1.13.29
on August 18, 2021
at 3:00 am
ah yes, green and purple, the quintessential color scheme of good guys everywhere
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
ah yes, green and purple, the quintessential color scheme of good guys everywhere
Ah, so Zuurith doesn’t like the arena. A little bit of redemption for him. Not much though.
Oh thank god, they’re actually going to let him go. I was worried that was going to be bullshit.
Okay, now I’m beginning to question everything I once assumed about Zuurith.
Zuurith is officially proven as a “bad guy with standards”. Sure he’ll do anything to keep the order, but he does respect his peers. Even if he hates their guts
Erin looking kinda “I am the floof senate” right now
Haha, take the L,
arsehole arenamaster.
You have been. DENIED.
@Altirian
zuurith can have a little bit of redemption, as a treat
He is still open to being convinced though…
Wait. Red, are you implying that only bad guys have green and purple colour schemes? (Looks at Alinua) NEW THEORY! Alinua is the secret/final antagonist of this comic!
Jokes aside I’m glad Erin chose to cut the Zuurith trip short, I think he’s planing to make one last attempt at the archives, likely fail, get supplies for the trip, then leave with Kendal. Maybe even a prison visit if the city even allows those. How much of that plan will come to pass however is another matter.
Ok Zuurith gets a little slack from me: he doesn’t like the bloodsport; slaps down the arenamaster’s attempts to get Kendal to fight; he even has a, begrudging, respect for Vash as a fellow city god. However he’s not off the hook: he still allows said bloodsport to take place; created, inadvertently or not, an environment for it to flourish; plus, from that last line, he could still be convinced to make Kendal fight.
Ok, new (proper) prediction. The skunk-stripped arenamaster will succeed in getting permission for Kendal to fight, pit him against Dainix, and then just as they’re about to start, a certain storm god will appear in the arena.
So, Erin actually came through and finally did the obviously right thing. Good for him. It’s a step in the right direction.
As for Zuurith, being the creature that he is, I see his “distaste” for the bloodsport as entirely performative, a fiction that he puts on for his own benefit. He likes to think of himself as righteous and just, and not even he can mindbend something as objectively inhumane as death matches into that description. Hence this “necessary evil” narrative that he’s built around it, at least for the moment. It also suits his purposes to exercise power over the Arenamaster, and thus posing his acquiescence to the bloodsport as reluctant and conditional reinforces the notion that all power flows from him, all grace and good will is his to grant, thus making his subjects all the more eager to desperately appease his whims.
The line “I see no reason to placate the petty, base desires of my citizens” is very interesting specifically as it pertains to the broader world of Aurora: We’ve seen with Gleicann back in Hilltop that gods can and do change in response to changes amongst their subjects. E.g, the creatures became gaunt and terrifying as Jolon warped them, and so too did Gleicann become more ominous and imposing. But what remains to be seen is if that relationship is bi-directional, if a god can influence the character of their subjects. How much influence does Zuurith impose on his citizens now that he has become this Gul Dukat-like figure of authority and self-deception? Is there a point at which a god’s citizens imbue in them so much desire for a absolute ruler that their own desires and personality begins to conflict with or override that of the citizens?
It’s really fascinating, I’d very much like to see more.
Well Ryan said a bunch of things I wanted to say (Zuurith sees no value in something he has a high official to keep track of, right), although I can add that this “standard” of Zuurith’s seems to have more to do with gods than bloodsports.
I think I can answer the question about influence between a god and their subjects. I think it is effectively bi-directional although the influence of a god on their subjects is probably just the fact that a city god can shape the culture of the city. And the culture of the city effects the people who live and grew up there.
The Arenamaster and the Collector do share a few characteristics don’t they? And Zuurith’s attitude seems like he’s doing something because it must be done. I’m thinking he sticks to his city and enforces the law because he has some sentimental attachment to it, not because he cares for the people. Maybe the city belonged to a fellow God, or he had some connection the founders of the city and decided to keep the founders’ memory alive by taking care of the city. Please expand Zuurith’s backstory.
So Zuurith is not the worst person in Zuurith!
Of course villains always wear green and purple. Where else are we aroaces supposed to find representation? The Heros? /j
Zuurith: employs massive amounts of slaves
Also Zuurith: noo don’t make them fight
I just wanted to mention, the outfits that everyone in zuurith seems to be wearing are so cool
Sending Kendal to the arena would be quite a precedent, imagine people thinking godly vessels could be their plaything. I guess Zuurith is aware of that and he doesn’t like precendents that introduce further existential dilemmas (as stated in Zuurith’s dialogue with Kendal).
It actually makes sense that zurith dislikes blood sport, he doesn’t seem the sort to enjoy pandering to the populace, and it reduces the available slave labor supply.
I’m sorry, am I the only one who notices a similarity between the Collector and Arenamaster? I don’t know what it means but it has to mean something
Am I the only one who thinks the arenamaster looks very cute?
Now that I’m thinking about it, probably not
Glad to see at least *someone* has standards.
You’re not, but everyone in this comic is
Oh my god. Oh my god he’s not just a god you moron he is accompanying a foreign emissary, you can’t just shove him in a gladiator ring you can’t just DO that.
Like as much as Zuurith gets the Not As Much Of An Asshole As You Could Have Been award here, he might as well also point out that forcing the companion/bodyguard of a foreign ambassador, an ambassador who is also a powerful public figure as the elemental mage no less, would be a political nightmare. Jailing him in the first place was already a big risk that could have put Zuurith on shaky ground with Asera! Bringing the city’s bread-and-circuses nonsense into this pointless power trip just makes them look even worse!
Zuurith’s not off the hook anyway, he still allows the blood sport for all that he whinges about not liking it, and his last line implies he’s still willing to do this if the arenamaster can come up with a convincing enough argument.
I don’t know why, but in my mind, Zuurith sounds like Russel Crowe from Gladiator. Maybe all this talk about Arenas and gladiators makes me want to watch that movie again
Zuurith wins the “not as big of a jerk as you could have been” award.
All you need is a character named “arenamaster” to make the tyrant look good
Ah, so he’s just a jerk to everyone, gotcha.
AW WHAT THE FUCK THIS IS THE LAST ONE?
Perhaps the areanamaster came up with some compelling arguments in favor of the “sport”. Possibly dealing with practical things such as logistics of keeping prisoners for long periods of time which could result in overcrowding in time. Still got to be quite the bit of convincing I’d imagine though. It was mentioned that after a certain number of wins the champion earns their freedom? If I remember correctly, he is a god of order. And since he doesn’t like the areana, there has got to be some pretty compelling reasons which are logical to him for him to allow it. Part of my guess would be population control within the prinson and possibly dealing with the worst of the chaotic/dangerous elements.
… There’s got to be SOMEone who has a green-and-purple color scheme and isn’t evil…
If Zuurith doesn’t like the arena it’s strange he would allow it. Unless it’s like War World in the Justice League cartoon where it distracts the citizenry from how miserable their lives are under the rule of Mongul.
Gotta agree with Ryan;their city/citizen dynamic theory is fascinating, as is their analysis of Zuurith. I think they’re onto something there with that. Same with Evil Tree–it might be a bit cliche, but that setup feels like a properly dramatic/cinematic way to introduce Tynan to the main cast. Bonus points if Zuurith attempts to cast him out and gets blasted for his troubles (I can definitely see his pride, sense of order, and need to be respected/obeyed making him try this…)
And we have Erin (who has apparently come to in my opinion the better decision) pulling a Luke Skywalker… Careful, Erin, that didn’t exactly end well for Luke. Jabba wasn’t willing to give Han up, and something tells me the Arenamaster has a very similar opinion when it comes to Kendal. On the plus side, though, you don’t have to worry about a Sarlacc pit…
“ah yes, green and purple, the quintessential color scheme of good guys everywhere”
Hey, Piccolo managed to it off after his Heel Face Turn.
Today’s Alt Text:
yes Erin did in fact flex by making his messenger borb look like him
See now I’m worried the prison buddies will have to fight each other 🙁 …which would be SUCH an emotional punch!!
It appears that the arenamaster is wearing an emissary sigil as an amulet, implying that he’s one of Zuurith’s emissaries, or at least equal in status to one (like how Erin has an Aseran sigil despite not being an emissary himself). This means that even if Zuurith is not entertained, he does allow this important political figure to keep up the bloodsport; this is more than Zuurith just looking the other way while he’s over on the bench, this is Zuurith actively fostering the continuation of gladiation in his city. He didn’t have to make this emissary in charge of the arena as well as the prison; he doesn’t have to have the arena at all, except apparently to satisfy his citizens’ wishes. Fuck, this whole city’s corrupt. Tynan’s arrival might actually be the lesser of two evils.
Ryan:
Now I want to see Kendal chuck a teacup into Zuurith’s face, a la Kira Nerys.
If you look at the characters page, you can see by the note that the arena master is one of the emissaries of Zuurith. To me, this suggests two possible opinions that Zuurith has on this situation: 1, the arena master is high in his scheme of command, though not high enough to have any opinion worth changing Zuurith’s plans on the relation with a foreign emissary, one acting as an ambassador, or any of his associated party.
On the other hand, this could be a well-respected emissary for Zuurith and one of his public figureheads, namely the one that keeps the public who could complain complacent enough to wager the overall reputation of the city (according to the ambassador and his respective city and domain) with his games.
Just sayin’, the arena master seems oddly familiar…
Was Zuurith actually as petty as he initially appeared? Will the arenamaster follow Zuurith’s orders? Can the arenamaster convince Zuurith to make Kendal compete in the next crokinole tournament? Will I ever be two days late to post one of these cliffhangers again like I was on the last page?
Tune in This Week to Find Out!
the arenamaster gives me extreme grima wormtongue vibes and that scares me
TL;DR: Look, you put my friend in jail and therefore made my other friends risk their lives for him because of justice or something like that so I’m just gonna leave now ok bye
“But we didn’t put the prisoner through the arena yet!”
“I’m evil but not that evil! I have standards!”
*Scheming sounds*
“If the son n jumped in, that would be a story”
Yeah, I’ve got a feeling our boy is not missing out on his tournament arc.
“If the son jumped in, that would be a story”
Yeah, I’ve got a feeling our boy won’t be missing out on this tournament arc.
The words “messenger borb” bring me joy, and the fact that Erin is using them to show off his awesomeness is just perfect.
The thing that really impressed me with this scenario is the way Red managed to put Erin in a situation where he had to make a decision wherein both options were the right choice in it’s own way, and that made the decision very difficult. I’m really hoping we’ll get something later (after the shenanigans that are inevitably going to ensue) to give some more insight into his choice here.
Of course, I’m also hoping the floof squad finds a way to bring Dainix along when they go, or at least free him.
Also, I love that Erin flexed a bit with his messenger orb. Gives a not-so-subtle reminder of his power as he humbly informs them they’ll be releasing his companion earlier than planned.
Binged the whole comic in one night. I LOVE IT SOOO MUCH. I need more.
@TheUnknownGame: Ha! I think Alinua would be more likely to throw that tea cup, but I’d pay big bucks to see it happen either way! 😀
So. It seems that Erin has chosen a compromise between more info and freeing Kendal. Leaving the next day gives him one more day to try and get the information, all the while giving them the necessary heads up so they can prepare Kendal’s release.
@Ryan, I’ve been wondering that too honestly, but more in the “How did Zuurith the god become like this?”
Like, ok, Vash the city was, as near as I can tell, founded by refugees looking for a defensible place to be “safe,” so Vash the God became a protector and defender.
We don’t have any info on Zuurith’s history (as far as I know), but I tend to *assume* that no-one builds a city with a tyrannical repressive regime in charge at the beginning, so I wonder if it was one of those “slippery slope” things with each generation of rulers gathering more power to themselves until one day, their lust for power and ego-stroking literally manifested as a God and took over?
Or if it was a more sudden things, where there was some kind of crisis and “the people” wanted reassurance and safety so the government gave themselves pretty draconian powers “for the duration of the emergency” and Zuurith manifested in short order?
Or something else? I dunno.
Arena master looks like collector’s little sister.
Also apparently Zuurith does have some kind of morals.
I must say, this raises a few questions about what’s actually going on here. If Zuurith doesn’t like the arena, why is he allowing it to run? Who is this arenamaster? Is it a complete coincidence that the arenamaster looks a whole lot like the Collector?
A few people are pointing out the similarities in appearance between the arenamaster and The Collector, and I’m certain those similarities are coincidental. Plenty of people could have black hair, pale skin and green eyes; plus, you will note that 1) The Collector’s sclera are green instead of the normal white, whereas only the arenamaster’s irises are green (a different shade than The Collector’s irises), and 2) The Collector is centuries old due to a very unique phenomenon, while the arenamaster looks to be in his forties at most. If they’re somehow related (a very slim possibility), he would only be a distant descendant of hers.
love Erin being ✨extra✨ here. like he can’t just have the standard adorable message bird, he has to make a full hologram complete with dramatically flowing cape. just to show everyone that he can. classic.
This god reminds me of Thanos idk why
I’ll bet Erin just didn’t want the others to wreck any more of his cloaks while they were in Zuurith
What struck me personly is small part: “The sooner he leaves my city the better”. Like gotta make that power move, but also get the hell out of here.
yes I like the moral complexity in this comic.
hey! the god isnt just a dick all the time, he actually does have principles!
“You must try harder to convince me?!” Zurrith is way too easily swayed if he’s offering an option to convince him to let Kendal in the arena.
Also I love that Erin is being responsible now, coming to Zurrith was a bad idea.
(By the way, is anyone else unable to reply to comments?)
@ Leaf on the Wind: We all are. I don’t know when it started. Maybe after Red crashed the site by telling the OSP fan base about it?
Stark9865- Yes, the comment replies haven’t worked right since Red accidently DDOS’ed herself .
He disn’t say no – he said he needs more convincing. It seems that he’s not against the idea, if he could find a way to make it look just.
Nice! I’ve been wondering if something was happening to Zuurith the same way something happened to our wood god friend. If so much of his population is in prison, that’ll feedback loop into him becoming more severe/frightening, and so much the quicker if he’s got someone like this in his ear.
Hi Red, the Teen Titans Raven and Beast Boy would like to have words (joking)