i will look at this page forever thank you oh mygod the SHAPES the COLORS and the fact that we skipped most of the ERIN EXPLAINING AUGHand his stupid selfCENTERED BRAIN and AUGHHHH
“vulnerability”
– Erin, to his sister with metal skin, cool lightning powers, a scar from when the sky awoke her soul, who is 6 feet tall and punches dragons for a living, leaves craters in the ground and was the only one who knew about the plot for several chapters
“Yikes,” says Tess to her brother’s story.
“After everything you did.”
He says, “I prefer to think of it as the price of power,”
Having many solutions, disaster to forbid.
Dainix’s transmuted form stood unfazed by The Dragon,
Alinua seems like a vessel of Primordial Life,
Kendal, divinely born, lives free of the Dragon’s corruption.
Lacking such power, he knows Tess would face his strife.
“That’s why I haven’t contacted anyone-
Including you,” Erin says, his life at stake.
“You’ll try to help despite your vulnerability,
And I can’t allow you to make that mistake.”
I can see why Erin wouldn’t want Tess coming along, as I imagine Voidy would be able to eat through her metal skin just as effectively as normal skin. I doubt that’ll stop Tess from trying to help though, hope she smacks some sense into her bro next chapter!
Also, I wonder what Tess means by, “After everything you did”?
I don’t think Erin would send Tess away now that she’s involved. Especially after explaining the whole story. Falst is traveling with them, after all, and he’s not as powerful as Tess.
Wow, man. Way to boot your sister from the group. Not cool. Plus, Tess beats up dragons for a living. She might be able to help with yours, too. Also, I think you left out Falst from your summary of the group.
Erin talking about not losing Dainix’s unique abilities makes me wonder if Erin was serious about the soulfire books he mentioned or if he just made them up to get Dainix to come along.
Falst is notably left out of the summary, which makes sense as he is the odd one out in the ‘touched by deities’ department and technically Kendal invited Falst not Erin. I assume Erin is fine with keeping Falst around since he, as a fenrin, is resistant (if not immune, i can’t quite remember) to elemental magic, which presumably includes Void magic.
Tess is probably gonna insist on coming along to help Erin, even if she would theoretically be vulnerable to void corruption.
Falst, as a Ferin, is already quite durable against magic. i guess that extends to Void Magic too, making him another suitable Dragon-Guard? but Tess definitely isn’t going anywhere, this is her scrawny little brother at stake after all, and i wouldn’t be surprised if the whole “Chosen By The Sky” factors into the Void Dragon Conundrum somewhere down the line
Wait what was Erin planning to do with Falst, then? Hope the healing factor’ll save him??
But either way, I can understand why Erin wouldn’t want Tess to come along in this situation; as much as WE want a dramatic sibling I-knoe you’re in there somewhere fight, that’s probably the last thing Erin wants (and is probably what he’s afraid of)
Also the monochrome green image of Alinua is SO pretty. It works really well
After a little bit of a hiatus the fun facts are back!
Did you know…
Getting different colors works differently whether you are using different colors of light to mix together, or using pigments to mix together. For example, the base colors used for light is red, blue, and green, and when combined give white. While with pigments it is cyan, magenta, and yellow, which combine to give black.
(The bottom text Red put about Erin’s RGB themed friends was what I was going off of)
To be fair Falst is pretty useless against the Void Dragon and you weren’t against him coming along, although I get trying to protect the family you actually care about.
The Penguin Cat:
In my head that made me think of Tess as a reverse tardigrade. Instead of being weak against almost any physical threat while the non-physical it is strong against, Tess is strong against almost any physical threat while non-physical threats prove quite dangerous for her.
youngstormlord:
We’ve got the Blue(Kendal), Green(Alinua), Black(Erin), Brown?(Falst), Red(Danix, I would have said orange but he looks red here), so Tess can easily be the yellow one.
SirFrog:
Thanks for this for this, I definitely needed to see that. (The comment is sarcastic but I do legitimately appreciate you pointing out that interesting detail.)
Anorien:
That’s what I was thinking, Falst does not seem like he would be good at all against the Void Dragon.
Creature Tamer:
I think he was serious about the soulfire books, he just has no idea how helpful they could be.
Erin. You realize Falst is already in the group as well, right? He’s just as vulnerable to void magic as Tess is, yet I don’t see you trying to kick him out. Yes, Tess is your sister and you’ll naturally worry for her safety because of that, but she’s perfectly capable of protecting herself; don’t jettison her, please.
The Void Dragon fears the almighty damage/healer/tank team composition.
And so it’s revealed; Erin is depending on those three to kill him as a last resort. Maybe that’s the actual reason he doesn’t want Tess around, in case she has to watch him be executed; but trying to keep her away from this, I think, would be even worse if that last resort happens. This would be the last time she’d see him, and no way would she let that happen; she is quite ride-or-die with Erin.
Vessyra:
I believe it ties into the Erin Backstory Conspiracy Board; after everything he did to become a full-fledged elemental magus, the very power he had strived for so long to have unimpeded ended up being the key to Void’s plan. I can see how that would be a metaphorical kick in the teeth.
“What about the catboy you brought with you? The one sneaking around behind us?”
“Oh, we did him a favor, and Kendal offered an invitation to join us, so he’s just here with us now.”
“…”
“…”
“Wait, he’s what now!?
FOSIHiuhsPIUDGHiuhPOUISHIUPGHPU TEASING. YOU TEASE. I love this I adore you but please allow me to know what the hell is up with the hands and kendal and also the mystery of the disappearance of his soul boots.
ok whOA. I just want to preface today’s comment with ‘Aurora comic my beloved’ as usual, but there’s something in this page nobody has said anything about. Also I could be completely wrong but just hear me out
Dainix appears to be wielding LIGHT ENERGY. Now, if we were just reading through this section at bingespeed, this would be a good little tiny hint of foreshadowing. However, since we are the equivalent of a feral pack of toddlers that Red keeps in her basement and occasionally throws pieces of bread down the stairs, we consequently over-analyze EVERYTHING.
This could be a part of why he’s so important to Caliban… if anyone who can access Red’s socials would like to pitch in with lore supporting or disproving this theory, please do! Any thoughts, I want to hear! 😀
WAIT- sorry to comment twice, but I just noticed something else. The middle panel shows all the ways they deal with the Void energy. Alinua can expel it away from herself with her abilities, Kendal just lets it touch him and then shrugs it off as a second or third degree burn (dude) and Dainix… transmutes the Void energy into another element?
We already know that the power of Fire is transmutation, so it would make sense that this would be Dainix’s defense. However, it raises some interesting questions as well. CAN Void energy be transmuted? What can it be transmuted into? Is it possible that the Void and Light energies can be inverted to create one another? Is this just me on too few hours of sleep? yOU DECIdE
@Alleyyy i initially assumed that light energy of Dainix’ was just an artistic choice for him burning away the void magic, but maybe you’re onto something with the Light/Soul energy. i think his immunity comes from his transmutation to fire—all the other elements in his body, including stone and water and void, are turned into pure Fire (and possibly some Soul). therefore, he is immune to Void Magic via the same loophole Kendal exploits; if there is no Void energy in a being already, the Void Magic takes a far lesser effect. i don’t think he’s transmuting Void into Light/Soul, i think he transmutes any Void Energy already within himself to Fire, making him immune to Void!Erin’s attacks, while his Soul remains the intact despite his physical transformation (same Soul, different body—trans king). the white/blue flames might just be putting the ‘Soul’ in Soulfire, or represent the Void Magic burning away (i feel like i’ve let this explanation sprawl in a very not-concise way but you get what i’m saying i hope)
of course, while Dainix is out of his Soulfire form, he’s still vulnerable, which is a nice caveat compared to Kendal’s constant durability
My bet it’s on something along the lines: What about Falst/? And when he ecplains he don’t have special powers , she will be like ” If he can tag along so can I.”
Tess: What about Falst?
Falst: He knows he doesn’t have to worry about me trying to help him.
Erin Later, Holding a Dying Falst: Oh no this is so ironic and tragiiiiic!
“I didn’t call you because you would’ve stubbornly done your best to help me despite how you would definitely die if he attacked you. And when I say it out loud it seems I’m a magnet for those types lately, I mean you saw Kendal.”
“vulnerability”
– Erin, to his sister with metal skin, cool lightning powers, a scar from when the sky awoke her soul, who is 6 feet tall and punches dragons for a living, leaves craters in the ground and was the only one who knew about the plot for several chapters
Yes. Turns out that metal skin and dragon-punching strength don’t defend against all kinds of threats—and the Void Dragon is one it won’t do much to stop.
I’ve seen a lot of people speculating that Falst’s Ferin healing factor and magic resistance are why Erin isn’t concerned with hurting him, but, politely, I think Erin doesn’t care. The only time I can remember them directly interacting was when they first entered Zuurith and Erin explained that they could work the system to circumvent racism. Even that I think was more of a convenience thing. Idk. I have faith in Red’s Plan. She’s never let us down before.
Maybe Primordial Fire inadvertently made LD when the six fought Walter. Before he died he transmuted a big chunk into Light that VD couldn’t control. Then when he was sealed the Light started to form LD’s personality. At first she wanted to merge back into Walter, hence them being ‘lovers’, but then she decided to help the mortals and stay her own primordial. This made VD throw a hissy fit and destroy the Ancient civilization.
Alleyyy and veggiesnake:
I think the white wisps could just be the result of void magic interacting with fire of any kind, not just soulfire. Of course, we’d have to see void magic interacting with normal fire to confirm or deny this, so for now, I’m just offering this alternate possibility.
JACK:
Huh. He does, kinda! Especially the shape of Dainix’s eyes mirroring the eyes in The Ironclad’s mask. Fitting that The Ironclad also has a retinue of fire-based abilities (I like doing Dainix-like runs with him that revolve around the Combust power). I doubt Red has ever played Slay the Spire, but it’s a neat coincidence.
Note an interesting point here: Erin’s not actually telling Tess that she has to leave now (yet), he’s just explaining why he didn’t try to contact her or anyone else. …Could it be that Erin is actually smart enough to realize he will never be able to get Tess to leave now that she knows, so he’s resigned himself to it?! Which would also explain why he hasn’t raised any objection to Falst…we’ll see if I’m right next page, I guess.
Tess: Duly noted … and ignored!
So the soulshaper monks are just option one or many? Interesting. If they can’t close the void connection, maybe they could close one of his other elemental links, temporarily. That way even if the dragon takes control again he can’t unmake his prison.
Lovely art in panel 5, showcasing each character in their own unique colours and styles, including a bunch of Life primordial eyes as hair accessories for Alinua. Void magic all around, trying to darken their light, and failing on all three.
Honestly Erin is pretty lucky, running into three beings that can resist V.D. to take with him. Tess is going to come along anyway, bound by loyalty and sensibilities like Falst, but looking at her face, she knows just how serious the situation is. Erin would have contacted her or any of his Ruunaser connections if he thought they could help and she knows that.
To give my theories + opinions:
@Stark9865 Interesting. VERY interesting. Would neatly explain the questions of why L.D. didn’t help during the primordials Vs. V.D. fight, how her interference giving the mortal wills was unforeseen by V.D., and her being the other and opposite to V.D. himself. I think someone translated some paladin texts a while back talking about a mysterious fire being that fought a V.D. possessed dragon too. We’ll need to keep an eye on this theory in future.
@Falst theorists: He’s on the team because his smarts and cunning have already pulled the gang out of one very close situation and could very well do so again. He’s also there because of his personal loyalty to the first set of people who like him for who he genuinely is; he didn’t leave when they first V.D. exposition dumped him, and he won’t now.
His Ferin elemental resistance having void resistance too is possible; no Ferin has been hit by a void attack in the comic yet so we don’t know. I actually have a half-theory that the Ferin mage might have been a life-magic capable Paladin. If they can resist void, they may have created the Ferin curse to make a void resistant army; if not they would at least limit the rate of elemental magus’s among non-adapted humans.
One final thing I’ll mention that I’ve found strange about Falst is that, in 1-14-14, both Alinua and Life spoke at the same time when saving Falst (notice the two tails, one black and one green). Something similar happened when Alinua was removing the excess life magic from the chimera in 1-8-18. Life also seemingly has no problem with Ferin despite them technically being chimeras. Does Life like Ferin (maybe the Ferin mage drew on Life’s intentions themselves when making the curse so that’s why they stuck?), or does she just like Falst? (I mean, why wouldn’t she?).
Honestly, perfectly understandable. If I was walking around with a time bomb strapped to my chest I would probably also not want my beloved sister ANYWHERE in range in case I go off.
20 chapters and more than 3 years in, and I only just realised that you colour coded each main characters magic a different colour for contrast.
Kendal – Blue
Alinua – Green
Erin – Black (well, his Void Dragon form, at least)
Falst – N/A
Tess – Yellow
Dainix – Red/Orange
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: I mean you don’t even have a monochrome glow-outlined non-diegetic splash panel smh
Image source: contingencies
i will look at this page forever thank you oh mygod the SHAPES the COLORS and the fact that we skipped most of the ERIN EXPLAINING AUGHand his stupid selfCENTERED BRAIN and AUGHHHH
“vulnerability”
– Erin, to his sister with metal skin, cool lightning powers, a scar from when the sky awoke her soul, who is 6 feet tall and punches dragons for a living, leaves craters in the ground and was the only one who knew about the plot for several chapters
He forgot his sister’s a badass
Tess please punch Erin. Someone needs to smack some sense into him.
Erin: LET PEOPLE HELP YOU FOR GOD’S SAKE
Nooo, don’t make Tess leave!
Sure Erin, I’m sure being chosen by the sky is probably not that important to the plot, let’s go with that
Uhm, did he just totally forget Falst or what?
Falst: “The fuck am I then?”
Erin, she punches dragons as a *hobby.* Shut your dumb wizard mouth.
“Yikes,” says Tess to her brother’s story.
“After everything you did.”
He says, “I prefer to think of it as the price of power,”
Having many solutions, disaster to forbid.
Dainix’s transmuted form stood unfazed by The Dragon,
Alinua seems like a vessel of Primordial Life,
Kendal, divinely born, lives free of the Dragon’s corruption.
Lacking such power, he knows Tess would face his strife.
“That’s why I haven’t contacted anyone-
Including you,” Erin says, his life at stake.
“You’ll try to help despite your vulnerability,
And I can’t allow you to make that mistake.”
“But it is… why I agreed to bring them along” you sure its that way round buddy??
I can see why Erin wouldn’t want Tess coming along, as I imagine Voidy would be able to eat through her metal skin just as effectively as normal skin. I doubt that’ll stop Tess from trying to help though, hope she smacks some sense into her bro next chapter!
Also, I wonder what Tess means by, “After everything you did”?
I don’t think Erin would send Tess away now that she’s involved. Especially after explaining the whole story. Falst is traveling with them, after all, and he’s not as powerful as Tess.
I am SO IN LOVE with the fifth panel
Is it possible to have the splash page without text? id love to have it as a wallpaper, it looks gorgeous
Erin: And that’s why you can’t be a Power Ranger.
Tess: I’ll be yellow Power Ranger if I want to!
This and last page.
She tells him, implores him, as he did for her
He needs to stop doing this, that is for sure
And Erin explains why he didn’t call
Afraid of hurting Tess in ways he can’t recall
Erin: Tess you’re too weak. You can’t help.
Tess: *existing as a dragon punching, metal skinned, lightning scarred, super tall ball of muscles*
Tess’s lack of a monochrome glow-outlined non-diagenetic splash panel is primarily the fault of Erin’s imagination. She’d probably be yellow.
Tess and Voidy fight, omg Tess and Voidy fight. The drama. The emotions.
Is it just me… or are there EYES in Alinua’s hair?
So basically Batman and having Justice League as contingency plan against himself
Wow, man. Way to boot your sister from the group. Not cool. Plus, Tess beats up dragons for a living. She might be able to help with yours, too. Also, I think you left out Falst from your summary of the group.
Right. Can’t have anyone along who might be vulnerable in any way. So, Erin, when are *you* leaving the paryt?
Oop does he mean vulnerable to elemental corruption or is he alluding to something more spacific ?
Erin talking about not losing Dainix’s unique abilities makes me wonder if Erin was serious about the soulfire books he mentioned or if he just made them up to get Dainix to come along.
Falst is notably left out of the summary, which makes sense as he is the odd one out in the ‘touched by deities’ department and technically Kendal invited Falst not Erin. I assume Erin is fine with keeping Falst around since he, as a fenrin, is resistant (if not immune, i can’t quite remember) to elemental magic, which presumably includes Void magic.
Tess is probably gonna insist on coming along to help Erin, even if she would theoretically be vulnerable to void corruption.
Falst, as a Ferin, is already quite durable against magic. i guess that extends to Void Magic too, making him another suitable Dragon-Guard? but Tess definitely isn’t going anywhere, this is her scrawny little brother at stake after all, and i wouldn’t be surprised if the whole “Chosen By The Sky” factors into the Void Dragon Conundrum somewhere down the line
@SirFrog
I didn’t notice it the first time, but yeah- those are eyes I reckon.
Wait what was Erin planning to do with Falst, then? Hope the healing factor’ll save him??
But either way, I can understand why Erin wouldn’t want Tess to come along in this situation; as much as WE want a dramatic sibling I-knoe you’re in there somewhere fight, that’s probably the last thing Erin wants (and is probably what he’s afraid of)
Also the monochrome green image of Alinua is SO pretty. It works really well
Tess knows her brother
Erin always has a plan
Then why stay with Falst?
After a little bit of a hiatus the fun facts are back!
Did you know…
Getting different colors works differently whether you are using different colors of light to mix together, or using pigments to mix together. For example, the base colors used for light is red, blue, and green, and when combined give white. While with pigments it is cyan, magenta, and yellow, which combine to give black.
(The bottom text Red put about Erin’s RGB themed friends was what I was going off of)
To be fair Falst is pretty useless against the Void Dragon and you weren’t against him coming along, although I get trying to protect the family you actually care about.
The Penguin Cat:
In my head that made me think of Tess as a reverse tardigrade. Instead of being weak against almost any physical threat while the non-physical it is strong against, Tess is strong against almost any physical threat while non-physical threats prove quite dangerous for her.
youngstormlord:
We’ve got the Blue(Kendal), Green(Alinua), Black(Erin), Brown?(Falst), Red(Danix, I would have said orange but he looks red here), so Tess can easily be the yellow one.
SirFrog:
Thanks for this for this, I definitely needed to see that. (The comment is sarcastic but I do legitimately appreciate you pointing out that interesting detail.)
Anorien:
That’s what I was thinking, Falst does not seem like he would be good at all against the Void Dragon.
Creature Tamer:
I think he was serious about the soulfire books, he just has no idea how helpful they could be.
Erin. You realize Falst is already in the group as well, right? He’s just as vulnerable to void magic as Tess is, yet I don’t see you trying to kick him out. Yes, Tess is your sister and you’ll naturally worry for her safety because of that, but she’s perfectly capable of protecting herself; don’t jettison her, please.
The Void Dragon fears the almighty damage/healer/tank team composition.
And so it’s revealed; Erin is depending on those three to kill him as a last resort. Maybe that’s the actual reason he doesn’t want Tess around, in case she has to watch him be executed; but trying to keep her away from this, I think, would be even worse if that last resort happens. This would be the last time she’d see him, and no way would she let that happen; she is quite ride-or-die with Erin.
Vessyra:
I believe it ties into the Erin Backstory Conspiracy Board; after everything he did to become a full-fledged elemental magus, the very power he had strived for so long to have unimpeded ended up being the key to Void’s plan. I can see how that would be a metaphorical kick in the teeth.
“What about the catboy you brought with you? The one sneaking around behind us?”
“Oh, we did him a favor, and Kendal offered an invitation to join us, so he’s just here with us now.”
“…”
“…”
“Wait, he’s what now!?
FOSIHiuhsPIUDGHiuhPOUISHIUPGHPU TEASING. YOU TEASE. I love this I adore you but please allow me to know what the hell is up with the hands and kendal and also the mystery of the disappearance of his soul boots.
ok whOA. I just want to preface today’s comment with ‘Aurora comic my beloved’ as usual, but there’s something in this page nobody has said anything about. Also I could be completely wrong but just hear me out
Dainix appears to be wielding LIGHT ENERGY. Now, if we were just reading through this section at bingespeed, this would be a good little tiny hint of foreshadowing. However, since we are the equivalent of a feral pack of toddlers that Red keeps in her basement and occasionally throws pieces of bread down the stairs, we consequently over-analyze EVERYTHING.
This could be a part of why he’s so important to Caliban… if anyone who can access Red’s socials would like to pitch in with lore supporting or disproving this theory, please do! Any thoughts, I want to hear! 😀
WAIT- sorry to comment twice, but I just noticed something else. The middle panel shows all the ways they deal with the Void energy. Alinua can expel it away from herself with her abilities, Kendal just lets it touch him and then shrugs it off as a second or third degree burn (dude) and Dainix… transmutes the Void energy into another element?
We already know that the power of Fire is transmutation, so it would make sense that this would be Dainix’s defense. However, it raises some interesting questions as well. CAN Void energy be transmuted? What can it be transmuted into? Is it possible that the Void and Light energies can be inverted to create one another? Is this just me on too few hours of sleep? yOU DECIdE
how rude of Erin to attemt to deny Dragonpuncher Tess the opportunity to punch the biggest baddest dragon.
“and I can’t allow you to make that mistake” Erin says to someone who would personally challenge the void dragon to an arm wrestle for him
Dainix looking a whole lot like the Ironclad from Slay the Spire there
@Alleyyy i initially assumed that light energy of Dainix’ was just an artistic choice for him burning away the void magic, but maybe you’re onto something with the Light/Soul energy. i think his immunity comes from his transmutation to fire—all the other elements in his body, including stone and water and void, are turned into pure Fire (and possibly some Soul). therefore, he is immune to Void Magic via the same loophole Kendal exploits; if there is no Void energy in a being already, the Void Magic takes a far lesser effect. i don’t think he’s transmuting Void into Light/Soul, i think he transmutes any Void Energy already within himself to Fire, making him immune to Void!Erin’s attacks, while his Soul remains the intact despite his physical transformation (same Soul, different body—trans king). the white/blue flames might just be putting the ‘Soul’ in Soulfire, or represent the Void Magic burning away (i feel like i’ve let this explanation sprawl in a very not-concise way but you get what i’m saying i hope)
of course, while Dainix is out of his Soulfire form, he’s still vulnerable, which is a nice caveat compared to Kendal’s constant durability
My bet it’s on something along the lines: What about Falst/? And when he ecplains he don’t have special powers , she will be like ” If he can tag along so can I.”
heyyyy wait just a gosh darn minute! It’s almost as if this was a story constructed in such a way that allows the protagonists to mabye win! HMMMMM
Tess: What about Falst?
Falst: He knows he doesn’t have to worry about me trying to help him.
Erin Later, Holding a Dying Falst: Oh no this is so ironic and tragiiiiic!
There once was an elemental mage
Who out of Kendal’s book takes a page,
Wanting to avoid
The dragon of void
Hurting any of his friends in its rage.
@Alleyyy I noticed the same thing, and I think it’s a very, verrry interesting theory you have there.
“I didn’t call you because you would’ve stubbornly done your best to help me despite how you would definitely die if he attacked you. And when I say it out loud it seems I’m a magnet for those types lately, I mean you saw Kendal.”
@The Penguin Cat
Yes. Turns out that metal skin and dragon-punching strength don’t defend against all kinds of threats—and the Void Dragon is one it won’t do much to stop.
TL;DR: This was all my plan, but YOU were not!
@People who think Dainix is turning Void into Light Dragon stuff:
In 1.17.33 and 1.17.34 you can see him doing it to small amounts of Walter’s blast.
I’ve seen a lot of people speculating that Falst’s Ferin healing factor and magic resistance are why Erin isn’t concerned with hurting him, but, politely, I think Erin doesn’t care. The only time I can remember them directly interacting was when they first entered Zuurith and Erin explained that they could work the system to circumvent racism. Even that I think was more of a convenience thing. Idk. I have faith in Red’s Plan. She’s never let us down before.
“and what about the ferin, Falst?”
“oh he just kind of ended up here. Kendal’s good at making friends.”
Maybe Primordial Fire inadvertently made LD when the six fought Walter. Before he died he transmuted a big chunk into Light that VD couldn’t control. Then when he was sealed the Light started to form LD’s personality. At first she wanted to merge back into Walter, hence them being ‘lovers’, but then she decided to help the mortals and stay her own primordial. This made VD throw a hissy fit and destroy the Ancient civilization.
Alleyyy and veggiesnake:
I think the white wisps could just be the result of void magic interacting with fire of any kind, not just soulfire. Of course, we’d have to see void magic interacting with normal fire to confirm or deny this, so for now, I’m just offering this alternate possibility.
JACK:
Huh. He does, kinda! Especially the shape of Dainix’s eyes mirroring the eyes in The Ironclad’s mask. Fitting that The Ironclad also has a retinue of fire-based abilities (I like doing Dainix-like runs with him that revolve around the Combust power). I doubt Red has ever played Slay the Spire, but it’s a neat coincidence.
Erin doesn’t know though.
Tess punches approximately 1 dragon a week. What’s one more?
Note an interesting point here: Erin’s not actually telling Tess that she has to leave now (yet), he’s just explaining why he didn’t try to contact her or anyone else. …Could it be that Erin is actually smart enough to realize he will never be able to get Tess to leave now that she knows, so he’s resigned himself to it?! Which would also explain why he hasn’t raised any objection to Falst…we’ll see if I’m right next page, I guess.
Also @Stark9865 Holy crap I LOVE that theory! It ties together so nicely, honestly!
Tess: Duly noted … and ignored!
So the soulshaper monks are just option one or many? Interesting. If they can’t close the void connection, maybe they could close one of his other elemental links, temporarily. That way even if the dragon takes control again he can’t unmake his prison.
Lovely art in panel 5, showcasing each character in their own unique colours and styles, including a bunch of Life primordial eyes as hair accessories for Alinua. Void magic all around, trying to darken their light, and failing on all three.
Honestly Erin is pretty lucky, running into three beings that can resist V.D. to take with him. Tess is going to come along anyway, bound by loyalty and sensibilities like Falst, but looking at her face, she knows just how serious the situation is. Erin would have contacted her or any of his Ruunaser connections if he thought they could help and she knows that.
To give my theories + opinions:
@Stark9865 Interesting. VERY interesting. Would neatly explain the questions of why L.D. didn’t help during the primordials Vs. V.D. fight, how her interference giving the mortal wills was unforeseen by V.D., and her being the other and opposite to V.D. himself. I think someone translated some paladin texts a while back talking about a mysterious fire being that fought a V.D. possessed dragon too. We’ll need to keep an eye on this theory in future.
@Falst theorists: He’s on the team because his smarts and cunning have already pulled the gang out of one very close situation and could very well do so again. He’s also there because of his personal loyalty to the first set of people who like him for who he genuinely is; he didn’t leave when they first V.D. exposition dumped him, and he won’t now.
His Ferin elemental resistance having void resistance too is possible; no Ferin has been hit by a void attack in the comic yet so we don’t know. I actually have a half-theory that the Ferin mage might have been a life-magic capable Paladin. If they can resist void, they may have created the Ferin curse to make a void resistant army; if not they would at least limit the rate of elemental magus’s among non-adapted humans.
One final thing I’ll mention that I’ve found strange about Falst is that, in 1-14-14, both Alinua and Life spoke at the same time when saving Falst (notice the two tails, one black and one green). Something similar happened when Alinua was removing the excess life magic from the chimera in 1-8-18. Life also seemingly has no problem with Ferin despite them technically being chimeras. Does Life like Ferin (maybe the Ferin mage drew on Life’s intentions themselves when making the curse so that’s why they stuck?), or does she just like Falst? (I mean, why wouldn’t she?).
I love how well you get the colors to pop, it’s not something I’m used to seeing.
Honestly, perfectly understandable. If I was walking around with a time bomb strapped to my chest I would probably also not want my beloved sister ANYWHERE in range in case I go off.
Oh my gosh, the 2nd to last panel is amazing
@JessieE You’re welcome. https://twitter.com/zer0_w0lf/status/1588309132066504704
can I get panel 5 as a wallpaper? It looks so good
20 chapters and more than 3 years in, and I only just realised that you colour coded each main characters magic a different colour for contrast.
Kendal – Blue
Alinua – Green
Erin – Black (well, his Void Dragon form, at least)
Falst – N/A
Tess – Yellow
Dainix – Red/Orange
I need a shirt with the color coded lads. Please.
I just noticed the three colors on the die and the matching fire, healing, ..and blue colors of these three power-house major characters 😉
I would pay a large sum of money for Panel 5 without the speech bubbles over it (well, as large a sum as my research stipend can withstand, anyway)