Yeah, kinda leads you to believe that Byron might have been the last man standing in a town of madness. Which if true would imply the return would be them seeding another town in the same way. Then again a literal return of the town’s berserk population would also be pretty catastrophic.
Well he *was* using the handle “Byron the Berserker” when we first met him – so I’m guessing he was infected in Battleshire, managed to suppress it, after killing his also-berserking brothers who had massacred the rest of the village, then forgot the whole episode because of PTSD.
Oh! That makes a great deal more sense! (Re: a new town made berserk, etc.) Especially with, you know, Brother Tom explicitly saying a few pages ago that the Countless Limbs will be driving another town over into Berserk-o-Rama: Kids Eat For Free! OK. I understand a thing now.
“[Battleshire's] return” WUH-WHOA. More dead people that just won’t get the hint? (More like necromancy, I’m guessing.)
Assuming H.R. essentially “tapped” into the existing universe of Arkerra (or that, as he assumes, he created Arkerra only for it to become its own being – kids! They never appreciate what their parents do for them!), I’m hella curious as to how his attempts to write/rewrite events have been interpreted by the peoples of Arkerra or played out over time. Like, how much of Arkerra – its peoples, its current political states – exists in its current form because of H.R.? Do their histories exist as we would first define existence, as a hard, material fact, or do they exist simply because the people believe them to be reality? Does my hand always look like this?? Is this how dogs see???
On a UNIX/Linux command line, Ctrl-Z suspends the job currently running in the foreground, which is usually done before telling it to continue to run in the background.
…But it’s adorable of you to think the poster above didn’t know that.
Right. Though come to think of it, if you’re switching between operating systems, that’s exactly the sort of interface confusion that can make things go horribly wrong.
Hahaha, mental image! However, suspending the whole universe and then not bg’ing it doesn’t seem like a bad idea, even if it’s by angsty button-mashing accident.
Was Byron first infected with the berserker madness when he ran into Brother Tom while out with Syr?
Or was he infected so many years ago in Battleshire but his madness was dormant and was only recently awakened by Brother Tom?
I’m guessing the latter, but that raises other interesting points, such as if there are others similarly carrying the madness out there. If so, we’re looking at a sleeper situation running through both the Gastonian Alliance and the Savage Races (er, what was the more PC term for them that they prefer?).
For that matter, I’m wondering how come Byron didn’t infect anyone else with his madness if both Harky and Brother Tom treat it as very communicable disease.
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute here: if all of Battleshire went berserk, does that mean the babies went berserk, too? “Well, obviously, by definition ‘all of Battleshire’ includes the babies.” Don’t sass me!!! Anyway, the point is: what on Earth would a berserk baby look like? “Raaaawr, I’m gonna kick this air! Frick this blanket! I’m a baby, I can’t talk anyway!”
Interesting comic, reminds me of Shetterly’s _Cats have no lord_. Thanks for the heads up on the con. I’ll be volunteering definately on friday, and maybe Saturday evening. So maybe we’ll run into each other.
Considering on how many MMOG/MMORPG players call the creators themselves “Gods” (and sometimes they are identified as that in the game), yet they are somewhat absent from their own creation… this is brilliant.
Now let’s see if Bandit & Co. can pull a Lord British scenario.
“Gaze upon his mussed-up hair, his burning glare, and know there is no reason there. He’ll give you gifts, he’ll open rifts, then through your contents he will sift.”
Well, I hope for his own sake that Dedalus has brushed up on his mythology. Things like how Zeus overthrew the Titans. It’s just amazing what can go wrong for any god, the “original one/s” included. I’m especially looking forward to “HR vs Tectonicus”. *puts more popcorn in microwave*
Bayen and Brayen went mad? Changes my theory…
P.S. First.
OK, OK, yu pssd 1st. now getouttathejohn, i gotta pss too!
(said in punny mirth, not malevolence) :)
Yeah, kinda leads you to believe that Byron might have been the last man standing in a town of madness. Which if true would imply the return would be them seeding another town in the same way. Then again a literal return of the town’s berserk population would also be pretty catastrophic.
Well he *was* using the handle “Byron the Berserker” when we first met him – so I’m guessing he was infected in Battleshire, managed to suppress it, after killing his also-berserking brothers who had massacred the rest of the village, then forgot the whole episode because of PTSD.
Bonus points if he had to murder the brothers himself and kept their axes as mementos…
Oh! That makes a great deal more sense! (Re: a new town made berserk, etc.) Especially with, you know, Brother Tom explicitly saying a few pages ago that the Countless Limbs will be driving another town over into Berserk-o-Rama: Kids Eat For Free! OK. I understand a thing now.
When I read the rhyming, I (finally) realized that Brother Tom is the fortuneteller that Byron and Syr’Nj saw in Chapter 7. D’oh.
Looking at the the tags at the bottom can help with that :) See how this page shows you where you’ve seem Brother Tom, Ashok, and Ulak before?
Where are these tags you refer to? Thanks.
The madness is … RABIES!
More like 28 Days Later Super Rabies
Madness!? THIS. IS. . . Well, actually, yeah it is madness.
No! My Zerking-Byron avatar’s been replaced by Contemplative-Gnoll! Stupid computer deleting cookies unexpectedly. . .
Although, the new avatar does actually fit my comment. Hrm.
And that’s the creator’s head. And we have all seen who that is…
william h macy?
Billy comin’ down to kick some ass, y’all. Better watch out!
To be more specific, William H. Macy with a mustache and with much less charisma.
And a spellbook…
I thought I was the only one who saw that.
“[Battleshire's] return” WUH-WHOA. More dead people that just won’t get the hint? (More like necromancy, I’m guessing.)
Assuming H.R. essentially “tapped” into the existing universe of Arkerra (or that, as he assumes, he created Arkerra only for it to become its own being – kids! They never appreciate what their parents do for them!), I’m hella curious as to how his attempts to write/rewrite events have been interpreted by the peoples of Arkerra or played out over time. Like, how much of Arkerra – its peoples, its current political states – exists in its current form because of H.R.? Do their histories exist as we would first define existence, as a hard, material fact, or do they exist simply because the people believe them to be reality? Does my hand always look like this?? Is this how dogs see???
Check out Terry Pratchett’s book Only You Can Save Mankind. I think you might like it.
Oh, sweet, thank you! Haha, I’ve actually been slowly getting into Pratchett’s oeuvre, so this is especially awesome. :D Thanks again!
I always think of eggs whenever I see the word “oeuvre” …
HR, they’re called sunglasses because they’re supposed to protect against the sun, not glow like headlights!
If you think about it, if it reflects the light, it’s much more effective than black sunglasses.
Btw, who told you it’s sunglasses?
To recap. Death is a mire, that gives life meaning.
Better get Chris Hedges on the phone. Brother Tom is stealing his schtick.
“I accidentally an apocalypse.” – H.R. Dedalus
‘CTRL-Z! CTRL-Z!’
Backgrounding the job won’t help. It just makes it confusing when you’re spammed with error messages.
Ctrl+Z is the code for undoing something… Yep, it would help.
On a UNIX/Linux command line, Ctrl-Z suspends the job currently running in the foreground, which is usually done before telling it to continue to run in the background.
…But it’s adorable of you to think the poster above didn’t know that.
Right. Though come to think of it, if you’re switching between operating systems, that’s exactly the sort of interface confusion that can make things go horribly wrong.
Hahaha, mental image! However, suspending the whole universe and then not bg’ing it doesn’t seem like a bad idea, even if it’s by angsty button-mashing accident.
More like alt F4, alt F4 :)
That would be the very definition of the “End of the World” here
I am now officially stoked to see Dedalus lose his right eye.
Also: Today’s comic format is what’s known in the industry as “Foursooth.”
If this Allfather loses his right eye, who would receive it?
Goliath.
Well…
The medical waste bin.
I wonder if Dedalus has considered a way to resolve the problem that doesn’t involve killing everyone?
Also, I’m thinking of Surface Detail, by Iain Banks.
Maybe that is his answer – the only thing left to do with a world gone out of control is kill it off and start another…
He’s gettin’ pretty desperate…
He thinks it’s a game or something so he doesn’t really care.
Anyone else think Dagrar resembles Frigg’s spirit animal or whatever?
So basically they’re waiting for a game dev to come to vent his day to day frustration on pixelated humans and elves?
Woe betide those who have less than 16 bits!
I am curious to see what retcons look like in this universe.
Hey, it’s Harry Potter! Or at least, H.R. Potter.
Madness: Indistinguishable from a Dr. Seuss book.
I guess that’s why they call them Seuss-sayers.
This raises these questions for me:
Was Byron first infected with the berserker madness when he ran into Brother Tom while out with Syr?
Or was he infected so many years ago in Battleshire but his madness was dormant and was only recently awakened by Brother Tom?
I’m guessing the latter, but that raises other interesting points, such as if there are others similarly carrying the madness out there. If so, we’re looking at a sleeper situation running through both the Gastonian Alliance and the Savage Races (er, what was the more PC term for them that they prefer?).
For that matter, I’m wondering how come Byron didn’t infect anyone else with his madness if both Harky and Brother Tom treat it as very communicable disease.
The non Gastonian faction prefers being called The World’s Rebellion.
a sleeper situation is terrifying.
The time to hesitate is through
It’s time to swallow towns in mire
This war both sides can only lose
And the world become a funeral pyre
Come on, follow Death’s desire!
— The (Interdimensional) Doors
The plot thicks…
When did Meatwad become a cultist?
Do what now?
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute here: if all of Battleshire went berserk, does that mean the babies went berserk, too? “Well, obviously, by definition ‘all of Battleshire’ includes the babies.” Don’t sass me!!! Anyway, the point is: what on Earth would a berserk baby look like? “Raaaawr, I’m gonna kick this air! Frick this blanket! I’m a baby, I can’t talk anyway!”
Probably, but it wouldn’t matter because they’d be some of the first victims of the adults or older children. Funny to think about though.
I love kids, but man, I would not want to handle a berserker toddler. I just want to say that.
Yikes! How ominous!
Behold! The Head of Vecna!
Holy crap!
Interesting comic, reminds me of Shetterly’s _Cats have no lord_. Thanks for the heads up on the con. I’ll be volunteering definately on friday, and maybe Saturday evening. So maybe we’ll run into each other.
“Half-forgotten gods…”
Considering on how many MMOG/MMORPG players call the creators themselves “Gods” (and sometimes they are identified as that in the game), yet they are somewhat absent from their own creation… this is brilliant.
Now let’s see if Bandit & Co. can pull a Lord British scenario.
“Gaze upon his mussed-up hair, his burning glare, and know there is no reason there. He’ll give you gifts, he’ll open rifts, then through your contents he will sift.”
Well, I hope for his own sake that Dedalus has brushed up on his mythology. Things like how Zeus overthrew the Titans. It’s just amazing what can go wrong for any god, the “original one/s” included. I’m especially looking forward to “HR vs Tectonicus”. *puts more popcorn in microwave*