We know Tess and Erin’s dad is named Galen, and neither seems to exactly like him. Red has mentioned that Erin has siblings, plural, so he might be their brother or a family friend.
going full thumbtacks and string here, but I can’t help but think that maybe Al is a sibling and (since we know there’s something weird with Erin’s status as elemental magus and for all we know his dad did something to make him the magus) that Al was an original try to make a magus that somehow went wrong?
That would make sense that Al is a sibling. My string board theory is that Al is still like how Erin was before he became the Elemental Magus since he had to send Tess to find Erin instead of doing it himself. From this panel, it appears that he is afflicted by some old wound or physical disability since life magic can’t work to heal him anymore. That is so similar to Tess’ description of young Erin as passing out all the time and being fragile that I almost wonder if Erin and Al are twins born with the same disability, but only one gained the magical power to heal themselves.
Oop forgot about the sibling thing, I just assumed Al was Tess’s nickname for Galan. Like she calls Mrs. Ruunaser “mom” and Erin “brother” but she calls Galan by his first name because Galan was never a father to her.
If that ends up being the case, and Al is Erin and Tess’s brother like I think he is, it would be hilarious that the squad would be almost half Ruunasers by volume.
Been sayin it for years, the gangs gonna be the full rainbow, one rare mage—ex. crucible, sky-chosen, god-vessel—from each element (though probably not all at once). Three down, three to go!
Wait, wasn’t there some lore about life magic being able to bypass the soul barrier? Which is why chimeric mutations can happen and life magic is so dangerous? I’ll have to do some readimg tonight after my lectures…
Erin has likely been shaken by this most recent Voidy possession and is responding by pushing his feelings away and being over analytical. I think this is basically his coping mechanism. However, I think Tess knows him well enough to know what he’s doing and that he’s basically self-destructing over this.
Oh hey, I was right.
Now I’m a little confused tho:
“Only Life magic can readily bypass this soul-barrier. It has been theorized that perhaps this exception stands because the soul recognizes healing and growth as necessary changes it must allow for the survival of the body, where all other elemental incursions inevitably cause injury. However, this exception renders living beings vulnerable to chimeric alterations or mutations, and is one of many reasons why Life magic is considered the most dangerous of the six branches.”
What is Erin talking about??
Kendal’s body is healthy enough that life magic can’t heal it further; he’ll have to be injured again for life magic to be able to heal him. Essentially, the soul is tied to the body, and the body is healthy enough for the soul to gain the strength to resist life magic.
But that still contradicts the lore, no?
Like, Gleicann told a Kendal in perfect health not to touch a life lacrima. If I understood you and Erin even remotely correctly, that shouldn’t have been a problem, his soul barrier was as asserted as it could be. If Alinua as the literal avatar of life can’t affect him through that barrier, neither can that lacrima, right?
Also, the chimeric plague. In Vash’s memory, that child mutated every living thing in some significant radius. Were they all injured and in need of healing at that exact moment? Or why would the soul allow mutations but not healing, if healing is the reason why it ever allows any life magic?
I’m just really confused how that makes any sense here… hopefully Erin clarifies his highly confusing statement next page…
(And your first point makes so much sense it almost bothers me more now why Erin didn’t just say that instead of retconning half the comic to make it sound fancy and magical)
(I probably sound more mad about this than I am ^^’)
Maybe at a certain point, life magic goes from “healing” to “mutating”? So, trying to use magic even with their soul barrier up causes chimeric mutations?
The phrasing is kinda weird, though, so it’s probably a retcon? Here, it’s pretty much implied that the barrier can’t be passed because it’s a barrier, not because it would cause chimeric plague—which would nullify the earlier reasoning for life magic’s danger.
Yeah, I think there’s a threshold between unnecessary overhealing and life corruption (chimeric mutation) that the life lacrima could easily cross due to it releasing all its magic at once when uncontrolled, but that Alinua isn’t crossing because she’s tempering how quickly and how much she’s channeling magic.
Basically:
Low health + slow, careful channeling = healing
Full health + slow, careful channeling = soul barrier blocking magic (no effect)
Low or full health + fast, powerful channeling = life corruption
Wait tf? So for the past week the i had to wait for my comments to be approved by mods (only for them to never get posted) but now it goes up immediately?
Tess:I could call Dainix back to keep watch over here.
Erin: Nah, after everything he’s been though, I’m sure he’s enjoying some peace and quiet right now.
Another mention of Al, whom I suspect is another Ruunaser sibling, or maybe a relative or close family friend. From this description and extra lore on tumblr, I suspect Al has a historic injury that his soul barrier has adjusted to so it cannot be healed anymore.
I like Erin’s tone here, while he’s probably stressed after Alinua’s ominous statement, he understands why Alinua was distressed and calmly explains to her why she shouldn’t worry and how it’s good. Alinua seems unconvinced, but it’s still good to see.
That’s it PML, take the cotton candy elf away for a well earned sleep. Even if it’s only for a few minutes before her help is needed to get the boys out of the sidequest chasm, every little helps.
I do actually wonder about there possibly being another Ruunaser sibling, since on an ask on Tumblr Red mentioned that Erin has “Siblings” plural. Another pin in the Erin’s-backstory conspiracy board
Look, they’re both hella badass and Erin knows it, but the Void Dragon is kind of a special case which requires specialized solutions. As he mentioned before, Erin has very specifically surrounded himself with some of the only 3 people in the world who can shrug off the touch of pure Void!
Wait, I just had a thought. What if the reason that Dainix can shrug off void in his fire-form is because he’s somehow been transformed into pure fire? The reason void can affect people is because some is already present in their bodies, and we know that people without void (i.e. Kendal) can shrug it off but still be hurt by it. If Dainix’s fire form is all fire and nothing else, that would handily explain why he can’t be hurt by it.
That could be it, but I feel like it’s more complicated than that. I mean, Voidy did manage to kill primordial Fire somehow. And Dainix’s fire is called “soulfire” but we’ll see, I guess.
Trust me, Alinua, sometimes the best thing you can do when you’re feeling crappy is to sleep it off. That’s basically all I can do when I get a migraine.
So many things this page–!
– A little lore on Life, although I think some people with Red’s socials (unfortunately I don’t 🙁 but no matter) had heard this one already.
– Indirectly, a little lore on Kendal. We get to see that he actually works a lot like a normal person.
– Another name-drop for this mysterious Ruunaser relative “Al”
– Again indirectly, but some more of Tess’s character is present in this page than before. She’s a good teammate, and is actually a little bit motherly in her very metal punches-dragons-lady way.
– Erin blaming/laying all responsibility on himself again, perhaps? We love to see it, folks.
Also the sheer number of people who actually have Aurora conspiracy boards makes me want one now, to put in my house and confuse anyone who sees it
Earlier this chapter, when Tess was explaining why Erin’s disappearance was so unusual as to warrant Tess’s manhunt. She mentioned Al contacting her through their paired communication lacrimas, worried for Erin’s safety.
I don’t think so. In-story, these two just met each other literally last night. No one develops genuine romantic feelings for someone else that quickly.
Agreed. Any romantic hijinx that may or may not happen can wait until they get to know each other better.
Besides, Tess carefully helping an exhausted Alinua to bed is a lovely and heartwarming act in and of itself.
Did you know…
While not too long after general anesthesia you will regain consciousness not that long after being taken off it, the effects can last up to 24 hours. With more mild forms of it that numb parts of the body lasting longer.
(Kendal needed medical attention, and I dont know if Alinua thought of using that knockout plant again, or if this is still from when he initially lost consciousness but at this point it is best to stay near and let him and let him recover on his own)
I have no idea how any of how Kendal and his sword work but, I think it wouldn’t to see if leaving them together might help.
Good to see that Alinua is finally getting to rest. Her line *is* quite ominous, though. Is this pure heartache from seeing Kendal willingly sacrifice himself, or also something that she sensed in her healing efforts?
Seems like Erin’s still in for a rough time, but at least he’s steeling himself against it. Since he mentioned Dainix, though- beginning to worry about him and Falst again, now that the immediate crisis for the home team is handled. Should be interesting to see what situation he and Falst have fallen into.
Just out of curiosity, did anybody already try to translate the runes on the collectors dagger (Page 1.1.17)? I wonder whether they might beuseful or not.
Top left corner of panel three. I think she is talking about her and Erin’s mutual acquaintance Al not shortening someone else’s name. So this implies that Al was injured and recovered to the point that whatever injury could not be assisted. Maybe they aren’t or at the time hadn’t fully recovered?
Oh, I’m starting to realize… I haven’t understood what was going on before, because this comic is drawn by Red.
Near the end of 1.20, I said some pretty nasty things about how Alinua reacts to Kendal’s self-sacrifice, not remembering that even *Vash* has been telling him to stop. Her reaction makes more sense now that I’ve read the whole arc in a few weeks.
But I’m starting to feel like Alinua is actually in love with Kendal. It might just be separation anxiety, or a deep and complex form of infatuation, but I notice that even the slightest chance of losing Kendal sends Alinua spiraling into anxiety *at the very least.*
Red has word-of-god-ed that Kendal is ace. How could he be anything else? But Alinua seems to have *some* sort of extremely deep emotions tied to Kendal. This could lead to a very unhealthy situation in future arcs… but in Red’s hands, I’m sure it will be a powerful framework for character growth and poignant moments!
“Like Al” ok so al has a strong soul and is or has been injured, or when they say physical recovery do they mean regaining energy? I mean he doesn’t look injured and the soul hasn’t caused much problems for healing injuries before.
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: kendal has a really easy job this chapter
Image source: alive
Well, Kendal has a really easy job for anyone EXEPT Kendal
True. Kendel doesn’t like to sleep.
Sad Alinua 🙁
At least she has big woman to take care of her, she needs that comfort right now I think
Tess does surprisingly well as the ‘Mom friend’ of the group.
Yet another mention of this Al figure.
*Slowly puts pin in conspiracy board*
Funny thing is, I have a *literal* aurora conspiracy board, I made it as room decoration 😀
Mine’s a mental one at the moment but I might make it one day.
When did they mention Al before?
Didn’t they name-drop him when talking about their father?
Al is the one who got Tess on the search in the first place (at the start of the ‘so what happened?) discussion between Erin and Tess.
Thanks for sharing that Sinead!
I’m guessing that Al is Tess & Erin’s dad, and probably it’s harder to heal emissaries than normal humans since they’re closed to the elements.
We know Tess and Erin’s dad is named Galen, and neither seems to exactly like him. Red has mentioned that Erin has siblings, plural, so he might be their brother or a family friend.
going full thumbtacks and string here, but I can’t help but think that maybe Al is a sibling and (since we know there’s something weird with Erin’s status as elemental magus and for all we know his dad did something to make him the magus) that Al was an original try to make a magus that somehow went wrong?
This is probably 140% wrong but hey
That would make sense that Al is a sibling. My string board theory is that Al is still like how Erin was before he became the Elemental Magus since he had to send Tess to find Erin instead of doing it himself. From this panel, it appears that he is afflicted by some old wound or physical disability since life magic can’t work to heal him anymore. That is so similar to Tess’ description of young Erin as passing out all the time and being fragile that I almost wonder if Erin and Al are twins born with the same disability, but only one gained the magical power to heal themselves.
Oop forgot about the sibling thing, I just assumed Al was Tess’s nickname for Galan. Like she calls Mrs. Ruunaser “mom” and Erin “brother” but she calls Galan by his first name because Galan was never a father to her.
Here’s the mention Saurianne’s referring to. https://comicaurora.tumblr.com/post/702595837729128449/would-erin-fall-for-the-sharks-are-smooth-thing
maybe this Al person could be the 7th member of the gang that Red has been hinting to
If that ends up being the case, and Al is Erin and Tess’s brother like I think he is, it would be hilarious that the squad would be almost half Ruunasers by volume.
Been sayin it for years, the gangs gonna be the full rainbow, one rare mage—ex. crucible, sky-chosen, god-vessel—from each element (though probably not all at once). Three down, three to go!
For a minute I thought Tess was saying AI, and was very confused about how the concept of artificial intelligence got into this fantasy world!
*Eyes widen in chapter’s other plot*
not me goofing and thinking “Al” was a nickname Tess made for Alinua
Wait, wasn’t there some lore about life magic being able to bypass the soul barrier? Which is why chimeric mutations can happen and life magic is so dangerous? I’ll have to do some readimg tonight after my lectures…
Oh and Tess is awesome once again on this page
Tess is always awesome. Also, awww, her face in the last panel! She’s so worried about her brother.
Erin has likely been shaken by this most recent Voidy possession and is responding by pushing his feelings away and being over analytical. I think this is basically his coping mechanism. However, I think Tess knows him well enough to know what he’s doing and that he’s basically self-destructing over this.
Oh hey, I was right.
Now I’m a little confused tho:
“Only Life magic can readily bypass this soul-barrier. It has been theorized that perhaps this exception stands because the soul recognizes healing and growth as necessary changes it must allow for the survival of the body, where all other elemental incursions inevitably cause injury. However, this exception renders living beings vulnerable to chimeric alterations or mutations, and is one of many reasons why Life magic is considered the most dangerous of the six branches.”
What is Erin talking about??
Kendal’s body is healthy enough that life magic can’t heal it further; he’ll have to be injured again for life magic to be able to heal him. Essentially, the soul is tied to the body, and the body is healthy enough for the soul to gain the strength to resist life magic.
But that still contradicts the lore, no?
Like, Gleicann told a Kendal in perfect health not to touch a life lacrima. If I understood you and Erin even remotely correctly, that shouldn’t have been a problem, his soul barrier was as asserted as it could be. If Alinua as the literal avatar of life can’t affect him through that barrier, neither can that lacrima, right?
Also, the chimeric plague. In Vash’s memory, that child mutated every living thing in some significant radius. Were they all injured and in need of healing at that exact moment? Or why would the soul allow mutations but not healing, if healing is the reason why it ever allows any life magic?
I’m just really confused how that makes any sense here… hopefully Erin clarifies his highly confusing statement next page…
(And your first point makes so much sense it almost bothers me more now why Erin didn’t just say that instead of retconning half the comic to make it sound fancy and magical)
(I probably sound more mad about this than I am ^^’)
Maybe at a certain point, life magic goes from “healing” to “mutating”? So, trying to use magic even with their soul barrier up causes chimeric mutations?
The phrasing is kinda weird, though, so it’s probably a retcon? Here, it’s pretty much implied that the barrier can’t be passed because it’s a barrier, not because it would cause chimeric plague—which would nullify the earlier reasoning for life magic’s danger.
Yeah, I think there’s a threshold between unnecessary overhealing and life corruption (chimeric mutation) that the life lacrima could easily cross due to it releasing all its magic at once when uncontrolled, but that Alinua isn’t crossing because she’s tempering how quickly and how much she’s channeling magic.
Basically:
Low health + slow, careful channeling = healing
Full health + slow, careful channeling = soul barrier blocking magic (no effect)
Low or full health + fast, powerful channeling = life corruption
Doctor Erin to Alinua: He’s just cranky. Kendal only needs to take a nap and he’ll be fine!
Doctor Tess: Right back at you.
Kendal is fine, they should all go to bed
But the thought of the Dragon fills Erin with dread
Also put the sword back next to Kendal, if it’s his soul that’s the problem he probably needs it.
Man the usernames meant to be ironic 🙁 TEST TEST TEST DID THIS WORK
Wait tf? So for the past week the i had to wait for my comments to be approved by mods (only for them to never get posted) but now it goes up immediately?
okay I can see the first comment but now I can’t reply? Third times the charm??? TEST TEST TEST
I had the same problem first time I commented! Your two replies seem fine to me now
I think the mods need a bit of time to make sure new usernames/emails aren’t spambots, but then after that they’re alright
Mods also may be reviewing it for other reasons too! Be aware you are posted in a public/community form! 🙂
Feels like the last time I showed up so early to get this few comments, CC Aston was alive and well!
Afton, autocorrect is the worst
Tess:I could call Dainix back to keep watch over here.
Erin: Nah, after everything he’s been though, I’m sure he’s enjoying some peace and quiet right now.
Another mention of Al, whom I suspect is another Ruunaser sibling, or maybe a relative or close family friend. From this description and extra lore on tumblr, I suspect Al has a historic injury that his soul barrier has adjusted to so it cannot be healed anymore.
I like Erin’s tone here, while he’s probably stressed after Alinua’s ominous statement, he understands why Alinua was distressed and calmly explains to her why she shouldn’t worry and how it’s good. Alinua seems unconvinced, but it’s still good to see.
That’s it PML, take the cotton candy elf away for a well earned sleep. Even if it’s only for a few minutes before her help is needed to get the boys out of the sidequest chasm, every little helps.
I do actually wonder about there possibly being another Ruunaser sibling, since on an ask on Tumblr Red mentioned that Erin has “Siblings” plural. Another pin in the Erin’s-backstory conspiracy board
The ask Evil Tree and Goldfinch are referring to, for context. https://comicaurora.tumblr.com/post/702595837729128449/would-erin-fall-for-the-sharks-are-smooth-thing
Be still my heart Alinua cuddling Kendal’s sword
he keeps excluding catman i am upset
There once was a man from a sword
Whose presence provided a ward
Against the void dragon.
Now Erin drags on
Because sleep he now cannot afford.
Erin: With Dainix away and Kendal and Aluinua out of commission-
Tess and Falst: }:(
Look, they’re both hella badass and Erin knows it, but the Void Dragon is kind of a special case which requires specialized solutions. As he mentioned before, Erin has very specifically surrounded himself with some of the only 3 people in the world who can shrug off the touch of pure Void!
Wait, I just had a thought. What if the reason that Dainix can shrug off void in his fire-form is because he’s somehow been transformed into pure fire? The reason void can affect people is because some is already present in their bodies, and we know that people without void (i.e. Kendal) can shrug it off but still be hurt by it. If Dainix’s fire form is all fire and nothing else, that would handily explain why he can’t be hurt by it.
That could be it, but I feel like it’s more complicated than that. I mean, Voidy did manage to kill primordial Fire somehow. And Dainix’s fire is called “soulfire” but we’ll see, I guess.
Al name count #2
Trust me, Alinua, sometimes the best thing you can do when you’re feeling crappy is to sleep it off. That’s basically all I can do when I get a migraine.
Called by Magic- Nice!
Red did a good job of explaining where we are in the story on this panel in my view.
So many things this page–!
– A little lore on Life, although I think some people with Red’s socials (unfortunately I don’t 🙁 but no matter) had heard this one already.
– Indirectly, a little lore on Kendal. We get to see that he actually works a lot like a normal person.
– Another name-drop for this mysterious Ruunaser relative “Al”
– Again indirectly, but some more of Tess’s character is present in this page than before. She’s a good teammate, and is actually a little bit motherly in her very metal punches-dragons-lady way.
– Erin blaming/laying all responsibility on himself again, perhaps? We love to see it, folks.
Also the sheer number of people who actually have Aurora conspiracy boards makes me want one now, to put in my house and confuse anyone who sees it
I feel like Al has been mentioned before but I can’t for the life me remember when ?, does anyone have any idea where their name was first mentioned?
Page 13 of this chapter. https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-19-13/
Earlier this chapter, when Tess was explaining why Erin’s disappearance was so unusual as to warrant Tess’s manhunt. She mentioned Al contacting her through their paired communication lacrimas, worried for Erin’s safety.
Tess continues to be awesome. And honestly we need someone to remind the cast that selfcare ie important
TL;DR: Looks like we’ve been forced to stop and rest, which means I won’t rest!
-Erin
time for romantic hijinks with Alinura and Tess!
I don’t think so. In-story, these two just met each other literally last night. No one develops genuine romantic feelings for someone else that quickly.
Agreed. Any romantic hijinx that may or may not happen can wait until they get to know each other better.
Besides, Tess carefully helping an exhausted Alinua to bed is a lovely and heartwarming act in and of itself.
true true
Oh, crap. That’s right, I forgot VD is only gone because of Alinua. I wonder if we’ll be seeing more of him?
Did you know…
While not too long after general anesthesia you will regain consciousness not that long after being taken off it, the effects can last up to 24 hours. With more mild forms of it that numb parts of the body lasting longer.
(Kendal needed medical attention, and I dont know if Alinua thought of using that knockout plant again, or if this is still from when he initially lost consciousness but at this point it is best to stay near and let him and let him recover on his own)
I have no idea how any of how Kendal and his sword work but, I think it wouldn’t to see if leaving them together might help.
ERINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN :<<<<<<<<<<<
Hey Alinua, Umm what does that mean?!?!
Kendal’s still alive, but is he doing science?
Good to see that Alinua is finally getting to rest. Her line *is* quite ominous, though. Is this pure heartache from seeing Kendal willingly sacrifice himself, or also something that she sensed in her healing efforts?
Seems like Erin’s still in for a rough time, but at least he’s steeling himself against it. Since he mentioned Dainix, though- beginning to worry about him and Falst again, now that the immediate crisis for the home team is handled. Should be interesting to see what situation he and Falst have fallen into.
Hey, who’s this l figure?
Whoops, typo. I meant to say “Hey, who’s this Al figure?”.
Just out of curiosity, did anybody already try to translate the runes on the collectors dagger (Page 1.1.17)? I wonder whether they might beuseful or not.
The Aurora wiki says this:
V A S H F A I R B L A D E B I N D S I T Y G O D W? A R
white flash, unreadable
A R T S B? G? U? D ? ? ? ?
This is where I found it:
https://aurorawebcomic.fandom.com/wiki/Auroran_runic_alphabet
Man, I want to get bridal-carried by Tess!
Top left corner of panel three. I think she is talking about her and Erin’s mutual acquaintance Al not shortening someone else’s name. So this implies that Al was injured and recovered to the point that whatever injury could not be assisted. Maybe they aren’t or at the time hadn’t fully recovered?
Oh, I’m starting to realize… I haven’t understood what was going on before, because this comic is drawn by Red.
Near the end of 1.20, I said some pretty nasty things about how Alinua reacts to Kendal’s self-sacrifice, not remembering that even *Vash* has been telling him to stop. Her reaction makes more sense now that I’ve read the whole arc in a few weeks.
But I’m starting to feel like Alinua is actually in love with Kendal. It might just be separation anxiety, or a deep and complex form of infatuation, but I notice that even the slightest chance of losing Kendal sends Alinua spiraling into anxiety *at the very least.*
Red has word-of-god-ed that Kendal is ace. How could he be anything else? But Alinua seems to have *some* sort of extremely deep emotions tied to Kendal. This could lead to a very unhealthy situation in future arcs… but in Red’s hands, I’m sure it will be a powerful framework for character growth and poignant moments!
I like to see it as a very close platonic love
“Like Al” ok so al has a strong soul and is or has been injured, or when they say physical recovery do they mean regaining energy? I mean he doesn’t look injured and the soul hasn’t caused much problems for healing injuries before.
Here after Erin’s arm in panel 1 was corrected.
https://www.tumblr.com/comicaurora/747399318643900416/hey-red-i-could-possibly-be-losing-my-mind-but-i