2.0.2
on January 3, 2024
at 3:00 am
me and the boys off to get ourselves added to the “antagonists” section of the character page
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
me and the boys off to get ourselves added to the “antagonists” section of the character page
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: on my way to cause problems on purpose
Image source: want
Tumblr text: ah jeez not you again
Twitter text: ah lads not again
She’s so cool
Ohhhh boy. She’s choosing to not help Zuurith return to its extreme punishment ways, but is instead choosing to chase after our heroes?
So…
Net neutral change, let’s call it.
Time to leave Zuurith
A merry band of hunters
Seeking a new goal
Ayyy, haikus are back!
Well shrike.. I was kinda hoping you’d join the floof squad but I guess not all my wishes csn come true
We have at minimum a whole arc for that to happen (if red plans on that).
Trusk and Shrike have a brief heart-to-heart
It seems Shrike has a new mission to start
Ah, it really is Shrike and Trusk on the chapter cover. Recognizable character design ftw!
I thought she was told to “take [her] cow man and get out of the plot”?
Maybe that was the old plot and the new plot is more kind and welcoming… either, happy to see old faces get more page time.
Speaking of the design of the chapter cover, who do you think those two pairs of spectral eyes belong to? Probably a primordial, as they look a bit like Life’s eyes, but they’re blue so it’s definitely a different one.
I honestly think it might be this moon dragon the Paladins are worshiping. She might even be some sort of 8th primordial. We’ll see how wrong I am tho lol
Ack! Typo! I meant to say light dragon, not moon dragon!
Might not even be too incorrect, either. It seems She has some sort of connection to the moon Shield, it frequently appears in shots of her paladins, for example when Theia is upset at the end of the Zuurith arc. It also kind of looks like an eye, similar to the eyes on the chapter cover.
And I agree with you, this Lady is definitely an eith primordial. Since Soul energy is accepted as a thing that exists, but isn’t ascribed to any one primordial, it probably originates in Her. It also makes sense for her to counteract Voidy’s plans of using a human to undo his prison by giving them souls and thus free will. We’ve also seen The Champion, Theia and most recently Falst use a white, claw-like magic that doesn’t resemble any element we know of. This is most likely the Lady in action.
(I think that comment threads can only be so long, it won’t let me reply to OngoingConversationCouplet’s comment. I’ll just put it here lol)
Honestly I noticed that too! I guess it was less of a typo and more of a Freudian slip, since I was thinking this at the time. Her being connected to that moon at least. I hadn’t thought of the soul energy connection too, it would work really well! Additionally, I hadn’t thought about the Paladin’s have their own different type of magic, I had just accepted it as something different that would be explained later. Also, I don’t remember Falst having access to this magic, but that’s probably just me forgetting. I did just binge the series in late November lol, so it’s likely I’ve forgotten a few things.
Oh, I see what you mean with the threads. But in regards to Falst, in the final part of chapter 22 when Team Cat&Dog are getting lifted out of the dungeon, Jeff grabs Dainix. Falst conjurs up a white claw that rips the slime apart, and then passes out. It certainly reminded me of the “Paladin magic”, so might be something there.
Ah, I remember that now, thank you for the reminder. Intriguing, I hadn’t thought of that as being the same. Tbh it looks like I haven’t thought about it deep enough in general, since there’s a lot of connections I just haven’t made. It definitely looks similar, with the white glow and all. Additionally, it being so effective against Jeff would make sense if it has some relation to void and this light stuff is some sort of 8th element that’s the “other half” of VD.
GREEN DEER HORSE THING! Haven’t seen those since like, the 5th chapter. Also shrike is basically reverse Robin hood
graduating from chapter antagonist to series antagonist. I’m so proud!
Shrike could become the Arc-Villainess! Apologies to the pun sensitive.
It’s fun seeing Trusk being gently perceptive again! I love the expression of Shrike’s face in panel six, so intriguing! I sense a story there!
Thank you Red for wonderful story with beautiful pictures!
Oh hey! It’s the same animal Kendal and Alinua used as steeds after Windcrest! Only not Void dissolved!
I don’t care if she’s going to become an antagonist, I love Shrike’s decision here. She’s recognised how Zuurith makes her, a high standing citizen, feel worn down and tired, and has chosen to cut it out of her life. Trusk even notes how she could gain even more power and prestige by staying, but chooses instead to escape while she can, getting the first smile out of Trusk we’ve seen. This is a great moment of her character and I’m interested how this evolves, especially if Theia ends up traveling with them.
Shrike leaving could also benefit the city of Zuurith too. She was the most high profile bounty hunter around and is taking several others of that profession, would could replace her, along for the ride. This power vacuum, coupled with the arenamaster losing power, could give Vienne, the guard captain back in 1-13-35, and her guards the chance to work some meaningful changes. I think on tumblr Red realised she accidentally re-created Vimes from Discworld when she made her, so it’s certainly possible.
The side details are good too, Alinua’s tree looking lovely in the sun, guards and what I presume are former prisoners helping clear rubble, I’m cautiously hopeful for Zuurith’s future. I’ve even had this small headcanon that Dryads, life elves, and/or even Stygian elves, elves of the caves, could take up residence in the former prison.
I knew we weren’t done with Zuurith (the city) and I’m glad you are showing it again!
Okay, so based on the chapter art, it’s clear that Theia, Shrike, and Trusk will be traveling together like a “Team Azula” for lack of a better term. I wonder if that mysterious caped figure could be Zuurith’s incarnation? It fits his general outline, with floofy hair, bracers, and a capes, but maybe his appearance has changed a little since the Storm, just like Gleicann’s forest.
I’m unsure if they’ll be bringing the whole gang with them. It would allow Red to throw a small horde at the Floof Squad later, but surely it would slow them down, if their goal is to track down the Floof Squad. And what is Shrike’s new goal? I can’t imagine it’s a personal vendetta against the protagonists, since she kind of already gave up on that when Trusk walked her home in the rain. Perhaps the destruction of your whole city is a good sign to move on.
I’d been assuming the fourth person in the cover was a paladin, with the light magic, and Theia symbolically turning her back on them to look at Shrike and Trusk instead. maybe someone they send after her?
I think a shrike/trust/theia team up would be a lot of fun, though I’m not convinced it’ll happen. at least, just yet. Based on the framing and theia’s face, it doesn’t look like she trusts them. Though that could be as Ashkemena said that she’s turning away from paladins, and sees these other people that could help her (though if that’s the case, I feel like theia would err more to trying to use them than joining them).
though another thought is that the people on the cover are just people we will see here, not necessarily connected. sorta like a dolly zoom through the remains of zuurith.
also looking forward to chapter 1! looks like they reached/are reaching the coast!
I also agree with the paladin interpretation, since we can see 4 blue eyes behind the back figure, which is kinda like the dragon that the Lady took over earlier in the story, and the colouring matches her text bubbles
Ooh. Shrike’s an interesting one to bring in again–an interesting balance to the other antagonists insofar that she doesn’t want to eat or dismantle the world but seems to want to carve herself a place in it that she likes, at the expense of other individuals. (It’s… “Mundane” is the wrong word. Human, maybe? Mortal?) Hazarding a guess that she’s not off to target the Floof Squad specifically–at first–but to find a new way to win money and take bounties that doesn’t make her so tired. It’s logical to wind up wandering toward the same neighboring city, if it’s a prosperous place within reach.
big fan of the antagonist character that’s *not* one of the most dangerous entities on the continent, we were missing one of those for a bit there
I really hope you’re not overworking yourself to one-up yourself with each chapter, but
HOT DAMN THE ART IN THIS PAGE IS GO GOOD! TRUSK LOOKS BEAUTIFUL IN THE LAST PANEL
Now I know what it feels like to wait for pages to come out.
Ooh, they’re going from a morally bankrupt uninvested antagonist to a morally complex personal antagonist!~
Fuuunnnnn!!
Ah, the reason she got a name!
Everybody’s changed their haircuts to symbolize shifts in their characters! What madness!
What can this possibly mean for the Floof gang?
Hopefully gradual changes in Floof shape/distribution but no loss of Floofiness. Not so gradual changes are cool too, but would be harder to deal with imo
“on my way to cause problems on purpose”
I believe you meant, “I aim to misbehave.” [waggly eyed emoji]
They may be about to cause problems on purpose but I’m excited to see what exactly those problems will be.
Anonymous Aurora Question #35: On a scale from the Void Dragon when he realizes he can never escape and is trapped for eternity to Kendal saves everyone without self harming, how happy are you Aurora is back?
I’d probably rate it at “Alinua discovering watermelons exist!”
I’m around “Vash is manifested and ready to kick some chimera *ss”
If I had to say a number, then “Dainix hugging Erin after learning about the Monk’s Treatise on Soulfire” is close enough.
I’ll have to say “Falst in the two or three times that he is happy enough to show genuine emotion and smile instead of smirk”
“The Colossus looked cool.”
im obsessed with herrrr
There is an interesting bit in panel four. In arc One I thought Trusk was a biped. But in Panel four I get an interesting look at Trusk I had not seen before…
Unfortunately for us funky centaur fans, I think that’s just his cloak billowing out behind him.
the antagonist section was looking kind of empty
I really like the art on this page. I just find Trusk and Strike’s designs really good and pleasing to look at I think I think.
I do have to wonder if out of the hundreds of prisoners if some of them actually deserved to be in prison. Might have some unintended consequences catch up to our party.
GUYS, THERES FANFIC ON AO3! I REPEAT, THERE IS AURORA FANFIC ON AO3
THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL
In all seriousness though, I just started going through it, so I don’t know if there’s anything I like, but I figured I should share this information
There once was a hunter named Shrike.
Her job she had come to dislike
Because Zuurith’s attitude
Was beyond any platitude,
So she left, her own way to strike.
Yay it’s baaaack!
Eeeeeeep! I’m so glad it’s back!
(imagine missing the first two pages haha haha could never be me)
But anyway! I’m so excited to see where the comic goes next! Especially if it’s ocean-themed… And on that note–
ERIN LOOKS LIKE FRANKENSTEIN ON THE COVER OF CHAPTER 1 MY SUSPICIONS HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED! Well, I don’t know whether it’s intentional or not but the pose definitely reminded me of another familiar college-dropout mad-scientist type. Erin’s reminded me of Frankenstein since the first page he was in, so it’s funny to see this little reference, even if it wasn’t on purpose.
Although, it is Red, so you never know…
Antagonists?!?! What do you mean “antagonists”? I cannot believe this slander; Shrike has only done like three things wrong tops. She deserves to be a misunderstood anti-hero at worst. Give my girl justice!
TL;DR: New year, new goals. Let’s see if this resolution holds.
Interesting… the art style shifts in this one. Love the golden glow of sunshine. Lines aren’t as confident… I would guess this one was drawn earlier, maybe during the Zuurith arc, and the next two are recent additions. It’s not drawn at the very beginning (when Vash defends his city “You had me at monsters”) — the use of light is much more developed here. Fun musing about it anyway. I write like this, sometimes writing a scene many chapters ahead.
Well shrike ahs taken her cow man with her, but she refuses to walk out of the plot.
I missed this the first time around, but Shrike is taking her entire crew with her. I think The wording just confused me before. Cool. If it was a small, three person group alone, they wouldn’t have been as much of a threat to the protagonists, which would be less interesting.