Comic for July 8, 2017: Carver

[CrRAR]

I think Tom forgot trees make oxygen.

Even when the grass and trees are not enough to replenish the oxygen, it will take a very long time for the air to run out.

I can sit in defense if maybe as was the case where the Apollo 13 astronauts faced not just a shortage of oxygen but an overabundance of a gas à la they faced with CO2. In certain quantities, certain gasses are lethal even with oxygen present because they compete with oxygen biologically but are far less efficient in the bloodstream.

Perhaps the hot spring (a geologic hot-bed) is spewing certain noxious gasses (ones not filtered by plants or in a quantity too great) into the air which will equally be lethal in due time. It's like being trapped in a house with a faulty boiler.

For Team B, a previous source of enjoyment and recreation has become the mechanism for their death. How horribly poetic...and DIABOLICAL!

[Nova]

Hm, that's right CrRAR. There could even be some kind of "magic overflow" killing them. Who knows that happens with all that magic coming out of the ground? When that is blocked by the barrier, it could do some interesting stuff.

[SpottedKitty]

Just going to say it. This guy needs a good punch in the face.

What's that German word that translates as "a face badly in need of a fist"...?

(Yes, just one word; one of the things standing in the way of wrapping my head around the German language is its lego-brick approach to assembling compound words.)

[CrRAR]

Who knows what happens with all that magic coming out of the ground? When that is blocked by the barrier, it could do some interesting stuff.

That's a really good point! I wonder if we haven't heard the last of the area's mana fluctuations.

Team B better get to brainstorming. Red though, Red can just go take a nap. XD

Just going to say it. This guy needs a good punch in the face.

What's that German word that translates as "a face badly in need of a fist"...?

Backpfeifengesicht.

Had to look it up. That's gold.

Canon or not, I'm just going to assume this is Carver's actual last name now. Mr. Backpfeifengesicht. Heh. Has a ring to it, eh?

How wunderbar!

[NiWo21k]

Two things.

Why this "....certain wolves." - Does this mean there are wolves out there who see things a little different and try not to appear on the radar of the templars and the rest.
And second, Carver looks just like someone who ist somehow connected to the tigers. When i think about clothes with feathers we have only seen them be worn by the tigers until now (but i know me every time i think about something this was wrong, so i could also be wrong in this case). But at least i was somehow wight that the barrier had to do with the thing in Edinmire even if i put it on the wrong side

And because someone mentioned it: I dont think Carver is Nibbly: he says they are all running around like chicken in Edinmire - and thought that the hot spings where the best place to check out. Ms Nibbly knew that there were there and i dont think he would have said this in this way.

And Raine looks a little bit between having an idea and knowing who this person is?

[steelabjur]

Who knows what happens with all that magic coming out of the ground? When that is blocked by the barrier, it could do some interesting stuff.

That's a really good point! I wonder if we haven't heard the last of the area's mana fluctuations.

Team B better get to brainstorming. Red though, Red can just go take a nap. XD

You know, Raine mentioned that this sort of barrier at that size requires a lot (emphasis hers) of magic and probably requires something actively maintaining it in the last comic. Red's "spell" might actually be useful in this case, suck up all the local magic and puff it away.

Seriously though, this Carver guy doesn't seem to be concentrating on maintaining the barrier (at least not in a way I'd expect from what Raine suggested), so who/what is?

[aitaituo]

I think Tom forgot trees make oxygen.

Even when the grass and trees are not enough to replenish the oxygen, it will take a very long time for the air to run out.

I can sit in defense if maybe as was the case where the Apollo 13 astronauts faced not just a shortage of oxygen but an overabundance of a gas à la they faced with CO2. In certain quantities, certain gasses are lethal even with oxygen present because they compete with oxygen biologically but are far less efficient in the bloodstream.

Perhaps the hot spring (a geologic hot-bed) is spewing certain noxious gasses (ones not filtered by plants or in a quantity too great) into the air which will equally be lethal in due time. It's like being trapped in a house with a faulty boiler.

For Team B, a previous source of enjoyment and recreation has become the mechanism for their death. How horribly poetic...and DIABOLICAL!

Some back of the envelope math here. Assuming the tree is about 12 feet high (probably more though), that makes the barrier a sphere with about 5,000 cubic feet of air inside it (it appears to be spheroidal, so actually a bit more). The air should be about 20% oxygen, so that's 1,000 cubic feet of air. The average human consume about 20 cubic feet of air per day, so ignoring the oxygen production of the plants, Group B should last about eight days. As for CO2 levels rising to a dangerous level, they need to be about 20 times normal atmosphere (250ppm) before it's considered unsafe and about 160 times before it's fatal (40,000 ppm). For other dangerous fumes, I think they'd be pretty noticeable without the barrier for any geologically released gas to be potentially dangerous here. Mana can't be ruled out because magic is as magic does, but no character has ever mentioned dangers of pure mana. Trace was in a cave where mana was literally crystalizing out of thin air and there didn't appear to be any adverse effect.

I'm guessing Carver is trying to trick them into surrendering. Tie yourselves up if you don't want to die sort of thing.

[Dadrobit]

Whats up with this guy's hair style? At first glance I was scared that he was some kind of shapeshifter that used to be Nibbly, but it doesn't look too similar at a second look.

My guess? (Emphasis on guess)

He's an ardakist, or a wannabe like the mercenary group that Keith and co. fought earlier. He's likely related to them in some way considering his mention of inept "colleagues". The hair is cut perfectly to attach the horns like Sarah. Similar color scheme as well.

idk, he seems to prefer feathers to scales.

WAIT. Seraphina was Fire, Landen was earth (tree), Sealeen was water, so Carver must be the missing air - and he's feathery, so a bird theme would fit.

Well..... They have red highlights at least? And who knows what's hiding underneath.

Also, it's possible he just doesn't want to lug around in a dragon outfit on the outskirts of town all day. Sarah seemed the kind of person to do that just to intimidate folks, Carver seems more laid back.

[Nova]

Mh, the barrier is round... so... maybe it also goes below the ground? And cuts off the magic flow into the hot spring? And now there's a huge pool of magic under the barrier, slowly rising in pressure. Could be problematic.

Or it just cuts off the flow of magic to the spring, and Carver uses the magic of the spring for the barrier (because it needs much mana to be maintained). After a short time, there's no mana left and the barrier collapsed, enabling group B to flee.

[CagedTheCactus]

In relation to the whole "running out of air" thing:

As aitaituo said, the Carbon Dioxide is unlikely to be a major problem for Group B until after a while has passed due to its relatively high concentration for fatality. However, this being a volcanic hot spring (as Sythe mentioned when they first arrived), the other gases that could be released do raise some question as to what the air quality inside the barrier is going to be pretty soon.

Volcanoes generally produce high amounts of water vapor, CO2, and sulphur dioxide (SO2). The water vapor can be generally ignored since it will condense before its concentrations would pose a threat. The CO2 is also unlikely to be an immediate threat for reasons mentioned previously. The SO2, however, is likely going to be Group B's main challenge. As it is considerably heavier than oxygen gas, it will begin to displace breathable air higher in the space and concentrate around the base area, i.e. near the ground where people are standing. Not only does this pose a threat from an oxygen deprivation standpoint, but exposure to SO2 concentrations over 50-100 ppm for more than an hour have a pretty high chance of being fatal. Just 20 ppm can induce bronchospasm (basically an atshma attack.)

In addition to this, volcanoes also produce moderate amounts of hydrogen sulfide (350 ppm presents risk of pulmonary edema, 800 ppm lethal in 5 minutes, and 1000 ppm will kill instantly), and also carbonyl sulfide and methane. These last two aren't particularly dangerous from a poisoning standpoint, but methane becomes dangerously flammable at concentrations of over 5-8%, and carbonyl sulfide over about 12-14% (and is also heavier than air). This means that Red better not try to blow anything else up, because any release of flame in there is going to be pretty nasty once that starts concentrating. In regards to them noticing the presence of these gases, I would think that any of them providing a warning to Group B is rather unlikely as well, given that CO2 and methane are odorless, and SO2, hydrogen sulfide, and carbonyl sulfide are all gases that produce a sulfurous odor- one that is generally a natural association with hot springs.

I don't think Carver would know any of this, though, since his attitude (and the fact that he really does seem like he belongs with Seraphina's group) suggest that he just thought that the threat sounded cool.

[ZeroJinKui]

...am i the only one who thought carver was some punk girl?

well, i look forward to him getting his rear kicked either way... cause i officially hate him.

hoping nibbly attacks him and frees everyone, because that's the best and most humiliating way to take him down.

[meinf]

You argue about oxygen, but how about the fact that a sound perfectly running through the barrier?

[Cpt.Obvious]

You argue about oxygen, but how about the fact that a sound perfectly running through the barrier?

That doesn't even take magic. If you stand inside an ordinary rubber balloon it doesn't make any appreciable difference to the sound.

And no, I have no strange fetish for gigant rubber balloons, I just happen to have seen the Slow Mo Guys play with some.

[BadFoMo]

Lots of folk looking for wolves these days. Especially… certain wolves.

Does he mean Wolf Keidran involved in the attacks in some way/members of royalty (which is what Sythe somewhat is/was)/escapees from the “Wolf Pen”, or does he mean other Wolf Keidran are looking for them?


Anyway, I think the idea of Carver being another element of Seraphina's group is the most plausible theory (or at least I like it). Either that or they have one of those weird rivalries where they get sent to do the same thing for different entities, constantly leave each other for dead but never outright try to kill each other and don't outright hate each other.


Onto the subject of Mrs. Nibbly; I too think she's outside of the bubble (due to Raine's reaction and apparently looking at some spots outside the bubble [and possibly behind Carver]) and might be able to aid by…
A. Biting and infecting Carver with her squirrel-ness turning him into a squirrel while simultaneously stealing his powers causing her to attain her humanoid form so that she can free the other members of Group B.
B. Carefully climb onto him and steal something out of one of his pockets and bring it close enough to [Database error], Raine or Zen for them to do something and/or get it far enough away from Carver that the bubble starts to fade.

Personally, I think 'B' is more likely to happen.

You argue about oxygen, but how about the fact that a sound perfectly running through the barrier?

That doesn't even take magic. If you stand inside an ordinary rubber balloon it doesn't make any appreciable difference to the sound.

And no, I have no strange fetish for gigant rubber balloons, I just happen to have seen the Slow Mo Guys play with some.

I was just going to be lazy and say magic is involved.


P.S. I would've also suggested that Mrs. Nibbly could turn the members of Group B into squirrels and help them escape through a squirrel sized hole in the environment (which might lead to a detour on their quest [find a way to turn back to normal]), but as mentioned above, Raine is most likely looking outside of the bubble.


P.P.S. Karen: Well, I guess it could be worse. He could be making the bubble close in on us, starts sucking the air out or make it flood in here.
Carver: Oh! Those are all good ideas. Thanks, kid!

[meinf]

You argue about oxygen, but how about the fact that a sound perfectly running through the barrier?

That doesn't even take magic. If you stand inside an ordinary rubber balloon it doesn't make any appreciable difference to the sound.

And no, I have no strange fetish for gigant rubber balloons, I just happen to have seen the Slow Mo Guys play with some.

Rubber balloon is thin and not sealed. Can you speak normally through a closed window? (And can you die of strangulate if you won't open windows and doors?)
But, I looked at it again

yes, it seems just magic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯