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New Comics Every M/W/F - Written by T Campbell & Phil Kahn - Illustrated by John & Jason Waltrip

'Oh God, he's talking about us, isn't he?'

Chapter 44 – Page 28

on October 21, 2016
Chapter: Chapter 44
└ Tags: Auraugu, Byron, Frigg, Goblaurence, Gravedust, Magda, Penk, Syr'Nj, Weo
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Discussion (82) ¬

  1. Bruceski
    Bruceski
    October 21, 2016, 12:07 am | # | Reply

    Dun dun DUN!

    • SteelRaven
      SteelRaven
      October 21, 2016, 2:28 am | # | Reply

      • Bryan
        Bryan
        October 21, 2016, 7:47 am | # | Reply

        Fun fact: I use this as my ringtone whenever someone from work calls. It’s perfect for when I’m on call because there’s pretty much NO WAY I can sleep through it.

    • Nathanyel
      Nathanyel
      October 21, 2016, 2:39 am | # | Reply

      dun dun… oh wait, we already knew this :V

    • Alan Steenhouwer
      Alan Steenhouwer
      October 21, 2016, 7:48 pm | # | Reply

      I prefer the Inception sound for this.

      Ahem…. BRRRRRRRAAAAAWWWWRWRRRMRMRMMRMRMMMMM!!!

      • SotiCoto
        SotiCoto
        June 6, 2017, 3:41 am | # | Reply

        Reminds me of the Reaper noise from Mass Effect 3.

  2. Jordan
    Jordan
    October 21, 2016, 12:08 am | # | Reply

    And now all is beginning to be revealed. All of those previous questions are ultimately pointless in the face of what Weo is telling them now.

    • Charlie Spencer
      Charlie Spencer
      October 21, 2016, 8:34 am | # | Reply

      What I’d like revealed is how the winter elfs know this stuff. Are they the only ones who read the game manual?

      • 5-tons-of-flax
        5-tons-of-flax
        October 21, 2016, 9:25 am | # | Reply

        They read the webcomic.

        • The_Rippy_One
          The_Rippy_One
          October 21, 2016, 5:36 pm | # | Reply

          They are a species of Deadpool

        • Mr. Merp
          Mr. Merp
          October 24, 2016, 1:25 am | # | Reply

          Hmmm… Do you think they read the comments?

          • MidnightDStroyer
            MidnightDStroyer
            February 22, 2017, 10:28 am | # | Reply

            Even more, they read the initial draft-copies that Phil & T write, even as they’ve concieved of the general plotline!

            How *else* can they know the future as well as the present & the past?
            O.o

      • Helianthus
        Helianthus
        October 23, 2016, 3:12 am | # | Reply

        The Winter elves are the results of a backdoor program left by the game developers. Initially, the NPCs generated by this program had reading access to the game code and would allow the programmers to test the MMO from the inside, checking the code while moving a Winter elf around to trigger a reported bug.
        These NPCs were shunted outside of the gamers’ normally accessible zone after the game release, although the programmers left a path, so they can still use their favorite spiders.
        And then the universe took on a life of its own…

        tl;dr: the Winter elves are NPCs programmed with reading access to the game’s code.

    • Fiaryn
      Fiaryn
      October 22, 2016, 9:07 pm | # | Reply

      Your first statement is accurate. The second does not logically follow.

  3. Sentora
    Sentora
    October 21, 2016, 12:12 am | # | Reply

    Confirming five players…which means Bandit may be withholding more info than she’s letting on.

    • Kamino Neko
      Kamino Neko
      October 21, 2016, 12:17 am | # | Reply

      Huh?

    • Dave
      Dave
      October 21, 2016, 12:20 am | # | Reply

      They’re ALL players, but only The Five are HR’s players, in the tubes. Bandit is just a regular person player whose character is AI controlled when Christie is logged off.

      • Dotcom
        Dotcom
        October 21, 2016, 5:29 pm | # | Reply

        Hmmm… Here’s a question – Are they are really controlled by the AI or are their actions simply “reported”? IOW – if the Sepia World computers went down, would their universe cease to exist or would it keep on running since it’s been created?

        • Dave
          Dave
          October 24, 2016, 12:03 am | # | Reply

          I suspect that the “magi-tech” element of Arkerra’s true nature means that it doesn’t need live game servers to remain functional. Players couldn’t log-in, but life on Arkerra would continue. Presumably, the “game servers” are really just relay communications that allow Sepia World to control people in Arkerra.

      • Wyvern
        Wyvern
        October 22, 2016, 2:52 am | # | Reply

        Actually, the reactions from Magda and Goblaurence suggest that they, at least, are *not* players but “real Arkerrans”. Either that or they’re really serious about not breaking character, even when an NPC unexpectedly breaks the fourth wall.

        • Matthew Davis
          Matthew Davis
          October 23, 2016, 3:45 am | # | Reply

          Or players influence “real” Arkerrans, who then are their PC’s, but the players are not currently online so they are acting on their own. Sort of like Rachel did before she died.

          • MidnightDStroyer
            MidnightDStroyer
            February 22, 2017, 10:36 am | # | Reply

            This “autonomous bleed-over” only happened to players who have have frequent gametime with the Group of 5 though. Those who have not spent logged-in time with them don’t have characters that work autonomously. The vast majority of the world has the regular pre-programmed NPC responses & dialogues & the other players get the regular dialogue text choices.

            • Borg
              Borg
              June 11, 2017, 1:46 am | # | Reply

              No, the remarkable thing was that Bandit’s ​player was able to talk to a native Arkerran (Auraugu). The autonomous behavior is referred to as a normal game feature, as are the individual plotlines.

        • Dave
          Dave
          October 24, 2016, 12:07 am | # | Reply

          Frankly it’s hard to tell who’s a player and who’s an NPC. I thought Sry’Nj’s sister that Scippio was romancing was another player for a long time up until Scippio’s player (RIP) overtly mentioned that she was RPing with an NPC.

          I suspect the core Adventurers and the Champions are all players, just in different “game” factions. Like an Alliance/Horde thing. Side people like Braggadoccio and Harky are probably NPCs.

      • Sentora
        Sentora
        October 22, 2016, 3:29 am | # | Reply

        The tricky part is who resurrected her,because it wasn’t grave dust if I remember correctly. Bandit’s always been the odd one out and the most suspicious.

        • Lingo
          Lingo
          October 22, 2016, 4:46 pm | # | Reply

          I think the most popular theory is that she could just “respawn” because she is (or is connected to) a video game character that can just respawn when she dies. So when she said she doesn’t know how she was resurrected, I believe her.

          • Bierdigan
            Bierdigan
            October 23, 2016, 2:33 am | # | Reply

            I always thought Bandit “not knowing” how she was resurrected was just the player trying to fit in with what she saw as a hyper-elite RP guild.

            • Lingo
              Lingo
              October 24, 2016, 12:50 am | # | Reply

              But Bandit is not Bandit’s “player” (whassername). Bandit is a real Arkerran, right?

        • Samuel
          Samuel
          October 23, 2016, 5:34 pm | # | Reply

          At the time her explanation was because Byron killed her with the axes that were soaked in Harky’s blood, his super troll blood mixed with her own and saved her. At least that’s her explanation/theory.

          • MidnightDStroyer
            MidnightDStroyer
            February 22, 2017, 10:40 am | # | Reply

            “Troll blood. It does a body good.”
            grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2417

            • MidnightDStroyer
              MidnightDStroyer
              February 22, 2017, 10:41 am | # | Reply

              Ooops. Let’s try that again with the *full* URL:
              http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2417

  4. Arvo Katsuya
    Arvo Katsuya
    October 21, 2016, 12:19 am | # | Reply

    Wonder if he also will reveal whatever “influence” caused by connection between player and character “in-game”.

  5. Lexible
    Lexible
    October 21, 2016, 12:20 am | # | Reply

    Man, singling people out for their ontologically differentiated destiny? That isn’t done in polite society! That’s just gauche.

  6. Capnris
    Capnris
    October 21, 2016, 12:24 am | # | Reply

    Things are about to get real… sort of.

    • Lingo
      Lingo
      October 21, 2016, 12:44 am | # | Reply

      Things are about to get virtual.
      Things are about to get actual.
      Nope. Nope.

      • Ganurath
        Ganurath
        October 21, 2016, 12:49 am | # | Reply

        Things are about to get true?

        • Standhaft Garithos
          Standhaft Garithos
          October 21, 2016, 12:57 am | # | Reply

          Things are about to get good.

        • Trideo
          Trideo
          October 21, 2016, 12:58 am | # | Reply

          Things are about to get theoretically plausible.

      • Mujaki
        Mujaki
        October 21, 2016, 2:18 am | # | Reply

        Things are about to get surreal.

      • Seth
        Seth
        October 21, 2016, 3:44 pm | # | Reply

        Things are about get complex, and probably irrational.

        • Talewinds
          Talewinds
          October 21, 2016, 4:07 pm | # | Reply

          The Game’s Afoot!!!

  7. Birion
    Birion
    October 21, 2016, 1:51 am | # | Reply

    All the world’s a stage, and five a’ men and women merely players.

    • Jean-Luc
      Jean-Luc
      October 21, 2016, 4:58 am | # | Reply

      This is the winter elf of our discontent.

      • Lady Philyra
        Lady Philyra
        October 22, 2016, 4:08 am | # | Reply

        I upvote this ^

    • Dana Son-of-Bear
      Dana Son-of-Bear
      October 21, 2016, 9:12 am | # | Reply

      Performers and portrayers
      Each another’s audience
      Outside the gilded cage

      … Wait. Wrong reference.

      (I had to retype “gilded” three times because I kept putting “guilded”)

      • VaporWare
        VaporWare
        October 22, 2016, 6:15 pm | # | Reply

        Well, the guilds of Gastonia are pretty gilty.

      • masterofbones
        masterofbones
        October 23, 2016, 10:44 am | # | Reply

        “A planet of playthings, they dance on the strings, of powers they cannot perceive”

  8. Fairportfan
    Fairportfan
    October 21, 2016, 1:55 am | # | Reply

    “…and they all looked at me.”

  9. Dataweaver
    Dataweaver
    October 21, 2016, 2:13 am | # | Reply

    I just went to the Cast page to look up the names of the Peacekeepers’ Savage Race counterparts. Boy, is that page of date. Payet is still listed as MIA; Rachel isn’t listed as deceased; the characters whose names I was looking for don’t even appear; and neither do the Sepia World gamers.

    • insomniac
      insomniac
      October 21, 2016, 8:36 am | # | Reply

      The names are under the comic, in the tags.

  10. Armagrodden
    Armagrodden
    October 21, 2016, 2:55 am | # | Reply

    “So it’s your job to go find those five people. I’d say good luck, but I know how it ends.”

  11. kappabird
    kappabird
    October 21, 2016, 3:26 am | # | Reply

    Time for everyone to achieve CHIM

    • Blatherskite
      Blatherskite
      October 21, 2016, 12:05 pm | # | Reply

      Hey, this is a WOW satire! Keep your Elder Scrolls out of it!

      • The Gorram Batguy
        The Gorram Batguy
        October 22, 2016, 8:43 pm | # | Reply

        You got your World of Warcraft in my Elder Scrolls!
        You got my Elder Scrolls in my World of Warcraft!
        End result? Several possibilities:
        World of Scrolls – A library planet
        Elder Warcraft – War reenactments by the elderly, or, Elder of Warcraft – A retired General
        World of Elders – Like Australia, but a whole planet, and instead of a penal colony, it’s an old age home
        Scrolls of Warcraft – Manuals for military tactics, or else the player’s manual for the original PC game

        • MidnightDStroyer
          MidnightDStroyer
          February 22, 2017, 10:45 am | # | Reply

          If that’s the case, somebody should be learning how to use “Fus Do Rah” on HR when they meet up with him.

  12. Chris
    Chris
    October 21, 2016, 7:33 am | # | Reply

    I don’t even believe in Walls anymore.

    • The_Rippy_One
      The_Rippy_One
      October 21, 2016, 5:39 pm | # | Reply

      This is what you get for using the no_clipping cheats for too long.

      • MidnightDStroyer
        MidnightDStroyer
        February 22, 2017, 10:47 am | # | Reply

        Maybe. But I think it’s the only way to counter against HR’s God Mode powers.

  13. MisterCynic
    MisterCynic
    October 21, 2016, 9:53 am | # | Reply

    I’m not sure how wise it is to infodump this hard.

    • MidnightDStroyer
      MidnightDStroyer
      February 22, 2017, 10:49 am | # | Reply

      Well, the reputation of the Winter Elves is such that “people who visit them either never return, or they return as insanely mad.” Weo already pointed out that this is exactly why they have that reputation.

  14. Chuck
    Chuck
    October 21, 2016, 10:51 am | # | Reply

    Now that we know the major plot device, it means the end is nigh! THE END IS NIGH!

    I’m going to be SO sad when this series ties up!

    • Anvildude
      Anvildude
      October 21, 2016, 1:13 pm | # | Reply

      When that happens, you just have to look forwards to the NEXT series they do!

      Like, I was saddened when Dominic Deegan ended, but Star Powered is shaping up to be incredible.

  15. Aazen
    Aazen
    October 21, 2016, 11:01 am | # | Reply

    Here comes the mic drop…

  16. EveryZig
    EveryZig
    October 21, 2016, 12:23 pm | # | Reply

    Well he isn’t just a very bad man… he’s a very bad wizard.

    • LadyDragon
      LadyDragon
      October 21, 2016, 1:58 pm | # | Reply

      Or a very GOOD wizard, depending on how you look at it.

      • Eric
        Eric
        October 21, 2016, 5:13 pm | # | Reply

        Had a discussion like this about a good doctor who was bad (padded his bills for more money, but was actually good at his job). Took me a bit to realize the disconnect the person I was talking to was having, and then determined a simple change of words was in order.

        He was a *skilled* doctor but *unethical* man.

        In this case HR is a skilled wizard, but a deeply evil man (evil as defined by pursing completely selfish goals at the significant expense of the well-being others).

  17. Eric
    Eric
    October 21, 2016, 5:08 pm | # | Reply

    That goblin has a functional brain, good job.

    • The_Rippy_One
      The_Rippy_One
      October 21, 2016, 5:41 pm | # | Reply

      It is, explicitly, why he was brought in, so, yeah!

    • Ved
      Ved
      October 21, 2016, 8:11 pm | # | Reply

      Still ornery though.
      Needs some comfort.

      • MidnightDStroyer
        MidnightDStroyer
        February 22, 2017, 10:53 am | # | Reply

        I’d bet Byll’bb the Wood Elf can help with that.

    • Mujaki
      Mujaki
      October 21, 2016, 9:39 pm | # | Reply

      A functional brain, even after the routine chemical assaults he subjects it to! Most impressive.

      • The Gorram Batguy
        The Gorram Batguy
        October 22, 2016, 8:46 pm | # | Reply

        Maybe it’s all Sapho Juice and Geriatric Spice?

        • Helianthus
          Helianthus
          October 23, 2016, 3:26 am | # | Reply

          I must not laugh. Laughter is the Mind-killer. Laughter is the little death that brings about total obliteration…*

          Nah, cannot be, Goblaurence doesn’t have eyebrows like paintbrushes.

          * with credits to Questionable Content

  18. Aloriena
    Aloriena
    October 21, 2016, 6:17 pm | # | Reply

    The truth bomb… It has been dropped.

    Judging from the look on the looks on the faces of the five we may be in for the stages of existential shock. And this may have a rather profound effect on the savage races champions as well.

  19. Psolo Ghoti
    Psolo Ghoti
    October 21, 2016, 7:56 pm | # | Reply

    Penk: “…You gotta be shitting me.”
    Auraugu: “Holy glorious pseudopenis of the Great Alpha Bitch in the sky!”
    Best: “Huh?”
    Frigg: “HUUUHHH?”
    Gravedust: *internal screaming*

    HR: “WHY DIDN’T I REMOVE THE WINTER ELVES?!”

    • The_Rippy_One
      The_Rippy_One
      October 22, 2016, 2:22 am | # | Reply

      HR: What do you mean they aren’t just unimplemented flavor text?!

      I think that is explicitly why the Winter Elves went into hiding – it was the only way they didn’t get cataclysmicly bombed by HR while he had the full awareness to do so.

  20. Wyvern
    Wyvern
    October 22, 2016, 2:48 am | # | Reply

    Very perceptive deduction by Goblaurence.

    So, who is it that says “It really isn’t”? Magda, or Penk?

    • Psolo Ghoti
      Psolo Ghoti
      October 22, 2016, 6:15 am | # | Reply

      Seems to be Penk. Magda speaks in the standard font-face.

    • Armagrodden
      Armagrodden
      October 22, 2016, 2:10 pm | # | Reply

      I actually thought it was Weo.

      • Lingo
        Lingo
        October 22, 2016, 4:48 pm | # | Reply

        Nah, wrong font.

  21. The Gorram Batguy
    The Gorram Batguy
    October 22, 2016, 8:44 pm | # | Reply

    Nice job on the subtle framing of “the five” in that last panel with the dialog that refers to them. I almost missed it altogether.

  22. ProudHumanandGastonian
    ProudHumanandGastonian
    October 23, 2016, 11:24 am | # | Reply

    Gods save Gastonia.

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Guilded Age is co-written by T Campbell & Phil Kahn, and illustrated by John Waltrip. Site design by Samantha Kyle. Fonts by Blambot.com.
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