Ice is an aspect of Water, specifically Water mimicking Stone, and there are ice-adapted humans who live near the poles. It’s not unreasonable to think there are ice dragons out there.
nah, mages who wield two elements are already a rare thing and i dont think the paladins can track and kill elemental magus so efficiently that no one would ever get them
stefan is just aware of the fact that everything in aurora is made of element combinations and since the elemental magus can bend every element at all times(something that we already saw erin do when he stopped the storm) they can in theory bend anything
I agree, I assume fighting an elemental magus was a theoretical scenario that the paladin leaders have run through hundreds and hundreds of times before it now became a reality.
I think it’s more this man is strategic and has likely planned for dealing with an elemental magus, given that’s the one who could trip Walter’s trap. So if they had to deal with a true risk of Walter’s freedom, it would be an elemental magus they had to hunt.
well that’s. not ideal. i’m getting real sick of this guy’s genre savviness (not really. smart antagonists are fun. but this is very inconvenient for the floof squad ngl)
On one hand: Oh noes, Stefan has seen though the plan and is going to comb the ocean.
On the other hand: Oooh! Water dragons with wings like ray fins? Pretty.
I genuinely believe that Stefan could be the most dangerous foe the squad have encountered so far. Command over a large, organised, and well equipped army, wisdom and intelligence not blinded by hubris or fanaticism, and the ability to put himself in his enemies shoes and see though their deceptions.
The floof squad is going to have a hard time giving him the slip even in the best scenario.
On the plus side, it is only two dragons to a whole shoreline; Erin and Dainix may yet be able to give them the slip (if they turn the fire spell off). Not to mention more attention on the caldera will continue to divide their forces, and may bring Rakhn out to meet them, further complicating Paladin deployment.
We still don’t know where Falst is in all this, but he may play a part yet; being alone and in darkness is perfect for him to try some stealth moves. Maybe lob a stone at Loquor’s head? I’m sure Falst can suss that “glowing guy at the back” must be doing something important.
Honestly i think falst might hit Stefan and/or the psycic hub dude given the fact that they are spread thin aand falst could here their psyichic groupchat and could slip past a couple of guards
I do not think he has exactly seen through the deception, more like he is considering several possibilities, and using his resources to cover them. Since he is still sending troops to the caves, but also sending scouts to check the Caldera and the Ocean, since both are viable hiding spots for his target. He’s intelligent, considering the information he is getting, and adapting his deployments. Not rushing to any conclusions.
I’m hoping Falst will decide that the proper tactical decision is to parley with Stefan. It’s actually possible that part of Falst’s light-related secrets might be that he knows a little about Stefan or the Paladins (making the visit to the Library even funnier), and may have a way to convince Stefan to believe him. Maybe even warn him that the rest of the Floof Squad is even more dangerous than Stefan thinks, and are holding back because they have morals.
I’m curious, what is everyone else’s bet for next character to join the floof squad? Mine is the Paladin Champion for reasons I could talk about for ages but won’t inflict on you if nobody asks. What are all of yours?
On Red’s YouTube channel, she has a series of videos called “Trope Talks” where she discusses story elements, and she used to have Aurora characters cameo in them a lot. However, alongside the six protagonists we’ve been introduced to, there’s a seventh character who appeared, a sword-wielding warrior princess. Between how often she appeared with other Aurora characters in the videos, along with Red posting a sketch of her tagged for Aurora spoilers and allusions on other social media, the speculation is that this character is an as-yet-unintroduced seventh protagonist.
I’ve been very excited to see if this woman from the trope talks is a late-coming ally, or an early version of the Collector, as her hair is similar and Red’s stated she used the Aurora characters simply for ease of not having to come up with new character models. This is the first I’ve heard of her appearing in spoilery sketches!
I wonder if Selach will pull a little mermaid and ask Alina to give her legs so she can join the squad. It’s theoretically impossible from my understanding of the lore, but Alinua’s powers are unprecedented and it would be pretty cool. I still think Theia (the junior archivist) is the most likely though.
Okay, here goes. I think he would be a good bet for a couple reasons. Number one, though it seems not very important, he’s roughly the same age as the other main characters and that matters in stories like this. Number two, he’s on a similar power level. This is really important in a story with characters like this, who have incredibly strong powers or at the very least are extremely capable. It doesn’t make sense to add a character who can’t keep up power-wise because they don’t actually help in fights of the scale everyone else gets into. Number three (the most important one), is that he is an actual GOLDMINE for character development, drama, parallels, and dynamics. For instance, for parallels, there would be some interesting things when he comes into contact with Kendal, because when you consider yourself to have perfect morals and someone comes along whose morals are better than yours, that can shake up your sense of self pretty effectively. Also, we all know his dynamic with Erin is gonna be SO GOOD. The dark reflection drama is going to be great. Also he might shed some light on Falst’s budding powers (I know that pun was awful I’m sorry). We know Red values character development and dynamics and the like, so I think he’s a pretty solid bet. I don’t think he’ll fully join up for a while though because there is so much he can still do as an antagonist. Anyway, sorry for this turning out so long, this is my first comment-section-essay, hope you liked it!
I’m really hoping it’s Theia, but i doubt it. She was very emotional when we last saw her, which doesn’t typically lead to listening and chatting. Plus she’s traveling with and learning from Shrike and her biases. (Also she cut her hair so it’s less floofy jkjk. Also I haven’t seen her in many trope talks.)
How in the world do you think TAM is going to be next to join the floof squad? I don’t think defeat = friendship when you’ve got the Light Dragon, your god, whom you follow devoutly, speaking directly to you.
i think that tam might join but definitly not soon, like the floof squad will eventually have to adress that lucy and walter are one and the same for better or worse and at the end of the day tam and erin want the same thing(keep walter trapped in the center of the world) how will tam and lucy react to this discovery i dont know but i think he does have a chance at joining
I see you have looked at the dnd gold dragon body type and took inspiration from that. We are about to see some sea dragons. Also those dragons are about to meet a very angry Aliuna and a god that is in their debt.
Oh no. Ohhhhh no. The dragons are beautiful but oh my goodness the Floof Squad cannot catch a break. Curse Stefan’s cunning.
I love this comic and am sure I’ll be delighted once the whole arc is available to read, but at the moment the never-ending suspense is rough T-T
I also love dragons, always have. One of my Main Forms is a dragon, and a few years back, I started writing a book series about one who looks like it. (Health issues have put me on hiatus, but hopefully I can catch a break and recover enough to get back into it, I was still halfway through Book 3. I wanna finish the series, gah!)
The other two Main Forms are Hoofbun (which inspired a story series that became a Double Reverse Isekai / Superhero Comic Book in text form, with Flopsy being the local cryptid/superhero of a small Colorado town) and Yinglet (from Out of Placers, and yeah, I started a story series about that, with someone in mostly-Earth being turned into one and having to deal with all of it). I’d also started a second dragon series as an attempt to regain momentum and negate the hiatus, but it didn’t work, and I only got a single chapter out. (And it’s a bit dark in theme, ’cause I was also dealing with a lot of pain and stress.)
Y’know it is JUST now occurring to me that if they’re sending these poor well-intentioned henchmen down into the caves, they’re also sending them down to potentially where the sorceress who killed Vash is. Which…. I do not think will go well for them, if they manage to stumble on her. I actually think this plan has a spectacularly large bright red “BACKFIRE” button that they may or may not slam straight into.
i mean its not like the collector is everywhere in the singing caves all the time and she doesnt really have a reason for stopping by rakhn, we also saw her create her own entrances to the singing caves, i still have my doubts we will see the collector before helm
Have we seen her create entrances to the caves? We’ve seen her heal the wounds on Stone’s skin that are the city of Vash and a cave entrance (1.1.21) and in the end of 2.1 she simply appeared, threatened to heal over the city of Zuurith, and rode away on a large chimera. I’m not sure if Life’s power allows the Collector to create cave entrances, since that would be damaging Stone’s form, but Stone doesn’t have a soul-barrier to resist magic being done to his body anymore so would she able to “harm him” directly?…
YESSSSSSS we’re learning more about the dragons whose wings are connected to their tails! 😀 I can’t wait to see Vros and Calain swim. I wonder if they swim and fly using the same motions…
I’m really liking the back-and-forth between Erin’s planning and Stefan’s counterplay. Stefan is covering all of his bases and making very good informed guesses about what Erin is doing, but he doesn’t know EXACTLY which potential plan is being carried out. He still has to split his forces to avoid Erin slipping through his fingers, so the squad that happens to be assigned to the right answer is smaller and easier to evade or defeat before they can call for backup. Really great to have this highly competent and intelligent antagonist without making Erin’s strategy look pointless.
Yeah, and it’s clear that he’s only willing to divide his forces because he has overwhelming superiority, aerial recon, and instantaneous communication. He can rally his forces to the point of contact faster that a traditional “magical medieval” general could, too.
He’s prepared for a final showdown, and he wants to stay that way until it actually happens.
Well, previously the Northern Wyrm wasn’t thinking straight, seemed to just be attacking everything she saw. Thanks to Alinua, she’s in control (and has vowed to help our cotton-candy elf!)
omg you’re so right!
And imo Aurora’s done a better job of worldbuilding, so I can actually follow what the characters are saying, instead of flipping back a few pages to reread, realizing I haven’t missed anything, it’s ren/ten/whatever overcomplicated magic I can never wrap my head around or remember (Hunter exam is my fave arc because I understand it T-T). Red’s made a system that makes SENSE, and the words used make sense, so I can remember and understand everything that’s going on. (Though I am looking slightly askance at a world where every element has an opposite, aside from Light/Void which is its own opposite, but I trust Red to make it make sense eventually.)
(Apologies for the PARAGRAPH lol)
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: I got you a present (it’s more dragons)
Image source: water
Tumblr text: scheming and plotting oh my
Bluesky text: under the sea (redux)
Tumblr text: scheming and plotting oh my
Hey look, it’s Stefan’s secret squadron of water dragons.
Well, that was fast. Stefan is a terrible secret-keeper.
pretty water dragons
r u kidding can we switch this guy off
I kind of feel like an antagonist this smart will be extremely willing to listen to reason, too.
At first I thought they were ice dragons, but ice isn’t an element in Aurora. So I guess water dragons in general are just very heat-sensitive?
Ice is an aspect of Water, specifically Water mimicking Stone, and there are ice-adapted humans who live near the poles. It’s not unreasonable to think there are ice dragons out there.
when did they say this?
I could find one reference to ice-influenced people at the poles on Red’s Tumblr:
https://www.tumblr.com/comicaurora/628267006913921024/so-how-far-can-the-process-of-hybridisation-go-in
…Exactly how many Magi has this guy *hunted*?
💀💀💀
He and his sort might be/probably are the reason why elemental magi are so rare.
nah, mages who wield two elements are already a rare thing and i dont think the paladins can track and kill elemental magus so efficiently that no one would ever get them
stefan is just aware of the fact that everything in aurora is made of element combinations and since the elemental magus can bend every element at all times(something that we already saw erin do when he stopped the storm) they can in theory bend anything
I agree, I assume fighting an elemental magus was a theoretical scenario that the paladin leaders have run through hundreds and hundreds of times before it now became a reality.
I think it’s more this man is strategic and has likely planned for dealing with an elemental magus, given that’s the one who could trip Walter’s trap. So if they had to deal with a true risk of Walter’s freedom, it would be an elemental magus they had to hunt.
well that’s. not ideal. i’m getting real sick of this guy’s genre savviness (not really. smart antagonists are fun. but this is very inconvenient for the floof squad ngl)
On one hand: Oh noes, Stefan has seen though the plan and is going to comb the ocean.
On the other hand: Oooh! Water dragons with wings like ray fins? Pretty.
I genuinely believe that Stefan could be the most dangerous foe the squad have encountered so far. Command over a large, organised, and well equipped army, wisdom and intelligence not blinded by hubris or fanaticism, and the ability to put himself in his enemies shoes and see though their deceptions.
The floof squad is going to have a hard time giving him the slip even in the best scenario.
On the plus side, it is only two dragons to a whole shoreline; Erin and Dainix may yet be able to give them the slip (if they turn the fire spell off). Not to mention more attention on the caldera will continue to divide their forces, and may bring Rakhn out to meet them, further complicating Paladin deployment.
We still don’t know where Falst is in all this, but he may play a part yet; being alone and in darkness is perfect for him to try some stealth moves. Maybe lob a stone at Loquor’s head? I’m sure Falst can suss that “glowing guy at the back” must be doing something important.
Honestly i think falst might hit Stefan and/or the psycic hub dude given the fact that they are spread thin aand falst could here their psyichic groupchat and could slip past a couple of guards
I do not think he has exactly seen through the deception, more like he is considering several possibilities, and using his resources to cover them. Since he is still sending troops to the caves, but also sending scouts to check the Caldera and the Ocean, since both are viable hiding spots for his target. He’s intelligent, considering the information he is getting, and adapting his deployments. Not rushing to any conclusions.
I’m hoping Falst will decide that the proper tactical decision is to parley with Stefan. It’s actually possible that part of Falst’s light-related secrets might be that he knows a little about Stefan or the Paladins (making the visit to the Library even funnier), and may have a way to convince Stefan to believe him. Maybe even warn him that the rest of the Floof Squad is even more dangerous than Stefan thinks, and are holding back because they have morals.
That seems incredibly unlikely (considering previous events we’ve seen of Falst’s backstory) but is a fascinating idea.
of course there was water dragons!
Eeeeey depleted was right
Eeeeey looks like depleted was right!
I’m curious, what is everyone else’s bet for next character to join the floof squad? Mine is the Paladin Champion for reasons I could talk about for ages but won’t inflict on you if nobody asks. What are all of yours?
I’m still on Team Sword Lady.
Who’s sword lady 👀?
On Red’s YouTube channel, she has a series of videos called “Trope Talks” where she discusses story elements, and she used to have Aurora characters cameo in them a lot. However, alongside the six protagonists we’ve been introduced to, there’s a seventh character who appeared, a sword-wielding warrior princess. Between how often she appeared with other Aurora characters in the videos, along with Red posting a sketch of her tagged for Aurora spoilers and allusions on other social media, the speculation is that this character is an as-yet-unintroduced seventh protagonist.
I’ve been very excited to see if this woman from the trope talks is a late-coming ally, or an early version of the Collector, as her hair is similar and Red’s stated she used the Aurora characters simply for ease of not having to come up with new character models. This is the first I’ve heard of her appearing in spoilery sketches!
Yes, sword lady mentioned
We know barely anything about her character but she’s the character I’m most excited to see aside from the Septrenn.
I wonder if Selach will pull a little mermaid and ask Alina to give her legs so she can join the squad. It’s theoretically impossible from my understanding of the lore, but Alinua’s powers are unprecedented and it would be pretty cool. I still think Theia (the junior archivist) is the most likely though.
I think Theia is definitely going to be in an antagonist group with that person she left with. Also i want Therin yo be real.
Please share your theory, comment section essays are indeed one of my favorite things. There are a few of my own in Aurora’s earlier comment sections
Okay, here goes. I think he would be a good bet for a couple reasons. Number one, though it seems not very important, he’s roughly the same age as the other main characters and that matters in stories like this. Number two, he’s on a similar power level. This is really important in a story with characters like this, who have incredibly strong powers or at the very least are extremely capable. It doesn’t make sense to add a character who can’t keep up power-wise because they don’t actually help in fights of the scale everyone else gets into. Number three (the most important one), is that he is an actual GOLDMINE for character development, drama, parallels, and dynamics. For instance, for parallels, there would be some interesting things when he comes into contact with Kendal, because when you consider yourself to have perfect morals and someone comes along whose morals are better than yours, that can shake up your sense of self pretty effectively. Also, we all know his dynamic with Erin is gonna be SO GOOD. The dark reflection drama is going to be great. Also he might shed some light on Falst’s budding powers (I know that pun was awful I’m sorry). We know Red values character development and dynamics and the like, so I think he’s a pretty solid bet. I don’t think he’ll fully join up for a while though because there is so much he can still do as an antagonist. Anyway, sorry for this turning out so long, this is my first comment-section-essay, hope you liked it!
I’m really hoping it’s Theia, but i doubt it. She was very emotional when we last saw her, which doesn’t typically lead to listening and chatting. Plus she’s traveling with and learning from Shrike and her biases. (Also she cut her hair so it’s less floofy jkjk. Also I haven’t seen her in many trope talks.)
How in the world do you think TAM is going to be next to join the floof squad? I don’t think defeat = friendship when you’ve got the Light Dragon, your god, whom you follow devoutly, speaking directly to you.
i think that tam might join but definitly not soon, like the floof squad will eventually have to adress that lucy and walter are one and the same for better or worse and at the end of the day tam and erin want the same thing(keep walter trapped in the center of the world) how will tam and lucy react to this discovery i dont know but i think he does have a chance at joining
If you would like to see why I think this, I posted my thoughts above here
I see you have looked at the dnd gold dragon body type and took inspiration from that. We are about to see some sea dragons. Also those dragons are about to meet a very angry Aliuna and a god that is in their debt.
Oh no. Ohhhhh no. The dragons are beautiful but oh my goodness the Floof Squad cannot catch a break. Curse Stefan’s cunning.
I love this comic and am sure I’ll be delighted once the whole arc is available to read, but at the moment the never-ending suspense is rough T-T
Wonder how those dragons will do when they have to fight the ocean
Can never have too many dragons
Dragons are my special interest.
I love these!
Mine too! 😀
I also love dragons, always have. One of my Main Forms is a dragon, and a few years back, I started writing a book series about one who looks like it. (Health issues have put me on hiatus, but hopefully I can catch a break and recover enough to get back into it, I was still halfway through Book 3. I wanna finish the series, gah!)
The other two Main Forms are Hoofbun (which inspired a story series that became a Double Reverse Isekai / Superhero Comic Book in text form, with Flopsy being the local cryptid/superhero of a small Colorado town) and Yinglet (from Out of Placers, and yeah, I started a story series about that, with someone in mostly-Earth being turned into one and having to deal with all of it). I’d also started a second dragon series as an attempt to regain momentum and negate the hiatus, but it didn’t work, and I only got a single chapter out. (And it’s a bit dark in theme, ’cause I was also dealing with a lot of pain and stress.)
I swear read was just gunning for the oportunity to use “alacricity” (it means being lively or eagre btw)
Stefan simply cannot stop mogging ig, and ngl it’s working on me.
ok those water dragons are so fucking pretty!!
I’ve read Heir to the Empire. Opponents like this are NOT easy for protagonists.
good old mitth’raw’nuruodo
i still think that’s falst’s dad and i will continue to believe this baseless theory until we meet falst’s dad
Would be cool, I think Falst’s dad was a Ferin though
You think he’s hiding his tail?
I’m loving the dragon’s turtle like feet. There’s a beasty built for swimming and flight
Y’know it is JUST now occurring to me that if they’re sending these poor well-intentioned henchmen down into the caves, they’re also sending them down to potentially where the sorceress who killed Vash is. Which…. I do not think will go well for them, if they manage to stumble on her. I actually think this plan has a spectacularly large bright red “BACKFIRE” button that they may or may not slam straight into.
i mean its not like the collector is everywhere in the singing caves all the time and she doesnt really have a reason for stopping by rakhn, we also saw her create her own entrances to the singing caves, i still have my doubts we will see the collector before helm
Have we seen her create entrances to the caves? We’ve seen her heal the wounds on Stone’s skin that are the city of Vash and a cave entrance (1.1.21) and in the end of 2.1 she simply appeared, threatened to heal over the city of Zuurith, and rode away on a large chimera. I’m not sure if Life’s power allows the Collector to create cave entrances, since that would be damaging Stone’s form, but Stone doesn’t have a soul-barrier to resist magic being done to his body anymore so would she able to “harm him” directly?…
Man, this guy is too smart. fun! The plan is fucked
how dare they try to hurt the babies on 4/20, the holiest of days?
YESSSSSSS we’re learning more about the dragons whose wings are connected to their tails! 😀 I can’t wait to see Vros and Calain swim. I wonder if they swim and fly using the same motions…
water dragons. water dragons? water dragons! Water Dragons!! WATER! DRAGONS!
Glacial Drakes! POLAR dragons!
I love/hate how intelligent the captain is. I fully love how much he cares about his troops.
I am still so happy with the inclusion of dragons with the typical Metallic Dragon wings from D&D
I’m really liking the back-and-forth between Erin’s planning and Stefan’s counterplay. Stefan is covering all of his bases and making very good informed guesses about what Erin is doing, but he doesn’t know EXACTLY which potential plan is being carried out. He still has to split his forces to avoid Erin slipping through his fingers, so the squad that happens to be assigned to the right answer is smaller and easier to evade or defeat before they can call for backup. Really great to have this highly competent and intelligent antagonist without making Erin’s strategy look pointless.
Yeah, and it’s clear that he’s only willing to divide his forces because he has overwhelming superiority, aerial recon, and instantaneous communication. He can rally his forces to the point of contact faster that a traditional “magical medieval” general could, too.
He’s prepared for a final showdown, and he wants to stay that way until it actually happens.
“I got you a present (it’s more dragons)”
Oh boy, my favorite thing!
MORE NAMED DRAGONS! sickos image
You made me check the dictionary
congratulations on learning a new word! <3
I am guessing for “Alacrity”?
I only know it because a few MMO’s used it for casting or cooldown speed.
A pity Allinua just removed the “bigger fish” from those waters.
But I think between her, the Wyrm of the nothern water and the mermaids they might be ableto deal with them.
And Rakhn will likely take issue with any Dragons flying into his Caldera.
Well, previously the Northern Wyrm wasn’t thinking straight, seemed to just be attacking everything she saw. Thanks to Alinua, she’s in control (and has vowed to help our cotton-candy elf!)
Ah, but the Wyrm was also massively weakened in the process. Possibly too weak to defeat two water dragons.
OOOoooooooh you might be right 😬
FUCK YOU STEFAN
YOU ARE A FUN VILLAIN, BUT ALSO RAHHHHHHHHHH
I hope one day we get to see some friendly dragons
This level of tactical analysis reminds me of reading Hunter x Hunter 😀
omg you’re so right!
And imo Aurora’s done a better job of worldbuilding, so I can actually follow what the characters are saying, instead of flipping back a few pages to reread, realizing I haven’t missed anything, it’s ren/ten/whatever overcomplicated magic I can never wrap my head around or remember (Hunter exam is my fave arc because I understand it T-T). Red’s made a system that makes SENSE, and the words used make sense, so I can remember and understand everything that’s going on. (Though I am looking slightly askance at a world where every element has an opposite, aside from Light/Void which is its own opposite, but I trust Red to make it make sense eventually.)
(Apologies for the PARAGRAPH lol)
Im loving the old DND style gold dragon wings. I miss that style of dragon.
For your birthday, I got you dragons!
Agaaaiiiiin?
Thank you for the present Red, I do so love it when there are dragons