OH, you’re right! Two page numbers!
It’s happened before in the very early days, but those were always vertically on top of each other, not side by side!
Makes sense for the very extra-wide shots
. Falst leaps up the volcano. Dainix’s Demonheart is tied to his back using Kendal’s sleeve. He reaches the top, peering over the edge as he adjusts Caliban’s scarf, which he’s tied around his face as a mask. His eyes widen as he beholds the crater.
. A spire of rock rises out of the middle of the pit, perhaps a statue, perhaps the shrine. Eight roads of glass extend from the edges to a circle walkway of glass surrounding the spire, supported by columns of glass rising from islets of rock poking out of the lava. Two giant pods, shaped like half-seeds, are positioned opposite each other, stretching out towards the center. They are put on ledges of rock with glass hemispheres for the roof. Ladders and walkways line the inside edge of the crater, homes carved into the stone. Near-opposite Falst, what looks like the back of an enormous throne rises from the rim. Kendal will be there, speaking to Rakhn.
This. looks. SO COOL
I wonder how this’ll be portrayed when we get to physical copies of this arc, probably just two pages next to each other so you can see them both, rather than on opposite sides of the same page
it would be really cool if it was a fold out! probably wouldn’t work out lol but considering that the spire is dead-center and might get ‘caught’ in the spine, it would be neat if it was a fold-out page.
It’s just s super hot volcano top filled almost to the brimming with liquid lava and white raised pathways in the caldera speckled with cooling lava on it and a strange pyramid shaped temple with a dark spiky rock in the middle. Where you expecting something less epic form the creator of Aurora?
Falst’s eyes in the last frame remind me of Indiana Jones’ when he was looking down at the snake filled secret site in Egypt. Way to make your characters sweat Red!
To the top of the page the pyramid seems to be the back of Rahm’s throne and possible site of the temple? It’s under the north side of the caldera per Caliban’s instructions.
Even if they’re ok with the heat, they may need protection from the fumes; of course, Aurora isn’t real life, so the rules may be different, but given how Falst is specifically covering his mouth and nose with the magic scarf, it looks like lava in Aurora may be just as rich a source of toxic gas as in the real world (although probably for different reasons).
So, Cat Boy here has to make away across these walkways that look almost more like webbing. That lead to a walkway around a … sculpture? statue?
The thing that makes me nervous is that it all also looked a hell of a lot like there’s a giant person/creature who is being held in place by all of this ‘webbing’ looking stuff.
Hats off to whoever on the left is literally living at the lava level, they even have a peer built into it. There’s 4 notable cracks in the volcano. Lavagates?
Yeah, it took me a moment, and other commenters’ lack of surprise, to remember, this is Aurora. Of course there are people living there: Ignans. Humans and Elves have adapted to just about every “elemental” biome in this world.
They always do.
A quick test: copy the text before you post, and if you can’t see it, paste it into the box and try again. The automatic system will catch it as a double post if it has gone through the first time
Once again Falst has sneakily scaled up to the top of a circular area to overlook some Ignans, hopefully with less bloodsport this time.
Me and Falst in that last panel have the same expression; that double page spread is just beautiful, and it only gets better the closer I look. Unfortunately, it’s very slightly marred by my brain comparing those glass domes and general architecture to that of the underwater Gungan city from The Phantom Menace.
Just like in Dainix’s home, glasswork architecture is in vogue, tying the two Ignan groups together, though the glass here seems less colourful and moulded into simpler forms. Could mean these Ignans are more utilitarian, at least in regards to how they build their homes to survive a volcano’s heat.
Looks like the people live in houses and halls built into the sides of the caldera, work and commune in those domes, and travel short distances by stone walkways and long distances via those glass bridges. (they even have a little quay for lava boats) However, that central rock formation looks far too ornate to simply be a structural support; a gathering place for ceremonies and other special events perhaps?
“You’ll find Rakhn’s temple on the northern face of the slope, just under the caldera.” At first I thought that spiky outcrop was the temple, but then I remembered that’s Rakhn’s throne where he is now with Kendal. Is the temple one of those two domes, or is it attached to one of those three bridges we can’t see the end of? Hopefully the latter, as that gives Falst the perfect angle to infiltrate.
Actually I’m pretty sure you can see his throne. It’s on the one that’s close to opposite of Falst’s location and the only one which leads to the lip of the volcano rather than part way up. It looks pretty similar to what we see Kendal at. I’m just curious as to how Kendal got there. Incarnation or not that has to have been uncomfortable.
Ignore me I thought you were talking about the throne not the temple. Sorry. My bet is that it’s the center because the domes look similar and I feel like Rahkn wouldn’t really bother with being subtle. Though that is a weird temple of it is one.
I spent too much time inside Blackrock Mountain in my thirties, so I’m certain there’s a stairway inside that central spire, that leads down into a subterranean megacomplex.
looks like we can see some lights and pathways along the far edge of the crater—i always assumed the volcanic ignans just lived somewhere on the island, but this is making me wonder if they literally live IN the volcano
One bridge could be for the Twins? Or the number of bridges could be purely practical – they added more as they thought they were needed, and 8 just happened to be the perfect number
A thought I had regarding Falst’s apparent connection to Light, but I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere else. On page, 1.4.3, there is some other creature next to the Ancient in Panel 1. Is it just me, or does that look like Falst or his Dad? Since we know the Ancients knew of the Light Dragon, Lady Huracan and all, I think this could point to why Falst has that connection. Also why he kept being recognized and protected by the tech in the Ancient lab, 1.20.24.
Oh hey. This is a way more lived in volcano then i was expecting.
Like when i heard there were Ignians living in the island i thought it was they lived somewhere arround it.
Not INSIDE the Volcano.
Rakhn might be a bit more personable then i expected.
I mean. He was a mountain god before he erupted, and even now people live INSIDE his volcano.
And the people of the land perception of it shapes how the god of the region is like, with some feedback loop.
So i wonder what people living inside him, and just seeing his eruptions as one of those things you have to be careful to prepare for but won’t destroy everything you live in, is doing for his personality.
Like. He’s not going to be mellow or anything. Dude’s still a Volcano god.
But you know. Him being quite civil with Kendal makes some sense.
Even if he seems to be itching for a fight.
Maybe Rakhn and the peopole living inside the volcano might have a “all hail our violent protector”
In this moment, Falst realised that things are gonna be a *loooot* more complicated than just “run to the doohickey and put the Fireseed into the friend-seed”.
Whoa. I think this is a first for a double-page spread. Probably works out a lot easier than the end-to-end double updates, especially when considering the potential actual gosh dang publishment that’s on the cards with the book preorders. So, let’s pull this apart. This is likely the Ignan settlement that Caliban mentioned to the Volcano Party-Split. We can see Rakhn’s seat on the northern edge, which means Falst is entering the caldera from roughly the south-east edge. As others have mentioned, we have what appears to be glass bridgeways connecting the settlement together, and to the central spire, which you could guess contains the Fireseed. Glass doesn’t feel like an excellent material to be using in lava-hot temperatures, but maybe this glass is special, which makes it cool again. There seems to be settlements all around the rim of the caldera, including the King and Emperor Rupert’s Drops. Looking at them closely, they might be farming domes, given the parallel lines. Wonder what they’re growing, if that’s the case. If not, I wonder what the domes are for. Some kind of religious ceremony? Government? Judicial/punitive areas? Crucible or Caliban related stuff? All in all, lotta interesting details from one wide shot. (For the record, the RSS feed also rendered the spread correctly.)
Wyrmsilk is my bet, it’s fireproof and Ignians are known to use lots of the stuff. It’s strong enough to turn aside blades so I don’t think it’s too much of a bad idea
I just want to give a shout-out to the author for reminding that “Hey, the middle of a vulcano is actually bad place for beings that need to breath clean oxygen and whose lungs are not great handling all the crazy gasses a vulcano produces!”
woaaah a different page shape? :0
I think it’s technically two pages. An Aurora first!
OH, you’re right! Two page numbers!
It’s happened before in the very early days, but those were always vertically on top of each other, not side by side!
Makes sense for the very extra-wide shots
depends on if you count the content warning
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: not ANOTHER complex environmental wide shot!
Image source: caldera
tumblr text: it’s the very first aurora two-page spread!
. Falst leaps up the volcano. Dainix’s Demonheart is tied to his back using Kendal’s sleeve. He reaches the top, peering over the edge as he adjusts Caliban’s scarf, which he’s tied around his face as a mask. His eyes widen as he beholds the crater.
. A spire of rock rises out of the middle of the pit, perhaps a statue, perhaps the shrine. Eight roads of glass extend from the edges to a circle walkway of glass surrounding the spire, supported by columns of glass rising from islets of rock poking out of the lava. Two giant pods, shaped like half-seeds, are positioned opposite each other, stretching out towards the center. They are put on ledges of rock with glass hemispheres for the roof. Ladders and walkways line the inside edge of the crater, homes carved into the stone. Near-opposite Falst, what looks like the back of an enormous throne rises from the rim. Kendal will be there, speaking to Rakhn.
This. looks. SO COOL
I wonder how this’ll be portrayed when we get to physical copies of this arc, probably just two pages next to each other so you can see them both, rather than on opposite sides of the same page
it would be really cool if it was a fold out! probably wouldn’t work out lol but considering that the spire is dead-center and might get ‘caught’ in the spine, it would be neat if it was a fold-out page.
Agreed, putting a gutter through this would be a crying shame.
BlueSky: beeg
this is where Sauron’s tower would be if he wasn’t a coward
While Falst gazes down, to the inferno below
A caldera, to the center of which he must go
I’m with Falst in that last panel.
Not only is this a caldera, but those glass tubes would get stinkin’ hot too!
A determined climb
Desperate to save his rock
Shocked by a city
Boiling caldera
Burning heart in the mountain
Majestic skyline
I need two haiku
Double pages demand it
Oopsy, this is three
This new rivalry
warrants a haiku even
From those who don’t write
What in the heck is that?
It’s just s super hot volcano top filled almost to the brimming with liquid lava and white raised pathways in the caldera speckled with cooling lava on it and a strange pyramid shaped temple with a dark spiky rock in the middle. Where you expecting something less epic form the creator of Aurora?
Falst’s eyes in the last frame remind me of Indiana Jones’ when he was looking down at the snake filled secret site in Egypt. Way to make your characters sweat Red!
A temple? Or a giant?
To the top of the page the pyramid seems to be the back of Rahm’s throne and possible site of the temple? It’s under the north side of the caldera per Caliban’s instructions.
Oh wow. Our first double page spread. This looks awesome. So much glasswork. I guess even the volcanic ignans need some insulation from the lava.
Even if they’re ok with the heat, they may need protection from the fumes; of course, Aurora isn’t real life, so the rules may be different, but given how Falst is specifically covering his mouth and nose with the magic scarf, it looks like lava in Aurora may be just as rich a source of toxic gas as in the real world (although probably for different reasons).
Journey to the top
Overlooking the temple
Massive caldera
Hi HelloHaiku
Wonderful work, as always
I have much respect
So, Cat Boy here has to make away across these walkways that look almost more like webbing. That lead to a walkway around a … sculpture? statue?
The thing that makes me nervous is that it all also looked a hell of a lot like there’s a giant person/creature who is being held in place by all of this ‘webbing’ looking stuff.
Hats off to whoever on the left is literally living at the lava level, they even have a peer built into it. There’s 4 notable cracks in the volcano. Lavagates?
Yeah, it took me a moment, and other commenters’ lack of surprise, to remember, this is Aurora. Of course there are people living there: Ignans. Humans and Elves have adapted to just about every “elemental” biome in this world.
Ohh right. Damn ignans can really tolerate the heat. I mean that lava is still molten and glowing.
ooooh I wonder what’s in all those glass domes
i mean, probably not glass, considering melting point, but definitely curious
Welcome, to the Boiling Rock!
“Holy, is that Wyrmsilk!?”
I just got inordinately excited to see more of this place. WOW it looks cool!
Double page spread!
Welcome, to the Boiling Rock.
“Holy, is that Wyrmsilk!”
(Sorry if this is reposted, I never know if these go through)
They always do.
A quick test: copy the text before you post, and if you can’t see it, paste it into the box and try again. The automatic system will catch it as a double post if it has gone through the first time
Thanks
Whoa first aurora page spread let’s gooo
Do you think that Dainix is tied to Falst using Kendal’s sleeves, and that’s why they’re missing?
You genius, your right!
Right, if you go check back at the start of the chapter, only one sleeve was missing, but last page he was missing two.
I had the same realization!:
“Wait hold on where’d that fabric come from?”
“wait didn’t Kendal have one of his sleeves before?”
On the optimistic side, maybe that big center spire is the fire seed and getting a little pebble off of it won’t be a problem?
On the pessimistic side, maybe all those walkways are sensitive as a spider’s web and any attempt to cross them will alert Rakhn instantly?
Spider’s web?
Rakhn
Arakhn
Arachne
There might indeed be something spidery about this place.
This reads as a conspiracy theory and I am here for it
Fortunately, everyone in the floof squad is qualified to tael d’Wyrn, so one Arachne shouldn’t be *too* big of an issue.
Those bridges seem to be made out of stone magic… hmmm….
Once again Falst has sneakily scaled up to the top of a circular area to overlook some Ignans, hopefully with less bloodsport this time.
Me and Falst in that last panel have the same expression; that double page spread is just beautiful, and it only gets better the closer I look. Unfortunately, it’s very slightly marred by my brain comparing those glass domes and general architecture to that of the underwater Gungan city from The Phantom Menace.
Just like in Dainix’s home, glasswork architecture is in vogue, tying the two Ignan groups together, though the glass here seems less colourful and moulded into simpler forms. Could mean these Ignans are more utilitarian, at least in regards to how they build their homes to survive a volcano’s heat.
Looks like the people live in houses and halls built into the sides of the caldera, work and commune in those domes, and travel short distances by stone walkways and long distances via those glass bridges. (they even have a little quay for lava boats) However, that central rock formation looks far too ornate to simply be a structural support; a gathering place for ceremonies and other special events perhaps?
“You’ll find Rakhn’s temple on the northern face of the slope, just under the caldera.” At first I thought that spiky outcrop was the temple, but then I remembered that’s Rakhn’s throne where he is now with Kendal. Is the temple one of those two domes, or is it attached to one of those three bridges we can’t see the end of? Hopefully the latter, as that gives Falst the perfect angle to infiltrate.
Actually I’m pretty sure you can see his throne. It’s on the one that’s close to opposite of Falst’s location and the only one which leads to the lip of the volcano rather than part way up. It looks pretty similar to what we see Kendal at. I’m just curious as to how Kendal got there. Incarnation or not that has to have been uncomfortable.
Ignore me I thought you were talking about the throne not the temple. Sorry. My bet is that it’s the center because the domes look similar and I feel like Rahkn wouldn’t really bother with being subtle. Though that is a weird temple of it is one.
I spent too much time inside Blackrock Mountain in my thirties, so I’m certain there’s a stairway inside that central spire, that leads down into a subterranean megacomplex.
Mission impossible theme starts playing.
😀 I think that the reason Kendal is missing his sleeves is to make a sling for the dainix-stone!
Oh, good eye! It looks like the same fabric!
Impressive environment!
thats such an awesome shot! these glass-like bridges and domes look so cool
and the paneling is really nice with the closeups of falst in the corner
“Alright, just need to find the fire seed. Should be easy, where would they hide it in a volcano-” *sees Volcano mall complex* “Oh COME ON-“
“‘Plenty of time to sneak into the caldera’ they said, ‘It’s just on the northern slope!’ they said. WHAT IS THIS!?”
Oh now that is both beautiful and a fascinating concept.
Now that’s what I call living igneously.
Very clever. Have a cookie.
looks like we can see some lights and pathways along the far edge of the crater—i always assumed the volcanic ignans just lived somewhere on the island, but this is making me wonder if they literally live IN the volcano
Ahhhh, I love it and I need to know how all the Ignans live here
8 bridges. I wonder if that signifies the 8 elements or is a coincidence?
There are six elements. Seven if you include void/light, which are starting to look like two halves of the same element
One bridge could be for the Twins? Or the number of bridges could be purely practical – they added more as they thought they were needed, and 8 just happened to be the perfect number
Or maybe it’s a Discworld reference, we know Red likes Sir Pterry
A thought I had regarding Falst’s apparent connection to Light, but I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere else. On page, 1.4.3, there is some other creature next to the Ancient in Panel 1. Is it just me, or does that look like Falst or his Dad? Since we know the Ancients knew of the Light Dragon, Lady Huracan and all, I think this could point to why Falst has that connection. Also why he kept being recognized and protected by the tech in the Ancient lab, 1.20.24.
I already know I’ll love the world building on this MOTHERFUCKING GLASS CITY INSIDE A VOLCANO WHAAAAAAAT
Holy shoot that’s beautiful
Now if I were designing the place, that big spire in the center would be noting but important looking boobie traps.
A city? In a crater/caldera?
The Collector’s about to have another field day.
TL;DR: Don’t stare at the giant lava pit with weird structures inside it too long or you’ll burn your eyes out.
Am i alone to say that looks a LOT like ice? Maybe that whole “I am shackled by the cold on all sides” isn’t as paranoid as we thought it was.
Oh that’s a good point. Personally I assumed it was glass
I thought it was stone magic XD
There he is! Rejoice it is the catboy
Woot! Two Page Splash
I had wondered where Kendal’s other sleeve went!
Sure, it’s big enough, but look at the location!
Well. That’s certainly not just a volcano
Ahaha, I *thought* that may have been where Kendal’s sleeves went…but if he took them off just to flex on Rakhn, I mean…no shade.
I’ll be intrigued if Falst meets the Ignans! I wonder how the different tribes or groups of Ignans live. Curious! (And this 2 page spread is WOW.)
I see Red decided to leave out the lightning from this scenario. Good decision.
the w h a t
Oh hey. This is a way more lived in volcano then i was expecting.
Like when i heard there were Ignians living in the island i thought it was they lived somewhere arround it.
Not INSIDE the Volcano.
Rakhn might be a bit more personable then i expected.
I mean. He was a mountain god before he erupted, and even now people live INSIDE his volcano.
And the people of the land perception of it shapes how the god of the region is like, with some feedback loop.
So i wonder what people living inside him, and just seeing his eruptions as one of those things you have to be careful to prepare for but won’t destroy everything you live in, is doing for his personality.
Like. He’s not going to be mellow or anything. Dude’s still a Volcano god.
But you know. Him being quite civil with Kendal makes some sense.
Even if he seems to be itching for a fight.
Maybe Rakhn and the peopole living inside the volcano might have a “all hail our violent protector”
In this moment, Falst realised that things are gonna be a *loooot* more complicated than just “run to the doohickey and put the Fireseed into the friend-seed”.
Whoa. I think this is a first for a double-page spread. Probably works out a lot easier than the end-to-end double updates, especially when considering the potential actual gosh dang publishment that’s on the cards with the book preorders. So, let’s pull this apart. This is likely the Ignan settlement that Caliban mentioned to the Volcano Party-Split. We can see Rakhn’s seat on the northern edge, which means Falst is entering the caldera from roughly the south-east edge. As others have mentioned, we have what appears to be glass bridgeways connecting the settlement together, and to the central spire, which you could guess contains the Fireseed. Glass doesn’t feel like an excellent material to be using in lava-hot temperatures, but maybe this glass is special, which makes it cool again. There seems to be settlements all around the rim of the caldera, including the King and Emperor Rupert’s Drops. Looking at them closely, they might be farming domes, given the parallel lines. Wonder what they’re growing, if that’s the case. If not, I wonder what the domes are for. Some kind of religious ceremony? Government? Judicial/punitive areas? Crucible or Caliban related stuff? All in all, lotta interesting details from one wide shot. (For the record, the RSS feed also rendered the spread correctly.)
How is the glass not melting?
Place your bets everyone!!!!! Are the tunnels thingys made of:
A. Glass (comment section’s guess)
B. Some sort of modified super-glass that can withstand the heat (one of my guesses)
C. Ice (Heroic Lich’s guess) (i think the ice would melt, but itd be VERY cool if it was ice. pun not intended)
D. Some sort of plastic-type substance that’s seperate from glass that can’t melt. might be some sort of near adamant thing (my second guess)
E. Something else?????? (put in the replys!!!!)
Hope i got them all!!!
Wyrmsilk is my bet, it’s fireproof and Ignians are known to use lots of the stuff. It’s strong enough to turn aside blades so I don’t think it’s too much of a bad idea
I just want to give a shout-out to the author for reminding that “Hey, the middle of a vulcano is actually bad place for beings that need to breath clean oxygen and whose lungs are not great handling all the crazy gasses a vulcano produces!”
Soooo lets say hypothetically i just started reading Aurora 2 weeks ago and am now caught up…
Should i worry about my mental health?
great comic btw, i love it so much already
That’s really awesome
I hope I can hold it in paper one day
The site rendered it, hopefully we’re not about to get bogged down in another fight.