Comic for Monday, April 25th, 2022
Apr25
on April 25, 2022
at 8:33 am
In the immediate aftermath of distant “booms”…
David has a bit of a foul mouth.
In this context, “witch” is what some people from Central call people like Elizabeth, Kally, and Sophie.
Some folks mentioned they were having redirect issues again. Those should be solved, but I cannot test myself (as I wasn’t able to get the issue myself). Please let me know if you are seeing issues of that nature.
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Hm… I just had a strange idea, the I-Code has to be a part of Rovak, so in theory would it be possible to do enough damage (say total vaporization) that it ceases to function?
Not saying David is possible of such a thing, but just in theory.
How did Mr Zombie (I like that name better) have time to say so much before the rocks hit him?
Comedic timing leans towards him saying “Huh. Guess this will be fun after all.” Then the rocks hit.
You don’t play D&D? Speech is always a free action.
😉
The oddity is that the stomp happens and Mr Zombie has time to say all that before it hits him. Feels wrong. Any attack that takes that long to get to him could easily be dodged.
The stomp isn’t directly what made the rocks fly at Rovak, it was just creating a bunch of rubble to use as projectiles.
This typical to how people using autocasters to fight work, as they are less able to handle longer complicated sequences, so tend to chain together shorter, simpler, sequences (smash, then fling). These tactics are simple and brute force, but pretty effective. “Smush this things with rocks” is actually one Kally’s go to tactics as well as we’ve seen, and she can pick from basically anything (though obviously secondary to her more notable way of fighting).
As for the general panel layout and timing, it just becomes a question of how many panels to dedicate to what though. I should probably have Rovak’s “huh” panel, David’s flinging the rocks, while Rovak continues to mouth off.
When I had longer pages, I’d break up the talking bits more intertwined with the other panels (with copious use of “-“), but it’s just not practical with the half the pages, since if the panel count goes too high it becomes messy (and time consuming).
Even in the older panels though, Rovak is by far one of the most talkative combatants, up to and including tending to continue talking while attacking or being attacked.
Makes sense if you explain it that way. Don’e mind me too much, I may be a bit autistic/ OCD. The flow just felt a little off unless you knew these things.
In any and all cases please keep up the good work. If Query ever gets licensed for sale in this world I want one. Probably would not want the dragon but that would be neat too.
“When I had longer pages… and time consuming.”
We already talked you into quiting your job. I’m not sure how much more damage we can do. Are you bathing more than once a week? That’s a waste of time AND water.
“dragon but that would be neat too”
Ooohhhh! I want one of those! I’ll start breeding goats now so I’ve got a good food supply for my dragon!
Just trying to be helpful. It works better if you don’t think too hard about WHO I’m trying to help.
This was an interesting development.
The first time we saw one of the Central veterans (I assume) up against one of the Palindra heavies, it was Otte vs Weber. That one was called on account of Otte needing Peter alive, and Weber being instrumental in assuring that.
The second time (I think?) it was Elizabeth vs Camilla. The monster hunter witch beat the Doll of Destruction with apparent ease.
Round three (or did I miss any?) – David vs Rovak. Place your bets!
I don’t know if David is a natural mage or just using autocasters in that fancy armour, but he didn’t rise to command by way of a slick tongue. He seems to me to be comparing the Orish to the Korish and finding the former lacking more than just a letter. He’s thinking Rovak underestimates him, just like Camilla underestimated Elizabeth.
Rovak of course is just as sure he’s the top dog here. Unless this battle is somehow also called off, one of them is about to learn differently …
The IDS often seems to rely on their knockout gas, which seems extremely effectively (the IDS monster hunters were able to take out Tyler using it, before being chewed out by Miko of all people). Unfortunately for David, that doesn’t seem to work on Rovak.
The other time we’ve seen the IDS go against Malsan locals would arguably be Naomi vs. the Monster Hunters. That was after she got shot, but they were also trying to stop her rather than kill her (something the Kor’s World Soldier learned the hard way is basically impossible as it just makes her increasingly mad).
The only other technical case I can think of would be Kally vs. Naomi…’s tennis match. But that’s not quite the same both because it was a tennis match, and Kally is not exactly the norm. Fights involving her are always her holding back, unless you are the small pieces of demon that once were Atter before she lost her patience and dragon’d him into (temporary) oblivion.
I’d say it seems like Kally and Sophie are the top billing from Central, with Elizabeth somewhere beneath them, and the monster hunters (including David here it seems) below that.
Rovak rarely seems to stop fucking around, so it is hard to gauge how strong he really is, but he seems pretty functionally immortal. Ila blasted him pretty good when they first met at pretty much full power, though not using her hyper velocity projectile tactics she’d later adopt, and even that seemed to have no real lasting effect. The only time he was in potentially real danger was vs. Mium, but that’s not quite fair (though Mium was arguably not really trying to kill him, as Mium had just offered a truce moments before).
All that aside though, it seems extremely likely this fight will get interupted. Rovak was there to pick up the other Warmages and Orish agents working with David, and David has other IDS soldiers backing him up last we saw. With the current volume of the fight, wherever those people they are going to tune in quickly.
Not to mention that as it is rapidly escalating to mass property destruction a lot of people might want to get involved to stop this (Naomi, Mium, the Families, etc).
Rovak was only trying to kill David on a whim it seems, may just give up if it turns from fun into a hassle.
I was thinking one-on-one, so the monster hunters vs their target-of-the-day didn’t even occur to me. I still don’t think I want to include those.
And I didn’t include Mium nor Ila among the Palindra heavies, but I guess I should have? Really stretching it, though?
… let’s combine those and include Ila vs the monster hunters coming for Kally, though. 😉
… or Mium vs Arron. Although I guess Miko defused that one.
But I did not include Kally among the Central veterans. Should I? I think of her as too young. Sure, she was given up to and practically raised in the army, but was she even deployed before the end of the war? Sounds to me as if she’s described as having a background in the IDS (the monster hunters and Situation Containment), no matter how much of a military asset she is …
I think of Kally as a definite military asset. That seems to be clear at the beginning of the comic. However I think you’re right. I don’t think there’s any definitive word about Kally participating in the war against Kor’s World.
Is there still a Q&A in the works?
In theory. Not sure when I will finish it.
Kally was alive during the Incursion, but didn’t fight during it (she and Peter would have been little kids).
Nathan briefly mentions that people like her and Peter were raised/trained post Incursion with the IDS/Central was in a very efficient-but-dark place. Had just seen their world destroyed, found that other worlds existed, and that some of them were extremely dangerous.
Kally has seen large scale conflicts when she was with the military. The Central and the IDS deals with a lot more than just Palindra/Malsa… part of the why the situation devolving here has mostly drawn annoyance rather than drew attention from the top brass.
It’s a bit of a reoccuring thing that Central has a handful of these people (Sophie, Kally, etc) that have powers designed for wars without the concept of collateral damage, and they aren’t really sure what to do with these people at the moment.
The IDS/Civil Service/Military of the past was much more efficient – out of dark necessity. They have since devolved as a hastily constructed alliance of what was left the world worked with brief brutal efficiency in the war and aftermath, but as the threat of completely annihilation faded, so did their ability to work in a functional manner. People like Peter and Kally are products of that other time of efficiency and “by any means necessary” time of Central.
Despite the trash talk Elizabeth vs Camilla was a lot closer than it looked Elisibeth was painfully injured, there was a lot of collateral damage to stuff Liz was defending, and it resulted in a KO instead of expected KIA.
Atter v Mium would probably count for round 3. Query probably originated on central but merged with MYM and EF8 locally. And Atter was probably originally summoned on central and served as one of their heavy hitters.
Talking about people who THINK they matter! . . .
Who exactly is this guy again? I sort of recognize the guy in armor, but like Mr Zombie I kind of lost track of all the extras.
I think David might be the field commander for Situation Containment, frequently actually working as igniters for local powder kegs. That may in fact be about to change though.
David is one of Biana’s minions, first seen on Jan 02, 2017 (don’t think I can link so look for that in the archive.) He also tried to assassinate the Malsa President hypothetically.
I think this is David’s first appearance: http://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-january-2nd/
He’s quickly identified as the guy who sent the monster hunters after Kally.
Two pages later, Arron calls him a “good kid”, while someone off-panel (Elizabeth? Tokiwa? surely neither Sophie nor Atter …) calls him an “ignorant moron”. (Which is an interesting contrast to Arron’s “You’d do well to remember who your enemies are and why.”)
More recently, he took a little army of his own to go consul hunting … and has since been stuck in Malsa.
David seems like a soldier who likes to solve problems with a hammer, and has been navigating delicate political situations for awhile, and has finally snapped, though I hardly blame him.
Executing the Consul has gone horribly wrong and he has more or less been hung out to dry, and now his erstwhile ally just tried to kill him.
I am pretty sure the more politically minded Tokiwa is the one calling him a moron, as they seem to clash in approach (David seems to prefer to confront problems head on). She would probably also disapprove of this this little outburst. Even if he can kill Rovak a few times, it’s unlikely to stick and the best case scenario would just be getting back to ground zero but attracting a lot of unwanted attention.
Also, it’s quite likely that the IDS knows killing Rovak is unlikely to stick and David has been briefed. Though I daresay that being briefed on a subject does not necessarily equate to knowledge for one such as David. It feels likely to me that David just thinks that means Rovak needs to be killed harder, without having the subtlety of knowledge that some parts of Rovak might be more vulnerable than others, and certainly no idea of any timing constraints on said vulnerabilities.
Maybe somebody should start evacuating the mall. They already have, you say? Probably a good thing.
I’m with you on this one, Tgape. Even if Central didn’t tell David, David seems to have been hanging with Rovak and his… employers? I suspect there’s been plenty of opportunities for David to witness first hand what Rovak is, and for Rovak to witness David. This should be a good fight.
It should be an entertaining fight. Rovak doesn’t seem particularly bothered by David flattening him against a pillar. My money is on Rovak. David seems to be a loose cannon with a self-destructive personality. Tried to kill the Consul. Failed. Tried to kidnap Artem. Failed. Tried to kill Rovak. Failed in first round but this fight may go a few rounds.
I think David is going to put up a heck of a fight. But yes, if Rovak doesn’t kill David, it will only be because he wants the opportunity to fight him again later.
Woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep. Checked out the comic to see if new comments were available. As I looked at the last few panels, Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” came to mind. (It is on YouTube) Now I’m wondering if the “WHAM” in the last panel is Rovak or David delivering a blow.
Getting bored Rovak’s attention = David becoming Rovak’s cat toy.
Considering Rovaks comment after getting smashed, I totally agreee.
David reaching the breaking point is probably a good thing. Him reaching it against Rovak probably less so. Either way, relations between the ‘bad guys’ are falling apart.
Not sure what the Malsan version of popcorn is, but this is certainly the time for it, and Ila would probably prefer it to Mium’s energy bars.
David’s Pissed Off… AND HE AIN’T GONNA TAKE IT NO MORE!!!!!!!