Starcrossed: A Ravenloft Comic Discussion

Fiction about Ravenloft or Gothic Earth
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

Now that would be a pretty problem.

But somehow I doubt it. If Zoe Prime was haunting anyone, it'd be Jean-Louis Girot at his nice mansion, or possibly the church of Ezra where she 'died', not a shack off the beaten track.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

I think it is safe to say that whatever else, I was not expecting Fred to jump over an eight foot iron fence in order to follow Marie. HOW can he jump that? WHY is he doing it?

Girot has the right idea.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
ewancummins
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 28523
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:35 pm

Post by ewancummins »

Fred called Girot ''signore'' in the scene where he jumped the fence. Hmmmm... I'm probably reading too much into this, but that might be a clue as to his domain of origin. Signore suggests, to me at least, something quasi-Italian. Maybe Borca?
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
User avatar
Rotipher of the FoS
Thieving Crow
Thieving Crow
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2003 4:18 pm

Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

NeoTiamat wrote:If Zoe Prime was haunting anyone, it'd be Jean-Louis Girot at his nice mansion, or possibly the church of Ezra where she 'died', not a shack off the beaten track.
We don't know for sure that she really died at the church; the other priest only knew she'd disappeared from her sickbed, so he assumed she had died and the Lord of the Dead had 'claimed his due'. Girot might have abducted her from the church, hoping to save her by alchemical means, then buried her under the floor of that shack when she expired.

If that's so, Zoe's spirit could be haunting the place where her bones are hidden, unable to rest until they're properly entombed. Sensing that her unsuspecting parents are right outside, working the fields, in the company of an imposter would only make her more miserable.
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
User avatar
Isabella
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1859
Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 12:54 am

Post by Isabella »

ewancummins wrote:Fred called Girot ''signore'' in the scene where he jumped the fence. Hmmmm... I'm probably reading too much into this, but that might be a clue as to his domain of origin. Signore suggests, to me at least, something quasi-Italian. Maybe Borca?
Correct! :D Fred is Borcan.

I will now put him on the cast page.
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
User avatar
Rotipher of the FoS
Thieving Crow
Thieving Crow
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2003 4:18 pm

Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

Goody! More full-color artwork from Isabella. :D
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
User avatar
Isabella
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1859
Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 12:54 am

Post by Isabella »

Interesting trivia tidbit: violet eyes are specifically mentioned in the culture section for Borca. So I am not just someone that likes weird eye colors for the hell of it. I have precedent!

I is a serious author, promize! :P
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
User avatar
DocBeard
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 2165
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:35 pm

Post by DocBeard »

Clever.

But how you be a serious author trapped in this pit of nihilistic cobras?
User avatar
Isabella
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1859
Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 12:54 am

Post by Isabella »

Aiee! They're slightly more frightening than regular cobras!
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

I've always considered cynical cobras the worst. They kill you, then make sarcastic comments while you die.

That said, does anyone want to open up a betting pool on what Fred is? Because something tells me he isn't a plain vanilla human.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
DocBeard
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 2165
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:35 pm

Post by DocBeard »

I can see that too, but on the other hand...

...this is a D&D comic. Fighters, rogues, and other athletic types can do stuff like that. While it would be a mild departure from the realistic style of the comic so far, it'd also fit Isabella's technique of subtly bringing fantastic elements in by presenting them as everyday.

In other words, maybe playa just trained up his Athletics/Jump skill, and the author's having some fun with us. A skilled fighter or rogue should be just as strange and eerie as a skilled wizard or priest, because these are heroes from mythological stories walking into town.

That said, since it's brought up twice in as many comics, I could be wrong. He could be a sorcorer using an intuitive spellcasting style, a psion skilled in biokinesis, or a dozen other things. But considering the fact that we've got a cleric, at least one wizard, and a rogue-ish gunwoman, my gut says 'fighteresque' for the next main character. Call me a classicist, I guess.
User avatar
Isabella
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1859
Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 12:54 am

Post by Isabella »

"Toothless" - another Borcan turn of phrase.

Just letting the Gazetteer authors know they were appreciated.
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
User avatar
Joël of the FoS
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 7049
Joined: Sun Nov 30, 2003 1:24 pm
Gender: Male
Location: St-Damien, Québec

Post by Joël of the FoS »

Great research, Isabella. The devil is in the details.

But ... p 72 - it's "nouveau riche" :)

Joël
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
User avatar
Isabella
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 1859
Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 12:54 am

Post by Isabella »

Oh, now you tell me. :P

Should be fixed
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
User avatar
Joël of the FoS
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 7049
Joined: Sun Nov 30, 2003 1:24 pm
Gender: Male
Location: St-Damien, Québec

Post by Joël of the FoS »

No need, it's creole-like :)
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
Post Reply