For mobile readers.
Alt-text: pour one out for Pryder, hardest job in the whole continent translating Zuurith’s terrible personality into Diplomacy
Image source: freedom
Which implies that there are somehow gods worse than Zuurith on the other continent. Given that the Crystals Castes form an empire and city gods are much less important over there… Yeah, that tracks.
Zuurith is standing in front of the half-circle that used to be the Gladiator’s Arena. “My lord?” a voice asks.
“Though it may appear otherwise, Pryder, I am rather busy at present,” Zuurith says.
“Of course, my lord. But I must inform you–” says the blue-skinned elf, clutching a notebook to her chest. “Our temporary accommodations are becoming overtaxed. Apparently a number of… former prisoners are only now emerging from hiding,” glancing at the notebook. “They assumed you were going to have them recaptured. Our count of the unhoused was correspondingly low, and we do not have sufficient shelter.”
“I had always hoped that, one day, every one of my citizens would be worthy of freedom,” Zuurith says. “Now freedom comes unbidden, and I find I am an unworthy host.”
“It would be foolish and inefficient to waste the infrastructure,” Zuurith continues, whipping his head around to look at Pryder. “The Mountain can temporarily shelter as many as are needed.”
“That… may not–”
“Their emotional distress is not my concern,” Zuurith interrupts her. “They will have food, warmth, and shade-
“And doors that fasten only from within.”
Neat little statistics note: As of this page, Ripples is now officially the 2nd longest chapter! 3rd place goes to a 3-way tie between Shadow of Thunder, Petrichor, and Stone and Shadow, all at 38 pages. 1st place goes to Daybreak at a whopping 63 pages.
Dammit, I only JUST got finished reassuring myself that Zuurith was relatively safe, because the Collector didn’t have an easy killing mechanism like the Vash crater! WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME, @TILL ALL ARE CON?!
There’s a lack of housing now his prisoners are free.
He returns some, as they feared, to the mountain,
But this is temporary, for warmth and shelter,
With doors that only lock from within.
Yeah, however ,if you do a generous read on the statement, he’s just being a tsundere and simply puts it lower on the list of priorities than “not dying from exposure” or similar. Still a really shitty thing to say, he’s clearly not become a true leader overnight and still has serious “micromanager” issues.
Though I doubt the mountain will be any safer from the Collector, as others have pointed out. It might at least hinder the Chimera.
I’m more concerned about the fact that the mountain was hollowed out to make the prison and if the mountain is “healed” than it won’t be hollow anymore.
Well, the seat of his power was destroyed, he was utterly thrashed in combat, and as a couple people have pointed out, certain corrupt or morally ambiguous influences have been removed, allowing for more flexibility in his nature (a la the Fisher Kingdom aspect of being a genius loci).He’s been eating a lot of crow and humble pie, and given the realizations he’s coming to about himself and his behavior, it makes sense that he’d take on a less-imposing incarnation even subconsciously.
Of course, it does leave him more vulnerable to certain parties, but unfortunately there’s no helping that…
Visually, he’s lost his golden pauldrons, which definitely helps the less intimidating, slightly more down-to-earth vibe he’s got going here. I’m almost certain he’s physically shorter too, barely taller than Pryder instead of looming over Kendal.
Arenamaster: May I make a suggestio-
Zuurith and Pryder: NO!
Man I do not envy Pryder, or any other decent Zuurith emissary right now. Massive damages to key infrastructure, complete upsetting of the status quo, citizens distrusting of their god and the former prisoners in equal measure, and Big Z is taking a long time to eat his humble pie. Well, at least they still have a city and the toxic influence of the Arenamaster and Shrike has been toned down or removed.
“Worthy of freedom”, “I am an unworthy host”, “Their emotional distress is not my concern”, “Doors that fasten only from within”. Wow, every step forward follows a step back and vice versa, eh Big Z? Though dickish as he is, Zuurith isn’t wrong; they’re kinda desperate for shelter right now and the prison is still functional, if draughty. Just as well Pryder is the diplomatic emissary; he’s going to need to phrase this prison accommodation pitch to citizens and former prisoners very delicately.
Hmm, no weird dog, and no sign of alarm from Zuurith or Pryder. I don’t think this is an attack by the Collector; I thought it was a spying, information gathering mission about Vash and by extension Alinua. But now I’m wondering if that chimera is heading over here to Zuurith the god, to talk? Does the Collector want to inquire to Zuurith about what happened? Does she have the threat of more chimeras around the city in case he says no?
“Doors that fasten from WITHIN” not from the outside. he’s saying he’s not going to lock them in the mountain, even the former prisoners. He’s turning the prison into a mass shelter. A shelter that some of them are obviously going to have issues about going inside of, but a shelter none the less.
From a practical standpoint, one must work with the resources one has on hand. The mountain IS ready-made for housing lots of people and they suddenly have a need for that much space. It’d be stupid not to use it, really. (Of course WE READERS know something Zuurith does not…)
Yeah I know what he meant. I was trying to pair two bad quotes from Big Z (the ones about ‘worthy of freedom’ and “emotional distress’) with two good quotes from him (‘unworthy host’ and ‘doors fasten only from within) to show the disparity as he’s changing. I could have written it more clearly though.
I agree that using the prison as a temporary shelter makes perfect sense; maybe it could even be the start in renovating the prison and tree into new roles in a nice Zuurith. I’m not sold on the “Collector will destroy Zuurith” thing though; she still has Vash to experiment on and was last seen inquiring how he got out. I reckon this chimera is meant to scout around, or even communicate with Big Z himself, to determine how Vash did it.
While he may be a jerk, I doubt Zuurith would willingly and knowingly provide the Collector with intel. Vash he may not like, Kendal he may not like, but he doesn’t seem the type to want to make it easier for her to inflict the same fate on others (or on himself).
Definitely hasn’t changed overnight into a great leader, his micromanager side is very much still dominant. But it seems he’s at least doing what he can to take steps in the right direction. Not that that’ll stop the Collector.
I appreciate that Zuurith hasn’t changed overnight, but you can see he’s trying. He’ll never be a “people person”, but he’s trying to adapt. Definitely earning that “Not as big an asshole as you could be” award.
Shame it’ll probably have to be given posthumously.
I’m thinking that Zurrith just honestly thinks that his way is right, and just as a God person, doesn’t understand the way that Human/Humanoid Nature is utterly unable to fit that. “I had always hoped that some day, every one of my citizens would be worthy of my freedom.” He’s not like, malicious about it like a dictator, he is just a God of Order who still doesn’t understand the nature of a free thinking mortal. Which Is why Vash is so against him it seems. Vash is representative of freedom and mortal will, which just is against Zuuriths nature. Vash, and Kendall understand that the beauty of being alive is how they change, while Zuurith is just very set in his beliefs until now. Which, funnily enough, is inverse how their incarnations are built. Zuuriths incarnation is fragile, while Vash’s is strong enough to become its own person.
Not sure how much of this I’ve realized far later then I needed to. But its all very interesting. I do hope Zuurith doesn’t die too soon.
“And I’d be “destroying” quite a lovely little mountain if I were to reconstitute your dead city, wouldn’t I?”- The Collector- 1.11.17
So
Alinua ripped apart the Mountain Prison
Everyone is going into the Mountain
The Collector has proven she can heal that sort of wound. I think we can all see where this is going. Well, maybe the Big Tree will be in the way? Or maybe The Collector will do Red a favor and get rid of it so she doesn’t have to draw it.
I think my prior comment got eaten, but I’m in the boat with several other folks eyeing the Mountain, thinking of how the Collector “healed” the crater to decimate Vash, and connecting dots. I have a bad feeling about this…
I’m enjoying this pragmatic thought structure that Zuurith is displaying.
It would seem that though he seems more caring about his peoples needs he still is morally neutral and I enjoy watching neutral characters work their way through social structures and I’m glad we get to see how his subjects react to his leadership.
We really didn’t get to see much of Zuurith through the eyes of normal citisens and I wasn’t expecting to see how it would change after the main characters wrecked the place.
Pryder has no business being this intensely blue
looks cool as fuck though
That was my first thought when I saw this
They will probably take the cake for bluest character in the webcomic, even more than Vasher’s ghosts.
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: pour one out for Pryder, hardest job in the whole continent translating Zuurith’s terrible personality into Diplomacy
Image source: freedom
twitter text: nice to see some things don’t change
Tumblr text: really making us work to give him that Not As Big A Jerk As You Could’ve Been award
Which implies that there are somehow gods worse than Zuurith on the other continent. Given that the Crystals Castes form an empire and city gods are much less important over there… Yeah, that tracks.
Crystal Castes? Haven’t heard of that
please inform me
control-copy, control-paste… dada
Zuurith is standing in front of the half-circle that used to be the Gladiator’s Arena. “My lord?” a voice asks.
“Though it may appear otherwise, Pryder, I am rather busy at present,” Zuurith says.
“Of course, my lord. But I must inform you–” says the blue-skinned elf, clutching a notebook to her chest. “Our temporary accommodations are becoming overtaxed. Apparently a number of… former prisoners are only now emerging from hiding,” glancing at the notebook. “They assumed you were going to have them recaptured. Our count of the unhoused was correspondingly low, and we do not have sufficient shelter.”
“I had always hoped that, one day, every one of my citizens would be worthy of freedom,” Zuurith says. “Now freedom comes unbidden, and I find I am an unworthy host.”
“It would be foolish and inefficient to waste the infrastructure,” Zuurith continues, whipping his head around to look at Pryder. “The Mountain can temporarily shelter as many as are needed.”
“That… may not–”
“Their emotional distress is not my concern,” Zuurith interrupts her. “They will have food, warmth, and shade-
“And doors that fasten only from within.”
I don’t know why, but Pryder looks to me like a guy who would sing this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sOy9b_WAJk
the answer is yes
lmao of course he would
Neat little statistics note: As of this page, Ripples is now officially the 2nd longest chapter! 3rd place goes to a 3-way tie between Shadow of Thunder, Petrichor, and Stone and Shadow, all at 38 pages. 1st place goes to Daybreak at a whopping 63 pages.
Given Vash’s crater only made his citizens an easy target for the Collector, I’ve got a feeling the mountain’s going to be the same ;-;
Dammit, we just SAVED these people. From Tynan AND their dickish overlord (kind of…)
This is gonna hurt, isn’t it.
AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH
Dammit, I only JUST got finished reassuring myself that Zuurith was relatively safe, because the Collector didn’t have an easy killing mechanism like the Vash crater! WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME, @TILL ALL ARE CON?!
HELLLLO WORLD
Seriously I am hyped at 4:15 am and have no right to be. Glad to see the work Red!
There’s a lack of housing now his prisoners are free.
He returns some, as they feared, to the mountain,
But this is temporary, for warmth and shelter,
With doors that only lock from within.
Uh-oh. Is Zuurith getting the “pre-death fast-track redemption”?
Probably…
“Their emotional distress is not my concern” it kinda is tho?? You’re the leader here?????
Yeah, however ,if you do a generous read on the statement, he’s just being a tsundere and simply puts it lower on the list of priorities than “not dying from exposure” or similar. Still a really shitty thing to say, he’s clearly not become a true leader overnight and still has serious “micromanager” issues.
Though I doubt the mountain will be any safer from the Collector, as others have pointed out. It might at least hinder the Chimera.
I mean, Maslow’s Hierarchy got one thing right. Physiological needs come before emotional wellbeing.
Yeah, what was that comment last page about the mountain having a wound on it?
Eh, I’m sure that won’t be relevant.
Hehe- yeeeaaaa, I’m sure the giant tree ripping a hole in the mountain isn’t wounding it, nothing to see here Collector 😇
I’m more concerned about the fact that the mountain was hollowed out to make the prison and if the mountain is “healed” than it won’t be hollow anymore.
He seems…smaller than he was before. Not just in height, it’s like he FEELS smaller to look at. Ya kno?
One could say that Zuurith has been diminished.
Well, the seat of his power was destroyed, he was utterly thrashed in combat, and as a couple people have pointed out, certain corrupt or morally ambiguous influences have been removed, allowing for more flexibility in his nature (a la the Fisher Kingdom aspect of being a genius loci).He’s been eating a lot of crow and humble pie, and given the realizations he’s coming to about himself and his behavior, it makes sense that he’d take on a less-imposing incarnation even subconsciously.
Of course, it does leave him more vulnerable to certain parties, but unfortunately there’s no helping that…
Visually, he’s lost his golden pauldrons, which definitely helps the less intimidating, slightly more down-to-earth vibe he’s got going here. I’m almost certain he’s physically shorter too, barely taller than Pryder instead of looming over Kendal.
Now that you mention it, he’s missing some armor: no spaulders or bracers.
Arenamaster: May I make a suggestio-
Zuurith and Pryder: NO!
Man I do not envy Pryder, or any other decent Zuurith emissary right now. Massive damages to key infrastructure, complete upsetting of the status quo, citizens distrusting of their god and the former prisoners in equal measure, and Big Z is taking a long time to eat his humble pie. Well, at least they still have a city and the toxic influence of the Arenamaster and Shrike has been toned down or removed.
“Worthy of freedom”, “I am an unworthy host”, “Their emotional distress is not my concern”, “Doors that fasten only from within”. Wow, every step forward follows a step back and vice versa, eh Big Z? Though dickish as he is, Zuurith isn’t wrong; they’re kinda desperate for shelter right now and the prison is still functional, if draughty. Just as well Pryder is the diplomatic emissary; he’s going to need to phrase this prison accommodation pitch to citizens and former prisoners very delicately.
Hmm, no weird dog, and no sign of alarm from Zuurith or Pryder. I don’t think this is an attack by the Collector; I thought it was a spying, information gathering mission about Vash and by extension Alinua. But now I’m wondering if that chimera is heading over here to Zuurith the god, to talk? Does the Collector want to inquire to Zuurith about what happened? Does she have the threat of more chimeras around the city in case he says no?
“Doors that fasten from WITHIN” not from the outside. he’s saying he’s not going to lock them in the mountain, even the former prisoners. He’s turning the prison into a mass shelter. A shelter that some of them are obviously going to have issues about going inside of, but a shelter none the less.
From a practical standpoint, one must work with the resources one has on hand. The mountain IS ready-made for housing lots of people and they suddenly have a need for that much space. It’d be stupid not to use it, really. (Of course WE READERS know something Zuurith does not…)
Yeah I know what he meant. I was trying to pair two bad quotes from Big Z (the ones about ‘worthy of freedom’ and “emotional distress’) with two good quotes from him (‘unworthy host’ and ‘doors fasten only from within) to show the disparity as he’s changing. I could have written it more clearly though.
I agree that using the prison as a temporary shelter makes perfect sense; maybe it could even be the start in renovating the prison and tree into new roles in a nice Zuurith. I’m not sold on the “Collector will destroy Zuurith” thing though; she still has Vash to experiment on and was last seen inquiring how he got out. I reckon this chimera is meant to scout around, or even communicate with Big Z himself, to determine how Vash did it.
While he may be a jerk, I doubt Zuurith would willingly and knowingly provide the Collector with intel. Vash he may not like, Kendal he may not like, but he doesn’t seem the type to want to make it easier for her to inflict the same fate on others (or on himself).
Definitely hasn’t changed overnight into a great leader, his micromanager side is very much still dominant. But it seems he’s at least doing what he can to take steps in the right direction. Not that that’ll stop the Collector.
I guess a redemption arc has to start somewhere? I still have a really bad feeling about Chimera Dog…
Ah Yes, segregation, that will work perfectly…
But if the other people in the comments are right Zurrith doesn’t have much time left anyways.
Is that the destroyed arena btw?
Oh no, the fact that we didn’t see the dog but it was only mentioned makes me think that it definitely is the Collector’s chimera.
you can just about see it under the speech bubbles on the page where it was mentioned.
It looks very collectory
I appreciate that Zuurith hasn’t changed overnight, but you can see he’s trying. He’ll never be a “people person”, but he’s trying to adapt. Definitely earning that “Not as big an asshole as you could be” award.
Shame it’ll probably have to be given posthumously.
Man has such a cool helmet.
And I gotta say, I like him MUCH more now! He’s trying to be nice!
you can see it under the speech bubble on the page it was mentioned
I’m thinking that Zurrith just honestly thinks that his way is right, and just as a God person, doesn’t understand the way that Human/Humanoid Nature is utterly unable to fit that. “I had always hoped that some day, every one of my citizens would be worthy of my freedom.” He’s not like, malicious about it like a dictator, he is just a God of Order who still doesn’t understand the nature of a free thinking mortal. Which Is why Vash is so against him it seems. Vash is representative of freedom and mortal will, which just is against Zuuriths nature. Vash, and Kendall understand that the beauty of being alive is how they change, while Zuurith is just very set in his beliefs until now. Which, funnily enough, is inverse how their incarnations are built. Zuuriths incarnation is fragile, while Vash’s is strong enough to become its own person.
Not sure how much of this I’ve realized far later then I needed to. But its all very interesting. I do hope Zuurith doesn’t die too soon.
“And I’d be “destroying” quite a lovely little mountain if I were to reconstitute your dead city, wouldn’t I?”- The Collector- 1.11.17
So
Alinua ripped apart the Mountain Prison
Everyone is going into the Mountain
The Collector has proven she can heal that sort of wound. I think we can all see where this is going. Well, maybe the Big Tree will be in the way? Or maybe The Collector will do Red a favor and get rid of it so she doesn’t have to draw it.
Deja vu, methinks
Two more pages of Aurora till I graduate!!
We do be counting the days that way don’t we.
Also, congratulations!!!
Same!
Congrats!
I think my prior comment got eaten, but I’m in the boat with several other folks eyeing the Mountain, thinking of how the Collector “healed” the crater to decimate Vash, and connecting dots. I have a bad feeling about this…
Oh no wait nvm somehow it posted on the previous page instead? oops
I honestly don’t think the collector’s gonna heal the mountain I think the chimera’s just here to scout or something like that,,
Pryder my beloved… also Zuurith is a dumbass, and not the good kind
Guysss Zuurith is so pretty😖
I’m enjoying this pragmatic thought structure that Zuurith is displaying.
It would seem that though he seems more caring about his peoples needs he still is morally neutral and I enjoy watching neutral characters work their way through social structures and I’m glad we get to see how his subjects react to his leadership.
We really didn’t get to see much of Zuurith through the eyes of normal citisens and I wasn’t expecting to see how it would change after the main characters wrecked the place.
TL;DR: Godly monologue time