2017-05-22 [DMFA #1755] - Mystery caller

[Tapewolf]

That's interesting... Pip tipped off Chazore?
Not good news for Abel, though.  Whatever backup Pip might have been able to provide is not forthcoming.  At least he's not watching and gloating, mind.
And it would have been amusing to see how Hizell reacts when bitten by something feeble, but which cannot die.

I was kind of hoping that the situation would be resolved by now, for good or ill - looks like I'll be spending Confuzzled on tenterhooks.

[katasev]

I'm betting Chazore and her available resources (maybe Jy can convince her to at least make a backup call and get some more of the stealth division [or maybe some heavy-hitter bodyguards, or Kria herself!] in here) are more useful than Pip hanging out himself. Considering how much he complains about his "tiny powerless form", I seriously doubt he's gonna throw himself at even a lower grade of dragon. After all, just because he can't die doesn't mean he can't feel pain - there are things so much worse than death when you're forcibly immortal.

Though now I'm curious - does Pip actually retain the ability to speak Common outside of the Fae realm, then? I know he was doing so in Abel's dream sequence, but I thought maybe dream magic wibbly wobbly shenanigans were responsible for that. If he can talk whenever he wants and just willingly doesn't, that's veeerrry interesting to me.

Also, poor Wildy. Hopefully Chaz puts her down before she ends up more rainbow than she already is, and not in a good way.

[Ixal]

It is not that much of a surprise. Pip, at least according to my understanding of him, wants that anti dragon superweapon to happen. So he both need Jyrras alive and to have a reason to build that weapon.
I still think that Pip has engineered this meeting in the first place.

Edit: And yes, Pip can speak. There was one panel where he was discussing further plans with Mab. I just cant find it in the archive.

[Tapewolf]

Though now I'm curious - does Pip actually retain the ability to speak Common outside of the Fae realm, then? I know he was doing so in Abel's dream sequence, but I thought maybe dream magic wibbly wobbly shenanigans were responsible for that. If he can talk whenever he wants and just willingly doesn't, that's veeerrry interesting to me.

In page 847 he talks to Mab.  No guarantee that a non-Fae would be able to hear him, of course, but those are regular speech bubbles.

[katasev]

Though now I'm curious - does Pip actually retain the ability to speak Common outside of the Fae realm, then? I know he was doing so in Abel's dream sequence, but I thought maybe dream magic wibbly wobbly shenanigans were responsible for that. If he can talk whenever he wants and just willingly doesn't, that's veeerrry interesting to me.

In page 847 he talks to Mab.  No guarantee that a non-Fae would be able to hear him, of course, but those are regular speech bubbles.

OH YEAH. I totally forgot how much everyone flipped out about that, hahaha. Wow.  I can't believe that comic was a literal decade ago. So I'm REALLY INTERESTED in that again, then, now that I've been reminded!! XD Who else could Pip have been tipping off about various things? The possibilities are endless.

[Foxx Trotter]

It seems that Pip has plenty of outside connections. Obviously, the plot thickens and brings more mysteries...

[maus_merryjest]

Well, now we know how the bodyguard knew to be there. But we also know now that nobody is coming to help Abel.
Making sure that the genius kangaroo rat lives but that the guy who is a close friend/crush dies while sacrificing his life to save him will certainly make sure Jyrras pulls focus and stops being distracted by his million projects. Anti-dragon super-weapon will be in the works before you can say "You're a pretty great guy."

That's cold of you, Pip. Real cold.

[Tapewolf]

Well, now we know how the bodyguard knew to be there. But we also know now that nobody is coming to help Abel.
Making sure that the genius kangaroo rat lives but that the guy who is a close friend/crush dies while sacrificing his life to save him will certainly make sure Jyrras pulls focus and stops being distracted by his million projects. Anti-dragon super-weapon will be in the works before you can say "You're a pretty great guy."

Would it?  And would it be a good thing if it did?  Let's consider a few scenarios.  The optimum is if Abel is crippled but not killed - that way we still have the damsel-in-distress factor.  Jyrras still has the pressure to develop the thing fast before Hizell comes back to finish the job.  But let's assume that doesn't happen and Abel is left very dead.  What might happen to Biggs and Destania's plan?

Firstly, it could break Jyrras, in which case, no weapon.  He has to be sane for that, and he has to have not killed himself in some Romeo and Juliet moment.

Secondly, Jyrras knows that Destania engineered this.  He might kill her first and go after Hizell later.  In which case Biggs is no longer protected by her anti-scrying powers and the game is over for him.

Thirdly, once Abel's dead, the pressure is off.  Biggs was urging him to do this on the basis that it would save Abel, but with Abel dead, there's no need to rush.  As far as they know, Dan is in a super-secure ivory tower that cannot be breached by the Dragons.  He can be convinced to stay there until it's safe - meanwhile, Jyrras can spend the next 5-10 years plotting the perfect, foolproof way to eliminate Hizell.  Revenge is best served cold, after all.

Fourthly, Jyrras might be distracted from the weapon by attempts to revive Abel.  The fact that we've recently been shown someone with an entirely synthetic body is an interesting coincidence.  Jyrras is a master technologist and assuming they can find enough bits of Abel to get a link to his soul, he has more than enough money to pay someone to perform a soul transfer.  Heck, Kria knows how to reanimate people - albeit in a lossy way - though I'm assuming that Hizell won't have left him intact enough for that.

But.  Let's assume that it pans out for Biggs and Destania.  No miracle occurs.  Abel's dead.  Jyrras doesn't grieve, doesn't kill the person who ordered the hit, but goes straight to work on the gun.
Now, the motive and the narrative as whole has changed, and not for the better.  Previously we had 'I don't want to do this, but I have to save my boyfriend...' which is understandable.  People can empathise with that.  It had a positive outcome - Abel gets to live, Jyrras gets the boy, happy ever after.
All that has been replaced with 'I'm going to kill someone because they killed my friend' which is an altogether darker kettle of fish, and not at all noble.  It doesn't have a positive outcome, just a high body count.  All he's done is spread more hatred, and at the end it doesn't bring Abel back, just causes more suffering.  While it would be fascinating to watch Jyrras descend into madness and evil, it would make the story as a whole about as uplifting as the film version of Watership Down.  Jyrras, after all, would be doing what Hizell is doing right now - killing Hizell and his vengeful children because of something Hizell did to someone Jyrras had known for about three months.

It's interesting - some years ago I was writing a concept album about the three little pigs.  My aim was to paint the wolf in a more sympathetic light.  I twisted it around so that the three little pigs were crime lords who killed the big bad wolf as he attempted to bring them in.  The suite was a series of songs about his son looking for revenge.  And in the end, I realised that I'd twisted it so far around, I was back at the beginning, with the big bad wolf's son killing the three little pigs one by one in a quest for vengeance, and the wolf was, in a lot of ways, the villain once again.  Which was not what I had originally intended.
The short version is, revenge is not a good motive for Jyrras to build the weapon on, and I can't see anything good coming from it - just different degrees of bad.

[EDIT: Clarified the anecdote at the bottom]

[Shakal]

A couple extra thoughts here.

1) While the punchline works best for Pip having made the call, and then eaten the cell phone. But give the drakes known phone-eating behavior when it comes to getting Abel in life-or-death situations, what if he ate a bystander's phone to try to keep the call from happening? He had no trouble letting adventurers try to kill Abel before, and that was again with Wildy and Jyrras present.

2) The first line of the comic made me think back to a penal in Abel's Story:
Today's panel: "As bachelor of the year, you are entitled to all of Zinvth's protections!"
http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Ab_087.php : "Abel was a citizen of Zinvth before he became a cubi. Therefor he is granted all the protestions that entails."
I don't think the similarity is a coincidence, though whether Amber was intentionally using near word-for-word repetition or just from intending the same concept I can't say, but the point is, Zinvth is equally charged to protect Abel as it is to protect Jyrras. I'm trying to remember if Jyrras knows about Abel's citizenship. If so, he could use that to force the cavalry to come running. Especially if Chaz checks with her boss, Kria, we know where she'll stand on "Should Abel be protected" question.

Given these, I'm going to guess that either Chaz or the bystander who's cell phone Pip ate are going to alert the Zinvth guards, and hopefully Abel will come out of this injured but not dead.

Of course maybe I'm reaching to keep my main long-term theory alive, that Jyrras destroying the dragon race will earn him a boon from Mab, and he'll use that to change Abel's clan to Fa'lina's, giving her (the start of) the clan she needs to survive, and Abel a surrogate of the family Aniz destroyed.

[Shakal]

Also, just noticed something a little odd. Usually the title of the page and the text under the comic are the same, but this time the page title is "Nice Save" while the comic text is "Anonymous Tip". Not sure if that's relevant, but interesting.

[Grey Wolf]

What if Pip and Hizell have a bargain? Does Hizell "count" as a dragon to appeal to Direlamyl for mercy on Pip's behalf?

Though, honestly, I'd be happier if someone Fenrirs Direlamyl and his world. Someone who tortures others by having them exist in eternal nothingness? I don't care what they did; nothing justifies such an evil end.

[maus_merryjest]

Some good thoughts, Tape.

I just can't see Hizell leaving a survivor. Especially from the clan he vowed to wipe out. If he left Abel alive, it would appear as a weakness on his side.

Also, Z isn't really as obliged to throw its army behind Abel, he's not the public face of Zvinth. Jyrras is the poster-boy.

Even  IF Chaz checked in with Kria, we're talking about one of the dreaded dragons. Abel doesn't really stand a chance, even with Chaz by his side.

[Shakal]

Some good thoughts, Tape.

I just can't see Hizell leaving a survivor. Especially from the clan he vowed to wipe out. If he left Abel alive, it would appear as a weakness on his side.

Also, Z isn't really as obliged to throw its army behind Abel, he's not the public face of Zvinth. Jyrras is the poster-boy.

Even  IF Chaz checked in with Kria, we're talking about one of the dreaded dragons. Abel doesn't really stand a chance, even with Chaz by his side.

Abel would just need to survive long enough for Kria to arrive. When she was guaranteeing Abel's safety, that was with the knowledge of who's son he was, and what clan he was in. She knew that protecting Abel would mean directly protecting him from Hizell. If she was fully confident on Zvinth's ability to do so, I'm willing to give her the benefit of that doubt.

[Kuzma Volkov]

Fourthly, Jyrras might be distracted from the weapon by attempts to revive Abel.  The fact that we've recently been shown someone with an entirely synthetic body is an interesting coincidence.  Jyrras is a master technologist and assuming they can find enough bits of Abel to get a link to his soul, he has more than enough money to pay someone to perform a soul transfer.  Heck, Kria knows how to reanimate people - albeit in a lossy way - though I'm assuming that Hizell won't have left him intact enough for that.

Hmm maybe in some sort of Future Project?

[Tuyu]

I'm betting Chazore and her available resources (maybe Jy can convince her to at least make a backup call and get some more of the stealth division [or maybe some heavy-hitter bodyguards, or Kria herself!] in here) are more useful than Pip hanging out himself. Considering how much he complains about his "tiny powerless form", I seriously doubt he's gonna throw himself at even a lower grade of dragon. After all, just because he can't die doesn't mean he can't feel pain - there are things so much worse than death when you're forcibly immortal.

Question of time:  was Chazore there long enough to have seen Hizell arrive and to have already reported it?

Question of place:  is the graveyard technically within Zinvth, and therefore protected?  If not, Chazore making a report is kind of moot.

Question of manner: Just how much time does Hizell (or his staff) spend scrying Abel?  Could it be that he, too, received an anonymous tip? Maybe Pip's apparent visit to the gravesite was because he knew it was his last chance before it would be destroyed...

[Tapewolf]

I just can't see Hizell leaving a survivor. Especially from the clan he vowed to wipe out. If he left Abel alive, it would appear as a weakness on his side.

Yeah, if he did that voluntarily, that would be a real eye-opener.  But a just-in-time rescue is not impossible.
If they know to come, people can teleport in.  Abel might be able to teleport for that matter, although there's the problem of where to go since returning to the inn is just delaying the inevitable.

The construct-Abel scenario is an interesting one, it's got problems but also advantages.  For instance, Hizell goes away happy, with Abel's clan mark and any other trophies he might want.  Siar's line is ended because a construct body can't reproduce.  Abel's not a 'Cubi anymore and he's never really been sold on being one.  Disadvantages include a probable loss of magic, loss of the ability to taste and eat (nixes the restaurant chain in Project Future) and if there is a physical basis in Jyrras' attraction to him, that's not going to persist unless Jyrras is really, really good at realistic constructs.  Narrative-wise, it also relieves the pressure on building the weapon, which is not good in the bigger picture.

[katasev]

Shakal - Unfortunately, Jyrras has already USED his boon from Mab. Ironically, he used it to get rid of the fae bangles she had Albanion put on to protect him - hence the backup plan of Bachelor of the Year being Albanion's fae revenge. Though if Abel survives this and becomes good enough friends with Mab to earn a boon himself, it's still possible - though probably not likely, since I think it was confirmed somewhere (I forget where, and it's entirely possible I'm just straight wrong) that Fa'Lina is on the fated-to-die list, and converting to her clan just in time for her to shatter him by leaving it leaderless would be a real unfortunate thing to do.

I do hope either Jyrras or Wildy knows Abel is a citizen of Zinvth (though not likely considering neither of them brought it up during the initial adventurer incursion to Lost Lake) or Chazore calls Kria about him. That thing Tape said about synthetic bodies and the whole potential crushing to almost-death scenario makes me still very concerned for Abel's immediate future. (really really really really hoping spotty's not one of the fated-to-die, but it's lookin kinda grim!) Though Tape brings up some good points for construct-Abel not being totally awful in the long run (though definitely still painful and awful in the short run).

[Tapewolf]

Shakal - Unfortunately, Jyrras has already USED his boon from Mab. Ironically, he used it to get rid of the fae bangles she had Albanion put on to protect him - hence the backup plan of Bachelor of the Year being Albanion's fae revenge.

I had assumed that his technological progress and Mab's aid in fusing magic and technology was part of his boon.  That said, someone is still owed a boon, I think.  But we don't know who, and whether they could be persuaded to spend it on rezzing Abel, I have no idea.

Regarding Fa'Lina's coming death, I don't think that's because she's lost her clan, but because she's bound herself to the academy somehow, and the process of said academy returning to the mundane realm will destroy her.  (See 1715)  So binding Abel to Fa'Lina's clan wouldn't help.  In any case, it would just move him to another clan on Hizell's kill list...

(really really really really hoping spotty's not one of the fated-to-die, but it's lookin kinda grim!)

Yeah, I think the fated-to-die gang are her special friends, the kind who get offered boons.  Abel doesn't make that list, but it's no guarantee of his future either.

[katasev]

I had assumed that his technological progress and Mab's aid in fusing magic and technology was part of his boon.  That said, someone is still owed a boon, I think.  But we don't know who, and whether they could spend it on rezzing Abel, I have no idea.

I'm pretty sure Jyrras's tech is his own hard work, and I think Mab's help is just regular friend favors. (Plus she gets paid in craisins!) I'm assuming the bangle-removal was the boon because of the way Mab's antennae react when he says "It would mean the world to me" followed with the explanation and Albanion saying "Did someone use the magic words too soon?"

And yeah, one boon remains - in the process of digging around there, I also re-found that it's two that are definitely gonna, and only five technically count as her friends. So who are the five? For sure we know Fa'Lina and Jyrras because they've received their boons already. Dan pretty much certainly since Albanion did the bangles to him too (I'm assuming it was Albanion who did the bangles + feather shedding after eating shellfish business). His boon status is unknown, maybe? And then, spots four and five go between Wildy, Alexsi, or Merlitz?

And that is.... also true. That Abel not being on her friendslist doesn't guarantee either safety or death. So my concern pile has not shrunk at all, hahaha! Ha! ...haaa..... o__o;;;

[Shakal]

Shakal - Unfortunately, Jyrras has already USED his boon from Mab. Ironically, he used it to get rid of the fae bangles she had Albanion put on to protect him - hence the backup plan of Bachelor of the Year being Albanion's fae revenge.

I had assumed that his technological progress and Mab's aid in fusing magic and technology was part of his boon.  That said, someone is still owed a boon, I think.  But we don't know who, and whether they could be persuaded to spend it on rezzing Abel, I have no idea.

Regarding Fa'Lina's coming death, I don't think that's because she's lost her clan, but because she's bound herself to the academy somehow, and the process of said academy returning to the mundane realm will destroy her.  (See 1715)  So binding Abel to Fa'Lina's clan wouldn't help.  In any case, it would just move him to another clan on Hizell's kill list...

I was actually thinking of her granting a new boon, I forgot that there actually had been ones shown being given and spent in the comic. Given the framing of 1035, it's possible Dan's boon is still outstanding (and it'd be a major emotional kicker if he used it to help Abel).

For Fa'Lina, I look a page back at 1714, with Taun pointing out how it would slowly destroy Cyra if Dan and Destania died, leaving her without any clan members. I really see the return of the academy as being BECAUSE of her death, rather then running the Academy being what is killing her.

[maus_merryjest]

Right. Fa'Lina. Poor Fa'lina.

Damnit, that's two of my favorite characters on the copping block. This comic does bad things to me :p

[Akisohida]

I did not read every post but..

Has it come up that Abel may be Dan's half-brother? And how would that change Hizells outlook?

IIRC, Hizell wants to wipe out Abel's clan AND Dan's clan..Which also brings to mind the fact that they are related from two different clans..but I can't recall how..I remember Ink mentions Ti'Fona and Abel flips. And Macey brings up Edward when doing a background check on Abel...SOMETHIGN has me thinking they are related but it's eluding me.

But would Hizell knowing the connection between Abel and Daniel change his view?

Or does he know and he's about to fill Abel in on some things? Maybe cut a deal?

..I think I confused myself..

[maus_merryjest]

Whoa, wait, what?

I must not have been paying attention... where is it hinted that Abel and Dan half-brothers?  I'm sure I'm totally blanking out on a part of history over the last ten years, if you remember where it is, can you let me know?

I mean, I can totally see the family resemblance, especially around the snark. Mostly the snark. If it's true.

[Tapewolf]

Whoa, wait, what?

I must not have been paying attention... where is it hinted that Abel and Dan half-brothers?  I'm sure I'm totally blanking out on a part of history over the last ten years, if you remember where it is, can you let me know?

I mean, I can totally see the family resemblance, especially around the snark. Mostly the snark. If it's true.

It was based around the theory that Edward was Aniz, who had either murdered and replaced or straight up invented Edward Ti'Fiona.  They look similar, Edward's wrist has never been shown where Aniz' clan mark was, and there were a few reasons to think it might have been true.  At the Clan Leader meeting it was assumed to be true until someone said that Edward really was just a Being.

It's now looking a lot less likely that Aniz survived, and if he really had got back together with Destania, her vendetta against his son would be counterproductive.  Some of the theory relied on Destania being a rational actor which we now know she is not.  It would take some serious plot gymnastics for the Edward-Aniz theory to work given what we have learned in the last 10 years.

As for the link between Dan and Abel, that is currently believed to be that Abel owes a debt of gratitude to the Ti'Fiona line for killing his insane father, apparently during an attempt to replace Edward as Aniz had previously done with Cid Rewanz.

[Shakal]

I suppose in a messed up way, they're kinda almost ex-step-half-brothers, in that Aniz and Destania were together (until they very much weren't), and then one is Aniz's son and the other Destania's son. So it's like you could see an alternate world where the cubi-dragon war never happened, Destania and Aniz stayed together, and the Dan and Abel were full brothers.

[Tuyu]

and the Dan and Abel were full brothers.

But then Dan would be Siar (since that was the stronger clan) and both of them would look more like Aniz (Abel because, presumably, there'd be no reason for the trait manipulation, and Dan because of Siar being the stronger clan)...

...have we ever heard whether SAIA has a children-on-campus policy?