Daughter of the Lillies

My interpretation of his facial expression is that he feels tempted, which naturally wouldn't look friendly. But I admit I never liked him, so I might be a bit prejudiced. And the demon-thingy likely is no beginner, either, so ...

A bruised butt and a malevolent monologue.

edited 24th Jun '15 5:54:57 PM by TotemicHero

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

Regarding the current page, the rant posed a question to the comic's commenters that I found interesting: in Thistle's place, what spell might you use?

I have a few ideas that might work; one is to simply teleport to the ground—although I don't know whether teleportation is available in this setting, with what caveats, and at what level of magic.

Why do you think that it's not a beginner? My guess is quite the opposite: its approach seems rather blunt to me. That said, I'm operating from the perspective that dealing with such entities is a bad idea by default, and thus that a well-crafted appeal from such a being might be rather more subtle and rather less "just do this one really silly thing [step into the circle], and I'll give you everything you want!". After all, this instructor has presumably encountered many Draths, and I doubt that this is the first to give temptation a shot.

That said, it's plausible that deals with Draths are more common than I'm guessing.

edited 23rd Jun '15 4:21:56 PM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

I don't know, temptations are usually not very subtle. People do dangerous things for stupid reasons all the time, usually even without an intervening demon. The trick is to recognize someone's secret wishes. I was under the impression toad-monster had some exclusive knowledge about the guy wanting power and feeling old. Or something. If this was the real world, he could have a midlife crisis and do something stupid (but not as dangerous) without anyone trying to talk him into it, simply because of his own feelings of failure.

I don't claim to know how prevalent it is, but overall I disagree: while the action being tempted may itself not be subtle (power, money, etc.), the justification and convincing can very much be, whether in convincing the subject that the danger is minimal, or in convincing them that what they're doing is acceptable.

Additionally, subtle temptation might involve indirectly suggesting an idea and then letting the subject arrive at it themselves, thus believing the idea to be their own. Sufficiently subtle temptation might never be noticed as temptation at all.

But how often are they aware that those reasons are stupid? Conversely, how often are they convinced—whether by themselves or a third party—that they're in control, and that nothing bad is likely to happen? That element seems to be lacking here; the Drath has claimed itself to be powerful, which helps its claim of being able to grant power, but also increases the implied danger that it presents. It hasn't reassured the teacher at all, which seems especially silly given that, as a teacher of Drath-summoning, he's probably well aware of the nature and habits of these entities.

It may well have, but I imagine that such a power is quite common to such creatures.

My Games & Writing

Most people know smoking causes lung cancer, they still do it. I was always puzzled by this, but apparently it is how many people's brains work. I am therefore not convinced that knowledge of the danger will prevent someone from falling for it. (Many heavy smokers are doctors.)

To be honest, I question the sanity of someone who performs that kind of magic in the first place. Thistle is likely to have a good reason for objecting to it. After how we have seen her act so far, I trust her perceptions more than those of anyone else.

And of course there is the fact that something unusual is bound to happen, otherwise, there would be no point in depicting it. Of course, maybe this is a routine scene to be interrupted at a convenient moment, so that chaos can ensure. We'll see.

It needn't be a matter of being unaware of the danger. It could be believing that the danger is less than it really is, or a feeling of "it won't happen to me", or a sense of control over the situation.

As to smoking specifically, I get the impression that it's not uncommon for smokers to start when they're fairly young, at a time at which they may either be somewhat unaware of the danger (they're not yet doctors, after all), or have a mentality of invincibility ("it won't happen to me!"). And once one has started smoking, I believe that it can be notoriously difficult to stop: cigarettes are horrifically addictive, from what I gather.

Heh, I don't know about sanity, but I do question the wisdom of it!

As to Thistle... I've been thinking more about her, and about the previous few pages, and I have a new theory as to her nature: (Spoilered for those who want to avoid speculation.) I think that she made a deal with a Drath—likely for magical power—and has been possessed, albeit perhaps only partially.
Consider:

• We know that her face is horrific to look at.
• We've seen that Drath-possession can twist animal hosts into nightmarish forms.
• Thistle has expressed a particularly intense objection to Drath-summoning.
• Images her her using magic were juxtaposed with a Drath tempting someone with magical power.

edited 26th Jun '15 8:43:35 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

I was thinking something similar, although I wonder if someone else made the deal on her behalf, as that would explain her not being possessed.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

Perhaps, although that would call for an additional explanation for her face. ( Perhaps undeath?)

My Games & Writing

Maybe Drath deals corrupt everything they touch, regardless of who makes the deal. That would give a very good reason to not make a deal with a Drath; at best you get a twisted version of what you originally wanted.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

I think there is something in her past that has to do with draths, but I don't think she did that willingly. She just doesn't seem the type - after all, you can make plants grow with a lot of patience, too, and Thistle doesn't seem too fond of doing fireballs and the like. One does not make a deal with evil to be able to entertain children with magic tricks.

Perhaps... (Although now that you say it, your last line there does seem like a potentially-interesting premise...)

If so, perhaps the summoning circle belonged to someone else, and she was pushed or knocked into it.

edited 27th Jun '15 3:35:18 PM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

Lesson learned.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

Seems my theory about elf guy was wrong. Damn, he looked so suspicious!

What bothers me now is that the class is apparently not going to address the subject any further: they're showing students how to summon these creatures, giving them one demonstration of a temptation, telling them that it's a bad idea to listen to the Drath, and then leaving it at that. No discussion of the potential consequences, no dire warnings, just "yup, they do this, don't listen to them".

In all fairness, however, they may have covered some of this in prior theory-driven classes, I suppose.

On a more positive note, I'm glad to see that Lyra is willing to accept Thistle having been right (as the former now sees it). Given that I strongly suspect that Lyra has feelings for Brent, and that Brent has expressed interest in Thistle, I might have worried about her refusing to accept a position held by Thistle.

My Games & Writing

Keep in mind that technically Brent hasn't expressed his interest in Thistle yet.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

No, but he has been acting in ways towards Thistle that Lyra seems to have noticed; admittedly, looking back it seems that both his behaviour and Lyra's was less pronounced than I had thought.

My Games & Writing

Brent is in love with Thistle? Wow, I totally didn't notice that at all.

Of course that's no reason for Lyra not to acknowledge that Thistle was right. She would be lethally stupid if she let some jealousy get in the way of rational thinking, after all. (Admittedly, Brent and Lyra seem to be lethally stupid occasionally, but there must be a reason they survived until now.)

I wouldn't say that he's in love with her, but rather that he's shown signs of interest.

As to Lyra, well, jealousy can very much result in such behaviour in some cases, I do believe.

My Games & Writing

And now I shall taunt you.

A wild inner Drath appears.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

Uh no. Things are looking bad for Thistle. :(

In which our Drath finally finds a weak-point, and starts showing a little skill. We also learn a little more about the capabilities of Drath. (Interestingly, the alt-text reads "salt hurts most in a fresh wound", I believe—I take it then that the son's death was recent.)

This could end rather badly for the teacher...

Interestingly, it appears that that homosexuality is discriminated against in this society, or at least in some subset of it.

Finally, to quote the rant:

I wonder whether this refers to one or both of homophobia and temptation, or to something else that I've missed.

edited 13th Jul '15 10:44:17 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

I just KNEW elf guy looked like bad news. Now we at least know that he's a homophobe. I might still win my bet that he's going to turn to evil.

I'm hoping that one of our mercenaries puts a sword into the frog-Drath before it gets that far—I imagine that doing so is part of the purpose for which they were hired.

As to the elf, I may not agree with this trait in him, but I'm not sure that I'd call him "bad news" for that alone.

My Games & Writing

I don't know how true the claims of the Drath are, but it seems to imply that elf guy drove his son to suicide.

That would a good moment for the mercenaries to interfere, yes.