Drowtales: The Info Dump

[Vinyadan]

I'm sorry for Sil's aesthetics, she looked really cool.

[CWater]

I'm sorry for Sil's aesthetics, she looked really cool.

Oh yeah, the red doesn't really mesh with all the blue...

[HandofShadows]

Well, Sillice decided to try and spread some of the red around...

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by killing herself with a sword. Her daughter wouldn't allow her to do it. Diva turns her back on Sillice and closes the book she held. Which I think shows that she is more or less done with Sillice (I do not think she is done with the kids of the series (Nau, Ariel ect.) I think in many ways she is more like them than most of the "adults".) Seems the Forum Voices are going to be harras.. er talking to Sillice from now on. I don't think Kiel knows about this yet (Guess we have not told her yet?). And Naal is taking on more of her pre-taint personality.

Hmm. Odd thought. What if the Forum Blob is going to be follwoing Sillice around now instead of Kiel?

[eschmenk]

I have no pity for Sil'lice here.

Yeah, although putting up with the idiotic silliness of the forum blob is pretty harsh. Hopefully it will be funny watching Sillice going around saying random things like "these voices...why don't they leave me alone?" That will really impress Qain and the Shargs! She already seemed to be deranged so this just makes her seem even funnier. (Yeah, I realize that idiotic things won't seem so idiotic to Sillice, but it would be a harsh punishment for most people.)

I agree about the colors clashing, though. Her face looks really demonic and ugly in the second panel of the new page.

I can't be surprised that Sillice wanted to kill herself if she's hearing the forum blob talking , but how did she figure out that she was tainted? If she hasn't figured out that the voices are a result of her tainting, that didn't give it away.

The way Diva closed he book makes it look like she made a decision. Staying or going?

Seems the Forum Voices are going to be harras.. er talking to Sillice from now on. I don't think Kiel knows about this yet (Guess we have not told her yet?).

Apparently they did tell her. We saw the demons leaving Sillice a couple of times, so they may have been going back and forth between her and Kiel. At a minimum, Kiel knows that Sillice is tainted. Kadara didn't know, so it's unlikely that Kiel or Nau overheard the Sharen side talking about it. The forum demons would be the most likely source. Since they love Kiel, they would have told her.

And Naal is taking on more of her pre-taint personality.

I hope she doesn't become too vapid. Kiel needs someone to guide her, not enable her.

Hmm. Odd thought. What if the Forum Blob is going to be follwoing Sillice around now instead of Kiel?

Well, that seems to be the most likely outcome, right? I'm sorry that I didn't specifically point out that possibility in my earlier comment, but now do you see why I was concerned that Kern might use the situation to pander to the forum by having the forum blob solve problems involving Sillice from now on? It looks like the forum blob has already helped to convince Sillice that it would be dumb to commit suicide. Granted, there are other possibilities. Maybe Diva just found a spell that could be used to pull the demons out of people, for example. That seems a little too easy, but it's up to Kern.

[HandofShadows]

Ah yes. The TRUE power of the ancient Dark Elves is revealed!

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Porn.

[Vinyadan]

Or fruit preserves, if today's page is to be accounted for.

[eschmenk]

Does anyone know if Kern plans more Moonless Age chapters after this one? I realize that there is still more of Chapter 50 to go, but somehow I was thinking that Chapter 50 was supposed to be the final Moonless Age chapter. Kern would then begin another story set at a later time. I was hoping that was the case, because that might make a good time for me to stop reading the story. (I would probably read a little of the next out of curiosity, but stop before I became invested in the story.) However, I looked back at some things Kern wrote a while back and got the impression that several more Moonless Age chapters were planned. But I also know that Kern's plans have been changing. (Originally, he intended to to revisit Freyja's -- the horribly annoying elf girl's -- home, but fortunately he decided to skip doing that so he could end Moonless Age more quickly.) What wound up being the current plan, then?

[Vinyadan]

I remember that he had been working a lot on the Skyworld, and that he wanted Ariel to have some adventures there, but it was a very long time ago, long before the timeskip. But I don't think that the Moonless Age story will end here, Ariel is supposed to do stuff in the next chapters.

[eschmenk]

Err, actually, it was a bit more definitive than I remembered

This is the last chapter of the current timeline. After everything will be different.

Welp, that answers the question that I just asked. To be clear, I'm expecting that Kern will still be writing something like Moonless Age, however it will occur in a new era and therefore it won't be called Moonless Age anymore. It will be about the resettling the surface, I think, and I expect it will probably have the name of whatever the next age is called.

I think the only possibility for more Moonless Age chapters would be if he changed his mind since then, but I very much doubt that he has. Therefore, when Kern says:

With that page up, we'll be moving to complete the sarghress arc after 2 chibi pages. There's still one more page with Sillice before this chapter is over, but at the very end.

I think Kern means, one more page with Sillice in Moonless Age, period. And the Sraghress arc may be the last thing we see the Shargs do in Chel.

I remember being annoyed because the previous timeskip left a lot of plot threads unresolved, so I wouldn't be surprised if this one does, too.

[HandofShadows]

Well, Quain does NOT like having a sedative (which it probably wasn't) jabbed in her arm and goes rather berzerk. She injures (maybe even kills) one of her own guards and smashes the "healer's" face into a table. Hard. That may well be enough to make Khalas lose control and reveal herself. What is odd is the Khalas seems very worred about some of her medications being spilled on the floor.

[eschmenk]

Kern said:

With the healer getting her skull crushed on the table's edge.

Assuming Kern means that literally, I would expect that Khaless won't be able to use that body anymore, so she'll have to reveal herself. I don't think she would be forced to loose control, but she would need a body that shouldn't be dead. If all witnesses were killed, she might be able to reuse the body as she did with Lu, but I'm not expecting that.

[Vinyadan]

Well, this is Quain. Unless Khaless can reinforce her faces, I'm pretty sure that that one is dead, or is going to be shortly. Maybe some ridiculously sturdy individual like Sillice would survive and even return to normal functioning within minutes (I am still trying to factor her survival of a flight across two stone walls), but a normal Sul... not so much.

If the comic will leave this setting and all its characters, there is one thing I will regret: not seeing Shodun die.

[eschmenk]

Well, this is Quain. Unless Khaless can reinforce her faces, I'm pretty sure that that one is dead, or is going to be shortly. Maybe some ridiculously sturdy individual like Sillice would survive and even return to normal functioning within minutes (I am still trying to factor her survival of a flight across two stone walls), but a normal Sul... not so much.

Well, of course Lu's body would have suffered fatal injuries, too, but Khaless was still able to use it somehow. But of course, Khaless had time to work with it with no one looking.

If the comic will leave this setting and all its characters, there is one thing I will regret: not seeing Shodun die.[/QUOTE]

Huh. She was my favorite Nid, actually. If you could ignore the fact that she was a Nid, she seemed pretty nice. Why don't you like her? Because she attacked Sillice?

[Vinyadan]

It's mainly because of how she was presented in her first appearance: http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=6037 In chapter 19, all Nidra look like rabid dogs, and she was the only effective one who appeared in later chapters (and is still alive). So I guess I got stuck on her as "preferred target". Plus, she has received no characterization: she only appears to wreak havoc or disrupt or foil other people's attempts. Whenever she appears, my problem-solving sense starts tingling.

About attacking Sillice, Sillice is like a crazy aggro generating machine, you can't really hate someone for attacking her, it's in the nature of things.

[eschmenk]

It's mainly because of how she was presented in her first appearance: http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=6037

Oh, I didn't realize that was her. Yeah, she doesn't come across as being very nice there. I thought the first time we saw here was here, where she doesn't seem so bad, although Shashanna's narration is ominous, as is the fact that Shodun already knows what sort of questions Chrystal had been asking. That's what my initial impression was from.

FWIW, the wiki page for her fails to mention that she appeared in Chapter 19 and says that her meeting with Chrystal was her first appearance, but the Chapter 19 wiki page does mention her. This page says that Kalki did what Shodun did. I didn't pay much attention to that story (I didn't know or care who most of the characters were) and think I interpreted it the same way.

Oh, BTW, I think the idea was that rather than just knocking Sillice through the walls, Shodun also knocked the walls out of Sillice's way. (Based on what Kern said at the time, I think Shodun expected Sillice to die from falling to the ground rather than by slamming into a wall.) Actually, maybe you should hope that she does that sort of thing even more. Eventually she should drop the upper floors on herself.

[Vinyadan]

The problem with the wall thing is that even this would mean that Sillice could be hit by a force capable of blowing a hole in two stone walls at a fair distance from each other and keep going. I think it's at a "hit by a speeding truck" level. But maybe she just had a lot of adrenaline at the moment, and spent the following day with Chris and a bone mage.

Anyway, new comic.

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did she remove her eye on her own?

[CWater]

I always thought Shodun was creepy, don't really know why, maybe because of her looks; very red eyes, even compared to other tainted, and somewhat blank'ish expressions. I don't know how to describe it well.

The problem with the wall thing is that even this would mean that Sillice could be hit by a force capable of blowing a hole in two stone walls at a fair distance from each other and keep going. I think it's at a "hit by a speeding truck" level. But maybe she just had a lot of adrenaline at the moment, and spent the following day with Chris and a bone mage.

Anyway, new comic.

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did she remove her eye on her own?

I think she still has the eye, it's just very red because it's full of blood or something.

I wonder if this is going as Khaless wanted, if she injected Quain with something that made her go berserk, or if this is all Quain's own reaction when people defy her. It's hard to tell, really. I guess next page will reveal more.

[Vinyadan]

And today, Sharen Diplomacy 101!

I think the Bel did something similar in the first chapters, only with ambassadors.

[HandofShadows]

All the Clans have done similar things. Quin personally tortured a suspected spy in one chapter. Not to mention forcing Ariel to beat another child to death. The Drow Clans are Not Nice(tm).

[CWater]

All the Clans have done similar things. Quin personally tortured a suspected spy in one chapter. Not to mention forcing Ariel to beat another child to death. The Drow Clans are Not Nice(tm).

And they all hate each other for the things the others have done. Never considering that not everyone in a single clan are always the same.

...Does this remind you of anything?

[HandofShadows]

...Does this remind you of anything?

Human beings?

[Vinyadan]

And they all hate each other for the things the others have done. Never considering that not everyone in a single clan are always the same.

...Does this remind you of anything?

The should make the "Val'Special'Snowflake" clan. For people who are normal.

But then Sillice would hear about it and take over, and everyone would be sad.

[Vinyadan]

So, it's a kinda big deal.

[eschmenk]

As the commander explains to Ariel that Quain is going to die, the demon emerge from it's dead host to escape only to find it is being hunted.

And that's why I read the forum. There isn't any way I would have understood that just from looking at the artwork. I can see Kahless flying around outside, apparently still looking for an opportunity to get at Quain. She's spotted by another Drow, but that's all I see.

Laele is pretty much the only person who could be hunting Kahless, so if Kahless is being hunted, the Drow must be Laele. Using meta logic, they will apparently fight. The only reason for Kahless to get close enough to fight would be if she thinks she make good use of Laele's body. But how? For an attempt to kill Quain? To appear sane and try to take over the clan? Something else?

If it's to kill Quain, why wouldn't she just allow the disease to do it? Does she think that a cure will be found in the next few days? Was she trying to kill Quain earlier? Will we find out what she was trying to do earlier? Kern hasn't answered those questions.

[guttering flame]

And that's why I read the forum. There isn't any way I would have understood that just from looking at the artwork. I can see Kahless flying around outside, apparently still looking for an opportunity to get at Quain. She's spotted by another Drow, but that's all I see.

Laele is pretty much the only person who could be hunting Kahless, so if Kahless is being hunted, the Drow must be Laele. Using meta logic, they will apparently fight. The only reason for Kahless to get close enough to fight would be if she thinks she make good use of Laele's body. But how? For an attempt to kill Quain? To appear sane and try to take over the clan? Something else?

If it's to kill Quain, why wouldn't she just allow the disease to do it? Does she think that a cure will be found in the next few days? Was she trying to kill Quain earlier? Will we find out what she was trying to do earlier? Kern hasn't answered those questions.

I assumed Khaless wanted to impersonate Quain after she died/killed her. (From perusing the drow forum, Khaless was the doctor Quain just killed so Quain wasn't paranoid. The doctor was really out to get her)

Now she'll fight Laele. I have a problem with Laele. She's an aberration in the worldset. How did she become a demon killer and if she's so effective why aren't there more like her? I hope Khaless wins. She's much more interesting than Laele who's basically a weapon.

[eschmenk]

I assumed Khaless wanted to impersonate Quain after she died/killed her. (From perusing the drow forum, Khaless was the doctor Quain just killed so Quain wasn't paranoid. The doctor was really out to get her)

Yes, that was Kahless. Back in Chapter 46, a Sharg by the name of Erelice managed to stab Snady in the back while Kahless was nearby, but was having trouble controlling Lulianne's body. Unfortunately, Snady survived and Kahless took over Erelice's body. Then earlier in Chapter 50, Kahless was able to use Erelice's body to infiltrate the Shagress area, where she took over the healer's body. Then she used the healer's body to work on Quain, but Quain smacked the healer's head into the table. Then Kahless left the healer's body in the current page and floated around outside the tower, probably looking for another opportunity.

Come to think of it, if you are right about Kahless wanting to take over Quain's body, that might help explain why Kahless looked so upset (as the healer) when some liquid was spilled (middle panel). It might have been the cure! I don't know why she couldn't magically fix Quain's body if she could magically fix Lulianne's body (which had originally suffered what should have been a fatal fall), but maybe she didn't want to take over a diseased, dying body. So she may have intended to give Quain the sedative (to knock her out) and actually cure her, then take over Quain some time while Quain slept off the sedative and the guards weren't paying attention. (She probably wouldn't do it right in front of everyone, although using Quain's body, she probably could kill a single witness or two if they didn't get away fast enough.)

Now she'll fight Laele. I have a problem with Laele. She's an aberration in the worldset. How did she become a demon killer and if she's so effective why aren't there more like her? I hope Khaless wins. She's much more interesting than Laele who's basically a weapon.

Yes, Laele is essentially a walking Deus Ex Machina. Kahless is a potential problem too, though. As long as Kahless exists, you could never really be certain that anyone is really who they apparently are. (Fortunately Kern always dropped hints and didn't abuse it, but theoretically he could have.) Fortunately, Laele just disappears much of the time. I think Kahless will be the one killed, just for the sake of justice. It probably doesn't doesn't really matter who is the more interesting character since the story is almost over anyway, unless Kern would carry the character over into the next story. Maybe they will both die?

[HandofShadows]

Now she'll fight Laele. I have a problem with Laele. She's an aberration in the worldset. How did she become a demon killer and if she's so effective why aren't there more like her? I hope Khaless wins. She's much more interesting than Laele who's basically a weapon.

Guess you don't know Laele's history. She is, or was Quains favorite daughter by got badly tainted on a mission. To try and save her Silice tried something experimental on her to remove the taint and it didn't work. Laele was reduced to a near animal state and occationaly can go go nuts if she is in combat and kill everything in her path. And she is VERY VERY good at killing. Laele is a dangerous barely half controled weapon and little more and that is why you don't see other people like her. She actually seems to have been a lot like Ariel before she was tainted though and comes across as a tragic figure (to me at any rate). The Chapt 50 concept art for Laele has on it "A demon sealing zombie What could go wrong!?"

[Vinyadan]

I think that Laele was a nice character (or rather plot element) back when she was introduced. And the question "what happened to Laele to make her like that" was, to me, the Sarg equivalent to the Sharen "How did the coup come to be".

Then Kern didn't have any use for her, and he forgot about her. Which was... kinda OK. He probably could have done the same with Chiri and Shan, they quickly became less interesting during the journey on the surface. I think it was part of the shift of the comic from "inside the Sarg court" to "Chris & the other girls".

But one of the readers paid to bring Laele back into the story for this chapter. Which I guess is why these happenings haven't been prepared earlier.

The story of Laele was never explained in the comic. The wiki says this "exorcism" theory, but then contradicts itself, and the comic actually had a chibi page in which it was said that she had been killed and was consequently turned into a flesh golem, which was pretty underwhelming as an explanation. And it also meant a lot questions about how flesh golems work.

It's things like this that don't make much sense, Chiri for example was supposed to be struggling with her being half light elf but it was never revealed in the main comic until she discovered that her whole race was made of light elves.

[eschmenk]

The story of Laele was never explained in the comic. The wiki says this "exorcism" theory, but then contradicts itself...

I kinda agree with what you are saying, but where does the wiki even mention an exorcism? It's not mentioned on this page as far as I can tell. (Neither is Sillice.) Some other page? Some other wiki?

Unfortunately, Laele'aell's overwhelming successes did not last. She had an incident in which a demon destroyed her mind, leaving her an empty husk of what she used to be. She still seemed to have some capacity for following simple commands, but her now animalistic intelligence was clearly unfit to lead any troops at all, let alone the entire clan.

IIRC, that's as much as we were told in the comic. Well, apparently, there was also this, but I think that just means that Quain (unfairly?) blamed Mel somehow. To me, that and the next page seem to contradict the Silice exorcism theory, though. It shows that Laele's mind was gone and the Shargs were already acting as if Laele was dead while Diva was still Empress and before Kalki was born/created (next page). Sillice didn't flee to the Sargs until years later! I can't imagine that Sillice would have tried helping Quain before the revolt.

Even if HandofShadows's explanation is correct, it wouldn't fix the problems with Laele, IMO. How does having your mind destroyed in an exorcism make you so undefeatable? How would it give someone the power to consume demons?

I guess, unlike you, Laele seemed way OP to me, so I really didn't care for her as a character. She did add a rather dark, frightening aspect, though. And yeah, the way she didn't seem to be explained very well didn't help either.

[Vinyadan]

It's in the wiki, at the "Fallen Legion" subsection of the Sarghress page.

As for Sillice, you are actually making some good points. In the first versions, Sillice was a daughter of Quain, I can't remember if adopted or otherwise. So it's possible that she also was a Lolth priestess and tried this out. But I think that the Sillice part is a deduction made by fans, since she was described as the best conjurer in Chel with the possible exception of Snadhya.