2016/03/21 [DMFA #1651]: Now Imagine

[nevwyn]

We make a weapon that isn't so much a weapon but a means of killing dragons that just happens to be a weapon that can also be used to kill other things. Now we make this weapon without magic and load it up with little bits of non magical metal so that they are non magical.

I'm just saying imagine we did this.


(Now, imagine we had the date and strip number in the title... -TW)

[Tapewolf]

We make a weapon that isn't so much a weapon but a means of killing dragons that just happens to be a weapon that can also be used to kill other things. Now we make this weapon without magic and load it up with little bits of non magical metal so that they are non magical.

It seems likely to me that the weapon is going to be difficult and expensive enough to make and make ammo for, that like nuclear weapons, cruise missiles and strike aircraft, the customers are going to be nations rather than individuals.  (Remember too that like nuclear weapons, they have half-lives as the nonmagical parts become 'magnetised' with magic).
I can see the Furrae equivalent of a non-proliferation treaty in the making if this does take down Hizell - just as creating life was legally restricted after the Undead incident.  And that would be in everyone's interest, since it will also cut right through those magical shields Beings use to defend themselves against Creatures.

Either way, there is a more immediate problem - Biggs is using Abel as the lever to make this go... if they go outside and Destania has murdered him, the plan is going to go horrifically wrong.

[Nightmask]

Considering what we know Biggs is being spot on honest with Jyrras about the threat from Hizell, heck he's currently UNDER representing just how dangerous things are.  Without a dragon-level weapon he could easily murder Jyrras and everyone he knows without even a challenge from it just to eliminate Abel.  While it's part of a bigger plan of Biggs' to get Jyrras to make the weapon he's not wrong that at present without Jyrras or someone managing some radical change in circumstances said weapon is likely the only chance they have to survive an inevitable attack by Hizell.

[Delian Williams]

Destania keeping Abel safe from Hizell? Is that a joke? She told him his whereabouts. It's pretty cold of him to pretend Abel will be safe, if their plans succeed... or cubi in general. Didn't Biggs have Owona eliminated as well?

Time for the pickup truck...

• Looks like Jyrras is picking up Destania's way of story telling.


• Let's hope Hizell's palantir isn't picking up this conversation.


• I'm trying to imagine, what thoughts Abel and Dee are picking up... I mean Abel is polite enough not to tune in on everyone's thoughts, but when he's the mentioned in a convo..., maybe Biggs and Jy have mindshields up. I'm also wondering, what Destania is jammering him with. Probably some boring Home and Gazebo articles ;3


• Good thing Mab is still around. Maybe her Mabby sense will sooner or later pick up more than just a vague feeling of missing something important.

The card Biggs gave to Jyrras is probably playing the Furrae equivalent of the Imperial March or something by Imagine Dragons.

[Kibin]

We make a weapon that isn't so much a weapon but a means of killing dragons that just happens to be a weapon that can also be used to kill other things. Now we make this weapon without magic and load it up with little bits of non magical metal so that they are non magical.

It seems likely to me that the weapon is going to be difficult and expensive enough to make and make ammo for, that like nuclear weapons, cruise missiles and strike aircraft, the customers are going to be nations rather than individuals.  (Remember too that like nuclear weapons, they have half-lives as the nonmagical parts become 'magnetised' with magic).
I can see the Furrae equivalent of a non-proliferation treaty in the making if this does take down Hizell - just as creating life was legally restricted after the Undead incident.  And that would be in everyone's interest, since it will also cut right through those magical shields Beings use to defend themselves against Creatures.

Either way, there is a more immediate problem - Biggs is using Abel as the lever to make this go... if they go outside and Destania has murdered him, the plan is going to go horrifically wrong.

And Dan too, who is actually of the clan that made Cubi the #1 target of dragons in the first place.

[Tapewolf]

And Dan too, who is actually of the clan that made Cubi the #1 target of dragons in the first place.

Yes, I'm not entirely sure how well that fits in.  Obviously using such a weapon on Hizell would remove much of the threat to Dan, but given that Dan is even higher on Hizell's kill list than Abel and that Biggs hasn't mentioned this, I'm not sure if Biggs knows.  AFAIK Dee has handled nearly all of the interactions with Dan disguised as Biggs.  Either way, Dan is currently at SAIA, out of Hizell's reach.

Destania keeping Abel safe from Hizell? Is that a joke?

No, but it may very well be an instance of Biggs and Destania being at cross-purposes.  So far she's been very careful to hide from him that the man she tried to kill is Jyrras' friend.  Biggs has been trying to establish the truth after taking a call from one of his minions that was clearly intended for Biggstania, but I don't know if he's got there yet.

[Tuyu]

I wonder if he has any idea that the not-in-imaginary-trouble-at-all cubi is about 25 feet away...

(This entire situation could actually hinge on a "we'll try it your way" conversation between Biggs and Destania. It's easier to imagine this moment is all Biggs' idea than that Dee put herself in a situation like this, 'cause "Lunch with Abel" is something that's likely to exist in Jyrras's calendar, which means Chazore would know, which means Kria might know, which means...)

[Cassi-kun]

The dragons don't know about Dan.

[ChaosMageX]

We make a weapon that isn't so much a weapon but a means of killing dragons that just happens to be a weapon that can also be used to kill other things. Now we make this weapon without magic and load it up with little bits of non magical metal so that they are non magical.

It seems likely to me that the weapon is going to be difficult and expensive enough to make and make ammo for, that like nuclear weapons, cruise missiles and strike aircraft, the customers are going to be nations rather than individuals.  (Remember too that like nuclear weapons, they have half-lives as the nonmagical parts become 'magnetised' with magic).
I can see the Furrae equivalent of a non-proliferation treaty in the making if this does take down Hizell - just as creating life was legally restricted after the Undead incident.  And that would be in everyone's interest, since it will also cut right through those magical shields Beings use to defend themselves against Creatures.

Considering how one of the major authorities in the world, the Creature Counsel, has reacted to Jyrras and his work so far, being aware of his manufacture of items with limited magic, I think it would be likely they will be the ones to enact such a non-proliferation treaty.

Either way, there is a more immediate problem - Biggs is using Abel as the lever to make this go... if they go outside and Destania has murdered him, the plan is going to go horrifically wrong.

I don't think it's likely that Destania would murder him then and there.  Even if she still intended to kill him, doing so in that location would likely blow her cover, something that's in her best interest to keep.  On top of that, it isn't even that likely that she still desires to kill him, considering that her scheme of contracting adventures to kill him was merely a birthday gift, in order to spare him from what she considers a more likely death at the hands of Hizell, which she would just step aside and let happen.  And finally, doing so might ultimately compromise their plans at large, since it might fall beyond the limits of Biggs' contingencies.  Having accompanied him to this location, she is probably fully aware of the nature of his conversation with Jyrras without having to read their thoughts, as well as the importance of not doing anything to screw it up.

The only question is why she accompanied him there in the first place, but the answer could be as simple as keeping up the appearance of being his stewardess/valet and perhaps chauffeur as well as his secretary, again as part of maintaining her cover.  The fact that Abel is also there is probably nothing more than a coincidence, since he went there merely to have lunch with Jyrras, but whether his presence there is more than just happenstance in terms of the comic's greater plot remains to be seen.

[Cassi-kun]

Given that Hizell is a factor in the visit, Dee likely tagged along because she has a vested interest in whether Biggs is successful in negotiating with Jyrras. It did take the friendship/guilt card to get Jy to even listen to Biggs, Dee may be there as a backup if Biggs fails (and in her gazelle guise just to avoid attention, because stealth).

[Tapewolf]

Considering how one of the major authorities in the world, the Creature Counsel, has reacted to Jyrras and his work so far, being aware of his manufacture of items with limited magic, I think it would be likely they will be the ones to enact such a non-proliferation treaty.

It's still unclear how that works.  The world seems to be a fragmented mass of states, with radically different laws.  The Being-Creature council seems to be the closest there is to some kind of universal law and that itself is probably an opt-in thing which not all nations are signatories to.  Hizell's domain for example - a 'cubi's crimes being judged by another member of their race sounds particularly unlikely if it's a capital crime for them to be there at all.

And the Creature Council is AFAIK, not the same thing at all.  It seems more like an Illuminati group than a legal standards body.  I would be surprised if there was any legal framework behind them at all.

I don't think it's likely that Destania would murder him then and there.  Even if she still intended to kill him, doing so in that location would likely blow her cover, something that's in her best interest to keep.  On top of that, it isn't even that likely that she still desires to kill him, considering that her scheme of contracting adventures to kill him was merely a birthday gift, in order to spare him from what she considers a more likely death at the hands of Hizell, which she would just step aside and let happen.  And finally, doing so might ultimately compromise their plans at large, since it might fall beyond the limits of Biggs' contingencies.  Having accompanied him to this location, she is probably fully aware of the nature of his conversation with Jyrras without having to read their thoughts, as well as the importance of not doing anything to screw it up.

This line of thinking relies on Destania being a rational actor, which Fa'Lina has confirmed is not the case.  
It also seems to be the case from p.1452 that she tipped Hizell off that Abel was in the Lost Lake, which is going to raise hell if Biggs ever finds out that she was happy to sacrifice his sister, her own daughter and everyone else at Lost Lake, just to make sure Abel dies.