Unsounded Q&A

In which Ashley answers your burning questions - some of them, at least. Don't ask for spoilers, please!

[zacksfairest]

LOOK AT HIM!!!!!! EVERYONE LOOK AT MY SONBOY!!!! AT MY LITTLE LION!!!!! He looks so good I'm gonna cry

bonus Cheat Sheet Arm. my poor sweet boy lmao

[unsoundedcomic]

Why does Argenti Sr. hate Will’s arm? I’d think a martial guy like him would almost see it as a badge of honor “my son’s a veteran who did his part for Alderode!” Plus it being a visual reminder of the punishment for his wife’s dalliance might be useful. Or is there a perhaps a hint of guilt/embarrassment to there, like he realizes the optics of the situation behind the arm cast him in a super negative light?

The Argentis are very messy. Stay tuned, we'll learn more about them.

[unsoundedcomic]

I don't know if you can answer this question since it is admittedly pretty spoiler heavy, but do the Gefendur have evidence of their own regarding the legitimacy of their faith, similar to how the Ssaelit have their beliefs "confirmed" by the Northsongs book?

Of course. Ancient writings explain the origin of the world, the nature of the gods, and various experiences mortals have had with them through the millennia. And of course most Gefendur have personal experiences of their own: answered prayers, healing miracles, divine encounters in nature. Just look at the trees, Anon.

[unsoundedcomic]

Where are readers seeing these sneak peeks of Valentin? o.O

You gotta check the Tumblr obsessively, Anon, or you miss stuff ;3

[unsoundedcomic]

is will using his toilet paper installation to cheat on tests?

also i can only imagine the other lions and cadets in the room hearing him monologue and thinking "god dammit is Adelier haunting us?"

Man, they ALL talk like this :D

And yeah, he's gonna cheat on the test! Pymary gives him massive performance anxiety, he has no other choice!

[unsoundedcomic]

Is it just me, or have we heard the name Lilleord somewhere before?

We saw him get blowed up at the start of the chapter.

[unsoundedcomic]

This is not meant to be an offense or anything, but I always found it funny how you describe Duane & Sette as "easy mode" protagonists compared to Tree & Mikaila, given that the former duo has a fascist zombie and a betailed hoodlum for main characters. That being said, what made you come to the conclusion that these two would function as the initial protagonists the comic better than everyone else? No spoilers asked, obviously.

Roleplay, mostly. I found that Duane and Sette played off each other so wonderfully in roleplay that they would be hysterical and pretty winning in a story :) This was back in the day before the older man/little girl dynamic was EVERYWHERE, but I still think they bring something unique to the table since ultimately they are best friends, not father/daughter. They are really much more like peers, with hugging benefits.

[unsoundedcomic]

How come Will’s arm has no palm? I think that would drive me insane.

Common design for them. You can swap different gloves for different effects. Modular!

[unsoundedcomic]

"Good men keep no accounts" does this extend to money and contracts? I know priests don't get paid, but for regular worshipers are things like loans (with or without interest) okay?

Yeah, usury is fine, Alderode's Capitalist. Ssael was strictly talking about spiritual debt :)

[unsoundedcomic]

Due to Vampire and the Grenzlan secret keepers being pretty buff, I'd always assumed Coppers grew... evenly with age, but the sneak peeks of Valentin seem to prove otherwise as he clearly grew upwards but not sideways. Are an old Copper's exaggerated features random, or do they depend on the individual's build?

If you see a buff Copper, it's because they lift, bro. Copper biology isn't like glut steroids where you just get free muscles. If you don't work out, you'll get lanky and weird like Valentin. Elarosny, a very tall lady Copper, has to eat SO MUCH and work on her muscles, or she will lose all her curves and turn quite Ilganyag looking.

Older Coppers can have bad luck with their ageing in other ways, too. Valentin's hands are growing out of proportion with the rest of him. Other Copper get nasty bulbous growths, enormous noses or lips or ears or sacks or clits or tits or toes. It ain't all weird sexiness; some of these bastards wind up looking like they've been exposed to Beadman's Better cancerous toxins.

[unsoundedcomic]

oh gosh, will's so big now! how many times has he had to have his prosthetic arm replaced since we saw him last?

Probably a dozen times. Dad hates that arm and has wanted it hidden and inconspicuous ever since Will returned from war, which required it remain identical to its fleshly counterpart as it grew. Fortunately the Argentis are wealthy and connected, so this was never a hardship.

[unsoundedcomic]

How far can one access an individuals' Perceptive sphere? Trying to sketch out a heist fic with my friends where someone needs to be kidnapped & smuggled around so the thieves can infiltrate a party ~~

That sounds fun!

You saw Bastion crammed the general lady down into her own wheelchair and was right on top of her, so you wanna keep your source preeeetty close. But you don't necessarily have to have the person themselves. If you have an extremely bespoke object of theirs - something that the viewer knows only they would have - you can use it for a pretty decent perceptive glamour. Bastion probably could have used just that wheelchair, for example.

But you'll want to back it up by dressing like them, moving like them, acting like them. It'll be a weak source, so you need to bolster it with practical behaviour. Also it won't specifically project that person if the viewer doesn't know them. Their perception will fill in the most appropriate solution.

But spheres in general are small. You need to stay a few feet in range of whatever you're using.

[unsoundedcomic]

Why do Kasslynian lions have such big thick ears?

The better to appreciate and rock tf out to sick EDM beats, my dear

[unsoundedcomic]

Buh. I'm so sorry, I just remembered another question I'd been meaning to ask for awhile now. Feel free to tell me to buzz off if it's leaning into spoiler territory seeing as we're in Alderode now. When it comes to how the Dammakhert allows the castes to sense each other, what information is it they get? Is it just "That there is a Silver over there," or do they get age range and gender and the like as well?

It varies by caste, but a Bronze generally just knows that it's another Ald, maybe their caste and usually their mindset. Like Tree catching that kid a few pages ago. Knew he was up there, felt him falling closer, reached his arms out to catch him without ever seeing or hearing his physical presence.

Next chapter, Tree gets told a big fat lie by another Bronze, and he KNOWS it's a lie, 'cause he senses the other party's lying mindset.

This sense has a lot of wiggle room, since it's affected by everything from environmental conditions to just how much attention is being paid. Do you ever zone out and not hear that someone's calling your name? You didn't lose your sense of hearing, you just weren't paying attention. And then, imagine if you're in a crowd. Alds everywhere! Finding someone specific is tricky. If you're going to steal from an Ald, do it in a crowd.

[unsoundedcomic]

Is there any Ssaelit-specific symbolism to the Tower of Song being such a massive, almost featureless column? What's it like on the inside?

"The gods painted the sky, but our Way will be the pillar that prevents its fall," is what the architects drew inspiration from. If you look up at the tower, it appears to have no end, reaching off into space, but that is an illusion of course. It ends beyond the selvage, with the Shadwe's quarters at the top along with a viewing platform around which enormous woodwind carvings catch and play the wind. This is where the "Song" in its name comes from. The melody's audible all over the city.

We've seen a few of its spaces in past scenes. The Council's meeting room ringed by Silver trees, the offices outside it with their severe white walls, that rather moodily lit room that Lemuel's co-conspirators were meeting in. The Temple's grand entrance is set up like the Silver Wood, darkish and full of biers for burning hair, which is a big thing in Alderode in both faiths. Kids tend to be scared of it and run through quickly to the stairs to brighter floors. Overall, Ssaelit prefer less ornate spaces than the Gefendur, and there's more focus on big rooms for preaching to crowds. Gefendur don't worship in this way. You visit the shrines for specific blessings, or to meet privately with specific figures, or to leave offerings at specific idols. They like intimate, highly decorated spaces. The Ssaelit like their preaching and want to focus on that.

Otherwise probably the most important thing to know about the Temple is it's secretly full of windows and openings. They're just glamoured over for that sleek, austere look.

[unsoundedcomic]

Jets start having issues at 100? That's rough. I thought they'd have better muscles until 180-200. Are coppers with physical disabilities that cause pain just put down for their own sake? I can't image having constant pain at 100 and then living for 500 more years.

Bronze, Jet, and Copper senescence works just like our own, but streeetched out proportional to their projected age of terminus. Jet can live to 250, but you and I can technically live to 110. 120! Will we? Probably not!

Thackery is 112, so he's smack in middle age. In Earth years, we could put him at 40, 45. It is not uncommon for an athlete to have blown his knees out through hard use in his youth and spend middle age not having the same use of them. This is how I imagine the man. Still strong and formidable, but he ain't squatting anymore like he did when he was 60, and he prefers not to run if there's a hound around he can ride instead.

Like Irma said once, that age of terminus is just a best case scenario. Cancer could take you down, heart disease, a knife in the back :) A Copper can live for centuries, but they are not absolved from having to take care of their body.

[unsoundedcomic]

Does THACKERY miss Duane? You've said before that they were good work colleagues. Maybe he's so annoyed at this particular fella because 'I knew Duane Adelier, and believe me, you are no Duane Adelier.'

Thackery misses him in a professional capacity, but read that meeting scene again. After Duane punches Bodie, Thackery calls him a slur and tells him to remember his place.

Of course it was a tragedy and a disgrace what happened to him that night, and Thackery had nothing to do with it.