Erin lies to so many people, you’d think he’d have gotten more relaxed about it.
I guess that’s what happens when you have proficiency in Deception and a negative Charisma modifier
See, the trick is to lie about so many LITTLE things purely for the sake of your ego, that when you lie about a BIG people your classmates are all like “hahaha classic Erin!” It’s all about working that negative Charisma modifier in your favor!
I always preferred the Aes Sedai method of never technically lying, but only telling the bits of the truth that make your target construct the lie for you in their heads
Someone is quite dedicated to travel and moving about, aren’t they! Let’s hope that’s enough to keep them distracted from asking too many pertinent questions, EH, ERIN?!
Not necessarily. They might be like Falst; a non-mage with a talent for spellcarving. Clearly they have experience with lacrimae. I imagine that their “cyclonic flight spell” is inscribed on a lacrima in Erin’s bag of holding.
I guess, technically they have mentioned other magic processes so its possible that we don’t know yet, someone said red said they are a mage in the previous page, so I am trusting them, but I haven’t lost the bet until we actually see them use magic.
Well yeah, I suppose that’d work, I’m just thinking that this guy knows Erin and that he doesn’t tend to keep much company and might know Tess so I feel there will be some complications, still Walter is an even bigger concern, especially on a ship at sea, which if damaged might sink.
You’re right; it isn’t so ominous. At least not yet. Erin asked him to play dead for the night after nearly getting himself and everyone else killed twice (the same night). I think however much time between the ruins and getting to Argist he either was obeying that or was not active in a plot relevant way. If we see him getting itchy or being completely silent when dragon things start happening, (or when the paladins get involved), then it’s panic time.
Oof…As someone who had a similar experience, I can definitely say that Dainix is going to have a bad time of it. I managed to overcome it enough to be comfortable in the deep end of the pool, or in a reasonable depth of lake or river, but I really am not keen on the idea of being out on an ocean cruise…
The deathtrap reminds me of the description given for Earendil’s ship in the Silmarillion!
That’s some beautiful work, I can’t imagine how long it’d have taken to make the entire thing be akin to a single piece of metal, assuming that’s what it is.
My first question is: how easy is it to turn off?
Immediately followed by: Can I control how fast it turns off? I don’t want to slam bow-first into the wave that would backlash if it is cut off, *unless* I need to stop really fast because of something worse.
Not quite, but close! You know how the Universe is still constantly expanding from the Big Bang? The Alcubierre drive does the same sort of space-stretching, but directionalised so that the space in front of the ship squishes up and the space behind the ship stretches out, like moving one part of a spring that has both ends fixed in place. This would be more like if you put a gravity generator on a spaceship and set it to induce the effects of a mass a hundred kilometres away – what Project Rho refers to as a ‘Carrot on a Stick Drive’.
“What a beautiful deathtrap you’re tempting me with,”
Erin Ruunaser grins.
“I knew you’d like it,” his fellow mage replies,
And explaining it’s details begins.
A hull of argent transmuted shines,
A wind lacrima fills the sails,
A water lacrima the ocean bends,
So ever downhill she prevails.
In Hollowsong Erin intends
To search the Silent Lands:
A serious stress-test to the ship
Such a journey portends.
They referred to ships as “old girls” last page, so I’m pretty sure their world calls ships she too.
Forget Titanic. Call it the Borealis, because I’m getting Aperture Science vibes from the Aserans again.
It is a beautiful deathtrap, isn’t it? The metal hull really clashes with both the warehouse it’s in, the characters, and the world at large, but not in a way that makes it ugly. Also art wise, you can really tell how nervous Erin is when Tarren questions about the storm.
Well on the face of it, Tarren seems to have covered a lot of standard pitfalls about erosion/rusting, stability, and propulsion. Gotta admit, their ideas about wind and water make more sense than my previous comment about using fire and lighting to drive motors; it all depends on how much elemental energy you can draw on for the lacrimas, and water and wind are far more plentiful at sea than any other element. I wonder if they’re used for braking and turning too.
Hmm, I wonder if Tarren suspects anything amiss. They know academic Erin better than anyone else we’ve met so far and knows he’s just boldly gone where no human has gone before; they might be suspicious at Erin’s lack of boasting or nerding out about his trip. Maybe they’ve even heard about the storm disappearing and finds Erin not even mentioning that odd.
If Tarren gets Erin aboard the ship and out to open sea, it would be the perfect place to confront him about this; nowhere to run to or hide, indebted to Tarren for the lift, Erin wouldn’t have many excuses not to spill the beans. While I don’t think Tarren would be the sort to try and convince Erin to keep the dragon tattoo, I don’t rule it out either. Or them being a bit too chatty and leaks it to a more unscrupulous Aseran researcher.
I can’t wait to see how Tarren will react when they inevitably find out about Erin’s void thingy. Looks like they’re already comfortable with the idea of him behind a test subject, even if they seem friendly enough
I feel like they would side with Erin and keep quite if he asked them to. They seem like a decent one. Beside they are an engineer, whatever the void dragon is, he is not their field of study.
Anonymous Aurora Question #40: What do you think could happen while sailing? There aren’t exactly many antagonists on sea, where will the epic fight scenes come from?
Given the Light Dragon’s Champion can fly, that’s at least one possible source of an epic fight scene. The question is whether the Champion would consider the others on the boat part of the threat or innocent bystanders?
Tarren might have Odysseus Syndrome. Priding themself on fighting the sea is a surefire way to attract the attention of a sea god, especially with Kendal aboard. Plus they’ve made this swanky new ship. Seems like a nice prize for a pirate crew. Not to mention the endless potential for random monster attacks.
The Champion is an option too, but I don’t see how he would find them. The ocean is BIG. I think the Paladins will continue to be set up slowly, only becoming a major issue towards the end of Arc 2 heading into Arc 3.
Kendal could probably bother some ocean gods quite a bit. Othereise, between Falst and Tess I’m sure someone is impolite enough to anger sea gods or merpeople.
I seem to recall some mentions on Red’s tumblr a while ago of pirates… (as well as Vash’s emissary of trade or something having survived and being at sea, meeting them may not be an antagonist thing but certainly it could be a Plot Event… if I’m remembering correctly)
Erin’s constant smiling is actually kind of unnerving. He doesn’t usually smile like that, even though it, on paper, looks natural, it doesn’t reach his eyes and looks slightly strained. (Talking about the second-to-last panel, not the first, which is obviously a grimace, and all of the last page)
Erin: I need to go to Helm for non-suspicious storm related reasons.
Tarren: Seems legit.
If Tarren goes with them I predict a high possibility of them finding out about the dragon.
Hm. A question. Is Tess going to be alright on a metal boat? If she discharges her lightning while at sea, everyone on board is not going to have a fun time.
The ambient static alone is going to be a nightmare…
Tarren said the boat’s *hull* was made of transmuted argent. I’m thinking Tess will be more likely to shock some fish than her crewmates. Even if they were touching the metal hull at the same time, most of the discharge would go straight into the water on its way to ground.
If one was to ask a professional marine electrician, however, they’d likely be able to conjure up a scenario where Tess absolutely would be this kind of threat to the crew! Electricity can be really *weird.*
I didn’t want to post this the day the page was released, but I’m wondering about whether a silver hull would be structurally strong enough to withstand heavy wave strikes. Silver is soft, for a metal, and Winter storm waves on the open ocean can severely damage steel ships IRL. I’m going to assume, until proven wrong, that “argent” is in fact a fantasy element and not genuinely silver.
Although if the ship’s hull turns black in a week, that would go a long way towards convincing me it’s actually silver.
Ha ha “beautiful death trap”
(Im laughing, if it wasn’t clear)
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: the cyclonic flight spell boils down to “what if you sat on a tornado”
Image source: coward
But what if you did?!?!??!?!?
It would be windy.
Tumblr text: that all sounds extremely science
Twitter text: it might be a deathtrap but it’s soooo shiny
Oh! Thanks Red for explaining! Terran seems more of a theorist that then a hands on type of magician/ researcher.
Sounds like a flying version of Aang’s Air Scooter.
Erin lies to so many people, you’d think he’d have gotten more relaxed about it.
I guess that’s what happens when you have proficiency in Deception and a negative Charisma modifier
See, the trick is to lie about so many LITTLE things purely for the sake of your ego, that when you lie about a BIG people your classmates are all like “hahaha classic Erin!” It’s all about working that negative Charisma modifier in your favor!
I always preferred the Aes Sedai method of never technically lying, but only telling the bits of the truth that make your target construct the lie for you in their heads
I feel like Erin is usually trustworthy unless he needs to lie – but I like the theories from you guys more 🙂
Someone is quite dedicated to travel and moving about, aren’t they! Let’s hope that’s enough to keep them distracted from asking too many pertinent questions, EH, ERIN?!
Ok so wind mage got it. Wonder how Erin’s going to explain the company he’s bringing with him.
Not necessarily. They might be like Falst; a non-mage with a talent for spellcarving. Clearly they have experience with lacrimae. I imagine that their “cyclonic flight spell” is inscribed on a lacrima in Erin’s bag of holding.
Someone said on an earlier page that Red had confirmed them to be a mage iirc
I guess, technically they have mentioned other magic processes so its possible that we don’t know yet, someone said red said they are a mage in the previous page, so I am trusting them, but I haven’t lost the bet until we actually see them use magic.
How he explained them back in Zurrith, probably. Also, if Tarren finds out about Voidy, then the party will be the least of the explaning worries
Well yeah, I suppose that’d work, I’m just thinking that this guy knows Erin and that he doesn’t tend to keep much company and might know Tess so I feel there will be some complications, still Walter is an even bigger concern, especially on a ship at sea, which if damaged might sink.
Talk about star eating monsters in the room, Walter has been very quiet lately, that’s not ominous at all…
You’re right; it isn’t so ominous. At least not yet. Erin asked him to play dead for the night after nearly getting himself and everyone else killed twice (the same night). I think however much time between the ruins and getting to Argist he either was obeying that or was not active in a plot relevant way. If we see him getting itchy or being completely silent when dragon things start happening, (or when the paladins get involved), then it’s panic time.
One metal death trap
A voyage to Hollowsong
Extreme stress-testing!
lol falst is going to hate this
Personally I’m more worried about Dainix. Word of Red said he almost drowned when he was little.
Oof…As someone who had a similar experience, I can definitely say that Dainix is going to have a bad time of it. I managed to overcome it enough to be comfortable in the deep end of the pool, or in a reasonable depth of lake or river, but I really am not keen on the idea of being out on an ocean cruise…
That ‘cyclonic flight spell’ sounds suspiciously like Revali’s gale, Red…
I was thinking more like Aang’s air-scooter from A;TLA
Like that, but more conical and stretchable, is my guess
My mind went to the Stormwind Rider spell from Exalted.
I love the dynamic between Tarren and Erin! Thes are so much fun together.
The deathtrap reminds me of the description given for Earendil’s ship in the Silmarillion!
That’s some beautiful work, I can’t imagine how long it’d have taken to make the entire thing be akin to a single piece of metal, assuming that’s what it is.
I knew it wasn’t just me! Although there’s a little of Pedme’s ship from the prequel trilogy. though that is more because of the chrome.
Am I crazy or did Red make a nautical Alcubierre drive for the ship?
Gravity waves are much easier to manipulate than gravitational waves
“Am I crazy or did Red make a nautical Alcubierre drive for the ship?”
That is exactly my thought as they were describing it; I thought they had made the sailing equivalent of a warp drive!
Yeah, sailing downhill is going to be *exciting*.
My first question is: how easy is it to turn off?
Immediately followed by: Can I control how fast it turns off? I don’t want to slam bow-first into the wave that would backlash if it is cut off, *unless* I need to stop really fast because of something worse.
I literally came here to make this exact comment.
Not quite, but close! You know how the Universe is still constantly expanding from the Big Bang? The Alcubierre drive does the same sort of space-stretching, but directionalised so that the space in front of the ship squishes up and the space behind the ship stretches out, like moving one part of a spring that has both ends fixed in place. This would be more like if you put a gravity generator on a spaceship and set it to induce the effects of a mass a hundred kilometres away – what Project Rho refers to as a ‘Carrot on a Stick Drive’.
https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/antigravity.php
still need negitive energy tho 🙁
“What a beautiful deathtrap you’re tempting me with,”
Erin Ruunaser grins.
“I knew you’d like it,” his fellow mage replies,
And explaining it’s details begins.
A hull of argent transmuted shines,
A wind lacrima fills the sails,
A water lacrima the ocean bends,
So ever downhill she prevails.
In Hollowsong Erin intends
To search the Silent Lands:
A serious stress-test to the ship
Such a journey portends.
They referred to ships as “old girls” last page, so I’m pretty sure their world calls ships she too.
The ship has its wonders, but yet to sail far
Erin hints of the journey that left him a scar
I dont know how I ended up awake at this hour but I shall leave my mark on the comment page!
Coward has been the least of our worries regarding this man
Forget Titanic. Call it the Borealis, because I’m getting Aperture Science vibes from the Aserans again.
It is a beautiful deathtrap, isn’t it? The metal hull really clashes with both the warehouse it’s in, the characters, and the world at large, but not in a way that makes it ugly. Also art wise, you can really tell how nervous Erin is when Tarren questions about the storm.
Well on the face of it, Tarren seems to have covered a lot of standard pitfalls about erosion/rusting, stability, and propulsion. Gotta admit, their ideas about wind and water make more sense than my previous comment about using fire and lighting to drive motors; it all depends on how much elemental energy you can draw on for the lacrimas, and water and wind are far more plentiful at sea than any other element. I wonder if they’re used for braking and turning too.
Hmm, I wonder if Tarren suspects anything amiss. They know academic Erin better than anyone else we’ve met so far and knows he’s just boldly gone where no human has gone before; they might be suspicious at Erin’s lack of boasting or nerding out about his trip. Maybe they’ve even heard about the storm disappearing and finds Erin not even mentioning that odd.
If Tarren gets Erin aboard the ship and out to open sea, it would be the perfect place to confront him about this; nowhere to run to or hide, indebted to Tarren for the lift, Erin wouldn’t have many excuses not to spill the beans. While I don’t think Tarren would be the sort to try and convince Erin to keep the dragon tattoo, I don’t rule it out either. Or them being a bit too chatty and leaks it to a more unscrupulous Aseran researcher.
“I honestly, TRULY didn’t think you’d fall for that”
I can’t wait to see how Tarren will react when they inevitably find out about Erin’s void thingy. Looks like they’re already comfortable with the idea of him behind a test subject, even if they seem friendly enough
Also I’m loving the singular little spontaneous sweat drop on erin’s face
I genuinely don’t know whether they’ll side with Erin and help him get rid of it or, like the academy, try to keep him for further study.
I feel like they would side with Erin and keep quite if he asked them to. They seem like a decent one. Beside they are an engineer, whatever the void dragon is, he is not their field of study.
Doesn’t even deny it’s a death trap
Anonymous Aurora Question #40: What do you think could happen while sailing? There aren’t exactly many antagonists on sea, where will the epic fight scenes come from?
Given the Light Dragon’s Champion can fly, that’s at least one possible source of an epic fight scene. The question is whether the Champion would consider the others on the boat part of the threat or innocent bystanders?
Tarren might have Odysseus Syndrome. Priding themself on fighting the sea is a surefire way to attract the attention of a sea god, especially with Kendal aboard. Plus they’ve made this swanky new ship. Seems like a nice prize for a pirate crew. Not to mention the endless potential for random monster attacks.
The Champion is an option too, but I don’t see how he would find them. The ocean is BIG. I think the Paladins will continue to be set up slowly, only becoming a major issue towards the end of Arc 2 heading into Arc 3.
Second arc character angst. After all, sticking a bunch of people in an enclosed space for a long period of time is bound to have some fun results 🙂
Also I’m kinda worried how Falst will fare considering his usual skittishness, but at least there’s a mast to swing on.
Also, Falst is a cat, and might not like being over water. Or might freak out because I doubt he’s been on a boat before.
We’ve seen Falst dive completely underwater rather than have a conversation with someone who at that point was a stranger.
Which, as an introvert who likes swimming, I find a very valid reaction.
Kendal could probably bother some ocean gods quite a bit. Othereise, between Falst and Tess I’m sure someone is impolite enough to anger sea gods or merpeople.
yarrr the seas are the deadliest thing on the seas me heartie
I seem to recall some mentions on Red’s tumblr a while ago of pirates… (as well as Vash’s emissary of trade or something having survived and being at sea, meeting them may not be an antagonist thing but certainly it could be a Plot Event… if I’m remembering correctly)
Oh please, oh please don’t let the pirates be Treasure Island trope pirates
About to make the nichest reference I’ve ever made on this forum:
PIRATE SLENDERMAN!
Why have I started imagining Tarren with the voice of Terry from the Dragon Prince?
I have also been doing that, subconsciously. Seems like just their vibe I suppose!
Erin’s constant smiling is actually kind of unnerving. He doesn’t usually smile like that, even though it, on paper, looks natural, it doesn’t reach his eyes and looks slightly strained. (Talking about the second-to-last panel, not the first, which is obviously a grimace, and all of the last page)
His patented Diplomacy Smile ™
ok so the boat runs on a warp drive. cool
Erin: I need to go to Helm for non-suspicious storm related reasons.
Tarren: Seems legit.
If Tarren goes with them I predict a high possibility of them finding out about the dragon.
ive only known tarren for three pages but if anything happens to them ill be devastated
Why does the back of my mind think ‘You had me at “deathtrap” now?
“Cyclonic Flight Spell” immediately had me thinking of that one time Flash flew in Justice League.
i am so tempted to make an i heart tarren shirt someone stop me pleaseee
you don’t need to be stopped, in fact I am encouraging you to do so. After all, who can stop the sun?
Caught up the past few pages. I’ve only had tarren for ten minutes but if anything happened to them I would kill everyone in the room and then myself.
Here we are, the first iro..haem..silverclad is ready
Hm. A question. Is Tess going to be alright on a metal boat? If she discharges her lightning while at sea, everyone on board is not going to have a fun time.
The ambient static alone is going to be a nightmare…
Tarren said the boat’s *hull* was made of transmuted argent. I’m thinking Tess will be more likely to shock some fish than her crewmates. Even if they were touching the metal hull at the same time, most of the discharge would go straight into the water on its way to ground.
If one was to ask a professional marine electrician, however, they’d likely be able to conjure up a scenario where Tess absolutely would be this kind of threat to the crew! Electricity can be really *weird.*
GWAFAFOIHFOAFOI do they know???? has news of the storms disappearance reached them yet???? AJHFIOPHASIPOFHOIPAHFOIHAOISHF!!!!!
Gosh I want to see the cyclonic flight spell
TL;DR: I swear, it works. Maybe not for long, but that’s up to you to find out.
Interesting to note that, evidently, news that The Storm has Fucking Stopped has not reached here yet.
I didn’t want to post this the day the page was released, but I’m wondering about whether a silver hull would be structurally strong enough to withstand heavy wave strikes. Silver is soft, for a metal, and Winter storm waves on the open ocean can severely damage steel ships IRL. I’m going to assume, until proven wrong, that “argent” is in fact a fantasy element and not genuinely silver.
Although if the ship’s hull turns black in a week, that would go a long way towards convincing me it’s actually silver.
PLEASE Tell me Red has read the Liveship series by Robin Hobb!