The art just keeps being outstanding (along with the writing of course).
The start of the spell, the fwomph of the mid-left panel, the burned hand (brilliant idea there, fire-Dainix!) and the healing green swirls.
And oh wow…. that fire creature is GORGEOUS.
Also, I keep loving the sass of the alt-texts and the page comments. Brilliant <3
Interesting point – Probably doesn’t affect his void powers, but is Erin’s ability to (safely) channel the other elements dependent on his tattoos?
I would have assumed he has some innate ability to channel them, being the elemental magus and all, but maybe it’s harder for him to focus any specific power since he’s got so many options.
Follow-up thought, if that IS the case, it’d be cool to see Erin lose reliable access to any element except void in future.
this might be a slightly controversial opinion, since so many people seem to want Dainix to be Primordial Fire’s Vessel, but i really hope he isn’t. in fact, i hope Red doesn’t introduce any more primordial vessels. it is enough to have two, and adding more would not only detract from Erin and Alinua’s uniqueness, but it would feel more and more like a double beat as each vessel is introduced
it’s more interesting and more believable for each character to have their own story, rather than being flattened into more or less the same thing. plus, if the Floof Squad consists of multiple literal gods, then it’s power enters Mary Sue territory, while Falst and even Kendal become further underpowered compared to their mage counterparts. VD plays the role of antagonist, and Life is a distant, mysterious ally. but Life’s role would feel copy-pasted onto Fire, Lightning and whatever elemental mages join. especially if the Lady also has a vessel; there’s only so many character arcs that Red can write about primordial possession before the comic becomes saturated with it
The duality of a really cool but really evil villain:
Very fun to watch them stomp over their enemies
Just as fun to watch them get whomped by our heroes
The Void forces him back with a ravening blast,
Stares in fear at his burnt forearm.
Desperately he heals the burnt tattoo with life magic,
As he leaps away from further harm.
Sorry I’m late, I was out walking with my mum.
Also, I’ve done 1.2.15, with Alinua and not-yet-Kendal
“Huh?” he says. “Your name,” she smiles.
“Oh,” he says, furrowing his brow with doubt.
He says, “Hmm,” and “hmmmm,” Alinua grins,
“Let me know when you figure that out.”
kinda interesting how the tattoo didn’t burn away with the skin? normal tattoo ink is only under the skin so a burn like that would burn a lot of it away. i assume it’s not a normal tattoo anyway, but it seemed to come back right as strong when the skin was healed, which means either the life magic considers the ink a part of the skin that needs to be regenerated or the tattoos are a little more magical than they are at face value
“You better hope that life doesn’t catch you” now *that* would be a kaiju fight.
Also, what, is Tynan just watching, off to the side, trying to be even slightly scary next to *those* two?
Thought number one: It seems VD is not too vain to make use of Erin’s other elements, maybe some water magic would be helpful?
Thought number two: Is anyone keeping an eye on Tynan here?
@LordHints- I’m pretty sure those are sealing tattoos. They seal the body from elemental magic, essentially making elemental corruption impossible. You need to touch them to deactivate them and touch them again to activate them. It said on Void Dragon’s wiki page that he seems to have the power to override sealing tattoos, and he wasn’t shown touching them while using magic via Erin, so I assumed that was the hint that Erin’s tattoos are sealing tattoos.
Seconding the surprise that the tattoos survived. Life seems to reset to factory settings, not just physically heal.
@veggiesnake, I agree. I really hope that Dainix isn’t the vessel of Fire. That would feel redundant. I’m hoping Dainix is something we haven’t seen before in this world.
On the topic of the Twins, free will, and the soul… what if the Light dragon interceded to give humans souls or a subtle kind of soul magic? And the Light dragon interceding is what protected the first Elemental Magus from being taken over by the VD?
We know that the soul can be broached by…
1) Life only because of her Healing powers (but although she can supersede free will, she won’t);
2) the Void Dragon, but he has to wait till his vessel is unconscious and his vessel can fight him; and perhaps
3) the Light Dragon because soul is her essence, but … maybe by only those who’ve made an effort to touch her mind? That the Light Dragon’s champion has to choose to because she’s all about free will?
In that case, no other Elemental has the power to command vessels. Their former elemental power can be utilized, but they can’t broach the soul. We know Life is an exception, and that’s why Life magic is so suspect and dangerous. We see how difficult it is for Voidy to do it. We may soon see how the Light dragon operates.
I think the soul and free will precludes Dainix being Fire’s vessel. His soul
Fire is something uniquely Ignan.
The reason Life is awake, but kind of splintered, is because the Collector invoked her tur ename. The runes are simplified versions of their true name, that invoke their essence. Since there is a rune for every single primordial, would that mean that every single one has been awoken?
Further, if Dainix is Fire’s vessel, it couldn’t be at all the same as Alinua. In fact, by the look of it, Fire may not have done it deliberately. Dainix may be able to function in a very similar way to Alinua, without Fire knowing, caring, or even being awake.
Also, I’ve been analyzing the patterns that appear on souls, and the ones that appear depicting the light dragon. The light dragon’s patterns seems to share qualities with most other patterns, especially Vash’s and Tynan’s.
I’ve also been analyzing certain character statements and lore dumps, and the Light Dragon is proving very difficult to find. Perhaps she is the sun, or maybe, she’s bound up in the essence of the Six. Either way, given that Light dragon and Voidy are complete opposites, her magic has to be something the builds or creates. I think soul energy is the element of the Light dragon, as that is a very major magical thing in this world, and probably the only one that hasn’t been explained. This could make Kendal, with his weird soul, a tie in for the Light Dragon.
The collector is actively studying Vash’s soul, and from what I can read, she doesn’t know what it is yet really, she just knows some of the properties of soul magic. From what I can tell, SHE might discover that Soul magic is the essence of the Light primordial, and will either try to kill her, or have some variety of turn around.
So I was right when I said that Dainix was scarring Erin’s tattoos… sort of. I’m also surprised that life magic healed them. Who put them there, and how are they so durable? Was it the soulshaper monks, ingraining them into his soul as well as his body? Perhaps it was Asera, or one of Erin’s professors at the academy? (I lean towards the former, but we shall see. Probably.)
veggiesnake:
You’re not as alone in that opinion as you think you are. I like the uniqueness of each of the protagonists’s origins; having two thirds of the group turn out to be primordial avatars would feel like too incredible a coincidence to be true. While Stormbreakers and Crucibles do not predate the discoveries of their respective primordials’s true names (according to Red on Tumblr), those discoveries do not seem to have resurrected them like The Collector resurrected Life, probably due to Life’s properties making her much harder to permanently kill than her compatriots.
LayeringYellow:
Water isn’t going to help The Void Dragon here (though since he doesn’t know that yet, he might try). Tahraim told Dainix, “I’ve seen soulfire burn at the bottom of the ocean.” If an entire ocean couldn’t extinguish it, then a hearty magical splash certainly can’t.
The image of the Arenamaster trying to order THIS Dainix around is kinda funny to me.
On the other hand, is Tynan still melting just off screen? Is anyone watching him?
Yeah, I’m kinda hoping that Tess and Dainix are not vessels in the way Erin and Alinua are, but something similar yet distinct. Like the idea that Fire and Lightning are still proper dead (not woke back up like Life), but while motes of the soul permiate the world perhaps their soul core, or somesuch, might embed itself within a living being. So with Dainix right now he is still 100% still HIM, but he’s able to take on the form and enhanced abilities of SoulFire, that bring the prime chunk of Fire’s Soul.
Ayo, it looks like Voidy is going to try and manipulate the fire that Dainix is comprised of. That probably won’t work, given the fact that Dainix’s soul is still intact and in that fire.
@TheUnknownGame i’m glad to know that i’m not the only one. there’s so much more to Aurora than just these six primordials; soulshaper monks, ferin, metalcaste, the Academy, Zuurith/Tynan/Vash-style gods. i’d hate to have too many characters feel the same
@icarusancalion that’s a REALLY well-made point about souls. it makes sense that only VD, Life, and the Lady could take vessels. i don’t know if this is of note, but both vessels we know of bear the Primordial’s Great Rune on their skin. Alinua was born with it, VD branded it on Erin, and i suspect the Champion might have one too. according to the lore pages, these symbols likely represent unique channels into their souls which allow the Primordials to access them. many mages tattoo themselves with great runes, but these were natural (at least, Alinua’s was)
perhaps, if runes and tattoos represent channels into one’s soul, through which magic can flow, then life magic might recognise them as part of the body or soul, and that’s why life magic restores damaged tattoos?
I suppose if a force of nature slaps a tattoo on you then it is technically “natural”… For a given definition of the word, at least.
On the Primordial vessel debate: I think it would certainly be interesting if we saw other vessels in the context of the world, especially if their status was know in their community, but I do agree that having all of them together for long periods of time would be a bit much. I think at this point that if any others did turn up and needed to travel with the Floof Squad, it would be best as a temporary guest-appearance sort of deal. (So if Dainix turns out to be Fire, he stays long enough to get the basic rundown then heads off on his own again–after all, he’s still got to let his community know how his ‘hunt’ turned out–and maybe catches up with the Squad at some later date before heading off again.)
On a side note, something tells me that even if Erin’s tattoos are restored there’s gonna be side effects from them getting scorched…
Speaking of tattoos–if you had to pick a Great Rune to get a tattoo of IRL, which would it be? (Assuming it exists, and since we haven’t seen it yet, if you choose Light you need to pick a second as a backup)
@veggiesnake & others: Have faith in Red’s storytelling craft. She has researched her craft in depth and broadly (see Red’s Sarcastic Productions videos).
@ell: Hell yeah!
@OngoingConversationCouplet: Don’t worry about falling short of the mark. Improvement is the name of the game, not the one perfect work. Your willingness to take risks is proof of your desire to improve. Even HelloHaiku struggles to finds fitting lines (though Hello hits the mark often and well) Kudos to all our community’s other artists inspired by Red! (And at least you got it to rhyme and make sense, Couplet 🙂 ! )
Oh my gosh so many FLAMES!!
i just got up-to-date on aurora pages today and clicked the ‘next’ button like 3 time before realizing there’s no more pages yet.
the art is SO FLIPPIN’ COOL!!!!!!!!!!!
@Phoenix of the North: Your idea that Erin’s tattoos are sealing ones is intriguing. We know based on admittedly slim evidence that there seems to be something unusual about his magic because 1) he touches his tattoos every time he casts, something the few other mages we’ve seen AND the Void Dragon controlling his body do not do, and 2) the other hints like Tess being surprised about him being the Elemental Magus.
Needing sealing tattoos to control Power Incontinence of some sort is a theory I haven’t heard before.
@Pheonix of the North ooh, interesting! I don’t think sealing tattoos have been mentioned in-comic, so they hadn’t been on my radar. Theory time: as a kid, Erin had trouble properly expelling the element, which meant he was constantly struggling with various forms of elemental corruption. That’s why he had to visit the Soulshaper Monks, and the tattoos are an additional safeguard against a relapse.
Lore like the sealing tattoos can be found on the comic’s Tumblr. There’s also a Google Doc compiling most of the lore, which was linked in one of the comment sections if you want to go trawling through the archive.
@Sig Figs YES. Even better, be really broken up about how Dainix “sacrificed” himself to stop VD Walter… then Dainix transforms back and is like “yeah no I’m okay” and then Erin goes full “CAN YOU REPRODUCE THAT UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS???”
The Void Dragon: *uses life magic*
Life: òòÒòòwóóÓóó
I just realized; it’s gotta be quite interesting, disorienting, and alien to Dainix to be blasted away repeatedly, only to wholly regenerate a few seconds later. Unless this isn’t actually the first or second time he’s fully transformed…
He knew he was the demon he was sent to hunt and was terrified when he lost control and started to transform. I don’t know how much he remembers of it, but that does indicate at least one full transformation before this one.
To Silver and Hermit Thrush:
Ooh, I like this theory! It would make a lot of sense as to why he has to touch the tattoos, as well–if they act like a specialized circuit, then he would have to actively break it to access his magic, and his touch might to that–flipping a switch so that instead of automatically bleeding off his magic, it pools and becomes useable for a short time.
To Aulde:
We’re all aware that she’s an excellent storyteller and is well-versed in tropes (in fact, several of us found out about Aurora through OSP and her Trope Talks), but even writers with decades of experience can falter, and tropes are tropes for a reason. Besides, she’s going to tell the story regardless of what we think–but as invested readers, we like to speculate on what will happen and discuss the possibilities–both the good possibilities and the bad ones. So yes, faith is something that we have–but we are still allowed to worry, much as any reader worries between installments of their favorite series.
@Skye: there’s a reason he corrected himself when he was telling Kendal about it; he said he was “hunting” the demon, and then cut himself off and said he was searching for a way to kill it.
Also thank you for the credit, but the sealing tattoos theory was first put down in this comments section by Phoenix of the North.
Voidy: Bad touch! Bad touch!
Interesting how the tattoos healed back. Are magic tattoos applied deeper than regular ones? Does the nature of the tattoos to assist soul links make them part of the soul makeup of the body too and thus heal naturally? Either way, looking at the last panel, it seems V.D. is going to try fighting fire with fire.
To throw in my two cents about the fire primordial vessel theory, I used to be in favour of it, both personally and story prediction wise. But now I’ve pretty much done a 180 on both of those. From the preference side, Dainix being Fire’s vessel both lowers the uniqueness value of Alinua’s situation and throws a wrench in Dainix’s arc about his own agency. Story wise, if Fire and the other primordials are still alive, they have had much longer to look for vessels than Life, yet Life appears to be the only one to succeed. V.D. certainly doesn’t see Dainix as Fire, just someone consumed by Fire, and we haven’t gotten a reaction out of Life yet either.
My new standing is that Life is the only primordial still kinda-alive, the others are dead-dead but their influence from their names invoked still resonates today in new, different forms like the crucibles and children of the sky.
Ooooh, now what if he burns off his life tattoo? He won’t have the symbol he needs to cast his life magic, and from there Dainix can burn off all his other tattoos and remove his ability to cast at all, nullifying him without killing him. Or better yet, what if he burns off the VD’s symbol? Would that remove the possession, even temporarily?
@HermitThrush
Ooooh, I love that idea about Erin needing the sealing tattoos as a child! Tess said he was a weak child(Or sickly, I don’t remember the exact wording) and that could be one reason!
Yup Tess’s enthusiasm might actually hesitate for a minute when she realizes ‘whelp my bro’s possesed by the universe’s archenemy I’m sure this is fine.’. Then she’ll go be Tess again.
I know, and I wasn’t trying to mis-attribute the theory; my comment was merely in response specifically to points you and Hermit Thrush had made in regards to it.
Irony. Mhm. tasty.
The art just keeps being outstanding (along with the writing of course).
The start of the spell, the fwomph of the mid-left panel, the burned hand (brilliant idea there, fire-Dainix!) and the healing green swirls.
And oh wow…. that fire creature is GORGEOUS.
Also, I keep loving the sass of the alt-texts and the page comments. Brilliant <3
Interesting point – Probably doesn’t affect his void powers, but is Erin’s ability to (safely) channel the other elements dependent on his tattoos?
I would have assumed he has some innate ability to channel them, being the elemental magus and all, but maybe it’s harder for him to focus any specific power since he’s got so many options.
Follow-up thought, if that IS the case, it’d be cool to see Erin lose reliable access to any element except void in future.
this might be a slightly controversial opinion, since so many people seem to want Dainix to be Primordial Fire’s Vessel, but i really hope he isn’t. in fact, i hope Red doesn’t introduce any more primordial vessels. it is enough to have two, and adding more would not only detract from Erin and Alinua’s uniqueness, but it would feel more and more like a double beat as each vessel is introduced
it’s more interesting and more believable for each character to have their own story, rather than being flattened into more or less the same thing. plus, if the Floof Squad consists of multiple literal gods, then it’s power enters Mary Sue territory, while Falst and even Kendal become further underpowered compared to their mage counterparts. VD plays the role of antagonist, and Life is a distant, mysterious ally. but Life’s role would feel copy-pasted onto Fire, Lightning and whatever elemental mages join. especially if the Lady also has a vessel; there’s only so many character arcs that Red can write about primordial possession before the comic becomes saturated with it
but that’s just my perspective
I guess VD isn’t one of those insane disembodied immortal types who think pain is funny(ex: Bill Cipher)
That… That looks like fear.
“Can Soulfire burn a god?”
It seems the answer is Yes.
The duality of a really cool but really evil villain:
Very fun to watch them stomp over their enemies
Just as fun to watch them get whomped by our heroes
Also Dainix’s fire form is straight-up awesome
The Void forces him back with a ravening blast,
Stares in fear at his burnt forearm.
Desperately he heals the burnt tattoo with life magic,
As he leaps away from further harm.
Sorry I’m late, I was out walking with my mum.
Also, I’ve done 1.2.15, with Alinua and not-yet-Kendal
“Huh?” he says. “Your name,” she smiles.
“Oh,” he says, furrowing his brow with doubt.
He says, “Hmm,” and “hmmmm,” Alinua grins,
“Let me know when you figure that out.”
Looks like Mr. Void Dragon is Afraid. That does look like genuine fear.
“Can Soulfire burn a God?”
Seems that indeed it can.
just slap a little aloe on that bad boy
@veggiesnake I feel exactly the same! We have TOO MANY primordial vessels already, people.
Alt text: Look buddy YOU’RE the one who made them out of meat
A vast inferno has forced Walter back
And he tries to heal, but is taken aback
Not that good, I know
kinda interesting how the tattoo didn’t burn away with the skin? normal tattoo ink is only under the skin so a burn like that would burn a lot of it away. i assume it’s not a normal tattoo anyway, but it seemed to come back right as strong when the skin was healed, which means either the life magic considers the ink a part of the skin that needs to be regenerated or the tattoos are a little more magical than they are at face value
Well someone’s getting their ass kicked
Super fun fight all around! glad i finally caught up, but i wish there was more to read…
Maybe it was mentioned before, but… what’s with the tattoos?
What is is for, exactly, and how does it work (why does Erin have and need them)?
As much as I like sassy VD I love fire more.
“You better hope that life doesn’t catch you” now *that* would be a kaiju fight.
Also, what, is Tynan just watching, off to the side, trying to be even slightly scary next to *those* two?
Thought number one: It seems VD is not too vain to make use of Erin’s other elements, maybe some water magic would be helpful?
Thought number two: Is anyone keeping an eye on Tynan here?
@LordHints- I’m pretty sure those are sealing tattoos. They seal the body from elemental magic, essentially making elemental corruption impossible. You need to touch them to deactivate them and touch them again to activate them. It said on Void Dragon’s wiki page that he seems to have the power to override sealing tattoos, and he wasn’t shown touching them while using magic via Erin, so I assumed that was the hint that Erin’s tattoos are sealing tattoos.
@veggiesnake YES THANK YOU. That is exactly how I feel about it, so thank you for putting that into words for me.
In other news, VD discovers that burning energy isn’t as fun when you’re on the other end of it.
Seconding the surprise that the tattoos survived. Life seems to reset to factory settings, not just physically heal.
@veggiesnake, I agree. I really hope that Dainix isn’t the vessel of Fire. That would feel redundant. I’m hoping Dainix is something we haven’t seen before in this world.
On the topic of the Twins, free will, and the soul… what if the Light dragon interceded to give humans souls or a subtle kind of soul magic? And the Light dragon interceding is what protected the first Elemental Magus from being taken over by the VD?
We know that the soul can be broached by…
1) Life only because of her Healing powers (but although she can supersede free will, she won’t);
2) the Void Dragon, but he has to wait till his vessel is unconscious and his vessel can fight him; and perhaps
3) the Light Dragon because soul is her essence, but … maybe by only those who’ve made an effort to touch her mind? That the Light Dragon’s champion has to choose to because she’s all about free will?
In that case, no other Elemental has the power to command vessels. Their former elemental power can be utilized, but they can’t broach the soul. We know Life is an exception, and that’s why Life magic is so suspect and dangerous. We see how difficult it is for Voidy to do it. We may soon see how the Light dragon operates.
I think the soul and free will precludes Dainix being Fire’s vessel. His soul
Fire is something uniquely Ignan.
The reason Life is awake, but kind of splintered, is because the Collector invoked her tur ename. The runes are simplified versions of their true name, that invoke their essence. Since there is a rune for every single primordial, would that mean that every single one has been awoken?
Further, if Dainix is Fire’s vessel, it couldn’t be at all the same as Alinua. In fact, by the look of it, Fire may not have done it deliberately. Dainix may be able to function in a very similar way to Alinua, without Fire knowing, caring, or even being awake.
Also, I’ve been analyzing the patterns that appear on souls, and the ones that appear depicting the light dragon. The light dragon’s patterns seems to share qualities with most other patterns, especially Vash’s and Tynan’s.
I’ve also been analyzing certain character statements and lore dumps, and the Light Dragon is proving very difficult to find. Perhaps she is the sun, or maybe, she’s bound up in the essence of the Six. Either way, given that Light dragon and Voidy are complete opposites, her magic has to be something the builds or creates. I think soul energy is the element of the Light dragon, as that is a very major magical thing in this world, and probably the only one that hasn’t been explained. This could make Kendal, with his weird soul, a tie in for the Light Dragon.
The collector is actively studying Vash’s soul, and from what I can read, she doesn’t know what it is yet really, she just knows some of the properties of soul magic. From what I can tell, SHE might discover that Soul magic is the essence of the Light primordial, and will either try to kill her, or have some variety of turn around.
So I was right when I said that Dainix was scarring Erin’s tattoos… sort of. I’m also surprised that life magic healed them. Who put them there, and how are they so durable? Was it the soulshaper monks, ingraining them into his soul as well as his body? Perhaps it was Asera, or one of Erin’s professors at the academy? (I lean towards the former, but we shall see. Probably.)
veggiesnake:
You’re not as alone in that opinion as you think you are. I like the uniqueness of each of the protagonists’s origins; having two thirds of the group turn out to be primordial avatars would feel like too incredible a coincidence to be true. While Stormbreakers and Crucibles do not predate the discoveries of their respective primordials’s true names (according to Red on Tumblr), those discoveries do not seem to have resurrected them like The Collector resurrected Life, probably due to Life’s properties making her much harder to permanently kill than her compatriots.
LayeringYellow:
Water isn’t going to help The Void Dragon here (though since he doesn’t know that yet, he might try). Tahraim told Dainix, “I’ve seen soulfire burn at the bottom of the ocean.” If an entire ocean couldn’t extinguish it, then a hearty magical splash certainly can’t.
The image of the Arenamaster trying to order THIS Dainix around is kinda funny to me.
On the other hand, is Tynan still melting just off screen? Is anyone watching him?
Yeah, I’m kinda hoping that Tess and Dainix are not vessels in the way Erin and Alinua are, but something similar yet distinct. Like the idea that Fire and Lightning are still proper dead (not woke back up like Life), but while motes of the soul permiate the world perhaps their soul core, or somesuch, might embed itself within a living being. So with Dainix right now he is still 100% still HIM, but he’s able to take on the form and enhanced abilities of SoulFire, that bring the prime chunk of Fire’s Soul.
Ayo, it looks like Voidy is going to try and manipulate the fire that Dainix is comprised of. That probably won’t work, given the fact that Dainix’s soul is still intact and in that fire.
@TheUnknownGame i’m glad to know that i’m not the only one. there’s so much more to Aurora than just these six primordials; soulshaper monks, ferin, metalcaste, the Academy, Zuurith/Tynan/Vash-style gods. i’d hate to have too many characters feel the same
@icarusancalion that’s a REALLY well-made point about souls. it makes sense that only VD, Life, and the Lady could take vessels. i don’t know if this is of note, but both vessels we know of bear the Primordial’s Great Rune on their skin. Alinua was born with it, VD branded it on Erin, and i suspect the Champion might have one too. according to the lore pages, these symbols likely represent unique channels into their souls which allow the Primordials to access them. many mages tattoo themselves with great runes, but these were natural (at least, Alinua’s was)
You are very cute, but unfortunately for you, you’re made of meat.
perhaps, if runes and tattoos represent channels into one’s soul, through which magic can flow, then life magic might recognise them as part of the body or soul, and that’s why life magic restores damaged tattoos?
There once was a dragon of void
Whose avatar was getting destroyed
By Dainix, it appears.
For the first time he fears
This fiery humanoid.
To veggiesnake:
I suppose if a force of nature slaps a tattoo on you then it is technically “natural”… For a given definition of the word, at least.
On the Primordial vessel debate: I think it would certainly be interesting if we saw other vessels in the context of the world, especially if their status was know in their community, but I do agree that having all of them together for long periods of time would be a bit much. I think at this point that if any others did turn up and needed to travel with the Floof Squad, it would be best as a temporary guest-appearance sort of deal. (So if Dainix turns out to be Fire, he stays long enough to get the basic rundown then heads off on his own again–after all, he’s still got to let his community know how his ‘hunt’ turned out–and maybe catches up with the Squad at some later date before heading off again.)
On a side note, something tells me that even if Erin’s tattoos are restored there’s gonna be side effects from them getting scorched…
Question of the Day:
Speaking of tattoos–if you had to pick a Great Rune to get a tattoo of IRL, which would it be? (Assuming it exists, and since we haven’t seen it yet, if you choose Light you need to pick a second as a backup)
@veggiesnake & others: Have faith in Red’s storytelling craft. She has researched her craft in depth and broadly (see Red’s Sarcastic Productions videos).
@ell: Hell yeah!
@OngoingConversationCouplet: Don’t worry about falling short of the mark. Improvement is the name of the game, not the one perfect work. Your willingness to take risks is proof of your desire to improve. Even HelloHaiku struggles to finds fitting lines (though Hello hits the mark often and well) Kudos to all our community’s other artists inspired by Red! (And at least you got it to rhyme and make sense, Couplet 🙂 ! )
Looks like the chain of divine level jerks getting owned just keeps on going.
What a day!
Oh my gosh so many FLAMES!!
i just got up-to-date on aurora pages today and clicked the ‘next’ button like 3 time before realizing there’s no more pages yet.
the art is SO FLIPPIN’ COOL!!!!!!!!!!!
Alt text: look buddy YOU’RE the one who made them out of meat
@Phoenix of the North: Your idea that Erin’s tattoos are sealing ones is intriguing. We know based on admittedly slim evidence that there seems to be something unusual about his magic because 1) he touches his tattoos every time he casts, something the few other mages we’ve seen AND the Void Dragon controlling his body do not do, and 2) the other hints like Tess being surprised about him being the Elemental Magus.
Needing sealing tattoos to control Power Incontinence of some sort is a theory I haven’t heard before.
aw man I am so ready for Erin to come back and be utterly confused as to what Dainix is.
@Pheonix of the North ooh, interesting! I don’t think sealing tattoos have been mentioned in-comic, so they hadn’t been on my radar. Theory time: as a kid, Erin had trouble properly expelling the element, which meant he was constantly struggling with various forms of elemental corruption. That’s why he had to visit the Soulshaper Monks, and the tattoos are an additional safeguard against a relapse.
@Hermit Thrush: That makes a lot of sense!
Lore like the sealing tattoos can be found on the comic’s Tumblr. There’s also a Google Doc compiling most of the lore, which was linked in one of the comment sections if you want to go trawling through the archive.
@Sig Figs YES. Even better, be really broken up about how Dainix “sacrificed” himself to stop VD Walter… then Dainix transforms back and is like “yeah no I’m okay” and then Erin goes full “CAN YOU REPRODUCE THAT UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS???”
Gosh these effects are gorgeous!
VD has so many counters on this team, It’s gonna be funny 35 chapters down the line when the fight against him takes 13 chapters despite it
Life, uh… finds a way.
The Void Dragon: *uses life magic*
Life: òòÒòòwóóÓóó
I just realized; it’s gotta be quite interesting, disorienting, and alien to Dainix to be blasted away repeatedly, only to wholly regenerate a few seconds later. Unless this isn’t actually the first or second time he’s fully transformed…
So, based on our dear author’s commentary here, anyone else think Life might be popping in to take umbrage to VD using her power?
Because it just became a lot more possible.
To TheUnknownGame:
He knew he was the demon he was sent to hunt and was terrified when he lost control and started to transform. I don’t know how much he remembers of it, but that does indicate at least one full transformation before this one.
To Silver and Hermit Thrush:
Ooh, I like this theory! It would make a lot of sense as to why he has to touch the tattoos, as well–if they act like a specialized circuit, then he would have to actively break it to access his magic, and his touch might to that–flipping a switch so that instead of automatically bleeding off his magic, it pools and becomes useable for a short time.
To Aulde:
We’re all aware that she’s an excellent storyteller and is well-versed in tropes (in fact, several of us found out about Aurora through OSP and her Trope Talks), but even writers with decades of experience can falter, and tropes are tropes for a reason. Besides, she’s going to tell the story regardless of what we think–but as invested readers, we like to speculate on what will happen and discuss the possibilities–both the good possibilities and the bad ones. So yes, faith is something that we have–but we are still allowed to worry, much as any reader worries between installments of their favorite series.
@Skye: there’s a reason he corrected himself when he was telling Kendal about it; he said he was “hunting” the demon, and then cut himself off and said he was searching for a way to kill it.
Also thank you for the credit, but the sealing tattoos theory was first put down in this comments section by Phoenix of the North.
Ooooh it looks like some of the tattoo got burned off
life enters the fight & then we’ll have the o but wait no this is the part labeled kaiju fight
Woah, wait what!? He actually hurt him!?
Skye:
That’s why I added the “or second”.
Voidy: Bad touch! Bad touch!
Interesting how the tattoos healed back. Are magic tattoos applied deeper than regular ones? Does the nature of the tattoos to assist soul links make them part of the soul makeup of the body too and thus heal naturally? Either way, looking at the last panel, it seems V.D. is going to try fighting fire with fire.
To throw in my two cents about the fire primordial vessel theory, I used to be in favour of it, both personally and story prediction wise. But now I’ve pretty much done a 180 on both of those. From the preference side, Dainix being Fire’s vessel both lowers the uniqueness value of Alinua’s situation and throws a wrench in Dainix’s arc about his own agency. Story wise, if Fire and the other primordials are still alive, they have had much longer to look for vessels than Life, yet Life appears to be the only one to succeed. V.D. certainly doesn’t see Dainix as Fire, just someone consumed by Fire, and we haven’t gotten a reaction out of Life yet either.
My new standing is that Life is the only primordial still kinda-alive, the others are dead-dead but their influence from their names invoked still resonates today in new, different forms like the crucibles and children of the sky.
OMG it’s a super powered evil side fight. Yessssssss!!!(too much?)
@Skye
I’d have to say the Life rune, though I’d like Wind as well
Ooooh, now what if he burns off his life tattoo? He won’t have the symbol he needs to cast his life magic, and from there Dainix can burn off all his other tattoos and remove his ability to cast at all, nullifying him without killing him. Or better yet, what if he burns off the VD’s symbol? Would that remove the possession, even temporarily?
@TheUnknownGame good memory! I wonder how much VD understands the situation here.
@HermitThrush
Ooooh, I love that idea about Erin needing the sealing tattoos as a child! Tess said he was a weak child(Or sickly, I don’t remember the exact wording) and that could be one reason!
TL;DR: that’s gotta burn.
I wonder what Kendal’s reaction to Fire Elemental!Dainix is going to be.
In addition, how will Tess react to Erin’s possession? Because I don’t believe she’s been told about that yet…
Yup Tess’s enthusiasm might actually hesitate for a minute when she realizes ‘whelp my bro’s possesed by the universe’s archenemy I’m sure this is fine.’. Then she’ll go be Tess again.
To Silver:
I know, and I wasn’t trying to mis-attribute the theory; my comment was merely in response specifically to points you and Hermit Thrush had made in regards to it.
@Skye: Gotcha!
Now, a prediction: VD is going to try to attack or control Dainix with fire magic. This will fail spectacularly.
Fighting fire with fire is not typically a good idea.