2.1.38
on April 19, 2024
at 3:00 am
And now let’s cut away for a short interlude in- oh dammit not this guy again
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
And now let’s cut away for a short interlude in- oh dammit not this guy again
Oh…
Oh no…
Oh, that dog does not look good…
Dat dawg is sick! Dat dawg needs to see a vet!
dat dawg needs to get put down!
Dat dog needs to meet Alinua! Who can put it down!
Oh it’s so gonna be a chimera, the collector’s back isn’t she.
It’s so gonna be a chimera, the collector is so back.
“Dat dawg” looks vaguely chimeric . . .
How long has it been since we’ve seen any of the Collector’s beasts? A weakened god might be too irresistible.
I’m confused, where’s the beast?
If you look at the bottom of the last two panels, you can see enough of it to know it looks like the ones that attacked Vash.
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: surely THIS will be the last time I make myself draw the Big Tree
Image source: help
Tumblr text: welcome back to the home of the civil rights violation
Alright, how did I actually get this one;? I came to it after 45 minutes of the Tumblr post being uploaded.
Twitter text – get a load of that dog
Twitter text: get a load of that dog
Can I pet dat dawg?
Tada
Back at Zuurith, the city is basically destroyed. There are giant Sentinels walking around, helping to repair the city.
“This one’s too heavy!” a citizen with orange hair, straining to pull up a big block of wood, shouts. “Can we get some help?”
A Sentinel reaches down and picks it up. “Thanks, my lord!” the person says.
“The sentinel can’t hear you, dummy,” his companion, a light blue-skinned elf with blond hair, says. “See if you can get a grip on the other end.
“Why wouldn’t it hear me? Zuurith’s the one moving it around,” the human says as the Sentinel walks away.
“You think Zuurith listens to us?” the elf asks. “C’mon, hoist,” as they try to pick up another bit of debris. “He let that storm wash us nearly clear to the plains.”
“I think he listens,” the human insists. “He’s doing so much to help us rebuild.”
“We’re rebuilding HIM. He couldn’t care less about any of us.” The elf starts walking, carrying the wood beam in his arms. “I give it a sef before he’s got us patching holes in the mountain and chucking us in for loitering. Maybe he’ll let us shave down our sentences by lifting more rubble, huh?”
“There’s something wrong with that dog,” the human interjects, frowning at a gray-skinned, green-furred, green-eyed creature that’s walking by.
Oh no, not the Collector.
As much as this is at least partially a situation of “Couldn’t have happened to a better person”, nobody deserves what the Collector ia about to unleash here.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer authoritarian dictator.
Except from what we’ve seen so far, Zuurith seems to be genuinely attempting to do better. Either way his people are going to get screwed. I hope she doesn’t need to kill them like she did the people of Vash.
She… Almost certainly does.
The people of Vash were actually bound to him in some way. It is why that connection needs to be severed for them to actually “end.” That seem smore like a Vash thing than a City God thing.
That being said, I do not doubt that there will be violence soon.
Yeah no, I getcha, but I’m less caring about him than about his people that will all die just to break him.
bruh just think about Vash. he is gonna hate this development (except about bad things happening to Zuurith the god).
New roommates!
We’re back in Zuurith, where dissent is a’brewing
But there’s a strange “dog” in this citizen’s viewing
Calling it right here, that’s a chimaera they’re seeing.
It is, you can see the top of it in frames 6 & 7
Oooh, so you can! I hadn’t even noticed.
Plot senses tingling? I give you bragging rights is so, but the mock laugh trumpet if wrong!
Uh oh
I sense that “dog” is one of the Collector’s creations
Uh oh
I sense that this “dog” is one of the Collector’s creations
Uh oh. Chimeric dog?
Oh dang yeah you can see it under their speech bubbles. That’s one fucked up dog 🙁
Thanks for saying that, I thought I’d have to wait until Monday.
Yup, that’s a chimera alright. One that looks suspiciously familiar… Eek!
Wait a minute! …are the Collector’s chimeras actually chimera-feid DOGS?!?! That’s it, the Collector needs to die.
Meanwhile at Zuurith the people rebuild,
By His sentinels aided.
Some are filled with respect for their lord,
But other are much more jaded.
Oh fuck, she’s here!
THE COLLECTOR IS IN ZUURITH! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!
NNOOOOOO TGATS A CHIMERA
Dog: Ed … wa- (Slaps myself) No! We’re not doing that!
So, Zuurith has some sentinels too with his trademark headpiece and purple, though no stone floof. Hmm, they’re a smaller model than the one Kendal and Alinua fought and have no weapon arms; purpose built for working inside the city to aid in the rebuilding I suspect. I guess Tynan’s attack on Zuurith’s incarnation in the centre of the city gave him no opportunity to activate any war sentinels he has.
Oh look, it’s the “Can Zuurith redeem himself?” comment sections, taken the form of Dainot and Madlinua (if anyone has better names, please post them). The elf makes good points about the rebuilding work; while they are rebuilding their homes, it is also about rebuilding Zuurith himself, so how much he’s helping others and how much he’s helping himself isn’t immediately obvious. Still, I’m on the hopeful side with the human; Big Z did show genuine remorse in 1-18-24 for his people, and with Shrike gone, the Prison and Arena wrecked, the fact Zuurith didn’t care for the bloodsport, and Vash’s threat, there’s a definite path towards a better Zuurith that could be taken.
Yeah he’s right, that is a weird dog. It looks like it has green fur, and what’s that light green patch at the bottom of panel 6- … Oh no. Oh, no no no! That’s a Collector chimera isn’t it?! I just knew that after Vash left that orb she’d investigate the surface, and it wouldn’t take her long to hear about at least one of the events in Zuurith. Since it hasn’t triggered any alarm bells in the city yet, I reckon this is a small chimera spy sent to gather info for its master. The Collector may see that, after kidnapping Vash, other gods would be on alert for a person matching her description, so better send something a bit more unassuming.
Predication for next week: Spy dog investigates the giant tree to mark it’s territory on- I mean, to gather intel for the Collector. Can she see through its eyes? Is it going to pick up a piece and return it to her?
Maybe Daisn’t and Elfaust. Or crustables with a twist. Maybe even Doomed Yaoi.
And of course Zuurith can be redeemed, in the same way one redeems a prize for a ticket. Bring your divine sunderer knife and take home this very nice God gachapon with increased Zuurith drop rates.
I had not expected the Collector doing scouting on the surface, anything I thought was more that something bad would happen to Vash, or she just gets info.
Chimera dog? CHIMERA DOG!
RED I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE, YOU’RE ABOUT TO BREAK MY HEART AREN’T YOU
Why does that one guy look like someone un-lioned my Falst.
Are you talking about the one with the warm color scheme or the one with an attitude, either way, I kinda get it.
the chimera dog got me singing oh no to myself repeatedly, the citizens have been through enough 🙁
Welp, there goes my hope for the Zuurith redemption arc and just the people of Zuurith in general.
On the other hand, I’m now just imagining Vash and Zuurith hanging out while they wait for the gang to save them
I think this just reinforces that Zuurith will have a character arc. If he gets taken by the Collector he will stay relevant to the plot rather than being left behind, AND if he’s kept near Vash’s soul they’re probably going to have to start sorting out their differences in order to face their common enemy.
Wait a minute if the Collector stabs Zuurith and sucks out his soul like with Vash does that mean that there’s going to be a Zuurith Kendal?
I thought the reason Kendal exits was because Vash created his vessel in a very particular way, (like the vessel can survive on its on or something like that) I could be completely wrong though, my memory is a little foggy
I think the biggest reason why Kendal is different is the way Alinua healed him, personally. I would add that he’s probably sturdier than Zuurith’s incarnation, though, because Vash was incarnating with the expectation of fighting and built with starmetal bones.
Also it seems pretty clear at this point that Kendal would have died/ceased to exist pretty quickly had he not been healed by the literal vessel of life itself.
Oh, I love this. Vash and Zuurith, trapped together in the Collector’s bubble, forced to put aside their differences and do the odd-couple heroic duo thing… that’d be priceless!
I’m making a prediction now . . . If it doesn’t age well, so be it, but . . . I think in the final battle / escape the soul sucker globe, Zurrith’s redemption arc will be sealed and stamped by him sacrificing his freedom / life / sentience to free Vash and Kendal’s band. Now I’ve typed it, it seems too obvious and cliche, but I’ll say it anyway 🙂
Anyone have any other ideas, or add-ons?
This
I like this
Maybe the addition of him warning vash to “not touch his stuff” (The City of Zurrith) or giving tacit permission for Vash to finish the rebuilding that he is unable to.
Guys the dog is visible. It’s one of Ms. Collector’s Chimeras
Hey, scene change!
…Dog? What do–oh BALLS.
Is the Collector following them? Or is this someone else like Jolon?
“all this is going fine– SQUIRREL!!”
I never thought I’d say this, but I really hope it’s jolan. It’s probably the collector though, I think that’s her style of chimera. Also, im fairly sure jolan’s like mega dead
Can humans be made into Chimeras without the plague or over-corruption, like zombies? Because if they can, the sweetest ironic twist would be to see the Collector turn up with Chimera Jolon 🤔
D’ya think that thing wanted to be an animal?! No dogs make it a thousand miles through the cold! No, you don’t understand! That thing wanted to be US! If a cell gets out, it could imitate everything on the FACE OF THE EARTH! AND NOTHING CAN STOP IT!
That is a distressingly good call-back to ‘The Thing’. Yikes!
Let’s not panic! Maybe the Collector is just here on a recon mission! She could have just come because this is where Vash went!
That still feels like she’s likely to cause some damage in town even if its just recon
Maybe she’s just here to sample Zuurith’s nice local cuisine, and this is all one big coincidence!
Mysterious color unlike any seen on-
remind me what this world is called?
I think just Aurora
3 more pages of Aurora till I graduate!
Congrats!
Good for you, Seagirl!
not now collector! haven’t they suffered enough with your weird dog attack?!
This really is a “What the dog doin'” moment
If the Collector is here in Zuurith, after how we saw her last, it’s likely that she got some information from Vash somehow. He certainly wouldn’t give up any information willingly, but last we saw Collector she was asking “Where did you go?” And it seems she got her answer, one way or another.
…Well, shit.
I can’t remember if Zuurith got warned about the Collector or not–if he did, I hope he starts taking said warning seriously, even jf he brushed it off initially. He seems to have made a few realizations–hopefully he can get his people out before they suffer the same fate as Vash’s, since we all know that that “dog” is just the beginning of the end.
I am not looking forwards to the aftermath, when the Flood Squad hear that another city has fallen. On one hand, certain party members might think it karmatic. On the other hand, it’s going to bring back a lot of trauma and self-doubts for certain others… Especially if another leftover incarnation quickens but dies before they can get help.
For all of the issues with Zurrith, I like Mr. Positivity.
UH OH UH OH UH OH
That’s a chimera. That’s a Collector Chimera! Last we saw her was the “so where were you page” which was terrifying and now we see her here. This could be a coincidence, but considering as when Vash said “If you had taken Zuurith half the cities on the continent would have named you a hero,” she said Zuurith was not a convenient city to attack – Vash the city is build on a crater, which she could heal. Perhaps the fight with Tynan and the flooding destabilized the valley? Oh this worries me. Is she somehow able to follow Kendal via Vash’s soul? Is she just looking for another god soul to experiment with that might have less of a chance of weirdly disappearing? Is this just an information gathering trip?
Side note- does anyone else keep adding an ‘n’ into Zuurith? I want to spell and pronounce it “Zuurinth.” Could have sworn that’s his name till I saw everyone spelling it “Zuurith” in the comments today.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one who has to stop themselves from typing “Zuurinth”. Something about adding that “N” makes it roll off the tongue in my head better; I’m not sure why though.
I don’t think the Collector is after another god yet; she still has plenty of hours to toil away at Vash before he either degrades too far or expires somehow. The valley should be fine too, as Tynan’s attack only hit the city and Erin specifically turned his rain into snow to prevent/delay flooding.
I’m sticking with my thought that this is an information gathering mission to see how Vash escaped. Several days have passed since the Tynan incident, time enough for tales and rumours about what happened to spread, so the Collector, if she ventured to the surface, could have heard one of them and sent a chimera scout for a closer look. If that’s right, there’s also a scary chance that said scout will examine the giant tree, and the Collector may begin to suspect the existence of Alinua.
And also I wonder how the collector would react if she hears about another Chimera-Life Mage. I imagine she would be like “will you help me with my project?” And also as I said, want to sit down for a nice little chat.
Re: adding an “n” to Zuurith: no, but my brain keeps trying to switch it around with Zurich, so I don’t have room to throw stones
Ummm, now I think of it . . . the prison was carved out of a mountain, right? And Alinua cracked it open with her tree? D’ya, think, maybe . . . the collector could “heal” it? Oh boy. If the people are using it as a temporary shelter, we’ve got a Vash .2 on our hands 😬
Maybe Zuurith will be better at defending from her though? Who knows, maybe she won’t attack at all and is just doing scout work.
I don’t know what your talking about, that dawg is completely fine.
I only saw one green orb in panel six, let’s not get hasty….yet.
25 pages of Aurora until high school graduation!
Nice! I hope you get into a good college MidnightOtter!
Hi. My comment did not show up, so I just want to seeit.
Didn’t realise that was a sentinel and thought zuurith had just REALLY changed appearance since then
sameeeee
TL;DR: Clean up, clean up…
A weird looking dog? … Uh oh.
In fairness though, I’d be inclined to think it’s too early in her experiments for her to be busting out for any more field tests just yet. More likely this is her following the Floof Squad’s trail to try and cut off Vash’s exit point.
Setting aside the whole “is that one of the Collector’s creations?” question, I find it interesting that even the citizens of Zuurith are debating how much, if any, character development their authoritarian god has actually undergone. We’ve got the human who’s willing to see his assistance with rebuilding as evidence that Zuurith does care about them, and the elf who’s like “he’s only helping out of self-interest and he’s going to go back to his old ways.”
I feel like this exchange implies that a lot of the citizens of Zuurith don’t have any faith *in* their god. They don’t see him as someone they can turn to for help when they need it, because he’s probably *never* helped them before.
WAIT OH GOD I JUST REALIZED ZUURITH THE CITY IS IN SHAMBLES, ALL THE COLLECTOR WOULD HAVE TO DO IS UNLEASH A BUNCH OF CHIMERA ON THE CITIZENS AND ZUURITHS SOUL IS FREE FOR THE TAKING OH NOOOOOO
Hey, didn’t the Collector destroy Vash by healing the crater closed? If everyone’s going into the mountain… could she do something similar to the mountain? :/
I have a bad feeling about this…
Ooooh SHIT
what da dawg doing?