Generally a protective helmet does cover the face, and they’re paladins. They spend much of their time combatting cave-crawlers. One would definitely want to be well-armoured if you’re fighting them with swords, y’know?
Bluesky text: group stealth check!
Tumblr text: recently had a draw steel game where we realized in the first combat that we’d left behind all our front-line tanks and only had our glass cannons. anyway this is probably fine
. The foliage at the edge of the trees rustles, and a squadron of Paladins walk into the clearing. They wear the traditional light blue and silver armor and helmets with large merfolk-like ears leaving only their eyes vulnerable. They’re carrying either spears or swords, except for one with no weapon, who wears a dark blue cape.
. “Stay sharp,” the leader says. “He can’t be far.”
. A few feet away from them, Dainix looks through the bushes at the Paladins. His arm is around Erin, hunched down in the greenery.
. “He was here, Recten!” one of the Paladins says, emerging from the cave nearby. “There’s arcane scribblings all over the floor!”
. “How many of his allies?”
. “I’d say no more than three.”
. “Good.” Recten, the leader, turns to the rest of the Paladins, who gather in a group around him. “I know this is beyond what any of you have faced, but do not be afraid,” he says. “We have seen that even the swordsman who terrorized our Champion could do nothing to break our Lady’s power. Her shields will protect you and her eyes will guide your hands as you fight for something far greater than any corporeal fear.” Above them, Falst crouches in a tree, watching with narrowed eyes.
. “Do not make the same mistake that humbled our Champion,” Recten continues. “The safety of the world is worth any price. Take no chances, suffer no hesitation–” Behind the bushes, Erin raises an arm, grimacing as he invokes Water. The water pooling on the forest floor starts to rise.
. “And indulge no thoughts of mercy,” Recten finishes.
Sorry I’m a week late lol, I’ve gotten some new story ideas recently and spent my creative energy on those
Tam got his ass kicked when he, in the Paladins’ eyes, failed to immediately go in for the kill upon finding Erin on the boat. So that’s how these guys are going to approach things.
Given the Void Dragon’s interaction with Erin I understand the paladin’s skepticism in accepting other people’s ideas of how to deal with Voidy given how long they have been fighting it. Better the tried and verified way to deal with it rather than something that rissk destroying the world. That drives the story’s conflict and plot forward.
exactly! the floof squad and the paladins ultimately want the same thing, its just that the fastest and safest way to stop voidy is to kill erin wich is something the floof squad wont do, they arent villains, they are antagonists
That idea works with chemistry, but with elements that would be like transmuting between elements, so I don’t know if it would work that way. It is always interesting to wonder about where the line between the magic system and chemistry gets drawn.
Sadly, not how it works in Aurora. Water and Wind are two completely separate things. On the other hand, Erin endeavor to create fog for Falst to start harassing the Paladins, or a watery sphere to shield his breath from spellbird tracking.
Yes, I do think there is the possibility of extracting Wind from the water. Gills allow literal breathing of Water, but there still IS a small amount of Wind dissolved in water, particularly near the surface. Evidence of this comes from the breathing device Selach was about to give Alinua before she grew gills. Presumably, it works by extracting Wind out of the water for the wearer to breathe.
im pretty sure the reason sea creatures can breathe in water in Aurora is because water’s secondary property is reflection (mimicking other elements), not because the water has wind in it.
Now that they’re so close, I don’t think he’d bother disguising himself from the Spellbirds. It seemed like he wanted to get to shore for that. I think he’s probably going for some sort of ice-based spell to slow the Paladins down while they escape.
I think Tam’s still healing up. Despite what faceless mook numero uno said, Kendal still managed to hit him with a *giant frick-off explosion* of Starfire and light magic. Paladin or not, he would’ve gotten severe burns, not to mention it’d be wise to let reinforcements scout out the situation first before jumping back into battle.
No one is more excited about Red’s reinterpretation of this trope than I, Aulde. This isn’t any Evil Empire, it’s actually a Utilitarian Good Empire, and that’s a fun contrast with the both the Floof Squad and the Real Villains.
It’s not an empire at all as far as I can tell. And they are (trying to) fight a real apocalyptic threat. Although they’re definitely as bull-headed as an empire, and a theocracy.
I guess Recten is a title for a type of captain or field commander? The main Paladin is wearing a cloak and the paladins don’t seem like the type of organization to casually use normal names for their leaders. Caleds was the term Lord Stefan used for the soldiers in the Snowfast, so there’s a precedent for the Paladins having unique names for their chain of command.
That’s a lot of strain on Erin’s face…It hasn’t been that long since he over-channeled himself. He said he could channel fire and water with ‘relative’ safety, not what it could cost him.
Love the spooky Falst in a tree. I do believe that’s how we met!
Just the fact that it seems to be taking him a while to cast this spell doesn’t bode well… hopefully Dainix doesn’t have to carry him like a sack of potatoes after this.
A part of me wants to say that, realistically, Falst should be the one carrying him because he’s stronger and faster than Dainix and so won’t be as hindered carrying a person as Dainix might be. Erin would have to curl up tight though to minimize the awkwardness caused by the hight difference.
maybe im totally off here but i still think their outfits look suspiciously similar to what falst’s dad was wearing in that flashback. the color schemes are at least
I see the vision, it’s not 1:1, but similar enough to consider (plus it’s possible the uniforms changed over time, or he’s not the same rank as these soldiers)
yeah i don’t think his dad is one of these guys specifically, my personal theory is that he’s somehow involved in the paladin organization. he’d probably be a higher rank if he’s actually been a paladin this whole time, so i doubt he’d be doing grunt work, plus it doesn’t feel like we’re being set up for that big a reveal at this point
“The nice thing about following a goddess who’s ontologically good is that I get to say the most villainous thing in the world and as long as I’m nominally fighting the forces of evil I still have the moral high ground. Right?”
Yeah, I get that they are trying to protect the world from a sun-devouring Void Dragon, but they are also trying VERY hard to not think about the fact that they are literally attempting to murder a nineteen-year-old boy and possibly the five other people with him for daring to stop them from committing said murder.
“And indulge no thoughts of mercy.” Hm. That bodes well…
Hiding in the water to throw off the spellbirds was good thinking. Fingers crossed Erin succeeds in bubbling himself in water and slipping down undetected (for now), though if Dainix goes with him, I’m sure the thalassophobia will be a bear to deal with.
Also: there is at least one person in this party (Falst) who can totally break the Light Dragon’s hold, and I am pleased that a) the paladins are apparently clueless about this and b) this may be foreshadowing for Falst coming in clutch later.
I’m not sure that’s his plan. It seemed like the shore was a long way off, and now that they’re this close, it’s more important to escape them than evade them. He might be going for some sort of freeze spell instead.
Given that Kendal absolutely broke the Lady’s breath weapon with his sword, I’m guessing Tam was completely suppressed when the Lady let loose. Though I’d hope that she would tell her Paladins, “Oh, and that swordsman is immune to my mental control, and has some power which, while not Void, is still a match to my own.” I get neither Tam nor the Lady realizing Falst broke out of the crown on his own, Kendal was keeping them busy. But the way the blast from the magic collision sent them flying seems like it would be memorable.
WELP, now we know for sure, the paladins are a take-lives-and-ask-questions-later sort of bunch. I guess, considering what they usually fight against, they don’t usually need to think very hard about it.
So it just occurred to me that like- shouldn’t the fact the bird is being told to seek out Erin and it’s still working be a sign that Erin is still there and the dragon has not fully consumed him?
Idk man they don’t even know what Kendal’s Starfire can do either because *someone* is making propaganda or because they’re pathologically incapable of looking at the danged news regarding *front page headline topics* such as Vash’s Heir and the Collector, despite the enormous Vash-powered Starfire blowup a couple blocks away from their library in Zuurith, AND the subsequent appearance of Collie herself in the same city! Sorry, the “danged news” of it all has been kinda bottled up inside me until now. It’s why I imagine them as incapable of cooperating with society at large, particularly stuff with the gods.
From their perspective, I don’t think it really matters. He’s a time bomb that will end the world, and they aren’t aware of any way to defuse him. It’s a cold, inflexible position, but I can’t blame them for seeing it as a situation where he has to die no matter how culpable he is.
Interesting! I think this would depend on how spellbirds work (something I don’t know); names are neither fixed nor unique. If it’s some kind of cosmere-esque “it only matters that you know who you’re thinking of” thing, or a “find someone people call this”, it would work regardless; if it’s more like “find someone who thinks of themself as this”, it wouldn’t—also, I assume spellbirds can be sent to someone asleep, right?
And so on; point is, we don’t actually know if or how a spellbird would distinguish Erin from possessed Erin
Falst: Ok, so when do we ambush them?
Dainix: Falst! We have no idea about their powers of training. Plus we have nothing to gain from such a-
(notices they have spears, swords, and any number of weapons he could take to restock his arsenal)
Dainix: … Let’s … put an ambush in the maybe pile.
I gotta mention something that’s bugged me about both these guys’ swords and Tynan’s: the guards curve the wrong way. They curve up away from protecting your knuckles and down into the way of your wrist.
I love it when the baddies draw exactly the wrong conclusion. “Our hero failed because he was too nice and merciful. A willingness to accept extensive collateral damage will cause our extremist sect that’s already viewed with a jaundiced eye to be widely loved and accepted. This will in no way backfire on us in the future.”
oh golly me it’s dainix
oh golly me it’s a whole buncha paladins
oh golly me it’s identical bad guys in face-concealing masks
Generally a protective helmet does cover the face, and they’re paladins. They spend much of their time combatting cave-crawlers. One would definitely want to be well-armoured if you’re fighting them with swords, y’know?
Consider, if you will, the implications.
Oh golly it’s a shff sound effect
oh golly me it’s Falst in a tree
I can tell Erin’s gonna be absolutely furious he’s being golly’d last. Even the faceless goons got to go before him!
oh golly me it’s a Ăľick jungle to cinematically exit from
^Oh golly me it’s the letter thorn
ÞþÞþÞþ
Oh golly me it’s Erin
Where’d falst go?
He’s on a tree in panel 7 for a stealth attack
Eren’s preparing some Water magic. And we all know about cats and water
I mean, given their track record, he at least can’t toast Falst with water.
…theoretically.
Fun fact: it’s possible to make steam hot enough to light stuff on fire!
Sneaky
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: identical bad guys in face-concealing masks I’m sorry I ever doubted your design wisdom
Image source: mercy
Bluesky text: group stealth check!
Tumblr text: recently had a draw steel game where we realized in the first combat that we’d left behind all our front-line tanks and only had our glass cannons. anyway this is probably fine
. The foliage at the edge of the trees rustles, and a squadron of Paladins walk into the clearing. They wear the traditional light blue and silver armor and helmets with large merfolk-like ears leaving only their eyes vulnerable. They’re carrying either spears or swords, except for one with no weapon, who wears a dark blue cape.
. “Stay sharp,” the leader says. “He can’t be far.”
. A few feet away from them, Dainix looks through the bushes at the Paladins. His arm is around Erin, hunched down in the greenery.
. “He was here, Recten!” one of the Paladins says, emerging from the cave nearby. “There’s arcane scribblings all over the floor!”
. “How many of his allies?”
. “I’d say no more than three.”
. “Good.” Recten, the leader, turns to the rest of the Paladins, who gather in a group around him. “I know this is beyond what any of you have faced, but do not be afraid,” he says. “We have seen that even the swordsman who terrorized our Champion could do nothing to break our Lady’s power. Her shields will protect you and her eyes will guide your hands as you fight for something far greater than any corporeal fear.” Above them, Falst crouches in a tree, watching with narrowed eyes.
. “Do not make the same mistake that humbled our Champion,” Recten continues. “The safety of the world is worth any price. Take no chances, suffer no hesitation–” Behind the bushes, Erin raises an arm, grimacing as he invokes Water. The water pooling on the forest floor starts to rise.
. “And indulge no thoughts of mercy,” Recten finishes.
Sorry I’m a week late lol, I’ve gotten some new story ideas recently and spent my creative energy on those
Wow. They are somehow MORE zealous than Tam.
Tam got his ass kicked when he, in the Paladins’ eyes, failed to immediately go in for the kill upon finding Erin on the boat. So that’s how these guys are going to approach things.
Crazy how easy it is to show no mercy when your Goddess literally tells you to show no mercy.
Given the Void Dragon’s interaction with Erin I understand the paladin’s skepticism in accepting other people’s ideas of how to deal with Voidy given how long they have been fighting it. Better the tried and verified way to deal with it rather than something that rissk destroying the world. That drives the story’s conflict and plot forward.
exactly! the floof squad and the paladins ultimately want the same thing, its just that the fastest and safest way to stop voidy is to kill erin wich is something the floof squad wont do, they arent villains, they are antagonists
@mogabriel This, yes, thank you, I was reaching for this, but couldn’t quite put it into words!
I hate being right about this.
Foliage supreme
Wonder in jungle island
And murder I guess
Sneaky Falst!
“Recten? Are we the baddies?”
Ha! Genius.
Wonder what Erin is doing with that water magic…
Based on what he said about spellbirds tracking your breath, I’d be willing to guess that he’s taking oxygen out of the water and into his lungs.
That idea works with chemistry, but with elements that would be like transmuting between elements, so I don’t know if it would work that way. It is always interesting to wonder about where the line between the magic system and chemistry gets drawn.
could be that the water vapour cloaks his breath or messes with the birbs somehow.
Sadly, not how it works in Aurora. Water and Wind are two completely separate things. On the other hand, Erin endeavor to create fog for Falst to start harassing the Paladins, or a watery sphere to shield his breath from spellbird tracking.
there can still be Air dissolved in the Water
Yes, I do think there is the possibility of extracting Wind from the water. Gills allow literal breathing of Water, but there still IS a small amount of Wind dissolved in water, particularly near the surface. Evidence of this comes from the breathing device Selach was about to give Alinua before she grew gills. Presumably, it works by extracting Wind out of the water for the wearer to breathe.
im pretty sure the reason sea creatures can breathe in water in Aurora is because water’s secondary property is reflection (mimicking other elements), not because the water has wind in it.
wait what
figured he was just gonna put a big bubble around himself, so he’s basically breathing in an airtight container
Now that they’re so close, I don’t think he’d bother disguising himself from the Spellbirds. It seemed like he wanted to get to shore for that. I think he’s probably going for some sort of ice-based spell to slow the Paladins down while they escape.
So much for talking things through. Oh well. C’est la vie!
Identical face-concealled henchfolk my beloved.
Currently resisting the urge to make one my pfp
Oh, great. Organized religion.
if I could like your comment 100 times, I would
And militarized! And isolated, in a self-imposed infinite echo chamber!
“Don’t kid yourself. It’s not that organized.”
Their greatest foe yet-
I do enjoy me some zealot curbstomping
Glad to see that Tam’s approach was already what passed as reasonable.
Also interesting move by the paladins to send in the faceless mook deathsquad. Is the champion still out cold?
I think Tam’s still healing up. Despite what faceless mook numero uno said, Kendal still managed to hit him with a *giant frick-off explosion* of Starfire and light magic. Paladin or not, he would’ve gotten severe burns, not to mention it’d be wise to let reinforcements scout out the situation first before jumping back into battle.
“Arcane scribblings” is now my new favourite term
Same
Wow I’m early, only golly me dainix guy is in the comments so far :0
Anyway, this is lookin like a situation, and the idea of official armoured guy saying “scribbled” unironically is amazing and I love it
Oh, we’re doing the “Faceless Minions Of The Evil Empire” bit now, I see.
Red loves messing with Tropes, @veggiesnake. It’s why she loves studying them! (smile)
No one is more excited about Red’s reinterpretation of this trope than I, Aulde. This isn’t any Evil Empire, it’s actually a Utilitarian Good Empire, and that’s a fun contrast with the both the Floof Squad and the Real Villains.
It’s not an empire at all as far as I can tell. And they are (trying to) fight a real apocalyptic threat. Although they’re definitely as bull-headed as an empire, and a theocracy.
Mmm, zealotry and “no mercy”, very goodguy behaviour!
I absolutely LOVE Falst hiding in the tree.
however, you made another, greater mistake, Paladins. Does “conservation of ninjutsu” ring any bell to any of you?
“Wrong bell.”
– Falst, 2.1.31
Classic villain blunder! They should’ve sent one guy in. Three at most. Now they’re doomed.
I should hope that the laws of conservation of ninjutsu apply to the paladins.
The panel with Falst is so creepy! Especially zoomed out on a phone, you can only see his glowing eyes.
I guess Recten is a title for a type of captain or field commander? The main Paladin is wearing a cloak and the paladins don’t seem like the type of organization to casually use normal names for their leaders. Caleds was the term Lord Stefan used for the soldiers in the Snowfast, so there’s a precedent for the Paladins having unique names for their chain of command.
Ah, sometimes Redshirts wear blue.
That’s a lot of strain on Erin’s face…It hasn’t been that long since he over-channeled himself. He said he could channel fire and water with ‘relative’ safety, not what it could cost him.
Love the spooky Falst in a tree. I do believe that’s how we met!
Just the fact that it seems to be taking him a while to cast this spell doesn’t bode well… hopefully Dainix doesn’t have to carry him like a sack of potatoes after this.
*looks at sign that says “Days Since Comic’s Last Bridal Carry”*
Yes, that would be…truly awful…
You got your wish!
A part of me wants to say that, realistically, Falst should be the one carrying him because he’s stronger and faster than Dainix and so won’t be as hindered carrying a person as Dainix might be. Erin would have to curl up tight though to minimize the awkwardness caused by the hight difference.
I accidentally posted this on the last page (forgive me guys) instead of this one so I’m gonna correct my error and post it here:
I’m sure they’re supposed to be dragon themed but looking at the helmets all I can think is Batpaladins.
Batladins
Palbatins
Palabats
I love this fandom
maybe im totally off here but i still think their outfits look suspiciously similar to what falst’s dad was wearing in that flashback. the color schemes are at least
I see the vision, it’s not 1:1, but similar enough to consider (plus it’s possible the uniforms changed over time, or he’s not the same rank as these soldiers)
I mean, only the commander/ Recten’s eyes are glowing in the same way Falst’s often do. Maybe the helmets are gearing us up for a surprise reveal?
Counterpoint: no tail.
yeah i don’t think his dad is one of these guys specifically, my personal theory is that he’s somehow involved in the paladin organization. he’d probably be a higher rank if he’s actually been a paladin this whole time, so i doubt he’d be doing grunt work, plus it doesn’t feel like we’re being set up for that big a reveal at this point
“‘Evil, evil, evil,’ I get it. Ya know if ya keep twirlin’ yer mustache like that it’ll fall out.”
–Durkon, OotS.
order of the stick mention!
“The nice thing about following a goddess who’s ontologically good is that I get to say the most villainous thing in the world and as long as I’m nominally fighting the forces of evil I still have the moral high ground. Right?”
That’s definitely always how it works – especially in real life!
Yeah, I get that they are trying to protect the world from a sun-devouring Void Dragon, but they are also trying VERY hard to not think about the fact that they are literally attempting to murder a nineteen-year-old boy and possibly the five other people with him for daring to stop them from committing said murder.
As far as they know, he’s already dead.
Pablo if that’s a quote from something I NEED to know what it’s from
Dude, they are SO getting caught…
YES!! I FINALLY MADE IT THROUGH THE ARCHIVE!!!
🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
“And indulge no thoughts of mercy.” Hm. That bodes well…
Hiding in the water to throw off the spellbirds was good thinking. Fingers crossed Erin succeeds in bubbling himself in water and slipping down undetected (for now), though if Dainix goes with him, I’m sure the thalassophobia will be a bear to deal with.
Also: there is at least one person in this party (Falst) who can totally break the Light Dragon’s hold, and I am pleased that a) the paladins are apparently clueless about this and b) this may be foreshadowing for Falst coming in clutch later.
I’m not sure that’s his plan. It seemed like the shore was a long way off, and now that they’re this close, it’s more important to escape them than evade them. He might be going for some sort of freeze spell instead.
That Captain in Panel 4 is making the same pose as Shrike back in 1.14.13. Coincidence?
Perhaps Red is just revisiting a reference.
Given that Kendal absolutely broke the Lady’s breath weapon with his sword, I’m guessing Tam was completely suppressed when the Lady let loose. Though I’d hope that she would tell her Paladins, “Oh, and that swordsman is immune to my mental control, and has some power which, while not Void, is still a match to my own.” I get neither Tam nor the Lady realizing Falst broke out of the crown on his own, Kendal was keeping them busy. But the way the blast from the magic collision sent them flying seems like it would be memorable.
But some are shifters, also not all ferin have tails right?
Some people were speculating the Recten is specifically Falst’s dad, who, being the same type of Ferin as his son, definitely has a tail.
WELP, now we know for sure, the paladins are a take-lives-and-ask-questions-later sort of bunch. I guess, considering what they usually fight against, they don’t usually need to think very hard about it.
I assumed that it was mostly cave-crawlers (aka those with Void corruption), based on Tam’s introduction and Falst’s backstory, iirc
yeah exactly
Historically speaking, there IS a reason you didn’t see a lot of armored heavy infantry trekking through dense, mountainous jungle.
Faceless bad guy masks are very convenient
So it just occurred to me that like- shouldn’t the fact the bird is being told to seek out Erin and it’s still working be a sign that Erin is still there and the dragon has not fully consumed him?
Idk man they don’t even know what Kendal’s Starfire can do either because *someone* is making propaganda or because they’re pathologically incapable of looking at the danged news regarding *front page headline topics* such as Vash’s Heir and the Collector, despite the enormous Vash-powered Starfire blowup a couple blocks away from their library in Zuurith, AND the subsequent appearance of Collie herself in the same city! Sorry, the “danged news” of it all has been kinda bottled up inside me until now. It’s why I imagine them as incapable of cooperating with society at large, particularly stuff with the gods.
From their perspective, I don’t think it really matters. He’s a time bomb that will end the world, and they aren’t aware of any way to defuse him. It’s a cold, inflexible position, but I can’t blame them for seeing it as a situation where he has to die no matter how culpable he is.
Interesting! I think this would depend on how spellbirds work (something I don’t know); names are neither fixed nor unique. If it’s some kind of cosmere-esque “it only matters that you know who you’re thinking of” thing, or a “find someone people call this”, it would work regardless; if it’s more like “find someone who thinks of themself as this”, it wouldn’t—also, I assume spellbirds can be sent to someone asleep, right?
And so on; point is, we don’t actually know if or how a spellbird would distinguish Erin from possessed Erin
Stark also has a good point
Don’t knock the faceless bad guys trope. That thing saves SO much character design.
Falst: Ok, so when do we ambush them?
Dainix: Falst! We have no idea about their powers of training. Plus we have nothing to gain from such a-
(notices they have spears, swords, and any number of weapons he could take to restock his arsenal)
Dainix: … Let’s … put an ambush in the maybe pile.
Wait, I know it’s been a minute since the Falst light magic stuff, but—
Can he HEAR that???
Sorry, this comment should be on the next page
I gotta mention something that’s bugged me about both these guys’ swords and Tynan’s: the guards curve the wrong way. They curve up away from protecting your knuckles and down into the way of your wrist.
They probably just didn’t have enough funding for good swords. And Tynan and just made whatever looked cool
I love it when the baddies draw exactly the wrong conclusion. “Our hero failed because he was too nice and merciful. A willingness to accept extensive collateral damage will cause our extremist sect that’s already viewed with a jaundiced eye to be widely loved and accepted. This will in no way backfire on us in the future.”