2.4.8
on March 5, 2025
at 3:00 am
and cast into the fiery chasm from whence it- wait. this is the wrong script
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
and cast into the fiery chasm from whence it- wait. this is the wrong script
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: did you really think you were going to get to avoid the giant volcano
Image source: crucible
But which one of them is Joe? Are they all Joe? None? Joehossifat!?! (fish slap)
That was a very silly movie. Fun though.
Not even for a second did I think that.
. “The good news is he’s in very little physical danger right now. A Crucible’s core is armored with a perfect five-element fusion second only to Adamant in hardness. Everything he needs to rebuild himself is safely packed away in there.
. “The bad news is, Dainix is still mortal, and that means his soul is currently in very real danger.
. “Mortal souls need bodies to protect them, and ordinarily, that wouldn’t be a problem for Dainix. Most of the time he has a perfectly good human body to keep him safe.
. “He’s in a more delicate state when he transforms. His soul is more raw and exposed in his Crucible form, but it’s still protected by its intermingling with his unleashed inner fire.
. “The problem is, Dainix managed to completely burn himself out. The soul is still holding on, but the fire’s gone, and without it, he has no power to transmute his human body back together. If you don’t reignite him before his soul starts degrading, he’s going to forget how to rebuild himself, and then he’s going to forget everything else.”
“I KNOW he needs fire!” Falst snaps. “You’re wasting our time!”
. “Oh, well then, I guess I’ll just leave, since you’ve got it all figured out.”
“Caliban — please,” Kendal says.
. “Yes, Dainix needs fire,” Caliban says, looking at them. “Not a campfire, that’s too small. And not Starfire, that’s something else entirely. What he needs is an infusion of Primordial Fire in its most potent form.
. “He needs a Fireseed. Luckily, I know where you can find one,” Caliban says, pointing up the volcano.
Sorry, I completely forgot about Monday’s page lol, I’ve done it now 🙂
For Mobile Folks:
Alt-text: did you really think you were going to get to avoid the giant volcano
Image Source: Crucible
tumblr text: we have the technology
Ooooh, Lore! Nice!
Let’s steal some fire from the local, angry volcano god. I see smooth sailing ahead!
That’s not just any fire. It’s some manner of organ of the Fire Primordial, and fireseeds like that are supposedly at the center of every volcano in Aurora.
Ooh, that actually answers a question I didn’t think to ask: why does a world without a magma core have volcanoes?
Thank you
(for the other curious, I went ahead and found this on tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/comicaurora/636081576336326657/is-stone-the-only-primordial-whose-body-can-be?source=share )
Thank you @Rai626 for the link and @verdragon5 for the question on Tumblr! (and of course Red for the answer!)
Yeah Falst, go huck your pseudo-boyfriend in a Volcano, what could possibly go wrong?
VOLCANO HEIST LET’S GO
volcano heist!
VOLCANO HEIST!
o my god why the actual volcano :[[ (also cool lore!!)
Aurora Question #37: Which unresolved mystery would you like to see explored?
I want to know more about starfire and the stars, its really interesting to me
You know, the dark dragon who eats stars said there was something in Kendal that he hadn’t tasted in a long time. Kendal’s bones are star metal. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!
Paladin chain of command. Luckily, I think the whole of the ark 2 is gonna have a fair bit of involvement with paladins.
I FREAKING KNEW IT
I’m so happy about this development
I’d actually be very curious to see what Alinua’s birth parents are like!
I’ld settle for getting some Lore on Alinua’s foster parents but I look for whatever Red may put forward.
How the dragon broke that pedastal
I can’t wait to meet Rakhn. I bet he’s friendly
Surely, he must be.
[casually omits the fact that Rakhn’s name has become synonymous with “chaos” and that it is also an in-universe swear word]
swear word?
Dainix used it on 1.20.29.
Impressive catch
Volcano, whooo!
I love a good volcano.
Bestie became so hot he forgot how to human :3
Heck yeah, it’s time for a fun adventure to the volcano.
Falst: Enough of the exposition! I need to help him NOW!
Caliban: Oh, you think I’m bad? Try getting a straight answer out of Tahraim; you’d have pulled all your fur out in frustration in less than an hour.
Oh right, I forgot that lore bit about a person’s body changing drastically affecting the soul, and the need to fix the problem before the soul barrier re-asserts itself or falls apart. That puts things in a more time sensitive context.
The soul allows the body complex structure and resistance to the elements, and the body protects and overtime grows the soul; an effective symbiosis between the two that almost reminds me of cells and mitochondria.
Methinks next page will have Falst saying something along the lines of “Why don’t you get it?” to Caliban, and I’m interested as to the exact reason why Cali can’t, or won’t. While it may be a simple matter of the volcano being Rakhn’s domain, and gods don’t trespass without reason, I wonder if there may be some Volcanic Ignans in the volcano, complicating matters.
Given how potent Fireseeds are, the citizens of Rakhn, and Rakhn himself, could guard them closely. Maybe Caliban doesn’t want to look like they’re favouring one Ignan tribe over another. Or maybe these Ignans hate Demons/Crucibles and would never willingly help one.
My guess is Caliban isn’t getting it because it’s within Rakhn’s domain and Rakhn is territorial, but it could be what you’re postulating re: worries about favoring (or rather, appearing to favor) some Ignans over others. Nonetheless, I am curious. It would definitely make sense if Falst asks about it next page. Little guy is freaked out and at the end of his rope. (And Kendal is at the end of his rope in a different way. Poor guy looks exhausted.)
I don’t know how much folklore you have come across @Eivl Tree but Trickster Gods are not well liked by others, even their peers. Yes they are given (grudging) respect but they are experts at annoying others. This means some other gods may have no interest in helping or are actively hostile to that trickster god plans or schemes. Kendal may suspect he is being duped into doing something Caliban wants that Rahkm is against and might have serious affects on Dainix that he didn’t want (despite how necessary the trickster god thinks they are to their scheme. (Trickster gods do not plan – they scheme and manipulate). That Caliban can use Falst’s worry to motivate Kendal’s compliance by insulting Falst in front Kendal only compliments Caliban’s plan.
I do read a good deal of mythology and am knowledgable of trickster god shenanigans, but yeah you’re right; I guess I taking Caliban’s people-god status over their trickster nature, which may not be true. We haven’t seen Caliban interacting with Ignans outside of disguises so we don’t know what their relationship is like beyond the technicalities, and may be different between tribes too. Certainly fellow gods would be wary of Cali; even Vash was according to tumblr lore.
Yeah, Caliban is using Falst’s worry to further convince Kendal to help; if it weren’t for the time sensitive nature of Dainix’s status, he’d probably keep searching for the others. However, I think Caliban does want Falst specifically for this job. Not only is he skilled in stealth and cunning, and has powers to complement this, but unlike Kendal and his semi-divine soul, he’s harder for Rakhn to detect. If part of the volcano heist involves stealth, Falst is the best one between the two (heck probably the best one in the whole gang) to do it.
the clouds in the background in the last panel look amazing!
Volcano Heist.
Also, I just noticed that there is a “Books!” section up above now! Idk how long it’s been there, but I’m very excited to see that Aurora is out for pre-order!!!!
I think it’s been there for about a week.
You can preorder the physical book that will come out in July
“Fireseed! Available for a low, low price via this television offer only. Quantities are limited so act now!”
So the big question is who are we going to see on the next page ?
Is it going to be Aluina or Erin?
VOLCANO HEIST
I really like Caliban. Annoying, sure, but ooooh so much fun!
Volcano baths are pretty restorative for fire creatures from what I’ve heard
Out of the fire and into the even bigger primordial fire
That’s frying volcano, right?
Ooh, info and lore. Kudos to everyone who hypothesized or predicted the fire seed quest! (I think there were some people.)
The gang tosses dainix in a volcano
Why does this feel like a trickster god trying to get the gang to do what he wants?
One, that’s exactly what it is. Two, you’re genre-savvy enough to recognize it.
Because that’s pretty much exactly what’s happening.
That’s not a question that’s just what’s happening! But there is question… will there be consequences and/or rewards to allowing the manipulation. Also whether they actually need to do this because theoretically it’s possible that Dainix isn’t in danger or a campfire would still do but I find that highly implausible at this point. But I have to wonder if the characters are really about to fight another god and give one of their part members a seed of the primordial fire without someone getting a power up. But Caliban is a trickster god who seems to have a mindset of “the end justify the means” with their goal being keeping ignans safe and who knows what Caliban might decide is something that will help her achieve his goal. We really just don’t know what Caliban might be planning and I highly doubt we know everything that Caliban intends to happen when they go up there.
That is very, very, blatantly what’s happening, and I think both Falst and Kendal are savvy enough (in con artistry and gods, respectively) to recognize it!
Unfortunately, they’re also savvy enough to recognize that Caliban is probably telling the truth about this being the only way to revive Dainix, so they’re kinda stuck doing what she says, regardless.
are they. are they going to throw him in the volcano.
I don’t think so. I think they are going to steal whatever the ‘fireseed’ is, and then do some fancy magic stuff to transmute the fire back into Dainix. I don’t think that just the lava will do it.
VOLCANO SIDEQUEST BAYBEE
Let’s say they make it up the mountain in time and eventually throw him in the volcano. Wouldn’t that just mean Dainix’s body reforms in the lava, and then instantly burns to death? Unless Dainix is immune to heat while in human form as well, I predict the use of some sort of MacGuffin to channel the volcano’s power safely outside the actual lava pit
He is immune to all heat except soulfire, as are all Ignans. I feel like he’d be in crucible form when he firsr gets his body back.
I’m not sure why so many people are so certain that Caliban is talking about dropping Dainix into the volcano’s crater directly, when Caliban is clearly referring to some kind of OBJECT called a “Fireseed”, which happens to be kept INSIDE the volcano. I assume it’s some kind of sacred piece of Primordial Fire, which is guarded by the native people of the volcano, and/or Rakhn the volcano god himself.
TL;DR: We have a volcano, did you really think we wouldn’t make use of it?
*sigh* To Mt. Doom it is then
Well you heard the god, move the mount doo I mean that big ass volcano!
Ok…. what is a fireseed? I swear to another god, if it’s another glowing rock!
https://comicaurora.tumblr.com/post/636081576336326657/is-stone-the-only-primordial-whose-body-can-be
So… it is another glowing rock?
I am tempted to quote Sam Spade at the end of “The Maltesse Falcon’ (“The thing dreams are made of”). My deceased roommate was a fan of old movies and sci/fi and fantasy. A toast to all old fans. “Death will not realize you” per another old fan (Loscon?)
Mountain heist… 2!
Chekov’s Volcano. If you see a smoking volcano, it is going to erupt at some point in the narrative.
Quest received!
Wow, Caliban really is a dmpc, quest giver and everything.
I just spent the last few days Cyclone prepping, but none of that matters now bc BOOK RELEASE!!!!! OMG!!!!
(now to explain to my family that the storm hasn’t hit early, I’ve just stimmed hard enough to shake the whole house in an effort to contain my excitement)
Is it irony that the fire deity has too much chill?
he is compensating for the other fire deity in this chapter
Have you tried some lighter fluid?
Bluesky:
tell me more, tell me more
Note: Accidentally posted an incomplete comment, sorry!
The gist is that Dainix’s soul needs saving
It seems the volcano they soon will be braving
are we splitting the party EVEN FURTHER?