TRANSCRIPT:
HRRAARCH: <Well, if you don’t need to make water, that’s well. I want to get many leagues under our wings before I have to land. I have seen Urtts on the western side of these mountains, and I don’t want to get in range of their bows. >
IPOLA: <That far east? Truly?>
HRRAARCH: <Yes, though they haven’t crossed the peaks into the desert yet that I’ve seen. But they are - >
IPOLA: <Wait - I …>
HRRAARCH: <You see something?>
IPOLA: <Not see … I feel ->
42 thoughts on “Out Of The Blue – Page 1140”
Soulworker
Yikes! Some pretty precise targeting there…(shudder)… Wonder if the dragon has a rider as well or is just out on a solo hunt/patrol.
Just_IDD
Oooh mid week update and a free Ouchy.
Reservist
Oh oh… :-S
EmmaC
OH no…. nonononono Pas notre reine préférée!!!!
Not our fav sexy queen… and Yes I am also so sorry for the big bird but… Ipolaaaaaaa!
Right now I am wondering: did the dragon only see the Eagle or was it an attack on Ipola?
jd.
Not to worry too much, copine, Ipola is not dead yet. Tula already showed ability to fly magically ( https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/but-i-came-back-again/page-278/ ) and cast spells while in mid-air ( https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/but-i-came-back-again/page-281/ ; by the way, were you feeling well rested? Hé hé hé). That being said, of course, her best bet is probably to retreat to the ground under magic protection. Even assuming (which is likely) that the dragon is not the one even Kor Lachnis fears, that’s still a powerful beast.
As for the dragon’s intent, I think it went for Hrraarch. Unaware of Ipola’s presence (since the eagle-eyed Hraarch couldn’t see it through the cloud, it’s fairly doubtful the dragon saw Ipola on her back) or at least import, my best bet is that it went for a prey. If it had been instructed to go for Ipola specifically, or if it even knew of her, the best tactics was to kill her first. Unless Hrraarch has access to magic as well, and why not. (Which may be a way for everyone’s favourite Aburor to survive this extremity.)
EmmaC
Well rested? Either I did not get the joke (and I am tired tonight :p ) or I didn’t catch the reference.
But , no I wasn’t well rested this morning and began writing in French before changing back to english… Was it why you asked?
Argh, sometimes, writing is not the best way of communicating :p
As for my worries… I am wondering if the dragon has been sent to capture (not kill) Ipola. I don’t think killing Ipola would be a good plan for Kor Lachnis… And I think he knows it. if she is killed, there will be no one to stop the Erogenian to go crazy… And I’m not sure Tula would want that. But capture? hostage? tortured? Then there might leverage or he might think about it… Anyway I’ll let JED the MAster of Surprise guide us.
jd.
I seem to remember that a few pages ago, I supplied a link to a previous page for reference, and you ribbed me that reading back had cost you precious sleep time. Since I supplied more links this time, I referred to that incident. I might well do that again in the future.
Good point about capturing Ipola. Which means one can expect her to kill herself at first opportunity if such is the case.
Reservist
“Unaware of Ipola’s presence (since the eagle-eyed Hraarch couldn’t see it through the cloud”
To be fair, the dragon attacked like all fighter pilots will try to attack: from the back of their target, and from above.
So Hrraarch would have had to turn her head or at least make a circle to make sure they were not being followed.
jd.
I was about to counter that birds have a very wide visual field (which was part of my point, left aside for relative brevity), but looked it up (Bird vision article on Wikipedia) and apparently raptors have a narrower visual field than other birds, which lets them have binocular vision and estimate distances when hunting. So I was wront in assuming that the dragon was in Hrraarch’s visual field.
Thanks for leading me to discover my false assumption!
(Oh and by the way, wouldn’t attacking from below be even more stealthy than from above since fighter planes have windows above?)
Prairie Son
No. People lack eyes in the back of their heads and can’t turn their heads that far.
Additionally, if you attack from above you dive, and thus increase your speed. Attacking from below requires that you climb, which saps your speed. Maybe to the point you stall and become a falling object rather than a flying one.
jd.
Very good points, brother. So it *might* still be more stealthy but less efficient nonetheless and thus bad tactics overall. Thanks for pointing that out.
Reservist
“No. People lack eyes in the back of their heads and can’t turn their heads that far.”
They can twist their torso too. Uneasy, maybe. But feasible.
“Maybe to the point you stall”
Indeed. But it also depends from what angle, with what initial speed, what weight the attacker begin.
jd.
I was about to counter that birds have a very wide visual field (which was part of my point, left aside for relative brevity), but looked it up (Bird vision article on Wikipedia) and apparently raptors have a narrower visual field than other birds, which lets them have binocular vision and estimate distances when hunting. So I was wrong in assuming that the dragon was in Hrraarch’s visual field.
Thanks for leading me to discover my false assumption!
(Oh and by the way, wouldn’t attacking from below be even more stealthy than from above since fighter planes have windows above?)
The MacNut
That’s Tula though, not Ipola – the Queen has shown no magical flying abilities, and Tula’s a long ways off by now. Plus, the dragon doesn’t have to target Ipola specifically to kill her – all it has to do is roast Hrraarch (as was done) and let gravity do the rest; and it’s a long way down…
jd.
Granted. To limit my post’s size, I didn’t add that I didn’t think Tula was that much ahead of Ipola in terms of magical ability; while she may well have greater raw talent (due to her smarts), unless I be mistaken, Ipola is still the chosen of the Moon Goddess, and since the latter is the source of their magic, it may account for something.
Plus, since Tula can fly and sustain a magical fight, that still leaves room for a less skilled Ipola to be able to fly and shield herself.
The MacNut
I suppose the next few pages will show if and how Ipola is able to save herself. Though for all we know so far, Hrraarch could be more durable and powerful than she first appears and may be able to not only save Ipola, but take the fight to the dragon.
jd.
Actually, I just got the notion that Ipola’s best strategy might be to fight the dragon with every magic that she has, only to plummet into a forest. Then make it appear as if she has crashed to the ground. Now the enemy knows that the queen is dead and will prepare accordingly. Except she isn’t and now the Erogenians have a queen-sized ace in the hole.
Salisria
For everyone who ever wanted to know what would happen if Gwaihir and Smaug met in battle, I think we got an answer.
jd.
With all due respect to the king of Eagles, I never thought he could beat Smaug single-talonedly. If nothing else, Smaug has excellent close-range protection and can breathe fire. Unless Gwaihir has a way to become impervious to that (and come to think of it, even his acquaintance who’s an expert on fire magic doesn’t seem to have good protection against fire), or maybe the advantage of surprise and better forewarning of the old worm’s one weak spot, I can’t see a way for him to prevail.
Reservist
” I never thought he could beat Smaug single-talonedly.”
Well, like with fighter pilots, it depends not only on the plane each flies, but also on who spots who and attacks first, and from which altitude and which angle. And also on who is the beteer shot and better pilot.
Besides, what human arrows from human bows could not do, surely the talon of a WW2 bomber-sized eagle can do.
jd.
I fully agree that surprise and initiative carry much more weight than raw abilities, but I was trying to disregard that since, well, it more or less defeats the purpose of comparing assets and weak points.
As for Gwaihir’s talons being able to pierce the old worm’s scales easier than Bard’s arrow, this is certainly true, but it would require 1) not being hit by Smaug’s own talons and tail, and above all 2) dodging ranged fire attacks from a turret with like 340° mobility in all planes. So I think Gwaihir would still lose, surprise aside.
… Of course, if I was writing a story where Gwaihir had to fight Smaug, he would certainly do the smart thing and attack with a flock of his brothers and sisters. But, as I said, this goes beyond the more or less abstract nature of such ponderings.
Reservist
“1) not being hit by Smaug’s own talons and tail, and above all 2) dodging ranged fire attacks from a turret with like 340° mobility in all planes.”
Indeed.
jd.
I just looked it up, and apparently Gwaihir does not bear the title of King of Eagles. My bad. I stand by the rest of my previous comment.
vrwhammer
large lizard with breath weapon 1 the rest of the world 0
jd.
Then again, that game has barely begun. (And you might say Emantad and his fellow merchants scored a goal when they reported seeing the dragons — https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/chapter-84-whats-really-important/baby-steps-page-1098/ . Of course, the other side isn’t aware of it being scored.)
jd.
Ouch! I was feeling that the plot was ambling along quite calmly in the last few pages (not that I criticize, mind; changes of pace can be nice and such was the case here) but that was only to lull us before the storm struck! I know I can’t see a way for this to happen, but I do hope Hrraarch makes it all right out of this. (If nothing else, I was only just beginning to be able to spell her name without looking it up first.)
By the way, who else didn’t noticed the dragon (who I note doesn’t have a tag as a character) in the second panel until they came back to it?
Oh, and “many leagues under our wings” is a beautiful phrase.
Jim Baerg
Yes. Much as I prefer metric for all practical use. “many kilometers under our wings” doesn’t have the same ring.
Salisria
Myriameters would be closer in magnitude than kilometers and while not SI, the myriameter of 10000 meters is a metric unit. The old metric myria- prefix from the Greek myriad meaning 10,000 was dropped when the the thousand centric SI was established, in part because there was no counterpart prefix for 1/10,000 in metric other than the deprecated non-standard usage of decimilli-
Evervigilant
That’s definitely going to leave a mark. The dragon may regret the attack though if it killed the queen’s bird friend. I don’t think she is one to be trifled with. Otherwise break out the ranch for some hot wings! Might as well not let opportunity go to waste!
Reservist
In that situation, unless Ipola has some magic equivalent of a Matra Magic 2 or a quad MG to cast at the dragon, she’s in a bad situation. :-S
Lora
Well, that was unexpected. (!) Ipola’s magick sense tingled too late!
(And yes, I did not see the shadow until the second look).
I don’t think Hrraarch will make it through this; a head shot that leaves you seeing the skull? Nope. So Ipola is on her own now and had better show she’s truly the Queen of the Moon Goddess.
I would not be surprised if she is captured by Kor Lachnis and his lackies now; he wanted to meet her, after all.
Vulcan
One king-sized serving of fried chicken coming up!
the_eldest
Having gone through the references to dragons we have had up to now, I would think the dragons are being handled.
1) Tula tells us in https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/the-last-crusade/tula-splains-draconians/ that ” the dragons were sent into the East to sleep until such time as we [humans] had matured enough in our power and wisdom to accept them into the world”.
2) Later on in https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/the-last-crusade/oh-really-page-1069/ we find out that Shuach awoke them. Note it was Shuach not the Urtts or Humans!
3) Last but not least we hear from the traders that the dragons had riders (handlers?). https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/chapter-84-whats-really-important/baby-steps-page-1098/
This makes me think the dragons are not quite willing or some have been convinced or hoodwinked to go into this war.
Charon the Fateless
Apparently fire hit so hard it removed the spine.
Evervigilant
It appears that has been corrected.
jedraft
It was an oversight that was easily fixed. 🙂
Warm regards,
JED
jd.
I for one assumed that the blaze was hiding most of the head and neck, spine included.
Harold Hardy
Speaking to the air combat tactics mentioned above…tactics have evolved with the planes and technology…older prop-driven planes were more concerned with having altitude they could trade for speed, so they would tend to attack first from above….these days planes can climb obscenely high and fast, and so the “behind and below” attack has become more favored because it’s a visual blind spot, and offers excellent targeting for heat-seekers, as well as a fat, juicy radar cross section for radar-homers…….all of which means jack to a dragon. 😉 Unless he has magic thrust like a jet, I’d say he has to work for his altitude, so started from high up makes total sense….expect a diving attack to follow, unless he sees his “kill”, and misses Ipola entirely….I fear we won’t be that lucky. Excellent gut-punch, JED. I didn’t see it coming. I freaking love your work.
Gerald Ney
In regards to the earlier mention of Ipola somehow going to ground and finding cover/shelter there, 50 years ago I was in the backseat of a Birtd Dog flown by a FAC (Forward Air Controller) watching two jets incinerate a treeline with napalm. Unless there’s a handy dandy cave right below, the option will be unavailable.
jd.
An excellent point, brother!
I still think fleeing is Ipola’s best bet, seeing as how Chera (now that I think of it) didn’t even nick the Sudrac in https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/part-3/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-page-1037/ . Granted, Ipola is certainly a far more capable priestess than Chera, but the dragon is even more certainly much tougher than the Sudrac. When faced with a superior enemy, the only reason I see not to flee is to avoid betraying the location of your camp. Which is a moot point in Ipola’s case, since everyone knows where her capital is. And even assuming she knows where the war party is right now, she wouldn’t go to them for help against a fragging dragon.
… It just hit me. Three pages ago, Mentl assumed the book was taking the sisters and him wherever they were supposed to go, didn’t he? Well, where else would they be supposed to go if not to save the queen from a frigging DRAGON?
Robin
I’ve been following this thing since before Mike went to earth the first time. I can’t wait to see how this all turns out!
Jim
Just thinking that Ginsha, Keltan, Liri, and, for that matter, Emmon, haven’t been ’round for a good, long while. JED, any hints?
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