20/04/2012 [DMFA #1302] - Off A'venturing We Shall Go

[icarus]

well there *is* a dmfa character whose parents were a cubi+being but didn't become one themselves. but i think if i say any more i'll be fed to a chain chomp, if y'know what i mean.

But Alexsi's mother was an Amazon, not a 'cubi...

did i say alexsi?

i don't believe i ever said alexsi...

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

I honestly can't believe that the 'suicide theory' is being debated so strongly...

Very interesting how the adventurers here are investigating this murder. They seem far more professional about it then the group just checking in at lost lake. Though just checking something is far less serious then a murder investigation.

My guess is it's because they're a guild on an official job, likely with ties to the official legal enforcement of Zinvth/Furrae.

Another possibility is that Wildy is writing another novel.

So is this going to be like Castle only with Widly?

Except that she plays both Castle and Beckett.

Also I really like the magic effects of wildy's magic, but I'm wondering what she's casting....

Archival Magic, perhaps? And, looking for trace elements of blood splatter, cleaning agents, magical residue, and chemicals/drugs?

since there is a kid involved, and the kid was spared, we can guess the kid likely hasn't got any wings/cubi inheritance. this is backed up by the fact that "anti creature cult" was a theory. to support that theory, only the creatures in the household would be dead - meaning the mother and kid must be beings.

which would seem to imply that the father's clan had no leader? leaderless cubi clans seem to be a weaker strain, geneticly, and have less of a chance of having cubi offspring even if they are in relationships with beings. suggesting the 'weaker' cubi are being picked off first.

As we can recall from Lorenda, back-wings don't necessarily have to be there at birth. Usually an individual either grows with them from birth, or they "pop" at full-size in their adult-hood.

And as stated, there is no such thing as a "half-Cubi" (no skipping a generation!) a child either is or is not.

[Turnsky]

well there *is* a dmfa character whose parents were a cubi+being but didn't become one themselves. but i think if i say any more i'll be fed to a chain chomp, if y'know what i mean.

But Alexsi's mother was an Amazon, not a 'cubi...

did i say alexsi?

i don't believe i ever said alexsi...

You're saying Aniz is involved, somehow, aren't you?

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

Protip: Aniz actually fathered Alexsi from beyond the grave.

[Turnsky]

Protip: Aniz actually fathered Alexsi from beyond the grave.

like being a little dead's stopped anyone. 

[Ignuus66]

Now that everyone is talking crazy theories time to help out one of my fave ones.

*conspiracy Aniz is actually dan's father time  *

Well the most people say that this theory is improbably because Alexsi is not a cubi..
Also they say that Aniz was killed, but as was Alexsi's mother.

What I theorize, is that Edward and Alexsi's mother went adventuring, but When they met Aniz, he killed them both (don't forget Aniz was an Adventurer for 25 years too, and he is a cubi after all) and took Edward's place (thus Alexsi was not a cubi. but an unknowing orphan) Then "edward" suddenly quit being an Adventurer and started an Inn, (possibly to wait out the time until he could enter a child into Saia, while feeding off the emotions of the Drunk.) Now Destinia, having somehow known the location of Aniz, goes off to lost lake to kill him, but instead of killing him, she ends up forgiving him.. And you people can fill in the rest of the blanks.

This would explain the reaction when Ink prodded Abel by saying Dan is the son of Ti'fiona in the cubi emotion test, and considering Fa'lina told aniz that the next Descendant will be only be able to come to the academy when abel is 400, and he is almost 400, also Abel and Dan *DO* act like brothers

*normal mode*
The above theory has a 0.0001 percent chance of being correct in any way, and is completely stupid. 

[icarus]

since there is a kid involved, and the kid was spared, we can guess the kid likely hasn't got any wings/cubi inheritance. this is backed up by the fact that "anti creature cult" was a theory. to support that theory, only the creatures in the household would be dead - meaning the mother and kid must be beings.

which would seem to imply that the father's clan had no leader? leaderless cubi clans seem to be a weaker strain, geneticly, and have less of a chance of having cubi offspring even if they are in relationships with beings. suggesting the 'weaker' cubi are being picked off first.

As we can recall from Lorenda, back-wings don't necessarily have to be there at birth. Usually an individual either grows with them from birth, or they "pop" at full-size in their adult-hood.

huh, i thought that was only for demons/angels :o so far all the cubi we've encountered in the story have been born with their first set of wings - kind of like dragons.

methinks we need the word of god on this 'who is born with wings and who is not' scenario. it shouldn't spoil the plot in any way if we know.

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

Well the most people say that this theory is improbably because Alexsi is not a cubi..
Also they say that Aniz was killed, but as was Alexsi's mother.

So, what I'm hearing you say is... Quintinga is actually Aniz. And Aniz is Alexis' mother?

huh, i thought that was only for demons/angels :o so far all the cubi we've encountered in the story have been born with their first set of wings - kind of like dragons.

It's hard to say... just because a certain (unknown?) character from Abel's Story abandoned their child upon not seeing any signs of (cubi?) lineage at birth, does not necessarily mean that said character had all of the pertaining data to that situation. As far as we know, the 'popping of wings' could apply to all creatures, and not just demons/angels (not to ignore that 'cubi are jokingly referred to as a cross-breed of those two races to begin with...), on top of which, based on Lorenda; new variations of gene-expression can occur, based on 'new' magic, technology, and parentage.

methinks we need the word of god on this 'who is born with wings and who is not' scenario. it shouldn't spoil the plot in any way if we know.

It  might.

[Ignuus66]

Well the most people say that this theory is improbably because Alexsi is not a cubi..
Also they say that Aniz was killed, but as was Alexsi's mother.

So, what I'm hearing you say is... Quintinga is actually Aniz. And Aniz is Alexis' mother?

No, what I meant is that Aniz killed Quintinga and Edward, and took Edward's place and reported that Quin "killed"Aniz but died herself...

[Mao]

Don't make me tearoom this thread.  Seriously.

[Ignuus66]

Don't make me tearoom this thread.  Seriously.

All is going according to plan!   *dons tin foil cap* (we need an smilie for that)

ok! rerail time, somehow I don't think this group is related to Zinvth officials, they seem to be a group of private detectives, considering that they all seem to regard the Wolf as the leader and they seem to be on "know each other" terms.

[Amber Williams]

methinks we need the word of god on this 'who is born with wings and who is not' scenario. it shouldn't spoil the plot in any way if we know.

You're lucky you're so purdy since normally I would get annoyed by getting a call-out.

As for the wings/no wings.  I did generally have it that wings are a feature that tends to primarily exist on creatures, though there are exceptions that apply.  Much like bright colours, wings tend to be a trait associated with magic...so from time to time a being has been born with wings or bright colours even though they themselves will spend their entire lives as a being.  As for Lorenda, her wings are stunted and may be the result of long-term effects of Kria using a magical amulet to hide her own wings for centuries, including the time she was pregnant with Lorenda.  But that's still up for its own debate.

As for Cubi, which is probably the main reason for asking.  The vast vast vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast majority of the time when a child is born that will one day become a Cubi, they are born with wings.  In some ways this is the best sign for a Cubi parent that their kidling will become a Cubi when they get an adult. Though it has happened very rarely that they do in fact just end up being a being with wings.  EVEN MORE RARE, and I'm only mentioning this now because god knows someone will ask despite this probably opening up a can of worms, a child born without wings can become a Cubi.  But this is really really REALLY uncommon and only happens in clans that have no clan leader.  (How rare? Well at the time in DMFA current, there aren't any about and there probably wont be any during the run of the comic)  The end result is usually a Cubi that only has the headwings, no backwings at all.   Which tends to put them at a really big disadvantage to other Cubi since the backwings have a big use of being extra mass that allows for a lot of their shapechanging abilities to work well.


But to beat around a proverbial bush, I'm assuming the insinuating is that Devin had possibly a Cubi father (and that that father was possibly Aniz).   I neither confirm nor deny these implications...as I cannot deny that part of the story there was ambiguous at best. Because I'm evil.

Now git off mah lawn.

[Ignuus66]

methinks we need the word of god on this 'who is born with wings and who is not' scenario. it shouldn't spoil the plot in any way if we know.

-big snip-
But to beat around a proverbial bush, I'm assuming the insinuating is that Devin had possibly a Cubi father (and that that father was possibly Aniz).   I neither confirm nor deny these implications...as I cannot deny that part of the story there was ambiguous at best. Because I'm evil.

You really enjoy creating arguments that will eventually end up in the tearooms, don't you
Good thing i already have my Aluminum cap prepped and ready!
Also the amount of spinoffs makeable off of DMFA just jumped by 10 fold.

[icarus]

methinks we need the word of god on this 'who is born with wings and who is not' scenario. it shouldn't spoil the plot in any way if we know.

You're lucky you're so purdy since normally I would get annoyed by getting a call-out.

As for the wings/no wings.  I did generally have it that wings are a feature that tends to primarily exist on creatures, though there are exceptions that apply.  Much like bright colours, wings tend to be a trait associated with magic...so from time to time a being has been born with wings or bright colours even though they themselves will spend their entire lives as a being.  As for Lorenda, her wings are stunted and may be the result of long-term effects of Kria using a magical amulet to hide her own wings for centuries, including the time she was pregnant with Lorenda.  But that's still up for its own debate.

As for Cubi, which is probably the main reason for asking.  The vast vast vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast majority of the time when a child is born that will one day become a Cubi, they are born with wings.  In some ways this is the best sign for a Cubi parent that their kidling will become a Cubi when they get an adult. Though it has happened very rarely that they do in fact just end up being a being with wings.  EVEN MORE RARE, and I'm only mentioning this now because god knows someone will ask despite this probably opening up a can of worms, a child born without wings can become a Cubi.  But this is really really REALLY uncommon and only happens in clans that have no clan leader.  (How rare? Well at the time in DMFA current, there aren't any about and there probably wont be any during the run of the comic)  The end result is usually a Cubi that only has the headwings, no backwings at all.   Which tends to put them at a really big disadvantage to other Cubi since the backwings have a big use of being extra mass that allows for a lot of their shapechanging abilities to work well.


But to beat around a proverbial bush, I'm assuming the insinuating is that Devin had possibly a Cubi father (and that that father was possibly Aniz).   I neither confirm nor deny these implications...as I cannot deny that part of the story there was ambiguous at best. Because I'm evil.

Now git off mah lawn.

I FEEL VINDICATED
ALSO PRETTY

so to bring this full circle, the chances are the kid in the house hasn't got wings, neither has the mom, and hence the rest of the family was given a skip because they're not the intended target.  which reaffirms the theory that this is one of the dragon killin'z going on.

wildy is probably the one person in this group with the most knowledge specific to cubi at this point. in addition to her time at the academy where she learned about cubi, she's had ample time to observe not just dan and abel but also aary. she was even present when abel was painting over dan's clan marking, so it's probable that if a clan marking were missing, she'd be the one to pick up on it (if anyone does).

[Turnsky]

remind me not to make jokes like this again, it obviously leads to disasters of steve erkel proportions.
"Did i do that?"

[Ignuus66]

-snip-

-big snip-

so to bring this full circle, the chances are the kid in the house hasn't got wings, neither has the mom, and hence the rest of the family was given a skip because they're not the intended target.  which reaffirms the theory that this is one of the dragon killin'z going on.

wildy is probably the one person in this group with the most knowledge specific to cubi at this point. in addition to her time at the academy where she learned about cubi, she's had ample time to observe not just dan and abel but also aary. she was even present when abel was painting over dan's clan marking, so it's probable that if a clan marking were missing, she'd be the one to pick up on it (if anyone does).

Don't forget that wildy probably doesn't know the specific way how hizell kills his cubi targets, plus she probably doesn't know about the specific clans a clan mark means you are in.
Also I'm finding it more likely that the kid had wings, but was away/ wasn't a mature cubi yet and hizell only targeted the ones who know of destinia (and the kid doesn't)
I'm more or less calling on the kid being away, and Hizell can't be bothered hunting down a "non enemy" clan 9enemy clans include Sair and Cyra)

[Plotting]

I was thinking of shouting "dibs on creating a Cubi character without back wings!" - but that would be more than a little fanboi-ish, and likely get me smited big time....

This thread is soo getting tearoomed. 

[Ignuus66]

This thread is soo getting tearoomed.  

Agreed, I'll get tea and a few more Tin foil hats ready. Anyone got any biscuits?

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

Well the most people say that this theory is improbably because Alexsi is not a cubi..
Also they say that Aniz was killed, but as was Alexsi's mother.

So, what I'm hearing you say is... Aniz is Alexsi's mother.

No, what I meant is that Aniz killed Quintinga and Edward, and took Edward's place and reported that Quin "killed"Aniz but died herself...

That was a joke.  I was joookiiing~.

As for Cubi, which is probably the main reason for asking.  The vast vast vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast majority of the time when a child is born that will one day become a Cubi, they are born with wings.  In some ways this is the best sign for a Cubi parent that their kidling will become a Cubi when they get an adult. Though it has happened very rarely that they do in fact just end up being a being with wings.  EVEN MORE RARE, and I'm only mentioning this now because god knows someone will ask despite this probably opening up a can of worms, a child born without wings can become a Cubi.  But this is really really REALLY uncommon and only happens in clans that have no clan leader.  (How rare? Well at the time in DMFA current, there aren't any about and there probably wont be any during the run of the comic)  The end result is usually a Cubi that only has the headwings, no backwings at all.   Which tends to put them at a really big disadvantage to other Cubi since the backwings have a big use of being extra mass that allows for a lot of their shapechanging abilities to work well.

But to beat around a proverbial bush, I'm assuming the insinuating is that Devin had possibly a Cubi father (and that that father was possibly Aniz).   I neither confirm nor deny these implications...as I cannot deny that part of the story there was ambiguous at best. Because I'm evil.

Aniz didn't have a Clan Leader >.>

Now git off mah lawn.

but it's so nice and cushy here

wildy is probably the one person in this group with the most knowledge specific to cubi at this point. in addition to her time at the academy where she learned about cubi, she's had ample time to observe not just dan and abel but also aary. she was even present when abel was painting over dan's clan marking, so it's probable that if a clan marking were missing, she'd be the one to pick up on it (if anyone does).

A fine point!
However, one also must keep in mind that a Clan Marking will only appear on a 'Cubi who actively uses magic. While Dan was a bit of an exception as far as this goes (and the symbol appeared rather quickly after only one highly intensive battle [and what the geeze, how the heck did he have such a quick grasp of magic anyway, given he'd never practiced?]), there could be plenty of other 'Cubi who lived as essentially wing'ed,long-life'd beings.
Furthermore, initial analysis wouldn't actually yield results as far as Clan Markings go, because they were very likely kept hidden, just as Abel did with Dan.

[icarus]

wildy is probably the one person in this group with the most knowledge specific to cubi at this point. in addition to her time at the academy where she learned about cubi, she's had ample time to observe not just dan and abel but also aary. she was even present when abel was painting over dan's clan marking, so it's probable that if a clan marking were missing, she'd be the one to pick up on it (if anyone does).

A fine point!
However, one also must keep in mind that a Clan Marking will only appear on a 'Cubi who actively uses magic. While Dan was a bit of an exception as far as this goes (and the symbol appeared rather quickly after only one highly intensive battle [and what the geeze, how the heck did he have such a quick grasp of magic anyway, given he'd never practiced?]), there could be plenty of other 'Cubi who lived as essentially wing'ed,long-life'd beings.
Furthermore, initial analysis wouldn't actually yield results as far as Clan Markings go, because they were very likely kept hidden, just as Abel did with Dan.

good point, but i was left somewhat under the impression that by and large, most creatures DO use magic in their daily lives. not always major stuff, but little things like "matchstick spells" to light the burner on the stove and whatnot. i could be wrong, but that's kinda the impression i took. it'd also explain why jyrras is concerning the creature council so much - his technology is effectively granting power to beings on level with the magic creatures can hold. but i digress!

since this is a 'cubi who was cut down, it's probable he spent some time at the academy himself. fa'lina seems to have a knack for tracking down 'cubi and taking care of their education- even if they were born before the academy was established. so unless this particular 'cubi actively refused any 'cubi training (like morphing, or creating clothing/armor - all magical!) he'd probably still have had a marking. even the daily task of hiding his headwings would probably be enough magic to bring a marking to light after a few years!

it's true that the markings might be painted over or hidden on the victim (ala dan's) but i'm also fairly sure that wildy's magical room examining technique will bring it to light, so to speak. abel has said that they glow brighter when hit with magic - a quick pass of any kind of spell over the corpse would cause the marking to glow by that logic :o unless the markings stop reacting when the owner is dead, which is possible as well.

Don't forget that wildy probably doesn't know the specific way how hizell kills his cubi targets, plus she probably doesn't know about the specific clans a clan mark means you are in.

i think the real point of ignorance for wildy here is that she doesn't know WHY they're being killed, not how. whoever this killer is, they're killing by removing the heads. the specifics of what spells were used can be found out by cross-referencing this and the last murder. this case has "just gone serial" after all, which means there's a distinct pattern of behavior to the killings. that's what serial killing is, y'know.

finding out why is going to establish who. we as a forum already know why, or at least have good reason to believe we know why, and therefore have good reason to guess who the killer is (or at least who's masterminding the killings). our detectives are a few steps behind the audience in terms of the investigation ;3 but i'm sure that will be fixed in upcoming pages.  after all, all they really need to start putting this together is that one big glaring outlyer of a clue! a missing clan marking would be just such a clue...

GUESS WHO LIKES FORENSICS :3c

[Ignuus66]

it's true that the markings might be painted over or hidden on the victim (ala dan's) but i'm also fairly sure that wildy's magical room examining technique will bring it to light, so to speak. abel has said that they glow brighter when hit with magic - a quick pass of any kind of spell over the corpse would cause the marking to glow by that logic :o unless the markings stop reacting when the owner is dead, which is possible as well.

I'm pretty sure they would be able to sense the magical residue of the clan mark, unless... it happens to be carved out of the body.  

[icarus]

it's true that the markings might be painted over or hidden on the victim (ala dan's) but i'm also fairly sure that wildy's magical room examining technique will bring it to light, so to speak. abel has said that they glow brighter when hit with magic - a quick pass of any kind of spell over the corpse would cause the marking to glow by that logic :o unless the markings stop reacting when the owner is dead, which is possible as well.

I'm pretty sure they would be able to sense the magical residue of the clan mark, unless... it happens to be carved out of the body.  D:

the only information i can find that would even remotely support the theory that clan markings have an inherit magical residue is abel's story pg 41 when xander refers to his cousin owning a magical tattoo shop. even then, the wording is ambigious - the tattoos could be getting applied magically, vs abel's marking having a magical residue. i personally feel it refers to how the tattoos are applied, so i'm left wondering how/why you concluded clan markings have their own magical residue.

unless you are refering to a spell used to remove a clan marking, in which case a spell that powerful might leave a notable aura. if it does, i imagine they'd have noted it on their last case in this serial killing. so, IF they notice the clan marking is missing and IF they are aware of a magical residue from the spell used to remove it, that would point them in the direction of powerful magic users with 'cubi vendettas. not a very narrow suspect profile, but better than they've got currently.

[Ignuus66]

the only information i can find that would even remotely support the theory that clan markings have an inherit magical residue is abel's story pg 41 when xander refers to his cousin owning a magical tattoo shop. even then, the wording is ambigious - the tattoos could be getting applied magically, vs abel's marking having a magical residue. i personally feel it refers to how the tattoos are applied, so i'm left wondering how/why you concluded clan markings have their own magical residue.

unless you are refering to a spell used to remove a clan marking, in which case a spell that powerful might leave a notable aura. if it does, i imagine they'd have noted it on their last case in this serial killing. so, IF they notice the clan marking is missing and IF they are aware of a magical residue from the spell used to remove it, that would point them in the direction of powerful magic users with 'cubi vendettas. not a very narrow suspect profile, but better than they've got currently.

To be fair, I think it's basically a conduit for a cubi's power, and sicne they can't shapeshift them or remove them away, and the appearence if it signifies a increase it power, it means it basically has a whole lot of magic flowing through it.

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

In my view, we as a forum have by and large simply decided to take this as true, but it does not by any means make it so.
I'm assuming that the assumption comes from what Mink said, but even that could just be an exaggerated rumour. Furthermore, if the circumstances are true, this could be a case of an outside force attempting to instigate a new war.

*snip*[...] xander refers to his cousin owning a magical tattoo shop. even then, the wording is ambigious - the tattoos could be getting applied magically, vs abel's marking having a magical residue. i personally feel it refers to how the tattoos are applied, so i'm left wondering how/why you concluded clan markings have their own magical residue. *snip*

Personally, I think it's a reference to the 'magical nature' of the tattoos, such as that they glow, morph/change shape or colour, or have some other 'special effect'.
Edit: And then there's the way I initially interpreted the strip the first time I read it; 'magical tattoos' implying that magic is used to allow the tattoo to show up through/in the fur and to not grow out as simply dying the fur would do.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

It occurs to me to wonder if the head is removed as in detached, or removed as in run off with.

In the latter case, the clan mark may be on the removed part of the body...

[Tapewolf]

It occurs to me to wonder if the head is removed as in detached, or removed as in run off with.
In the latter case, the clan mark may be on the removed part of the body...

That wouldn't surprise me at all.  It is also possible that the head was removed after the incubus was killed.

[joshofspam]

It occurs to me to wonder if the head is removed as in detached, or removed as in run off with.
In the latter case, the clan mark may be on the removed part of the body...

That wouldn't surprise me at all.  It is also possible that the head was removed after the incubus was killed.

Of coarse going by that process of thought and thinking about what Mink said about Piflak's daughter, why take the whole head and not simply remove the mark from the head and leave the head behind?

Sure that might take a little more time to work out, but considering magic, tools and the time, it would seem a possible task. Or maybe the person involved likes to take his or hers time with such tasks?

[Tarakona]

Forgive me if this has been mentioned before. I didn't see it, but I'm reading and getting dressed for work at the same time, heh. But I wonder if this is just a little Uncle-Niece-together-time with Aliph and Regina. That, or Regina ignored DP's orders and took off for a therapeutic killing spree. Granted, she would probably be more open and dramatic, but perhaps she's trying to be off-the-radar.

In other news, the group leader is HOT! *drool*


-Tara

[Ignuus66]

In other news, the group leader is HOT! *drool*

Don't forget he is a Leader, and as amber stated, he has the "old man" problem, which probably means he is somehwere around 50.

I like tormenting people  !

[psilorder]

It occurs to me to wonder if the head is removed as in detached, or removed as in run off with.
In the latter case, the clan mark may be on the removed part of the body...

That wouldn't surprise me at all.  It is also possible that the head was removed after the incubus was killed.

Of coarse going by that process of thought and thinking about what Mink said about Piflak's daughter, why take the whole head and not simply remove the mark from the head and leave the head behind?

Sure that might take a little more time to work out, but considering magic, tools and the time, it would seem a possible task. Or maybe the person involved likes to take his or hers time with such tasks?

Well, unless you are saying the magic was used so the mark could be removed without taking the skin and fur, it might be the head was taken to leave less evidence of what was done.
"why was this specific piece of skin and fur removed? it doesn't look it it was done by a weapon during the killing."