Grrl Power #530 – Axis of uncertainty
Cthillia’s position is sound (yes, this same Cthillia. Like it’s such a common name.) but given the company she keeps, who knows? Probably 10% of the council is immortal, and another 20-30% has a considerably longer lifespan than humans.
This is a bit of an odd page for this comic, only 4 panels and no wall of dialog. I originally had some snappier stuff written, but I reconsidered because it made the big bads sound like meme savvy 20-somethings. I do try to occasionally remember that all characters aren’t just Sydney wearing different costumes and attempt to write them differently. That’s okay, there’s more panels and words on the next page. You know, the way comics work.
In panel two, “introducing characters 101” dictates that Sciona should have said that guy’s name. It’s on the next page, but I’m not sure I like the name I came up with for him. If I leave it till Monday’s comic that gives me a few days to try and come up with something better.
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Well lookie there, more backstabbing meanines
Cthillia does not stab anyone in the back! She looks them in they eye, when she kills them.
when why bother having knives in the first place if you are not gonna stab someone with them, that aside she was not the one i was referring too but the vampy lady, considering she has a big ass sword and yes I am fully aware that Cthillia ha a Death Gaze, even pointed out her likely Basilisk origins.
I was just doing some lighthearted wordplay, as I took you to mean ‘backstabbing’ to mean ‘traitors’, as opposed to literal backstabbers. I’m not quite sure what knives you are referring to mind. Cthillia has spikey shoulders and hands, but can’t make out any knives.
But, there is plenty of room for them to be concealed, in her snazzy coat, so I have no problems in running with it. I think it is always wise to have a backup weapon. Even Maxima carries one, and Sydney has been issued her gun-in-a-bag. For them it is to provide a weapon, which is familiar to the public, in order to ensure there is no mistaking a threat to kill.
For Cthillia it may actually be an important alternative, if for example, she really does require eye-contact for her power to work. Even without that though there are bound to be some supers who are immune to a given attack, for some reason. So being able to poke a hole in them gives another option.
Not to mention the fact that a knife is a very useful general purpose survival tool. A mercenary could easily find themselves stuck in the wilderness, if something goes wrong, and that improves the chances of being able to make it out alive. A death gaze can kill a bunny to eat, but not light a fire, but a knife can be used in several ways to help do that. Not to mention skinning said bunny.
no it was me misinterpreting the small picture of Cthillia in the whose who looks like she has a knife strapped to her back but it’s actually a door opening when you look at the full size thing, my bad on that one, that being said she probably has a side arm somewhere in that coat of hers I mean the main weakness of gaze attacks are the need for unobstructed eye contact which means that even just wearing sunglasses might be enough to stop it’s effects, which means plenty of opportunities for enemies to stop it, not to mention in the modern age you tend to be much further away due to guns having huge range compared to other weapons, making gaze attacks much harder to actually use sucessfully.
on another side she might not need a knife considering those claws….
Huh, I guess my laser-proof goggles were an investment in future safety after all.
Given the couple of hundred incidents reported by aircraft alone, and just in the UK, last year, yours is a wise investment, even without a super-villain’s gaze attack to contend with.
Seen these guys before? https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1189
Not quite. I can see where you’d get that impression, but the masked one isn’t from the lineup. Note that the lineup one appears to be inherently human in what visible features he/she has. The masked one here has what appears to be reptilian features as seen in the hands and shoulders.
Well, the vamp couple are in the middle panel, so… partially right?
maybe but https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2253 panel 7
and https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2346
seems like they are traitors at least indeed but far more obviously then just those guys in the shadows.
The question is if those in the shadows are the same couple as Gunnhildr and co, How could she not know about Maxima, the council would have been aware of her so the “a new player …” bit doesn’t make sense.
…unless the “new player” is Sydney. Or more likely whoever is the source of the orbs. Maybe there’s a direct link between the orbs and the sigils, and that’s how they saw that there’s a new, hidden player. Maybe they recognized the “energy signature” of her blast in the demonstration.
Or a shield that can block Maxima’s attack, if they manipulated Sidney or took control of her.
Well a new player could work even with them being aware of Maxima, seeing as she just very spectacularly introduced herself to the world, as well as issuing a blanket taunt basically. This basically moved her out of the shadows as a pawn/piece of the government, and into the spotlight as a player in her own right even if still technically under the charge of the government. Given the possibility that the traitors are behind the sigils being damaged, it also gives them another super human being to potentially use for their agenda in the unlikely event its peaceful integration without hiding and not you know lording over the humans as their superior masters :P. Or as insane mole mentioned, sydney and her orbs could potentially be the new player.
We’ve seen Cthillia, just not there.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1964
Warmaiden is on the bad side? She must have gotten her panties in a twist!
Oww. That pun hurt from here.
A plot twist even.
Puns aside at least we know the Traitor is on the Vampire section of the council. Her motivations should be interesting, especially if she is just the rep for an entire traitorous section.
Not long til the start of Project A-kon on June 8 now Dave. Full 4 days…what’s the plan for the meetup and will it be in the Convention center or one of the 3 hotels?
Brynhildr could also be opperating as a deep-cover spy or double-agent.
*Gunhildr, rather. Please pardon the derp
Well, it looks like everybody lost last week’s pool, so here’s a new one: is Cthillia working on her own or is Deus behind all this? Place your bets, everybody.
Well, Deus might be stupidly rich, the defacto ruler of a country, possibly powered, but he is still (probably) human. When you have his level of megalomania/god complex in a world with people like Maxima, working on things like immortality/transhumanism are to your benefit.
Deus has his failings and I can definitely see him in pursuit of something like this, but he’s also very pragmatic. He would only go with it if he knew he would succeed. Or maybe he can say that Cthillia was on her own when she’s caught. Involve himself as little as possible to deny any connection to it.
Being the power behind the throne in a private country that’d be out of the way when the shit hits the fan would probably be useful, in such a situation. It’d have him in a good position to expand and consolidate in the wake of the global upheaval, as well. Toss in the Opal Vector combo for Instant Infrastructure, and the chaos of the supernatural apocalypse (wordplay!) quickly leads to Deus having a monopoly on modern civilization itself.
Or has he sent here there as a double agent?
My call is: Cthillia is a freelancer. Deus pays good money for what she does, but he is not her only client and not her only interest. She has her own life, you know.
They all seem to be, remember we saw Victor Vector during the Restaurant Rumble
that could be due to vehemence’s influence, it does not make him a mercenary…
Not all freelancers are mercenaries, and we know he was either being influenced by Kevin due to his aura, or was simply manipulated by Kevin (which seems to be the most likely scenario: Victor Vekter and Opal were the perceived ‘leaders’, other than that one on the roof who told The BoopMan to wait for her orders)
Rather than being “behind it” I see Dues as more as taking an “unofficially supporting, officially denying” stance. He likely knows about it, and is either for it or looking to exploit it, but not actively helping it either.
Why do the villains always look ugly (uglier than the heroes anyway)? I thought this was a Disney thing but it keeps happening all over the place. :-)
I know. I have to particularly ask this of the comic as supers are stated to be supposedly the ideal version of men and women in a sense. I’ll give the occult parts a partial slide on this, but only a partial. Many of the classic D&D esk baddies are also known for being as attractive as they are assholes. Many references to vampire for instance. I’ll give the two unknowns a pass for now as I have no idea what they’re supposed to be yet, but Sciona looks more like she originally dropped into a similar category as elves and dark elves.
Those guys aren’t supers. They’re supernatural.
It’s a long running stereotype. Attractive people tend to be benevolent, even if only for the sake of having a good public image. Disfigured or ugly people tend to be more open with their malevolence, or tend to get tormented and then lash out in retaliation. The trope name is “beauty equals goodness.”
There are notable exceptions to this, however. Some villains do indeed act in a reprehensible manner specifically because they ARE attractive. “Screw the Rules, I’m beautiful” and “Beauty Is Bad” are the more common tropes this falls under, although there are others.
I have nothing against fanservice heroes and protagonists but It would be fun with someone like Cthillia on Sydneys team. Hopefully she is infiltrating for Deus,
Well the two Vamps here (and on last page) aren’t bad lookers. Opal was kinda cute (and unlike most of the other female brawlers that night was actually a legit “villain”). And Vehemence was a beefcake, until he Rage-Roided.
Out of the current list of “true villains” Archon has gone up against, I’d say it’s fairly even in the looks department. We also don’t know how many of the brawlers that Vehemence tricked are still being held for prior criminal activity (outside of Opal and Vekter).
Opal and Victor Vekter were being released back to Deus, or at least that was discussed between Maxi and Deus
And in fairness to Sciona, we haven’t seen what she looked like pre-mostly-decapitated. That sort of thing seldom does one any favours in the looks department.
He he. Well said.
Plus I forgot to give Dorje Sylas credit making a bunch of good observations too. I got distracted by replying on the one I had an issue with.
We had no hint that any were dishonest, in any way. To the contrary the only examples we had were upright citizens who had, joining the dots, been subverted by Vehemence’s aggro aura. Whilst statistically it is indeed possible that some in the crowd might have had prior criminal records, the odds of them also having outstanding warrants is a lot lower.
Finally Maxima’s intent was to ensure that everyone not acting under their own volition was not detained. As that is not appropriate for innocent people. So, given these folks were neither arrested nor cautioned, but were just interviewed for their statements, the issue of prior convictions may not have even arisen.
Whilst the following is not pertinent to the US, in the UK, once a determination has been made that someone is innocent, it would be against the law to actually check for prior convictions. To even access the data, the officer is uniquely identified, and has to supply a reason. Therefore doing that, for someone who is not suspected of involvement in a crime, could end with the cop going to jail, for contravening the Data Protection Act!
At the very least they would receive a major punishment, like demotion and loss of salary, however dismissal from the force would very much be on the cards, given the seriousness that such abuses are treated with.
To be fair, at least Achilles tries to break the mold…but he keeps…breaking the mold.
And by that i mean https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1060
Assuming mortality until proven otherwise. Good strategy.
Reptilian aspects, and a deadly gaze attack. I’m guessing Cthillia is the progenitor of the Medusa mythos.
That or maybe a relation to the cockatrice? Really need more info on this one… although… both are kind of disproved to an extent by the eye exposure. In both cases, they’d need to wear some kind of sunglasses or specifically eye covering.
considering the reptilian traits it’s more likely Basilisk than cockatrice even more so since a basilisks gaze is LITERALLY lethal, it doesn’t petrify you or anything it just flat kills you and the king DID have a heart attack and looking into those peepers.
If he is the progenitor Cthillia would be more than 2500 years old and could make an educated guess about its mortality. Patience would not be an issue.
Last because you’re old doesn’t mean you’re immortal.
Laster because you’re odd doesn’t mean you’re immortal.
Immoral maybe.
Immorality falls to the regular folk. Not my family/religion/race/friend/countryman? Go die!
When was the last time you heard anyone except the head of a NGO and the occasional odd person talking about; not the fact that children are starving in Africa, but that we have all the means to fix it and don’t even bother. The best we’ve done is overtax the starving poor to give more money to the rich who will donate 1% of that to stopping said hunger. Which, you know, if you have half a brain, is not going to fix the problem.
Don’t even bother telling me about how the poor get social subsidies. You’re wrong. Those subsidies motivate corporations to charge more for the same product because people can afford it. And people wonder why the poor stay poor! Probably because we haven’t donated enough to the rich, right?! Goddamn morons.
No, of course not. But when you are a thousand years old and you have barely aged then there is still a long way to go. Only time travellerers can really tell who is immortal.
Well those with precognitive abilities and other predictive capabilities can likewise. Plus, of course, there are different flavours of immortality. Someone who just does not age could get killed by being run over by a bus or getting cancer. Then you get the ones like Achilles who are invulnerable to everything, be it a nuclear blast or aging. Or even the heat death of the universe.
Whilst others can die, but will get better. Krona is (possibly*) in this category. Although I doubt she will die of old age, for that matter. All it would take is the flip of a toggle, from ‘old’ to ‘young’, to reset the clock for her.
Meanwhile Concretia should hang around just as long, given that she is immune to aging by virtue of forming a new body whenever the old one gives out. That trick should work just as well against aging as it does for combat damage. If she ever runs out of concrete, rubble or stone, of some sort, then Concretia would have problems though.
* Theoretically her checkpoint works prior to death. Although she is not certain on the point.
If Cthillia was the source of the medusa myths, then assuming immortality would be a fairly safe bet for her, given how old that legend is. I mean, sure, just because she hasn’t aged a day in several hundred years doesn’t automatically mean she is immortal, but the smart money bets that way.
Wait… that person with the Snake Eyes is a Woman? Man, the baggy clothes make it hard to tell.
OMG I just realized she’s a Gorgon or something similar… Right?
As a snake thing she might not have chesticles to emphasize it. Still want to see though. Just to be sure! ;P
Which is a good thing, really. I’m always slightly irritated when female reptilian humanoids have mammal features. Argonians, for example.
There’s quite a few theories about that. My favorite is they have developed the ability to produce a substance similar to Hist sap for their young in case there’s no Hist Tree available (which would be anywhere except Black Marsh)
They’re clearly flotation devices.
Eh. Argonian biology is so strange, it could be any number of things. I mean, Vvardenfell Argonians are flat-chested and digitigrade-footed.
Some birds secrete a liquid (from their noses) that helps to nourish the young. Perhaps in a few Myrs she birds will have oh-so-sexy big noses (sexy to he birds, of course). Not good for mammalians fiction fans who want all females of all species to match the mammaliferous ideal of “sexy”.
as stated above Basilisk is the more likely culprit since gorgons and cockatrices are in the Petrification camp rather than death camp, although petrification would probably be lethal, anyway, a Basilisks gaze kills rather than petrifies, which is in line with what happened to the “abdicated” king considering the heart attack he suffered from looking into her eyes.
Plans within plans, wheels within wheels……
The Spirograph of the Marquis de Saad
+1 for the vividness of imagery.
thanks for the +1 !
Devious.
Wait, reptilian arms in this comic and robo-arms in the referenced one? Is there an illusion or disguise at work?
As a snake thing she might not have chesticles to emphasize it. Still want to see though. Just to be sure! ;P
Disregard. Was meant for Titan. No idea why that happened.
Armor and/or a disguise. The reference comic is set several years ago, before supers became publicly known. One of Deus’ personal bodyguards having obviously inhuman features would have been counterproductive to his plans.
Definitely armour, we don’t see her hands
As a snake thing she might not have chesticles to emphasize it. Still want to see though. Just to be sure! ;P
Why can’t we delete yet…TT-TT
Well, there IS an add-on for WordPress that allows you to edit or delete your own posts (as long as it’s within a specified time limit after posting)… but unfortunately DaveB is hesitant to install it for fear it might wipe all the comments (or do something else nasty). So, we’ll just have to live with what we have.
I actualy prefer it this way. It makes it more interesting.
I wonder what Sciona has planned…..?!?
Oh it’s the masked guy with the arm that looekd like it came from the plaid dimension!
Girl, Lia was always a girl
I was talking about Chtilla?
I guess that will be Guesticus‘s nick-name for Cthillia. If you check out the author’s blog you will see that the first paragraph indicates her gender. Visually the clue is her hourglass figure apparent in panel 1.
Whether she is an egg-layer, or bears live young, it appears that bipedalism has similar requirements. Although ‘being unique’ may pose particular problems, in that respect, if she requires a partner, for reproduction.
Hey, maybe she will hit it off with Achilles, and they can adopt? He is the one person we know will not be harmed by her gaze.
i f you dont come up with a better name before the next comic you could say they were going by their real name, found a better name later, make name changing his “thing,” etc.or even go back later and change it (sydney could call out earth2/retcon for extra fun). Best of luck whatever you decide
As a side note to today’s story I would like to pass along the fact that a long time ago (40 years ago today) in a theater far far down the street a movie named Star Wars made its debut. It told the story of Luke, Leia, Han, and a wise and brave retired Jedi whose name I can’t think of at the moment.
To you all, I would like to say
Live long and Prosper!
No, that’s not it.
To Infinity and Beyond!
No,
ET phone home!
No,
Nanoo Nanoo?
Oh well, It’ll come to me eventually.
The Jedi’s name is Obi Won Kenobi, and the phrase you’re looking for is ” May The Force be With You!”
Yeah, thanks. Never would have thought about it.
1) Extend arm, palm upward.
2) Bend elbow while rotating upper arm to bring palm in contact with forehead
3) Repeat as needed
(Look at the user name of the person you replied to)
I will be using this set of Instructions on a regular basis.
In return, I offer this set of useful instructions, should you need them in helping others.
1) Extend both arms forward to maximum reach, striving to place them parallel to the floor.
2) Rotate both arms backwards at the shoulders until the arms naturally begin to angle downwards.
3) Bend both arms at the elbows.
Now you have instructions to help someone else on how to find thier ass with both hands. :D
(Clearly, YOU don’t need these instructions, but…)
I am certain that is not correct, sir. Innovative guesses though.
Are you sure the phrase is not “These are not the droids you are looking for”?
Hey, O.B., do you have a relative named Obi?
On a related note, do you read Spider Robinson?
It is a good day, isn’t it…?
“May the twenty-fifth be with you” just does not have quite the same ring to it.
I would like to use this post for Names to Dave to use if he like o is inspired by them
Gorank
Tareun
Shal
Wadre
Nsdoji [??¿¿ Pronounced Ensedoyi. I gess]
No no, he is totally a ‘Gus’
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AerithAndBob
Nah, “Jimmy”
cool,
I think he looks a bit like voldemort, more butch though, so:
voldy, or he who must no be named.
Jörmungandr – to fit in with Gunnhildr
Fáfnir – same reason
I guess I see a generally snaky theme in him.
Günther?
Be careful if you put it up to a public vote. At the Columbus Zoo they put the naming of their 300 pound python (world’s record longest snake) to the public for name suggestions. The choice that got the most votes was ‘Fluffy’. Unfortunately for her fans she has now slithered off this mortal coil. https://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Snakes/Information-News/Worlds-Longest-Snake-Dies/
And there is always this one: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/world/europe/boaty-mcboatface-what-you-get-when-you-let-the-internet-decide.html
Maybe the new character can be Snaky McSnakeface.
Excuse me, I need to sit down for a bit…
::fall over in a giggle fit::
Boaty McBoatface is hilarious!
And those Slovak politicians who overruled the public’s choice of Chuck Norris for their pedestrian bridge should all be voted out of office for violating a public promise.
I will now forever think of Maxima as being named Goldy McGoldskin, and Sydney is now Spherey McOrbface
I’d imagine “Nsdoji” would be pronounced something like “nzdo-jee”- it’s a bit of a Polish pronunciation, but perfectly reasonable to do with a human mouth.
Is that one of those aliens from Saint’s Row IV?
Nah, no cranial spikes
Indeed. Immortaility is not something you test on purpose.
This is definitely an ancient Greece thing, though I am not sure if they originated it or just dialed it up to eleven.
They believed that inner and outer beauty coincided, meaning that unless somebody was physically perfect they could not be morally perfect, and thus was unfit to rule. Their concept of aristocracy was tied into this as well, as it means ‘rule by the superior’
Medieval christianity (where many of our later mythologies and faerie tales have come from) used this concept to give the faithful a sense of control (if false) over a chaotic and capricious and very very dangerous world. Namely the idea that they could recognise and thereby avoid evil.
Of course this was only possible because christian mythology (more than other religions) held that their holiness was physically perfect, and that evil, being in opposition in every way to god, therefor had to be physically imperfect and abhorrent.
This concept is by no means unique to christianity though it is not always so central to the believe, and the notion of divine physical perfection can be a bit more fluid, as can be its opposite.
Shame that most of those medieval Christians were as graceful as a pile of fetid shit
Always found that logic severely flawed if in nothing else the “Big Bad” of the piece was supposedly second in power and beauty only to the “Big Man” himself.
Satan is described as being beautiful.
Ezekiel 28:
You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
This could be interpreted as referring to the King of Tyre, who was full of arrogance, but it is more likely that it is a description of Satan being used as a reminder to the King of Tyre of what God does to those he deems arrogant. The Tower of Babel, the Flood, poor Jonah, the Bible (and a lot of other mythology) is just full of stories of “just deserves” dealt out by a jealous and petty deity.
For a villain the one is certainly pragmatic and reasonably cautious, the last thing you should assume especially when you’re a one-of-the-kind thing is that you’re immortal. You should always assume the opposite, should probably err on the side of caution and worry you won’t even live a normal human lifespan. It would be quite the bummer to instigate a plan that requires centuries to make happen only to find out you won’t even live 50 years.
On the upside, if it IS a bummer… Well, you’re dead. You really don’t care at that point.
Vampires might disagree.
I knew it I knew them vampires couldn’t be trusted!
As an RPer, I had a character similar to that way of thinking and I love it :)
Never a smart move to test the immortality just to test it :p
I’d like to compliment DaveB for that first panel – that is the most cinematic thing he’s drawn in a while and it is AWESOME!
When running my ROGs, when someone asks, “Can we assume X is true?”, I usually say something like, “Hey, you can assume anything you want.” I like this baddies’ attitude.
It certainly is a superbly done reveal.
It looks like Krona had good taste in who’s underwear to play pranks with!
By the way Gunnhildr is missing from the Who’s Who.
Technically not, she didn’t say anything in this page.
That is only to qualify for initially getting listed in the Who’s Who. Or as a way of cutting down the numbers listed in a crowded page. Her mere appearance here is highly significant though, even without saying a word. Simply because previously she appeared to be an ally, fighting against the constructs.
Yet now she is here, in the gathering of villainy!
Trouble is the cast is huge now, so I am sure there will be folks who either did not recognise her or thought ‘she looks familiar, should I know her?’ Looking at the Who’s Who should be able to resolve that.
We always knew she was a villain: she only joined in the Ballroom Blitz after it was safe, to make them believe she was an ally, and to allay any thoughts of them knowing about the attempted coup
I wouldn’t go quite that far, based on what we actually saw.
Gunnhildr’s behaviour at the Ballroom Blitz only gives us a personality check, not an allegiance check. It tells us that she’s content to let others take risks on her behalf – or at least, to let them go first – and that she’s not above taking some exercise and credit once the hard work is done. That in itself is hardly villainous, and is in fact more engagement than we saw from most of the People in the room. But it does not tell us whether she is aligned with the attackers and trying to mislead, or aligned with the Council and (justifiably) cautious about engaging well-armed attackers when others are already doing so.
Her appearance here adds the missing allegiance check. We now know, which we didn’t before, that she associates with Sciona, Cthillia, and the Pale Unnamed as they discuss their “enemies”. Even that on its own wouldn’t mean much, if we didn’t already know Sciona to be behind the Husks and believed dead by the Council leadership, but those known actions mean we can assign Gunnhildr’s allegiance by association.
Is Cthillia in any way related to Scylla and Charybdis. For some way her name just makes me think that. It would also explain why she is one of a kind and immortality is considered an option for her.
So the endgame appears to be an end to the masquerade that protects (and inhibits) supernaturals. I imagine that a faction of supernaturals believes that if an unveiling led to war, they would win. I imagine that Deus might think they’re idiots, and plan on being humanity’s armorer (for a very nice profit) in the coming war, or he may just want to be able to profit from openly employing supernaturals, or he may figure that, whichever way it goes, he’ll make money.
But we would need to factor in that Cthillia (the one in bandages) is part of Deus’s personal guard.
So either Cithilia is here with Deus’s knowledge, with all the implications coming from that, or Gunnhildr is not the only one who has been operating under false pretenses.
I sense cogs, within wheels, ploys and counter-ploys, all wrapped in deceit and intrigue.
The way the traitors or mercenaries are from here, there and everywhere, It looks kinda like a bunch of bad guys united by a common set of ideas/desires/goals, not necessarily an organized gang trying to pull off a heist.
Wisely said. I certainly agree on the latter. Dave has shown how easy it is for supers to become wealthy here. The public sector is pretty much always paid less than the private, yet Sydney got crowned ‘Queen of Salt’ when she found out how rich she was.
Let alone the example of the geomancer who can have as much gold as he chooses. And he will not be the only one who can easily create wealth directly with this power, rather than through risky nefarious means.
In other words only the stupid or immoral are likely to resort to bank robbery, when they can easily use their powers or even just the celebrity of being a super, to make a comfortable or wealthy living.
And we have already seen that the most likely ideology that Sciona may be pursuing is to lower the Veil. Which has already stirred up huge controversy in the readership over its morality. So that purpose can be argued as being moral (from certain perspectives only mind).
So, rather like Marvel’s battle between those who are for mutants and those who are against them, it would blur the distinction between the good guys and the bad guys. Putting the heroes in situations where they have to question the morality of their actions.
Which makes for powerfully interesting storytelling. Far more interesting than foiling another bank robbery.
Besides which any villains with tongues would fear to do that, with Halo around!
You mean like the guy who decided not to tear open a bank vault because of Maxima’s demo? Yeah he can get a good bit of money by replacing the forklift at a site, or like I said, work for A.R.C. in a Search and Rescue capacity.
We can only factor in that Cthillia (the one in bandages) was part of Deus’s personal guard when we saw him/her previously. There is no assurance whatever that the roster of that guard remains constant.
True. Mercenaries can come and go.
Hmm, scales-like arm, reptilian eyes, kills with a glance. Sounds like a cockatrice or some derivative. Maybe a half breed since this person is clearly somewhat humanoid.
Good deductions. Albeit missing one key point. Namely Sciona’s comment above about “Aren’t you the only thing like you?”
Which is not to dismiss your point, as he may be the source of tales of cockatrices, and there is indeed nothing else like him that actually exists. But it would preclude him being a half-breed, as that would imply that at least one other thing is like him (/her).
Not necessarily Yorp. Cthilla is the only one of her kind. Doesn’t mean she can’t be a half breed. If she’s the only Half-Basilisk or Half Cockatrice, she’s still the only one of her kind.
Yet her parent would have approximately half their DNA in common, hence would be ‘like’ her.
Possibly they might exhibit quite different characteristics but there is likely to be some degree of similarity. Maybe not having a death gaze but (for argument’s sake) having scales and claws, or vice versa. Plus, unless the baby ‘s gaze killed her parent (for example), any future siblings would also have a chance to replicate this individual’s abilities.
All in all if Cthillia has a family, I think it unlikely that Sciona would indicate that she is unique and unlike anyone else.
This, of course, remaining within the confines of the initial proposition, that her defining characteristic (the death gaze) is inheritable. If it was gained by separate means, such as being a learnt spell, then the genetics are totally irrelevant.
It could be as simple as he IS the only one of his kind because he’s a half breed. Meaning there has never been a half breed before.
True. And inter-species fertility is poor (take horses and donkeys as an example). Which could explain why there are not others of her kind.
Still it would seem odd if one parent was capable of using a death gaze. Half-breed or not, they would still be more alike than with humans or suits of living armour.
Now if it is her half-breed nature which causes something significantly different, then that is another matter. So, for example, her mother could be one of the medusa. Whist her father is a banshee. Rather than causing petrification, by gaze, or death by wailing, she turned out to kill by gaze.
Who knows what she might do if she wails?
or the last remaining as, if they saw there parent die in some attack they would not know there own life span and may question it while lacking information on immunities they may possess.
Calling it now, she’s gonna summon that demon that Dabbled banished.
yay i loved what we’ve seen of Chtillia so far! She’s so cool!
Soooo…is that guy a Mythic Lord or just a new breed of creature?
Definitely one of those two, or the alternative.
Oh hey, is that Gunnhildr?
Dave is teasing us with that, by not putting up the Who’s Who. So all we can say is probably..
Alternatively she could be her sister, an evil twin, a doppleganger or even a Succubus, if one of those present fancies Gunnhildr.
Easy test: see if she still has a wedgie
She’s wearing pants now, perhaps to prevent any more wardrobe misbehavior.
Looks like she is wearing the same dress as before, note that her skin tone is very pale and her legs match her cleavage
In panel 1, shadows seem to follow folds and creases like pants, not like bare legs. She’s also not wearing the boots that she was in the council chamber fight.
Also, if Gunnhildr *is* part of the “traitor faction” then Zvonamir would know it… which would make their exchange back at the council room and Gunn’s subsequent decision to help the heroes fight against the mannekillers baffling, since – logically – she would want the mannekillers to suceed as well, and jumping in just for ‘good vamp PR’ would make little sense, because, even if the mannekillers *were* doomed to fail at that point, her assistance meant that the site would remain in a much stronger position than it might otherwise… Long story short, I’m leaning towards the evil twin/doppleganger/replicant theory, and that it’s not the real Gunn.
That is a reasonable route to go down.
There are a couple of other options, which spring to mind though:
Deus, and a bunch of vampires, have always been in league with Sciona, they have just been keeping their true allegiance quiet.
Alternatively, given that we have at least two individuals who (barring the above, or your explanation) appear to have turned traitor, we could look for a reason why. Sciona’s habit of using even an elder vampire as fuel for her magic does not give me the impression that she has seduced them, with her feminine wiles.
Plus, at the moment, we have no indication that they are getting anything out of this deal, other than a glass of orange and some cookies. Although, obviously we have a lot to learn, so motives will probably become apparent in due course.
But we do have one other elephant in the room. We saw a mind-affecting attack being used on Maxima! Which we know failed to work because the projector had been damaged by Anvil’s attack (thus allowing Maxima to resist it with willpower alone).
It seems entirely reasonable though that the construct could simply have been going around, using mind control to recruit any supers or supernaturals that it could catch quietly and unawares!
Or, running with the ‘evil twin’ option, it may have simply turned them evil.
Either of which would explain why a fine, upstanding, businessman, like Deus, could have a bodyguard here. Naturally he would have applied extreme vetting to ensure he only recruited moral individuals of good character. But if they have been mind-controlled, or turned evil, then he is clearly exonerated from being implicated too.
Sciona. “Feminine wiles”. shudder-chill-goose bumps.
There is only one ‘fold’ or ‘crease’, which follows the lines of your upper leg muscle, we don’t even see her knees, so she could very well still be wearing her boots (don’t recall them being thigh-highs)
And, their interaction makes every sense, because, again, Manny and his mates were about to fail, which means their plot was about to fail, which means the good PR is a god plan, and, again, diverts any potential scrutiny that may be directed towards them
I think you are on to something. It may not be the demon, but now that you mention it, the whole thing stinks of a distraction to mask the real goal.
If they are relying on their enemies being foolish, then misdirection, distraction and similar ploys would certainly assist in improving their chances.
Fortunately, now that Sydney is getting some good sack time, the odds are going down that she will be the one making such a mistake. And even more importantly, with her powers and mindset, she has a better chance, than most, to see through the smoke and mirrors.
Sydney doesn’t need to be overly tired or low off her meds (or high on her meds) to make mistakes
All I said was that her odds are going down, I never said that they would reach zero. Everybody makes mistakes. They just make more when overtired and Sydney has complications which further aggravate that issue.
Very true
The story behind the Chernobyl accident was that a group of engineers wanted to run tests on the reactors. The only time they could schedule for this was during off-hours, around 2 or 3 in the morning. Needless to say, (but I am anyway) some overtired underling accidentally turned a dial up to 11 and caused the reactor to heat up uncontrollably. Since the Soviets used graphite moderated reactors this turned the whole thing into a giant flaming charcoal briquette spewing radiation over a large part of eastern Europe.
That is an interesting way to show Dabbler’s arms making her slinky and lithe, in the fan art.
A few days in comic time actually could be a century for the artist.
Not all of us are immortal. LockeZ.
Hey Dave, I gotta say I think the cast page is a little out of date.
Dave is a workaholic, so manages to keep the comic updating on time* by burning the candle at both ends and taking his laptop/tablet on holiday with him! Bear in mind that he is the writer, artist and colourist. Consider that Girl Genius is a comparable comic but has three separate people working on those roles!
Dave does get the occasional relief when Keith takes over the colouring, but can only afford to hire him from time to time.
Throw in working on other projects, like the crossover with Marion Harmon’s series of novels, and you can see why ‘updating the cast list’ is sitting on a long list of ‘things to do someday’!
If everyone helps out by plugging the comic though, to increase readership, and someday we will have enough patrons to hire Dave full-time staff, and then the list can be cleared.
* The recent WordPress glitches having no bearing on this, given that we know the comics were created on schedule, making it a technical problem. Which, as Dave does his own technical support just adds to the workload and loss of sleep.
Since sciona has troll blood, the stake would have to be flaming atleast to bypass her regeneration! Non lethal stakING!
Stop, she only had a troll blood infusion to repair the damage Pixel Panther caused
At the moment though that blood should still be in her. Blood donors should not donate more frequently than once every eight weeks. This gives us a ballpark figure for how fast the body can normally replace blood.
Obviously assumptions would include that the amount a donor gives and the quantiy that Sciona
transfused were similar. This is a fairly reasonable one though, given that she still is approximately human sized, so would, presumably have similar biological needs.
The other though could impact dramatically. Given that blood needs replacing because the cells wear out. If we assume that it a troll’s blood cells are actually doing all the repairing, to make the regeneration work, then those cells might wear out much much faster than with humans.
But, on the other paw, maybe that is not the way it functions, in which case it may be that the regenerative capability applies to even repairing damage to their blood cells! In which case the blood might last a very long time.
One big complication being that Sciona’s bodies could reject the blood. In which case she would need to replace it fast, or die. Unless she could regenerate the damage faster than rejection issues progress.
Since Sciona’s got a mix of body parts, her bones become a factor. where did they come from? If she has troll bones, even a few (like leg bones), then she has a ready source of troll blood – her own (stolen) bone marrow.
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet, but isn’t that the same room/ area that the Twilight Council congregated? Of course, it could be another place entirely.
Underground certainly, but, no, I am not seeing any matching architectural features. Most obviously there are no balcony boxes, which were visible from either point of view. The only area which did not have them were the doorways. But, again, those were distinctive enough that they should be apparent.
Dave has (in relation to the construct’s power absorbing ability) indicated that supers have an intrinsic power level. So, even if it had copied Max’s power blast, it would not necessarily be able to create a nuke-like effect with it.
This has implications for Varia, with her gestalt power. I see several options for her:
1) Varia behaves exactly like this and her new power will be based on her intrinsic power-level.
2) Because Varia is forming a partnership, her power-level will be the average between her own and that of her partner. This means that supers would be preferable to mundane people.
Unless a being can have, say, a latent power level. Or, for example, if the power is drawn from the soul.
EverybodyMost people have souls, so would have a potential power level, regardless of whether they could use it to fuel a super power. In which case it would not matter to Varia whether she chose a mundane person or a super, but how good they were at tapping their ‘soul energy’ would be important.3) We can discount the possibility that Varia’s power level is wholly dependent on her partner’s as we know she can form a usable gestalt with normal people. If normal people have no power level this would not work.
However, obviously, if the ‘soul energy’ explanation pans out then mundanes would be able to provide her … ahem/.. sole energy source. In which case the one advantage of pairing with a super is that she would be able to predict the power level in advance, if she is familiar with how strong they are, with their own powers.
Whereas with mundanes she really is rolling the dice. Both having a completely random power* and a similarly variable and unpredictable power level.
“Great news Maxima, I have found a gestalt that allows me to raise the dead!”
“Excellent! We will get a contract out to them straight away.”
“Oh, no rush boss. They are really weak, so I can only raise mice!”
“Damit. Oh well, see if you can’t practice with them and get some improvement. We do have pixie partners, after all.”
“Oh, we also checked out Krona!”
“You havn’t been messing with time, I hope?”
“No, I sensed that the power had something to do with a cheese sandwich. But her power-level is off the scale! I was afraid I might turn the galaxy into a cheese sandwich!”
* We have seen a couple of examples where Varia has a power that has a connection to the super, so this may hold true with some others too. Even if it is only, say, one in ten that does something similar, then that is less than 100% random.
Lots of questions here. Are they working with Deus? Working for Deus? Liaisoning with Deus through Cthillia? Cthillia is Deus’s secret agent in Sciona’s camp?
Is Deus non-super? He might just have more subtle-type powers that people are unaware of. Perhaps Masterminding is a superpower. :)
And what are signs of aging for a humanoid Basilisk? Dry scales? Droopy cockscomb? Fang loss?
If by “aging” you mean puberty, look for massive car wrecks involving cars driven by statues as the youngster gets his driver’s license. After a few weeks, the only drivers left would be those too busy texting to look up at other cars. Then the freeways get really crazy.
And why exactly would a [i]reptilian[/i] character develop mammary glands like a human?
Look up “reptile sexual dimorphism”. An easy answer is “proportionally wider hips” as that’s pretty common amongst terrestrial vertebrates in general.
Yeah yeah, betrayal reveals and all that are great, but can we talk about that sweet coat Cthillia’s got on?
I am sure once Grrl Power the movie has made the comic famous, we will get to see the House D’Barrak selling full ranges of cos play and daily wear fashions.
And Sciona will have a line of cosmetics and perfumes/colognes/emetics.
Huzzah for Dave not slapping breasts on the female reptilian character!
Oh way to make her self conscious! Bring attention to the fact that she is flat-chested. Like she did not have enough of that at school!
Just be sure not to say that in her presence. You know what they say….
She’s reptillian, therefore breasts wouldn’t make any biological sense, as mammary glands are one of the defining features of mammals.
That would not stop her being teased, if going to a human school, when growing up. :-D
But, yes, you are perfectly correct. You made such a very good point, which would stand as a clear truth, that I felt it would not be harmed by having a bit of fun.
That just means… another candidate for the “A-Team” :D
Heh. Potentially yea. Although, in this particular case, I doubt it. But funny to contemplate likewise.
I should mention my support for gyrre‘s sentiments, by the way. Neither of our jokes should be taken as denigrating that. Anthropomorphisation can get rather weird, if taken too far.
At least, for example, cat girls are mammals, so there is a reasonable excuse. Using the argument that shared traits, like bipedalism, could cause convergent evolution to account for such. Especially if interacting with humans and the trait thereby enhancing survival chances, due to encouraging a sense of the familiar.
I find it interesting that Pixel combines both options, given that her hybrid humanoid form is … ahem… well developed. Yet her quadrupedal cat form has the usual cat arrangement (given that we could not see any inappropriate breasts).
A very reasonable compromise, given the setting’s automatic enhancement of supers, in that regard, when combined with the fact that Pixel is a super in her were-forms. I am glad that Dave made the common-sense decision to make the animal form an exception.
Likewise Cthillia may actually be a super, rather than a supernatural, whilst still having an exception for the enhancement rule (for fairly obvious reasons).