In strip #1288 of the webcomic The Order of the Stick, Serini the epic-level rogue leads the heroes through the Final Dungeon (which she designed to protect the McGuffin that Team Evil is currently searching for), and explains its first few defenses. The creatures involved in those defenses are:

• A giant fanged frog-like thing with four arms and three eyes (no name or explanation given)

• Six disenchanters (capable of permanently draining the magic from magic items)

• A paragon Rust Monster (not seen or explained, but under standard D&D rules, causes any metal object it touches to rust)

• A swarm of Fumblebees (capable of draining Dexterity; not seen)

• A pack of Knee-Stealers (not seen or described)

• A Blue Poet (not seen or described, other than that it has seven ears)

As far as they are explained, these defenses are collectively designed to neutralize any invading party as quickly and mercilessly as possible. Given that elaborate plans never work out as the planner expects, it seems narratively reasonable to expect that Team Evil will in some way subvert or bypass most or all of these defenses. How much will any of them matter?

This market will resolve as YES if, at any time before the end of the comic, any member of Team Evil engages in combat with any of the listed creatures, and NO otherwise.

Considerations:

• "Team Evil" consists of Xykon the lich, Redcloak the goblin cleric, the "Monster in the Darkness," Oona the bugbear beastmaster, Oona's animal companion Greyview the worg, and the demon roaches that follow them around everywhere. Notably, it does not include the four-armed lawful outsider (believed to be a quinton, a type of modron) summoned by Redcloak to assist in their search (who is a neutral party in the most literal sense of the term).

• If a creature is not identified by name, but is visually depicted in a way that clearly correlates with one of the names or descriptions above, it still counts.

• Two characters are considered to engage in combat if one of them spends one round making an attack action, casting a hostile spell or using a spell-like ability, or initiating an opposed skill check against the other. (Or any other obscure D&D mechanics I'm forgetting about.)

• If one of the above creatures is seen dead or disabled in a way that indicates that a combat took place offscreen (similar to the sequence from #192 to #195), it still counts. (Unless it was clearly killed or disabled by tactics that a character other than Team Evil is associated with. e.g., a forcewall like that used by the modron in #1278 would probably not count.)

• Dialogue that suggests that such a combat occurred completely offscreen (e.g., Xykon says in passing "Yeah, I nuked all your guards with a couple meteor swarms, no big deal... you see.") would probably also count, I guess.

• This will only count events that are depicted or referenced in the main comic, defined as strips that appear on the website with an official strip number. Any bonus strips later that appear in print books or other supplemental material will not be counted. (Mainly just so I don't have to keep this open forever just in case some new supplement is announced later.)

• I will not be betting in this market myself.