Grrl Power #570 – The bamboomanity!
A lot of you guessed about work arounds to the death field problem, and if you didn’t come up with a solution as simple as this, it was probably because you wouldn’t have thought it could be defeated this easily.
It is pretty bone headed, but in The Council’s defense, Sciona didn’t think of it, and this is the final deterrent after running the rest of the Vault’s gauntlet. First and foremost, security through obscurity, then the physical challenge of accessing the vault, then breaching the vault, then defeating the guardian, then surviving the lobby defenses, and finally breaching each sub vault, all while under a time limit since normally the alarms would be going off.
Really though, they should have put more time into… I don’t know what it’s called, but opposition research? You Red Team it, so the second thing you do after designing any kind of defense or security is figure out how to beat it. Then you go back and fix all the ways you figured out how to beat your first version. The problem with security through obscurity though, is you want as few people knowing about the defenses as possible, so you wind up getting the people who designed the defenses trying to break them instead of putting fresh eyes on it. Still, if nothing else, the pillars should all be closed and unlabeled, so a thief would have to break into each one separately and blindly.
Of course in the real world, there’s always considerations of budget and practicality. Yes, a vault in the core of the Earth would be difficult to access. It also might be cost prohibitive.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
Bamboo-zled the trap.
Shoot.
Well that was an interesting experience. I have never before had to try and craft a link with a cat standing on my mouse!
finally helped you catch its prey did it?
Ahh, there is a long tail to that. But I shall try to keep to the point. The cat did ride the mouse, like an acrobat on a horse! Standing with hind paws on the mouse, with its fore paws on my arm. Even as I laboured on it kept its balance. Finally the mammoth task was done. And the mouse moved no more.
And that’s why deus is cool , he probably has giant bamboo as a back up if he couldn’t use it to push the item out . Or huge water tap vines.
Or possibly a leafblower.
Secondary option: spud gun i.e. Potato cannon
Depending on the force field and the definition of alive, if animal is a requirement then it doubles as a hamster cannon.
why did you put this image in my head!? why?! now I can’t stop laughing.
The latest in weaponized hampsters…. the hamster cannon
*Samuri Hamster rounds sold separately.
Under no circumstances to be used with rabbits.
You may also be interested in:
Rapid-firing rabbit launcher.
Other customers also bought:
White rabbit ammo crate, with force field containment.
Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
or cute fuzzy tribbles
Only for the machine gun version.
Salesman: “For marketing reasons, would you answer a survey as to why you purchased our Rapid-firing rabbit launcher and White rabbit ammo crate?”
Mr. Smith: “A little diversion for Mr. Anderson.”
I totally missed the whole only living things can enter part and assumed Sciona was being a evil jerk because that is the only way she knows how to accomplish anything. Thus I was really hoping for Deus to use one of those toy grabber arms. This makes sense given the info I missed, but dang it I really wanted to see his goofy troll face again.
Gotta love catty!Deus. I do wonder how and when he tested this, though. I mean, presumably he has the resources to find and bribe the people who made the thing, but before sciona began to mobilize it seems like it’d be a longshot that he’d ever use the knowledge and afterward there wouldn’t have been enough time…unless she’d been gathering her forces for a while. I suppose it’s plausible that it took her a while to woo council members to her side.
Still, though, imagine if this hadn’t worked? Like the sword bounced off the force field or something? “Um, before I move on to plan B, I’d like to ask that you all forget about that smug little speech I made just now.” XD
Guys, Wyrmil is clearly regenerating on this page.
This comment section has been a real lesson in human psychology; apparently, you tell some people that only living matter can pass through a field and they take those words to heart.
Yeah, Wyrmil is clearly heartbroken over how Scoona clearly only brought him along because he was handy.
Sciona, darnit!
Well it did sound like you were shipping them.
Well, if people weren’t shipping them before…
I mean, now that you mention it, a blood-mage and a high-powered regenerator are obviously a match made in…
… made in…
… well, I don’t know where it’s made, but it was obviously made.
Bloody Hell!
:-D
Question: Wouldn’t the artifacts count as non living matter, meaning that they wouldn’t pass through the field simply by being knocked around?
I guess maybe its a one-way field? I mean, I had thought the same as you, but apparently not? *shrug*
This seems to have been a deliberate setup to showcase how much more brilliant Deus is than any other villain. The only information we were given would logically lead to the assumption that the fields were impermeable, with no mention of them being single-direction… Thus “OMG, nobody else would think of a simple solution!!”
Yeah, sorry, but the only reason “Nobody would think of this” is that it disagrees with the rules as written. The wall “Doesn’t allow anything non-living through” in no way implies that the wall is uni-directional, that is not a valid assumption. The counterargument of “How would the council get things out otherwise?” does fail, because “The owners of a security system have a way to lower the field” IS a valid, or at least plausible assumption. If Sciona knew enough about the vault to plan this operation, she would have known that the field was uni-directional, and, failing the OMG-so-brilliant-it-must-be-Deus solution, would have brought a basket of kittens to use as projectiles.
I like Deus as a character, and as a villain, but the particular form of smugness evident on this panel, I find particularly annoying. Makes me want to get his comeuppance is the form of all his intricate planning coming undone, preferably because of something Sydney does that she finds completely obvious, but had not occurred to him…
Yup, that is how Deus becomes a deuce: Sydney :D
Just like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expects The Sydney :P
:: is now looking at the door for the Spanish inquisition link::
Shoulda been looking at the window
Totally called him mocking the hell out of her for casually sacrificing Wyrmil.
I really must insist. How did that sword/dagger pass through the field?
Deus swung the bamboo plant and knocked the blade out of the field
But the blade would have to be alive to pass through the field, no where was it specified that it could exit.
Direction of repulsion needs set or anything that can even slightly enter if given enough power / force etc could be repelled and forced out in any direction including straight through.
If they didn’t want the objects in the field to leave also then they could have set a second field inside set to function the opposite way to keep non living matter inside.
Well argued. The first justification offered for why the field may be one-way. And reasonably plausible.
The other aspect, mentioned by readers on previous comment pages, is that artefacts are items of ultimate power. Mundane magic (and similar effects) would be of no impediment to them. So even if the force field is bi-directional, it would be unable to affect such artefacts.
or that as items of ultimate power they developed some “life” of their own. These would be on the low end of that scale because anything more powerful and you build separate place to keep the object from moving as much as to keep people from taking it. You don’t store them in one place to prevent chaotic effects and other various problems.
That much is a given, for these, as ‘… some are actively quivering in anticipation, if not actively whispering “fight, fight fight” in the back of our minds’.
Yep, anything too powerful and with its own will you’d want to store separate from anything of power, especially if it had magical powers.
-well we stored the Mask of the Primal Shadow down here with these thirty something evil artifacts as standard practice and…it broke out as being both alive and not alive, ate the other artifacts, and is on the loose…
The idea that the magic items are “alive” does also explain why such a complex field would be used in the first place. If the goal was simply to lock the items in, then a simple “force wall” would be all that was needed. However, if the field needed to facilitate the removal of the items by “the right
Yeah really, if they TRULY did not want anyone getting a hold of these things, then they’d have built a quick room near the mantel that only needed to last, like, a few days (just so they would have time to ship everything there) and then let Mother Earth do her Recycle Via Magma shtick and POOF! I mean, failing that, they could just have Lord of the Rings most of them, and for the ones that somehow survived, drop them into the Marianas Trench where you would have had the benefit of crushing pressure AND, if you pick the right spot, a good chance of plate tectonics doing mostly the same thing as a volcano.
Some of the artifacts if destroyed would unleash some horror inside them or is the lock to an ancient prison for said beings. In other words destroying them could either let out the ancient horror (many of such beings swimming in the inner Earth would be refreshing) or the actual door that opens isn’t located in the artifact.
Yes, and no where was it specified that anything non-living couldn’t exit, just that only something living could enter, but would die in the process of entering
Again, doesn’t state that non-living couldn’t exit
Actually, it doesn’t even mention that works one way, but that would require something living to already be inside
It doesn’t state that non-living couldn’t enter either. It states that non-living can’t pass through, which implies nothing non-living can go through the field itself regardless of direction.
However, I think this is just a slip on Dave’s phrasing rather than him intentionally misleading us. Maybe it just wasn’t that ambiguous in his head, since he’s been thinking about it for a while already and probably assumed it didn’t sound like that. It’d be easily fixed by changing “pass through” for “enter” on Deus’ dialogue.
Also we have to realize that what characters say to explain things isn’t necessarily correct either. They can make mistakes, not know the truth, or be hiding things as well.
NPCs aren’t the word of the Author/GM after all. ;)
Thank you
No, you’re exactly correct. Without some/enough matter, such as a handy Wormy, to block the field, that sword should just be resting up against it on the inside.
This ‘solution’ relied entirely on things the reader was not told previously, and as such I call it out as a deus ex machina. Literally. And while you might chuckle a little at the obvious double entendre, I’m not joking. This ‘solution’ to the puzzle we were all presented with is utterly lame specifically because it set up the rules and then did not follow them.
Ayup. Deus is basically doing that thing many anime villains do, where they are so smart for figuring out a solution that should not have worked by the rules as presented to the reader and make the other characters look like dunces to build heat for the villain.
Like, after this sequence of scenes, Sciona might as well be Paste-Pot Pete for all the respect as a villain the readership can afford her. She’s got hit by villain decay BEFORE she even got to have a proper confrontation with our heroes!
Just noticed, So Heavenly Sword and Opal are in Deus employment. I understand if Heavenly Sword got off but didn’t Opal get herself a cell in a specialized cell in the Super Prison?
Yes. When Maxima and Deus met earlier, Deus negotiated for Opal’s work release.
The special cell was only during processing, later basically almost everyone got released didn’t they?
Only those who didn’t have an out-standing warrant, and in Opal’s specific case, she was released to Deus to help him move the goods in his new country to and from the coast (that they don’t have direct access to)
I love how everyone immediately drops the idea of Sciona being brutal to prove a point, and immediately hates on Deus for being smug.
Let’s be frank here.
Sciona most likely brought people along she fully intends on killing. Then, she gets to vanish into some dark corner of the world for a few years, with all her super spooky evil swag.
And all anyone knows is that someone broke into their doomsday vault.
But no. Immediately everyone decides that Deus is just an asshole.
He is an asshole, yes.
But that’s not the point of this.
Or, the alternative is, Wormy isn’t dead, just pissed Sci-fright didn’t give him enough warning before she face-palmed the death-field with his face
The fact that he was able to speak is a semi-hint that he isn’t dead. But I only say ‘semi-‘ because the author is known for allowing last words, as per Cooter being able to speak even after a good half dozen or so tentacles ripped themselves out of his body in a spray of blood. Death should have been instantaneous for Cooter, and also, by the rules of the containment field*, death should have also been instantaneous for Wormy.
* But by now we are all well aware that this author is a good artist but a lousy story teller, and has demonstrated a habit of laying down the rules and then violating them. Again. And again. And again. All the while it appears that he believes that he is following them, sadly. And even more sadly, some readers will also believe this. Because they are dumb. Hi, Guesticus! I’m taking book on which side of this you’ll come down on, but I don’t expect anyone to bet against me. Unless they are you.
Not lousy, just a style you do not approve of. The comic would not be as popular as it is, were the writer as bad as you claim. I certainly would never follow any comic which was just pretty pictures.
Don’t worry, we have seen you agitated before. I am sure you will calm down and become more rational in due course. Or maybe you can up your meds a bit? Your comments can often be insightful, when you focus more on the points and less on the vitriol, so such would be appreciated.
Some of the elements of your argument are fair, such as your first paragraph. However getting your knickers in a twist because the author allowed last words for Cooter (and maybe likewise here), is hardly an appropriate thing to do, given that this is a staple feature of the super genre.
If you don’t like such things, I suggest you avoid super stories at all, rather than knocking this author for honouring the convention. Especially as it adds to the drama and pathos. It is a valid story telling technique, even if it violates your sense of what is proper in a comic.
The rest of your points though were just too rambling and vague to afford us anything to respond to. We would have to guess what you had in mind, and that has historically varied depending on whether your moods are up or down. Maybe if you wait until you feel more composed you will be able to present more constructive criticism?
Believe me when I say that I’m not terriby concerned about the last words of Cooter, I only used them as an example of why we can’t necessarily count Wormy as being alive just because he got some words off as he fell.
The issues I am seeing, and which I have pointed out, are far more significant than that. That you would both disagree and then go on to characterize my criticism as “having my knickers in a knot” only points to your typical lack of perception and or tendency to white knight the author despite his obvious shortcomings in the field of writing.
Despite your claims to the contrary plenty of people, and you are included in that, are perfectly willing to follow a medium, of which webcomics are but one example, which is full of pretty pictures and falls down on plot. I’ll point to pornography as the most obvious example, but I’m sure a smart fellow such as yourself can come up with as many more as are needed to get the point through your thick skull.
Two things:
First: When did Dave lay down the rules and then violated them? Serious question, I wanna know.
Second: Pornography is an entirely different medium followed for entirely different reasons than comics, and Yorp specified comics in his argument, so that’s an invalid argument.
Two things right back at’cha:
First: If I have to lead you by the nose then this isn’t a conversation, it’s a teaching lesson. And I have little desire to instruct the ignorant. If you missed it, the rules were detailed within the canon. And have been discussed at great length in these comments ever since they were detailed. If you managed to miss both the rules and all the discussion surrounding them then you’re not really a part of the conversation, are you? Because the conversation is being held by those who didn’t miss the rules and the wealth of discussion surrounding them.
Second: Feel free to assume that when I said ‘pornography’ I was referring to any of the several pornographic comics available in either print or digital formats if it makes you feel better about the validity of the argument. But if your argument rests completely on drawing fine distinctions between mediums which share the similarity of pretty pictures and writing (and in case this will escape you, ‘writing’ is involved even when all the viewer sees are people talking to one another) and placing those that I decide are similar enough to warrant the comparison into the bucket of those that you do not feel are similar enough to warrant the comparison, then again this will be a fairly pointless discussion.
First: As you are now excluding anything from in comic itself from this ‘contract’:
Note the highlighted bit. It is not killed until AFTER it has passed through. Dave has complied with the terms. So your rudeness is both poorly directed and unfair.
Again the author has told us in advance how the field works. Do note that Deus was trying to stop any of his foes from guessing his solution. However Dave was explaining the field as much as he reasonably could, without giving spoilers.
I hope that DaveB does not allow your whining to influence his decisions in future. Avoiding plot spoilers is far more important than pandering to the sniveling of someone as rude as yourself.
This is explicitly saying that the field is very easy to bypass. And several readers correctly extrapolated this to understanding that a stick (or animal) could likewise be used.
Second: Dos was perfectly correct about pornography. I doubt that the majority of readers are here to masturbate over the pictures. Fan though I am of various of the heroines, that is not why I am here. Especially given that no naughty bits get shown! Although it does offer an explanation of the conundrum of why you keep coming here (no pun intended) despite hating the writing.
Even as an analogy it fails though. People read comics because of both the story and the illustrations. A good story can sustain a webcomic even if it has bad or simply basic pictures supporting it. If it is bad, it is likely to languish in the lower parts of the voting lists.
Whereas if its creator has chosen a simple illustrative style it can rise a lot higher in rankings, provided the story can sustain it. The Order of the Stick being an example of one such, that proves this well. Likewise XKCD, which often only has three panels for a given story. Both of which are hugely popular and are oft cited within this community.
Whereas the converse is not true. I cannot think of any comic, that can sustain itself in the top ten positions, with pretty pictures but a terrible story.
Whilst personally I would be intrigued by a comic which only had pictures, it would need to convey its story well that way, in order to sustain my interest. But one which told its story badly I would not tolerate, no matter how it conveyed the story.
Of course, as I have indicated, our opinions on good or bad are subjective. A way of gauging how isolated our opinions are though is to check out the ratings. Ooh, Grrl Power is at number one. If people were only interested in the (not very revealing) vote incentive, they could have just download it.
Yet they keep coming back. For both the art and the story. You are in a minority. Thankfully, given how offensive you are to members of our community and the author. Pointless so, given that constructive criticism is accepted where valid or debated fairly when subjective.
Your counter arguments are not convincing. And, as usual you choose to ignore decisive points, rather than conceding them. Whereas none of your points are strong enough to warrant a response. I am perfectly happy to allow others to judge the merits of our debate as it stands.
With one worthy exception:
Agreed. Yet you seem to forget that I was one of the first. However what you choose to ignore is the fact that plausible counter-arguments have been offered to that conclusion. Highly convincing ones, which won me, and others, over.
By ‘rules’, you mean that little bit of information that Deus believes to be the case?
Because have not seen DaveB categorically state how those display cases work, we have only seen two people using second hand (if not third or lower) information in an attempt to show dominance over each other
Hey, even his henchmen are thinking “Smug git…
… ooh, shiny toy, for me?”
I’m not hating on Deus. I enjoy watching him do this sort of thing.
I enjoy it so much that I’m making my first comment here since…..before the attack on the council (?)
Your comment gave him guarded support. With the appropriate degree of disapproval for his attitude. Which is good, given his dubious morals. So need not fear, you were not coming across as a hater. So it would be nice to hear from you more often!
*wags tail encouragingly*
Why doesn’t the field stop it from falling out, though?
if i had to guess the field is one way if you will (my thoughts is its actually 2 fields one layered on the other the non organic blocking one on the outside with the organic killing one right behind it and if something touches the organic killing field it disables the non organic blocking field in roughly the same area)
Even easier, since we already know the pillars are hollow, a simple spell on the center to hold something just above it, in the open area. Then the death field around it would stop anything trying to grab it… with death.
The part people forget about the all these defenses, is that no one who goes to the vault should know what the defenses are enough to plan how to stop them. The bad guys atm all have the benefit of one of the council members, plus someone on the security side who can tell them what each problem is so they can plan a way around them.
The other part is remember that the people who set this place up would only do the minimum to “hold” items in place since this area is only for protection, not display. (Why spend extra magic on a one way field, or a gravity field, when they only need to let it stay in place & let the death field protect it instead)
If the “kill” field is the outer layer (and would not be so slow as suggested), the crew setting this up might have thought “It’s dead before it gets in – so why bother with more”. What they might have not thought about is, that the instant death field may not be fast enough. They simply did not test the possible workarounds and called it a day.
Deus’ method is speed: the bamboo is ash as soon as it leaves the pillar on the other side of the field – and looking at Deus figure, I bet he bats a thousand (or… a million, in this case?).
Whereas Sciona’s (and Wyrmil’s) method may be regeneration and / or resistance. The living (and dying / dead and regenerating) tissue is holding back the death beams from the gore tunnel – just enough to grab the artifact and pulling it out.
… and why do I now think that the Regenerator may be a potency remedy,…
You’re both thinking about it wrong. It’s a magic field, intent and phrasing is key.
Only living things can enter, it does not say anything about dead things leaving, thus it’s a very very flimsy defense at best. It’s an overbuilt and underengineered mess.
Also yes, probably just a very basic levitation spell holding the artifacts in the middle, that part is probably the only reasonably put together bit of the whole system since it probably does not use much power at all.
And a levitating doom item can’t push on anything to escape the prison it’s in
First set of pilliars should also be fake pillars with a bunch of (magic? ) grenades in them.
Knock them out or pull them out thinking you’ve got the prize and ughhh…. oh crap I’ve got a handful of grenades!
A good technique. Sadly both Sciona and Deus clearly know all the details of the vault. So they would just consult the plans and ignore the ones with grenades. Just like Deus made sure not to put his hand into the death field.
Nah, in a vault like this, any ‘Plans’ dictating which pillars are which are destroyed.
Anyone who knows is mind-wiped/killed.
Any new items that get added are added randomly to a pillar.
Clearly such has not been done, given that two separate groups have detailed knowledge of the vault and even the properties of the pillar’s defenses. And if the Council was prone to such evil acts it is unlikely that it would have acquired Archon as an ally.
Plus it makes no sense, if being subject to all the disadvantages of such ruthless murder,* to only protect just the one aspect of the vault.** Far better to apply those techniques to the entirety of the vault’s defenses. Which would have made this entire robbery nigh on impossible (without the aid of powerful divination technomagic).
* Such as not having architects for the next project, gaining a lousy reputation (with the consequences regarding allies mentioned above), and acquiring a feud with any faction, friends or family associated with the victims.
** And a pretty minor one, at that, as we know that Wrymil is not bothered by major explosions, let alone tiny ones like grenades. Likewise we saw that the suit of living armour, in the council chamber fight, was proof against mundane attacks. So there would be various foes who could overcome such a trap, with or without knowledge of which was which.
Not to mention the availability of bomb squad personnel from just about any country.
– E. M. Forster
This whole situation seems like a honeypot. Designing by obscurity means obscurity. The whole display case thing is not obscurity. I would have the visible display cases with replicas and the protective death fields so all the ego-driven “important people” can be given a tour of “their” dangerous artifacts in “their” secure unreachable vault and told about the levels of security, knowing that they will brag about how no one can beat it.How do you think Sciona and Deus knew what to do? Meanwhile, the real artifacts are stored beneath the floor outside the vault or behind a false wall in the pantry, a place only the trustworthy few know.
It is amazing how seemingly complex security systems can be defeated by simple means. They need to hire some pen testers next time from a experienced defcon trained team. Take the ‘Bump key’ for instance.
Ironically, after my previous statement that I’d totally sign up to work for Deus, I actually went ahead and sketched out a super character in my head that would fit the bill.
I’ve always rather enjoyed the idea of plant control as a superpower but I decided to take it a bit further since I also rather enjoy utility powers in games.
Anyway, what I came up with was a guy that could work in his science department, and set up a couple of hundred instances of fast growing bamboo in an instance, I’m just going to keep it as headcanon that Epigen set those up. =p
Who wouldn’t work for Deus? We already know that the private sector pays supers more than Archon. Sydney felt like the Queen of Salt, due to just her first pay cheque (let alone royalty payments, in due course). So Deus’s supers probably get paid enough to become the Empress of Pepper!
Plus even minimum wage employees, in a third-world country have had their quality of life so much improved that they love him.
And here we see Heavenly Sword, someone he has only employed for a few days, getting rewarded with an artefact! Bearing in mind that such things are the tools and weapons of gods! And that nations will willingly sacrifice whole armies in an attempt to gain even one!
Rewarded with an artefact, or is her department getting new equipment?
I suppose it all depends on who notices the weapon is a stolen secret artefact and which organization comes knocking on Deus’ door.
A superpower so very useful that only a trip to the local nursery and a few (hundred, have you seen the price of plants these days?) dollars could match it.
Nah, that’s just his passive bonus power. He changes the expression of genetic material in living things, the more non-sentient the lifeform, the more pronounced the change.
The side effect being that plants, fungi and bacteria generally are so susceptible that they spontaneously take on forms that are beneficial to him even if he does not focus on them. So anywhere he lives will probably have an outbreak of spontaneous puddles of syrup, and trees growing candy bars… =p
If Deus hired him he’d probably also have a couple of rabbits trying to study astrophysics (although that sort of change would take quite a long time and conscious effort.)
should the part about the rabbits work by your own description? I mean rabbits that are into astrophysics have probably gone sentient some time ago.
So now the Good Guys will be chasing wildly after the Sciona before she can use all the Mcguffins but she only has the one…
And Sciona didn’t get any recompense for being used such.
If I was her I think I would drop a note for free to the Goodies and let them know exactly who took the rest. (also I would have taken the card and then quietly left it somewhere in the vault) They may not have believed her at first (then again they may be more aware of this guy than we know and are double checking everything he develops for them) or even the card but just putting it in the back of their heads is bound to bite the guy in the ass sooner or later and that’s a nice revenge for this annoyance!
Bringing a point from the beginning of the comic. Photons are particles and inorganic, so how is it that we can see the artifacts when the field should technically repell the light itself.
Photons aren’t exactly particles. They’re electromagnetic quanta, not matter.
If that doesn’t do it for you, it does look like there are lights in the display stands. If the artifacts are lit from inside the field then they would be visible. I was thinking the field itself seemed to emit either light or some form of magic luminescence, but that could just be a distortion of light exiting the field.
Where that breaks down is that we can see things BEHIND the field, such as the wall and the bamboo plant. If light couldn’t pass into the field those would appear as black nothingness. So… I guess the field just doesn’t count light as matter. Which makes sense, because it’s not.
Those fields WOULD create an atmospheric vacuum though, and the objects inside would probably not remain at a comfortable room temperature.
Actually these fields might not let light pass completely – after all, they create a visible field – so some of the light emissions have to change wave lengths.
The issue with light may be, that Photons are too small to be caught by what makes the field work.
Also again, it’s a magic field.
Magic does not need to conform to the laws of physics, it instead conforms to laws of its own.
Since magic is also generally tied to the perceptions and will of living beings, light is in sort of a safe zone since the prevalent local sentients all use light to perceive their environment.
That is to say, it would probably be harder to make a field that blocks light since the whole idea of having a magic field instead of some incredibly hard magic substance is so that you can see the objects.
Thus, the field is transparent because whoever made it wanted it to be so, or did not think overly hard on that particular point.
Beating the guardian? What guardian? The one that Sciona did not yet meet?
Mmm, you are right that DaveB may need a reminder to tie up the reprogramming of the guardian, before the baddies exit, to avoid giving the impression of a continuity error.
In terms of the author’s blog above he is not factoring in the present continuity (as you point out). Rather he is putting forward a defense for the vault’s builders. When an intruder entered they trigger the alarm. One aspect of which is to warn the Twilight Council. The other part though alerts the guardian.
This though has been circumvented by Sciona tricking the Council into turning off the magical internet, as that is the medium the alert is advised. No alarm, no guardian. It is napping in its closet somewhere.
It looked like the guardian was in a chamber outside the one they entered first, the heroes and council guys entered one big door, fought the guardian, and then opened another door to find the room splattered in blood; so Sciona’s team went past the first chamber into the second, and then drilled into the inner most chamber.
“Paper or plastic, sir?”
Deus: “Kill another tree, please.”
But that STILL doesn’t answer my question: Paper of Plastic? BOTH can be made from trees now days…
Well, the plastic bag can only be made from the ancient remains of trees. And there’s no way to really tell if it was a tree or just some pond scum that was the ancient ancestor of your plastic bag. So really when someone says “Kill another tree, please” they can only be referring to a paper bag.
I suddenly see a problem with Deus’s strategy; bumping magical artifacts of immense power so they fall over might not work out super well for every artifact.
Indeed. However he is obviously well-briefed on this vault. So if any are likely to go “BOOM!” or “Grrroowl” if poked, he would need to come up with a gentler alternative for those. Or avoid them.
indeed, no knocking out vases containing the trapped soul of the shadow vampire of hyperborea sealed by Si’lak the snake man sorcerer.
Shouldn’t that method destroy the artifact as it passes through the field?
It’s inorganic, touching the field.
Artifact goes POOF.
It shouldn’t work.
It would not go poof. Read again.
Yea. It does not harm non-living things. It is living things that it kills.
All it does with non-living things is to stop them passing. Clearly there is an unstated exemption, as the sword managed to pass through it. Various explanations have been offered by the community:
1) The force field is one-way.
2) The way it works is to repel non-living objects outwards (which means that something entering the field, from either direction will be expelled).
3) Artifacts are too powerful to be affected, so cannot be stopped by the field.
From previous page:
“since non-living material can’t pass through it, it would knock the artifacts out when activated.”
Yes it’s a bit unclear explanation. “Repel” might be more accurate term. It doesn’t prevent passing through so much as pushing it away. And by that definition it would work (and this was available on previous page).
Yea, you are right to quote the author’s blog, from the previous page, as it does explicitly state that artefacts can be expelled by the field. Likewise going on to say:
I took this as being speculative, given the ‘presumably’, but Dave was just being guarded, to avoid a spoiler for this page.
One is obviously used to personel managment… guess whom.
Yes.
Sciona is the Star Trek Mirror Universe written by a lousy writer, where the evil version of Kirk isn’t just evil, he is so fucking stupid evil that he is found out almost immediately by the rest of the normal (I’m not going to call it ‘good’) universe inhabitants.
Deus is the Star Trek Mirror Universe written by a decent writer, where the evil version of Kirk isn’t a complete and utter fucking moron, and has enough self control to not try to rape the first woman he sees or kill the first person who annoys him. You know, the same amount of self control that almost everyone in real life has, no matter how abominable their morals might be otherwise.
If you have such a problem with DaveB‘s writing, why the fuck are you still here? And don’t give me that shitcrap about how you use to like it and hope it will return to it’s ‘glory days’
My reasons are my own, I have no need nor desire to share them with someone as utterly ignorant and worthless as you.
But I’ll give you one possibility: Perhaps it is in my bookmark list for webcomics and it would take me about 30 seconds of effort to remove it from that list. Far more effort than I am willing to make.
And another: Perhaps I just love to point out how stupid you are. It makes me smile.
See now that is interesting. As a role player I like to know what makes people tick. If you want to emulate another person’s behaviour well, you need to properly understand their motives. I am very good at looking at the world from another person’s point of view. That way I can see what they might hope to gain from a situation. The more I know about their background the better I can do that.
Where it can fail though is if I only apply my own morals, because then what is an acceptable solution to them, may not be one that would occur to me if, for instance, it is illegal or immoral. However I have decades worth of experience at factoring that in. So provided I have the clues as to their moral compass, and any peccadilloes, which flavour that, I can do a better job.
Where this can go wrong though is examining the clues using my emotions as a yardstick for ‘why might I have done this?’ So if I see that someone has vandalised something, I might attribute it to seeking revenge for being wronged. OK I would be more likely to confront them directly, but I can see circumstances where that would be impractical, so that the frustration of not being able to get retribution might make me take a covert approach.
Of course, intellectually, I know that some people vandalise things for no other reason than because it gives them pleasure. However that is where my roleplaying falls short. I simply would not enjoy playing a character who liked needlessly damaging things, for no purpose other than giving themselves kicks.
Especially if it is something owned by someone else, who will emotionally suffer when they discover the damage. Likewise with the financial hardship that will be caused in repairing or replacing the damaged items. But, of course, that may only serve to heighten the vandal’s pleasure.
So if I am playing a character with traits, such as ‘sadist’ , it is good for me to get exposure to such behaviours, to better get to grips with such alien emotions.
Whilst it is a shame to have someone attracted to the community, for aberrant reasons, it is nice of you to be so honest about that. You are helping to broaden my, and others’, social experience.
Needless to say your claims of stupidity are (usually) baseless*, as in this case. But that will be self-evident to other readers. As validated by the occasional comment folks make to that effect. So there is no need for me to belabour the point here.
* We all get things wrong, from time to time. But, unlike you, we have the good grace to admit it. Learning from errors is a hallmark of intelligence, rather than the converse.
Your characterisation is very poor, given that Sciona has shown herself to be extremely capable from the outset. She has only been thrown off her game by Deus’s unexpected appearance and bravado here.
We have absolutely no idea what technique Sciona intended to use to get the artefact. Given that it is simple to overcome the field (for anyone CLEVER enough to have found out its properties in advance) she may have had any number of ideas in advance. The most obvious just being to create a tunnel of blood.
However the route that she did go was to make a ruthless power display. This would have worked to intimidate very many opponents.
However Deus was not phased, and took the opportunity to undercut Sciona’s demonstration, and to emphasise the advantages of his sociable approach.
Sciona has fallen foul of a superior opponent. And then only to make a serious social faux pas (that has harmed her credibility with her henchmen). It has not stopped her from having pulled off the most spectacular heist in history. Both she and her henchmen will acquire the artifacts they came here for.
And importantly it is not because ‘the writer deemed it so’. We can see the dynamics of the stand off logically having this result. Neither party would want to risk fighting or the delay it would cause. Whilst both parties get to leave with toys, although SCIONA’s team gets to keep the ones they prioritised.
So your hate is both making you overstate Sciona’s failure, her competence and the skill of the writing. But we are used to that.
Incidentally it shows why I am very happy to champion the author. The quality of his work withstands critical analysis. Making me very proud to be a ‘white knight’, as that is what is traditionally used to counter a troll.
Thought occurred to me,
two other means to take the items out.
1: Solid Light: light is clearly passing through the field, so how about a solid light like a Star Trek hologram, or one of the Gems from (Steven Universe) could just reach in *provided their Gem isn’t in their hand…long story* and grab the item.
2: Deathless Life: things that are dead and alive, or cannot die. Such as a summoning spell like *Tendrils of Yog-Sothoth* or *Chaos Vines*.
I imagine after the laundry list of other defenses, one of which included being crushed to death in a room made of a regenerative metal, the last defense was more to keep random individual invited in from just grabbing something. Sure they’d never invite someone in who could just grab the items and might betray them.
Those do seem like good loophole routes.
Also, since we can see the items suspended in the fields, it’s also likely that other forms of energy manipulation (yes, I know that there is a difference between “energy” and photons) could have worked, such as good old psychokinesis, gravity, or even magnetism (steal the ferrous metal items with a big ol’ magnet).
Someone with full on Electromagnekinesis and not limited like ferrokinesis can do a lot more, like levitating non-metallic objects, light manipulation, produce various effects through electromagnetic radiation *which is light, electricity, radio waves, gamma rays, x-rays, ect….*; its actually a pretty OP power when fully realized.
but yeah, been thinking of a few others.
like if the anti-teleportation field is down, can they use “portable portals” like open a portal under the object in the container, the “thief” power to poof small objects to you from a distance.
could someone with Necrokinesis *power to manipulate the force of the land of the dead* bypass the field.
and since we covered life, deathless, and light; what about Umbrakinesis? manipulating dark energy, could dark energy which is not alive *technically* or a technically a physical object bypass the field? along with its weird shadow cousin where someone passes their shadow over something elses shadow to move it *basically a very specific form of telekinesis when you think about it*, along with shadow possession and entanglement.
the magnetism by the way brings to mind Star Lord stealing the orb with the Power Stone in it from a similar contraption to what is in this comic, a tube with a killing field around it; but that one was resistant to objects leaving the field too…which I guess better defenses are needed if you are just going to leave it in the open on an abandoned planet.
and would the field work on someone with energy absorption powers?
something tells me supernatural beings *whose powers tend to have strict rules, limitations, and come with a grab bag of weaknesses* and don’t have supers really among their secret councils; wouldn’t consider supers and their (heroes of legends) type powers when setting up defense *hence the vampire guy whose name I already forgot being startled by Maxima and her team being able to overcome the weakening field and the guardian golem. *reduce and S-class to an A-class and you still have someone who can rip a tank apart, just not as fast*.
I was thinking sapling sized branches cut from a tree(s), as they stay alive for a time after the cutting. Most of the stuff you eat in a salad is still alive when you eat it. Maybe Deus has a thing for planting pots.
He works in an office. Pot plants are a part of his everyday environment, so it is natural enough that his mind would turn to those more readily as a solution. If he worked in a pet shop, his mind may have gone in another direction.
Customer cannon.
Not knowing how long of a window he might have available when the anti-teleport field goes down, or how long he’d have to wait until it happens, he probably just kept a whole greenhouse full of them on hand near his teleporter. Besides, if anyone got suspicious of them, he’d just say they were office replacements, or snacks for the pandas when they arrive, depending on mood. :)
The beauty of employing Opal is that anywhere is ‘to hand’, as she can open a portal on demand. So Deus only needed to either have her nearby, or make sure that she was somewhere that he could reliably contact her, on demand.
As such the only other thing Deus needed to do, to ensure prompt response, was to ensure that the bamboo was stored in a wheeled container. We have seen that Opal’s portal creating power is hugely versatile (being able to open them so fast as to counter a blow, for example, or open multiple portals at once).
Deus, Opal and the plants could all be in remote locations, provided each was within Opal’s portal range, from one another. If that turns out to be world-wide, then Deus could be in his African country, Opal could remain in the USA (a likely bail requirement) and the pot plants could be in China (’cause why not).
unless he was being less-than-accurate with Maxima when he was negotiating for Opel’s early processing and release, he said that her range wasn’t all that far, as he had to have her and that jerk of a telekinetic do a daisy-chain style of transport from the ocean port to the country interior where his base was.
Don’t believe it was mentioned needing to ‘daisy-chain’ the shipments, because that would still have the goods ending up on foreign soil, even temporarily, her range isn’t that short, and Vektor isn’t needed if you can simply drive through the portals
Lack of labeling is a big issue for the owners as well. Not only for inventory, but also when one is actually needed, or an emergency is happening with one of them.
“Oh no! The Icon of Isthmussa is flaring! It’ll break containment in 20 minutes, get 30 pounds of virgin wool, sheep optional!”
Sure beats the alternative of, “Oh no! One of the pillars is being subsumed by some kind of bright turquoise rippling energy! I have no idea what that means or what’s doing it! Check the books to see if some idiot violated security and wrote down what to do if the 5th pillar from the left in the 22nd row starts doing that! And make it fast, I have no idea how long before it blows up the planet, sucks our souls, starts spitting out annoyed pixies, or quietly farts, assuming that means anything at all in the first place! Ahrg! I hate this job!”
;)
You should read the Mansion of E. Months (of real world time) was spent navigating the mansion. And, even with doors labeled, it is possible to mix up ‘the pot room’ with the ‘pots room’. But just about everything has a label or a sign post. Despite the fact that many were not created by the Earls, when you get into the
monsternon-humaninfestedinhabited parts.Of course subtle ploys can be employed by not putting a sign on an important door. But best only do this for the one, if you wish to avoid mixing them up in a time critical moment! Likewise signs can be deliberately misleading. Provided that such is done to a convention that will not be forgotten.
Not to mention that your last paragraph pretty much describes an important part the Earl’s daily job. Except it is not just limited to the one room. OK there is one (the quiet room) which suppresses magical energies, so limits the dangers the artefacts there pose (somewhat). But others are immovable, or have a purpose elsewhere or simply would not get along with those in the quiet room.
Years, actually. The ‘months’ bit was just referring to guided tours of the labeled main parts, interspersed with other activities.
All taking place within a single day of comic time.
Even if the field couldn’t let the nonliving artifacts OUT, he could have used a much larger piece of bamboo with a hole cut through it, or a plant grown or braided into a tube….
Science experiment #1: Poke it with a stick.
The main issue is what are you going to use once you’ve take the first artefact out ?
It’s not like you have dozens of teammates gullible enough to sacrifice in a row…
Sciona was only after the one artifact for herself, so it would have been viable for her to blood-portal out and leave everyone else hanging at that point. So she could have simply sat back and told the others, “you have 5 minutes to figure out your own methods, and no, using my face is not an option”.
I think the reason the field can be circumvented so easily is that it’s supposed to be a defense against someone who doesn’t know what they’re up against. A guest, maybe, who is allowed inside for a specific person but gets the brilliant idea to poke something else.
(If they poke it themselves, they die. If they poke it with a stick, it doesn’t get through)
(Presumably, the killing field is meant to work in most cases, and the repel-outside thing is a failsafe measure against a stick. Otherwise it’d be easier to just repel everything)
Adding a glass case would have made it that much better, though. Hell, add two glass cases: one on the outside of the field, so people don’t get killed by accident, the second inside it, to prevent the chuck-a-potato solution. Or ‘magnetism powers’ solution. Or ‘anti magic field’ solution, although in that case breaking a glass case shouldn’t be much of a problem either. Still, it’d slow you down, and it’s relatively low budget for its effectiveness.
Still, given how far inside all the other security measures this one is, it was probably just rigged to sound impressive and prevent people who came for one thing from being tempted to also swipe something else. They didn’t mean for it to actually keep away determined thieves, that’s what the rest of the defenses are for. Anyone who made it this far inside was going to have an answer to this one, be it via knowing exactly what they’re up against or via brute force ARC-SWAT-style.
BTW, @the author. You are probably going to ignore this but just in case you decide not to and think it’s a neat idea: I challenge you to bring in a cute chubby female character. Like, pear shaped chubby. Shouldn’t be that hard for an artist as good as you are 9u9
Point 1: It’s already in-canon that superpowers cause super-physique given enough time an use.
Point 2: It -is- also in-canon that non-supers can push skills to the point of being super-equivalent.
True. However there was no stipulation that she need be a powerful character. Susie Wen (a.k.a. Susie News) is an example of a very good mundane character.
There is a way to get such a character, to make an appearance, and that would be to become a top-tier patreon supporter. They get to precisely detail the character they would like to make a cameo appearance. Be it by description, reference photographs or just describing a character concept.
Fair enough, but they probably would need to be a cut-above-average in some regard to be hanging out with supers and not just be a background shot. Even Arayanna is an above-average when it comes to marketing.
That did not apply to Syndey, Krona and Pixel, now did it?
And I have no idea what point 2 has to do with it at all 0.o
All solid points.
I feel honour bound to leap to the A-team’s defense though, in indicating that they do have super physiques in the ‘superb’ meaning of the term, if not the specialist meaning within the Grrlverse.
Fair enough. Ass for Grrlverse reasons, I think the reason for Sydney may be that her powers reside outside of her body rather than inside.
As for Pixel, if I recall she’s a mage+super, and when she crossed the line from regular mage into super is unknown, she may likely change and it’s not just sure when. (And since we was already researching variables of the universe when she likely did change, it’s possible she may be able to provide some insight into what a super actually -is-… assuming she didn’t just pop up her own variable sheet and click the ‘super’ box thinking “yep, being super sounds super, I’ll turn that on.”)
Acckkk!!! Unfortunate typo and no edit button! Arrggghhh!
It was stated that, for whatever reason, Pixelicious is only a Super in her hybrid form
Wait, are you confusing Pixelicious (the Pink Panther) with Kronachrome?
Sounds like it. Sydney, like Krona, appear to fall into the category of ‘normal human with super powered devices’. This working on the assumption that Krona’s goggles are providing the interface and she is just making use of that.
If she were a mage she would be in the mage’s faction (along with Zephan). Or if she gained her abilities from a super power, she would have been sent to Archon. As it is Krona is unique, and they do not know what she really is, hence being put into a faction of her own.
Pixel is a lycanthrope, but (other than that) is a normal human when in her mundane form. Hence her A team physique at those times. Yet gains super powers when in her were panther form. Thus explaining why an (admittedly humanoid) jaguar has large human-like boobs.
It is worth mentioning that these are not present when in her animal form. Rather she appears to be a standard jaguar (well other than her colouration, laser claws and being able to turn invisible). So Pixel actually has three very different sets of mammaries.
Have you forgotten Ari’s assistant already? :(
I would not describe her as ‘pear-shaped’ myself. And falling short of the anime-type cuteness of say Pixel or Krona.
Was going with the ‘cute chubby female’ aspect in general, not the specifically pear-shaped request
Actually, yes, I have forgotten her. Who’s that?
And yeah, it doesn’t have to be a super. We have mages, vampires, demons; we have Krona, whatever she is. There are LOADS of important powerful characters who do not fall under the ‘super physique’ requirement.
And yeah, this idea was born after I met Pixel and Krona and felt to the bone my disappointment in them both being thin. Opportunity: wasted )= So yes, it’s their bone-melting cuteness that I’m referring to ^^
Okay, I thought about it and did remember a large woman in the ARCHON building. She’s not exactly designed to be cute though, nor a major character 9-9
Speak for yourself on how cute she is, other than not being ‘pearl-shaped’ (she’s more of a delectable apple-shape) she fits your other criteria (well, not counting selective-forgetability)
I pointed out a very long time ago the fact that despite the ration of overweight people in the US that there have been almost no overweight people in this comic. I think there maybe one of the comic shop geeks had some paunch.
I got the typical responses from the typical people, those who feel the need to respond with their typical empty words to any perceived criticism of the author regardless of how tame, accurate, or justified it might be.
Translation: Do not engage me in any conversation that might have a different point of view. I am not interested in whatever you may have to say, plus will insult you if you do.
Yea, yea. Your record is broken.
As to your actual point, it is true. You did forget to mention Ariana’s assistant mind. I seem to recall that the lady owner of the oriental restaurant was ‘cuddly’ too. But these are indeed very sparse exceptions.
The reason why it is necessary for us to speak out though is because you choose not to offer a balanced argument. Where you opt to make a fair comment you receive either agreement or no challenge. Here, even though you raise the topic of the imbalance you leave a gaping gap in your comment as to why.
This then requires others to fill the hole. Which you then choose to take as a challenge. Going by your past behaviour, when in this kind of mood.
The demographics are so heavily skewed is because supers automatically get good physiques. And those are the characters who are at the centre of the story, so are the ones we get to see the most.
Meanwhile many of the others have a good reason for their physique. When was the last time you saw a fat news reporter or TV anchor? That press pool, and Arianna (as a front of camera public relations representative), are wholly representative of their professions. Everyone at Archon works for the military (even the civilian consultants) so will have gone through basic training and will be required to keep a minimum fitness level to retain their jobs.
Likewise Deus can afford a personal fitness trainer (regardless of whether he is a fitness trainer). Succubi have a whole host of reasons for why they are svelte. Likewise the assorted members of the supernatural have a bunch of resources at their disposal that the general public (and thereby the demographics we are discussing) do not have.
And, finally, the author likes drawing pretty people, of the types that we are used to appearing, and the readership like seeing them.
Although the original poster does have a good point that cuddly can be cute, and that the comic does not cater for that very much.
“regardless of whether he is a fitness trainer” = “regardless of whether he is a super”
P.S. the ‘resources’ I alluded to include magical spells, potions and numerous ultra tech means of either loosing weight or otherwise looking more appealing.
Hold on a tic. Didn’t you say last page that non-living material can’t pass? Why can the artifact exit the field? Unless that particular artifact is classified as alive, in which case, what do the plan to do for the rest?
Options:
1) The force field is one-way.
2) The way it works is to repel non-living objects outwards (which means that something entering the field, from either direction will be expelled).
3) Artifacts are too powerful to be affected, so cannot be stopped by the field.
So… If only living matter can pass through the barrier, how do the artifacts pass through in order for them to be retrieved? Sciona’s solution involved using living matter to create a hole in the shield through which she could acquire and retrieve the artifact. It seems like Deus’ plan missed the part about actually being able to retrieve the artifact. He can bang it with sticks all he wants but he still doesn’t have a way to actually get the artifact beyond the field.
The Council have a way of turning the field off
Umm, you did notice that the artefact he was banging with his wood is now on the outside in Heaving’s sweaty hands? o_O
That was very restrained of you Guesicus, not letting your pet peeve show. Proud of you!
As this was asked in the immediately prior post, to this thread though, I think I will just refer to my reply above.
This has gone entirely as could be anticipated.
1) Ouroborus points out a plot hole.
2) Guesticus claims that it isn’t a plot hole because it is what actually happened.
3) Yorp congratulates her on being too stupid to breathe.
Broken down for the ignorant, we have this:
1) Person A with the capacity to do some critical thinking says that the rules as described were not followed.
2) Person B says they must have been followed because the thing that the rules said couldn’t happen happened anyway.
3) Person C says that it was so clever of Person B to point out that the thing that happened actually happened.
The only thing missing, besides two brain cells to rub together, is any thought at all given by you two ignoramuses (that’s Persons B and C for anyone not managing to follow along. And by that I mean Persons B and C) as to exactly how the thing that happened manage to happen given that the rules said that it could not happen.
Of the three people prior to me in this thread, only the OP has a clue and is asking the right questions. You two sycophants, suck ups, and white knights are completely capable of suspending your disbelief no matter how much shit is shoved into your faces. So of course everything is fine, nothing to see here and move along. The sad thing is, everything will always be fine for you two, because you have absolutely zero capacity for critical thinking.
How do you type with your head so far up your butt? Is your keyboard in Braille?
Speaking of ignorant butt-fluffers: you claiming that the Council doesn’t have a way to turn the Death Fields off? Then how the fuck did those artefacts get in there in the first place? Or maybe they built the displays around them, yeah, that makes perfect sense
OPie seemed to have failed to notice that Deus’ plan actually fucking worked!
Yorp was proud of the fact hadn’t ranted about how that same damn question has been asked (and answered) so many fucking times, including immediately above
Wow, what a lot of hate, again.
Ouroborus has indeed done critical thinking. Do note however that whilst typing the question, both Shade‘s identical question and my reply would have been plainly visible. Both had been written hours earlier.
People not bothering to look to see if a question has been asked before does bother Guesticus a lot. Even more so when it would only require a cursory glance at the screen. You will note that I did not criticise the original poster (it is no biggie after all) I only praised Guesticus for making the effort to resist. The result is much appreciated as it makes the community a much more welcoming place.
I do wish you would do likewise. Whilst your ranting may provoke a response, it does not actually make your arguments hold water.
A critical argument was posed. Plausible counter arguments were provided in response.
None of which you bothered to counter, I note.
Further I have previously praised people making the same critical argument, and even agreed with the sentiments. Then moved on to showing how the comic can remain consistent. I just got bored of repeating variations on that, so cut it to the quick. Folks can read previous pages of comments if they want the more expansive replies.
They may be advised to skip your posts though. Some have constructive comments. However all too many are full of vitriol, expletives and generally serve to make the community a worse place!
The anti-non-living-matter field works by repulsing any non-living matter that comes into contact with it outside. Presumably it’s less like a solid barrier and more like a ‘cloud of gas’ – non-living matter can enter it, but it cannot pass through because of overwhelming force pushing it in a set direction.
That’s pretty terrible design for something with the primary purpose of keeping something contained inside, but to be fair, by the point the thieves have dismantled all the other defenses, there was probably nothing that could stop them at this point.
Very well said.
It is worth noting that the author’s blog admits that it is ‘pretty boneheaded’. But then goes on to indicate that it is only part of a multi layered defense.
Most important of which is that it is only intended to cause a delay (which hit has done, albeit nowhere near as much as the designers might have hoped), plus it should kill at least one intruder, in the process, if they are unaware of the trap’s properties.
This is only easy to overcome for those who have the resources to find out what the final defense is, before even stepping into the vault.
Pretty sure that the Rule of Cool applies to the method Deus uses, and that’s as far as it goes.
+1
Is nobody going to mention the hollow cylinders of force field are vulnerable from the ends?
Sconia could possibly have used her teleporting through matter blood tentacles or whatever is the best way to describe it. The whole blood seeping through solid matter thing seems surprisingly viable and multiutilitarian.
I did. Well separately pointing out that the pillars are hollow and that the most obvious solution is to use portals to get the artefacts out (given that Opal’s is clearly not being inhibited). Somebody else may have specifically suggested using Sciona’s blood portals, but I think you are the first.
Your picking up on the blog description as being ‘a pipe’, with the implication that the ends must be open to the pillars is well made though. I must confess that, despite the term used, I had been picturing a spherical shape. Not that it makes any difference for worm-holes, as they bypass intervening space, so it does not matter what may be there.
But it does make a difference if exactly replicating the original use of the blood portal.
I do not think that would be necessary mind. Dave described that Sciona needed to create a micro-portal, to squeeze through the anti-teleport/anti-portal warding, at a weak point, thus allowing the blood to seep through gradually.
However he goes on to say that, having done that, she was then able to exploit the opening to disable the protection, hence how the rest of the team were able to come through the person-sized blood portal. And subsequently, as we can still see, allowing Opal’s portal to open.
But it would allow a route for other powers to bypass the field too. So Shadow Boxer, who can phase through matter, could have been hired to reach his arm into the pillar and grab artefacts. Likewise Concretia, assuming the pillar is made of matter that she can affect with her power. Not to mention simple brute-force techniques (unless there are other unmentioned precautions stopping that).
I’m unclear exactly what Deus did here. Can someone elaborate?
He took a live bamboo plant and used it to poke the artifact off its pedestal. Live plant goes through field, dies, still has stick to nudge artifact off its hoverpedestal, artifacts are not affected by the Death Field.
As opposed to Sciona, who took a live Wyrmil and punched her fist through his torso to grab her fancy Plot McGuffin.
If nothing else, live bamboo is probably cheaper than live Wyrmils.
Less vindictive too I imagine. That is if Wyrmil lives.
Which I expect because all this effort for only one item is a bit wastefull. And taking more items should make it less obvious which one you are planning on using in the (near) future.
And a lot more useful if you’re shopping list has more than one item and you have a time limit before the mall cops show up ;)
I have to be careful I have been known to start plotting a robbery, bombing etc as a writing exercise while in public and if I speak too loudly get uncomfortable looks.
Not to mention get arrested. That happened to an actor in a train in Europe this year. Going into a toilet, to rehearse a part. Trouble is he could be heard outside, and it alarmed the conductor enough to summon the police for a potential terrorist incident.
Likewise, more recently, an emergency incident being triggered, in a airline incident, because of a similarly alarming conversation between two passengers.
These incidents were resolved (as far as I know) without the individuals involved being charged with anything, as their actions had genuine innocent contexts, with no malicious intent. Which is fine if all that happens is that you get detained, for questioning.
Last week though an incident happened that could have been far worse.
You know, now that I think of it, large groups have a WORSE time being paradigm locked. Due to, well…groupthink.
Especially when you have someone championing a particular conclusion. Their opinion can be propagated and reinforced by repetition.
Sometimes Deus’s chin looks more unbelievable than Sciona’s…
Yea, much as I hate criticising the art, DaveB has made Deus very chunky on this page.
As always though I like to balance this with how good the other art is. We get so used to it, that we take it for granted.
Sciona’s look (in panel 4), for example, is stunning. The epitome of ‘if looks could kill’! I think she may wish to acquire Cthilia’s power.
Likewise the execution of the artificial sword in contrast to the natural plant. Just look at how well the leather wrap is captured, on the grip, along with the perfectly rendered metal parts.