Ask Novil questions about Gaia
└ posted on Friday, 20 December 2019, by Novil
Now that the end of Gaia is in sight, it’s time for the last “Ask Novil questions about Gaia” post. Here are the previous editions: [1], [2], [3], [4].
A lot of open questions have been answered in the last 100 published pages, but I’m sure some of you still have questions about the plot and the setting of Gaia and everything related to it. So please put them in the comment section of this post.
Did Viviana remember about her promise to Cassius Livy and arrange the agreed payment?
Chortos-2 wrote:
She’s had other things on her mind in the short time since her awakening. But I guess Ilias has arranged the payment in the days when she was unconscious.
What about the Buffins? We got confirmation about Ryker’s death, but given the pace of the story I imagine the general aftermath won’t come up. So, what happened with the adventurer’s and the Buffins?
Ultimatespirit wrote:
The adventurers were shown in page #34: http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2019/07/19/the-last-queen-of-gaia-034/
I don’t think anything particularly interesting happened to Ryker’s parents. They still have their tavern. Of course Ryker has been hailed as hero, but the parents played no particular role in the success of Viviana’s plan.
What happened to Captain Reginar and the other members of Osterath guard, that went into Ysgard? I feel like we probably would have heard something if diplomatic relations, or at least communications, with elves of Ysgard had resumed… but it also feels strange for the guards to simply leave a place with people that haven’t been seen in thousands of years, especially given how Ryn and Alissa continued exploring even after all of the civilians were safe.
-I recall how Viviana and Lilith had a “soul connection”. Does this connection also extend to San, given how she also seems to be one of Eldor’s “special ones”. If San does not have this connection, then why did Viviana have visions of San?
-While Viviana does not seem to have had much training in magic, does her having been conceived under the same circumstances as Lilith (and, presumably, San) give her a similar aptitude for magic as the prior two? If not, is there a particular reason, e.g. Eldor not secretly interfering to push her, or weird magic stuff?
-How did Viviana hear her voice saying, “Come along, ~~~, I have something for you?”. Or is this due to reasons that will eventually be explained?
It’s_A_Trap wrote:
I guess they were not successful in penetrating the Mythal, so they never actually reached Ysdar and nothing interesting happened there.
It’s_A_Trap wrote:
1) Note how http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2016/03/18/breaking-all-barriers-156/ showed three souls. The two on the top are Lilith’s and Viviana’s, the one on the bottom is San’s. Lilith and San are Eldor’s “touched ones”. Viviana is obviously not one of Eldor’s touched ones since he would have treated her in a very different way throughout the comic if that were true. But she was conceived at the exact same moment in time. That gives her a special connection to Lilith. Note how the spirits are dancing around each other.
2) Viviana has no special affinity to magic. She is very competent in using magic devices, but she only has slightly above average spellcasting abilities.
3) The sentence was obviously sent back in time through some means. That’s all I can say about it right now.
I guess this would still be spoilers at this point, but will we ever get the true history of war between Gaia and Bhaal?
And for something simpler, what happened to the inquisitor who broke finger of current queen of Gaia? After The Way Back 157 I mean. And what about the general who told her incorrect orders?
And regarding worldbuilding, do humans have personal computers or something similar? Because we saw lot of very similar technology but not exactly in hands of average humans …
Re-reading the previous questions … did you noticed there are additional non-answered questions in part 4? From JacobStepo, It’s a trap, Razel, SIL and TSK?
Because I would also be interested most of them … including about more details about the magical “organ” – if it’s vital, if it can regenerate after injury … and if Eldor was removing this organ from San and Lilith.
• 1: Does Lilith now know the answer to the question she asked the hag as to whom she really is?
• 2: When San appeared as “Cyan Girl”, was she fully aware of what she was doing, or was that her image being used by another entity to send Viviana a message?
• 3: When and how did Lilith learn teleportation spells if she was spending every waking hour in Oakdale studying “Breaking All Barriers”?
• 4: Did Eldor implant the tracking devices before or after the gang was trapped in Oakdale?
• 5: Did Lilith deactivate them when she teleported them out of Oakdale?
• 6: Do we know the identity of Eldor’s spies within the Shadowdancers yet? If so, who were they?
• 7: There were a number of items in the box Lilith opened for Viviana besides the recording crystal. Are they of any significance to the story?
What exactly is the Great Tree’s role in the setting?
PMark wrote:
… did it not happened yet from San’s viewpoint?
HKMaly wrote:
1) If you expect something like the talk of the architect in “Matrix Reloaded”, then probably not.
2) The inquisitor was first sent to hospital, but her face remains permanently scarred. Then she was sent to prison. I’m not sure if police has already found out about the general. That seems to depend on the testimony of the inquisitor.
3) No. Eldor obviously has similar devices, but humans have not.
PMark wrote:
1) Yes. Her soul was manipulated by Eldor to be able to cast the ultimate spell to break the shield around the Spirit Source.
2) That remains to be seen.
3) That remains to be seen.
4) Not important. But I guess shortly after their arrival in Oakdale.
5) That remains to be seen. But if I won’t mention it explicitly, it’s the most likely explanation.
6) Eldor has spies within the Shadowdancers? That’s news to me.
7) No. Just other personal things Viviana’s parents kept there.
RamenChef wrote:
I don’t think I want to expand much on the explanation already given in the story: It is (was) a mythical gigantic tree that is as old as the planet Gaia itself. It symbolizes the power of Gaia and it has a special connection to the Spirit Source. It’s the holiest place in Gaia and every person strives to see it at least once.
There were some additional questions from the previous question round #4:
JacobStepo wrote:
1) No.
2) Lilith is still alive, but she’s obviously not feeling well. A normal person would have already been driven insane by the pain and feeling of emptiness inside.
It’s a trap wrote:
Like in many fantasy settings, some magical items (crystals) can be used only once, some can be used multiple times, and some can be used as often as one wants or at least very often.
Razel wrote:
1) Apparently special portals can teleport you to a place that is as far away from Gaia as it’s physically possible.
2) Depending on the portal that is possible. But drones that immediately transmit the recording are very rare and only work with two-way portals and as long as the portal exists. A drone that flies back through the two-way portal would be a bit less expensive.
3) That depends on how well the drone is built.
4) That depends on the transmission technology. But I guess the space between the drone and the portal is more important than the space between the two portals.
SIL wrote:
1) Since Gaia is such a small planet, its curvature is even more pronounced than Earth’s. High-flying dragons can easily see the curvature of the planet.
2) This is irrelevant for the plot of Gaia. I’ve never thought about it in detail since I’m not particularly interested in that part of world building. But major economic sectors regarding trade goods are:
– Farming
– Natural resources, in particular metals
– Crystals
– Magic items
3) It’s a bit similar, yes. Viviana’s casket was locked with a spell that resembles an asymmetric cipher in some way.
TSK wrote:
1) Eldor doesn’t have “allies” under the elves. It’s more like he’s the absolute dictator of Ysdar. It doesn’t look like there are many dragons among the members of the Cult of the Two Heavens. Kali is Eldor’s familiar. Kali is a member of one of the rarer dragon species which may only be present in Ysdar.
2) The teleportation cubes were likely created by Isaac or one of his associates.
3) This is a very broad question. I think the comic should speak for itself in this regard.
4) That was likely a message for King Savos. The butterfly seen in the flashback could be a spying device by Eldor. But it would have had no impact on the story if it were a regular butterfly. The one seen with Faye is very likely just a regular butterfly.
5) The Tower in the Sky is clearly floating above the Void.
6) No. As Isaac’s son, Eldor can access the Crystal Fortress without much trouble.
Novil wrote:
Okay, then how was the Shadowdancer’s Greendew safe house penetrated?
PMark wrote:
Intel by the Cult.
1) In The Way Back Home 135, king Olrik said he’ll “fly” to Greendew with two mages. Was he going to ride a dragon? We didn’t see dragons in Cania service before, unlike Midgard. Or are there other means of long distance flight?
2) In The Last Queen Of Gaia 027-029, are Lilith and others preparing for the assault on the Shadowkeep, or for the Forbidden corridor? Looks like they didn’t use that spell in Shadowkeep battle. And they were talking about not triggering an alarm.
3) In The Last Queen Of Gaia 031, why did Ilias need Lilith’s help to record the battle in Shadowkeep? Recording crystals seem pretty common, like that in Vivi’s parents’ box.
4) In The Last Queen Of Gaia 035, how did they manage to broadcast Queen’s speech to Ysdar, bypassing Mythal? Surely Eldor wouldn’t want his subjects to hear enemy propaganda.
5) Why, on the other hand, image quality was so bad in Eldor’s office (he said this is due to the test of acceleration unit, but it sounded like there’s more behind it)?
6) In The Last Queen Of Gaia 044, what really was that “encoded” part of the room which intrigued Eldor so much?
7) How did Teglen manage to escape from Eldor’s demonic hole? Was he an illusion or a golem instead?
8) How did Viviana learn what Isaac’s trap do? She even knows how far it sends people into space.
9) Is everyone able to breathe in space, or just Eldor?
zerqui wrote:
1) Yes, by dragon.
2) For the assault in the Shadowkeep. Maybe they used the spell, maybe they didn’t. The assault was shown from the perspective of Eldor when it was already in full process.
3) You’re on the right track, but Lilith was not helping in recording the operation. He was rather asking her if they could record the operation in such a way that Eldor and anyone else would not notice it by shielding the magic emitted through the recording process.
4) Multiple wizards and dragons working together to break through an already slightly weakened Mythal.
5) The test on the acceleration unit was indeed the cause for the bad picture.
6) It was a distraction to catch his attention. A wizard was probably hidden there, but he would not have possessed any abilities to open the door or defeat Eldor.
7) They placed an invisible portal on top of the hole opened by Eldor. Creating such a portal was the crucial part of the planning since it was very likely that Eldor would cast a life-threatening spell at Teglen or a different member of the gang.
8) Well, the Crystal Fortress came with an instruction manual from Isaac. If the trap was not hidden when they found the Crystal Fortress, they had more than enough time to figure out its properties.
9) Everyone. There’s the same amount of “air” everywhere.
Novil wrote:
From TS-24:
Thank you Novil for this opportunity to ask questions!
1. We are told that San was kept back for her training and was largely unknown until she had matured as a priestess, but she still managed to be best friend with a worldly girl like Elea Calisto, who seems to have enjoyed gambling houses at least as much as the temple. How did that come to happen? Is there any significance for the story here?
2. I don’t think we have seen how the murder of Elea Calisto actually made San take new measures in the direction Eldor intended. Have I missed that, or did San take such actions that we are yet to learn about?
3. Given what we know about the events in Oakdale, are we assumed to be able to deduct something about what event Lillith referred to when she stated that she “rammed a dagger into the arrow of time”? Or should we just wait for this to be eventually explained?
4. In my opinion, Malva is one of the most complex and rounded characters of them all, actually including the main characters (she is a scholar, a nerdy and skilled horticulturist, decent at casting spells, a brave fighter, and a positive, sincere and likeable young woman). I am not sure how to express this question, but I’ll try to ask it like this: Is the way Malva is presented more or less a coincidence or has it been your clear intention to present her in this way? I hope we will see more of her. 🙂
Thank you in advance and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Regards,
Martin
– What are the enviromental and magical consequences of the destruction of the Great Tree?
– Now that Eldor took over Sandril’s body, is he human now? Mortal in human life expectancy?
are you going to make stories in this world yet?(I mean, after sthis story ends)
About our friend Eldor. He repeatedly said he wants immortality (denied by Gaia, he told, so we can assume he requested it). The immortality he is looking for is the same all people think it is? I mean, does such immortality comprise “properties” of the magic world of Gaia beyond simply not to die? Even more, to achieve it, does he need merely to control the Source, or does he need the entire Gaia World comes back to the state of things before Gaia’s takeover? In his own words, the answer seems to be the latter, but he always says part of the story, not the whole of it.
Is there any reason we have not seen Dyson in the past chapter? I mean, relevant for the plot.
Novil wrote:
Then who was Merle (mentionned in The Way Back Home 17)? She seems to be a member of the Shadowdancers, according to Viviana. Was Vivi mistaken, and it wasn’t Merle? Or was Merle still there, probably with other Shadowdancers, and threatened by the cultists to cooperate? If the latter is correct, what happened to them after Viviana and Ilias escaped?
Marteri wrote:
1) Just because she went to a gambling house doesn’t mean that she’s gambling addict. Not every pupil of the temple stays to become a priest. There is not really much of a backstory here. She was a friend of San, and killing her was one of Eldor’s challenges for his “touched ones”.
2) San’s investigations were not shown in the comic. Just like her fight against Isahara was not shown, but only mentioned afterwards. Showing all these details would have slowed down the plot too much without offering any kind of eye-opening revelation. Note how scenes taken out of movies are often funny or interesting, but also often feel overly long and slow. There’s a reason why they were removed when cutting the film.
3) I don’t think Lilith can be taken literally here. But something important happened in Oakdale that almost all readers seem to have not given the proper attention.
4) Malva happened by pure chance. Since I also like her very much, I’ve tried to give her some small roles in the next chapters although she was never planned to appear there.
Seven of Spades wrote:
1) As an immediate effect, teleportations are now possible in Greendew. But of course there will also be negative effects. But since the exact role of the Great Tree regarding the connection of the planet to the Spirit Source is unknown, the people of Gaia are also unsure about the impact of the tree’s fall. So far, no immediate bad effects have been seen. Maybe the Great Tree was more symbolic than central to the inner workings of Gaia’s system.
2) Previously, Eldor was an elf but also some sort of avatar of Bhaal. Now he’s an elf in a human body magically made to look like an elf, and still some sort of avatar of Bhaal. He’s a quite complex character, literally! 😉
Shadow Threat wrote:
I currently have no plans for this.
Mr.Pointer wrote:
1) Most of all, Eldor asked Gaia for more time to complete his studies: http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2018/12/04/the-way-back-home-182/ Do you know the German play Faust by Goethe? Eldor is a bit like the main character there: “I know much, but I want to know everything!” If you have to sum up Eldor: He wants to understand the world, return it to its initial “pure” state and rule over it as long as he pleases. His intentions and Bhaals are mixed, they cannot be separated anymore.
2) He’s probably back together with Lilith’s parents. He was already out of his depth when traveling with Sandril. He’s a solid wizard, but he just doesn’t have what it needs to support the group in the rest of the adventure.
Falkner wrote:
It wasn’t Merle. It was someone pretending to be Merle. Mentioning what happens to extremely minor characters cannot and should not be part of a story. This would be feature creep. Like Star Citizen in fantasy comic form.
Incredibly minor detail I’ve been wondering about.
The skeleton that is floating near Eldor when he gets yote into space… how long was he out there? How did he even decay in space?
Novil wrote:
A minor detail which is actually very important? Intriguing! I wonder if that is about that little girl Esther Szabo in Breaking All Barriers 141. She even “rammed” hedge clippers in her arm… Or maybe about that middle part Sandril misheard in Monster 083… But I guess that will be explained later.
Anyway, I got some more questions:
1) Why did Bahamut disobey Eldor? It simply didn’t recognize him in Sandril’s body, or is there a deeper cause? Or will we learn that later?
2) “Miss Goldbloom” who cast Laurus halo on Viviana in The Last Queen Of Gaia 004 is Malva, isn’t she? We never heard Malva’s surname before, and it’s hard to recognize them in that surgery attire. If yes, that should be mentioned somewhere, like on “Cast” page.
3) Who is the tipster they speak of in The Last Queen Of Gaia 019? Maybe a member of elven resistance? I wonder how they got in contact. Or will that be revealed later?
I’m curious about “9 Months” in BAB-144 and “before” in BAB-146. What influenced Viviana to write it without remembering it?
Puyon wrote:
Please don’t equate Gaia’s “space” with the space of our universe. Different physical rules apply. He was out there for several hundred years.
zerqui wrote:
1) The standard explanation would be that Bahamut did not recognize Eldor in this form, especially since he had lost most of his magical powers through the soul transfer.
2) Yes, it’s Malva. It was deliberate to hide her identity until the next page so that it’s not obvious that San is requesting an assistance we know and trust.
3) I guess I just needed Savos to say something how they got the info. There may have been better options, but I needed something short.
PMark wrote:
She was in trance. She was not in trance without a reason.
Novil wrote:
Thank you very much for the answers and explanations! And I am glad we will see more of Malva. <3
I have been thinking a bit about your reply to my third question. There is one thing in relation to Oakdale that I have been thinking about, and I wonder if that is the event you had min mind? It is when Vivi met herself in the forest, after she had been separated from her friends is certainly an event that comes to mind. Something appears to have happened with the time there – perhaps already when she got separated from the other. I have failed to see the significance of that, and there was nothing pointing towards Lilly being part of it, at the time. She said herself that it was "… as if someone cut the forest into pieces and the reassembled them." But perhaps she did something to stop what was going on…?
Further, we also have the fact that Viviana wrote "9 months before" and now you tells us she did this when she was in trance, and for a reason. But we never saw that, did we…? We do not even know if she did it Oakdale? Or did she wrote it when she was stuck in the wood alone…? Or will time show? 🙂
But I would like to ask another question. Was there any significance in the friendship between Silas and Lilly's mother? Was he spying on the family at Eldor's request?
1) Whatever happened to Casper, Viviana’s horse?
2) What was the sound Viviana heard in the Forrest?
3) Why was she separated from the others? Is it because she is a “touched one”?
Marteri wrote:
1) Since Viviana’s spirit had contact with Lilith’s and San’s, it has special properties that made Eldor’s maze spell not work correctly for her.
2) It was not shown, but Viviana wrote it was while they were in Oakdale.
3) Silas was Eldor’s spy in Oakdale. It’s always good to have some boots on the ground. Eldor has so many things to do, he can’t watch Oakdale TV all the time.
PMark wrote:
1) I’ve always wanted to show or mention what happened to Casper, but never found the right time to do it so far.
2) The sound was nothing in particular. It was an after effect of Eldor’s maze spell that did not work correctly for Viviana.
3) See above. Viviana is NOT a “touched one”. Only Lilith and San are. This should be easy to determine by the fact that Viviana is not even a wizard.
Back in Breaking All Barriers 43, when Viviana is being operated on by Eldor and the various dark figures, she gets her chested stabbed through in the spot similar to Lili and San’s chest sphere thing. Does Viviana have one and it was removed at that point perhaps? Or maybe since she isn’t a wizard that isn’t terribly significant for her?
Thanks once more Novil! The fact that Viviana is not a touched one and not a wizard brings up two further questions… In The Way Back Home 188, Eldor accuses Viviana of having planned the events that made parts of his plan fail. What made him assume that Viviana had the ability to do that? Would it not take a skilled wizard to see a future where Sandril have to come with the sword in the right moment, etc.
Secondly, how could he miss that it was Lilith who planned it? Did Eldor miscalculate his power over her? Is she so much more capable a wizard than Eldore presumed?
Victor wrote:
That was anesthesia or something similar, only a lethal stab in her chest by Viviana’s warped mind.
Marteri wrote:
Viviana is known to Eldor as a master of planning, so it was naturally for him to assume that she was behind it.
It’s not said anywhere that Lilith was responsible. It was just briefly discussed.
Novil wrote:
I see the point, after all, Viviana planned the rescue of Lilith. And indeed it is not said that that Lilith was responsible for the whole of the plan, but she said that she had to sacrifice Sandril. It is difficult not to draw conclusions from that, but eventually we might have a full explanation that will make us see all the events in a completely new light. I am thrilled! 🙂