Comic for February 27, 2022: Soul Catcher

[Tornir]

Roses old (mortal) body is connected to a mana powered life support system near the center of the greenhouse roof. Her consciousness then projects into a a magically created body that is in many ways similar to the Star Trek EMH system.

Detritus is currently drawing on Roses life force/mana through her life support system to repair/maintain itself. I suspect this could be stopped by (Trace?) disconnecting Rose, but that would be at the cost of also killing her, as she's far too old to survive without it

If Sariah's soul is the person who just grabbed Maren, then there may be a post-mortem reunion coming up between her and Rose, who then go off to the after-life together.

[Eclipse]

Well that's one way to stop an evil necromantic ritual I suppose.

[Bellhead]

Something just occurred to me: Detritus is basically stealing life force from Rose, right? If it's her life force, not just her mana, there's a chance her personality could be brought over as well, which would explain his getting emotional, and beginning to act irrationally. Or he could just be insane, that's a possibility too.

[Bojack727]

I love how Tom did not show the roman brothers dead but shows Detritus who would feel rigth at home as a resident evil mini boss.

Also there is one extra human hand in there...

I see what's happening, I know those hands!

Not exactly how I envisioned this would play out, but it's close enough. I had a feeling (after Detritus took over Rose), that everything would come down something so nuts that Detritus would be completely thrown... I mean, in his own words, he didn't think of her in terms of an actual person, just a vessel for his/EvilTrace's plan to bring Saria back to the living realm (aka, a perversion of laws of god, nature, and all things good and just) but I digress...

So, you can only imagine that when a Wolf Kiedren (of all things) comes running into the room and starts bashing at the crystal with a rock! This has to be just another mind-f*ck for him. He can't cope with 'input' that's outside of the way of thinking that was bestowed to him. When Trace tells him he and Flora are having a child, he basically glitched and angrily starts lashing out. It's honestly an telling window into how far EvilTrace had fallen- that all he really had left deep down was rage.

TBH, Sythe is probably the only person who could pull something like this off! He knows enough to weary, but not enough to prevent him from being reckless!

[Ainoko Ironrose]

First of all, there are some interesting censorship tricks in play here, Tom.

Second of all, is anyone else thinking that to be Sythe attacking the crystal? If so, follow-up question: Who's that intercepting Maren?

I don't think that's Sythe but Maddie and the one grabbing Maren might be either Raine, Karen or Eric

[Tornir]

I don't think that's Sythe but Maddie and the one grabbing Maren might be either Raine, Karen or Eric

I don't think Maddie or Karen would be there. They had their memories of the greenhouse wiped, along with any motivation to go back there, and they also don't know there's a fight going on. Also Maddie's fur is a slightly lighter/warmer shade.
Eric has stated before that he's not a fighter, so I can't see him running into the middle of a battle to save the soul of someone he's only recently met.
Raine has been slowly turning back into a wolf since the battle of the Oasis Room, so her hands might be a bit furrier than that right now. Also, why would she take off on her own and run up three flights of stairs to get to a room she doesn't know exists?

[Ainoko Ironrose]

I don't think that's Sythe but Maddie and the one grabbing Maren might be either Raine, Karen or Eric

I don't think Maddie or Karen would be there. They had their memories of the greenhouse wiped, along with any motivation to go back there, and they also don't know there's a fight going on. Also Maddie's fur is a slightly lighter/warmer shade.
Eric has stated before that he's not a fighter, so I can't see him running into the middle of a battle to save the soul of someone he's only recently met.
Raine has been slowly turning back into a wolf since the battle of the Oasis Room, so her hands might be a bit furrier than that right now. Also, why would she take off on her own and run up three flights of stairs to get to a room she doesn't know exists?

Maddie has the maddening ability and habit of showing up anywhere something interesting is going on and interfering. So it's a safe bet that it's Maddie who is breaking the crystal. As for the human hand pulling on Maren, it just might be one of the three if Maddie brought one or all of them, or it could be Euchre in his human form.

Until it is revealed who is the keidran that is cracking the crystal, I will stick with Mad Maddie as the one doing the deed.

Another thought that just hit, it could be Saria who is pulling Maren back into her body. If that is the case, then Detrius has lost.

[MatyMaty]

It makes zero sense for it to be Maddie. The rest of the group is with Reni at the entrance to the dungeons, at the other end of the manor and three floors below where the garden is. The garden is also magically concealed and there is no way Maddie or anyone else would know what is going on, or know where it is. For them the main issue is finding out what happened to Reni and where Clovis is.

And more importantly we know Sythe is in that room and is th only one Detritus is not aware of. The hands breaking the crystal are Sythe's.

Spoiler!

Also Tom said so in stream

[AmigaDragon]

I don't think that's Karen's hand, she has a darker skin tone than Maren and the others.

[rwstyles]

It makes zero sense for it to be Maddie. The rest of the group is with Reni at the entrance to the dungeons, at the other end of the manor and three floors below where the garden is. The garden is also magically concealed and there is no way Maddie or anyone else would know what is going on, or know where it is. For them the main issue is finding out what happened to Reni and where Clovis is.

And more importantly we know Sythe is in that room and is th only one Detritus is not aware of. The hands breaking the crystal are Sythe's.

Spoiler!

Also Tom said so in stream

This is such a large crystal, all estate magic might quit when it breaks.

[Warrl]

This is such a large crystal, all estate magic might quit when it breaks.

Peter's Evil Overlord List #9: I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary.

[rwstyles]

Is this the Sythe and Nibbly rescue!? Is the hand grabbing Maren our shapeshifting squirrel?!

Fur tone isn't right for it to be Sythe attacking the crystal. Between color and shape it's obviously Nibs. Grabbed a chunk of Stoney now that he's broken and used it.

Definitely Sythe attacking that crystal, it's too tan and not brown enough to be Nibbly.

I think Saria might have caught Maren’s soul when they passed during the transfer. In other words, Maren gets pulled out, Saria gets stuck in, but Saria catches Maren in the process. That might also be how Sythe (Assuming that is Sythe) found the place - Saria directed him there.

Well, Nibbly led him there, so that's kinda out of the question, but having Saria's soul grab Maren's seems highly likely. My first thought was Red, but your theory makes more sense.

Since Maren is a soul, I don't see how anyone else could touch her.

[rwstyles]

This is such a large crystal, all estate magic might quit when it breaks.

Peter's Evil Overlord List #9: I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary.

Not really a self destruct mechanism, just brute force. Brute force always works if you use enough.

[rwstyles]

Don't suppose a body can have two souls share the body? Be an interesting twist. If they cooperate, and share control. Or possibly merge in some way - blended personality and memories.

[IHeartMaeve]

Don't suppose a body can have two souls share the body? Be an interesting twist. If they cooperate, and share control. Or possibly merge in some way - blended personality and memories.

Funny story: In the first couple episodes of the web series RWBY, Blake Belladonna explains that her book is about "a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body." Image enhancements revealed it to be the classic story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but the point is, it seems some people theorize that those with a split personality have multiple souls, one for each personality. Food for thought, huh?