Wielder of Names 6-117
“Lord Intra,” said Intra’s sparring partner one day, “You are called Lord of Swords. Yet you are a man, and men make poor swordsmen.”
“It is true,” said Intra, for nearly all of the famous sword masters of the day were women and the ya-at, who were three sexed. This tradition was rather long in the bones, and rumored to have been started by a famous vagrant who rarely cut her hair and lived in a barrel. There was popular theater about it, in those days.
“Men are too preoccupied with their swords,” said Lord Intra, “They get distracted.”
“You mistake my meaning,” said Intra’s sparring partner, “What I mean is this: you are a mere man. What can you do to the new gods of the Red City, with their whips of fire and their heavy chariot wheels?”
“I am not concerned with enmity,” said Intra, “I am very skilled in Pankrash Circle Fighting”
“It is true you are very fierce,” conceded his partner, “But my son’s fighting beetle is also very fierce. Could his beetle fell a lion?”
“That depends,” said Intra, “How skilled is the beetle in Pankrash Circle Fighting?”
“Beetles cannot learn Pankrash Circle Fighting, Lord Intra,” said Intra’s attendant, and made a bitter motion.
“Don’t tell the beetle that,” said Intra, who was very skilled at smiling. “If you don’t tell him he will learn it anyway and cut the lion in half with a single blow.”
-The Song of Maybe
We Spelljammer now!
YES!!!! I hope Oscar is helming it 🙂
I can’t express in words how much I love the fact someone other than me remembers that setting. The books were not half bad either.
I heartily approve of Spelljammer as I do good old Planescape. Ah, to adventure through Wildspace and seek the infinities of the Planes. It is from these experiences that I have come to so appreciate this story.
Ah Spelljammer, now there is a name I’ve not heard in an age. The cosmic wanderings of Spelljammer through the phlogiston and the philosophical expanses traveled in Planescape have truly shaped and influenced my appreciation of KSBD.
That’s a rather familiar little blue Devil there helping out.
Do we recognise Princess Mamoru Moonshine Jaegermeister Jack Jack Daniels Timothy Tim Bill Freddy Mercury Blueberry Luna Esq?
Do we recognise Nyave Anyadis of Mykos?
Do we assemble a crew of hangers on, to sail across worlds?
Princess mamoru moonshine jaegermeister jack jack daniels timothy tim bill freddie mercury blueberry luna esquire!
You came back!
I wonder if Luna esq. is nursing a grudge.
Always. But such is the way with demons.
Hoom!
Now you know how Silence works in RPGS
I swear I can see Mother Om’s eyebrow twitching as she’s covered by Cio’s little paper men. Must be an illusion of the Art.
No. You can clearly tell that this is the not-coolest of the not-cool things that have happened to her today.
Oh man, they’re doing the thing! They’re doing the thing where the people they met along the way become their followers! Nyave and Princess sure look like they fit right in.
A sealed mouth is a curse unspoken. It is also an explosion of rage waiting to happen. The wise would be swift in escaping the blast radius.
I hope you can jump, Allison
I’m sure all the holes punched in your legs won’t cause any problem with that at all.
oh hey its princess etcetera esquire and that one girl whose clothes ali took
Princess Mamoru Moonshine Jagermeister Jack Jack Daniels Timothy Tim Bill Freddy Mercury Blueberry Luna, Esquire thank you very much.
Welcome tha
That look of surprise -> sheer rage seals Allisons doom. I love it.
Is that who I think it is manning the tiller?
From Queen of the Multiverse to Grumpy Cat in only three panels. A new record!
Transport Ordnance 5073.26, Subsection [28], Unlicensed Air Travel
1. Unlicensed air travel requires proof of crew mottle exceeding three yonjam per crewman.
2. If motleyness does not meet required parameters, summary first-degree banishment is the sanctioned punishment.
3. 1 yonjam shall be defined as one one hundredth of one [untranslatable; pictogram is suggestive of large hair, monkey tail, and curiously, filler.]
Well, I’d wager a former ebon devil possesses at least 15 yonjam regardless. This may even be Princess Mamoru’s airship. Or Cio’s, I suppose.
Mottom’s expression in the third panel means “Blue devil initiative too high; YISUN pls nerf.”
That look on Mottom’s face.
Lol.
This is not her day at all is it?
This is… not an outcome I ever would have predicted. I’m awed.
Once, long ago and before my world was conquered, a mighty beast dwelt in the mountains to the North of my family’s tree. Feline it was, with a dozen serpent tails and a third eye of green tungsten. Its pelt was of fine osmium, each hair axiomatically aligned so that no weapon of that age could harm it. Nightly it would slink down the cliff face to slaughter the filthy inhabitants of some poor human villages. In those days, men had not yet learned the art of cutting, and no walls were built to withstand war.
This way went on for near twenty moons. The cries of a dozen victims rang every night, mixed with its laughter. It grew bold and brazen as the communities fled to better fare or were slain entirely. As it learned the gift of speech from the pained shrieks of prey, it left cackling one night with a half-dead hero tangled in its tails; it boasted “My name is Death! You clawless fools take heed! Stay awhile, I’ve need of fresh bloodwine!” ‘Death’ then ran gurgling in blood, choking another meal down as it guffawed.
The next morn I found a young boy dozing among the roots of my tree. He had hardly seen ten winters. I woke him with harsh words and petty twigs, as was custom, and he quickly laughed at his own misfortune. We came to speaking.
“Hoo-whoo! What brings such a whelp down this way?”
“I wish to sing, ser,” he replied.
“Among US?!?! Ha! Your voice is cracked to ours!”
“Not to you, silly. Besides, I’m a simple gardener’s apprentice, and I seek a bulb fore I may sing. I’ve heard the most beautiful flowers blossom in the mountains yonder.”
Before I could properly rebut, he was off. His little dirt-caked hands were all he had by his sides as he wandered off into that stony labyrinth.
A few moons passed before I heard a whistling on the wind. Out from those barren crags stepped a familiar face, caked in black blood. The boy was clothed in blood, his woolen rags laying in tatters round his neck. Yet, he seemed unharmed save a few scratches on his palms. A small, green orb of tungsten was clutched tightly in his little paw. Needless to say I was intrigued.
“Hoo-whoo! Who comes this way, singing with a bulb in his hand?”
“Hullo, ser! It’s me, Afo! I’ve got my bulb, it will be most beautiful indeed once blooming!”
“How did you come across such a bulb? I trust the seller did not haggle too much.”
“Why, ser, he gave no trouble once gagged!” he chimed, with as much care as if he had just discussed the weather.
I’ve never seen or heard of that Afo since.
If one wishes to kill the immortal, you need only halt its voice.
WHY truly what a story, a story indeed for which I, Jawis-Tel, singer of songs, teller of tales, surely you have heard of me, has obviously heard. Yes.
Is that Princess Mamoru Moonshine?
I thought they looked familiar…
I don’t think there’s a single entity in this page that I wouldn’t lay with. That includes the ship and every scrap of paper. As well as Lord Intra. And his sparring partner. And the beetle.
Where’s a loaf when I need one?
Given your profession, it might behoove you to take up baking?
It would never work. I would bake for a couple hours, then spend the rest of the day desecrating my product. It’s a lot easier for me to defile bread for a living.
Oh. I AM SORRY IF I CAUSED OFFENSE WITH MY OBVIOUS QUESTION. YOU HAVE SURELY CONSIDERED SUCH THINGS IN THE PAST.
That annoying feeling you get when some talks over you in the middle of a sentence.
One would think a wielder of the Red Art would make it a priority to learn to speak without a voice.
But I suppose that might be a step too far for one who fears change.
On the contrary, we have seen the Terrible Queen extinguish a man with nothing but a gentle breath.
Sadly for She Who Is Glory, Cio’s simple but effective measure also counteracts her voiceless attacks.
We shall see what other avenues the Demiurge Offended calls upon in her outrage.
Such peril! Such bravery! Such foolishness! Such wonderment!
I am, indeed, entertained.
She is nothing without her words.
Remove thus her tongue,
Only then will you know peace.
I’m actually surprised covering her mouth slowed her down at all.
I recall this saying of Intra’s. Surely Mottom is not so jaded as to rely solely on words of noise for her perishment? It is convenient, that much is certain, but if she has facility with words of the mind – or worse, words of the eye…
Allison has maybe three seconds before Mottom makes known her displeasure on everything in the vicinity.
I doubt that just slapping duct tape on her mouth would stop her, but Cio is using magic so it’s not JUST a piece of paper covering her mouth, but rather the force of Cios spell which is holding her mouth closed. Also Cio proceeds to cover Mottom in her entirety for good measure, and then ushers Alice to make a hasty escape.
This is a temporary measure for sure.
And so Princess returns, and that one girl that got a great deal with Allison. The whole gangs here!
The whole gang has arrived on a flying ship! How convenient! Can’t have Royalty dying before their crowning!
Love love *love* this page.
HA! One cannot lie if one cannot speak, Nadia. Is that Princess-who-was-Vladok in the rigging? They have the cane/pipe. And is that the bride AL-YIS-UN took the place of to enter the palace of the Blood Flower on the deck?
A hero indeed, is our Rising King. She entered with no allies, and leaves with four. An Ebon devil she bound by her will alone, a sacrifice she saved, my sibling White Chain, and a Blue Demon who was one of the only capable of stealing and holding a Key of Kings.
Not all plans have to be well thought out with weeks of planing in advance, they just need to work.
This, Mother Om, is why you need to get that last Arete point, and overcome the need for words. How poorly you pursue the Great Work. [Mage: The Ascension reference]
listen you to Aristotle
Arete and virtue are excellent.
Eudaimonia is no laughing matter.
One has to pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive.
Immortality couldn’t be easier. You just throw yourself at death and miss…
You mistake flying for immortality. Not that the two aren’t alike. Both are equally unattainabble to those who waver in their conviction.
Seek heaven through paper mache.
French origami.
Our intrepid hero, rescued by Cio, White Chain, Nyave, and Princess Mamoru Moonshine Jagermeister Jack Jack Daniels Timothy Tim Bill Freddy Mercury Blueberry Luna, Esquire.
It would appear that the gang is all here.
She’s got a posse!
It’s Princess Mamoru Moonshine Jagermeister Jack Jack Daniels Timothy Tim Bill Freddy Mercury Blueberry Luna, Esquire!
I really wonder how Princess[+names] managed to stow away on the paper bird. I really wonder why the girl-whose-name-I-won’t-look-up decided to join Cio on the ship. I really wonder how White Chain managed to get halfway aboard.
Princess was depicted as falling into the company of the pursuers. She doubtless feared to enter Mottom’s lair, and, most likely through Cio’s Art, the Teller of Tales enlisted her aid, as one former Ebon to another.
Nyave was doubtless also located through Cio’s Art as the Storyteller sought out her errant Godking. Nyave was doubtless who told Cio that against all odds, She Who Acts With No Thought was already making her way into the city above.
Doubtless, some time passed as Cio dithered, but eventually she enlisted Oskar (note the face upon the bowsprit) to storm the castle dire.
Upon the flight up, an errant Angel plunged from above, and Cio doubtless retrieved the stoney shell bereft of wings, and was thus directed, with haste, to make this amazing intervention in the Nick Of Time.
As all great Tellers of Tales are wont to do.
This seems plain…unless it is completely wrong.
Those who expect dignity in battle seldom receive it.
Those who do not expect dignity in battle don’t receive it either, but there’s something to be said here for low expectations.
It leaves one open to pleasant surprises. For example, I once beheaded a giant and was taken aback when, instead of trying to drown me in its boiling blood or crush me under its falling bulk, it offered me a wish to be granted upon reunion with its body.
The Aeon have nothing to wish for, of course, and so I crushed its head into loose pulp. But still, it was nicer than the alternative.
I have found, many a time, that those who plead for civility, dignity or honour in battle, rarely do so as a true moral complaint, but as a justification for their own brutality and barbarism. Or to hide their own incompetence. Either way: expecting anything in any confrontation leaves you vurnarable to the unexpected
FUCK YES. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
As I foretold, the black flame does something constructive! Arts and crafts! The Mother Demiurge is bested by paper mache!
Princess Mamoru Moonshine Jagermeister Jack Jack Daniels Timothy Tim Bill Freddy Mercury Blueberry Luna, Esquire returns!
Of course she has an entourage, she’s a god now.
Shouldn’t one be in a bosun’s chair to properly be between the devil(s) and the deep blue sea?
Mottom doesn’t look very stopped yet, unfortunately.
Cio really shoulda used her kienzan like she did in Hell 71. Would Mottom have survived? She was successfully muted, afterall.
Mottom isn’t even inconvenienced by Cio’s attack. It’s just the sheer audacity of the act that makes her skip a beat.
When fighting a ancient god, the unexpected is your greatest weapon. Mottom is used to people trying to kill her, but Cio is probably the only one this epoch to tell her to shut up.
Mottom can telekinetically move objects and make plants grow by sheer force of will. I doubt such a parlor trick as that would succeed in killing her even when muted. Hell, for as impressive as Cio’s little trick is, it’s taking all she’s got just to keep Mottom down, hence the torrent of paper soldiers.
A wretched cripple told me this:”A tongue can spit a thousand curses, but the memory of the tongue bows to empty canvas of paper who can spit insults without speaking.”
Demons Slain: 1
Heroes in over their own heads: 5
Masters of the Universe annoyed (To death?): 1
The party’s assembled.
I hate demon boats.
i hope that other demon on the boat is esquire
“God, I hate Mondays,” thought Mottom.
hope that other demon on the boat is esquire
Sticks and stones may break thine bones,
But witches’ koans have outshone Throne.
So if thou’d survive a witch’s conflicts,
Affix a bit betwixt her lips.
It was vines aroud the letters in PERISH? How did I not get that?
Clearly the word is PERISCOPE
Oh Good Lord. The sheer, utter annoyance on Om’s face in that third panel. So wonderful. XD
And oh look, its… *attempts to remember name…fails…attempts to go back and find it, but is too lazy for that too* Um, I’m just going to nick name her ‘Pippy’ for right now. >.>
-Princess Mamoru Moonshine Jagermeister Jack Jack Daniels Timothy Tim Bill Freddy Mercury Blueberry Luna, Esquire Pippy suddenly looks even bluer-
The look upon her face shows a surprising amount of “oh you have GOT to be kidding me.” On it.
The look of many a blue devil’s master.
I knew quite well once.
Well, she’s had her magic peach crop destroyed, her ballroom blown up, her guards killed, her apprentice reject her, two folk try to kill her directly, been sassed by a pipsqueak devil, and been papier-mâché-bitch-slapped, all on account of a whiny girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even though she’s a survivor of a wicked huge war, she hasn’t learned yet to not mess with Australian girls.
Does it seem likely that Cio could easily learn the death-of-a-thousand-paper-cuts attack?
If she needs a thousand paper cuts, she only needs one. Do you not remember the scene where she quit her prior employment?
So judging by the handsome mask on the prow, I’m guessing this is Princess nee Vladok’s ship.
Recall a white dragon, that had lost its name.
They say that before, he was a river.
He was plagued by paper people, stuck upon him by Granny Witch.
Paper clings to hungry lips, and she but needs to wipe her mouth.
I would think she would have more manners than that, to not have a napkin ready for any sudden banquets is an odd practice for the merry.
But perhaps, she was not merry at all.
Devil ex machina
Mottom’s expression on panel three is pure gold.
Oh, it’s little Jack Jack Daniels and Blueberry Luna and So Forth. I prefer the old bastard in that form; lots prettier, and more importantly, lots more edible.
Too bad she’ll die like the rest of them!
This is my favourite page yet. Satisfying and feel-good.
A ship and Nakamas. We One Piece now!
KIN G. ZOSS was king of the multiverse. He had fame, power and wealth beyond our wildest dreams. Before he was executed by the Thorn Angels, these were the final words he said:
“My Key is yours for the taking, but you’ll have to find it first. I left it all in ALL-YISUN.”
And so, a new age of Persuers was born, searching for the for the King’s Key, the power to become king.
YO! YA-YO, YA-YO!
Keep dreamin’, don’t give it up Allison!
Keep dreamin’, don’t give it up White Chain!
Keep dreamin’, don’t give it up Cio!
Keep dreamin’, don’t give it give it up give it up give it up give it up give it NO!
Here’s how the story goes we find out
About a key in ALL-YISUN, there’s no doubt
The pursuer whose eye is on it
They’ll sing “I’ll be King of the Universe
I’m gonna be king!”
YA-YO, YA-YO!
Her name is Allison
That’s Wanda Ruth, Allison
Gonna be king of the universe!
She’s got a key in her head!
(Blue Devil singers) How did that happen?
Yo-ho-ho she tried to sleep with her boyfriend!
YA-YO, YA-YO
Her/his name’s White Chain, she/he’s just like a divine cop
And L-A-D-Y CIO curse words will drop
The pursuer crew coming through, doin’ their thing,
With the king of the universe, she’s gonna be king!
YA-YO, YA-YO, YA-YO, HOO HOO!
Set sail for the King’s Key, it’s the name of the treasure in ALL-YISUN!
YA-YO, YA-YO!
Set sail for King’s Key!
That is the face of a woman who’s getting too old for this sh-.
The amount of I’m done here is overwhelming.
Wise words are best left unspoken.
I’d glad to see that even after reverting to a primal state, being embarrassingly renamed and reduced to a blue devil, Princess Mamoru still has Vladok’s exquisite pipe.
Anyone with a desire to look respectable should never go anywhere without something that produces toxic fumes clenched between their teeth.
Nadia’s like “Seriously?”
“Men are distracted by their swords.” Lord Intra be praised for these words, which will elicit some marvelous expressions on the faces of my male sparring partners, when next time I take up the sword.
… Aw damnit. This skull has no hands to grab a blade.
(Besides, this page is among the bestest ever, especially panel 3.)
Welcome aboard the good ship Rincewind. Careful with that first step…
See, this is why you invest in spells that don’t require semantic components.
WHY DO KNOWN OF MY COMMENTS ACTUALLY SHOW UP, AM I SHADOW BANNED OR SOMETHING?
The shadows may come for thee one day! but most likely this is due to the comments being moderated to avoid spam. They appear in big chunks once or twice a day
Stories. They’re stories, characters, plot twists, random passages zipping out of Cio’s book and changing the world. Truly the storyteller is the first and last mage. Everything starts as a story, even a child. And Mottom never learned to tell her own. Even with a whole palace to set it in, she couldn’t convince Alison for a moment.
But like, would she not be still able to pronounce the “sh” with her lips shut?
I hear PERIMF is a different word with wildly different meaning. best not mix ’em up.
Mottom in panel 3: “Really? Really? This is what you’re going with?”
BWAHAHAHA
It occasionally may lie upon the storyteller to interfere with the story itself. That is why Such accomplished bards of my order such as myself are accompanied by another bard, in order to record my great acts of heroism while I record great acts of heroism. There are some in my order whose bards even have a bard, and then a bard after that.
a cast of heroes
=//=
A BUNCH OF IDIOTS
82 RETURNS!!
Wait a sec…is that the Devil Allison named, and the girl she (unknowingly but no less heroically) kept form dying earlier?
“Publish or perish.”, as the old mantra goes.
OT5
Pankrash Circle Fighting wouldn’t happen to split the atom and cause self-made gods to back down before a fight would it?
OH MAN THIS IS ONE OF THEM MOMENTS! CATCH A RIIIIIIIIIIDDDDEEEEE!
Behold! The benefits of acquiring friends! When your need is dire and your time draws near, friends will always be their for you with magic paper cutouts and a likely stolen Spelljammer to draw you from the depths of despair!
3rd panel: Mummy Om
Wait, did Cio trade the Coat of Arms to Oscar, for his ship?
i love it when
a plan comes
together
As Mighty the Words can be they still are made by fallible flaps of flesh
I’m digging this MILF-Mottom, btw.
(reader for several months now but firsttime commenter, can’t write in the idiom well enough to say how much i love this comic and all its hecked-up mythos, and that this particular page fills me with a joy i cannot describe)
It works when you push the button and appears later, friend.
(i’ve been reading for months now but only now got around to commenting, and i cannot use the idiom well enough to say how much i love this comic and its mythology/theology and how this page in particular fills me with inexpressible joy)
Thrice repeated with variation. Whether intentional or not the idiom is well served by your timely remarks.
i’ve been reading for months now but only now come up to comment and i can’t yet work the idiom well enough to say how much i love this comic, its setting and mythos, and that this page in particular fills me with inexpressible joy
IT IS BECAUSE OF THE VIOLENCE MOTTOM IS ABOUT TO INFLICT, YES?
I like to think she was invoking peri-peri, renowned spirit of a million burnings.
(woops i didn’t mean for all those duplicomments to go through i thought the field was broken first)
It appears that young Pree Allison has attracted a following of freaks and geeks of the very best kind
/obscure song reference
And two blue devils that were once Ebon. A very dangerous set of allies
It’s not Voltaire, is it? The “Hate Lives in a Small Town” one seems to have a similar meaning.
Much like the universe, this is a thing of many beauties.
The Weatherlight! I thought it had been destroyed
ah, the slave is there