The Sharp Purple Thingy

[Lowang59_98]

From what i understand, that sword i able to draw magic? but for right now that sword has plenty of spells right? hopefully it has some basic spells like heal and cure, or our hero is done for.



u guys can correct me any time if im wrong.

[UncleMonty]

That sword was a practice piece for trainee Lux (magic) users.
It's packed to the hilt with bits and scraps of spells, old and new, which our three young friends have spun together into some kind of harmony - what kind we've yet to see.

Well, looking at today's comic, Sept. 15th, we see a new complication in the plot - Dryads? Fairies of the woodland? Do you suppose they are in some way associated with that mysterious White Stag? I could hardly imagine better creatures to watch over someone, though some stories slight their intelligence. Maybe that's just the Piers Anthony Effect.

It appears as though Quentyn is now penniless, or close to it. He can still live with his folks, so he's OK there, but I haven't seen anything yet regarding how well Questors are paid.

[RHJunior]

Picture it as a computer whose hard drive has been scrambled. The "on" switch still works, but nothing is happening.

At least that's what Master Rillcreek thinks is the situation.

[RHJunior]

Actually, think of them as a cross between Tinkerbell and a termite. They eat, among other things, wood.

"A boon for the orchard and a bane for the carpenter" is the common saying.... in the wild, they live in trees, much as a colony of termites might-- tending to the tree, keeping it healthy and growing, so that they can keep sheltered and nourished. They feed off just about anything the tree produces-- seeds, leaves, bark, sap, heartwood, the works. They never seem to eat fruit much, though they will eat nuts. They can be bartered with on occasion; they'll do anything for maple syrup (they don't have the resources to boil the sap down.)

The problem comes when they come OUT of the wild and start getting into people's homes... see, they can eat lumber as well. They're intelligent enough to be reasoned with, or bribed, quite frankly, into not nibbling people's property, but their terribly short memory spans means that long-term agreements with them are a tad difficult. Fortunately they rarely do this, preferring live, healthy trees to nest in.... and not caring for the taste of processed lumber. But hey, if you're hungry enough--

My guess is that Merchant Max used a particularly tasty brand of varnish on his countertop......

[Random George]

i'm guessing you're redefining them for the NPC universe, then...because conventional mythologies and traditions of faerie hold that the dryad is a tree spirit, all right, but they do not eat trees. to clarify, according to classical legends of faerie, a dryad could no more exist in max's shop than a fish could in the sahara. they require a living tree, and each dryad bonds to one in her life (some traditions say a dryad can hold a grove, but the bond is common to all traditions). when the tree is killed, she dies. far from being a nuisance, they are often held to be the caretakers of the forest, and have gained a reputation for mischief only because they, and naieads, which are similar spirits bonded to bodies of fresh water, tend to be lighthearted and fun-loving.

i think it's interesting when you use a different approach on conventional mythologies. since myths are community creations, they're organic and living traditions. however, it gets a little confusing when you have such a radical departure as this without clarifying that you've redefined or reclassified a traditional perception of a creature. the portrayal of dryads in the strip is really much more appropriate, in size and behaviour, to pixies or sprites.

thanks
geo

[Andrick]

Conventional mythology, or the bastardized and reformist views of old folklore made anglo-centric, has had nasty habits of taking a bunch of unrelated myths and lumping them together under one legend but not doing the same for local myths.

Ralph had already said something to the effect of him using creative license with his world. I take that to mean that at best things will be familiar and at worst they won't jibe with the things I've learned about myths, legends and folklore.

If all else fails, remember MST3K's golden rule:

...if you're wondering how he eats and breathes
and other science facts (la, la, la),
Then repeat to yourself, "It's just a show,
I should really just relax
For Mystery Science Theatre 3000!"*sproing*

[RHJunior]

What I'm doing is taking the most basic essentials of each "mythical species", reducing it to it's root concept, and then branching out in a whole new direction.
To wit:

Dryads, distilled to a single concept--"magical creatures who live in trees."
Why? How do they live "inside" a tree?
"... who have a symbiotic bond with that tree, for as long as they live..." what sort of symbiotic bond?

MY dryads live inside trees, as in the legends; they also have a symbiotic bond with that tree, as in the legends. Just not as metaphysical, and more corporeal-- taking examples from real life nature.

note: fairies and dryads are often mistaken for one another in the Questorverse by the unlearned, due to their external similarities... much as ants and termites, or flying ants and other winged insects, are mistaken for each other. But fairies aren't monotone blue-white; nor do they have digging claws and mandibles (not visible in the current page.) Fairies are also a touch more independent minded.... enjoying solitary lives as readily as communal ones.


As to messing up legends: folks, the old Fair Folk were certainly not tiny little cherubic things. The older the legends are, the larger they were... it was normal for them to be human sized, and quite awe inspiring. As time went by, their size diminished along with the myth-- till we went from Oberon and Titania to Ernie Keebler.

Lots of room for innovation, I'd say.