Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

The comic stuff here.

Moderator: Moderators

Message
Author
Warrl
Grand Templar
Posts: 1526
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:19 pm

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#46 Post by Warrl »

Technic[Bot] wrote: Sat Jul 10, 2021 6:09 pmI have always considered Kat origin to be a bit inconsistent at best. Both in comic and on he Ref sheet it is said she was bought by Eric, and that the only reason he was allowd to buy him was because she is infertile. Yet at the very beginning Eric said he bought him from Roderick and then at the end of the boat incident Eric says she was born into his family.

I mean at the end of the day it can go simply as: She was born into the family, then Rodrerick inherited her and once he realized she could not be bred sold her to Eric. Yet seems like a really roundabout and complicated story. It also implies Eric family do not only trade slaves but also actively breeds sex slaves...
That (except for one detail) seemed to me to be the obvious conclusion from the get-go. Not roundabout and complicated at all.

Except for one detail: there are a lot of possible reasons why Roderick was willing to sell Kat to Eric, and we have no particular reason to assume any of them over another. Perhaps Eric just offered a good price, to save the sister he grew up with from an owner who didn't like her and didn't really see her as a person.

It's nothing particularly unusual, when a large and diverse estate is divided among multiple heirs, for there to be some trading among those heirs for different pieces of the estate...

User avatar
Tornir
Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:29 am
Fav. Twokinds Character: Maeve

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#47 Post by Tornir »

Technic[Bot] wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 9:48 pm
Tornir wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:11 pm My personal take on Roderick is that of the entitled older bro; the sort of person who'd sell you his old truck, then turn up with a spare key whenever he wanted to haul something, and just give you a wave as he drove off unless you could get out there , stand in front of it, and order him out.
Hence Eric's "I told you not to boss her around anymore. I bought her from you fair and square. And don’t call her “Spots”. Her name is Kathrin." statement is an objection to Roderick treating her as if he's still her owner. He's a dick, who accepts and tacitly supports the Mekkan Human status quo regarding the attitude to, and treatment of Keidran, because that's just the way things are.

Look at the scene where Kat openly defies him. He's the Mekkan equivalent of a cop; if he bore Eric any ill will over her acquisition, he could, at worst, arrest Eric and seize Kat, at the very least, place a control spell on her himself. Instead, he tells Eric not to get caught by other Templar, and expresses his grudging admiration for Kat's actions.
Your idea makes sense. Roderick is simply just a grade A [censored]. Also he is not only a cop, for what I understand he was a low ranking templar which are the de facto rulers of the human world. So he was basically a cop, jury and executioner if he wants to.
At the time of the conversation with Eric, the templar still operated under the authority of the king; starting with Old Trace, they had been morphing into something resembling Mega City Judges instead of cops with the royal warrant, and the king wasn't happy about that. They'd been plotting against him for a while, and were likely complicit in his assassination. I don't know who (if anybody) is heir to the human throne, but preoccupation with the war and succession is going to distract the monarchy from investigating what the templar are getting up to. If they were to go so far as to replace the monarchy with a wartime interim administration, I suspect Roderick would be cool with that.

User avatar
LordViking
New Citizen
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:13 pm
Location: Not not in your backyard
Fav. Twokinds Character: Willow

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#48 Post by LordViking »

Been a while since I posted in here, and I don't keep up with the forums that much, but I felt like adding my own two cents into this.

First of all, are we sure that Kathrin was purposely bred to be a sex slave, is this stated as fact somewhere in the comic or the forums? Flora calls her a sex slave while on the boat, but Eric appears to deny that she is (though the wording could mean she is not one now). The way I've always read into it myself was that she was bred to be pleasing to the (human) eye, but more in the way as some pretty eye candy. Eric himself claims it is unusual for a human to appreciate them the way he does. If it is true that people like him are rare it doesn't make sense for there to be a big market for keidran sex slaves. Having servants that are also good looking though, I can imagine those would fetch a high price.

This also explains the reason for her mixed parentage, and why her being infertile is such an issue. Her parents were in the same line of work (being servants that doubled as eye candy in this theory), and were selected for traits that their owners hoped would carry over to the next generation of servants to continue this. But when it was found out Kathrin couldn't go into heat, this meant she was a genetic dead end to this line, making her still useful as a servant, but not as breeding stock for future generations. This made her less valuable to Roderick, who barely saw her as a person and more as something to use, since he couldn't sell her to other slave traders for breeding, giving Eric the chance to buy her instead.

whiskeyfur
Citizen
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:33 pm

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#49 Post by whiskeyfur »

The more I think about it, the more I believe Eric might have had a hand in development of those collars (or at least trained to a higher degree than a mere owner), which is why he knew of the failsafes.

There's a difference in between a slave owner, and a slave trader. An owner would know just enough on how to control their own slaves, but a trade might be called on for a variety of duties related to slavery, from the usual trading and breeding of slaves, up to and maybe including going out to capture escaped slaves (or leading small parties of hunters to do so).

They would HAVE to know in that case how to override practically any slave collar then. Which means using slave soldiers against a slave trader is a bad idea if they're simply controlled.

The idea that there's more prestige in breaking slaves the 'old' way might be borne out of practicality, not just rarity. After all, if a slave has the mindset that they're a slave, then the slaver's guild won't be able to just snap their fingers and undo that control.

Slave collars might be a recent thing, but maybe so was the prestige of breaking them the 'old' way. Before the collars, that might have been the only way and therefore... no real prestige to it.

It's just what they had to do.

Warrl
Grand Templar
Posts: 1526
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:19 pm

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#50 Post by Warrl »

whiskeyfur wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 7:39 pm There's a difference in between a slave owner, and a slave trader. An owner would know just enough on how to control their own slaves, but a trade might be called on for a variety of duties related to slavery, from the usual trading and breeding of slaves, up to and maybe including going out to capture escaped slaves (or leading small parties of hunters to do so).
Also, slave traders have precisely zero ability to control their inventory through personal loyalty/friendship or expectations of future good/bad treatment. Options available to slave owners.

Slave traders may also have been owners - Eric owned Mike, Evals and Kat with no intent to sell them - but even there, a slave trader can convert a personal-property slave into an inventory slave more easily than the average slave owner can, so some of those personal bonds will be weaker.

Esn
New Citizen
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2018 7:48 am

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#51 Post by Esn »

Tornir wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 8:19 am At the time of the conversation with Eric, the templar still operated under the authority of the king; starting with Old Trace, they had been morphing into something resembling Mega City Judges instead of cops with the royal warrant, and the king wasn't happy about that. They'd been plotting against him for a while, and were likely complicit in his assassination. I don't know who (if anybody) is heir to the human throne, but preoccupation with the war and succession is going to distract the monarchy from investigating what the templar are getting up to. If they were to go so far as to replace the monarchy with a wartime interim administration, I suspect Roderick would be cool with that.
Speaking of the king's assassination, do we even know who's in charge now? Brahn seems to be trying to take over, but is the royal family ok with that? I'm just wondering if this is where Reni comes in. Maybe she was sent by the rest of her human relatives on a secret mission to find out what Brahn is up to.

Is it even possible that Reni might end up being in charge? We know that she's ineligible for the throne, but maybe they would change that if there was a good reason...

User avatar
Tornir
Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:29 am
Fav. Twokinds Character: Maeve

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#52 Post by Tornir »

Esn wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:29 am Speaking of the king's assassination, do we even know who's in charge now? Brahn seems to be trying to take over, but is the royal family ok with that? I'm just wondering if this is where Reni comes in. Maybe she was sent by the rest of her human relatives on a secret mission to find out what Brahn is up to.
It's a bit of a mess, AFAICT. There's a Royal Family so that implies there is an heir to the throne, but I don't recall anyone but the king being mentioned in the storyline, and whoever becomes monarch will likely be safe as long as they keep their nose out of Templar business.
Then there's the Templar themselves; Brahn is claiming the title of Grand Templar, and has support, but some (Euchre? Sirius?) back Trace, while Trace doesn't appear to know this (yet) and is treating the entire Templar organization as hostile. Brahn (with Princess Clovis' help) has also set Keidran against Keidran. Thank to Team A destroying the Basitin's tower, their island is currently the only safe and stable area on Mekkan.
Esn wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:29 am Is it even possible that Reni might end up being in charge? We know that she's ineligible for the throne, but maybe they would change that if there was a good reason...
If all human royalty were to die, the establishment may lift that restriction. While Reni doesn't strike me as someone who'd seize power, she does command the loyalty and respect of many humans, so would likely be a unifying and stabilizing influence.
Assuming she survives that amulet...

User avatar
Technic[Bot]
Grand Templar
Posts: 1246
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:48 pm
Location: México
Fav. Twokinds Character: Raine!
Contact:

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#53 Post by Technic[Bot] »

Tornir wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:16 pm
Esn wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:29 am Speaking of the king's assassination, do we even know who's in charge now? Brahn seems to be trying to take over, but is the royal family ok with that? I'm just wondering if this is where Reni comes in. Maybe she was sent by the rest of her human relatives on a secret mission to find out what Brahn is up to.
It's a bit of a mess, AFAICT. There's a Royal Family so that implies there is an heir to the throne, but I don't recall anyone but the king being mentioned in the storyline, and whoever becomes monarch will likely be safe as long as they keep their nose out of Templar business.
Then there's the Templar themselves; Brahn is claiming the title of Grand Templar, and has support, but some (Euchre? Sirius?) back Trace, while Trace doesn't appear to know this (yet) and is treating the entire Templar organization as hostile. Brahn (with Princess Clovis' help) has also set Keidran against Keidran. Thank to Team A destroying the Basitin's tower, their island is currently the only safe and stable area on Mekkan.
Esn wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:29 am Is it even possible that Reni might end up being in charge? We know that she's ineligible for the throne, but maybe they would change that if there was a good reason...
If all human royalty were to die, the establishment may lift that restriction. While Reni doesn't strike me as someone who'd seize power, she does command the loyalty and respect of many humans, so would likely be a unifying and stabilizing influence.
Assuming she survives that amulet...
I think that templars were way more powerful than the royals long before the king assassination. I wouldn't be surprised that most of human government is controlled by templars one way or another now.

Regarding Reni on her character sheet it says she has no claim to the throne but given current circumstances i think by the time the comic ends it will be Queen Reni not a princess anymore

Speaking of her we still do not know why a member of the human royalty, well dragon royal but still raised among humans, is doing playing police on a small port town.
There are three things that motivate people: Money, fear and love.
Links to my ramblings:
Twokinds [of] data
PhpBB in the age of facebook
If you are new to this phpBB thing:
BBCode guide

User avatar
Bellhead
Templar Inner Circle
Posts: 4012
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:17 pm
Location: New England, US
Fav. Twokinds Character: Keith and Natani

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#54 Post by Bellhead »

Technic[Bot] wrote: Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:17 am Speaking of her we still do not know why a member of the human royalty, well dragon royal but still raised among humans, is doing playing police on a small port town.
Keiren referred to her as "Ace", back in town. Judging by how major of an event it was to have a tiger clan visit Edinmire, I'd say it was more likely that she was sent there to keep an eye on things. Then again, it's also likely she had some ulterior motive or mission of some kind, given that there were several people (such as Seraphina, and as was listed on that board that I forget where it was) who didn't know where she was, or that she was there.
Gearhead mechanic in the digital era, who will probably grow up is in the process of growing up to be a very grumpy old man.

User avatar
Tornir
Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:29 am
Fav. Twokinds Character: Maeve

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#55 Post by Tornir »

Technic[Bot] wrote: Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:17 am I think that templars were way more powerful than the royals long before the king assassination. I wouldn't be surprised that most of human government is controlled by templars one way or another now.
I agree, but they appear to have been loyal subjects prior to Bad Trace's rise to power. He's militarized them into a force bent on exterminating all non-humans at any cost, and anyone not part of the (final) solution, is part of the problem. It's a threat that's had Neutral concerned, hence their intervention.
The King didn't want a war (they cost lives, money, materials, political support), so they arranged to get rid of him. They don't appear to be ready or willing to overthrow the monarchy yet, so I suspect they're still pledging support and taking orders while continuing to covertly do their own thing.
Technic[Bot] wrote: Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:17 am Speaking of her we still do not know why a member of the human royalty, well dragon royal but still raised among humans, is doing playing police on a small port town.
She may be there as a Royal representative to show govt. approval for the treaty. Her involvement in that altercation may have been the result of a polite request in the hopes of resolving things quickly, with minimum casualties, in a "Bring a tank to a sword fight" kind of way.
Bellhead wrote: Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:50 am Keiren referred to her as "Ace", back in town. Judging by how major of an event it was to have a tiger clan visit Edinmire, I'd say it was more likely that she was sent there to keep an eye on things. Then again, it's also likely she had some ulterior motive or mission of some kind, given that there were several people (such as Seraphina, and as was listed on that board that I forget where it was) who didn't know where she was, or that she was there.
It's always possible Reni just turned up out of personal interest. If the Monarchy is just keeping her around as a status symbol, she may not be as fully involved in the politics and diplomacy of Mekkan as she could be.
As for Seraphina, if she's a representative example of the Adrakists, I can't see anyone consulting or informing them of anything. Humans likely see them as annoying, dragons as :roll: .

aitaituo
Templar GrandMaster
Posts: 683
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2010 10:02 pm

Re: Comic for July 7, 2021: Eric To The Rescue

#56 Post by aitaituo »

Technic[Bot] wrote: Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:17 amI think that templars were way more powerful than the royals long before the king assassination. I wouldn't be surprised that most of human government is controlled by templars one way or another now.

Regarding Reni on her character sheet it says she has no claim to the throne but given current circumstances i think by the time the comic ends it will be Queen Reni not a princess anymore

Speaking of her we still do not know why a member of the human royalty, well dragon royal but still raised among humans, is doing playing police on a small port town.
Didn't Tom say that the Templar were not politically powerful prior to Trace? I always assumed he was behind the King's assassination as part of a planned coup that Neutral disrupted.

Post Reply