Comic for June 2, 2023: King's Downfall

[tony1695]

Hmm, interesting development. Despite the amulet being removed, Clovis still retains a draconic form. Though something about it seems... off? Is he fully quadrupedal now? Did Reni basically turn him into a baby dragon?
You can also see the fragments of the amulet there, two golden rings and the gemstone (or is that just a bug?). While I hope this means that Reni will wake up, I honestly kinda expect this to cause issues.

[Zaigan]

Yeah, I would have figured once he lost the amulet he would revert to his true form, but I guess he used the magic to enact a permanent transformation, like the sex change Nora gave him all that time ago.

I think he might have amnesia from the fall. Dragons can't talk normally due to vocal cord limitations and need telepathy, right? He might be about on the baby dragon level of things now, which I guess isn't surprising if he's credited the years lived as a keidran directly in this form and not proportionately.

Maybe when Brutus recovers he'll take in this weird dragon that looks like the boss.

[Rafe]

I expect he'll find himself to be something less than a baby dragon, and more like a small lizard - and a powerless lizard at that.

[tony1695]

Looks like Tom edited the page, the bird flying off with the gem was not there in the initial upload.

[Tornir]

I was puzzled as to why there are two gold rings, but the top frame does show a second (cloud obscured?) one falling.
There's no sign of the gem though, that little red thing appears to be a ladybug.

As for Clovis, does that "W-wark?" indicate he's lost his stolen drconic telepathy?
Also are those wings still functional, or are they once again just a cloak? Is he now a lizard rather than a derg?

He's fallen into the wood outside the manor...
Does that mean he's likely to encounter a curious Landon and Sealeen?
Or maybe Brutus will play a part in what happens?

A long shot would be Saraphina showing up, finding the gem, and using it to take Clovis's form for herself (then maybe eating him 'cos he's a folf).

ETA: What's the betting that bird is one of All Bran's spycritters?

[Sky Shatter]

Whoever said Reni couldn't one-up Nora, pay your dues.

[Strongfang]

Hmm, interesting development. Despite the amulet being removed, Clovis still retains a draconic form. Though something about it seems... off? Is he fully quadrupedal now? Did Reni basically turn him into a baby dragon?
You can also see the fragments of the amulet there, two golden rings and the gemstone (or is that just a bug?). While I hope this means that Reni will wake up, I honestly kinda expect this to cause issues.

Tom confirmed that Clovis's dragon transformation was very real, which is why he's still in a draconic form, while also stating that he was only able to maintain his large appearance because of Reni's magic feeding it, which is why when he lost access to it, in part to Reni breaking free, as well as the mental beat down Reni inflicted upon him, his body was unable to handle it and practically imploded in on itself.

As for Clovis's fate, from what was said on stream, it was strongly implied that Reni irreparably damaged his mind, performing the equivalent of mindscape lobotomy, to the point where he might not be able to even function properly, let alone think straight, and despite having succeeded in transforming into a dragon by using Reni's magic, he's ended up having no magical power in the form, so he ended becoming a dragon only in a physical sense, and not a creature of magic like Nora and Reni. In summary, he's literally been reduced to a broken minded, powerless lizard, void of any magic, and forever stuck in a form that he can't change out of, or communicate in. If I'm going to be honest, after everything that he did, this is a well deserved fate for him. He was given the chance to fix his act by Nora, and instead doubled down in his ways, with Clovis ending up as walking vegetable in a lizard body as a consequence of his actions.

As for Reni, I'm sure she'll wake up, as she broke free in the previous pages, and forcibly brought Clovis to her mindscape, so it's likely the amulet doesn't have her trapped within in.
As for the rings on the ground, if I'm not mistaken those are other magical artefacts that Clovis wore on his person to enhance his magic, as he was shown wearing a lot rings prior to transforming, so I would assume he was still wearing them in a sense when he transformed.

[Sky Shatter]

I was puzzled as to why there are two gold rings, but the top frame does show a second (cloud obscured?) one falling.
There's no sign of the gem though, that little red thing appears to be a ladybug.
[...]
A long shot would be Saraphina showing up, finding the gem, and using it to take Clovis's form for herself (then maybe eating him 'cos he's a folf).

ETA: What's the betting that bird is one of All Bran's spycritters?

The rings are the ones Clovis was wearing that Tom stopped drawing on his dragon and projection forms; one of them being the one that poisoned Brutus.

Yes, the eye is glowing yellow, so it's one of the spycritters.

[Bellhead]

So Brahn's plan was just to take the amulet back, rather than sabotage it. I mean, if he foresaw Clovis' defeat here, it wouldn't make sense for him to sabotage it at all, now that I think about it, since he'd just take it back later anyway...

Also,

I was puzzled as to why there are two gold rings, but the top frame does show a second (cloud obscured?) one falling.

Look closer. With a full size monitor, I see several seemingly identical amulets (I count 5 total) falling in a path away from him. I'd bet Tom chose that over motion blur or speed lines for the detail aspect.

And now, we enter the "Falling Action", as my elementary school literary teacher would have called it. There's a fair amount to wrap up, and several plotlines yet to be resolved, so it will be nice to see some (relative) downtime coming up.

[HSishi]

Hehehe, if that is Clovis, he deserved that. He's what he wanted to be, but being a powerless baby dragon in the size of food could be a problem, though.

The two golden rings in the grass look like those on Reni's horns.

Clovis' amulet now gone (for him) doesn't mean it's forever gone for good.

[Tornir]

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Clovis' amulet now gone (for him) doesn't mean it's forever gone for good.

I would suspect it is, as far as the storyline is concerned.
It's potentially a direct link between the Edinmere attackers, and Bran; that would put the humans, the tigers, and the royal family against the templar, so it's got to disappear now he's got it back.

[Bellhead]

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Clovis' amulet now gone (for him) doesn't mean it's forever gone for good.

I would suspect it is, as far as the storyline is concerned.
It's potentially a direct link between the Edinmere attackers, and Bran; that would put the humans, the tigers, and the royal family against the templar, so it's got to disappear now he's got it back.

Are you sure about that? Is there any actual evidence to say it had anything to do with the attack? The only places it's been seen are Brahn's office and the Estate, and unless Clovis himself made a public appearance between the two which I find a bit unlikely, nobody outside of Brahn's, Clovis' and the main casts' circles would even know it exists.

Regarding that timeframe, let me think. Clovis was probably one of the people on the wall, but didn't get the amulet until Brahn gave it to him. After that, though, it's likely he would want to hide his face and those of his goons to avoid suspicion, and walking around with a flawless mana gem the size of a dessert plate on his chest is not the best idea when you want to fly under the radar.

And don't forget how rare those crystals are. There's no way he'd just abandon something like that, or let it out of his control. I have no doubt in my mind he has plans for it. Question is, would we ever see them...

[MuonNeutrino]

As for Clovis's fate, from what was said on stream, it was strongly implied that Reni irreparably damaged his mind, performing the equivalent of mindscape lobotomy, to the point where he might not be able to even function properly, let alone think straight, and despite having succeeded in transforming into a dragon by using Reni's magic, he's ended up having no magical power in the form, so he ended becoming a dragon only in a physical sense, and not a creature of magic like Nora and Reni. In summary, he's literally been reduced to a broken minded, powerless lizard, void of any magic, and forever stuck in a form that he can't change out of, or communicate in.

Good. That's honestly pretty much what I was hoping would happen to him after we saw the previous page, and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving worthless piece of [censored]. Now he can go die in a hole like he's earned so many times over. I hope he gets eaten by an (animal) fox, just because that would be a hilariously ironic fate.

[Tornir]

Are you sure about that? Is there any actual evidence to say it had anything to do with the attack? The only places it's been seen are Brahn's office and the Estate, and unless Clovis himself made a public appearance between the two which I find a bit unlikely, nobody outside of Brahn's, Clovis' and the main casts' circles would even know it exists.

Regarding that timeframe, let me think. Clovis was probably one of the people on the wall, but didn't get the amulet until Brahn gave it to him. After that, though, it's likely he would want to hide his face and those of his goons to avoid suspicion, and walking around with a flawless mana gem the size of a dessert plate on his chest is not the best idea when you want to fly under the radar.

And don't forget how rare those crystals are. There's no way he'd just abandon something like that, or let it out of his control. I have no doubt in my mind he has plans for it. Question is, would we ever see them...

It's known the Edinmere attackers were wolves, thanks to Brutus' capture.
It's known the manor attackers were wolves, provable thanks to the two dead bro's, and that one of their objectives was the captured Brutus.
The leader of that attack had a large flawless manna crystal that was used to defeat the manors defences, and to attack Reni.
That's the connection between Edinmere and the crystal.

If the main cast had got hold of it, there exists the possibility that the enchantments placed on it could be identified as templar work, and that would be extremely problematic for Bran.

As it is, the crystal is now damaged and weakened, so has lost a lot of it's usefulness.
Also, Bran is human; he doesn't need a manna crystal to use magic, much less a highly distinctive one used to attack a member of the royal house.

[Dreamfox]

Even if his mind functions properly, he is very small, is unlikely to have the power or understanding of magic of a dragon, may not be able to use his magic items because of their size difference and is definitely cut off from his contacts and riches.
Clovis can count himself lucky if he has telepathy and a dragon's life span.
Essentially, if he is lucky to be what D&D and Pathfinder calls a 'Pseudodragon'.
He will need decades to create a new place for himself that comes even close to what he had. By doing so a rested Nora might come looking for him sooner or later.
If his mind functions properly, which has been indicated is not the case.

As for Brahn's involvement in the attack on Edinmire, if Reni gave Clovis a lobotomy, she will probably read his mind before doing it, so Brahn's game might be up.