Thank you Matt! You have deepen my appreciation of Red’s Wit and Erin’s cheekiness! You have opened an Easter egg Red left us to appreciate the scene better- but only for those who knew how to translate the runes and those who they shared the translation with!
My first thought when I saw panel three: “that is so coooool….”
Actually whispered it out loud.
I’ve never seen Erin pull out all the stops on Life magic, and it’s quite impressive.
(I know, he’s done amazing circles of wind and and cooling and… I think it just looks so different from Alinua. And usually he just does a little thread of Life magic.)
Actually, it’s the shift of perspectives from one panel to the next. It’s a visual rollercoaster, reflecting exactly the emotional rollercoaster Erin goes on–I mean, he Flings that Life magic diagnostic (thanks, @Matt!) circle.
Aurora Question #14: How would you have reacted if Kendal was actually dead? And if you were in Alinua’s position, would you have done the same thing? (I know I would’ve)
If Kendal was dead? Uhmmmm… stare at the wall for 30 minutes wondering what the heck I was going on.
In Alinua’s situation I’d just say “He’s still asleep”
Now where’s the fun in that?
This actually shows a potential advantage of Erin’s healing over Alinua’s. Alinua’s more feely technique allows fast healing it may be less able to discern WHAT is wrong with a patient, while Erin’s analytical technique may be better at diagnosis. Plus the fact it isn’t as tied to emotions as Alinua’s magic, Erin may be better at identifying the problem more objectively.
I guess I can’t blame Alinua, what with the day and a half she and the gang have had. She’s emotionally, physically and, after all her effort, probably magically drained; elf girl needs sleep, heck, all of them (except maybe Kendal) need sleep.
Prediction for next week: Erin explains why this is not as bad as Alinua thinks, maybe even suggesting using keeping the sword near him to help his recovery.
If I were to make a big prediction, Alinua gets some sleep as instructed by Erin, and she enters the dream state she was in from Hilltop (because she’s not letting something as little as sleep get in the way of worrying over Kendal). in that state she might realise the sword solution, or maybe even be able to commune with Kendal, or maybe she might look around and notice Falst and Dainix are not where they should be and alert Erin and Tess.
Well there is that bit in 1.3.32 where she looks at Kendal’s body using life magic. In the third panel she can apparently see his nervous system and skeleton, so I can’t see any reason she couldn’t use that ability to make a diagnosis.
BULLET DODGED, EVERYONE! No major status quo shakeups, just a garden-variety coma. I was wondering why Alinua wasn’t crying in the last page…
It’s neat seeing Erin in the middle of casting a runic circle, rather than just seeing the tattoo tap and the finished product. He traces the circumference, but as evidenced by the speed at which he casts here, he doesn’t have to bother with writing each individual rune out, as he just manifests them by thinking.
I thought the reason she wasn’t crying was due to pure mental and emotional exhaustion. If you were in a high stress situation for a while (like fighting a storm guard and almost losing your best friend) you tend to go numb.
And with that settled for the moment. I wanted to say to everyone, from the regular posters to my fellow lurkers, but especially those we haven’t heard from in a while that I hope all is well and if not then please know that we love you.
Here’s hoping the weekend passes quick enough and I’ll see you all Monday!
ohhhhh man Erin’s facial expressions in the third & sixth panels are just so broken and EMOTIONAL- he looks so vulnerable & scared & we really dont get that often. Not even Tess in trouble shook him up this hard.
He really hates being out of control of situations, doesn’t he?
I wonder if we’ll ever get to a point where something just completely *breaks* him, and he pulls out all the stops on his magic…
Oooo! I want. That would be smashing. So much power used no one can do magic in the area for days. Erin has to be carried from the scene in a bucket. And June witnesses–no question left he’s one of the good guys and not cooperating with VD.
I’ll be honest, I fully forgot he can also do that. Like obviously he can do all the various forms of magic but alinua has been the specialist for so long I just kind of forgot at some point.
There once was a worried mage
Who recklessly cast magic to assuage
His panicking head
‘Cause he thought, “Kendal’s dead!”
And his relief he changes to rage.
Sorry I have been absent lately, but real life intervened and I kind of lost all my inspiration for a bit.
Gotta say, I love the difference here between Alinua and Erin’s magic…it’s the first time we’ve seen Erin use life magic, after all. Alinua’s is all whorls and swirls of power–often bleeding off to impact things nearby (like the trail of grass) while Erin’s is a precision tool with (according to the rune translation) a . It really sells the “Innate spellcaster” vs “Scholarly spellcaster” difference between the two that we’ve gotten glimmers of before when they were talking about their magic.
We’ve seen Erin’s life magic before, in 1-6-8 he used it to examine Kendal after he said he survived a Void blast and in 1-6-14 to compare Alinua’s birthmark with his tattoos.
This. IS GORGEOUS IK KENDAL MIGHT BE DYING RN BUT ERIN IS SO PRETTY
All jokes aside, I think it’s finally time for us to see where Kendal’s gone. Any predictions?
I think next page will be maybe more of Erin diagnosing Kendal and/or attempting to heal him, but then we switch to Kendal– or maybe Falst and Dainix? I honestly have no clue, what do y’all think?
Erin! My sweet Stoic boy! Glad to hear that Kendal’s not dead yet, but my heart aches for the elemental magus, who seems like he’s trying so hard to maintain composure. Hopefully Kendal’s stable enough that Alinua can take a guilt-free nap; she certainly needs it badly.
Mat and others have found or identified the runic alphabet Red uses to write/draw in her story (someone mentioned it was in the tumblr I recall). I don’t have eyes to make out the rune-letters or the concertation and patience to translate them. I am thankful for being told on this forum by those who do know! Good world building Red!
*Breathes a sigh of relief and closes window* No defenestrating my computer today, I see.
I love how stressed Erin is at the thought that Kendal might be dead. He would probably blame himself if that was the case, since he got them all into this situation in the first place and he feels like he needs to advocate for Kendal since he doesn’t do it himself. It’s wholesome in a twisted way how much Erin so clearly cares, even if he hasn’t known Kendal for that long.
Anyone know what that scroll of paper is about? Like, Erin put his book down > his hands are empty as he runs over to Kendal > then he randomly has a scroll in his hands which disappears when he finishes the spell. He wasn’t reading off it and he hasn’t needed papers to cast spells before, so what just happened???
I don’t think that’s paper; I think it’s a kind of bracelet or cuff that holds Erin’s sleeves in place. You can see him remove one in panel 1, to access his life tattoo, while the one on his other arm remains in place.
How bad is Kendal’s condition? Is he in a coma or just taking a nap? Did Red achieve psycho-visual perfection with Erin’s expression on the last panel? Just how much experience must Tess have had to pull off such an effortlessly-cozy bridal carry? Are any of them able to hear Falst and Dainix’ shenanigans? Is Kendal off playing a game of astrally-projected crokinole with Vash right now?
OK so I see a lot of people blaming Alinua for falsely saying Kendal is dead but… she totally didn’t??? She accurately said that Kendal never woke up????
I mean ok I feel bad for poor Erin and to some degree Alinua & Kendall too of course but THAT WAS THE MOST HILARIOUS MISUNDERSTANDING
Sometimes when a healer says a patient “won’t wake up” they really do mean just that, and nothing more. Glad to know that Kendall is both fine and getting some much-needed rest, even if Alinua the perfectionist clearly would have preferred he be awake to talk to.
This seems like something personal, like red has had cliffhangers before where someone says something highly ominous and when the other characters find out the truth they just act like it’d somehow not very problematic to use such vague language in those circumstances
It was easy to see that Tess was on the taller side, but dang it’s hard to realize just how Big she is before this. She is TALL and filled out (muscular[?]).
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: but what would be the fun in that
Image source: ominous
this is a rather cheery page
interested for a probable drop of wacky medical info. what’s kendal’s deal. how’s my guy doing
Well, he’s alive, for starters.
Probably in a coma, though.
Maybe the real Kendal was inside us all along!
George Takei moment.
(Kendal explodes from someone’s chest in a flurry of blond hair and gore)
Whooo, he’s not dead!
My god Red, don’t do me like this
Oooh so he’s not like dying just unconscious?
AWH ERIN CONETENT
That face! Last panel Erin’s expression is pathos in its purest form
But dropping an ominous line before passing out is too much fun
The runes say “Reveal damage, reveal substrate, show heartbeat, show breath”
Thank you, and Primordials Bless
very nice, thank you. Erin’s literally assessing for basic signs of life—i love Red’s combination of fantasy and modern medicine!
Thank you Matt! You have deepen my appreciation of Red’s Wit and Erin’s cheekiness! You have opened an Easter egg Red left us to appreciate the scene better- but only for those who knew how to translate the runes and those who they shared the translation with!
Thank you so much for the translation. It appears Erin’s Life Magic lessons included some basic medicine.
I would consider that Kendall has had a heckin’ tiering day too.
He’s saying what we’re all thinking.
That’s a phew
OH GOD OKAY PHEW DAMMIT RED YOU REALLY HAD US THERE
Alinua a Sad Bean. She needs a hug, a blanket, and a nap.
My first thought when I saw panel three: “that is so coooool….”
Actually whispered it out loud.
I’ve never seen Erin pull out all the stops on Life magic, and it’s quite impressive.
(I know, he’s done amazing circles of wind and and cooling and… I think it just looks so different from Alinua. And usually he just does a little thread of Life magic.)
Actually, it’s the shift of perspectives from one panel to the next. It’s a visual rollercoaster, reflecting exactly the emotional rollercoaster Erin goes on–I mean, he Flings that Life magic diagnostic (thanks, @Matt!) circle.
I think that a weight that Ive been unknowingly carrying for the past 2 days of just pure fever dreams and sickness just crumbled off my shoulders.
Aurora Question #14: How would you have reacted if Kendal was actually dead? And if you were in Alinua’s position, would you have done the same thing? (I know I would’ve)
How would I react if Kendal actually died?
That’s an easy one to answer:
FANFICTION
As mentioned last page I was going to throw my computer out the window
If Kendal was dead? Uhmmmm… stare at the wall for 30 minutes wondering what the heck I was going on.
In Alinua’s situation I’d just say “He’s still asleep”
green eyed-Erin, nice. also, this confirms Kendal is not dead, just mostly dead. comatose, at least
expect underworld dream sequence in the coming pages
ALSO IS TESS WEARING FLARES I CAN’T—
Hey is that Tess bridal carrying Elinua in panel 4 that Red wrote about in 1.19.31 comments? OOOOO!
His magic he summons, makes a quick scan
But apparently there’s nothing wrong with the man
It seems like Tess is not struggling with “THE BRIDAL CARRY! TM” at all.
Now where’s the fun in that?
This actually shows a potential advantage of Erin’s healing over Alinua’s. Alinua’s more feely technique allows fast healing it may be less able to discern WHAT is wrong with a patient, while Erin’s analytical technique may be better at diagnosis. Plus the fact it isn’t as tied to emotions as Alinua’s magic, Erin may be better at identifying the problem more objectively.
I guess I can’t blame Alinua, what with the day and a half she and the gang have had. She’s emotionally, physically and, after all her effort, probably magically drained; elf girl needs sleep, heck, all of them (except maybe Kendal) need sleep.
Prediction for next week: Erin explains why this is not as bad as Alinua thinks, maybe even suggesting using keeping the sword near him to help his recovery.
If I were to make a big prediction, Alinua gets some sleep as instructed by Erin, and she enters the dream state she was in from Hilltop (because she’s not letting something as little as sleep get in the way of worrying over Kendal). in that state she might realise the sword solution, or maybe even be able to commune with Kendal, or maybe she might look around and notice Falst and Dainix are not where they should be and alert Erin and Tess.
Never thought I’d hear anyone saying that maybe Kendal DOESN’T need sleep, but here we are
Well there is that bit in 1.3.32 where she looks at Kendal’s body using life magic. In the third panel she can apparently see his nervous system and skeleton, so I can’t see any reason she couldn’t use that ability to make a diagnosis.
BULLET DODGED, EVERYONE! No major status quo shakeups, just a garden-variety coma. I was wondering why Alinua wasn’t crying in the last page…
It’s neat seeing Erin in the middle of casting a runic circle, rather than just seeing the tattoo tap and the finished product. He traces the circumference, but as evidenced by the speed at which he casts here, he doesn’t have to bother with writing each individual rune out, as he just manifests them by thinking.
I thought the reason she wasn’t crying was due to pure mental and emotional exhaustion. If you were in a high stress situation for a while (like fighting a storm guard and almost losing your best friend) you tend to go numb.
I was guessing she just let herself cry when she was alone and then came to tell Erin, but that makes sense too
i had taxing physical activity the day before yesterday, so, owww my back hurts from laughing at the last panel
At least someone knows what’s going on lol
You know that he’s stressed out, he’s gone into Thesaurus mode.
Omg, he’s okay! Eeeeh!!!!
And with that settled for the moment. I wanted to say to everyone, from the regular posters to my fellow lurkers, but especially those we haven’t heard from in a while that I hope all is well and if not then please know that we love you.
Here’s hoping the weekend passes quick enough and I’ll see you all Monday!
Props to Red for being able to draw emotions so well, Erin’s face in this page is brilliant, heartwrenching but brilliant
ohhhhh man Erin’s facial expressions in the third & sixth panels are just so broken and EMOTIONAL- he looks so vulnerable & scared & we really dont get that often. Not even Tess in trouble shook him up this hard.
He really hates being out of control of situations, doesn’t he?
I wonder if we’ll ever get to a point where something just completely *breaks* him, and he pulls out all the stops on his magic…
Oooo! I want. That would be smashing. So much power used no one can do magic in the area for days. Erin has to be carried from the scene in a bucket. And June witnesses–no question left he’s one of the good guys and not cooperating with VD.
I want to be mad at Red for tricking us like that, but the art on this page is so good that I can’t stay mad for long.
At least that last page wasn’t on a Friday. Imagine having Kendal seemingly being dead being the weekend cliffhanger.
I’ll be honest, I fully forgot he can also do that. Like obviously he can do all the various forms of magic but alinua has been the specialist for so long I just kind of forgot at some point.
There once was a worried mage
Who recklessly cast magic to assuage
His panicking head
‘Cause he thought, “Kendal’s dead!”
And his relief he changes to rage.
Sorry I have been absent lately, but real life intervened and I kind of lost all my inspiration for a bit.
Welcome back! I was already beginning to feel lonely here.
Gotta say, I love the difference here between Alinua and Erin’s magic…it’s the first time we’ve seen Erin use life magic, after all. Alinua’s is all whorls and swirls of power–often bleeding off to impact things nearby (like the trail of grass) while Erin’s is a precision tool with (according to the rune translation) a . It really sells the “Innate spellcaster” vs “Scholarly spellcaster” difference between the two that we’ve gotten glimmers of before when they were talking about their magic.
We’ve seen Erin’s life magic before, in 1-6-8 he used it to examine Kendal after he said he survived a Void blast and in 1-6-14 to compare Alinua’s birthmark with his tattoos.
Damn Tess is huge.
This. IS GORGEOUS IK KENDAL MIGHT BE DYING RN BUT ERIN IS SO PRETTY
All jokes aside, I think it’s finally time for us to see where Kendal’s gone. Any predictions?
I think next page will be maybe more of Erin diagnosing Kendal and/or attempting to heal him, but then we switch to Kendal– or maybe Falst and Dainix? I honestly have no clue, what do y’all think?
OH I JUST NOTICES SOMETHING Y’ALL
Erin’s hand in the second to last panel is shaking ever so slightly. He’s really scared, isn’t he?
Also welp time to change my wallpaper again
Erin! My sweet Stoic boy! Glad to hear that Kendal’s not dead yet, but my heart aches for the elemental magus, who seems like he’s trying so hard to maintain composure. Hopefully Kendal’s stable enough that Alinua can take a guilt-free nap; she certainly needs it badly.
I find it crazy that yall went through hours of research to find out what the runes mean.
Mat and others have found or identified the runic alphabet Red uses to write/draw in her story (someone mentioned it was in the tumblr I recall). I don’t have eyes to make out the rune-letters or the concertation and patience to translate them. I am thankful for being told on this forum by those who do know! Good world building Red!
It’s fine I’ll just lay in heartache all weekend till we find out what’s going on monday. It’s fine.
*Breathes a sigh of relief and closes window* No defenestrating my computer today, I see.
I love how stressed Erin is at the thought that Kendal might be dead. He would probably blame himself if that was the case, since he got them all into this situation in the first place and he feels like he needs to advocate for Kendal since he doesn’t do it himself. It’s wholesome in a twisted way how much Erin so clearly cares, even if he hasn’t known Kendal for that long.
Anyone know what that scroll of paper is about? Like, Erin put his book down > his hands are empty as he runs over to Kendal > then he randomly has a scroll in his hands which disappears when he finishes the spell. He wasn’t reading off it and he hasn’t needed papers to cast spells before, so what just happened???
I don’t think that’s paper; I think it’s a kind of bracelet or cuff that holds Erin’s sleeves in place. You can see him remove one in panel 1, to access his life tattoo, while the one on his other arm remains in place.
Oh okay, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks 🙂
Good eyes Bibbly Bio!
Poor Ali – she looks dead on her feet (or rather off of her feet). Take a break, girl
TL;DR: I’ll give it a try, but next time, please just say it to me straight, will ya?
How bad is Kendal’s condition? Is he in a coma or just taking a nap? Did Red achieve psycho-visual perfection with Erin’s expression on the last panel? Just how much experience must Tess have had to pull off such an effortlessly-cozy bridal carry? Are any of them able to hear Falst and Dainix’ shenanigans? Is Kendal off playing a game of astrally-projected crokinole with Vash right now?
Tune in Next Week to Find Out!
gods Red! Please clarify your highly ominous cliffhangers in the future.
OK so I see a lot of people blaming Alinua for falsely saying Kendal is dead but… she totally didn’t??? She accurately said that Kendal never woke up????
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I mean ok I feel bad for poor Erin and to some degree Alinua & Kendall too of course but THAT WAS THE MOST HILARIOUS MISUNDERSTANDING
Sometimes when a healer says a patient “won’t wake up” they really do mean just that, and nothing more. Glad to know that Kendall is both fine and getting some much-needed rest, even if Alinua the perfectionist clearly would have preferred he be awake to talk to.
Erin, panicking for a half minute there
This seems like something personal, like red has had cliffhangers before where someone says something highly ominous and when the other characters find out the truth they just act like it’d somehow not very problematic to use such vague language in those circumstances
I am Extremely Normal about Erin’s face in the third panel.
Prediction: the next scene change hands off to Kendal.
Erin’s faces in this page feel like the voice of Daniel Radcliffe.
…Red was 100% screwing with us with the last two pages.
Um what is the rune translation?
https://aurorawebcomic.fandom.com/wiki/Auroran_runic_alphabet#Chapter_19
I didn’t translate the whole thing, but it has: REVEAL DAMAGE REVEAL SUBSTRATE …something… HEART BEAT SHOW….something something.
Mat translated it as well: “Reveal damage, reveal substrate, show heartbeat, show breath”
Aww, see you guys? Erin does care!
in her defense she has had a VERY trying life
Red you bastard, making me worry like that. At least you didn’t leave Alinua’s statement to linger over a whole weekend
Poor Erin’s shaky hands omg…hope Kendall wakes up soon and they can all hug it out 🙁
Perfect illustration of a programmer’s feelings while working on a legacy codebase
This page is gorgeous. The green and the magic effects, it’s just very soothing for my eyes to look at
It was easy to see that Tess was on the taller side, but dang it’s hard to realize just how Big she is before this. She is TALL and filled out (muscular[?]).