Some things come back to bite ya. Some come and break all your armor with a single attack that seems to be more effective against the area around you than just you… Ok that’s a rather specific something that will make sense to some people especially once the next few pages come around to fill in some of the hints.
What just happened?
Let’s see- the Diplomat lied about the trap, but wasn’t completely lying, meaning they did have something dangerous in the trunk. Kaylin assumed it was the potion she took, but he should have noticed that was missing immediately. When that didn’t get him to stop, Kaylin felt it was too dangerous and he was going to start making too much noise. So she used her new weapon and well- while not shown she cut him in half- but he was going to wind up burned anyways so I focused on the flame slash and fire effects.
Then, he dropped the item he found. A magical metal plate that summons a creature from the bottle. (people are supposed to figure this out from the focus on the plate, the image of the creature on it, and the noise it makes as it hits the ground being unusual- and then the creature appearing)
The creature emerges from Kaylin’s inventory, as she put it in there to hopefully keep whatever it was safe. She’s naturally confused by this as- normally things cannot interact with a players inventory.
She’s not familiar with a creature like this in the game Rune Aria- matching her previous thought- that this creature must be from the bottle and not from this game.
Kaylin recognizes the creature is preparing an attack of some kind- and goes to dodge it- only to still take a partial hit from the enormous blast, that takes out the wall and part of the roof to the outside- and continues through- all the way to blowing up a tower off the castle proper behind the estate.
Kaylin also mentions her armor is in the red, meaning the attack somehow has threatened her equipped armor to the breaking point. (Something that as will be explained more later- is not common. Armor and weapon durability – while a thing originally in Rune Aria, was drastically reduced as a feature in the game, because no one liked it. No one wants their prized items to break if you forget to repair them. So it’s part of the mystery about why her armor nearly broke and how this thing didn’t kill Kaylin even with a glancing hit, if it’s capable of destroying entire buildings. I hope it’s something people can figure out on their own).
This script was pretty packed to make sure I can fit everything in. I also went a little overboard on the effects. I drew a lot of damaged flooring and roof tiles and – all that got blown out by the bright energy blast XD
As with many comics, this whole thing is going to require people to look at multiple pages to get the full picture.
Thanks! I think the bright blast frame that covered up the broken roof is the key. If we could see it with a less bright, more conistent beam (more like a laser), then it would be clear, that Kaylin was not hit by it and the broken tower was not her counter attack, but the effects of the beam outside of the building. Maybe if the side stepping frame was a bit more zoomed out (partially showing the attacker and/or the room) and the shattered roof a little less bright (with the white beam being more tightly packed), then it would have been easier to understand what happened.
Well- Kaylin was hit by it, it was just a glancing blow as her dodge shows her still in the blast, but due to her abilities she did mitigate most of the damage, and yet it somehow nearly destroyed her armor, which is why she’s so freaked out.
I mean I would assume her armor has a save her from death effect but the cost is its then in a broken state needing repairs.
seems more like it dealt high armour damage… possible as a weapon designed to combat players
The explosion looks like someone fired a shot from outside the city walls ; you have plausible deniability 😀
But damn. Maybe that poor sod had his family or lover kept hostage, and that’s why he could not give up.
You mean based on the explosion? I should put some stuff and embers showing out from the back – I’m going to go back and see if I can do that now. If it’s because the beam is bigger at the source- that’s just how distant perspective works o_o
There we go – updated with even more effects! If you don’t see the change in the final panel Force Refresh the page to get the updated image. Hopefully that helps a little! 😀
ooooh
(but I didn’t mean that as an art criticism, just that Kaylin could pretend it wasn’t her fault)
this is both interesting and concerning
Ouch!
Okay, who’s the joker that decided Clyde needed a Mouth Energy Wave attack.
Kaylin’s lucky to be alive! Looks like she’s definitely traveling to this mysterious kingdom if they can create such dangerous items.
This is an AoE effect, which I think needs a Reflex saving throw. She is a rogue. She definitevly has Evasion…, and Improved Evasion and a high reflex save.
But this was point blank and like it sounds like, the explosion was more useful against nonorganic matter. Her armour gets shattered and the walls are looking like swiss cheese.
Feels like this new kingdom doesn’t just have an adventurer, or access to adventurer abilities, but it is an adventurer from another game/world. Mike might not have been the only one to crash here, or there are portals between the worlds.
*places a $5 bet on the kingdom having a stargate or similar portal*