|
Seoinin posted:Question being, why go through all that trouble? If you're planning to ambush, like, a king or something then yeah disguising your guys as agents from your hated rival country is probably not a bad idea. But a low-level functionary like Duane? Why would Cresce go through all the trouble of smuggling a dozen idiot thugs and a ninja deep into territory where they are probably kill-on-sight just to gently caress with some low-level functionary? Alderode is a police state that relies on everyone's extreme paranoia and hatred of Crescians to keep the populace loosely on the same side, so spreading rumors about "Crescian terrorists" executing random citizens serves a productive purpose. I do like Cowcaster's theory though, since Winalils appears to have something to do with Duane's condition and it's been hinted that he's buddies with Shadwe.
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 18:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 21:30 |
|
|
Gabriel Pope posted:Why would Cresce go through all the trouble of smuggling a dozen idiot thugs and a ninja deep into territory where they are probably kill-on-sight just to gently caress with some low-level functionary? Alderode is a police state that relies on everyone's extreme paranoia and hatred of Crescians to keep the populace loosely on the same side, so spreading rumors about "Crescian terrorists" executing random citizens serves a productive purpose. Yeah, these being actual Crescians is pretty unlikely. There's like three possible agendas that could be at work here. Could all conspirators form two lines, please, so we can sort through all this skulduggery in an orderly manner? e. "wait, poo poo, you guys aren't from the Committee on the Present Crescian Danger are you? gently caress I am so totally at the wrong false flag op." paranoid randroid fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Jun 19, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 18:25
|
|
|
Hey ninja why don't you take off your mask. Oh, you're waiting until Duane can't see you anymore, okay.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 18:54
|
|
|
I thought that the ninja was going to be Lemuel but he doesn't have the scar.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 19:18
|
|
|
Hey, this is probably the reason why Duane hates Cresce so much. I mean its obvious to the reader that something is fishy about these mercenaries, but I bet Duane ends up falling for their disguises until a suitably dramatic point later in the story. Also I could have sworn zombie-duane had both eyes intact, but I guess its not unreasonable that they'd fix his eyes during the zombification process. A blind zombie would be pretty useless after all. Coach Sport fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Jun 19, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 19:22
|
|
|
Coach Sport posted:
His zombie eyes are glass, apparently.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 19:27
|
|
|
Cowcaster posted:While it's pretty obvious there's a deeper scheme going on here with the ritualistic way they're taking care of Duane, I'm not convinced that it has anything to do with the councilor he bopped. The punishment for that transgression involved getting the tar kicked out of him without even his own daughter batting an eye, and he lives in a society where enemies of the state are put on kebabs and barbecued at the center of the city in broad daylight. Hiring a bunch of magiced-up thugs to kill Duane seems plausible, but just plain unnecessary. And Lemuel did mention Cresce was trying to smuggle mercenaries into the city. Except they're very clearly not trying to kill Duane, they're trying to capture him. Weak crossbows, poison, clubs, aiming for nonfatal blows. Duane's eyes are a glass pymaric - all parts of him are completely subject to rot, which is why he's held together by braces and straps. He's also got a sewed leather tongue, which you can see the seams of if you look close when he's having problems with Kara. Also, about the attackers being Crescian: it's well-established there are people who look Crescian but actually aren't. Turas, for instance. (http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch06/ch06_78.html). Given that we know Crescians don't use or like money, it seems really unlikely you'd be able to hire them as random thugs, versus hiring people from, say, Sharteshane or somewhere who just have Crescian ancestry way back when. It is also possible if a Silver caste (the dark skinned people with grey/silver hair) or a Copper (the guard who beat down Duane's a copper http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch07/ch07_94.html) shaved their head and glamored their eyes, it'd be pretty difficult to tell them from a Crescian in the dark. Plus, their reluctance to knife a cleric - well, he's Ssaelit, which most Crescians consider a heresy anyway - why would you be worried about cutting up a heretic? And Alderode is the only country where Ssaelit can even legally exist. Lem, the Shadwe and Winalils all may have a hand in this. Bodie I'm on the fence about - if he's involved, I think it's somebody using the recent situation to accomplish what they were trying to do anyway and pulling Bodie in at the last minute. Of that group, the one most likely to have non-Aldish contacts (though not Crescian, because I don't think any of these guys actually are) is Winalils, who has been shown to travel outside Alderode (which I'm betting the Shadwe never has, and if Lem has it's only to go to war.) Bodie might have the ninja, though, as he hates wrights and that guy clearly trained to be an effective hand-to-hand against them.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 20:14
|
|
|
Specifically the instructions were "His heart still beating". Then they deliberately put out one of his eyes, with one guy demanding they open his mouth, presumably to get at his tongue, which as you mentioned is missing. They may not want him dead yet but they definitely want him in a specific condition.
Cowcaster fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Jun 19, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 20:35
|
|
|
It occurred to me that turning a devout member of a religion that abhors the undead into a wight is a serious gently caress You, Buddy move.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 20:38
|
|
|
Seoinin posted:It occurred to me that turning a devout member of a religion that abhors the undead into a wight is a serious gently caress You, Buddy move. It's even worse, because the Ssaelit believe that you're autodamned if you're undead, even if you didn't choose to be raised. If you get killed in a war and the enemy comes along and ups your corpse back to dig some ditches? Too bad for you, straight to hell, out of the reincarnation cycle. That's part of the reason they're so uptight about ANY undead, even for Gefendurs.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 20:52
|
|
|
Someone already mentioned the creepy dead things appearing in pages 104 and 105, but is that Murkoph in the background? If so, is he part of the flashback or part of the current state of things in the Khert starting to seep through?
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2013 13:25
|
|
|
I think we're starting to get back to "reality", as it were. Ugh, I forgot about Murkoph completely during this flashback. I hope the Unsounded twist on him is the same kinda quality as the twists on Duane/Sette or he may as well be riding into the shot on skis to jump an actual shark.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2013 15:10
|
|
|
Oh boy, look who's back! Sette and... oh. Great. I guess this confirms it as a false flag operation, at least, because the timing is far too convenient.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 05:18
|
|
|
One of them did say "you can't do that to a cleric"; if they were actually from Cresce I doubt they would have cared about that, seeing as people like him would be put to death in their country.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 07:00
|
|
|
Roland Jones posted:One of them did say "you can't do that to a cleric"; if they were actually from Cresce I doubt they would have cared about that, seeing as people like him would be put to death in their country. Not to mention a Crescan wouldn't be using Aldish caste-based slurs to refer to him in the first place.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 08:30
|
|
|
It's an easy call that they weren't but I think it would have been more interesting if they were Crescan and had just been given his location by his own government. It would make him more a man with no allegiances.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 09:16
|
|
|
EgoEgress posted:Oh boy, look who's back! Sette and... oh. Great. Also because nobody in Cresce could possibly be stupid enough to think that this is a good idea, at least not with the Queen's name signed to it. This would be like "Hey American Christians, have this dead Jew. TAKE YOUR COUNTRY BACK! In loving memory of Osama bin-Laden."
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 15:29
|
|
|
This is absolutely somebody riling up the Ssaelit against the Gefendur by implying the Aldish Gefendur are allying with the Crescian Gefendur for the purposes of killing Ssaelit. Using people who look Crescian (but probably aren't) is probably just a failsafe in case they're caught in the act. Somebody is trying to provoke Aldish civil unrest/a possible Aldish civil war. Who and for what purpose is still unclear. And now I'm even more curious as to how Duane ended up what he is, because I had been assuming he'd've been dragged off at the end of this to be experimented on instead of left as a corpse in the snow.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 18:17
|
|
|
I'm gonna go ahead and say that the most likely explanation is whichever one crushes Duane's poor little patriot heart the hardest.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 19:29
|
|
|
It may not mean much, but I think on the Unsounded Wiki it has a list of Tainish words, one of which is 'galit' which translates to (funnily enough) 'galit'. I'm thinking that even with the supposedly cresician thugs mutilating Duane that there are definitely Blacktongue/Aldish involved with zombifying him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 23:27
|
|
|
It seems most likely to me that Cresce had nothing to do with this, and someone in Alderode is attempting to incite support for a war with Cresce by committing a murder that will shock people enough to bring together Aldish Ssaelit and Gefendurs against Crescians. Like Gabriel Pope said, it's a tone-deaf message, but maybe it's supposed to be.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 23:27
|
|
|
Thoughts about this last page: 1. They clearly did something unusual to Duane, because they asked for him to be alive before they did it. Did whatever it was result in his condition, or was there another purpose to it we haven't seen yet? If they were making him into an undead horror, why just leave him in the snow there as a message? If they were leaving him as a message, why not kill him normally? 2. I don't see Mikaila's dead deceased corpse anywhere. 3. According to Ssaelit belief, Ssael was betrayed and died but the Khert didn't take his memories. He wandered around in it for a while looking for a purpose before the whole deicide thing occurred to him. Duane is wandering the Khert here after his betrayal and death. Is there a connection? 4. Sette is just finding it harder and harder to laugh Duane off as an attack zombie. 5. Goddamned Murkoph. Why are you here? Why are you even a thing? I sure hope somebody stabs you in the face repeatedly before you start making GBS threads up the story. (I know this isn't going to happen, but let me dream.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2013 02:15
|
|
|
idonotlikepeas posted:Thoughts about this last page: Heart beating, as ordered? we know wizards can heal folks
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2013 02:46
|
|
|
Duane got dragged away from her body. Also he literally saw her passing over into the afterlife, or rejoining with the fat goddess lady, or whatever it is that happens in-universe that I can't remember specifically.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2013 03:20
|
|
|
Wheats posted:It seems most likely to me that Cresce had nothing to do with this, and someone in Alderode is attempting to incite support for a war with Cresce by committing a murder that will shock people enough to bring together Aldish Ssaelit and Gefendurs against Crescians. Like Gabriel Pope said, it's a tone-deaf message, but maybe it's supposed to be. Given the evident fractionalism in Alderode, I think that's pretty unlikely. It's way more likely strategic interior forces want to provoke unrest to seize power in some manner. I'd put money on Duane's assassination resulting in Gold/Ssaelit riots, which then give Gefender/other castes an excuse to crack down on them, further weakening their political position. We can already see that the Gefendur are making moves to disturb the balance of shared power, that's the whole reason Bodie had his Bright Idea and Duane cracked him one, and we have ample evidence of caste-based racism in general. The Gefendur are suspects, but there's also two prominent rebel groups in Alderode; there are the March, who want a more equitable society and whose members were getting merrily roasted on Duane's commute, and the Mmamont, who are a radical group of Golds who want a return to the pre-caste environment. Whether or not the Black Tongues have any stake in Aldish politics still remains to be seen. This reeks of something internal.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2013 07:59
|
|
|
idonotlikepeas posted:Thoughts about this last page: Not only do I agree with everything you said, I'm going to add to the list. 6. gently caress Alderode.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2013 11:01
|
|
|
TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:Given the evident fractionalism in Alderode, I think that's pretty unlikely. It's way more likely strategic interior forces want to provoke unrest to seize power in some manner. I'd put money on Duane's assassination resulting in Gold/Ssaelit riots, which then give Gefender/other castes an excuse to crack down on them, further weakening their political position. This is all true, but we know that in the present-day, just six years later, Alderode and Cresce are at war again. Wartime requires a united front against a common enemy, and Ashley Cope has described Alderode as a country ruled by two opposing religions united by their fear of outsiders. I think someone is using that fear.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2013 16:53
|
|
|
New page. I left a comment saying "Starfish was a sexier pedophile than this smug sack of poo poo." It was edited out within seconds. Oh well. I just had to get it off my chest. I'm really conflicted about whether to keep reading. The reader is obviously supposed to find Murkoph sexy and fascinating, and I'm just insulted by that. Otherwise I really like the comic, but if this guy is going to be a big part of it then I'm going to hate a big part of it. Argh. If only you could put a comics character on ignore.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 07:11
|
|
|
Jesus loving Christ get rid of this character please And after that goddamn stellar chapter too. This is a tragedy.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 07:17
|
|
|
Hex Vision posted:The reader is obviously supposed to find Murkoph sexy and fascinating I honestly can't tell. Like, I think he's supposed to be sexy (being her fanfic insert and all), but I dunno about fascinating. Revolted seems more on the point. Perhaps this is just the desperate rationalizations of a man watching a comic go down the drain  edit- quote:I left a comment saying "Starfish was a sexier pedophile than this smug sack of poo poo." It was edited out within seconds. That comment is still there unedited. At least for me. ThatBasqueGuy fucked around with this message at 07:25 on Jun 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 07:22
|
|
|
Hex Vision posted:New page. I left a comment saying "Starfish was a sexier pedophile than this smug sack of poo poo." It was edited out within seconds. Oh well. I just had to get it off my chest. No it wasn't. Murkoph's accent has me going cross-eyed. I had to reread this page several times to understand.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 09:32
|
|
|
Murkoph what are you doing in that first panel and why do you have arm wraps but no pants It seems some of the regular readers don't like him either, judging by some of the comments. I do hope he doesn't ruin this comic, it's been a really interesting story up to now.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 10:39
|
|
|
Jury's still out for me with regards to Murkoph but, at this point, I trust Ashley to know what the gently caress she is doing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 11:27
|
|
|
Even if she likes the character, I don't think she's writing him with the intention that others will. I don't like him because he's a nothing character from nowhere; if a character could literally be edited out of every panel they're in and the comic still would make perfect sense you have a really shittily written character. edit: doesn't mean I trust her to not gently caress up a perfectly good comic with this guy; every panel this guy's in oozes "  my favorite character! Lookit how fuckin sexy and mysterious he is! "
Fabricated fucked around with this message at 11:53 on Jun 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 11:44
|
|
|
That line Sette had about Duane being a dad all along tore my heartstrings, it really did. Then MURKOPH MURKOPH MURKOPH.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 12:39
|
|
|
I live in hope that the next few pages will have Duane doing the proper thing as a surrogate dad and reducing this guy to a chunky red paste.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 12:48
|
|
|
I really don't think you're meant to like this creep. I mean look at the look on Sette's face.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 13:38
|
|
|
Avshalom posted:I live in hope that the next few pages will have Duane doing the proper thing as a surrogate dad and reducing this guy to a chunky red paste.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 13:42
|
|
|
SirSamVimes posted:I really don't think you're meant to like this creep. I mean look at the look on Sette's face. I really like Sette in this page - she looks like she's about to stab him. I don't think it would work, but I'd appreciate the effort.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 14:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 21:30 |
|
|
This tumblr post actually explains some of her intentions with Murkoph. If you don't trust her to continue to handle her story after how well done this chapter has been, I don't know what to tell you.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 14:59
|
|