning the others against a wall, so it’s weird for Bandit to suddenly be between them.
Eh, one more post for me on this page, I looked up songs titled “Berserk” and found this. And as much as I love “My love for you is like a truck”, sometimes you just need variety.
Er. I always said this is why he must not berserk… Although I am curious to know… Is he geneticly a berserker, or is he actually possesed by a demon? Or perhapse he has demon blood. It would explain why he’s not bled out fatally yet. I mean, the way he’s moving would keep tearing the wound wider, and his blood is pumping so hard, he should be reaching his limit. But if he’s decended of demons, perhapse his rage will last as long as he is regenerating. (Which he must be doing if he’s not dead soon.)
His muscles could have clamped down on any major arteries and slowed the bleeding significantly (the only blood I see is coming out of his mouth at the moment).
Also, a real berserker like Bryon would probably be able to operate with a heck of a lot less blood in his current state than an ordinary person.
Failing that, we could always just assume we’re running on the theory of narrative causality and that Bryon has as much blood as the story requires he needs.
Considering the spear would have perforated his abdominal aorta, his stomach, spleen, liver, intestines, pancreas, probably nicked his heart and severed his spine… No. If this was a real person they’d have lost out a few liters of blood already and be dead or about to kick the bucket. Being Fantasy though, he can just keep on kicking some ass. :)
True story: I arrived at Naval Air Facility Cam Ranh Bay (Viet Nam) shortly after there’s been a sapper attack with little guys in black PJs running around tossing satchel charges.
there was a smear of blood down the road outside the main gate; one of the Bad Guys had made it out the gate, and, under the combined fire of two M16s and one M60 cal 30 MG, made something like a hundred feet down the road.
At which point he not only fell over, he more or less fell apart.
i’m out of any logical explanaton but i somehow believe that Byron still have a tiny portion of his senses remained awake. .Considering him resisiting rage /humiliation/ insulting many times in the past.
(Plus how am i supposed to wait for Friday now?? It’s more than 20 hours away. 20 hours people!
Blade went through vertically. It is entirely possible that it missed the aorta and the vena cava. The spleen is located to far to the left of the insult to have been affected and only a single lobe of the liver would have been in the path. It is too low for the heart though depending on whether he was inhaling or exhaling it could have ruined the diaphragm.
As for the intestines. Well generally speaking low velocity cutting trauma has trouble cutting through the intestines as they tend to be pushed rather than cleanly severed.
Generally speaking impaling woulds do not bleed exceptionally much. At least not until the object is removed, and even then arteriospasm prevents exsanguination if the tearing is ragged.
While it is a stretch to imagine that Byron would be in any condition to fight after such a wounding I have seen stranger things.
Generally speaking any wound that does not immediately destroy the heart or brain, and does not cause enough gross trauma to prevent movement will allow a human being anywhere between minutes and hours of action despite being fatally wounded.
I have seen men shot seven times to limbs and torso run a half mile at dead sprint and still be in good enough shape to complain to their mom that she is overreacting afterwards.
I really think that the possibility of Byron controlling his rage is nearly nil at this point. Although calling myself a “beserker” is a really pretentious thing to say, I do have the blood of Irish mercenaries in me and a nasty temper. As in, really nasty. As in, once when I was angry I grabbed a random bystander by the throat and pinned him to the ground until a teacher dragged me off him (elementary school). I barely remember what happened: I remember lunging, and them then I remember waking up struggling in somebody’s arms. Ever since them I have devoted almost all my energy to keeping my rage under control, leading to things like depression and the occasional near-explosion where I shout and break stuff.
I sympathize with Byron.
Byron has proven himself to be a great will bearer methinks (which is a very rare qualification among orginal berzerkers we know of). Still, as i said before, i have no solid evidence to defend this theory..It’s not even a theory, more like a …feeling.
I had nearly the same experience in Elementary school and the subsequent years. Some differences though. During the episode I was disassociated from decision making and my sense of sight but I was aware of what I was feeling so I kind of knew what my body was doing. Also, I don’t have any trouble managing my anger anymore.
But yeah, poor Byron. While it is obviously not beyond his willpower to control his rage normally, he’s been impaled by a spear. Nearly dying does not help one think clearly.
The late Karl Wagner (DF/fantasy author) once told me of watching a drunken ex-Green Beret take three rounds in the body from a .357 and keep coming. (Granted, i believe it was a short barrel, which is really just an extra-loud .38, but still…)
Oh alt text, will we ever get tired of you?
(Spoiler alert: No.)
Alt-text: The only way I could ever laugh at something so horrific. (That said, I laughed my ass off, imagining the Rage Thread sure to follow in the comments)
BANDIT! ;_;
Its like watching someone kill your dog.
It’s like watching your best friend kill your dog with a shovel.
It’s like watching Bryon kill Bandit with two axes.
It’s like watching nojh ruin the moment.
This makes me so sad face, soooooo sad face.
…!
While trisecting the angle is impossible with only a straightedge and a compass, Byron just proved it is very possible with two straightedges.
I have to say, reading this amidst all the lamentation, wailing and gnashing of teeth made me laugh.
ditto.
It’s not like the lil’ pigtailed hat stealer didn’t have it coming.
Well, something to humble her a bit? Certainly. Painful death by grievous wounds? Not so much.
Oh! *wince*
Well fuck.
it’s not really surprising.
GASP
Looks like we’re gonna need a new thief..
I’m betting on Byron overshooting his mark… Those axes were pretty bloody already.
Of course, I hope you’re right somehow. But those axes in the last panel aren’t merely dripping with blood; they’re gushing.
How did they miss the hair, though?
An axe would have to be incredibly fucking sharp to cut hair that’s not under tension, so depending on his exact axe stroke & the exact position of her hair, whatever.
Well it’s also quite possible that he’s doing the stereotypical “looks like he’s attacking his friend but is actually attacking the person sneaking up on him” thing.
Who are you trying to fool?
Upon close inspection it does appear to me like his arms are past her shoulders. in order to cut his arms would have to be decently farther considering the size of the axe handles
And here is was thinking John made bandit too cute… almost… the double axe kind of threw that image off.
Bandit, let me axe you something…
But for srs, that totally was not what I was expecting.
lets see…two dps down, one mc’ed, tank injured and healer seemingly oom. yah folks. i think this is a wipe. reset it and lets try it again.
No, no, no, the boss is basically down and one dps still has all the buffs needed to take him down. Just be patient and wait for the out of combat rez.
Actually I’d peg Frig as more of the Tank and Bryon as a DPS. (Massive shield + plate armor vs guy in scale with 2 axes)
Yeah, Frigg’s the tank. Too bad she’s gonna have to tank Byron now.
IF she can.
(also, I like that Frigg has little Harki’s over her head instead of stars or whatnot. Nice little detail.)
Rematch!
Holy hell! I’ve been following this comic for a long time, and this is the first time I feel the need to comment, because HOLY SHIT! Good job on getting the “berzerk” part so perfectly!
and yeah, Bandits gonna survive, I’m sure….Right…?
Did Bandit just get disarmed?
No to worry – it should be gnome matter to replace her.
I know I’m just splitting hairs here, but those axes look like they somehow managed to miss her pony tails.
that pun is just hairy.
Careful guys, we’re cutting it a bit thin here…
Yeah… Non of these puns have been very sharp.
This is a great opportunity for Bandit to try out the new “Head & Shoulders”.
Let’s see:
Byron’s worked up a good lather, Bandita’s got a good plasma rinse going there, who is he gonna repeat on…?
Frigg Frigg Frigg?
Or maybe, since he does have the axes, he’ll just use the crowd to grind.
He certainly knows how to cut to the heart of the matter.
this is just giving me a splitting headache…
I didn’t know they made “Axe” for women now.
HOLY SHIT I did not realize I was invested enough in Bandit to be so stunned by this development. OH MAN I may just have to continually loop through the archives up until this storyline and just pretend it never ever happened ever.
. . . OK, I think it is actually my investment in Byron that is causing the negative reactions of holy shit and etc, but STILL.
I think I’m gonna cry!
Wee ppl is for punting, not chopping!
Or bowling!
*Flees*
:(
Yeah, my joke was in poor taste. I apologize.
terrible day and now this. U______________U
Don’t feel so bad, Bake. I’m sure she’ll hatchet a plan of some sort.
Well shit, I guess that spot for Best just reopened.
I feel kinda bad that I would dig that. I don’t dislike Bandit, but she’s probably the character I’m least interested in. Whereas Best, I just love to hate Best.
I’m more worried about what this will do to Byron.
He’ll be fine, he is the one holding the axes.
Friday, 150 posts
Monday, 256.
Wednesday… Hm.
Can’t tell without more data points. Straight linear growth says 362. Factoring in number of days makes for 50 per day increasing to 128, so… 2.56x, hunh convenient that, which would make 655. Seems unlikely though.
Of course, I can swing the odds in favor of whichever set of numbers I want by tons of frivolous posts. If I had the kind of time available for that. And lacked any kind of life.
I don’t know why this has captured my curiosity, but it has. *shrug*
From the Penny & Aggie Forum Q&A:
Freemage: Okay, sorry for being off-topic for here, but now that strips are getting 100+ posts on the “comments” section, when is the Guilded Age Forum gonna be up and running? If nothing else, Byron the Berserker’s REAL entrance deserves some long-overdue discussion…
TCampbell: Great question. Phil and I keep having one little difficulty after another. We’ll talk about it in the next 24 hours.
Yeah, although fora are more of a pain to manage than blog comments, once you start getting upwards of 100 comments per strip on an ongoing basis, especially if there are lots of replies-to-comments, then you do need a forum.
I wonder why David Willis went with a comment system for his comics, instead of the old Blank Label fora. Those blog-comments are way overflowing too.
Over at Wapsi Square, Pablo left Blank Label and went to straight comments. Makes it hard to keep up when we pull seventy-five or more, which the current story-line is pretty consistently drawing.
Yes, but of course, that begs the assumption that Wapsi square is, in fact, a webcomic, rather than a barely-coherent jumble of roughly related words and images.
And your comment begs t e question of whether you are a rational human being, but, hey – i love ya anyway,
The nice thing about having oodles of comments? By the time I’m done with all the comments, the new strip is up! Hurray!
I actually like the comments–it’s an immediate view and I don’t have problems scanning the threads. OTOH, I gave up on netnews groups (whoops, showing my age), discussion-oriented mailing lists, and forums years ago because I just didn’t have time to sift through the piles of posts and e-mails anymore.
if all the discussion is in a forum, where do we put the puns?
Up your….
No, too easy.
Personally I prefer the comments to the forums.
I see it like a bunch of people going to see the same movie:
In a forum, people would go see the movie, then they’d all go home or to different places to talk amongst themselves about the movie.
In the comment section though, everyone’s in the big hall in the theater just after seeing the movie, conversing and talking to one another about the movie they just saw.
I like the immediacy and the quickness of the comments. But to each their own. Forum would be good for other stuff but I’d hate to lose the large amount of comments we’re getting now, I love reading through them!
261 (well, 262 now) in just over 1 day. Which is how much monday’s comic got in two days.
We might be going exponential here.
(How long until everyone on the internet sees the comic and posts? Will have to sit down and do some math… *scribble scribble* *carry the two…*)
307 by 12am fri. Less than linear growth. (figured, really)
A Farewell to Arms: Bandit Edition
I think he missed though, the blades of those axes aren’t that wide and it looks like his arms have come down on and past her shoulders. Hard to say.
It kinda looks like it.
The blood splatter would be more upwards, plus shoulders would be less…attached looking if those axes really did go straight through poor Bandit’s collarbone.
Instead, I think those axes pierced her back some, and she should be good to go after a good night’s rest at the nearest inn.
No such luck me thinks. Bandits puffy shoulder pads hide view of Byron’s hands in last panel. Unfortunately, I think he hit his mark.
if he’d missed, there’d be less blood.
Maybe he hit someone with invisibility spell on and standing behind Bandit? Let us not forget, that previously Byron managed to not harm Sy’ring when in [KILL] mode.
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Yeah but she is his ultra-special love interest… or something.
I think not having been run through with a spear might have more to do with his success last time.
WHAAAAAAAAT?!
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!! BANDIT NOOOOOOOOO!!!!
T-T *sob*
0.0 …. That’s… that’s… gonna need a Band-Aid…. >.>
Yeah, this is a total party wipe… there’s no way they have the gold to pay for TWO True Resurrections and the medical bills for whatever Frigg’s not waking up from yet. Especially with the reputation they now have with the Church… they aren’t getting anywhere near a member of the Clergy to get healed up…
Sooo…. CUE AWESOME ROYAL MAGIC MS. Syrnj!
C’mon… we all know she’s got it… she’s like Zelda!
“that’s… gonna need a Bandit-Aid”
fixed that for you
We might get some kind of ghost story, huh? Gravedust has the skills, after all. If everyone is as dead as they seem things certainly look grim.
“Guilded Age: Afterlife”
I… I just can’t pun to this. They’re all so obvious but it feels… Cruel. Wrong.
Not the page, of course. Too many people view Berserkers as “awesome cool crazy fighters with no drawbacks!” My guess is that other berserkers in the Guilded Age Universe were taught to control their rage, but Byron discovered his ability at a very young age and most likely in a very dire situation and, as such, possesses no control at all.
Finally, what hurts me most is that I don’t know whether you guys would actually “do it” or not. I mean, you’ve set up Bandit well enough without tailoring her to be the “sacrificial plot lamb”, but, then again, you’ve shown that you like pushing boundaries when it comes to storytelling.
Poor Bandit. I hope she’s okay, for her sake AND Byron’s. This would destroy the poor guy once he snaps out of it.
Actually, I don’t know we can assume other berserkers have more control. Note the troll’s words in the previous strip–“devil”, in particular. That suggests that, even among the monstrous races, a berserker is considered a destructive force of nature, damaging friend and foe alike. It also explains why berserkers are so much a matter of legend and rumor, even in this setting–either they use their power and get put down like rabid dogs, OR they suppress it all the time like Byron does.
But Byron labels himself “The Berserker”. People still hire him. No one has demanded his head on a plate or ran away at his title. If they were infamously destructive and dangerous, you’d think that’d affect his business.
Maybe people think “the Berserker” is just puffery.
That might explain why Field Marshal Pornstache sent a self-proclaimed berserker into a delicate diplomatic situation…unless of course he was banking on this so he’d have an excuse to go to war.
Ah, but I said I wouldn’t speculate. ;-)
it’s been made fairly obvious that he WANTS the entire group to fail… he was surprised they all came back with glowing reports of 100% completion.
I thought he was pleasantly surprised. He was seeing if they could each operate out of their respective elements. Unfortunately, it seems that the one he had the most confidence in turned out to be the least stable. Well, least stable in combat, anyways.
And by “stable”, I mean mentally stable, of course.
Hey does anyone in the party have illusions that we know of? In the fourth panel I can’t tell if it is the layering or on purpose but Bandit looks see through and kind of like an illusion…anyone else?
Yes, she do, don’t she, though?
You may be on to something.
And i never noticed.
I think that’s just the “parchment” texture that GA likes to use to accent the feel of the art.
No – it’s the only use of that effect to such an extreme in this whole page.
The whole “He’s actually hacking something behind her” scenario does seem possible, too – i agree that as we see it, his wrist appear to be coming down on her shoulders., indicating that all that blood is somewhere behind her.
Oh, well, unless The Powers That Be get cruel and start a two-week sequence flashing back to Syr’nj’s time in the Field Medics, we have less than twenty-four hours before we find out something.
Looks like Frigg will get her wish:
http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-2/chapter-2-page-23/
the game she may be afoot, gentlemans.
Wait, were blunt weapons more or less effective on ancient berserkers? Frigg may have the advantage.
Nice catch! And comparing the axe in the third panel of that page to the axes in the third panel of today’s page, they have definitely grown in size. Artistic freedom I guess: Axes become bigger with rage.
Axes just look bigger when they are being wielded by a psychotic killing machine.
Aw yeahhhhh baby. Berserkergang all up in this motherfucker!
I felt sick… I really liked that girl.
But…Harki, a big ol’ troll managed to block Byron’s blow even taken by suprise (piggybacked :) and later evaded his whirlwind attack. On the other hand, superquick Bandit (quicker than Harki – she evaded his stab) was cut clean, even though Byron was at least 2 paces away and she was warned.
you are forgetting trust. she tursts byron. when syr warned her, it bewildered her more than put her on her guard.
Little does she know Byron’s in an especially gullible state of mind where he thrusts everyone.
Freudian pun?
it’s easy to dodge a weapon blow from someone faster thatn you. weapons move quite slowly.
I’m chocking it up to shock and the fact that she had her head turned before he struck.
I’m chocking it up to Byron being more awesome than Harki. You can tell, because Harki ran away from him.
OMGF! This is actually the first time I choked and paused for a moment during my breakfast while reading this. Bandit noooooooooooooo! I hope she lives and without physical disabilities later on. This is so cruel.
maybe a maimed arm, those are cool.
We have got this far in the thread without a “one armed bandit” crack….
Until you had to go and pull that schtick
“It wasn’t me, it was the one arm thief!”
I wasn’t gonna say it…
ogod, this may even lead to Byron being thrown out of the group.
Poke man too much and sooner or later he’ll start poking back!
To be fair; Byron pretty much runs the group…
It wouldn’t be the group throwing Byron out as much as the group running like hell to get away from Byron.
Would you tell that guy he’s fired? Hell no, you say you quit and run like hell!
Byron will try to leave of his own will for their safety. He seems to be that type of guy.
… Oh god, I hope Best doesn’t end up trying to lead the group in Byron’s stead.
Best would lead but no one would follow.
To be honest I wish Best was there instead of Bandit.
Please excuse me while I put myself into a chemically induced coma for the next two days so I get to read the next page right away.
Oh…. oh, damn…
We don’t have any comics showing the future past this point and showing Bandit alive, do we? I mean, we’re stretching the likelihood that Byron’s going to live badly enough with that blade through the gut, but unless Syr’Nj has got some /serious/ mojo going on…
Damn. I really liked Bandit too.
Isn’t there the water trap comic? I’m reasonably certain that is supposed to happen later than this.
No, that’s in the past too. They tried to explain what happened to Ardaic and he cut them off, remember?
Bandit’s present when Frigg and Syr’nj are taunting about Gastonia working on airships to force someone to sign a peace treaty while they’re on diplomatic missions, isn’t she?
That was also the past. They subsequently rejoin Byron and Gravedust, who have discovered the massacre at Leafport, which is where we first hear the spirits of the dead utter “Harki.”
The spear in Byron’s torso is missing.
Oh nvm, just noticed it looks like it flew out during his WW.
They stowed the sharp part in a chest for safe keeping.
Specifically, Harki’s chest.
I am *so glad* it’s not a ‘skill’ he can just switch on and off. Seeing a berserker actually be *berserk* is a nice change of pace. Wonder if Frigg will go Round 2 on that Pinned bet now. ;)
Actually i expect Gravedust to appear after Byron is pretty much done with all possible targets on two feet. The guy has connection with the dead nonetheless. it wouldn’t take him long to barter on his soul.
Frigg? Bandit? Syr??
Sorry but at this point they’re all..ehmm…..pardon the expression……scr*wed!
Nah, Frigg has a tower shield and a suit of heavy armor on. She could take him. It’s Bandit I’m worried about.
The shield and the armor did not prevent her from being tossed over. It brings about this equalaion:
‘zerked out Byron > Harki > the rest
Agreed. For all her trash talk, Frigg will be obliterated if she takes on a ‘zerked Byron.
Naw, mace to the head equals “night-night”, no matter how ‘zerked out you are. I think blunt weapons were more effective against Norse berserkers than blades. Harki was simply more agile than Frigg and could recover easily from whatever injury she gave him.
Think of it this way, it’s a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors”. Frigg’s the rock, Harki’s the paper, and Byron’s the scissors.
I gotta go with the classic:
AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEeeeeeeeee!
Ack!!
I hope Syr’Nj can fix that.
Poor Bandit needs a bandaid or two.
Here’s hoping the last frame is what he imagines happening (as in the hallucination before, unless I completely misunderstood), and not what’s actually happening.
BAH!
After waiting that long, I was hoping you guys would let him be awesome for at least another page or two before starting the obligatory “THIS is why he doesn’t ‘zerk out often” scene. Now it looks like you’re covering your butts by making his rage more of a danger to the party than to their enemies, and I bet it’s going to take like four pages to subdue him while he tries to kill the only people present who DON’T have it coming.
Come on, prove me wrong.
i cannot help but share that thought…
To be fair; They need to pull a “Byron can’t do this as a party trick” vote, because it’s a pretty F**king Imba party trick to just slip out your sleeve.
My friend just got me to start playing DnD a couple of months, this is why I didn’t choose ‘zerker class.
Screw that, if I ever play, I’m still going with a berserker.
I’d try to give him a decent amount of self-control, though, and, unlike Byron, he’d warn his allies before they went into their first fight to stay the heck away should he rage out.
… In fact, Byron, you dummie, why DIDN’T you warn everyone before hand? Careless.
Wouldn’t they already know about the possibility? I’m betting on the “it’s all an illusion/hallucination” theory…
In D&D, you ALWAYS stay away from the berserker. Because you know of the danger – they don’t have to warn you. Clearly, Bandit never got the memo because Byron was betting on never having to rage out.
Look at the leather straps on his wrists/hands compared to those of her arms. There´s no way the axeheads would even touch her shoulders except for maybe a flesh wound down her upper back because of the crooked blades.
the entirety of her torso has been filled over with red, and you’re trying to convince yourself it’s only a flesh wound? – that’s a kill.
If we assume that gnomes lack intestines and bones in torso then yes, its a flesh wound.
I suppose she could have hidden all her vital organs in her feet, but seriously, she has two wounds going from collarbone to pelvis. She’s dead.
Unless he only got her with the bottom half of the blades. Everyone argues “But look at all the blood”, but the fact is that even a glancing two inch deep wound would cause a lot of blood. He most definitely greivously wounded her, though. If she doesn’t get some killer first aid soon, she WILL die.
That’s how I see it, though.
…and is it just me or did his handaxes… grow..?
He’s happy to see her.
I’d argue the contrary…
The moment Bandit appeared in the panel I just knew she was going to get it. I still hoped for Best and for the best but it didn’t make seeing those axes on poor Bandit hurt my heart place any less.
Actually seeing Best saving the party’s skin would be a geat dissapointment to me.
Mess with the Best, die like the rest.
I would like to see Best totally flub a heroic rescue and lose an arm. Nothing against Best, but it’d give Syr a chance to hopefully work major mojo on Bandit and would be really, really funny.
I would so love to see Best try to take on Byron in berserk mode. And fail. I particularly want to see the fail part 8D
I’d imagine that Best would taunt Byron, knock him down, stop to pose-
And then take an axe to the leg.
Yeah, his axe to Byron’s leg.
As in, Byron’s so awesome that he’d kick it away with his leg before proceeding introduce Best to some heavy metal.
“Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die.
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die.
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die.
She ain’t gonna steal no more”
I hope Syr’nj can do science or stuff for Bandit and Gravedust, though.
Poor Byron’s going to be in a f-ing remorse when he wakes up from his berserk-frenzy.
Do people not think that banded just looks as cute as a button in panel one?
Now I’m going to go read the other panels.
Don’t do it! 0.0
IT’S A TRAP!!!
So…fury spec has its flipsides.
Maybe he should reroll arms. Ooooor…Bandit needs to be faster in her CDs.
She already popped evasion during the Harki encounter. Rogue tank FTW
there isnt much you can do when a warrior drops all his cooldowns at once.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!1
Such hair rising splatter. Might as well take it all the way, eh?
… Captain Picard, what happened to you? You’re all evil now.
He’s part of the Borg now… again.
Only until I manage to kill Janeway.
godspeed on your mission Captain.
Be sure to kill her crew first.
Well, I’m not familiar with Star Trek, but I’ve heard about this “Wesley” guy, so it probably wouldn’t hurt if you took him out, too.
Janeway is, i believe,the Captain on “Star Trek: The Three Hour Cruise”.
I could swear the last panel changed a bit since I first saw it…
Yeah, me too. Maybe there’s blur on the flying blood?
This is the only time I have ever just had this train of thought:
OH! Oh my… GOD! Not the funny one! Anyone but the funny one!
Bullshit. You thought that in “Serenity” too, didn’t you?
Innocent bystander:
*Mom, look! That catbus is headed straight for the spoiler! D:*
I did. :(
I have no words really.
I liked that little thief.
Welp.
Side note: With all the wonderful detail and effort put into everything, the teeth stuck out until panel 1. I hope every set of teeth is rendered like that, not just a razor-straight white bar, you know?
Wow!
Oh my! What a page!
I like the little Harki’s floating around Frigg. And on an other note, I feel stupid for not being reminded of the third panel of sooner.
Or the last panel, I think that’s Gravedust’s poison-happy clean-shaven buddy.
But the Evil Oompa Loompa doesn’t wear a monocle. And the guy looks like he has a mustache…
Oh holy shit
Holy, holy shit.
Is she going to die? Damn damn damn nooo.
I mean she’d pretty much have to die from those wounds. I mean isn’t that basically hitting all vital organs? Not to mention the bleeding.
Unless there’s some very, very good healing magic about in the next few seconds I’d say that’s the end of her :(
I must be the optimist of the comments and be the one thinking he actually disarmed something behind her.
I’m going to agree with you, because if I don’t my non-existent faith in reality will hit double negative.
I think our optimism may be misplaced. :/
noooooo I *like* Bandit, she can’t get killed by team killing!
Well I wasn’t Axpecting that.
It’s a shame the first time we see Byron ‘Zerk, he goes and kills a character. Dangerous stuff that. Won’t be long before the group have Banned-it.
On the plus side; at least our little gnome got a Slice, of the action.
It certainly got Byron into the Swing, of things.
But now they’re trapped; let’s hope there’s an escape Hatch-it would be a great way to escape.
Then again, escape at this point may be a mere Mi-rage.
On a side note, the Artwork gives me physical pleasure.
That last note wasn’t a pun, by the way…
I get it! :3
Great job with the blocking in this strip, it’s a fucking ballet man, look at the position of the foreground and background figures in each panel until you reach Bandit’s full face with the shadow of the raised axe in the background and then BAM they colllllllliiiiiidddde!!!! I bet the next time we see Bandit she’ll be wrapped tightly around Byron, trying to hide under his chin wondering how to get the fuck off!
And while all this drama is going on there’s the quintessential Bandit sight gag when her eyes go from as big as saucers down to two little buttons…dweep. (Insert your own Wile E. Coyote sound effect here).
Rippin’
Aw man. Now she’s gotta run all the way from the nearest graveyard to her body – and she’ sonly got little legs.
Yikes. Consequences, indeed.
For the moment, I won’t speculate too much–after all, Byron himself appeared to be dead a few pages ago and as far as it appears still has a mortal wound. But this is a fantasy with plenty of magic, and we appear to be at a critical plot setup with unresolved character subplots, so wiping out 3 or more major characters doesn’t seem productive–I think the GA team has shown itself to be more clever than that. Also, IMHO, the fact that the last several pages has drawn such a huge response–the fact that I will reload my browser at midnight despite having to get up at 5:30–demonstrates that this is a truly good piece of fiction with characters people are invested in, so I feel confident things will continue to be interesting, if not happy or resolved in exactly the way one might hope.
Mostly I wonder how we might ever return to the comedy aspect of the story.
“We’re sorry…we cannot complete your call as screamed in terror. The Byron you have reached has been disconnected…”
My thoughts exactly. Well said too. I’m trying to rationalize, like many of you, how bandit could *not* be dead but I’m not seeing many realistic options. I also don’t see how she could be saved either. That looks like she was cut into three little bandit pieces if those axes continued on and exited through her pelvis. Hopefully it is merely an optical illusion and some of the previous posters are correct. It may just be wishful thinking though. I have a sweet spot for Bandit.
Though her name IS Bandit… I’m mean that’s more descriptive than an actual name…. maybe she was always destined to be ensign Ricky from Star Trek….
Well, seems people aren’t exactly happy to see Bandit get the axe, but I think it would be a great move to keep her dead. I don’t respect senseless “kill-them-all” plots, but I have less respect for the “heroes-can’t-die” plots. Sometimes you just have to cut people out for drama and realism. But any way you slice it Bandit was a secondary character throughout the comic and having her chopped from the roster wouldn’t be fatal to the story in any way. On the contrary, I think it provides fuel for much more interesting story development than “Oh wow Byron, you really laid into those savages! Lets all go drink some Ale and laugh at how futile it is to ambush the PC!”
Besides, maybe Byron will get himself a new axe and call it Bandit, to keep Bayen and Brayen (probably brothers of his he killed while ‘zerking?) company.
We have no idea whether this setting has resurrection.
We might be about to find out.
Alternatively, it could totally all just be a dream. (Phil, if it’s all just a dream, then I shall be rather upset, that’s such a cop-out)
Yeah, if Byron wakes up in the fortune tellers chair still trying to control his rage… I’ll be miffed… to say the least
“Go back to bed, Bob.”
I think you might be right about the axes’ names, there.
Wow. Named his axes after his Brothers (who possibly died in his first rampage)? (Byron, Bayen and Brayen! Brilliant!)
I applaud you on your insight, though I can’t speak to your correctness. . .
Cheers,
Cote
Man, if you’re right about the axes, you just pissed either Phil or Campbell off. Authors LOVE their dramatic backstory reveals…
And if he does get a “Bandit” axe, I hope it has a pretty blade. And we get to see the trio doing the “force ghost” gig at some point.
Somebody has actually mentioned this before in one of the earlier strip’s comments. Too lazy to go back and look for it though. It didn’t get this much play though.
Actually, I’m not too lazy. AdamZero says it on this page and our illustrious captain agreed. Yay for research.
Bandit’s essential to the story! she adds cuteness and mirth.
I’m so proud of our angry Berserker buddy right now. He’s finally doing his class proud.
fffffffffff…
1) GYEAGH! That’s not nice!
2) Y’know what I love about this comic? The side splitting humor. (Sorry, just getting into the wing of things…)
A sharp wit, there.
Oh god, that last panel might give me nightmares.
His love for you is like a truck – BERZERKER!
AKA, it’ll probably hit you at high speeds and kill you.
Gah, what YouTube video is that from?!?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D-9X3ooFvo LINKY LINKY.
Better yet, watch the film.
I’m….sure shes ok
Hmm… She’s dead.
However, as a thief, who’s to say she hasn’t been carrying around a bunch of magical artifacts that will revive her on death, just in case? She may have even lifted such a thing from Harki.
Cut to scene on outskirts of camp *pacing warlock in his tent*.
“Honey, have you seen my soulstone.”
“Not since that lovely girl scout came by to sell me cookies dear”
Damn, this chapter is shocking me at every turn. The part where Gravedust relizes the other dwarf has killed all the mystics and is going to kill him? Finding out Byron ACTUALLY IS a berserker? And now Bandit looks to have been litteraly dis-armed? Holly %&*$.
I hope they don’t all die, preferably that none of them die. But yeah, this is awesome.
This chapter probably should be sub-titled, “Heartbreak Hostel”
Can somebody PLEASE get this man a will save?
It would have rocked so hard if this had been the facebook post selection….
It looks a lot like the axes are overshooting Bandit. I’m betting only the lower edge of their blade has actually cut her in any way, and all the blood is just artistic styling.
Looking at it a bit closer now, I think Bandit got ‘stabbed’ by the lower portion of the blade. Notice how the blade of the axe curves back up before meeting the handle? That pointy bit could definitely hurt and draw blood, yet not be 100% fatal.
Only thing is, bandit’s hair makes me wonder just how the frak did Bryon get those axes where they are? Either he overshot them and then stabbed her (which would match what I’m thinking), or he instead has the axes clean through her because she tried to lean back and, instead of her hair getting cut, now has two lovely gaping wounds.
On second gaze i really think that the last panel is kinda illusion in perspective. Those axeheads look way large compred to Bandit’s shoulders.
Not only that, but Byron’s elbow guards are right above Bandit’s shoulder pads. There is no way his axes could cut into her. He is killing some invisible being behind her.
You know, I started to think that bending of Byron’s axes was deliberate from very beginning just for this scene ;>
Bandit… I thought better of you. I thought you’d be able to make the reflex save.
Maybe she would have normally, but Byron rolled a critical disarm.
Zing!
Oh hell man! That ain’t cricket!
Nope. It’s “Killin’ folks in an arena for the entertainment of monsters”. Closer to Rugby.
I just noticed, Frigg seems to be getting up in panel 2.
“Snick-snack and chop-schlop the axes went, ‘Oops~’ yer f*ckin’ dead!”
Oh I love unbridled ragings of a Berserker.
It’s feels sooo stimulating, ah~
Also I just love Byron rageface.
Now that I’ve dealth with my denial stage. I can see now this was probably part of the script handed to John with the instructions “make sure its obvious she’s been fatally wounded.” I think its our love for this comic and its characters that have us saying the “oh, no’s” and “It can’t be’s”. I don’t think John could have been any more obvious than if he had shown her decapitated head resting on the ground.
The reason those axes are so far forward is because he’s buried them so far into her torso they’re bursting out the other side.
Ever the optimist.
I love seeing a comic take the legendary berzerker so seriously. Too many people have been sidetracked by the D&D version, where you get angry for a few minutes and then let the adrenaline rush wear off. I wonder how much of the army surrounding them will survive the coming massacre?
Also, if their GM uses group experience, everyone could level enough from his kills for their wounds to become minor in comparison to their new vast reserves of HP. Or maybe Gravedust will just level enough to heal everyone before resurrecting himself.
Soooo…
What if Bandit comes back as a ghost and asks gravedust to take revenge so she can rest in peace? You know, like all the other ghosts…
The last thing Harki said was “Summon the archers”.
I think there’s a good chance he’ll get hit with an arrow and then go up the stadium walls to kill the archers (and then everyone else he can see), rather finish off Bandit his friends right away.
now , if that’s an option, i WOULD LOVE to see him chopping an entire stadium into little bits!!
the one thing that’ll ensure the party’s safety seems to be a greater distraction anyway. =s
NOOO!!! NOT BANDIT!!!!!!! T_T
This is what it’s like partying with a Frenzied Berserker. NEVER ends well for somebody. Standard operation is now to buy these guys collars loaded with a calm emotions spell. The guy with the highest AC holds the trigger for that. Funny part is, I’m not even kidding.
A game I played in had a barbarian who later went Frenzied Berserker. We had three different Will and Fort save conditions set up for him, including my gnome Wizard crafting him a talking sword with a high enough Ego to allow it to try and take over if necessary.
One day he made all his saves. It was almost very very bad.
All other joking or yelping of “No not Bandit” aside…
Think I might have to go cry now. Just a little. There doesn’t seem to be any way this can end well.
Whether or not you liked her, it’s sad. If you like Byron, it’s just damn tragic.
Bandit, we hardly knew ye! I wonder if this character’s purpose was merely 1) to trick us into thinking Best would be gone, at least for a while, and 2) to be berserker fodder in this very scene. Ah well. I resign myself to the inevitable return of the Shittiest of the Shit Elves.
Grousing aside, this is by far one of the best comics online, hope to see more!
Well, she was the only one without a backstory
And John, you’re doing a bang up job! :D
Thanks, Cat.
…and everyone, the turn of events in the story is surprising me as well. I liked Bandit too. :(
I can’t imagine how you must have Felt drawing someone you liked being Sliced like a cucumber…
A little shocked, and sad. But, if she’s gonna go… I was gonna make it look good. ;)
Noo! I don’t believe you!
…also, hey, you have an avatar now. Neat.
That would appear to be confirmation for all of you hopefuls, unless John hasn’t seen enough future scripts to know for sure!
(So…the Gnomes don’t have the technology? The capability to build the world’s first bionic gnome? Yes! Bandit Keynes will be that Gnome. Better than she was before. Better…stronger…faster…*insert sound effect*)
Well…they are Gnomes…the Sisters had Gigundus…
Poor Bandit, poor Byron. :-( That aside, good job, John…
either that or he is toying with our pathetic-reader minds.
Yep.
I’ll go with Lynxx’ assessment. I want Bandit back!
Also, I’m pretty sure there’s glimpses of future not lined up to yet.
nah, we covered them all already.
Let’s see how much gemdust a Raise Dead costs here, alright?
And still not sure where the watery-glimpse came from, the explanations haven’t been convincing!
DURF DURF BERZERKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR DURF DURF
Man, the art is a killer.
Shame it’s killing Bandit. :(
I never liked her anyway. Way to go, Byron!
Looks to me like Bandit tried to jump back, but Byron caught her, hooking the blades in her back. If so, he punctured lungs. She’s dead meat without immediate healing.
We can only pray the archers hit him and make byron climb the walls. otherwise the fight is over. He’s deep enough in his rage, he won’t stop till all his blood is spent, or he exhausts himself into unconciousness.
(at least based on traditional berserkers, and what we’ve seen here)
I know we’re spent in the Heat of the bandit-butcher here, and we’re all worried and crying about her recovery…
But did I miss something? Byron was Human last time i checked; and Raging or no; He still got Impaled…
We just presume he’s going to settle down and bugger off home for some tea?
I figure it is something like Deathless Frenzy. You’re okay – as long as you’re frenzied. Once you drop out of it… well, better hope someone healed you.
He might feel better if he dies. I imagine the guilt would crush him, deserved or not. I see this as something like a medical condition. I don’t blame schizophrenics who don’t have access to medicine for anything they do. Poor Byron. And Bandit. And especially Gravedust, who died while his hopes were crushed! Poor everybody!
Do you think that if Byron survives and does not remember what he did, the others might not tell him he was the one who killed Bandit, out of compassion?
That might be nice, but he is smart, so he’d probably recognize his own axe-marks on her.
It depends if he will see her body. Otherwise he may just be told that Harki killed her.
Well, he did, sort of. Only, Byron was the weapon he used.
Can something not involving the main characters getting hurt happen now? please?
We do have one bit of the future left:
http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-2/2010-preview/
Bandit cuts her hair short, gets a fake mustache, and wears a monocle? Erm….
(Of course, I keed, I keed. I thought that was Col. Pornstache.)
I feel like Syr’nj slipped Byron something… She had a vial in hand before it cut away and she started shooting.
Also, what causes Bandit to turn her head? Syr’nj and Frigg are on the other side of Byron (they’re against the wall, Harki cornered them there, Byron came up behind him), so why would she look away from him? Is there something behind her?
She turned to look at Syr. When someone shouts to you, it’s kinda hard not to look. Besides, she didn’t know Byron was a threat until it was far too late.
What I’m saying is that Syr would be in front of her, so her head turning confuses me. Byron attacked Harki when he was pinning the others against a wall, so it’s weird for Bandit to suddenly be between them.
I’m kinda hoping that he overshot his mark and just gored the fuck out of her back…
Eh, one more post for me on this page, I looked up songs titled “Berserk” and found this. And as much as I love “My love for you is like a truck”, sometimes you just need variety.
Some say Bandit is a menace. I say she’s armless.
Damn you, alt text.
Damn you for making me laugh at such a sad moment. :(
That poor little thief, her life…cut short.
She risked life and limb…
The medical bill is going to be huge. It’ll cost an arm and a leg to get that fixed.
SUDDENLY EVERYONE REALIZES WHY BYRON WOULD PREFER TO NOT BERSERK VERY OFTEN.
Er. I always said this is why he must not berserk… Although I am curious to know… Is he geneticly a berserker, or is he actually possesed by a demon? Or perhapse he has demon blood. It would explain why he’s not bled out fatally yet. I mean, the way he’s moving would keep tearing the wound wider, and his blood is pumping so hard, he should be reaching his limit. But if he’s decended of demons, perhapse his rage will last as long as he is regenerating. (Which he must be doing if he’s not dead soon.)
I doubt it.
His muscles could have clamped down on any major arteries and slowed the bleeding significantly (the only blood I see is coming out of his mouth at the moment).
Also, a real berserker like Bryon would probably be able to operate with a heck of a lot less blood in his current state than an ordinary person.
Failing that, we could always just assume we’re running on the theory of narrative causality and that Bryon has as much blood as the story requires he needs.
Considering the spear would have perforated his abdominal aorta, his stomach, spleen, liver, intestines, pancreas, probably nicked his heart and severed his spine… No. If this was a real person they’d have lost out a few liters of blood already and be dead or about to kick the bucket. Being Fantasy though, he can just keep on kicking some ass. :)
True story: I arrived at Naval Air Facility Cam Ranh Bay (Viet Nam) shortly after there’s been a sapper attack with little guys in black PJs running around tossing satchel charges.
there was a smear of blood down the road outside the main gate; one of the Bad Guys had made it out the gate, and, under the combined fire of two M16s and one M60 cal 30 MG, made something like a hundred feet down the road.
At which point he not only fell over, he more or less fell apart.
i’m out of any logical explanaton but i somehow believe that Byron still have a tiny portion of his senses remained awake. .Considering him resisiting rage /humiliation/ insulting many times in the past.
(Plus how am i supposed to wait for Friday now?? It’s more than 20 hours away. 20 hours people!
Well, let’s hope the next update won’t be some jump in the future
Oman, you’re right! That would be awful!
Blade went through vertically. It is entirely possible that it missed the aorta and the vena cava. The spleen is located to far to the left of the insult to have been affected and only a single lobe of the liver would have been in the path. It is too low for the heart though depending on whether he was inhaling or exhaling it could have ruined the diaphragm.
As for the intestines. Well generally speaking low velocity cutting trauma has trouble cutting through the intestines as they tend to be pushed rather than cleanly severed.
Generally speaking impaling woulds do not bleed exceptionally much. At least not until the object is removed, and even then arteriospasm prevents exsanguination if the tearing is ragged.
While it is a stretch to imagine that Byron would be in any condition to fight after such a wounding I have seen stranger things.
Generally speaking any wound that does not immediately destroy the heart or brain, and does not cause enough gross trauma to prevent movement will allow a human being anywhere between minutes and hours of action despite being fatally wounded.
I have seen men shot seven times to limbs and torso run a half mile at dead sprint and still be in good enough shape to complain to their mom that she is overreacting afterwards.
It was not a conventional spear though, but an ugly serrated and barbed variety. It had to make an ugly mess inside Byron.
I really think that the possibility of Byron controlling his rage is nearly nil at this point. Although calling myself a “beserker” is a really pretentious thing to say, I do have the blood of Irish mercenaries in me and a nasty temper. As in, really nasty. As in, once when I was angry I grabbed a random bystander by the throat and pinned him to the ground until a teacher dragged me off him (elementary school). I barely remember what happened: I remember lunging, and them then I remember waking up struggling in somebody’s arms. Ever since them I have devoted almost all my energy to keeping my rage under control, leading to things like depression and the occasional near-explosion where I shout and break stuff.
I sympathize with Byron.
Byron has proven himself to be a great will bearer methinks (which is a very rare qualification among orginal berzerkers we know of). Still, as i said before, i have no solid evidence to defend this theory..It’s not even a theory, more like a …feeling.
I may be proven wrong anytime.
I had nearly the same experience in Elementary school and the subsequent years. Some differences though. During the episode I was disassociated from decision making and my sense of sight but I was aware of what I was feeling so I kind of knew what my body was doing. Also, I don’t have any trouble managing my anger anymore.
But yeah, poor Byron. While it is obviously not beyond his willpower to control his rage normally, he’s been impaled by a spear. Nearly dying does not help one think clearly.
The late Karl Wagner (DF/fantasy author) once told me of watching a drunken ex-Green Beret take three rounds in the body from a .357 and keep coming. (Granted, i believe it was a short barrel, which is really just an extra-loud .38, but still…)
Hum… I am kinda regretting now that Byron didn’t go berserk a few chapter before…On Payet Best.