01/13/08 [FFC #45] - Payoff

[Tapewolf]

Heh, a good return to form.

So, Bengahl has his shiny new Thae'lith.  I guess the question is, what's he going to do with him?  And what of the others?

**EDIT**
Also, is it coincidence that the young Thae'lith looks all demure and sort of scared, while the young 'Cubi looks kind of psychotic?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I've got to wonder about that mithril crack...

[Tapewolf]

I've got to wonder about that mithril crack...

Presumably it has vastly different properties in Turnsky's universe.

[Sicill]

A new comic! Hopefully Turnsky has gotten what he needed.

The the phrasing of the Mithril seems a bit odd to me but if I am reading it right... Luke's second wings protect him from magical damage, blunt damage caused by a guard wearing mithril, and the explosion that results when the armor and the second wings come into contact. Of course, I could be reading it incorrectly but it sounds to me like mithril armor would be similar to a sodium armor in that it is highly reactive with certain substances.
Could be wrong though.

[Turnsky]

Ariannian Mithril reacts violently to magic.. to wear a suit of armor of it would be like wearing a suit of C4.

[Tapewolf]

Ariannian Mithril reacts violently to magic.. to wear a suit of armor of it would be like wearing a suit of C4.

Sounds useful.  Just not as armour.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Yay for terrorrorrorrorrorists!

[Tapewolf]

Yay for terrorrorrorrorrorists!

I think you'll find it's spelled "Terrsts".

Actually I was thinking in terms of demolition, or heck... internal combustion engines.  If it's that violent, you'd only need a weak magic field to ignite the stuff as a powder or in solution.  Though I suspect Mithril is probably too rare for such uses.

[Turnsky]

Yay for terrorrorrorrorrorists!

I think you'll find it's spelled "Terrsts".

Actually I was thinking in terms of demolition, or heck... internal combustion engines.  If it's that violent, you'd only need a weak magic field to ignite the stuff as a powder or in solution.  Though I suspect Mithril is probably too rare for such uses.

it'd be too erratic to make a 'reliable' explosive substance anyways.

[ShadesFox]

Yay for terrorrorrorrorrorists!

I think you'll find it's spelled "Terrsts".

I'm going with T'rist.  The E is needed for freedom!  And one of the R's, but jut one.  Freedom only has one R.

Back on topic, yay update!  Though I get the feeling that Luke's first lesson will be fixing holes X3.

[Tapewolf]

I get the feeling that Luke's first lesson will be fixing holes X3.

Bengahl made it, he can fix it.  Though you've given me an interesting idea.

Luke hasn't actually agreed to any of this.  Heck, if I was in his place, I might get the idea that Bengahl was trying to murder me.  Have they got a contingency plan in case he tries to do a runner?

[Brunhidden]

and here i was thinking of a rant someone did about how mithril must be what we now know as aluminum

however an aluminum suit of armor would be far inferior to, say, iron or kevlar, and an aluminum blade might be light to swing and wickedly sharp.... it would not have any force behind it and would damage ridiculously easy




the applications of your kind of mithril have other ideas though, such as vietnam war style sabotage by sneaking into the enemy base and replacing their armor with mithril armor cleverly disguised as normal stuff



however, as far as uses for Thae'lith, all i can come up with are soup, a slave boy to hold one of those big leafy fans, or a novelty paperweight who mutters and plots to knife you in your sleep

[Tapewolf]

Is it just me, or does Bengahl look really unhappy in this strip?

[ShadesFox]

Bengahl made it, he can fix it.  Though you've given me an interesting idea.

Luke hasn't actually agreed to any of this.  Heck, if I was in his place, I might get the idea that Bengahl was trying to murder me.  Have they got a contingency plan in case he tries to do a runner?

I doubt Bengahl sees it the same way.  After all, it was Luke who physically went through the wall.

Still, I suppose the first thing keeping him from is that Luke doesn't know where he is or where he would go.  The bit about turnning into a furry and sprouting wings may help him think, "The bears can't be any worse then this." though.

On the other hand, I am currently amusing myself with thought of 'cubi children yelling, "Yay!  It's find the Thae'lith day!"

[AmigaDragon]

Ariannian Mithril reacts violently to magic.. to wear a suit of armor of it would be like wearing a suit of C4.

Is this because it's a different "mithril" than what we'd otherwise know of from Tolkien and AD&D, or is it the same but in a different multiverse with different physical/magical laws? The latter idea comes from reading Zelazny's Amber series, where in one book the bullets taken into one "shadow" world of reality have jeweler's rouge instead of gunpowder because what we know of as gunpowder here is nonvolatile there and nonvolatile rouge here is explosive there.

[Tyranastrasz]

Ariannian Mithril reacts violently to magic.. to wear a suit of armor of it would be like wearing a suit of C4.

Is this because it's a different "mithril" than what we'd otherwise know of from Tolkien and AD&D, or is it the same but in a different multiverse with different physical/magical laws? The latter idea comes from reading Zelazny's Amber series, where in one book the bullets taken into one "shadow" world of reality have jeweler's rouge instead of gunpowder because what we know of as gunpowder here is nonvolatile there and nonvolatile rouge here is explosive there.

I must disagree with the second idea, and the person who came up with it. Oh, hi, by the way, I'm Tyran. Anyway, since we classify and name substances by their properties, something that has the properties of something else in a different world/universe/realm/etc. would be considered as said something else, not what it is in our world, thereby also making it not be the same thing and therefore not something in one realm that acts differently in another. Of course, there's always the possibility that the magical laws of this second world mess with things, but then the physical laws are rather useless. Yes, I have a problem for overthinking things.

[Turnsky]

really it hasta do with the fact that Mithril in most forms on ariannia, is magical also. As well as being hard to purify correctly, the reaction is more... 'excited' the more pure the Mithril is. I could liken the reaction of the two like, popcorn on a stove, any direct application of Magics to the material charges the already fairly saturated material. what holds mithril together is the fact that unlike most materials on ariannia, its atomic bonds are magic in their own right, and fairly weak, when you add the chaotic elements present in magics, you'd get an atomic breakdown similar to nuclear fission to occur. The aforementioned popcorn analogy refers to how it's structured, the bonds are not all the same strength, and the impurities further compound what would be a 'clean reaction'. The explosion isn't an explosion like how gunpowder explodes, either, there's no heat, there is just force, and pure arcane discharge, similar to what the Thae'lith use (See: Bengahl punching Luke out of building). Furthermore, it can't be 'contained' it goes where it wants to, it's not a directed force per se.

[Kabbalist]

Point the first: an update and other signs of life! Huzzah! I do love our snarky Thae'lith...and I mean all of them, in their varying degrees of cynicism.

Point the second: Um...wow. You've really put a lot of thought into the setting if you're going so far as to work out the special physics of magical substances. I'm impressed. I'm also enjoying the mental image of a whole enclave of 'Cubi playing "find the Thae'lith" if Luke tries to go AWOL. That has far too much potential for amusement to be healthy for anyone involved.

[Tyranastrasz]

Point the second: Um...wow. You've really put a lot of thought into the setting if you're going so far as to work out the special physics of magical substances. I'm impressed. I'm also enjoying the mental image of a whole enclave of 'Cubi playing "find the Thae'lith" if Luke tries to go AWOL. That has far too much potential for amusement to be healthy for anyone involved.

Except, of course, the Doctor. He sure does seem to enjoy that sort of thing.

[Tapewolf]

I'm also enjoying the mental image of a whole enclave of 'Cubi playing "find the Thae'lith" if Luke tries to go AWOL. That has far too much potential for amusement to be healthy for anyone involved.

That's likely to be too easy... Luke is unlikely to be able to shield his thoughts unless that came free with the wings.
Talking of which, when the others are located and brought in, do you think they'll be jealous?  Will Bengahl be forced to add wings (and presumably a Thae'lith lifespan) to them all before they cooperate?

[Turnsky]

Point the first: an update and other signs of life! Huzzah! I do love our snarky Thae'lith...and I mean all of them, in their varying degrees of cynicism.

Point the second: Um...wow. You've really put a lot of thought into the setting if you're going so far as to work out the special physics of magical substances. I'm impressed. I'm also enjoying the mental image of a whole enclave of 'Cubi playing "find the Thae'lith" if Luke tries to go AWOL. That has far too much potential for amusement to be healthy for anyone involved.

my notebook contains Ariannia's orbit calculations, month cycles, season cycles, and even how the year, etc is calculated.

Make a note that "project ariannia" is what i'm calling the big ol' backstory and setting i've put foxfire in, i've even gone so far as to explain how the light fittings work.

[AmigaDragon]

Talking of which, when the others are located and brought in, do you think they'll be jealous?  Will Bengahl be forced to add wings (and presumably a Thae'lith lifespan) to them all before they cooperate?

I don't recall getting an answer (or did I miss it or forget?)... Are thaelith only of some canine persuasion or are they, like cubi, of various species appearances (canine, feline, ursine, etc.)?

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Now playing on Winamp: Monty Python - Argument Clinic (The Lion's Share - KWKAT)
via FoxyTunes

[Kabbalist]

my notebook contains Ariannia's orbit calculations, month cycles, season cycles, and even how the year, etc is calculated.

Make a note that "project ariannia" is what i'm calling the big ol' backstory and setting i've put foxfire in, i've even gone so far as to explain how the light fittings work.

Ooooh... 

You've definitely earned your world-building chops. Oh, and you totally rock for having that much detail worked out. Even if most of it doesn't get explicitly explained to the audience, that kind of background detail grants a certain consistency to a setting.

[Turnsky]

you folks will haveta excuse any tardiness, it's not fun working on comic when your eyes are sore, and your face aches from having to frown due to squinting to a degree... need glasses so badly.. 

[Tyranastrasz]

you folks will haveta excuse any tardiness, it's not fun working on comic when your eyes are sore, and your face aches from having to frown due to squinting to a degree... need glasses so badly.. 

Does your comic actually have any set update day? Cause if so, I couldn't find it and you might want to make it easier to find. If not, then there is no need to apologize as we are simply happy with an update whenever you can get around to it. Well, you might want to apologize for having the title of this thread say 1/13/08, which I can't believe I didn't notice sooner, but that's a rather minor mistake so early in the year.

[Tapewolf]

you folks will haveta excuse any tardiness, it's not fun working on comic when your eyes are sore, and your face aches from having to frown due to squinting to a degree... need glasses so badly.. 

I seem to recall that when I was unemployed I'd have qualified for a discount rate on spectacles.  While that's an avenue you may already have explored, I didn't realise until after I'd stumped up something like £300...

Does your comic actually have any set update day? Cause if so, I couldn't find it and you might want to make it easier to find. If not, then there is no need to apologize as we are simply happy with an update whenever you can get around to it.

It's changed.  It used to update multiple times a week - how he pulled that off is something I don't understand, though the increase in detail over the last couple of years probably put paid to that one.
It has done Friday updates, but AFAIK it still officially updates Mondays.

[Turnsky]

you folks will haveta excuse any tardiness, it's not fun working on comic when your eyes are sore, and your face aches from having to frown due to squinting to a degree... need glasses so badly.. 

I seem to recall that when I was unemployed I'd have qualified for a discount rate on spectacles.  While that's an avenue you may already have explored, I didn't realise until after I'd stumped up something like £300...

there is, but given my current situation, sixty AUD is something hard to squeeze by. 

Does your comic actually have any set update day? Cause if so, I couldn't find it and you might want to make it easier to find. If not, then there is no need to apologize as we are simply happy with an update whenever you can get around to it. Well, you might want to apologize for having the title of this thread say 1/13/08, which I can't believe I didn't notice sooner, but that's a rather minor mistake so early in the year.

like tape mentioned, officially i update mondays, unofficially it's more like "whenever i can stare at the screen long enough without severe eyestrain setting in" so, highly sporadic, i am working.. it's just a drawn out process of self-agony to do so.

[Tapewolf]

Well, you might want to apologize for having the title of this thread say 1/13/08, which I can't believe I didn't notice sooner, but that's a rather minor mistake so early in the year.

Actually the wrong year thing would be my fault since I started the thread.  In fact, it's so deeply ingrained I didn't quite get what you meant until just now.  I can go in and fix it, unless Turnsky wants to practice being a moderator 

[Tyranastrasz]

Well, you might want to apologize for having the title of this thread say 1/13/08, which I can't believe I didn't notice sooner, but that's a rather minor mistake so early in the year.

Actually the wrong year thing would be my fault since I started the thread.  In fact, it's so deeply ingrained I didn't quite get what you meant until just now.  I can go in and fix it, unless Turnsky wants to practice being a moderator 

Oh, geeze, you're right Now I get to apologize for blaming the wrong person D:

there is, but given my current situation, sixty AUD is something hard to squeeze by. 

like tape mentioned, officially i update mondays, unofficially it's more like "whenever i can stare at the screen long enough without severe eyestrain setting in" so, highly sporadic, i am working.. it's just a drawn out process of self-agony to do so.

Well, you can hardly be expected to keep up with the comic if you can't see it =/

[LionHeart]

you folks will haveta excuse any tardiness, it's not fun working on comic when your eyes are sore, and your face aches from having to frown due to squinting to a degree... need glasses so badly.. 

I seem to recall that when I was unemployed I'd have qualified for a discount rate on spectacles.  While that's an avenue you may already have explored, I didn't realise until after I'd stumped up something like £300...

there is, but given my current situation, sixty AUD is something hard to squeeze by. 
<snip>
like tape mentioned, officially i update mondays, unofficially it's more like "whenever i can stare at the screen long enough without severe eyestrain setting in" so, highly sporadic, i am working.. it's just a drawn out process of self-agony to do so.

As one who has worn glasses since age 14, I strongly advise you to start squeezing, and the sooner the better. Your vision is much too important to take chances with.