2.4.22
on April 7, 2025
at 3:00 am
ok yes it was a bad and self-destructive act of hubris BUT it looks really pretty so I think it was worth it
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
ok yes it was a bad and self-destructive act of hubris BUT it looks really pretty so I think it was worth it
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: if you can’t create your own storm of magic storebought is fine
Image source: fault
Damn, the community nickname SickTatts McHubris is starting to make even more sense than before
Truly an Icarus moment of epic proportions.
A timeline note for those curious: the Soulshaper therapy took place after Tess left. Erin was in his late teens at the time, anywhere from 15-18.
Laid out with regret
He’s always blaming himself
Hating his hubris
And another one
This time for panel seven
It is beautiful
Aurora at last
Power at my fingertips
Pay an awful price
Erin, listen to your sister. She’s clearly a more competent adult.
Tragic backstory? In *MY* fantasy webcomic? More likely than you think…
Pore Hawkeye.
monks: be careful, your soul needs time to heal
baby erin getting out the metaphysical power washer: this monastery is so fucking boring
erin’s enough of a nerd though he’d probably never call a monastery boring
Wait, is fake magus theory back on the menu…?
I don’t think so ? “New configuration” could mean “opened soul channels that weren’t there”, but it could also mean “healed malformed soul channels”, which would gel much more with several earlier established facts and foreshadowing, especially regarding the Dragon, who is behind the concept of the Elemental Magus and seems to have had access to quite a few of Erin’s memories. If Erin was an artificial Elemental Magus, I don’t think the Dragon would miss the chance to mock him about it.
Also, if all it took was the help of a few Monks and the money and status of an Aseran emissary and slave-owner, there would be a LOT more Elemental Magi.
This is the sort of thing that causes prodigies to have short life expediencies.
*expectancies
Spotted the cellphone!
Siblings?
Adopted, she was originally a slave owned by the Ruunaser family
I absolutely love how in a world of quick healing magic solving the narrative problem of long recovery times, there are still very real and dangerous consequences to trying to rush recovery.
a sindahlan is about equivalent to 28 days, so three months of recovery. I think that, while possibly shortened, it’s still a long time to recover
Long haired Erin reveal!?
Oh, hey, Erin used to rock the Fluff Squad hairstyle.
RUUNASER BACKSTORY
Tess: … So you made a huge mistake and created a wild maelstrom of magic, then years later made another huge mistake in stopping a different wild maelstrom of magic-
Erin: YES I AM FULLY AWARE OF THE IRONY!
As far as Tess knew at the start of this page, a bunch of faceless monks messed up her brother so badly he can’t perform the simplest of magical control without artificial help. She’s so ticked she isn’t even entertaining Erin’s “it’s all my fault” reflex. But it’s her reaction next page, after learning that this predicament was genuinely Erin’s fault, is what interests me the most.
Well, this tells us a bit about the methods of the monks Erin went through, or at least the healing afterwards. From those bandaged arms and talk of Auroran months worth of healing, I can certainly see where all that hand imagery from the Glort vision came from.
I’m with @Karadaga in that it was probably malformed soul channels that the monks were healing for Erin, but that hardly constitutes a “big secret” that Tess alluded to, or all the work he’s been through to get this position.
My working theory is that Erin was born a magus, but several of his soul channels were malformed to the point that it would have been easier and safer if the monks just sealed them completely. But Erin wanted the power, seeing it as his way of truly becoming free and self-reliant so went through the gruelling process of opening them, but fumbled it at the last minute, as shown here, necessitating the tattoos.
I wonder if it was entirely Erin’s idea though. Clearly he was younger and needed his parent’s permission to travel to the monk’s. I wonder if he was partly pressured into doing this long and painful procedure by his father so that he could have an Elemental magus in the family as a status symbol.
Wow, that’s rough, bud. Do you want to talk about it, no? Well, ok, just stay repressed and don’t talk to your sister about it.
Does anyone else notice the amount of parallels between Falst and Erin. Both decided to go on this reckless mission because they wanted to prove themselves useful. Both are very intelligent. Both seem to have daddy issues. Both are the most flawed members of the party. While there are major differences, those differences aren’t just different, there especially opposite. Erin has all magic, Falst has all the muscles
Thanks for long-haired Erin. Time to fuel my (trans) headcannons :))
Probably just ment to be gender-nonconforming but that fine 🙂
Would he experience any chronic pain from that?
Victorian suffering extraordinaire.
FEELING LIKE THAT TYLER THE CREATOR TWEET RN WHERES THE DAMN IMAGE
OK I LINKED IT TO MY NAME
ERIN BACKSTORYY IFADBKJLVBSHFKDSKZVJBIH 😭😭😭😭😭‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
Erin’s two moods, Blame Self and Touch Stove
OH MY GOD RUUNASER LORE THIS IS THE BEST MONDAY EVERRR
GODDAMN THAT HAIR, I remember when I had hair that long, jealous…
More long hair Erin. Nice.
Long-haired Erin looks amazing! He also looks a little like the theoretical 7th Samurai of this Six Man Band that we can see in Red’s Trope Taks. Assuming that all acolytes of the Soulshaper Monks adhere to a similar dress code, could we be adopting a new member of the Floof Squad when we finally arrive at the Monastery?