2.5.15
on August 1, 2025
at 3:00 am
look primordial intervention can do a lot of things but it can’t make her a good swimmer
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
look primordial intervention can do a lot of things but it can’t make her a good swimmer
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: the fact that clams can swim feels like some sort of crime against nature if I’m being honest
Image source: friend
Well some scallops can actually “swim” by closing their shell quickly so a clam doing that wouldn’t be that big of a stretch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yGWqbxFBFc
Pretty sure that’s what she’s referring to
Im pretty sure that scallops arent clams, but close enough and im sure everyone who new about that understood what it meant xD
Clam is a common name for different species of bivalve molluscs while clam the culinary term excludes scallops so you’re correct.
oh
oops I can’t read lol
And they have such pretty eyes! And so many of them!
Bluesky Text: some perhaps understandable tension
Tumblr Text: glad we’re all on the same page
Theory 1: The clams of Aurora can’t swim at all, just like Earth clams. That would be joke inherent in the figure of speech.
Theory 2: The clams of Aurora can swim like scallops. Finally, equality in the world of bivalves!
Theory 3: The clams of Aurora can swim by ????????? Something something elemental water something something siphons something???
some clams on earth can actually swim in a process called “valving”, where they squirt water out of their shells to propel themselves forwards. slower than scallops, certainly, and it doesn’t seem like they can swim for very long, but they very much can still “swim”, to some degree. (the source i found (“How Do Clams Swim [Comprehensive Answer]” on CGAA.org) says that “we” aren’t sure how long a clam could swim for. clams have been recorded migrating several meters in a single day, but swimming for an extended period of time would likely exhaust them, and they have to have their shells open in order to swim, which makes them vulnerable to predators. the same source also says that some clams have been recorded moving as fast as 0.5 meters per second, but most move around 0.1 m/s.) clams can also often use their foot to push or pull themselves along the seafloor.
in this specific case we could also just assume that “clam” is being used colloquially- in theory selach could be referring to an aurora-specific species of bivalve that can swim even faster than scallops, maybe using some sort of water magic, as you suggested. but more likely they’re just either referring to scallops and their speedier clapping sort of swim, or to actual clams and their valving.
Thank you! 😄
Several meters in a single day. Zoom zoom!
. “Well!” Captain Valia says with a strained grin. “How convenient!”
. “Captain–” Caturus starts, but Valia ignores him.
. She floats closer. “Our savior falls from the sky with unheard-of power and personal knowledge of the force that warped our god! How lucky we are! How helpless without you!” Valia leans down, narrowing her eyes. “A friend of yours, perhaps?” she hisses.
. Everyone jerks back, Valia freezing, as a pulse of life magic — like a heartbeat — washes from Alinua. “No,” she growls, barely concealed rage on her face.
. “It’s all right, Captain. I’ll take her there,” Selach interrupts, swimming closer.
. “Uh– n-no, I should go alone,” Alinua says, turning around, attitude changing in an instant. “It could be very dangerous.”
. “Yeah, I know. But I figure you want to get there fast, right? And there are clams down here that can swim faster than you, so–”
. “HA!” The dark blue mermaid interrupts, popping up between them.
. “So. Um–” Selach starts, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “I just figured it would–”
. “Just take her,” Captain Valia groans, squeezing her eyes shut.
. “Have you tried having a tail instead?” the dark blue mermaid whispers to Alinua as the elf puts a hand to her face, embarrassed. “It’s the best.”
Im tirreeeeeed I woke up at like 4 this morning… Maybe it’s cause I took a nap yesterday?
I really want to see how Selach carries Alinua lol
Panel 5: Oooooh I love that face, it’s one of the only truly angry faces we’ve seen from Alinua so far. The only other times I remember her being mad would be during Jolon’s fight, and maybe with Shrike?
Respect for the Captain that they have been talking to Alunia for like 5 minutes and already manage to piss her off big time.
That has to be some kind of record.
Do not annoy Life Mama, you ignorant brat!
– Me, yelling at the screen five minutes ago.
Real. Oh yeah, imma antagonize a Life mage. The same kind of mage that turned my god into a monster and could do the same to me in seconds if she were so inclined. What a great idea!
Caturus: Captain, could you, for five minutes, not antagonize the Life mage that offered to help us? FOR FIVE MINUTES!
“Nope, best I can do is two and a half.”
“Not it if means I have to let someone else be important for a while.”
I’m so here for Alinua’s ongiong arc from “I must shun all human contact because I’m too dangerous, I might kill them all by accident” to “I don’t need to be dangerous, I’m in control of myself now and can just heal and nourish instead of kill” to “Actually, I might be dangerous anyway, since I might be killing some of these people NOT by accident.”
Years of the comic and its the merfolk that make Alinua embarrassed. It’s honestly cute 😀
Selach looks pretty embarrassed too 😄
There definitely was at least one other time she got embarrassed. I don’t remember the context, but I clearly remember her face
I think when she realized Falst was innocent.
Yes, that was it. I remembered her healing someone afterwards but forgot it was Falst’s crushed hand
I started reading this on the 29th and I’m devastated that I’ve caught up so quickly. this has been such a stressful read
Selach’s eyes in the last panel are ginormous they’re such a cutie
Me, I’m loving the tiny little eyebrows they have. Adorable.
I know, Selach gets drawn so pretty. And I’m gay! /silly
Anyone besides me noticed that Captain Valia has basically primate eyes (lids, sclera, iris, pupil) and most of the other merfolk have big dark-adapted light-gathering orbs like a midnight-range fish?
That’s because Valia, Caturus, and the unnamed one wearing purple are sekrai, former humans and elves who’ve adapted to life underwater, in contrast to merfolk like Selach.
Okay! Thanks for clearing that up. I think I may have seen some discussion of that before, but it didn’t really sink in.
I love that you are named after the Never Ending Story. I’m currently re-reading it from my childhood and its fantastic.
Unless deep-blue gets a name soon, I’m gonna call her Merfalst, everyone alright with that? These last two panels felt extremely Falst-like…
I don’t know. To me they have annoying younger sibling energy that just happen to supporting their older brother at the moment. And Selach is just happy that the sibling is not annoying them at the moment. That’s my take on the situation some, completely personal and unfounded, reason.
Does Falst not sometimes have annoying younger sibling energy, particularly towards Erin? Like, compare this to Erin’s first trip to the library.
I agree. Poor Alinua! She is not having a good day. First surprised by Primordial Life’s uninvited transformations to her body, discovering the Collector’s handiwork nearby, snide accusations tossed at her face, and youthful enthusiasm tooting its horn unasked for in front of embarrassed elders. And it’s only going to get worst…I’ld type something to the author but I shamefully want to know what’s next!
Absolutely agree! That was exactly the vibe I got, the sharp teefies and claw-fingers only strengthen the similarity. But also seems younger and ruder.
I mean, primordial intervention probably *could* make her a good swimmer…but I don’t think she’d like her legs turning into a tail.
i think it’d be worse if she had a tail though
Þat sound effect in panel 4 is a little disconcerting.
Indeed!
Don’t think I’ve seen anyone use Thorn before. It’s cool!
Had to do a double take seeing thorn here! That’s awesome that you use it!
I only see a BA-BUMP. I would like to see a thorn outside of Ye Olde English….
The thorn is at the beginning of OP Evinr Niliem’s comment; spelling of “that”.
What is Thorn? The letter at the beginning?
Thorn is the þ that makes a “th” sound and I’m glad to see someone else use it.
You can use it to (on mobile) if you use and Icelandic keyboard.
Ayyyyy th-hater! But it ought to be edh, not thorn.
Correct, phonetically speaking, but in historical English usage, the thorn was replaced by “y” and used in digraphs “ye” and “yt” for “the” and “that”, both using the “edh” sound in modern English. (But maybe not in Middle English!)
Life: Good idea.
Alinua: No, don’t! They were just- (Life magic glows and Alinua finds her legs fused and reshaped into a tail) … joking.
The expressions on this page are amazing; I’m not sure who I like best between Alinua and Valia.
The captain’s fake smile and Falst-style mocking, shifting to accusing glare, before finishing with almost comical annoyance; she’s angry, suspicious, but beneath it all, very tired.
I also love how quickly Ali shifts from determined rage when faced with derisive accusations, to embarrassment when given well-meaning criticism. Instant tone and posture shifts between talking to Valia and Selach.
Valia, I get that you’re suspicious, and you have every right to be, but that tone is just uncalled for. I’m kinda hoping Alinua’s nature as Life’s chosen will be revealed at the end, if only to see her “Oh s**t! THAT’S who I was antagonising?!” reaction.
Oh, Selach’s blush in the last panel; methinks she didn’t intend for her comment to sound insulting, but only realised it afterwards thanks to deep-blue. Deep-blue meanwhile continues to be the best.
Prediction for next week: Scene change to the temple where Alinua’s suspicions are proven correct. Maybe some Alinua-Selach bonding too on the way there, since they have time to talk away from the captain.
Place your bets everyone! How will Selach take Alinua to the temple? Selach holding Ali under her arms? Ali wrapping her arms around Selach’s torso from the back? Princess carry?!
If I could do a long-term prediction, maybe deep-blue’s comment is foreshadowing and during Alinua’s battle with the Wyrm, she does form a tail to give her more speed to enable her to survive.
Clams swimming is nature-on-nature violence, much like the Collector
Can we address how epic the “ba-BUMP” was? Heartbeat? The ripple of magic?
i’m lost as to why everyone seem to be embarrassed at the last panels.
can someone give me the human interaction translator?
How would you react if someone told you a famously stationary animal can swim faster than you?
And i think that Selach’s embarrassment might be that she’s realised that she was pretty rude xD
Selach’s realized her remark came out wrong, Valia’s just completely done with the situation, and Alinua’s mortified both by the comment and by the fact that Life will probably take the mermaid currently being referred to as Deep Blue’s remark about tails as a suggestion and happily grant Alinua a tail whether she wants it or not in the immediate future.
Although I suppose that begs the question, will it be a mer-form tail, which would be the most likely given the situation and settings, or are Life and Alinua going to subconsciously compromise on the latter wanting to keep her legs with the need for better underwater propulsion and she ends up with a sea-dragons’s tail and likely to be mistaken for a Ferin?
Same, Croissant.
“No”
Alinua is not putting up with her crap
On the one hand, I totally get that the captain is suspicious. From the captain’s POV, this IS sus.
On the other, I’m impressed with Alinua’s self control when basically told she’s suspected of being friends with the very dangerous person her closest friend got specifically and brutally screwed by.
That just makes me think of getting chased down by a deadly flesh-eating clam.
Please give us Mermaid Alinua. I wanna see Mermaid Alinua.
Oooh, Alinua’s “aggrieved” face is THE BEST. The subtletly of a completely unsubtle rage!
Also I can’t read “faster than a clam” now, and not think of the clams (Essiel, more correctly) of the “Shards of Earth”/”Final Architeture”-series… and suspect the comic’s “stationary” or semi-stationary clams to be not entirely stationary. Watch it, or they’ll turn their immense intelligence into taking over the world! Although they might take some time to move into position. Ahem.
frame 1 looks fucken freaky lol
Hi! I wrote a song based on Alinua!
https://youtu.be/GFU_I5i56eY?si=qjsV3yw35JXYg_gC
I wrote a more detailed explanation of how I made it in the description, but basically it was originally based on gleicann until I made the last part and realized it fit Alinua much better. I also put some of my best drawings of Alinua as pictures in the video!
Its lovely!! ❤️
Thank you!
the face the captain’s making on the first panel gives me the heeby jeebies
The Captain reminds me of the US admirals who, when faced with mounting evidence that the Soviet Union did not, in fact, have an ungodly number of active combat-ready submarines of the very latest types in service, began to posit that the Soviets had, in fact, found a way to make submarines COMPLETELY INVISIBLE rather than accept that the threat, and by extension their own importance to national defense, had been overstated. By them.
I want Alinua to beat the Captain up so bad
weird, my new friend detector is going off
He rushed in, trying to save sailors from a shipwreck.
Speaking up for her against the Captain.
They are kindred spirits.
Hi, real_mermaid! …I have questions (Please don’t feel obligated to answer them, though. And if “real_mermaid” is just a silly username, then I invite you to treat these questions as an optional creative exercise). Are you a dimension-hopper or from this version of Earth (and if you’re specifically an Auroran dimension-hopper…uhh…h-how are things going Aurora-side)? How is this group of mermaids similar to and different from your group of mermaids? Do you have any opinions about how mermaids are portrayed in human-made media more broadly? How the heck does life as a mermaid play out—particularly with cooking and clothesmaking? Do you have any mer-wisdom to impart upon us ignorant humans? Should I capitalize Mermaid!?
Pros of reading all of what’s released thus far in a single day; you get to appreciate beautiful art, well constructed character dynamics that form naturally as a result of the events surrounding the characters, and you really get to dig into the drama in an immersive, wonderful way.
Cons of reading all of aurora in a single day; failing to understand that no, the webpage isn’t broken, this is just the most recent page and you are caught up, and must now wait just like everyone else.
real talk though this is excellent and i really love that every single character in our band of misfits gets their own arcs and chances to shine. every now and then while reading through the first arc and now the second as well, i would stop and stare at a line of dialogue before loudly proclaiming ‘Foreshadowing is a literary device in which-‘. and not once did it feel like those moments of insinuation were, like, red herrings or misdirections for the purpose of hiding the ‘real’ twist. it’s nice to be able to dig into a work of art and actually chart what it’s trying to do and say without the text fighting against being read.
lastly alinua is (1) very gender, and (2) delightfully powerful in ways that ‘healer’ characters – especially when those characters are women – aren’t usually allowed to be.
I just realized that I was at the end.
That realization came after clicking on it to try and go to the next one several times.
Panel 4: “Don’t push the Collector button.”
Panel 6: “Hah, slow as a clam. Anamone speed”
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🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🩵🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦🟦⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🔵
🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️🟦🟦⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🔵
🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🩵⬛️⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🔵🔵
🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🩵⬛️⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🔵🔵
🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🟦🟦⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🩵🩵⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🔵🔵
🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🟦⬛️🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️🩵🩵⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️⬛️
🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵📘📘⬛️🩵🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬜️⬜️⬛️⬛️⬜️⬛️⬛️⬜️⬛️⬛️⬜️⬛️⬛️⬜️⬜️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘⬛️🩵🩵⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵
🩵📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬜️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬜️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘📘⬛️🩵🩵⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵
🩵🩵📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘📘📘⬛️🩵🩵⬛️🩵🩵⬛️
🩵🩵🩵📘📘📘📘⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️🩵⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🩵⬛️⬛️⬛️🔵
🩵🩵🩵🩵📘📘📘⬛️🩵🩵🩵🩵⬛️📘⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬜️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬜️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🩵⬛️🩵🩵⬛️
🩵🩵🩵🩵📘📘📘⬛️🩵🩵🩵⬛️📘📘📘⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬜️⬛️⬜️⬛️⬛️⬜️⬛️⬜️⬜️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🩵⬛️🩵🩵⬛️
🩵🩵🩵🩵📘📘📘⬛️🩵🩵⬛️📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️⬛️🩵🩵🩵⬛️
🩵🩵🩵🩵📘📘📘📘⬛️🩵⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘🩵🩵⬛️
🩵🩵🩵📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🩵⬛️
🩵📘📘📘📘📘⬛️⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️⬛️🔵
📘📘📘⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🔵🔵🔵
⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🔵🔵🔵
⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️📘📘📘📘📘⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️🔵🔵🔵🔵
⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️⬛️📘📘📘📘📘📘⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️📘📘📘⬛️🔵🔵🔵🔵
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🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️⬛️🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬛️🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵
BLUUUUUUUUE
How to Life did you do that?!
I just wish this was further up the page so it wasn’t so washed out by the oddly bright background down here D:
My copy of the physical Aurora book arrived yesterday, I ready through the whole thing which was great but it did keep me up until 1am which was a mistake. 10/10 would do again!
Alinua: “Why don’t you just call her Valia?”
Valia: “I AM the captain. It’s a title of rank. Are you some kind of savage!?”
Alinua: “No, just an anarchist.”
Valia: “Then you’re an ENEMY OF THE STATE!”
Caturus: “Valia, for the last time, please stop lying to people about the existence of a state here!”
Valia: “You—I…GAH!” *swims off angstily*
Jokes aside, Valia looks seriously deranged in that first panel. This does not inspire confidence in her leadership skills or the safety of the Seafolk she was hired to protect. Hopefully something changes, either her conduct or her employment status, before she seriously exacerbates this crisis. That being said…is it just me, or does Valia’s spear change shape each page? Not sure what could be going on there. I feel like I should have more to say, and more poignant things to say, but I just…haven’t been able to come up with much lately.
First panel, that’s her “sarcastically naive” face. Not deranged, but annoying and showing considerable bias, especiaily for us audience-folk who know Alinua’s being abused.
Damn it… I love all of them.
Beep
Aaaand now I am cought up!
Hello all of you wonderful peoples!
omg not the little blue dude saying skill issue
Alinva is certainly having a time xD
While they’re being a bit of a dick about it, I can’t blame Valia for being suspicious of Alinua’s extremely convenient arrival
Exactly! Valia is not aware of the existence of ✨️plot✨️ so how could she know something to convenient would just happen? XD
I have caught up with the comic! Oh wow, having to wait for each new page is going to be so dificult (and so worth it), I see.
It makes sense for us to have at least one person who isn’t evil, but still doesn’t like the protagonist due to situation.
Doesn’t make it any less annoying.
clam swimming is silly and funny but clam eyes are the real crime
I think that Life just made the Netflix sound
Wooohooo! I finally caught up after reading the printed book!
Just got my cousin into Aurora. We’ll see how long it takes her to catch up to me in waiting for the next page. 😀
We got another one!!!! 😃
Hehe:)
The captain remains suspicious and doubting
Ali makes a point that requires no shouting
I don’t really understand Captain Valia’s anger and suspicion towards Alinua. She obviously has solid reasons, but her experience with the Life mage that chimerized the Wyrm is no different from the others’, as far as we know? They all learned about it second-hand. And with no prior exposure to Life magic, it’s not like they could’ve had some previous bad experience that led to a prejudice.
The one big thing that separates Valia from the others is that she knows that Alinua is an elf. It seems like there may be some prejudice against surface dwellers, so it’s entirely plausible. But she disliked Alinua even before Alinua’s use of Life magic convinced her that she is in fact an elf. So I’m not entirely convinced it’s that.
Based on the un-blurred version of page 5, I’m led to believe she has a bias specifically against Life mages. But she doesn’t get aggressive towards Alinua until she starts actively using her powers in front of Valia, at which point she describes the Wyrm’s attacker as “one of [Alinua’s] own.” So, two things I’m getting from that. First, Valia got aggressive after she learned she was a Life mage, not after she learned Alinua was an outsider. She wasn’t happy about Selach bringing an outsider, but her attitude was “let her go, let her live her own life, and we’ll deal with our problems on our own.” Second, she seems to think all Life mages are in kahoots with each other somehow.
But my question is … why the anger and suspicion, and why specifically the hatred of Life magic? If we assume that her life experience and experience with recent events surrounding the Wyrm are roughly the same as everyone else, then I’d expect at least SOMEONE to be suspicious and hesitant towards a newcomer, and a Life mage no less. But it seems to only be Valia, and FAR more than anyone else.
Does Valia have some personal past history with Life magic? Was she there when the Collector attacked the Wyrm, leading to a more personal grudge against the person who did it? Or maybe she has a generalized distrust in general? Has she had a rough childhood?
I feel like there’s more to Valia than what we’re seeing right now.
Or … I could just be reading too much into this, and Valia’s literally just there to be annoying and cause problems until she gets whallopped over and over until she finally learns to be nicer to Alinua.