So, Cyra essentially nuked a city?
Makes me wonder whether it was during, or after her ascension. The energy required to do this suggests after... but the awesome amounts of energy released....
Hishaan: no throwing stones allowed.
I believe someone mentioned in the thread for the pervious comic page that he/she thought that the city Cyra destroyed was Hishaan. Kudos to whoever predicted that.
Quote from: VAE on May 05, 2011, 11:23:01 PM
So, Cyra essentially nuked a city?
Makes me wonder whether it was during, or after her ascension. The energy required to do this suggests after... but the awesome amounts of energy released....
What Abel said answered one question and put a large stack of them on the table. I'm guessing since there were no survivors, then the only one who can give a (hopefully unbiased) testimony would be Cyra herself.
Quote from: Kattuccino on May 05, 2011, 11:32:30 PM
Hishaan: no throwing stones allowed.
Indeed. If someone were to do that, it would become the "City of Sharp Hazards"
Kudos to Amber for drawing a logical conclusion about a city of glass that no one else would normally consider.
Maybe if one visited it on a cloudy day...
Oh, I just thought of something. Hishaan is called the city of ice, so maybe this is why Cyra's clan is called the clan of winter's touch (http://www.missmab.com/Demo/Leader10.php).
Excellent effect on the last panel too.
Kat ninja'd me on the ice/winter's touch thing. X3 I wouldn't have considered a glass/ice comparison, but I guess it makes sense.
I also like the rainbow effect on the Gryphon. :mowsmile
Quote from: Viking ZX on May 05, 2011, 11:59:51 PMKudos to Amber for drawing a logical conclusion about a city of glass that no one else would normally consider.
Maybe if one visited it on a cloudy day...
Or during the night... maybe armed with a hat and sunglasses in case the sun rises before they're finished checking it out... or if they relied on echolocation or something instead of sight...
...I wonder how a city of glass would react to lightning strikes?
Also, the 'frozen city' thing reminds me of Pompei.
If Wildy liked these shinies (http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_521.php), she would probably just love Hishaan's shininess! :3
to quote my twitter feed: "You just wanna draw that city to sate your shiny quotient for the next few years, dontcha?"
With all the discussion about how much power Cyra must have in order to do this, you guys have overlooked one possible option: Cyra didn't do it. Perhaps the /insanely powerful/ ancient Dragon unleashed a huge amount of power against her, and she managed to turn it back on him, causing the city to turn to glass.
The interesting thing about this theory would be that it would cause the entire dragon-'cubi war to be based on a false premise, as well as, of course, showing that Cyra isn't /quite/ as bad as the history books show.
Okay, that is utterly bizarre. It would be interesting to know if Cyra remembers what happened and is willing to talk about it.
The question now is whether it is directly related to Cyra's ascension.
Perhaps it turned to iceglass because she took all the life and soul out of it.
Perhaps it really was inadvertent. Can you imagine though? You go to a city, perhaps looking to acquire some rare item, perhaps just living there and wanting to have a quiet life, maybe you're just a tourist... and you get into a fight with a dragon. Maybe they're protecting that item, maybe it's a bar fight... but it happens. And suddenly you have more power than you've ever expected, everyone's dead, and now you've a bounty on your head, as well as your entire family's and your entire race to boot.
Also, to remember the events of Hishaan, an event which happened 6500 years or so prior... unless you're a demon and maybe friends with demons (in the quiet little neutral territory of Zinvth...), why would they remember the fall of Hishaan so well back then, but have so much memory of it be forgotten in the 320 years since?
Quote from: VAE on May 05, 2011, 11:23:01 PM
So, Cyra essentially nuked a city?
No...she TURNED IT TO GLASS. A city sized glass statue, crystalline and perfect in every detail, and thus being a blinding source of reflection and refraction. Not a molten silica slag pit, which is what you have in mind.
And congrats Amber, as most of us probably made the same wrong interpretation all the way up to the last panel. Bravo!
Well, regardless of thoughts turnin g everything into glass INCLUDING the dragon is pretty damn impressive. Still, I hope everything was grounded or at least supported at the time of the big freeze.
Though now I'm left to wonder if Cyra or the dragons are worst.
I have to wonder what motivated her to chose that town to destroy? Were dragons being cruel even then to cubi?
Quote from: joshofspam on May 06, 2011, 04:25:35 AM
I have to wonder what motivated her to chose that town to destroy? Were dragons being cruel even then to cubi?
Well, they say the war would eventually have started anyway, but that aside, it's possible she was trying to take over the city and become its patron instead of M'Chek.
Quote from: Kattuccino on May 05, 2011, 11:32:30 PM
Hishaan: no throwing stones allowed.
I dunno. Two things leap into mind. One, a foot thick of glass is going to be tricky to break (your average brick wall is about this thick; think about bulletproof glass, for example), and two, glass is, at least theoretically, liquid. Over the course of a hundred years, it flows downwards slightly. Over the course of 7000 years? I can see a case for arguing that the higher buildings, well, aren't so high anymore. And eventually, you have a very big, very flat mirror.
Admittedly that will take a very, very long time, but... Cyra isn't going anywhere.
Ooo. Another thought. Wouldn't that be a perfect place to hide out, if you kept your eyes closed? Hrm...
Depends on the hardness of glass, boxy.
The real problem is, that given it's an amorphous solid, it has no plasticity to speak of - any impact makes a straight attempt at breaking the bonds. Ofc. it's still hard to break *through* but you'd still get massive cracks, most likely even growing due to temperature differences between top of glass , and soil under it , which it touches causing thermal strain.
I'm surprised no one has made the inevitable pun yet.
Hmm, there is a slight problem with Cyra's adopted form during their talk, in that I now keep imagining her invading the city in her Yoda form.
Quote from: Kattuccino on May 05, 2011, 11:32:30 PM
Hishaan: no throwing stones allowed.
Awwww, but I have my sunglasses and my bag of bricks all ready to go. I was gonna road trip it, get some pizza, maybe take in a movie. At the very least bring a girl home to mother, I mean she has seriously been looking for something to spruce up the backyard.
Quote from: VAE on May 06, 2011, 05:43:36 AM
Depends on the hardness of glass, boxy.
The real problem is, that given it's an amorphous solid, it has no plasticity to speak of - any impact makes a straight attempt at breaking the bonds. Ofc. it's still hard to break *through* but you'd still get massive cracks, most likely even growing due to temperature differences between top of glass , and soil under it , which it touches causing thermal strain.
True, and I wasn't suggesting that a glass brick wall would have anything like the same tenacity as a bulletproof window; I'm aware that BP glass is made of multiple layers, and has plastic in it as well. My point was simply that a brick might well bounce off a glass object, if the object was thick enough.
And if not, chances are there would be a lot of very big, very sharp splinters flying about, and that's much more dangerous...
Good point about the thermal strain. I wonder if a nice sunny day would cause parts of the city to shatter?
Quote from: Feather Dancer on May 06, 2011, 04:20:28 AM
Still, I hope everything was grounded or at least supported at the time of the big freeze.
*crash!*
*tinkletinkle*
Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on May 06, 2011, 05:31:08 AM
And eventually, you have a very big, very flat mirror.
Admittedly that will take a very, very long time, but... Cyra isn't going anywhere.
So, she started an entire war purely due to vanity?
QuoteOoo. Another thought. Wouldn't that be a perfect place to hide out, if you kept your eyes closed? Hrm...
Well now... there's a thought.
I see Dan still haven't put on a shirt ... or a robe.
Heck, last time we saw him in the robe was when he sparred with Wildy I think ?
Ah well, all the girl readers are probably quite pleased.
Quote from: RobbieThe1st on May 06, 2011, 02:37:27 AM
With all the discussion about how much power Cyra must have in order to do this, you guys have overlooked one possible option: Cyra didn't do it. Perhaps the /insanely powerful/ ancient Dragon unleashed a huge amount of power against her, and she managed to turn it back on him, causing the city to turn to glass.
The interesting thing about this theory would be that it would cause the entire dragon-'cubi war to be based on a false premise, as well as, of course, showing that Cyra isn't /quite/ as bad as the history books show.
Eh... Given her conversation with Dan I suspect that at the time she knew pretty well what she was doing, though the outcome surprised and dismayed her. Even if the whole glass thing is backlash from something that M'chek was targeting Cyra with, that means Cyra was doing something bad enough that M'chek was targeting her with enough power to level (or glass-ify) an entire city. You don't get that kind of response from normal, everyday interaction.
"Hey Bob."
"Yo."
"You forgot to refill the coffee machine earlier when you took the last cup."
"That's not
MY job, get your secretary to do it."
"That's the last straw Bob!"
*Nuclear Launch Detected!*
Well, something that hasn't been stated is that an entire city of glass, durable or not, but reasonably solid--it'd be rather hard to support a biosphere in that sort of environment, especially if the glass were maintained in that state by some sort of residual magic.
Easy to see why Zinvth (sp) was so on-edge about cubi (in Abel's Story Pt. 2) and why cubi have such a bad reputation.
If Cyra was the only survivor, and she gained her power from the combined 'soul-power' of the metropolis, then all those individual component pieces may have induced a horrific level of remorse in her in addition to her Clan being slaughtered. May have even been her going around telling everyone how horrible 'Cubi were, sort of like some wandering bard or the like.
Separate thought: Abel's Story (Pt. 2 pg 102), Destania goes to town on Abel. Was she transferring all the abuse/anger/frustration/etc she may have felt (or had done unto her) to him, in an effort to dull her own pain?
Quote from: MT Hazard on May 06, 2011, 06:01:54 AM
I'm surprised no one has made the inevitable pun yet.
You mean about 'those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones'? Yeah, I think we were trying to avoid it. ;3
*Charline schemes* Elemental transmutation on a massive scale! And clearly directed as all the matter became a single type of substance! It's a combination of both fusion and fission, carefully controlled otherwise it'd have explosive results! The power required is... is... unfathomable! *greedy expression* I must know how Cyra did it!
Maybe the populace didn't need to be involved, but M'chek got what he deserved! *mumbles angrily about being 'turned down cuz I wasn't his type'* Arrogant bastard... >:[
Quote from: Wageslave94 on May 06, 2011, 10:18:55 AM
Separate thought: Abel's Story (Pt. 2 pg 102), Destania goes to town on Abel. Was she transferring all the abuse/anger/frustration/etc she may have felt (or had done unto her) to him, in an effort to dull her own pain?
Well considering how the Phoenix describe her old self dying and her reaction to Abel talking back to her. It wouldn't be a far stretch that the deeds done by Cyra and the things done to her clan were more traumatic to clan Cyra then some people might think.
Remember that Abel said about Cubi and there emotions to Dan. It wouldn't be surprising that if Cyra gained tri-wing statis there, she might be quite all giggles and laugh from the power surge the first few minutes. But after that she would start to notice all the death around her.
It was something that I've been puzzling about quite a bit. Is the ascension for Cubi more of a bitter sweet thing when you obtain that status?
Quote from: joshofspam on May 06, 2011, 02:56:30 PM
It was something that I've been puzzling about quite a bit. Is the ascension for Cubi more of a bitter sweet thing when you obtain that status?
Yeah... it's sweet for you and bitter for your enemies... and assorted lookenspeepers several miles around.
Quote from: Alondro on May 06, 2011, 02:46:29 PM
Quote from: MT Hazard on May 06, 2011, 06:01:54 AM
I'm surprised no one has made the inevitable pun yet.
You mean about 'those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones'? Yeah, I think we were trying to avoid it. ;3
Not the one I was thinking of.
Butterfly in the sky~ I can go twice as high! Take a look, it's in a Book, a Reading Rainbow!
Quote from: Cogidubnus on May 06, 2011, 04:13:36 PM
Butterfly in the sky~ I can go twice as high! Take a look, it's in a Book, a Reading Rainbow!
Good one and the song fits so well.
I'm also partial to school house rock. >:3
Rainbows! :U
Quote from: Alondro on May 06, 2011, 02:46:29 PM
*greedy expression* I must know how Cyra did it!
Very well, I think.
Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on May 06, 2011, 05:31:08 AMI dunno. Two things leap into mind. One, a foot thick of glass is going to be tricky to break (your average brick wall is about this thick; think about bulletproof glass, for example), and two, glass is, at least theoretically, liquid. Over the course of a hundred years, it flows downwards slightly. Over the course of 7000 years? I can see a case for arguing that the higher buildings, well, aren't so high anymore. And eventually, you have a very big, very flat mirror.
Admittedly that will take a very, very long time, but... Cyra isn't going anywhere.
Glass flowing is a common misconception, glass is an amorphous solid not a supercooled liquid and as such does not flow any more than any other solid. The source of the idea that glass flows is believed to be the fact that old windows tend to be thicker at the bottom than the top which is actually due to the manufacturing process in use back them producing panes that were thicker at one end than the other and it generally making sense to put the thick end at the bottom (which doesn't mean that ones with the thick part at the side or top are particularly rare though).
OTOH glass is a metastable solid that over long periods (thousands of years) changes from an amorphous solid into a crystalline one losing its transparency and becoming much more vulnerable to weathering. So Hishaan shouldn't still be a blinding risk as the outer layers of the glass should have changed long ago leaving it looking like a city of frost rather than glass making its nickname even more appropriate, and IMO making it even more creepy as the features of the statues would have mostly weathered off by now as well. As this does not seem to have happened it seems that there is some sort of linger magical effect preventing it, and possibly making it hard (or even impossible) to damage the glass in other ways.
Well, putting it in terms of easily-understandable standard fantasy-world magicks, this sounds like a particularly artistic version of a Petrify spell. A Petrify spell would transmute the target organic matter into some kind of rock--granite, basalt, quartz, whatever gets the job done. This one is the same concept, but with a particular end point in mind-glass.
I originally did want to have Abel add a casual mention that the place did have magical reinforcement so as not to just turn into a shattery shardland. But I ran out of decent space for it.
y'know, just a random thought here but while 'glass' is made from silica and so forth, i'd imagine carbon and other more sturdier materials would form the relative basis for this.
http://dornob.com/transparent-aluminum-glass-like-see-through-metal/ transparent aluminum exists, it's theoretically possible that other processes and materials were involved to make glass like substances.
at least that's putting a scientific spin on it. otherwise it's maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic. :U
Well when you have creatures with wings on their butts and half the size of buildings, trying to get overly scientific or serious just seems silly. :P
Well if your gonna be that way about it... :mowtongue
So Cyra is essentially, SPOILERS FROM THE ENDING OF FFXIII(Final fantasy 13)[spoiler]Lightning because at the end of the game she freezes cooccon[/spoiler]
in other news, could it be possible to skate on that city?
Quote from: joshofspam on May 06, 2011, 02:56:30 PM
Is the ascension for Cubi more of a bitter sweet thing when you obtain that status?
Ignoring those simply power-mad;
Tri-wing status, although makes one lose the ability to have children, might allow for certain "assurances", a stronger clan, perhaps a longer life span for everyone in the clan... Essentially, perhaps the drawbacks are worth it, to be able to protect one's family better.
Quote from: Azelrus on May 07, 2011, 03:45:35 AM
in other news, could it be possible to skate on that city?
perhaps in bare shoes... If the glass is indestructable, metal skates would simply not work the same way.
Roller blades though... >.>
Damn you Turnsky for linking to that site ... I am now lost !!
It's almost as bad as TV Tropes and Wikipedias.
I am now caught between tales of abandoned cities (http://weburbanist.com/2008/10/19/ghost-town-abandoned-city-examples-images/) and penthouse slums (http://dornob.com/penthouse-slums-the-rooftop-shanty-towns-of-hong-kong/).
:U
Quote from: Turnsky on May 07, 2011, 12:32:27 AM
y'know, just a random thought here but while 'glass' is made from silica and so forth, i'd imagine carbon and other more sturdier materials would form the relative basis for this.
http://dornob.com/transparent-aluminum-glass-like-see-through-metal/ transparent aluminum exists, it's theoretically possible that other processes and materials were involved to make glass like substances.
at least that's putting a scientific spin on it. otherwise it's maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic. :U
Also know as Optical Sapphire!!! Mjolnir Armor faceplate anyone?
Quote from: Anker Steadfast on May 07, 2011, 01:33:44 PM
I am now caught between tales of abandoned cities .
Your abandoned cities link attempted to attack my computer. A second attempt at viewing it didn't repeat the trick so it was most likely a compromised banner ad rather than a hack or maliciousness on the part of the site itself.
Even so,
I would not recommend viewing that site under Windows.EDIT: For those curious about the attack, it was peddling fake antivirus software. Tried to download and presumably run some malware in a ZIP file, and displayed a fake AV scan instead of the actual page.
OOOH I love that malware. I just want to know if we can find the company that uses it and set up a class action lawsuit for malicious advertisement and maybe fraud.
Quote from: Amber Williams on May 07, 2011, 12:34:11 AM
Well when you have creatures with wings on their butts and half the size of buildings, trying to get overly scientific or serious just seems silly. :P
I've been saying that for a while. No one ever listens.
Quote from: Tapewolf on May 07, 2011, 01:50:46 PM
Quote from: Anker Steadfast on May 07, 2011, 01:33:44 PM
I am now caught between tales of abandoned cities .
Your abandoned cities link attempted to attack my computer. A second attempt at viewing it didn't repeat the trick so it was most likely a compromised banner ad rather than a hack or maliciousness on the part of the site itself.
Even so, I would not recommend viewing that site under Windows.
EDIT: For those curious about the attack, it was peddling fake antivirus software. Tried to download and presumably run some malware in a ZIP file, and displayed a fake AV scan instead of the actual page.
Thanks for the warning, but you certainly can view it under Windows. Provided you're actually doing what is commonly accepted as standard practice and running AV, Anti-spyware and Firewall apps, most attacks will fail. Beyond that, don't click things you're not sure of. They'll try and prey on your fear and ignorance and trick you into putting their stuff on your system. If you're really not sure, read up on the name first and see for yourself about any popup you get. Google is your friend.
For added caution, use Firefox with NoScript / AdBlockPlus.
Quote from: Mao Laoren on May 07, 2011, 03:16:25 PM
Quote from: Amber Williams on May 07, 2011, 12:34:11 AM
Well when you have creatures with wings on their butts and half the size of buildings, trying to get overly scientific or serious just seems silly. :P
I've been saying that for a while. No one ever listens.
Well, science works even in Furrae, though it has a bunch of physical laws different from ours.
That is, if the Fae or Lord Ikarion Daryil don't get too involved in it.
Quote from: Mao Laoren on May 07, 2011, 03:16:25 PM
Thanks for the warning, but you certainly can view it under Windows. Provided you're actually doing what is commonly accepted as standard practice and running AV, Anti-spyware and Firewall apps, most attacks will fail.
Maybe I'm unlucky, but the last few times this happened it went through the AV suite like it wasn't there.
Quote from: Mao Laoren on May 07, 2011, 03:16:25 PM
I've been saying that for a while. No one ever listens.
I listen.
I might not actually do anything about it, but I
do listen...
I know Spice has similar unluck. She's got a set of anti-virus things but give her five minutes and deviantart and she'll come out just loaded with internet chiggers. :C
Ugh .. yeah, seems you had a bad run of banner ads with malware in them.
The worst kinds are the rogue antispyware applications ... those can make me real annoyed, since they claim to be your actual antispyware.
Most non-nerd people will not be able to spot the difference, and fall for their trickery and end up twice as infected.
This page (http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm) has a lot of information on those kinds of malware and the removal of such.
One of the very first links on that page deals with removal of such malware.
As you can see from the list on that page, there are quite a few of them around.
Interestingly, I don't think I have ever had malware from DMFA website .. ever. :)
Eh, I have my problems to when it comes to sites with random adds too.
Though the strangest one I'm having now might not even be so much as a problem as it might be more of an over protective anti malware program.
Webroot for me is simply convinced that certain threads on this forum are either risks or actually infected by something. Don't have any other problems mostly with other sites, but I'm now of the mind that some fibber reported to webroot of this sight being a high risk site. :boom
Quote from: joshofspam on May 07, 2011, 04:52:44 PM
Eh, I have my problems to when it comes to sites with random adds too.
Though the strangest one I'm having now might not even be so much as a problem as it might be more of an over protective anti malware program.
Webroot for me is simply convinced that certain threads on this forum are either risks or actually infected by something. Don't have any other problems mostly with other sites, but I'm now of the mind that some fibber reported to webroot of this sight being a high risk site. :boom
As its only some threads it is likely that its due to the site where someone's (or several people's) avatar or signature image is hosted has been reported as such and Webroot is picking up that your browser is trying to access it.
Quote from: Tapewolf on May 07, 2011, 04:05:44 PM
Quote from: Mao Laoren on May 07, 2011, 03:16:25 PM
Thanks for the warning, but you certainly can view it under Windows. Provided you're actually doing what is commonly accepted as standard practice and running AV, Anti-spyware and Firewall apps, most attacks will fail.
Maybe I'm unlucky, but the last few times this happened it went through the AV suite like it wasn't there.
Was it xwf.exe? That one got me just last month, went right through my AV suite, all the same symptoms--probable source a compromised ad, fake AV popup, browser hijacking... the little bastard disabled System Restore and hijacked Windows Security too.
With that one you have to halt it as the item is pretending to run the suite. If you close out your internet browser before it finishes its run then it most likely will not leave a trace, But I would avoid it all the same.
As far as the City is concerned I think that if Wildy ever found it she would take it over as a retreat for all ferret kind and make a fortune in the process. She could call it the "The Great Land of the Shineys".
Quote from: Amber Williams on May 07, 2011, 04:08:39 PM
I know Spice has similar unluck. She's got a set of anti-virus things but give her five minutes and deviantart and she'll come out just loaded with internet chiggers. :C
given it's deviantart i'm not surprised. :P
Popping by to say I absolutely love the last panel. Funny demonstration, with so much shiny. So pretty. And deadly. And one-upping a meme. Many layers of awesome. Very well done.
I just have to say three things about the whole drive-by-malware scene:
1. NoScript. It works. Let it auto-block everything, unlock only things from the parent site and you'll generally be OK. And it speeds up your browsing about 10X on slow connections, due to not loading horribly-written JS ad code(which takes several DNS lookups and redirects before it loads the single JS file. Seriously.)
2. Never use IE. Even on Windows, without NoScript enabled, I never had trouble with driveby malware and Firefox. I just never got anything worse than an annoying browser popup or two.
3. Common Sense, people! If it says "Click here", don't click. Seriously. For almost any reason. If you get an ad for something cheap or free, /never/ click on it. In fact, never click on advertisements at all: If you like the product, google it and click on what you find /there/.
4. Ubuntu is great for someone who just wants to browse the 'net. Just stick the LiveCD in your drive, boot it, and it /works/. No configuring stuff unless you want to.
That's just all I have to say... Except that Tapewolf's /going/ to reply to this. I just /know/ it. :P
Quote from: RobbieThe1st on May 08, 2011, 01:20:49 AM
I just have to say three things about the whole drive-by-malware scene:
1. NoScript. It works. Let it auto-block everything, unlock only things from the parent site and you'll generally be OK. And it speeds up your browsing about 10X on slow connections, due to not loading horribly-written JS ad code(which takes several DNS lookups and redirects before it loads the single JS file. Seriously.)
2. Never use IE. Even on Windows, without NoScript enabled, I never had trouble with driveby malware and Firefox. I just never got anything worse than an annoying browser popup or two.
3. Common Sense, people! If it says "Click here", don't click. Seriously. For almost any reason. If you get an ad for something cheap or free, /never/ click on it. In fact, never click on advertisements at all: If you like the product, google it and click on what you find /there/.
4. Ubuntu is great for someone who just wants to browse the 'net. Just stick the LiveCD in your drive, boot it, and it /works/. No configuring stuff unless you want to.
That's just all I have to say... Except that Tapewolf's /going/ to reply to this. I just /know/ it. :P
Heh, all good points, except for point 3. Many web comics rely on those clicks to help defray their hosting costs. Usually you can just avoid the 'free' offers tho. But I mostly agree with your points. And I run Ubuntu on my gaming system. Which is the same system I use to read DMFA! :)
Going back to the story, it seems like Abel has had the time to set a bookcase filled with books up in a nicely painted room.
The odd thing of this is I would assume many of those books would be his from the academy. Though that brings up another question, how does Abel get his required research material from there?
I figure that Abel was quite bookish before he was band. I bet all the book that are in the Lost lake Inn have been well arranged since his coming here. I wonder if Alexsi has had time to look in on her unread romance novels recently? :)
Abel was a librarian before, perhaps that stuck, maybe he was banned for rearranging the books at SAIA. I think the books were already at lost lake, possible standard history books, maybe bought by Dest.
He asks Fi to bring them ?
Maybe Saia the local library has a "You call, we teleport" service on books ?
Could work in reverse too, when the lend time on a book is up, it would automatically teleport back to the library.
Just jumped on after reviewing Demo. 101. The Hishaan Event is when Cyra attained tri-wing status, as it clearly states in her writeup that she is 7000 years old (give or take 500 years, or so). Which makes the length of the DC war about 2000-5000 years in length, as the current year in Furrae is c.1990.
Quote from: jmcallaway on May 08, 2011, 03:37:28 PM
Just jumped on after reviewing Demo. 101. The Hishaan Event is when Cyra attained tri-wing status, as it clearly states in her writeup that she is 7000 years old (give or take 500 years, or so). Which makes the length of the DC war about 2000-5000 years in length, as the current year in Furrae is c.1990.
Sweet!
Helps a lot with some kind of stuff
Regarding the source of Abel's books, you do recall that there is a bookstore in the town near Lost Lake (http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_654.php). Some of us spend lots of time in bookstores.
It has been mentioned elsewhere I think that at one time it was relatively easy to ascend to Tri-Wing status, then suddenly it got super-duper-hard..
My wild ass theory. Tri-Wing ascension used to involve sucking-up a lot of ambient magic that the Dragons laid claim to, the Dragons didn't like this and so they stuffed it all into a Super-Magic-Shiny-Thing. Cyra, wanting to attain Tri-Wing status, goes to Hisshan(sp?) and asks M'chek for access to Super-Magic-Shiny-Thing. M'chek is like, "You No Can Haz!" And Cyra is like, "It's On!" Hilarity Fightey-time ensues.
Cyra gets ahold of Super-Magic-Shiny-Thing and uses it to become Tri-Wing, but in the process breaks Super-Magic-Shiny-Thing causing it to go Bewm. Since this is a Super-Magic-Shiny-Thing and not a Super-Explody-Shiny-Thing it goes 'EverythingBecomesGlassNao'-bewm instead of 'EverythingAsplodeNao'-bewm.
So Crya gets what she wanted, but as a result Super-Magic-Shiny-Thing is gone forever and ever, an entire City is gone, and she's just gotten herself involved in a blood feud with all Dragons everywhere Forever...... oops.
Les, that's an awesome theory. :D
Alternate theory for increased difficulty of ascension: political (for lack of a better word) rather than overall accessible magic.
ie, in ye olden days ascension was done via massive soul munching in large quantities, but cubi can't really get away with that sort of thing anymore. If nothing else, beings are a bit more organized and able to field competent adventurers and further able to field large armies of someone _really_ pisses them off.
Taun, for one thing, wouldn't be putting up with some starting to much on souls or whatever in large scale, attracting rather unpleasant attention toward the cubi.
Obviously, non-munch-on-people methods would, under the above hypothesis, remain unaffected. Perhaps they're more difficult or require far more cleverness.
Quote from: Psy-Kosh on May 09, 2011, 08:56:04 PM
Alternate theory for increased difficulty of ascension: political (for lack of a better word) rather than overall accessible magic.
ie, in ye olden days ascension was done via massive soul munching in large quantities, but cubi can't really get away with that sort of thing anymore. If nothing else, beings are a bit more organized and able to field competent adventurers and further able to field large armies of someone _really_ pisses them off.
Taun, for one thing, wouldn't be putting up with some starting to much on souls or whatever in large scale, attracting rather unpleasant attention toward the cubi.
Obviously, non-munch-on-people methods would, under the above hypothesis, remain unaffected. Perhaps they're more difficult or require far more cleverness.
If anything, no existing clan leader would ,simply because they are competition - think of it as tri-wings being a bunch of millionaries.
Taun IMHO would be the least opposed as another tri-wing would strengthen cubi overall.
As for the other thing, fair point - it's quite possible that advances in technology do have something to do with it... after all, in stone-age furrae, defeating any creature must have been almost impossible - it's only later weapons that have allowed trained beings to begin to match their natural weapons.
Yeah. I'd expect there'd be obvious politics/etc associated with new clan leaders.
I'd expect Taun, at least, to actively encourage new ascensions if it could be pulled off in a non-pissing-the-rest-of-the-world-off-at-us way. Actually, lack of ascensions in a while would probably lead to some cubi having a "we're a dying race" type feeling, so they'd probably welcome someone, anyone, doing it just to as a sign that it's still possible, that, as a people, they're not "past their prime".