Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

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BadFoMo
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Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#1 Post by BadFoMo »

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EDIT: The old title was Dragons and Stone (same as the last page); Thanks, Bellhead.
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: Dragons and Stone

#2 Post by Bellhead »

You only beat me because of the lag. :roll:

Reni, now might be a good time to start smashing statues. Don't worry, Trace won't mind, I promise.

EDIT: New alt text updated to "The Old Guardians".

EDIT II: Twitter post says these guys are under new orders. Guess that answers a few questions, namely why they're here. Judging by what Trace said to Nora last page, these things are more-or-less lifeless shells, probably like programmed machines set to follow orders, which can apparently be changed remotely and automatically. At this point, though, would Evil Trace have set them to Detain, or would he have them just kill anyone in the estate when this all started happening?
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: Dragons and Stone

#3 Post by JonahAndTheWolf »

Bellhead wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:45 am At this point, though, would Evil Trace have set them to Detain, or would he have them just kill anyone in the estate when this all started happening?
I think it'd depend on what stage of evil Trace we were at when he programmed them. Right before he lost his memories? It'd almost certainly be kill everyone. But if he programmed them around the time he had that conversation with Nora last page, well...that Trace strikes me as more obsessive than straight-up evil.

He'd almost certainly have them kill someone if they were immediately in the way of his plans, but I doubt he'd have them go for the jugular without reason...although, that is assuming there isn't a reason :? He might need life force for the ritual or something...although, that'd have some dark implications, because it'd imply Trace led everyone there to suck them dry, and that his dark side has more control than we thought.

In any case, I highly doubt these stone guardians will be as gentle as ol' Stoney was.
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#4 Post by TheMouse »

Two things: there are a LOT of trained fighters in this group. I'd really like to see how well Keith and Natani's sparring has put them in sync. But most pressing question is where Rose is.
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#5 Post by MuonNeutrino »

Hmm, there's a thread here that you wouldn't see if you only look at the main comic page. First, as Bellhead notes, on his twitter Tom says these are "Trace's early attempts at making guardians, now under new orders". And second... well, there's a speech bubble mostly covering up something kiiiiinda interesting looking...

Image

Under new orders, eh? Looks like someone was there to give the orders in person...
TheMouse wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:00 pmthere are a LOT of trained fighters in this group. I'd really like to see how well Keith and Natani's sparring has put them in sync.
I'm not sure how much of a difference it'd make in this case considering everyone is unarmed. Maddie's mental image from before notwithstanding, it's not like you could *actually* punch out a statue, in this case you'd probably need to hand out a bunch of sledgehammers or something. I think Reni is probably the only one in the group with a chance of fighting them, if she goes back into her dragon form. (Which is what I think is probably coming next.)
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#6 Post by aitaituo »

MuonNeutrino wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:10 pm
TheMouse wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:00 pmthere are a LOT of trained fighters in this group. I'd really like to see how well Keith and Natani's sparring has put them in sync.
I'm not sure how much of a difference it'd make in this case considering everyone is unarmed. Maddie's mental image from before notwithstanding, it's not like you could *actually* punch out a statue, in this case you'd probably need to hand out a bunch of sledgehammers or something. I think Reni is probably the only one in the group with a chance of fighting them, if she goes back into her dragon form. (Which is what I think is probably coming next.)
Completely agree. Even the world's strongest man would be fairly useless against thick, solid rock. Unless those guys are hollow, they'll either have to rely on Reni, who we've seen take chunks out of stone walls, or hope they're clumsy enough to get knocked over like a turtle.

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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#7 Post by Elo »

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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#8 Post by CrRAR »

MuonNeutrino wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:10 pm Hmm, there's a thread here that you wouldn't see if you only look at the main comic page. First, as Bellhead notes, on his twitter Tom says these are "Trace's early attempts at making guardians, now under new orders". And second... well, there's a speech bubble mostly covering up something kiiiiinda interesting looking...

Under new orders, eh? Looks like someone was there to give the orders in person...

Reni hopefully runs out of politeness right quick. :twisted: That said.

/me waiting for the moment after the smashy dust settles, it emerges, and... *slow claps*.

“Showed your hand a bit too soon, hmm? Miss... fearless Dragon? ...and for what, these preschool craft projects? Hmpfhh~“

*snaps fingers*

Suddenly stone dragon arms erupt from beneath the sand and drag Reni somewhere into it’s depths.

“Now we’re playing a bit... more fair. Good luck.” With a flip of its cape the figure again vanishes into the mist.

:shock:
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#9 Post by JonahAndTheWolf »

What did the Grand Templar know and when did he know it?! :evil:

All kidding aside, I wonder exactly how much of this is part of Dark Trace's plan and how much is just great and/or awful luck. That figure in the smoke makes me incredibly suspicious that it might be the former, but this could just be the world's longest series of Nat 1s and Nat 20s S:P

Also, Mike and Evals are still naked. That just dawned on me.
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#10 Post by Kyrit »

aitaituo wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:32 pm
MuonNeutrino wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:10 pm
TheMouse wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:00 pmthere are a LOT of trained fighters in this group. I'd really like to see how well Keith and Natani's sparring has put them in sync.
I'm not sure how much of a difference it'd make in this case considering everyone is unarmed. Maddie's mental image from before notwithstanding, it's not like you could *actually* punch out a statue, in this case you'd probably need to hand out a bunch of sledgehammers or something. I think Reni is probably the only one in the group with a chance of fighting them, if she goes back into her dragon form. (Which is what I think is probably coming next.)
Completely agree. Even the world's strongest man would be fairly useless against thick, solid rock. Unless those guys are hollow, they'll either have to rely on Reni, who we've seen take chunks out of stone walls, or hope they're clumsy enough to get knocked over like a turtle.
I doubt Natani came to the beach without mana crystals (just in case of an accident with the wrappings) since there table was so willing to give them. So Reni likely won't have to fight alone.

Red, while not great at magic, can at least make explosions for the team. At the very least he'd be able to keep some attention away from those that wouldn't fair so well in a fight.

Keith, while without magic, is more hardy in a fight than Maddie. He'll also be able to help divert attention, even if he has to resort to using "beach junk" as weapons.

Then there's Raine. We've already seen Rose remarking to herself about Raine's potential and how "She was only supposed to change back. I picked this collar to give her no other option, but… She broke it. A collar enchanted by Trace himself." She's obviously a huge wildcard, but in all I'd say with the current group they're far more well equipped to fight back than Maddie and Karen were, even without weapons.

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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#11 Post by Bellhead »

Kyrit wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 6:34 pm In all I'd say with the current group they're far more well equipped to fight back than Maddie and Karen were, even without weapons.
Don't forget the enemy in each situation. Stoneward has Nora's 'spark of life' as Trace put it. And, as the great Buffy Summers once put it, "You have no heart. That's why I'll win."

One not very experienced fighter and a distraction against a skilled, intelligent, emotion-capable warrior, compared to several experienced and practiced warriors, mages and a dragon against things that are basically giant stone guard dogs. Even IF they couldn't break open a wall, they've got quite a fighting chance.
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: Dragons and Stone

#12 Post by Technic[Bot] »

Poor Reni, cute and awkward as always.
However I imagine that she has destroyed more than one house by accident and that she is not just being just adorable, dorky weird in this situation .
JonahAndTheWolf wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 2:55 pm
Bellhead wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:45 am At this point, though, would Evil Trace have set them to Detain, or would he have them just kill anyone in the estate when this all started happening?
I think it'd depend on what stage of evil Trace we were at when he programmed them. Right before he lost his memories? It'd almost certainly be kill everyone. But if he programmed them around the time he had that conversation with Nora last page, well...that Trace strikes me as more obsessive than straight-up evil.

He'd almost certainly have them kill someone if they were immediately in the way of his plans, but I doubt he'd have them go for the jugular without reason...although, that is assuming there isn't a reason :? He might need life force for the ritual or something...although, that'd have some dark implications, because it'd imply Trace led everyone there to suck them dry, and that his dark side has more control than we thought.

In any case, I highly doubt these stone guardians will be as gentle as ol' Stoney was.
I imagine his failed attempts at artificial life were repurposed as guards after he went looney. Now that the ritual started started I imagine that they will kill all unauthorized personnel which i think defaults to anyone now specified by Trace himself.
Bellhead wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 7:20 pm
Kyrit wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 6:34 pm In all I'd say with the current group they're far more well equipped to fight back than Maddie and Karen were, even without weapons.
Don't forget the enemy in each situation. Stoneward has Nora's 'spark of life' as Trace put it. And, as the great Buffy Summers once put it, "You have no heart. That's why I'll win."

One not very experienced fighter and a distraction against a skilled, intelligent, emotion-capable warrior, compared to several experienced and practiced warriors, mages and a dragon against things that are basically giant stone guard dogs. Even IF they couldn't break open a wall, they've got quite a fighting chance.
I think we can get a good idea of how a the fight will turn out if we model it as a DnD counter, the comic, after all, wears a lot of its influence on its sleeve. So it is just a metter to look into the manual for stone golems and assing a class to each person. However I am probably the least qualified person here to talk DnD so I will leave it at that.
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#13 Post by Foxx Trotter »

"Hello, Darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again..."

I see things are about to get real. Be prepared. :mrgreen:
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: Dragons and Stone

#14 Post by Ddraig »

Technic[Bot] wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:21 pm
Spoiler!
Poor Reni, cute and awkward as always.
However I imagine that she has destroyed more than one house by accident and that she is not just being just adorable, dorky weird in this situation .
JonahAndTheWolf wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 2:55 pm
Bellhead wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:45 am At this point, though, would Evil Trace have set them to Detain, or would he have them just kill anyone in the estate when this all started happening?
I think it'd depend on what stage of evil Trace we were at when he programmed them. Right before he lost his memories? It'd almost certainly be kill everyone. But if he programmed them around the time he had that conversation with Nora last page, well...that Trace strikes me as more obsessive than straight-up evil.

He'd almost certainly have them kill someone if they were immediately in the way of his plans, but I doubt he'd have them go for the jugular without reason...although, that is assuming there isn't a reason :? He might need life force for the ritual or something...although, that'd have some dark implications, because it'd imply Trace led everyone there to suck them dry, and that his dark side has more control than we thought.

In any case, I highly doubt these stone guardians will be as gentle as ol' Stoney was.
I imagine his failed attempts at artificial life were repurposed as guards after he went looney. Now that the ritual started started I imagine that they will kill all unauthorized personnel which i think defaults to anyone now specified by Trace himself.
Bellhead wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 7:20 pm
Kyrit wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 6:34 pm In all I'd say with the current group they're far more well equipped to fight back than Maddie and Karen were, even without weapons.
Don't forget the enemy in each situation. Stoneward has Nora's 'spark of life' as Trace put it. And, as the great Buffy Summers once put it, "You have no heart. That's why I'll win."

One not very experienced fighter and a distraction against a skilled, intelligent, emotion-capable warrior, compared to several experienced and practiced warriors, mages and a dragon against things that are basically giant stone guard dogs. Even IF they couldn't break open a wall, they've got quite a fighting chance.
I think we can get a good idea of how a the fight will turn out if we model it as a DnD counter, the comic, after all, wears a lot of its influence on its sleeve. So it is just a meter to look into the manual for stone golems and assigning a class to each person. However I am probably the least qualified person here to talk DnD so I will leave it at that.
The difficult part is assigning levels; we don't really have a good idea of rough power level (and IMO Raine kinda defies the DnD system, since she has the power of a high level wizard (sorcerer?) but no idea how to use it). IMO the fight doesn't look like it's winnable, since there's at least 6 of the things, unless Reni can handle several and Raine explodes at least one
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Re: Comic for April 19, 2020: The Old Guardians

#15 Post by Neutral Smith »

I really hope that the writing will be good on the next few pages.

It's far too easy for a deus ex machina.
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