Juathuur

[gammyun]

Use this thread to discuss the current comic page and related speculations.

[Bunt]

This is the beginning of the end for Rowasu, I say. A glowing Soveshei will be too much for him to handle.

[Bunt]

Deep in the Heart of Artichoke, dwells Aeliss Lla'jin.

[Krearche]

The way I see it, Row can't die quite yet. After all, Katie said that she would eventually show the move he used to kill Bivv, but she hasn't yet. He can't very well use it when he's dead, can he?

Unless she goes all flashback on us, that is.

[Aster]

What did happen to Row?

On 16th's page Sojueilo offers to end it quickly for him while he pins her with his elbow. Then on the next page she's locked in combat with Aeliss again. What happened in between? Is Rowasu still alive?

[Bunt]

What happened to Row? Isn't that clearly explained in

http://juathuur.spiderforest.com/?comic_id=564

From thing to another, I was wondering about the black eyes thing. Juar and Soveshei clearly know something about it, as does Beisaru. I'm curious about what Arvval will think about it as a shadow user and what kind of signifigance does he consider it to have. Also, how much do Beisaru, Juar and Soveshei really know about it? Mayhaps we'll see that when the story advances.

[Krearche]

As I understand it, the flow of events went like this. Sojueillo was going to punch Row, probably fatally, and Aeliss kicked her in the head before she could connect. Then Aeliss grabs Sojueillo by the hair, and burns her a bit, till Thom punches her in the head. From the ground, Aeliss wraps both Thom and Sojueillo in stone. This means Row is still sitting with his back against a wall, possibly dying of his injuries, but he wasn't hurt any further in the exchange. At least for the time being, he's still alive.

About the black eyes, I doubt Arvval knows what they mean. He's a shadow user, but he's never crossed beyond the void gate, indeed he would never contemplate doing such a thing. On the other hand, although his views might be considered extremist, he's no fool; he might well infer that Faevv has crossed beyond the gate, because that's precisely what the amplifier is for (and for breaking the gate eventually.) Faevv's consternation is pretty obvious when the amplifier is destroyed so that might clue him in. I doubt though, that he knows what she experiences when she crosses over; it could be anything as far as he knows. I'm mostly basing this on the fact that Dej had no idea what one might see beyond the gate, and although he's much more experienced, Arvval doesn't seem to have any motivation to find out.
Juar should know exactly what they mean. He's been doing the exact same thing for much longer than Faevv. Soveshei has been distilling the juices that Juar uses, and clearly knows what they're for, so he's in on it too. It has been revealed that Beisaru was once Juar's mentor, and that he "Disapproves of (Juar's) dalliances" probably meaning his attempts to break the gate. Given his reaction when he sees Faevv's eyes, it seems fairly certain he also knows what they mean.

[Bunt]

Yup. Row is one of the wild cards waiting to be used now.

As for Arvval, he is the brother of Faerun, who was likely the more powerful shadow user of the two. It is possible that Faerun passed a void gate and went 'eyes black'. The brothers might have talked about it. Arvval may or may not know. As for Dej, he's a danei, while Arvval is a thuunei. I wouldn't expect Dej to know, but Arvval just might. Beisaru said that he had fought a shadow user before and thus learned the eyes black-trick. Was it Faerun he was fighting?

PS. Nice to see the forum come alive. The tagboard is not well-suited for speculative analysis.

[Krearche]

I don't think the black eyes are particularly a symptom of shadow magic. Ratheel got them when he was injected with the flower juice, and Juar, a shift user, clearly crossed over at least once without flower juice or amplifier (when he was wandering through the desert.) I think some people are naturally predisposed to being able to cross over, but there may be a correlation with blood magic. Also, I think Beisaru is probably familiar with them through Juar, rather than whatever shadow user he fought.

[Bunt]

True, eyes black is a symptom of mind trying to cross over the void gate. I was just thinking that Shadow magic as displacement magic would be more susceptible for that kind of crossing over happening spontaneusly. Juar used the juice, as we know. The juice was dangerous because it was trying to force the mind to cross over the void gate. This is why it was lethal to humans while a Juathuur could survive it.

[Krearche]

I"m pretty sure he didn't have to juice when he was wandering in the desert. Where would he have gotten it? I suppose he might have eaten some flowers, and gotten a similar (but weaker) effect, and that inspired him to have Soveshei cultivate them for the juice. I doubt that's what happened though, because eating unknown flowers is a dumb thing to do, and I'd expect him to know better.

I thought Shadow magic probably made one more susceptible too, but Juar seems to have the same inclination.

Hold, on, new idea. Juar has been trying to "break the gate" himself, but he also wants a shadow user. There is another type of blood magic, and I'd be willing to bet he wants a user of that too. Remember, there isn't one gate, there are three, and Katie already revealed on the forum that Shift magic is an extension of the Wind Path. My guess is that Juar is suited to break the gate on the Wind Path, while Faevv is suited to break the Void Gate, and whoever it is who has the third type will be suited to break the Gate on the Wave Path.

On the other hand, Veithel says Juar's mind passes beyond the void gate, so maybe I'm on the wrong track entirely. Actually, now that I think of it, did anyone ever say the Void gate is the one Faevv passes through? I'm pretty sure the gates on the Paths, aside from that one, were never named. Maybe the Void gate actually is the gate on the Wind path.

Only Time and Katie Sweet can tell us the answer.

[Bunt]

Ah, but Faevv does not need to break the gate. To get to the other side, she'd move herself there like a shadow user. Move the box, or move yourself. No need to break through. So, a shadow user wouldn't need to break the seal, just bypass it.

[Krearche]

Perhaps, but there are limits. Remember what Merlu said, "Traversing the vast distances between worlds is different than a hop across your backyard"
The Gate (I suppose it is the Void Gate that constrains the Word Path) clearly does limit Shadow Magic. Faevv can't simply do anything she pleases, simply because she can bend space. Besides, I think the gates aren't really located anywhere in real space. I doubt Faevv has the power to bend metaphorical space.

PS. The Charactercopia was just added, wasn't it? I'm pretty sure it wasn't there before.

[gammyun]

PS. The Charactercopia was just added, wasn't it? I'm pretty sure it wasn't there before.

Yup, I added it on a whim. Figured character talk should have a place of its own.

Debating if I should reveal more of the gate stuff... hmmm....

[gammyun]

Hehe, I just remembered that I have named all the gates in-comic, although in a very sneaky way, waaaaay back on this page. Though Thom only speaks the names the paths, the names of the gates are written in the juathuur script in the background. They are:

Vvo (Void)
Ta (Sun)
Woi (Time)

Which are all pretty obvious once you think about them