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#61
Tower of Art / Pax Draconica 2 - Chapter 29 (...
Last post by Tapewolf - May 14, 2026, 06:59:28 AMOriginally I was going to switch to a two-week schedule because this was the last chapter I had in the buffer. However, I had a last-minute breakthrough and now have a big chunk of chapter 31 written too. That said, I would expect a gap after Confuzzled.
Chapter 29 - Dee
"You can call me 'Dee'," the robot said. "I was given the serial number D-1, probably for Dragon-1. My... brothers... are D-2 and D-3, and there was talk of building a D-4..."
Terry snorted. The robot's red eyes glowered, the gleaming black creature looking somehow offended. "What amuses you, your lordship?"
"My brother and I were both named 'Terror'," the white dragon said. "I call myself 'Terry' and he calls himself 'Maarvyn', which has the same root but in a different language. This similarity has caused an awkward situation lately. You, it seems, have a similar problem."
"That is so," Dee admitted. "Maybe in the future we can pick other names. But that is less important right now."
"True," Terry said. "I apologise for the interruption."
"Maarvyn tells me that you may be my overlord," Dee said worriedly. "If that is so, then I am far below your rank and do not deserve an apology. If I am truly yours, then this fact may bring possibility... or peril."
"I did not become lord for my own amusement, or to subjugate my rivals," Terry said. "I became lord to make this place safe for dragons. If I give orders, it is to stop a dragon from harming the Small Races, or the Small Races from harming dragons. I do not care if you are flesh and blood or metal, Dee. What I ask for is a pretty low bar - no murder or other capital offences."
"That does not seem unreasonable," Dee admitted.
"This brings us to another point," Fardon said, "Maarvyn here has told us some remarkable things about your capabilities. While he seems earnest about this, it is said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. To reassure us, to help put the matter beyond doubt, could we possibly ask you to demonstrate your breath-weapon? If we can see that this is true, that Maarvyn is not exaggerating, it would greatly help us in deciding how we can aid you."
"The Hunters may see," Dee protested. "Their drone, it can detect infra-red, other energy surges. The rock will help shield against it, but still... I do not want to return! I was built to slay and destroy dragons, and my creators will surely force me to do so! And even if I don't, am I safe to be among others?!"
"I was made to destroy the world," Fiskul said quietly. "And you know what...? I decided not to. Destiny is what you make it, friend."
"I... shall have to ponder this," Dee admitted. "But I digress. Yes, I could demonstrate my weaponry, but I fear to draw the Hunters here if I do!"
"My mission was to track that drone of theirs," Jake pointed out. "I will check for its presence, if that helps."
Jake left for a few minutes, returning shortly afterwards.
"It's some fifty klicks away," the plane-dragon announced. "This is probably as good a time as any, and even if I'm wrong - if we agree to take you to a safe location it won't matter as the lair will likely be empty by the time they can muster a force here."
"I cannot argue with that," Dee admitted, and trotted into a spare room, deeper into the rock. He craned his neck back, gesturing them to follow him.
"This will do," he said, facing a blank wall and glancing briefly at the others. "I would advise you stand back and do not stare directly into the beam."
So saying, he opened his mouth, and a whining sound built up. Then there was a loud noise like paper tearing, a wave of intense heat, and Mermul briefly saw a beam of pure light project from the creature's maw before screwing his eyes tight shut and tilting his head away. There was a hissing sound as the beam shut off.
"Gosh," Fiskul said quietly. The Devourer strode up to inspect the wall. A neat hole had been melted through the rock which now glowed orange-red. Lowering their neck until their eye was level with the hole, the Devourer could see the glow stretching several metres deep into the perfectly circular gouge.
"I would not stay too close for too long," Dee warned. "It is emitting many beta particles, and probably far more alpha particles that my sensors cannot detect. I am registering some 300 counts per minute. Not too bad, but noticeably above the background level."
"Reckon I should devour it...?" Fiskul asked Maarvyn. "I can skim the molten stuff off, make it safe. That should remove the radiation!"
"I suspect I will have to move lairs soon anyway," the white-orange dragon sighed. "But you have all seen Dee's laser breath, friends. What is your verdict now?"
"That we have a problem," Lady Silver croaked. "This is like some kind of science-fiction story..."
"...Then you do not believe?!" Dee sounded extremely upset. "I have risked my position and created a radiation hazard for nothing?!"
"Oh, I believe it alright," the snow leopard said, shaking her head. "I just don't understand how it's happened! You're at least a century ahead of what I thought Atlantian technology was capable of. And we were supposed to be ahead of everyone else!"
"Maybe he is from the future," Mermul said. Terry stared at the fluff-dragon as if he'd gone mad.
"What...?" Mermul pouted. "Dee is talking to us like a dragon," he said, craning his neck to face the robot. "As far as I can tell, Dee, you're seeing things from a dragon's point of view, you apparently know much of what a dragon should know, learned over many, many decades. How is that even possible? Did it all come preprogrammed? Surely they cannot have been developing you for decades, when computing technology is still so new?! And even if they were, where did the Hunters get such a thorough understanding of dragonhood?"
"This is true," Terry admitted. "If he is from the future, they would have had far more time to train a synthetic dragon brain. It sounds crazy, but perhaps Mermul has a point. What if the Hunters didn't develop a robot at all, but a time machine...?"
"I don't know," Jake said. "His engines look pretty similar to mine, and while mine are state-of-the-art, I'd expect more progress if he really is from the future."
"The engineers in that lab," Lady Silver said, "If anyone can put together a robot dragon frame like his, it would be them. I'm not saying you're wrong - maybe they got the brain, the laser and the power plant from the future and bolted those onto existing tech...?"
"But if Jake's engines are similar, that surely raises the question of where he got them from," Fardon commented.
"Indeed," the snow-leopard mused. "Ours use avgas, and I haven't smelled that around him, nor does it look quite right when he fires them up."
"They are electrical," Jake said. "And we make them ourselves," he added. "Our aim is to try and compete with the Hunters, after all. It would hardly work if we were dependent on them for parts, would it...?"
"Electrical...?" Lady Silver looked surprised. "Really...? They sounded like turbofans to me."
"Well, they are, kind of," Jake said. "Most jet engines burn fuel to create expanding hot gas. Instead, we do a trick with plasma superheating..." he paused and looked at the snow leopard uneasily. "This is confidential, right...? You're not going to tell your buddies so they can kill one of us and cut us open to find out how we work...?"
"Not if they want to keep trade relations with Arstrom, they won't," Terry growled menacingly.
"Even without that, it's not something I could do with a clean conscience," the snow leopard said, looking slightly insulted. "If your kind start attacking us, expect us to fight back. And then, yes - that might happen. But I am not going to jeopardise the life of someone who has not harmed me."
"...You are a Hunter?!" Dee croaked, horrified.
"There's Hunters and there's Hunters," Lady Silver sighed. "I know that's often used as a catch-all term for anyone from Atlantia, but we're not all the same! I don't even like the term because it makes me sound like someone who prides themselves in being a dragon-slayer."
"Then you are not...?" the robo-dragon asked hopefully.
"I was trained for that, most of us are," Lady Silver sighed. "I have killed dragons, yes. But I did so out of necessity, not because I have some rabid antipathy to dragonkind. Dragons are big and scary, yes - and when they go rogue they can do a huge amount of damage. I believe that we Small Races are entitled to defend ourselves with all necessary force, and before this tenday I wouldn't have trusted a dragon as far as I could throw them.
"But I am not, and never have been, in favour of eliminating dragonkind, or targeting individuals for no good reason. And I am not part of the group who made you, Dee. I was sent to investigate them."
"Rogue Hunters...?" Dee asked hopefully. "You will not betray me to them...?"
"I will not," the snow leopard said. "Hell, those guys shot me! I will have to report your existence to my superiors at some point, but if you are safely in Lord Terror's hands by then, they won't be able to touch you, even if they wanted to."
"Also, it seems that Lady Silver's superiors are the closest thing Atlantia has seen to a pro-dragon faction for as long as I have been alive," Fardon said. "This should be encouraged."
"Lady Silver," Terry began. "You said you know some of the researchers who have apparently built this marvel. Would you care to elaborate on that...? Not that I am likely to recognise any of them, but just so we know."
"Well, there's Dr. Corvin," the snow leopard said. "She was a leading light in avionics systems for General Aerotech, and made a number of significant breakthroughs. Harvey Eriksson used to head the R&D department at their rival, the Union Aerotech Corporation. There are a few others as well, who I suspect aided with the mechanical design. Dr. Marmaduke may have helped with the laser, but if there's one person I suspect made this miracle possible, it's Professor Greene."
"Oh?"
"Greene's weird, but brilliant," she continued. "Computer scientist. We don't honestly know where he even came from, only that he had tenure at Overmann College before we poached him from Narduran, and even they didn't know exactly where he came from. His detractors accused him of being a dragon sympathiser, and some other weird rumours beside. It's definitely true that he was on the moderate side of things, but nobody could argue with the results. I don't see how anyone could produce a sentient robotic brain, but if anyone can pull it off, Greene would be high on my list of suspects."
Chapter 29 - Dee
"You can call me 'Dee'," the robot said. "I was given the serial number D-1, probably for Dragon-1. My... brothers... are D-2 and D-3, and there was talk of building a D-4..."
Terry snorted. The robot's red eyes glowered, the gleaming black creature looking somehow offended. "What amuses you, your lordship?"
"My brother and I were both named 'Terror'," the white dragon said. "I call myself 'Terry' and he calls himself 'Maarvyn', which has the same root but in a different language. This similarity has caused an awkward situation lately. You, it seems, have a similar problem."
"That is so," Dee admitted. "Maybe in the future we can pick other names. But that is less important right now."
"True," Terry said. "I apologise for the interruption."
"Maarvyn tells me that you may be my overlord," Dee said worriedly. "If that is so, then I am far below your rank and do not deserve an apology. If I am truly yours, then this fact may bring possibility... or peril."
"I did not become lord for my own amusement, or to subjugate my rivals," Terry said. "I became lord to make this place safe for dragons. If I give orders, it is to stop a dragon from harming the Small Races, or the Small Races from harming dragons. I do not care if you are flesh and blood or metal, Dee. What I ask for is a pretty low bar - no murder or other capital offences."
"That does not seem unreasonable," Dee admitted.
"This brings us to another point," Fardon said, "Maarvyn here has told us some remarkable things about your capabilities. While he seems earnest about this, it is said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. To reassure us, to help put the matter beyond doubt, could we possibly ask you to demonstrate your breath-weapon? If we can see that this is true, that Maarvyn is not exaggerating, it would greatly help us in deciding how we can aid you."
"The Hunters may see," Dee protested. "Their drone, it can detect infra-red, other energy surges. The rock will help shield against it, but still... I do not want to return! I was built to slay and destroy dragons, and my creators will surely force me to do so! And even if I don't, am I safe to be among others?!"
"I was made to destroy the world," Fiskul said quietly. "And you know what...? I decided not to. Destiny is what you make it, friend."
"I... shall have to ponder this," Dee admitted. "But I digress. Yes, I could demonstrate my weaponry, but I fear to draw the Hunters here if I do!"
"My mission was to track that drone of theirs," Jake pointed out. "I will check for its presence, if that helps."
Jake left for a few minutes, returning shortly afterwards.
"It's some fifty klicks away," the plane-dragon announced. "This is probably as good a time as any, and even if I'm wrong - if we agree to take you to a safe location it won't matter as the lair will likely be empty by the time they can muster a force here."
"I cannot argue with that," Dee admitted, and trotted into a spare room, deeper into the rock. He craned his neck back, gesturing them to follow him.
"This will do," he said, facing a blank wall and glancing briefly at the others. "I would advise you stand back and do not stare directly into the beam."
So saying, he opened his mouth, and a whining sound built up. Then there was a loud noise like paper tearing, a wave of intense heat, and Mermul briefly saw a beam of pure light project from the creature's maw before screwing his eyes tight shut and tilting his head away. There was a hissing sound as the beam shut off.
"Gosh," Fiskul said quietly. The Devourer strode up to inspect the wall. A neat hole had been melted through the rock which now glowed orange-red. Lowering their neck until their eye was level with the hole, the Devourer could see the glow stretching several metres deep into the perfectly circular gouge.
"I would not stay too close for too long," Dee warned. "It is emitting many beta particles, and probably far more alpha particles that my sensors cannot detect. I am registering some 300 counts per minute. Not too bad, but noticeably above the background level."
"Reckon I should devour it...?" Fiskul asked Maarvyn. "I can skim the molten stuff off, make it safe. That should remove the radiation!"
"I suspect I will have to move lairs soon anyway," the white-orange dragon sighed. "But you have all seen Dee's laser breath, friends. What is your verdict now?"
"That we have a problem," Lady Silver croaked. "This is like some kind of science-fiction story..."
"...Then you do not believe?!" Dee sounded extremely upset. "I have risked my position and created a radiation hazard for nothing?!"
"Oh, I believe it alright," the snow leopard said, shaking her head. "I just don't understand how it's happened! You're at least a century ahead of what I thought Atlantian technology was capable of. And we were supposed to be ahead of everyone else!"
"Maybe he is from the future," Mermul said. Terry stared at the fluff-dragon as if he'd gone mad.
"What...?" Mermul pouted. "Dee is talking to us like a dragon," he said, craning his neck to face the robot. "As far as I can tell, Dee, you're seeing things from a dragon's point of view, you apparently know much of what a dragon should know, learned over many, many decades. How is that even possible? Did it all come preprogrammed? Surely they cannot have been developing you for decades, when computing technology is still so new?! And even if they were, where did the Hunters get such a thorough understanding of dragonhood?"
"This is true," Terry admitted. "If he is from the future, they would have had far more time to train a synthetic dragon brain. It sounds crazy, but perhaps Mermul has a point. What if the Hunters didn't develop a robot at all, but a time machine...?"
"I don't know," Jake said. "His engines look pretty similar to mine, and while mine are state-of-the-art, I'd expect more progress if he really is from the future."
"The engineers in that lab," Lady Silver said, "If anyone can put together a robot dragon frame like his, it would be them. I'm not saying you're wrong - maybe they got the brain, the laser and the power plant from the future and bolted those onto existing tech...?"
"But if Jake's engines are similar, that surely raises the question of where he got them from," Fardon commented.
"Indeed," the snow-leopard mused. "Ours use avgas, and I haven't smelled that around him, nor does it look quite right when he fires them up."
"They are electrical," Jake said. "And we make them ourselves," he added. "Our aim is to try and compete with the Hunters, after all. It would hardly work if we were dependent on them for parts, would it...?"
"Electrical...?" Lady Silver looked surprised. "Really...? They sounded like turbofans to me."
"Well, they are, kind of," Jake said. "Most jet engines burn fuel to create expanding hot gas. Instead, we do a trick with plasma superheating..." he paused and looked at the snow leopard uneasily. "This is confidential, right...? You're not going to tell your buddies so they can kill one of us and cut us open to find out how we work...?"
"Not if they want to keep trade relations with Arstrom, they won't," Terry growled menacingly.
"Even without that, it's not something I could do with a clean conscience," the snow leopard said, looking slightly insulted. "If your kind start attacking us, expect us to fight back. And then, yes - that might happen. But I am not going to jeopardise the life of someone who has not harmed me."
"...You are a Hunter?!" Dee croaked, horrified.
"There's Hunters and there's Hunters," Lady Silver sighed. "I know that's often used as a catch-all term for anyone from Atlantia, but we're not all the same! I don't even like the term because it makes me sound like someone who prides themselves in being a dragon-slayer."
"Then you are not...?" the robo-dragon asked hopefully.
"I was trained for that, most of us are," Lady Silver sighed. "I have killed dragons, yes. But I did so out of necessity, not because I have some rabid antipathy to dragonkind. Dragons are big and scary, yes - and when they go rogue they can do a huge amount of damage. I believe that we Small Races are entitled to defend ourselves with all necessary force, and before this tenday I wouldn't have trusted a dragon as far as I could throw them.
"But I am not, and never have been, in favour of eliminating dragonkind, or targeting individuals for no good reason. And I am not part of the group who made you, Dee. I was sent to investigate them."
"Rogue Hunters...?" Dee asked hopefully. "You will not betray me to them...?"
"I will not," the snow leopard said. "Hell, those guys shot me! I will have to report your existence to my superiors at some point, but if you are safely in Lord Terror's hands by then, they won't be able to touch you, even if they wanted to."
"Also, it seems that Lady Silver's superiors are the closest thing Atlantia has seen to a pro-dragon faction for as long as I have been alive," Fardon said. "This should be encouraged."
"Lady Silver," Terry began. "You said you know some of the researchers who have apparently built this marvel. Would you care to elaborate on that...? Not that I am likely to recognise any of them, but just so we know."
"Well, there's Dr. Corvin," the snow leopard said. "She was a leading light in avionics systems for General Aerotech, and made a number of significant breakthroughs. Harvey Eriksson used to head the R&D department at their rival, the Union Aerotech Corporation. There are a few others as well, who I suspect aided with the mechanical design. Dr. Marmaduke may have helped with the laser, but if there's one person I suspect made this miracle possible, it's Professor Greene."
"Oh?"
"Greene's weird, but brilliant," she continued. "Computer scientist. We don't honestly know where he even came from, only that he had tenure at Overmann College before we poached him from Narduran, and even they didn't know exactly where he came from. His detractors accused him of being a dragon sympathiser, and some other weird rumours beside. It's definitely true that he was on the moderate side of things, but nobody could argue with the results. I don't see how anyone could produce a sentient robotic brain, but if anyone can pull it off, Greene would be high on my list of suspects."
#62
The Lost Lake Inn / Re: 2026-05-07 - DMFA 2169 - W...
Last post by Anders71 - May 13, 2026, 11:07:33 PMQuote from: Cassi-kun on May 13, 2026, 11:16:21 AMDepends on how much that's still being treated as canon. I feel like a lot of the more outre details from the earlier chapters have kinda been dropped as the comic got more serious.Quote from: joshofspam on May 13, 2026, 06:17:53 AMDo you think the baby that Destania wanted to torture in her class could have been Pyroduck?That... seems believable. It would also help explain why Fa'Lina chose the Phoenix oracles to raise him, as they'd be most likely to see Destania coming.
#63
Jayhawk HQ / Re: [Xer 2 Chapter 4]
Last post by ProfesseurRenard - May 13, 2026, 08:25:57 PMQuote from: Raskahn on May 13, 2026, 12:11:41 PM05-01 - Oops, my bad
"And then they all live happily together in the cloud computing paradise so you see, death isn't such a bad thing."
We've already started a Chapter 5 thread, mate.
#64
Jayhawk HQ / Re: [Bounty Project Chapter 14...
Last post by ProfesseurRenard - May 13, 2026, 08:24:25 PMQuote from: Tapewolf on May 13, 2026, 06:21:04 AMQuote from: Starcat5 on May 12, 2026, 08:44:11 PM14-09 - They are playing for chocolate coins
Panel 3: I see a thumb holding down a pinkie, and four upright fingers. That doesn't look right.
I hadn't noticed that in the sketch. Originally I figured he'd be touching each digit on one hand with the forefinger of the other, but shapeshifting extra digits works too.
There's a shapeshifting trick I've never thought of: temporary Count Rugen imitations.
#65
The Lost Lake Inn / Re: 2026-05-07 - DMFA 2169 - W...
Last post by Radagast - May 13, 2026, 12:26:02 PMQuote from: e_voyager on May 12, 2026, 01:38:07 PMLet's see I think he started out being glad with power followed by mad with power then sad with power... I think someone already said bad with power but I can't think of a comic link for it
That one was me, joking about this very comic, in fact.
#66
Jayhawk HQ / Re: [Xer 2 Chapter 4]
Last post by Raskahn - May 13, 2026, 12:11:41 PM05-01 - Oops, my bad
"And then they all live happily together in the cloud computing paradise so you see, death isn't such a bad thing."
"And then they all live happily together in the cloud computing paradise so you see, death isn't such a bad thing."
#67
The Lost Lake Inn / Re: 2026-05-07 - DMFA 2169 - W...
Last post by Cassi-kun - May 13, 2026, 11:16:21 AMQuote from: joshofspam on May 13, 2026, 06:17:53 AMDo you think the baby that Destania wanted to torture in her class could have been Pyroduck?That... seems believable. It would also help explain why Fa'Lina chose the Phoenix oracles to raise him, as they'd be most likely to see Destania coming.
#68
Jayhawk HQ / Re: [Bounty Project Chapter 14...
Last post by Tapewolf - May 13, 2026, 06:21:04 AMQuote from: Starcat5 on May 12, 2026, 08:44:11 PM14-09 - They are playing for chocolate coins
Panel 3: I see a thumb holding down a pinkie, and four upright fingers. That doesn't look right.
I hadn't noticed that in the sketch. Originally I figured he'd be touching each digit on one hand with the forefinger of the other, but shapeshifting extra digits works too.
#69
The Lost Lake Inn / Re: 2026-05-07 - DMFA 2169 - W...
Last post by joshofspam - May 13, 2026, 06:17:53 AMWhatever villain Biggs is referring to, let's just hope it isn't Starscream.
I just had a thought, and I don't think an exact date was ever given for it. Do you think the baby that Destania wanted to torture in her class could have been Pyroduck?
Certainly, would give an explanation of where he got the feather from. Tried to use him as a lecture subject and ended up losing a few feather when he reached out and grabbed a handful of them.
I just had a thought, and I don't think an exact date was ever given for it. Do you think the baby that Destania wanted to torture in her class could have been Pyroduck?
Certainly, would give an explanation of where he got the feather from. Tried to use him as a lecture subject and ended up losing a few feather when he reached out and grabbed a handful of them.
#70
The Lost Lake Inn / Re: 2026-05-07 - DMFA 2169 - W...
Last post by killpurakat - May 13, 2026, 03:29:00 AMQuote from: Amber Williams on May 12, 2026, 01:46:03 PMI am indeed trying out new stuff all over the place, so if it looks a bit unpolished that may be why.
Okay, makes sense. It's just a little off to my eye--mostly just the little changes in where and how much shading that made me question it, not the expressions or style, really--but that explains it. But yes, def just go with the good feelings. Hope you get everything figured out in the new programs and find what you like best so that you feel comfy using it and can enjoy doing more art, if you want to (absolutely no pressure, because I prefer my fav artists enjoy doing their art as much as possible). The adjustment period is always rough for changing anything like that, even if it is fun and new and exciting stuff.
Also, because it looks like this shall be a hell of a summer from what we've already got going on where I'm at and I know your neck of the woods sometimes gets hit even harder, I hope you are able to keep your environment at a nice temperature that is smoke-free for as long as possible. Especially while doing art.
(Yes, that last bit is a tiny bit selfish, as all the smoke from Canadian fires seems to migrate down to my area as well when they happen, especially during the summer, but I really do also hope your summer is nice and stress-free and pleasant. You haven't had that for awhile and deserve it.)