Locations in The Order of the Stick
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This is a list of notable locations in the world of The Order of the Stick, as seen in Rich Burlew's eponymous comic.
Contents |
[edit] Major Locations
[edit] The Gates
A series of five mystical gates spread around the world, the Gates form a major plot point in the adventures of the Order. Set up originally by a group of adventurers informally known as the "Order of the Rift", the Gates are designed to close off rifts leading to a prison plane which contains the Snarl, a creature of world-threatening power. Fearing that the Gates could be used for evil purposes, the five surviving members of the "Order of the Rift" went their separate ways, each vowing to protect their Gate in whatever manner they deemed appropriate. The Gates are of great interest to the lich sorceror Xykon, who intends to tap their energy for his own purposes. The Gates, each named after the member of the Order of the Rift who protected it, are as follows:
- Dorukan's Gate: The largest of the five Gates, located in a dungeon stronghold in the Redmountain Hills, warded by the strongest sigils that the wizard Dorukan was capable of creating. Fell into the hands of Xykon for a period, but he was defeated by the Order of the Stick before he could successfully complete his plans. The Gate was then destroyed, along with the surrounding stronghold, when Elan set off a built-in self-destruct mechanism.
- Soon Kim's Gate: The smallest rift, sealed using a single gemstone set into the top of the throne of the ruler of Azure City. Originally located in the skies above the city, the entire castle was built with the aim of reaching the rift; concealing the Gate within the ruler's throne also neatly prevented questions about why the tower was so heavily defended. Defended by the Sapphire Guard, an order of paladins set up by Soon Kim and named after the Gate gemstone, in the belief that only the honour of a paladin was uncorruptable, and currently led by Hinjo, who took the throne after his uncle's death. Xykon's current target.
- Lirian's Gate: Located within the elven homelands and defended by the creatures of the forest. This Gate was the first to be targeted by Xykon; it was subsequently destroyed by Redcloak, apparently by accident.
- Girard Draketooth's Gate: Located in a desert region, Girard hid his Gate behind a complex series of powerful illusions. According to the Oracle, this Gate will be Xykon's next target after the Azure City Gate.
- Serini Toormuck's Gate (also known as Kraagor's Gate): Located in a snowy environment, Serini set up her stronghold as a tomb for her fallen comrade Kraagor and filled it with the most vicious monsters she could find, to reflect his belief in physical prowess.
[edit] Azure City
The location of Soon's Gate and birthplace of characters Miko Miyazaki, Lord Shojo and Hinjo. Azure City is very large and is apparently well-known to most characters, both good and bad (both Roy Greenhilt and Sabine were already familiar with it when it was mentioned to them). The Order is currently staying here to defend the city from the ongoing invasion. The city is also Xykon's current target in his quest to take control of one of the Gates. Azure City is currently under assault by the lich and his forces; the walls have taken substantial damage from an attack by titanium elementals.
Places to Visit:
- Sapphire Guard Palace: The large and imposing castle where Lord Shojo, recently murdered leader of Azure City, lived. Shojo's throne room doubles as a courtroom when alleged criminals (such as the Order) are brought here.
- Soon Kim's Gate: Located within the Palace, a sapphire gemstone set into the ruler's throne is one of the legendary "Gates of The Snarl", built to hold in the mysterious monster named The Snarl. Xykon and Redcloak plan to attack Azure City to get to this gate.
- The Inn: A large establishment where the Order stayed after their return from Cliffport. Nale attempted to murder Haley in her room, only to be interrupted by Sabine, Elan and Thog. The confrontation led to the defeat of the Linear Guild and their current imprisonment.
[edit] Cliffport
The town of Cliffport is where Eugene Greenhilt's mentor, Fyron, lived before being killed by the then-living Xykon. The Order later went there to save Roy's sister Julia after she had been captured by Nale and the Linear Guild. Cliffport is the only other named urban area apart from Azure City in the world inhabited by the Order.
Places to visit:
- Adventurers' Tavern: When Belkar was unable to kill Yokyok of the Linear Guild due to the former's Mark of Justice, he used a note tacked to the door of this place. Several adventurers were attracted by it and the "kobold menace" was quickly overwhelmed. Nale, Sabine, and Thog went here to plan their next moves, while Elan later went here to find some help getting back to Azure City.
- Warthog's School of Wizardry and Sorcery: A parody of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the Harry Potter series. Students who aspire to become wizards (such as Julia and Pompey) or sorcerers attend this school. The principal is a human whose head, for some unexplained reason, resembles that of a warthog. The Linear Guild visited here to find a replacement wizard after their previous one, Zz'dtri, had been dragged off by lawyers Mr. Jones and Mr. Rodriguez during the Guild's first battle with the Order.
- Cliffport Police Department Headquarters: This building is where the CPPD operate from. It also contains a jail, which was destroyed by Thog when he and Elan escaped. They also had Leeky Windstaff of the Linear Guild, but he was later freed by his teammate Pompey.
[edit] Redmountain Hills
A sizeable mountainous area, with the above-ground area being seen only briefly during Xykon, Redcloak, and the Monster in the Darkness's stint here.
Places to visit:
- Dungeon of Dorukan: The first dungeon visited by the Order of the Stick and the setting for the first one hundred and nineteen episodes of the webcomic. Constructed, along with the castle above, by the wizard Dorukan to protect the Gate located there, the dungeon was invaded by Xykon and his goblin forces. Dorukan was slain, leaving Xykon in possession of both the dungeon and the Gate it contains. Dungeon, castle and Gate were all destroyed when Elan inadvisedly set off a self-destruct rune that he found there.
- Hobgoblin Settlement: A large settlement located in a valley with an estimated population in excess of twenty-five thousand (based on eighty-eight legions of around three hundred individuals each). Redcloak was able to recruit the hobgoblins here to Xykon's cause after killing their alleged leader with a slay living spell; the real leader of the hobgoblins saw this and wisely chose not to correct Redcloak's assumption, putting the goblin in charge by default.
- Xykon's Tower: Located in the southern part of the region, Xykon considers this his back-up fortress, which he set up just in case he needed somewhere to hide out for a while. By his own admission, he hasn't been there for a few decades, strongly suggesting that he set it up before his conversion into a lich. When Xykon, Redcloak, and the Monster visited after the destruction of Dorukan's dungeon, the tower had been taken over by Good-aligned creatures, all of whom met their end when faced with Redcloak's hobgoblin army.
[edit] Minor Locations
[edit] Somewhere
The only location of note here is the Weary Travelers Inn, which the Order visited to rest after being confronted by Miko Miyazaki and agreeing to accompany her back to Azure City. Being located literally "somewhere", the region of Somewhere is one of several locations whose names easily confuse visitors: Somewhere, Anywhere, Nowhere, and Someplace Else. The strip uses these in a variation of the famous "Who's on First?" routine. In his confusion Roy stated (since the inn obviously had issues with royalty) that he was the "king of nowhere at all," which led to the inn management immediately welcoming him as the King of Nowhere. Roy did nothing to dispel the illusion, probably to avoid worse confusion, receiving complimentary treatment at the inn. The inn was accidentally destroyed by the dwarf assassin "Kaboom" Redaxe and his unnamed Shadowdancer partner, ending Roy's masquerade as king and also resulting in the loss of the Order's treasure (an event which culminated in Haley Starshine, the team's rogue, losing her ability to speak intelligibly).
[edit] Sunken Valley
Located a few days travel from Azure City, Sunken Valley is the home of an Oracle, a rather bad-tempered kobold seer who Roy and Durkon visited prior to the formation of the Order. They then made a second visit some time later, with the rest of the Order in tow. Both visits were to assist in tracking down Xykon. The Valley has a magical spell cast over it which causes visitors to forget the details of their visit, remembering only the answer given to them by the Oracle.
[edit] Wooden Forest
One of the generic "nature locations" in the Order's world, the Wooden Forest is incredibly large, even by forest standards. The forest is home to the Bandit Camp formerly overseen by Samantha the sorceress, before a series of battles that ended with Durkon in charge of the bandit clan. Also located here underground is the Dragon's Cave, where the Order went to find a meteorite of Starmetal; the dragon who lived there was destroyed when Vaarsuvius used Disintegrate on it.
| The Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew | |
|---|---|
| Characters: | Roy Greenhilt | Durkon Thundershield | Haley Starshine | Elan | Vaarsuvius | Belkar Bitterleaf | Xykon | Miko Miyazaki |
| Character lists: | General list | Linear Guild |
| Locations: | General list |
