9/4/09 [PF #77] It's just one those feelings!

[Zedd]

Heh talk about not having a good day eh Josh?

I guess people are really that daft to judge so sharply like a rusted nail through moldy swiss cheese

[Sprocketsdance]

Ahh!! All the shouting!! Poor Josh.. how will he be able to get out of this one?? 

[Tapewolf]

Ahh!! All the shouting!! Poor Josh.. how will he be able to get out of this one?? 

I'm afraid it gets worse.

Incidentally, I had difficulty with the picture of Dorcan at the bottom there, trying to make it look like it was breaking up digitally.  I eventually saved it as a JPEG with zero percent quality, twice.  I should probably have damaged the file with a hex editor or something 

[Sprocketsdance]

Ahh!! All the shouting!! Poor Josh.. how will he be able to get out of this one?? 

I'm afraid it gets worse.

Incidentally, I had difficulty with the picture of Dorcan at the bottom there, trying to make it look like it was breaking up digitally.  I eventually saved it as a JPEG with zero percent quality, twice.  I should probably have damaged the file with a hex editor or something 

I think the effect came off pretty well.. at first I was like "What the heck? That.. picture.. doesn't look very well done." But then being my sometimes slow self I got what you were going for. 

[Gabi]

Yes, the low quality of the image was quite evident. It's strange to be saying that as a compliment, though.

[SpottedKitty]

Heh, is that a little black "grr" cloud floating above Keaton's head in the first panel?

I can't quite see what she's leaning forward for in panel 5, though. Holding up her watch to subtly remind her boss to pontificate faster...?   

[Tapewolf]

Heh, is that a little black "grr" cloud floating above Keaton's head in the first panel?

Yes.

I can't quite see what she's leaning forward for in panel 5, though. Holding up her watch to subtly remind her boss to pontificate faster...?   

Trying to read the sheet of paper...

[Madmann135]

Why not tell the truth?

John Cross died a long time ago.  Joshua is alive by a new and experimental medical technique made through a collaboration of Kristofer Ausmann and members of clan Daryil because he saved Kristofer's life when he pushed Kris out of the way of a bullet and himself in the path.  Dorcan is alive thanks to a similar medical technique, Dorcan went out on a revenge trip and now is grounded.  Dorcan only said John Cross was responsible because it made a good show.

Sometimes the truth is how vague you can make facts.

[hapless]

Because a paranoid conspiracy theory preacher won't believe what you said. In some cases, they won't even believe themselves.

//h

[Tapewolf]

Why not tell the truth?

Ashford has only just gotten started  

EDIT:
More to the point, Josh hasn't yet been able to get a word in edgeways.

[Madmann135]

Looks like "John Cross" had one impressive PR guy to get the reputation he had...

I wonder where can I find those people?

[ChaosMageX]

How did Ashford know that Josh died?

Did he have live streaming medical telemetry data from probes on or in Joshua's original body?

And is Ashford his first or last name?

And also, from the last strip: What is a liche?

I couldn't find it on Dictionary.com and UrbanDictionary.com said it was a variation on the Hispanic slang word Niche, meaning a vulgur or disgusting person or someone of African descent.

...wait, does that mean that Ashford is calling Josh an undead n****r in the last strip?

[Buhamet]

A liche is a form of undead being, usually one with full sentience compared to a basic zombie. My knowledge on this is sorta limited I admit, but it's certainally more powerful than zombies and ghouls in terms of undead beings.

At least, that's what I know on the subject, which really isn't much

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You might have more luck looking for "lich"...

[Tapewolf]

You might have more luck looking for "lich"...

Both spellings are correct, I think.

How did Ashford know that Josh died?
Did he have live streaming medical telemetry data from probes on or in Joshua's original body?

That kind of thing, yes.  It reported back that his heart stopped.

And is Ashford his first or last name?

His full name is Commander Philip Ashford.  I'll have to do a profile for him at some point.  Keaton's is done but I'm not going to make it visible just yet.

A liche (or lich if you prefer) is a sort of 'King Undead' thing.  It crops up a lot in fantasy games like Oblivion, the Ultima series, or even Heretic if you remember that.  It's probably D&D derived, but I wouldn't know much more to be honest.  They were very, very nasty in Ultima VII.  Kept casting death spells.

[bradypodidae]

The whole "lich" thing reminded me of this.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Lich is drawn from the german word "leiche" (Corpse), in more archaic works of fantasy, it referred to any sort of animated undead monstrosity, and was probably more along the lines of what we'd think of as a zombie.

A lot of the modern connotation of a sorcerer animating his corpse and retaining intellect and spellcasting ability seems to come from Clark Ashton Smith's work. D&D popularized the Lich as the ultimate badass wizard monster thing, and I believe Gygax quoted Robert E Howard's novella Skullface as his inspiration.

[Garsemor]

Usually when I hear about a lich in a game, it says something along the lines of undead (ascended) necromancer.

[Amber Williams]

WALLS. OF. TEXT.

[Tapewolf]

WALLS. OF. TEXT. D:

No way was I going to remove Ashford's comparing Dorcan to Jesus.

[SpottedKitty]

The whole "lich" thing reminded me of this.

Just what I was thinking.

"Never offend a Bard. Fighters can only kill you. A Bard can make you immortal."

[Tapewolf]

The whole "lich" thing reminded me of this.

Woah, small world.  I knew DeBray Bailey from the Ultima Dragons - he went by the name 'Lost Dragon'.

[ChaosMageX]

Well, if "lich" is just a sentient zombie, then technically most of the zombies in Furrae are lichs.

Also, I wonder if Commander Ashford owns a school in England, if you know what I mean.

[Tapewolf]

Well, if "lich" is just a sentient zombie, then technically most of the zombies in Furrae are lichs.

Generally they're considerably more powerful.  Like I say, "King Undead".  Either way, Ashford has some very odd ideas about what the undead are like.

[Amber Williams]

You know what would solve Ashfords problems.

SLASH!

[Ren Gaulen]

You know what would solve Ashfords problems.

SLASH!

MY MIND!!

[Tapewolf]

You know what would solve Ashfords problems.

SLASH!

That is not the sort of guest strip I was hoping to have 

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... Is Amber volunteering to draw you slash for your strip?

[Zedd]

You know what would solve Ashfords problems.

SLASH!

.......

[Sprocketsdance]

The fans must be served!