Annotated 28-23
From Nathanyel: And Harky’s like “Damn, I need to find a new protege. Preferably one who understands metaphors.”
From Harky’s point of view, this isn’t entirely unlike being Abraham on the mount. Normally, fire and lava burn too quickly for even troll healing powers to overcome. Harky is having faith in his god that Penk will be kept alive for this trial, but as we’ll see, he does entertain some doubts about that.
Penk is likewise not blind to what would happen to the average troll who just dove in here for a swim, but he’s younger and more zealous, so shoving his doubts aside is easier.
It IS funny to imagine that Penk died immediately and Harky just fished out the fireseye and went looking for someone else.
I’ve always read this page as Penk showing a lot of faith in his god, rather than just shoving aside his doubts for Harky’s sake or because he is youthfully idealistic. I think it’s clear he knows what jumping into lava will normally do, and that only his faith in Tectonicus will be enough to get him through.
I like to imagine this scene following realistic lava physics where Penk doesn’t sink through, just crashes into it like it’s stone (which, to be fair, it IS) and writhes around, laying on top of it, as he burns.