Not just working together, either. Byron took command, and Best seems to acknowledge his leadership: “We’ll wait for the word from Syr’nj…” and Best didn’t immediately dispute.
I don’t know if I’m more amazed that Best is working with Byron, that Byron is working with Best, or that the two of them both somehow seem to know about how golems work.
I mean come on, neither of them are really magic academy material here. Best…is a Bard so I guess he has some basis in terms of legends?
How about the Legend Lore spell? Or a Bardic Knowledge check? Used correctly, either one of those is basically a license to metagame. Together they give you “Leaf through Mosnter Manual” as a free action.
All very useful – but let’s not discount the value of whatever’s common knowledge for the setting. Not everything useful has to be feats, class features, and magicks.
To say it a different way – all that glitters is not mechanical :P
Byron has said before that he’s been through a lot. All we’ve seen of him is everything that happened after his intro (not counting the scenes outside of Arkerra, in his interview, and in the tube), but he already had his axes and equipment beforehand and was therefore logically adventuring successfully long before we met him. The Byron we all know today is just working with a guild, now – hence the title of the comic :P
Continuing on, the Sky Elves I’m sure left tons of ruins behind, presumably with functional (or dysfunctional) automatons; this group certainly wouldn’t be the first group of adventurers to happen upon them and make them angry. Likewise, Gastonia’s market sells used cogs and other machine parts at a considerable markup – of course there’s bound to be everyday adventurers who are knowledgeable about golems (or at least how to hack them to pieces, which could arguably be the source of the used machine parts).
And then there was Sundar’s brother with his mechanical warrior idea, and gnomes with their tinkering, making it obvious there is a progressive push for being technologically competitive with the Sky Elves among the civilized races. And finally, there was that whole diplomatic mission to their floating city. Plenty of occasion for our heroes to have picked up some know-how about things that go “tick tick tick RAWR” in the night.
On a related note, throughout the story thus far I have enjoyed the fact that, for a Berserker, Byron is endearingly competent, what with his adventuring experience and leadership qualities and respectable level of intelligence. So do I think he can break it?
Oh quit your whinging – one glyph and you don’t even have to use reagents. Anyway, it’s been at least ten minutes since we last had you killed. You’ll be fine.
Now sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down,
When you find that you’re down well just look around:
You still got a body, good legs and fine feet,
Get your head in the right place and hey, you’re complete!
Bound, bound, bound and rebound….
Sorry, I’ve just got this image of Frig bouncing off the walls like a superball decapitating those things
The golems are the librarians, and they’re trying to smite everyone because they’re running around, shouting, and generally being obnoxious in the library.
Actually, considering they’ve been dead for months, I bet they have overdue library books, and golems have very specific programming, so I bet they have orders to terminate violators on sight. :D
One of the few X-Men comics I’ve read involved sentinels. The X-Men had an attack worked out in which Colossus would throw Wolverine, who had his blades extended, at the back of a sentinel’s head.
Some of us were so conditioned by seeing the Peanuts cast use it in their speech bubbles that we use it IRL conversations. It’s an interjection indicating that the speaker is a bit let down by, but not truly surprised by, circumstances.
John, the first panel is pretty much a giveaway for establishing the size of the area, every good scene opener needs something like that and it’s not hard to do with a panel that large.
But the way you manage to display size and depth so convincingly in the second panel is /amazing/. It’s a cramped, vertical, thin panel already crammed tight with detail and you /still/ managed to convey the outright hugeness of the library in it. While this entire page is tight and well done, that panel is just outstanding. Your work continues to impress and evolve!
Thank you, Rykka. Establishing shots are important to …um establish… the surroundings around the characters as they move from one place, room, scene to another.
I like the second panel too. There’s a lot of forced perspective tricks going on in that one, but I think it’s the bit of ceiling fading to black and the little white window on the “far wall” of the room that really lends scale to the place.
This is gonna end well, I’m sure.
Eh, this was bound to happen. I (de)cant believe there’s just one science bottle left…
Well ain’t that a corker.
Let’s just hope it’s not a screw(top) up.
These things happen when you’re on the rebound.
Hopefully that potion will allow them to spring back into action.
now you’re jumping to conclusions.
This precognitive pun panel is leaps and bounds ahead of the curve.
Perhaps we should replace Godwin’s Law with Guilded’s Law: no matter what happens, puns will always spring up and jump at you.
I say we put it to a vote, anyone against?
Tiny voice: Me!
(gunshoot)
Me holding a smoking gun: Anyone else? (pause) Good!
*Silences FreddeX with Spetum-through-the-Septum*
Too many bad puns. Too many bad punners. You must all be… reprimanded.
As long as it isn’t Pixar’s Bounding. A potion that causes cowboy poetry can only be used for evil.
Awwwww, look at Bryon and Payet working together!
I bet they’re going to become BEST friends!
Just as imporantly, Byron is back! The Byron earlier today would have been more “Hey guys. You run. I’ll.. hold em off. Meh.”
Good to know when the chips are down and the shit’s hitting the fan, he’s less emo and more take charge.
At least until the chips are really down and he murders everybody cause he’s pissed about it.
It’s all about have just the right amount of chips.
Not just working together, either. Byron took command, and Best seems to acknowledge his leadership: “We’ll wait for the word from Syr’nj…” and Best didn’t immediately dispute.
I’m trying to find the part where B took command but I can’t find it. Plz help.
Was about to say the same thing. Look at ‘em talking and agreeing on stuff like a couple of “buds”. :P
And GD is just so sick of everything.
I don’t know if I’m more amazed that Best is working with Byron, that Byron is working with Best, or that the two of them both somehow seem to know about how golems work.
I mean come on, neither of them are really magic academy material here. Best…is a Bard so I guess he has some basis in terms of legends?
How about the Legend Lore spell? Or a Bardic Knowledge check? Used correctly, either one of those is basically a license to metagame. Together they give you “Leaf through Mosnter Manual” as a free action.
All very useful – but let’s not discount the value of whatever’s common knowledge for the setting. Not everything useful has to be feats, class features, and magicks.
To say it a different way – all that glitters is not mechanical :P
True, but it may be gold.
Bardic knowledge can be pretty versatile but, more importantly, Best seems to know a great deal about Sky Elves. Even his Axe was crafted by them.
Byron has said before that he’s been through a lot. All we’ve seen of him is everything that happened after his intro (not counting the scenes outside of Arkerra, in his interview, and in the tube), but he already had his axes and equipment beforehand and was therefore logically adventuring successfully long before we met him. The Byron we all know today is just working with a guild, now – hence the title of the comic :P
Continuing on, the Sky Elves I’m sure left tons of ruins behind, presumably with functional (or dysfunctional) automatons; this group certainly wouldn’t be the first group of adventurers to happen upon them and make them angry. Likewise, Gastonia’s market sells used cogs and other machine parts at a considerable markup – of course there’s bound to be everyday adventurers who are knowledgeable about golems (or at least how to hack them to pieces, which could arguably be the source of the used machine parts).
And then there was Sundar’s brother with his mechanical warrior idea, and gnomes with their tinkering, making it obvious there is a progressive push for being technologically competitive with the Sky Elves among the civilized races. And finally, there was that whole diplomatic mission to their floating city. Plenty of occasion for our heroes to have picked up some know-how about things that go “tick tick tick RAWR” in the night.
On a related note, throughout the story thus far I have enjoyed the fact that, for a Berserker, Byron is endearingly competent, what with his adventuring experience and leadership qualities and respectable level of intelligence. So do I think he can break it?
Yes he can!
Wow, I totally forgot about Priestlord Gigundus. They did hack that one to pieces, I should have pointed that out.
Parts… pills… pipe cleaners… POTIONS! All artifacts apparently alphabetized.
As an aside, gorgeous golems.
Thanks for piping in plover.
Silly Syrn’j! Don’t discard diphenhydramine!* Musty manuals and grimy grimoires activate allergies.
*(plummeting pink pill)
Looks like a Benadryl to me.
Benadryl is a brand of diphenhydramine.
Ah.
All Aboard for Awesome alliteration!
“I’m going to have to resurrect us all AGAIN, aren’t I? Damn it….”
Oh quit your whinging – one glyph and you don’t even have to use reagents. Anyway, it’s been at least ten minutes since we last had you killed. You’ll be fine.
Sentinels! That’s what they remind me of. Didn’t get that vibe last update, but I probably should have.
I really like the texture in this one. It just suits the background perfectly.
Frigg is bein friggin concerned… Look at her face in the last panel. She reminds me of a certain looney toones character.
It’s actually bounding as in leaping and jumping. Shit’s gonna get even more hilarious.
Now sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down,
When you find that you’re down well just look around:
You still got a body, good legs and fine feet,
Get your head in the right place and hey, you’re complete!
Bound, bound, bound and rebound….
Sorry, I’ve just got this image of Frig bouncing off the walls like a superball decapitating those things
I GOT IT!
The golems are the librarians, and they’re trying to smite everyone because they’re running around, shouting, and generally being obnoxious in the library.
That, or they’re quite cross that nobody’s wiped their feet before entering.
Actually, considering they’ve been dead for months, I bet they have overdue library books, and golems have very specific programming, so I bet they have orders to terminate violators on sight. :D
The golems remind me of the sentinels from X-Men *0*
One of the few X-Men comics I’ve read involved sentinels. The X-Men had an attack worked out in which Colossus would throw Wolverine, who had his blades extended, at the back of a sentinel’s head.
Bounding? Axes?
You are, of course, referring to the timeless Fastball Special.
All three of us (and Erica, too) are pretty big X-Fans. So… I can’t promise we’ll never do that.
Of course, you’ll have to make it fail epically. It wouldn’t be as entertaining otherwise.
Golem vibe? Byron’s into some kinky s***.
So if that’s her last potion, and IF they survive this (heh)…will we get to see Syr make potions?? That’d be kinda cool to hear about anyway.
Alos: bounding potion. Either they’ll jump like Jiminy Cricket or the potion will fence in a golem.
Just one. :P
…And Gravedust abruptly realizes that the rest of the party only promised to never toss the dwarf.
Gravedust *could* be sighing in relief, as he appears to have been concerned about the state of his beard (panel 2).
This talk of the spell being a “bound as in jump” spell now has me flashing back to the Gummi Bears.
Oh god I loved that show
If it means “Bound as in the movie” then we can expect new and surprising interactions between Syr’nj and Frigg.
So did gravy say the word “sigh” as indicated in the speech bubble or did he breath audibly, as from sorrow, weariness, or relief?
I guess he could have done both.
Some of us were so conditioned by seeing the Peanuts cast use it in their speech bubbles that we use it IRL conversations. It’s an interjection indicating that the speaker is a bit let down by, but not truly surprised by, circumstances.
Frigg: Bounding? Right, i’ll jump on their heads and rip off the crowns– gulp!
*poof!* (Frigg is now naked and tied up with leather straps and a ball g,)
Syr (blushes) Er, i thought i used that one at the party last month.
Best: Great idea, Syr. (unbuckles) Frigg and i will distract them while the rest of you circle around!
Monday’s comic will be them being rezzed again
Why, are you suggesting that they have contractual immortality?
Why would Gravedust *say* the word “SIGH,” rather than just do it?
It’s an old comic book tradition. See *gasp* *choke* *sob* and anything else you’ll see in an old Superboy comic.
good to see byron leave ‘lil kid mode when he’s in danger, also the Best/Byron pannel made me lol. they do look like such good freinds
this looks like a part of X-men
John, the first panel is pretty much a giveaway for establishing the size of the area, every good scene opener needs something like that and it’s not hard to do with a panel that large.
But the way you manage to display size and depth so convincingly in the second panel is /amazing/. It’s a cramped, vertical, thin panel already crammed tight with detail and you /still/ managed to convey the outright hugeness of the library in it. While this entire page is tight and well done, that panel is just outstanding. Your work continues to impress and evolve!
Thank you, Rykka. Establishing shots are important to …um establish… the surroundings around the characters as they move from one place, room, scene to another.
I like the second panel too. There’s a lot of forced perspective tricks going on in that one, but I think it’s the bit of ceiling fading to black and the little white window on the “far wall” of the room that really lends scale to the place.
*ZAP* Oh, my bad, it was a potion of GROUNDING. Makes it easier for the lightning to hit us.
Something about this page… I love the art here. Fantastic.
Heh… I wonder if it’s “Gummy Berry Juice”? Adventures…. bouncing here and there and everywhere…. lol.