Loading ...
ch.3, pg.113: “Harmonious Cavalry”
Looks like the BBW is actually going to have to work for this win.
************************
Repeatedly adjusting his left ruby optics to recover from the blasted zealot’s light beam assault, the Big Bad Wolf again caught sight of his prey… and paused.
The scent of blood was gone, replaced by an electrifying ozone taste that curled his lips into a deeper sneer. The permeating song sung by the innocent hugged his battlefield like thick flower-scent, cloying, distracting. The prey had healed, and multiplied. Amongst the thief, zealot, innocent, and valiant stood a man of straw, a man of tin, and a lion. The spider, whom he still had not decided to be prey or predator, prepared to attack with her cybernetic legs — an ineffectual assault but perhaps she was not aware of her own abilities due to being still a pup. No matter. The three new players held his attention for he did not know them from their scent; only their stories.
Very aware how shards allowed one to adapt and change, he growled low in his throat and took a step to the rear to ready a guardant stance. His cybernetic tail reacted to the new threat, revealing three wicked blades. The prey and the spider came at him and he found himself driven back a step further. They were more formidable than anticipated. He would have to use more than his usual weaponry…
What in the world ?
How is that even possible for the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion to be seperate from Dorothy when she had a shard within her ?
I mean I’m confused by all of this.meven if it is a new power up for the heroes.
With the use of a combo (in this case David and Dorothy’s duet which is what has healed and buffed up our heroes), Dorothy is just realizing that the extra shards she has gained have allowed her and her friends to split, but don’t get too excited. This ability has a short time frame and then it is back to the conglomerate forms;) I like the designs of the original characters — especially Scarecrow! So awesome… — but I also am quite fond of the conglomerate forms of Dorothies. Rest assured, you’ll be seeing them a LOT more than their separate selves. It’ll all get worked out:)
Dorothy was, earlier on, upset about not seeing any additional abilities granted to her after having a few new shards. She went to see Dr. Muffet about it, and if you don’t recall, go here and here.
Hullo~ *appears in a poof of smoke*
I don’t remember if this has been asked/answered. Since the shards seem related to playing cards and there’s (I think?) 52 cards in a deck… Does that mean there’s at least 100 shards since they add up to the card shapes?
Also love how the BBW thinks of them as prey.
Hi, Neekz:) No one has actually ever asked! Here’s the scoop:
The shards do not match up to form card shapes:) There are a total of 56 shards (52 “cards” and 4 “jokers”). When the Magic Mirror shattered, those were the number of shards that formed but there is innumerable shard dust which can also be used in various ways in the story (make portals to enter new worlds like Goldie uses it, detect shards in Dr. Muffet’s computer, and ways we have not revealed yet).
The shards are glass-like in appearance, put out a bluish aqua glow, and look like faces and suits in a deck of cards because that was the easiest form within that exact number of pieces to take and still make it feasible to keep track of them. However, they do not align in the Magic Mirror’s frame following any suit or face order; and the shards align only a single way within the frame. If you missed it before, not everyone can pick up any given shard. If a hero (maybe even any villain) tries to pick up a shard and it is not in any way connecting to one they currently possess, they get a major zap. Only someone with a connection to it can pick it up.
Poor Dorothy. XD I’d forgotten that scene!
Does the suit value/color(what would you call it?) make a difference? More questions because now I’m curious about that. :P And I don’t remember for sure if this has been mentioned in comic.
Example if Dorothy had a … 8 of spades, could she only pick up spade shards?
There is no correlation between the suit or face of a shard and which it will match to. Dorothy’s shard is the 4 of Hearts, however no one knows which shard goes where in the mirror until they look at the edging of any two and see if they match up. I believe only myself and the Magic Mirror know which shard goes where because we’ve both seen all the pieces:) The heroes have to go with their gut, their knowledge of their own shard, or rely on smart guys like Hansel who can eyeball a shard and calculate whose it might fit with.
However, the face cards are not your typical card. If you look at the heroes, the shard type they have has a direct relationship to some others and may give you a clue as to who is headed for more screentime later on. Jack is the Jack of Spades, David is the Jack of Clubs, Cindy is the Queen of Diamonds… Now go check out what shards the bad guys have — they are all Aces and I sometimes refer to them as The Aces. Ah, the intrigue!
Just out of curiosity, are the aces the corner pieces by any chance? I feel like it would make more sense for the corner pieces to be the more powerful ones since there are only four of them.
More questions! I should know this one, but offhand I don’t without a new archive binge. (Maybe when I get my new glasses.)
The shards the heroes have, do they count towards the shards the mirror has? Or is it that, like… They have to specifically give the mirror the shard and not have it on hand to add to their powers?
…And if this isn’t a spoiler, could someone theoretically take Velvy’s shard? (Would he die? D: ) Or Miss Muffet’s? Since they’re kinda… embedded in them. And Alice’s is too, I think? Or is it in the watch?
I know the Huntsman had some, and they got some extras from him, my questions are just popping out of the woodwork. >->;
Neekz> The heroes’ shards are all from the Magic Mirror. For the most part, the heroes keep the shard with them — some having little choice (Miss Muffet, Velvy, Humpty, Alice, Jack, and Goldie) as it is embedded within their bodies somewhere. When the heroes are at HQ (the Library of Alexandria where the Magic Mirror, Dr. Muffet, and Mother Goose reside), their shard may appear partially as a foggy image in the Magic Mirror’s frame but it is based on proximity and/or the need to recharge. The shard has not left the heroes though.
All shards need to recharge. This can be done by proximity to the Magic Mirror frame or by using shard dust (obviously this is the method other factions use as they have no access to the Magic Mirror frame).
We have shown the removal of only two shards from characters: The Candy Man and The Huntsman. The effect is completely circumstantial. After the Candy Man was defeated, he and King Midas returned to their normal respective stories… according to Mother Goose, that is. With the Huntsman, Mother Goose and Dr. Muffet surmised that he is not the head of his faction but something of a second-in-command like the White Rabbit is for the Red Queen. It may be interesting to note here that the pocket watch is not associated with a shard and the White Rabbit has no shard of his own. He functions as he does because of the Red Queen’s influence on him. As an Ace, she exerts more influence than a non-Ace on her subjects. So… What would happen if Velvy’s shard, or even Miss Muffet’s shard, was removed? We shall have to wait and see.
pointe4Jesus> The four Aces are not located at the corners but are grouped together elsewhere in the Magic Mirror;)
Nevermind, I forgot that I had asked that already. I suppose there are SOME benefits to getting caught in an archive binge when you’re SUPPOSED to be working on a paper…
Um… I had a long post answering all these questions and… Captcha ate it. I don’t have time to type it up again right now before work:( I will answer again later, promise!
The answers are amazing. :D
*pets the answers*
So the Heroes shards show up as ‘in the mirror’ when they’re in the Library? Since I remember the scene with Velvy talking to the mirror, and it had some shards showing up in it.
Yes, that is pretty much the case, or you could say a ghost shard (an “appearance” version of the shard) appears to be recharged. Yes, Velvy was seeing multiple shards there when he spoke to the Magic Mirror. I posted an updated version of the Magic Mirror a little while back. In it you see numerous shards. Some have a color around them. Those are associated with their respective heroes. I think I reasoned out that the glow is strongest when the hero is at HQ or near the Mirror but I’ll have to look closely at my notes and see. Dunno if I want anything that specific. For example, Jack is at HQ and his has a prominent red glow as the Jack of Spades. So do Velvy and Humpty as the Joker 2 and Joker 1. Joker 3 is Mother Goose, though I didn’t explain why hers is a bit more pale than the others. Queen of Diamonds on the bottom is Cindy. Dr. Muffet is the 10 of Spades. Hanstel is the 2 of Clubs.
For the rest, you can see how the attachments line up:
8 of Diamonds = previously Candy Man, currently Humpty
Jack of Hearts = previously Mary/Bo Peep, currently Dorothy
4 of Clubs = prev. boy who cried wolf, currently David
King of Hearts = previously Rumplestiltskin, currently David
There are two other shards…
7 of Hearts = a story we have yet to relate that I might do as Shard Dust, it was one of the first roleplays we ever did to get into the story: Imagine Snow White and the Seven Dwarves meets Mein Kampf. I am letting this out now as this will be important in Chapter 4 and the story is going kind of slow as it is. Obviously, they have done that and gained this shard already. This happened during the break between Ch. 2 and Ch. 3.
The last shard to mention is Dorothy’s. Hm… Why DOES Dorothy’s primary shard, 4 of Hearts, show up in the Mirror when she isn’t at HQ? Why indeed;) As I’ve said a few times, the Shards universe is filled with lots of detail… and intrigue. Some of it soon to be revealed.
Heh. I love the conversations with my husband to reason out all the little quirks we’ve put into Shards;) I love sharing them with all of you guys a ton as well!
Good thing this is the post-Courage Lion. :D
I sense an epic battle coming up. :3
And there is no strip this week either due to long work weeks and bein’ “da baoss” at work. Sorry for the delay. I will try and get into some Shard Dust soon as well as work on the montaged fight scene which is the next strip.
By the way, I do post these notices of no strip in the blog section but I don’t think anyone reads them. Eh. I do know people read the comments so here ye be warned. Also, I didn’t want my awesome long explanation of the Mirror’s current shards to be lost by a single sketch posted hurriedly at 9:35pm. So you guys get a ton of words but no pics today:( Hope you like the Mirror/Shard break-down posted above!
*petpet* Real life is important, too!
And the extra long explanation was lots of fun to read. :D
Aaaaall the words. <3
Thanks:) I can’t wait to do the Shard Dust that shows where the Huntsman got his most recent shard;)
Also, we at 56Shards are always plotting long-term. There are deeply woven clues and veiled hints in certain strips. I keep a log of them. When the time comes and the trap is sprung, I can share them with you all;) Oh, the plot twists to come!