They could be either tattoos or scars (if scarification was used). They’re all in the general shape of magical sigils or runes in the OOTS world, if you look at the second Order of the Scribble comic, where they’re putting up the defenses for their respective gates, Dorukan, the actual mage, has the same type of sigils in his ball-o-spells as some of the deaders in the dining hall have on their faces, and also as the walls of the dining hall have carved or painted into them.
Not quite $1,254,120 but there was another example this week of how webcomic fans can surprise a creator.
Jeph Jacques, who does the webcomic Questionable Content, was given a badly misprinted copy of his book collection (the cover is off center and the pages are upside down).
It obviously couldn’t be sold normally in that condition, but rather than just throw it out, he signed it and drew a cartoon inside it and put it up on eBay as a “one-of-a-kind” collectible. He made the minimum bid one cent.
Five days later, the book ended up selling for $390.
On thinking about it some more, some arguments against the Dining Hall Massacre being the result of Familicide:
First, it’s hard to find a valid link between the dragons and Girard. He’s not a half-dragon, so there’s at least one generation between him and his most recent dragon ancestor. And while Girard himself could plausibly have still been alive (though very old) up until the Familicide, it’s a major stretch that either of his parents could have been. This could possibly be explained by some of his followers/descendants actively seeking out dragons as mates, so as to keep the magic strong in the bloodline, but if they were doing that, then you’d have expected the Familicide to branch out to other dragon types, too. Alternately, it could have been a separate casting, by Haerta possessing someone else, but that’s dramatically unlikely (someone we’ve never even been introduced to shouldn’t have that much effect on the story), and still falls afoul of the second objection below.
Second, Penelope surely isn’t the only one in her situation, having had a child stolen away by a Draketooth lover (in fact, there must have been a great many such cases, for the Draketooth clan to have grown as large as we see). So there should have been a good many others who died of “mysterious circumstances” at the same moment as Penelope, and it seems to me that Tarquin should have noticed something like that. In fact, many of those jilted parents probably re-married (or at least, re-mated), and most of them presumably not to folks who are using birth control, so the Familicide could plausibly have spread to a significant chunk of the Western Continent’s human population.
To play Devil’s advocate to your Devil’s advocate:
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If Gerard’s ancestral line is dragon, longevity would be one of their traits. Thus it’s not implausible that Gerard’s parents are (or, were) alive and kicking at the time of the Familicide spell
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That we (or, more precisely Tarkin) hasn’t heard of deaths beyond Penelope doesn’t mean anything. First, because leaving a big clue like “everyone human related to dragons suddenly died!” would be fairly bad storytelling. Second, news may not travel that fast. So a could hundred humans across the globe died mysteriously. What of it? It’s not like they can tap into the internet and check out youtube videos of people getting zapped with purple lightning and connect the dots. And third, you’ll note that no one’s said “boo” about 1/4th of the Black dragons in the world dying! If that can go ignored for 200 panels, so can the (possible) human deaths too.
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It’s possible that other humans didn’t die. Perhaps Gerard and Penelope’s lineage are the only two affected. Familicide isn’t an official spell and its mechanics are largely unknown. Range may be unlimited but what about creatures it affects? 100? Infinite? Somewhere in between?
Perhaps the sudden, unexplained deaths of a number of half-dragons and people with dragon blood was the sensitive matter that the ambassador from Reptilia needed to discuss with the red dragon Empress in strip #754?
I think that the only reason the death of that many dragons has gone unnoticed is the point of view we’re seeing the story from. I imagine that it’s quite the topic of discussion, among dragons.
And it wouldn’t be “everyone human related to dragons”. It’d be people who are related to people who are related to people who… are related to a particular clan of dragons.
What a sec…what class is Gerard? Isn’t he a sorcerer?
In 3.5, sorcerers gain their powers due to a dragon being in their distant ancestry. They are dragon-blooded, but not half dragon. It’s why the prestige class for the Sorcerer class is the Dragon Disciple - if a sorcerer gains enough levels, they can sprout wings and have fire breath and everything.
Illusionist with 2 levels of Ranger, IIRC.
What constitutes “family” as far as a Familicide spell goes? After all, just as all humans are presumably descended from one common ancestor, I would assume the same would be true for black dragons. So why doesn’t the Familicide spell wipe them all out? It is good only up to second cousins twice removed?
Well, in 640, V claims that anyone who could possibly claim to be part of the black dragon’s family is now dead and that approximately 1/4th of the black dragons in existence are gone. I guess that means anyone who could be said to share DNA with the black dragon is dead? I dunno what Burlew’s education looks like but I doubt he was thinking about the evolutionary implications of familicide.
V also spelled out that it was anyone directly sharing a bloodline with the dragon, and also anyone sharing a bloodline with them. So two steps away on the family tree.
In the OOTS Forum, some people have suggested that Haerta Bloodsoak accidentally killed herself with the Familicide spell. The theory is she cast it on some enemy that she was unaware was related to her. Which is a theory so good, I’m choosing to believe it’s true. (Burlew however has said Haerta and the other two soul splice mages do not have any back-stories. He said all they are are names and the appropriate alignments and magic specialties.)
Haera Bloodsoak (of the Boston Bloodsoaks) was already dead. I can’t see how any death spell would affect her.
Little Nemo is suggesting that might have been how she died in the first place.
Invent Familicide - use Familicide but kill herself by accident - get bound to V - use Familicide again.
The way I understood it, is that for every creature it hits, it also hits that creature’s living parents and children (if any). So it’s cut off when all of the next eligible targets are already dead.
Ack! I need to choose a book for the Kickstarter drive!
As I said before, I’ve read all the prequel books, and have SS and DT. Which of the “reprint online strips” books is best?
#3 or #4. Those are the ones where the extra strips really start adding to the story instead of just being bonus content. Between the two, I’d pick #3.
Thanks for reminding me!
No survey in my inbox yet! Just reread Origin of Pcs and start of darkness. Can’t wait to be sent all the full colour books! Magnets and stuff will be nice filler, but its all about the books!
I have all the prequel books, so this drive is my chance to pick up Don’t Split the Party and Dungeon-Crawling Fools. I’ll buy the others through ookadook later. The other stuff is going to be fun, too. Especially the pledge drive patch.