Breaking All Barriers 059
└ posted on Saturday, 4 April 2015, by Novil
The Webcomic Hunger Games are in full swing:
- Sandril: That’s not very specific.
- Lilith: I don’t understand how exactly the spell works. It must be at least ten times more powerful than any other maze spell ever cast.
- Lilith: However, I’m almost sure of one thing…
- Sandril: Which is?
- Lilith: An elf cast it.
- Sandril: An elf??
- Lilith: Yes.
- Lilith: The swirls of the Bluestream close to the border are typical for elvish high magic. I know of no human or dragon who’s cast a spell this way in the last thousand years.
- Sandril: An elf who’s capable of creating such a maze probably had no problems getting past the Mythal.
- Lilith: Correct.
Loading ...
From everything I’ve read up to now, I just know that elves are not to be trusted. This “elf” is powerful in magic, but is he good at melee combat? Sandril an Ilias might have a chance to take him down, but I think Lili isn’t good enough to battle him with spells.
Galadriel, WHAT DID YOU DO??!?!?!?!!!!!
@ Jumtrev:
Whoa, whoa, whoa, I’m not ready to accept that Lili can undo Galadriel’s magic. This must have just been Elrond, Eldor, or someone like that.
Jumtrev wrote:
Publius wrote:
back up here. nobody has said she can reverse his magic… yet.
she will reverse the spell, though.
Why do I say that?
It is simple, really. Lilith doesn’t just cast spells. She doesn’t cast spells others have figured how to cast.
She also WEAVES magic. She forms magic to do what she wishes. All she needs to do is figure what she needs to do with magic and she will find a way.
She does NOT need to learn a spell that does what she wants simply because she molds the magic to what she needs.
Hey, I was right. An elf did cast the spell after all.
Now the question is whether we have seen this elf before. The only for-sure elf we have seen thus far was that engineer (LJB: 19) working for Eldor. However, I don’t get the impression from his brief appearance that he was a high elvish mage. But some have speculated off and on (myself included) that Eldor may be an elf in disguise (clipped ears) or perhaps just part elf, if that’s possible.
Whatever the case, though, Eldor is obviously working with the elves who broke through the Mythal. So presumably he knows the one(s) who cast the spell to escape Ysdar and the one(s) who cast the spherical maze barrier around Oakdale.
If he’s not working with that high elvish mage, then he would likely be working with an elvish faction that is trying to stop him. Maybe the main conflict of this story revolves around stopping an evil, extremely powerful, elvish mage who is planning to devastate all of Gaia. Those shadowcreatures that Vivi encountered in the maze / dark dimension were coming through a swirly blue portal (BAB: 42); perhaps they are working for him.
Maybe the elves found a way to combine Bluestream and Redstream magic (e.g. with the Tower in the Sky), but some (or at least the one mage) are using this knowledge for evil. Eldor obviously already knows how to use both in harmony; he could be one of the “good” elves (or a human compatriot), fighting agaist this evil elvish mage and his shadowcreature/demon goons. He just needs to train some touched ones to help him penetrate a time suspension barrier (TS: 20) to stop him somehow.
Calling it now; Eldor was taught magic by an elf, and the elf is dead now, but Eldor’s trying to get Lilith to break the barrier because all the elves that came with the original elf that taught him can’t cross back over, and he’s doing it as a last wish to the now-dead elf.
ELVES!
Man, why must you guys always mess things up?
Well, at least it wasn’t a dwarf. THAT would’ve been freaky.
So, what does the bluestream border of a Human or Dragon spell look like? I would suppose a grid?
The thought occurs that elves (not of the D&D or Tolkien variety but those of folklore) have a very different morality from humans, they are not “good” or “evil” as we understand it, and even the friendly ones (perhaps especially the friendly ones) are extremely dangerous. It would be cool if such were the case here.
Anyway, once again love this page. Nicely done!
Still sad about the dwarf genocide. I wonder if they could cast blue magic as well.
Now there’s a common enemy. Perhaps someone was good at replicating or managed to add power to a smaller elven spell. Seems odd that Mythar elves care about a small farming town, considering how far in advanced the spell was cast before Vivi would travel through Oakdale, at that point cutting it off would only benefit those who wanted Lilith out of the way.
@ mhalpern:
Sorry, but “common” enemy? I’m afraid I don’t know who is on our side against this elf 😛
I’d rather say that there simply is an enemy now, and they’re aware of it – that’s a huge step. They won’t let their guard down now that they know someone, a very powerful someone, is watching. It might lead to some kind of paranoia though…
@ EG:
Usually elves are also really well connected with the nature. In this world, nature is a goddess, so if by any chance an average elf is connected with the Bluestream better than Lilith, I’m afraid to even think what power lies in hands of an elf with a good connection.
Elves also usually live very long compared to humans. I’m pretty sure it was stated somewhere, but I can’t find any info on how long do elves live here.
Is there any chance that this elf who broke out through Mythal is one of the survivors of The Darkness? Or could any elf possibly live long enough outside the Mythal alone? I wonder what knowledge and experience this elf carries.
Tomana wrote:
Human patern should probably be more chaotic… Dragons usually tend to organized system which is produced by complex mind.
Well, time to smash it.
@ Apsik:
Cania dislikes Midgard, Midgard is home to the Elves do the math.
@ mhalpern:
Actually it’s Ysdar that’s home to the Elves – located to the east of Midgard, secured by the Mythal (Glossary). And even if it wasn’t so, Ileasaar and Cania dislike each other as well, just like Cania dislikes Lilith – in this case, the enemy of my enemy remains my enemy.
I’m a little confused here. From what Ilias wrote in his paper on Gaia, the elves created the Mythal to protect the land they withdrew to after the wars, and nobody knows what happened to the elves after they locked themselves inside it. So, given that no one has seen any of them for an extremely long time, it would seem likely that they didn’t often exit their land (if ever), presumably by their own desire. So one of my questions is, could elves leave and re-enter their land as they wished (with outsiders completely prevented from entering it), or did the creation of the Mythal also lock them inside, i.e. was it a prison of their own making and desire? If the former, then elves might surreptitiously leave (and return) to do whatever they considered necessary for the well being of themselves, individually, or as a group. But if their land is actually a prison (formed by the elves originally creating the Mythal), maybe one or more of them has been chafing at this involuntary imprisonment and wanted to get out. And maybe only a very magically powerful elf could have managed it. Which may mean that there is an elf rebel who may be an enemy of both his people and of humanity. Another possibility is that something bad has been happening to the elves trapped behind the Mythal because they cannot get outside. In which case, the powerful elf may be a hero who is trying to save his own people, although at the expense of the humans outside.
Ilias’ paper also said that the Tear of Gaia corrupted the hearts of those who had fought against Bhaal, and that all 3 races wanted to possess it. The dwarves stole it, but were defeated when all of them were killed. But then it said that the Tear was broken into 3 parts. The elves took one and withdrew to their land and protected it with the Mythal. I am assuming that the humans also took a piece. So what happened to the 3rd piece? And is the second still in human hands, as in Midgard? In which case, is the elf (or elves) trying to retrieve the other two pieces so they can accomplish something big for themselves, and possibly deadly to humans?
@ Guy_A:
I’d bet on Mythal being a prison for the elves. Why? If they were the only species able to travel at will through this barrier, what would stop them from attacking humans and extending their territory? Maybe their (in most of mythologies) sense of balance with the nature (Gaia) is telling them that killing humans would harm the goddess more than it would benefit them. But then why would have they allowed the dwarf genocide? Ok, they stole the Tear (like all races wanted to), punish them, but kill them all / allow humans to do so?
Also, if elves were able to pass through the Mythal, they’d be doing so for some reason. If it was about resources/food, they’d probably need to contact someone who could provide it from the outside world. They could bribe their supplier not to tell anyone that he’s working with elves, but that would have to be a really nice amount of [ currency name here 😉 ]. If anyone noticed that this supplier gained so much money in such a short period of time, they’d get suspicious and sooner or later learn the truth. It’s been over a thousand years since the elves isolated themselves – it’s way too long for a “sooner or later” thing not to be found out yet.
@ Guy_A:
The dwarves weren’t completely killed off, but nearly so, otherwise there wouldn’t have been any to testify against Lilith
@ mhalpern:
Oops misread
They don’t look at all happy about this being Elven. Do the races (species?) still hate each other from the war. Or maybe it’s related to them walling themselves off behind the Mythal. Probably both.
Or maybe it’s as much related to the idea that an elf came out from behind the Mythal to do this.
Random speculation: Perhaps Eldor was banished from Ysdar (for combining redstream and bluestream magics?) and needs San & Lili to break the Mythal so he can get back in. [Of course, Scrutinizer is way ahead of me on all this, as usual.]
I uploaded an improved version of this page. Sandril looks quite bad in the 2nd panel. Powree redrew his head and also parts of his hairstyle in the other panels.
I just noticed right now how pointy Sandrils nose is and now I can’t un-see it.
Cue villainous boasting: ‘Mwahahahah! So thou thinkest thou can defeat me?! Fool. I am a god walking between you earthly mortals! It hath been prophesied that no creature which was, is, or will be can slay me! Now, die!’
…
Cue Lilith playing with time to create some time which wasn’t, isn’t and won’t be.
I’m almost certain that Eldor is an elf, and that he is responsible for this maze spell. What is not clear is what his real goals are. We know that he is watching over the “touched ones”, and is willing to take extreme measures to make sure they “succeed”. It’s not clear succeed at what, but it seems to be related to the “time suspension shield” that he mentioned once in passing. Judging by what we know so far, this is somehow related to the Mythal and to the incredibly powerful spell that San and Lili have felt in the bluestream.
How all this will play out in the end, though, is anybody’s guess right now. One thing is certain, that if they were to cross Eldor in the wrong way, he will not hesitate to exterminate them with impunity. They’re stepping a fine line here.
@ Lurker:
I hope PMark won’t be mad at me for stealing these words he usually says in a moment like that: some of us were nearly certain Viviana was a lost princess of Ileasaar.
Novil and Powree developed a great way to leave fake clues and are probably laughing as they see us fall into the trap. But on the other hand… What if this one isn’t a fake clue? 😛
Here’s what I think : if Lili was able to sense Ilias through the door before he even knocked, I believe she feels “auras” of everyone around her – after all everyone is a disturbance in the flow of bluestream. Since she recognized Ilias, it’s safe to assume everyone has a distinctive aura. Following that thought and combining it with what we’ve just learned about elvish (high) magic, an elf could have a very outstanding aura – again only speculation. But if that were correct, I believe Lilith, Ars or Hel would have noticed this fact.
You will not how it is bluestream magic used. It seems this elf may not be entirely bad. I wonder though what his reasonings are, and what it might have to do with Lili’s brother, and Vivi and the other Shadowdancers. We don’t know much about the elves in Gaia yet, but they where on the side of life and ‘good’ in the past.
Whoever said that redstream magic was neccessarily evil? At the time they were fought, the holy crusades were seen as all good, even if they cost many people their lives. Maybe redstream is like antimatter to the bluestream the world of gaia is made of.
Btw, this elfs usage of both redstream and bluestream magic… reminds me “The tower in the sky”
We certainly don’t know everything about the redstream yet.
Also, i guess one purpose of the maze spell was to hinder them to get out in some kind of political scheme with the goal of diffaming Vivi as (future) queen of Ileasaar. She isn’t officially crowned yet. Also, Ileasaar does not have a goverment right now, i believe…. and keeping it from forming severely weakens Ileasaar.
@ Jan:
You’re right, redstream is powered by Bhaal (“Nothing”) while bluestream is powered by Gaia (“Everything”), so matter-antimatter reference seems to be valid here. But the reason we believe redstream magic is evil is SD-06:
Of course, it doesn’t mean that it cannot be used for good purposes as well, nor that bluestream cannot be used for evil.
I don’t know where do you see combination of bluestream and redstream magic or reference to it on this page. Could you be more specific on that?
Yeah, we barely know anything about bluestream (used all the time here), and we haven’t yet met any official red mage to introduce some details on redstream, so it’s one big mystery.
@ Apsik:
If it is the same person who made this maze as the person who used red magic on the “touched ones” it can be seen as established that it is possible for one person to both use red and blue magic (which would have been very unlikely in the past given how it is referenced that the skill in blue magic comes from having a connection to gaia – which is again classified as “all good” – Lillith being a little over the top with kindness while her power level going over 9000… while redmages are again classified as “the most evil guys ever”… i don’t see how this is going to fit into one persona… unless they are REALLY screwed up in their head.)
If this person is an elf… it is a long haul… but then that could mean that the “tower in the sky” is located somewhere behind the Mythal… but at least may have a connection with elves. This is, of course, purely speculation.
We also have this notion of “one gigantic spell being cast in the future”… maybe the tower is not “online” yet… but soon it may be.
AND Lili talks about how she “must break all barriers”… We have this huge barrier… around the elves… called the Mythal. Given her knack at wards (taking them up and down) she will likely eventually figure out how to take down the Mythal – or find a way around it… “and that will be the beginning of your end”, elf guy.
It would, of course, be a lot more interesting if it plays out a little differently.
My last sentence is not meant to talk down the comic in any way… it is a great comic. I just like surprises.
Jan wrote:
So far novil is very good at providing surprises 😉
@ Jan:
We’re nearly 100% sure that the person who cast this maze spell is an elf. As you said, saying that Eldor (the one talking about “touched ones”) is an elf is a long haul (but some of us are suspecting that since we’ve seen a real elf in JB-19), so it’s hard to speculate that he is directly behind this.
Cooperation with elves is highly more possible, but for what reason would any of these parties cooperate with each other? I can think of even less possible reasons if it’s true that Eldor is a redstream mage (as we suspect since he killed Elea in TS-19 with red-glowing spells and how Delvor called him a redmage in JB-68) and if elves know about this.
If what we’ve seen in JB-19 really was inside of the Tower, Eldor and elves are working on it and some part of it (block C-1) is being tested at the moment, so you’d be right about it not being 100% online just yet.
That’s the paradox of the plot – we want it to go the way we’ve “predicted” it would at a moment, while we also want it to go a totally different way, prove us wrong and be even greater, unexpected, and at some point – obvious (“why haven’t we thought about this option earlier?!” )
@ Jumtrev:
I just lost it omg
mhalpern wrote:
SD8 disagrees, although it could be read as saying that all dwarves that were part of the alliance were killed off, but there are still dwarves around elsewhere.
Not sure where you got that dwarves testified against Lilith though…?
Apsik wrote:
Nah. Why would I be upset?
The only thing I would remind everybody about once more is that we actually know very little about the “touched ones”. Novil was very careful with his wording when Eldor mentioned them. It is very ambiguous. We don’t know if they are good or bad. We don’t know for sure if San and her sister are included in their number. We only know that they exist.
Novil was once asked point blank in his question thread a few months back if Eldor considered San and her sister “touched ones”. Novil chose not to answer that one. He answered questions before it and after it but not that one. That strongly implies to me that he wants their possible relationship to remain ambiguous for the time being.
So we really only know three things about them for sure: they exist, the term Eldor uses to refer to them, and he wants them to succeed.
EG wrote:
I looked up Glossary to check something – Avariel (extinct, barely mentioned in the story) are described, so are dragons, imps etc. Not even a word about Elves (except for their homeland, but no race description) and dwarves – if they were supposed to be all dead, why aren’t they described? Elves are mysterious and hiding behind the Mythal, so it makes sense not to know much about them. Dwarves were killed in The War of the Three Crowns (after the Darkness), and Avariel “became extinct during the Darkness”, so even earlier. Any ideas except for possible “hey, we’re alive!”?
@ Jan:
Our knowledge about the redstream primarily comes from Ilias’s fifth grade essay. I think we can all agree that if the conquering bluestream armies wanted to obscure the true nature of redstream magic from a fifth grader living a millennium later, they were in a pretty good position to do that. I really think we will eventually learn some flaws in that outline, but it’s hard to know exactly what to replace them with. There probably is a good reason that virtually all magic is done via bluestream, and perhaps the two types lend themselves to more creative and destructive purposes. Purple magic seems to be important for the most powerful works.
However, when you talk about matter and anti-matter, I keep imagining somebody trying to combine redstream and bluestream magic only to suffer a giant explosion. If you don’t meant that red and blue streams destroy each other when they interact, I don’t really know what analogy you’re trying to make here.
@ Publius:
In a world consisting primarily of matter (bluestream… “everything”), antimatter is volatile and dangerous. A world consisting primarily of antimatter would work too…. but matter would be the dangerous one (and the antimatter would probably just be called matter)… i was going for the “cancel each other out” analogy… and also “not neccessarily evil”.
A lot of fantasy has this plot twist in which everything the heroes have done so far has aided the destruction of the world…. because they have done what they thought was right… but it was wrong. Could also be that our villain has some good and rightful reasons for doing what he does… but our heroes defeat him… then destroy this tower (maybe it’s an oversized bluestream-redstream-reactor?^^ just kidding, that would be a little ridiculous) then find out that without it, rocks fall and everyone dies. (e.g. it protects from the gigantic spell being cast in the future)
Scientists still don’t know why there is more matter than antimatter (in the surrounding universe)… put enough energy in a small place and it will “coalescence” into equal parts of matter and antimatter… which will again cancel each other out after a short period of time if they collide in any way, creating energy again… There are VERY obscure theories trying to explain why there is more matter than antimatter.
Likewise we don’t know why gaia was stronger than bhaal in the creation of the universe of gaia… or why there is seemingly more gaia than bhaal. I think the explanation given was “gaia was stronger than bhaal”. (i don’t think it is THAT important though)
As long as there is no greenstream….. oO
This comic has so many points you could speculate about…
Malchus wrote:
Hey, I resent that, we don’t mess things up! Okay, we’re not all universally alike, so it stands to reason that maybe the Thamor are involved here.
The Mithral??? I’m sure I’ll know soon.
Probably, “The Academy”.