2020-01-24 [DMFA #1965] - spear of destiny

[Tapewolf]

Well, that's a turn-up for the books.  If this is the spear that pierced Aniz' side, then presumably that's a bit more magic that it's soaked up as per p.1645.

I'm hoping that it's not actually in the box because it was marginal and/or expensive-looking (as opposed to the broken fragments), since it would be rather a shame for Alexsi to lose one of the few heirlooms from her mother.

[Carmeops]

but, it's strange isn't it? she always have that mallet/spear on her, who could have taken it from her and be sneaky enough to remove the spearhead without being noticed? just to give it to Biggs for his anti-dragon plan?

we may never know

edit, or, maybe just that time where Biggs stole the mallet, in the dark times of "black and white comic that seems to have no plot so far"

[ProfesseurRenard]

I admit I was a bit confused about this page at first. I thought it was the mallet head that had been teleported after hitting the floor. Thank you both for clearing the matter up for me.

[WhyNot?]

Huh. I did always think Biggs stealing the mallet was going to be important but I thought it would be about it's Hammerspace properties or that it worked on the same principal as Hizell's mythos teleporting to their weapons and he'd shut it off or something.

Also I went back and looked at Page 1664 where the examples of the metal in use are shown, since according to Amber one had some story relevance and I remembered a spear. It's the one that's dressed to look like Taun, so I doubt it's meant to be her, but you never know with this comic.

[Nightmask]

Someone miscalculated if they thought they could steal the spearhead and have it go unnoticed, a seasoned fighter or someone very familiar with a weapon would notice that something was off in short order next time that they used it.

[HaDDea]

Hmm, the way this comic is set up, it makes me wonder if Jyrras himself was the one to take the spearhead (though as others have pointed out, Biggs has had ample opportunity). I'd guess it had been stolen fairly recently in-universe (when did the hammer-napping take place?). I wonder how this missing spearhead is going to play into events (other than the obvious bullet-shaped one).

Man, if a common cubi obtaining power by killing a high-level dragon put the dragons in a tizzy, what is Biggs' plan going to do to them??

Jyrras looks filled with determination in that last panel... and I'm not sure that's a good thing in this case

[Tapewolf]

Hmm, the way this comic is set up, it makes me wonder if Jyrras himself was the one to take the spearhead (though as others have pointed out, Biggs has had ample opportunity).

Most unlikely.  I'm not sure Jyrras has actually been back to Lost Lake since he accepted Biggs' proposal.  This is almost certainly part of the consignment of stolen pieces of metal that Biggs gave him to manufacture weapons and ammo from.

Man, if a common cubi obtaining power by killing a high-level dragon put the dragons in a tizzy, what is Biggs' plan going to do to them??

Move Beings higher up the list of races that need to be exterminated, I'd expect.

[Eboreg]

Man, if a common cubi obtaining power by killing a high-level dragon put the dragons in a tizzy, what is Biggs' plan going to do to them??

Move Beings higher up the list of races that need to be exterminated, I'd expect.

Destania's plan for the dragons is beginning to look more and more attractive by the second...

[joshofspam]

Well, that's a turn-up for the books.  If this is the spear that pierced Aniz' side, then presumably that's a bit more magic that it's soaked up as per p.1645.

I'm hoping that it's not actually in the box because it was marginal and/or expensive-looking (as opposed to the broken fragments), since it would be rather a shame for Alexsi to lose one of the few heirlooms from her mother.

Really makes you wonder where Biggs is getting all his magic killing metal from?

If he or Destania simply stole Alexsi's spear-head would they be less subtle with the methods they used to steal from those they have more insubstantial connections too.

[keybounce]

Someone miscalculated if they thought they could steal the spearhead and have it go unnoticed, a seasoned fighter or someone very familiar with a weapon would notice that something was off in short order next time that they used it.

This is a very good point. When was the last time she tried to use the mallet? Has to be stolen since that time.

[Kuzma Volkov]

http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_701.php
So a few before her mom put her foot down.. She summons the mallet and that spear head isn't there. So..

Amber had the fight stopped before her character could notice the weight and since then every time Lexi would have brought it out in combat she was either incapacitated, out on a date or traveling.

That is some impressive level of remembering hidden plot O_o;; 14 years and 1264 strips. 

[Nightmask]

http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_701.php
So a few before her mom put her foot down.. She summons the mallet and that spear head isn't there. So..

Amber had the fight stopped before her character could notice the weight and since then every time Lexi would have brought it out in combat she was either incapacitated, out on a date or traveling.

That is some impressive level of remembering hidden plot O_o;; 14 years and 1264 strips. 

I think that's more a representation of the Mallet magically porting into her hand than of the spear head not being there.

[PhycoKrusk]

I think that's more a representation of the Mallet magically porting into her hand than of the spear head not being there.

It's hard to see, but the action text makes it clear that Destania is just that fast, and snatched it out of Alexi's hand being shoving her aside.

Destania's plan for the dragons is beginning to look more and more attractive by the second...

I continue to maintain that this plan for the dragons is just what she said to get Biggs on-board so she could access his resources, and that her actual plan is to kill everything. Or at least everyone she views as responsible for her misery.

More importantly though, when this weaponry is finally ready and likely getting distributed, who will it get traced back to? If it gets traced back to JyCorp., then that's likely the end of JyCorp, and Jyrras as well. The Creature Council will take action, Jyrras will respond with his technology, collateral damage will draw in everyone who otherwise wasn't involved, every race will use the chaos as an opportunity to enact whatever plans they have in place. It'll be a slaughter, the peace will be shattered, probably for good, dragons will likely be exterminated, and so will the cubi. Destania wins.

If it gets traced back to Biggs, it gets traced back to the Twink Territories, and will likely be considered an overt act of war. Biggs will use his natural charisma and the power of belief to rally beings to the cause, and a lot of creatures that have grown up surrounded by beings will probably support and join them. Collateral damage will draw in everyone who othyerwise wasn't involved, every race will use the chaos as an opportunity to enact whatever plans they have in place. It'll be a slaughter, the peace will be shattered, definitely for good, it'll be a battle to the very end, everyone is dead or close enough that there will be no recovering from it. Destania wins.

If it doesn't get traced back to anyone, it'll be blamed on the Adventurer's Guild, and in turn on beings, and turn into a free-for-all. Collateral damage won't need to draw anyone in because everyone is already involved, and every race will use the chaos as an opportunity to enact whatever plans they have in place. It'll be a slaughter, the peace will be shattered, definitely for good, it'll be a battle to the very end, everyone is dead or close enough that there will be no recovering from it. Destania wins.

If it ends up being a failure, investigations will trace everything back to JyCorp. The Creature Council will take action, Jyrras will respond with his technology, and Biggs will use his natural charisma to whip up frenzied support. Collateral damage will draw in everyone who otherwise wasn't involved, every race will use the chaos as an opportunity to enact whatever plans they have in place. It'll be a slaughter, the peace will be shattered, probably for good, dragons will likely be exterminated, and so will the cubi. Destania wins.

Run more scenarios if you'd like, but I really only see two where Destania doesn't win, and one of them is maintaining the current status quo.

[Tapewolf]

I continue to maintain that this plan for the dragons is just what she said to get Biggs on-board so she could access his resources, and that her actual plan is to kill everything. Or at least everyone she views as responsible for her misery.

It's a bit more than that.  It's also what she told Fa'Lina as witnessed by Fi (p.936), and she also denounced Alexsi for associating with Pyroduck.  Now that last was in Biggs' presence, but the fact that she was willing to sacrifice her life just to get Abel killed speaks louder than her words.

That said, I'm sure she has a long list of people.  Biggs is pretty sure that she'll eliminate him once they're done.

More importantly though, when this weaponry is finally ready and likely getting distributed, who will it get traced back to? If it gets traced back to JyCorp., then that's likely the end of JyCorp, and Jyrras as well. The Creature Council will take action, Jyrras will respond with his technology, collateral damage will draw in everyone who otherwise wasn't involved, every race will use the chaos as an opportunity to enact whatever plans they have in place. It'll be a slaughter, the peace will be shattered, probably for good, dragons will likely be exterminated, and so will the cubi. Destania wins.

There's a couple more factors involved.  For one, the weapons work just as well on Beings as they do on Creatures.  It'll go through a Demon hide or 'Cubi wings, but it will also go through magic armour and those protection spells that Beings cast regularly.  In fact their first use was against Beings, to protect a Creature.  The hook Biggs drew into mass-producing machine-weapons is that he'll be able to protect his Creature friends.  Biggs may have instigated it, but once he has the weapons stockpiled, Jyrras is a wildcard and could turn against Biggs if given the right motivation.  For that matter Jyrras probably has his own weapons stockpiled already, e.g.  the "mining machine" in the secret lab.

The other thing is that the weapons are just one spoke in a larger wheel (p.1883).  Biggs has the power to warp reality, so long as other people believe he can do so (p.1888-9).  That has the potential to change the outcome of those scenarios in ways which the weapons alone cannot.  What he's going to do is try and change the underlying belief system in Furrae, and that will definitely change the equation.

[InhumanInterest]

I made a joke about Warhammer 40K that the secret of all the mystic powers of the imperium was that the orks believed in them. That their belief in some immensely powerful foe capable of providing the best challenge for them caused the existence of the emperor, the warp, and all the other nonsense.

I mention that because in a very legitimate sense I think Biggs has that sort of opportunity here. If he makes it clear that he's a source of these weapons he might connect the dots needed to make creatures believe "Biggs has forever changed the balance of power into one where beings and creatures are level" and believing that might be enough to make it so. It seems like the weapon source being drawn to Biggs is most likely to benefit him more than anything else.

Heck, even if the council decides to wage war against the Twink Territories on that basis it'd likely just make more furs believe Biggs has the power to threaten the status quo which would provide him with said power.

[Tuyu]

Looking back at comic 703 in light of the current comic, how about this:

Destania's the one who "mistakenly" put Alexsi's name on the kidnap list. It wasn't just so that she could have a talk with Alexsi, it was so that she could take the spearhead. Dan being kidnapped in Alexsi's place nearly screwed up the plan, but Alexsi joining the rescue party rescued the plan. Then Dee put a spell on the mallet so the missing weight and balance wouldn't be noticed for a while...maybe a month. It's been a bit more than a month since then, I think. So the spell fades after a month, and this is just the first time Alexsi has picked up the mallet since then.  It could mean Alexsi has used the mallet since seeing Dee, and if so she'd be less likely to figure out that Dee's the one who had the opportunity to steal the spearhead.

[e_voyager]

Oh no he didn't! Biggs hit the spear tip stolen from Alexis's mallet? That is big time low blow territory

[WhyNot?]

Looking back at comic 703 in light of the current comic, how about this:

Destania's the one who "mistakenly" put Alexsi's name on the kidnap list. It wasn't just so that she could have a talk with Alexsi, it was so that she could take the spearhead. Dan being kidnapped in Alexsi's place nearly screwed up the plan, but Alexsi joining the rescue party rescued the plan. Then Dee put a spell on the mallet so the missing weight and balance wouldn't be noticed for a while...maybe a month. It's been a bit more than a month since then, I think. So the spell fades after a month, and this is just the first time Alexsi has picked up the mallet since then.  It could mean Alexsi has used the mallet since seeing Dee, and if so she'd be less likely to figure out that Dee's the one who had the opportunity to steal the spearhead.

I think you're a slight bit confused and mixing up events here. Alexsi was successfully kidnapped with the cover story of it being Dan they were after and it is stated that Biggs is the one who set it up for Dee.

I do think the using magic to make it seem like the weight was fine, something I'd had similar thoughts on, is a good theory but it could just as easily date back to the time Biggs stole the mallet in the first place.

[ProfesseurRenard]

Looking back at comic 703 in light of the current comic, how about this:

Destania's the one who "mistakenly" put Alexsi's name on the kidnap list. It wasn't just so that she could have a talk with Alexsi, it was so that she could take the spearhead. Dan being kidnapped in Alexsi's place nearly screwed up the plan, but Alexsi joining the rescue party rescued the plan. Then Dee put a spell on the mallet so the missing weight and balance wouldn't be noticed for a while...maybe a month. It's been a bit more than a month since then, I think. So the spell fades after a month, and this is just the first time Alexsi has picked up the mallet since then.  It could mean Alexsi has used the mallet since seeing Dee, and if so she'd be less likely to figure out that Dee's the one who had the opportunity to steal the spearhead.

I think you're a slight bit confused and mixing up events here. Alexsi was successfully kidnapped with the cover story of it being Dan they were after and it is stated that Biggs is the one who set it up for Dee.

I do think the using magic to make it seem like the weight was fine, something I'd had similar thoughts on, is a good theory but it could just as easily date back to the time Biggs stole the mallet in the first place.

I look forward to finding out exactly when the spearhead was taken.