Actually, Rich Burlew explained it in a post in the thread for the comic:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?459725-OOTS-1012-The-Discussion-Thread/page3&p=20081710#post20081710"Seven new priests walk into the room; six of them have voted so far. Three Yes's, Three No's. The vote is therefore currently tied.
But the seventh priest—the dwarf in blue robes in panel #1—has not voted yet. Durkon specifically says that there is one more vote left to cast. Why did the seventh priest not vote yet? Because Hel and Hermod had a little conversation instead, and then the comic cut away to another scene.
Hel is upset because if Hermod had voted her way, that would have made the count 4-2, and it would not have mattered how the last priest voted at all—she would have already won.
The dwarf vampire is former Exarch of the Creed of the Stone, Gontor Hammerfell, last seen being bitten on the neck by a vampire (as is often the case before becoming a vampire). He is not the same dwarf as the dwarf in panel #1; Gontor does not have a vote.
Durkon sped up the vampirization process off-camera using the spell Malack used to speed up Durkon's own vampirization, because Durkon owns Malack's staff.
Are there any other questions about what is going on in this strip? I'm thinking I must have done a really bad job on this one if everyone is so confused. "
Author
Topic: Order of the Stick (Read 596139 times)