Shrike Team #6: Island of Conflict

[Raphael]

yeah maybe like how they anchor sand dunes with some sort of grass?

Actually I seem to remember all the plant life on the island obeying Brom, even to the point of opening up paths for him. Brom doesn't need to fight Ehud alone, he can call on the plants to help.

[Sinclair]

http://www.tektoonics.com/etc/askdung.html

D'ung just got some mail.

At least now we know part of the reason why Sk'lan have to reproduce how they do....

[jpholding]

http://www.tektoonics.com/shriketoon...etoon6033.html

Three new pages. I think we have 5 scenes to go before the end. The next one will be the BIG one with the resolution of the battle and a major, major revelation.

[T-Shirt Ninja]

[JonLanceBarker]

[Raphael]

Ahhh, so if you scatter Ehud far and wide he takes a while to recover

[Little Shepherd]

The plants respond to the infinite favor token, it seems.

[Sinclair]

So Ehud either can't use any patch of sand to reform or cannot until his conscious/spirit/essence/whatever is back together and in the patch in question? This would seem a bit strange in the light of him separating his "arms" to hold Brom...
Or he might be only able to control two independent parts at a limited distance.

[jpholding]

So Ehud either can't use any patch of sand to reform or cannot until his conscious/spirit/essence/whatever is back together and in the patch in question?

As I see it, closer to the latter. He ties his consciousness to a certain "portion" shall we say, of sand; and it remains with those associated grains. If disassembled, his options are to 1) reassemble the original portion or 2) release the original portion and reassemble in a new one. I'd suspect the latter takes more time and that he'd find it more efficient to reassemble if some part of the original were still corporate, as here.

This would seem a bit strange in the light of him separating his "arms" to hold Brom...
Or he might be only able to control two independent parts at a limited distance.

As long as they are part of the portion, he can control them, though I would guess that yes, the distance is limited.

[RumTumTugger]

Good installment. will have to make sure I keep up on my own. during my leave of absence . keep up the good work JPH both in tekton and tektoonics.

[Mr Minder]

Nice update.

[jpholding]

http://www.tektoonics.com/shriketoon...etoon6036.html

Four new pages. A couple of you win points for guessing how Brom would handle Ehud....but there was more to it of course.

Especially the bit about the selalighi....

[Little Shepherd]

Ok, quick Q. 2 of them. If the selalighi were trapped in that device, how did the one get to Nulabor? And what kept it in plant form outside of the device? And what happened to it when its fruit was eaten? Did it die? And why does eating fruit-form you-know-whats bestow powers on people? Ok, ok, 5 questions!

And I knew it had to do with the infinite favor token. I wondered why the selalighi would honor a token that really only means something to the Chetlyn. Now we know!

[Leonhard]

Ah, finally I'm done with my exams and can actually write something about this stuff. Ack, I had guessed it all but not posted it, now I don't have bragging rights, bah... Top nice update, more than usual mr. H

If the selalighi were trapped in that device, how did the one get to Nulabor?

Monitaw, not Nullabor. That one was taken out because they were suffering from a disease which needed to be cured. After Felicity figured out a cure, Gen'a'too used her possesed form to transport it back to the other Selalighli.

And what kept it in plant form outside of the device?

You mean unless they needed permission to be freed, and for Brom to destroy that morphic transponder? Threats from S'nay to stay in shape, or get chrushed would have been enough. He never did like to be far from it, or keep it out of sight either come to think of it. It actually did turn back into a Chet'lyn for a short period if you remember right. Though that might have been a helpful nearby Chet'lyn, helping destiny along.

And what happened to it when its fruit was eaten? Did it die?

Each of those little, Chet'lyn I'm guessing, were probably a whole plant and not one of its fruits. So plucking off their fruits wouldn't hurt them. The one brought to monitaw was killed by Von Lucre after he had eaten of its fruit.

And why does eating fruit-form you-know-whats bestow powers on people?

Hmm, perhaps its a play on "eating the fruits of the *", if the Chet'lyn naturally have the power to do such enhancements to people, maybe eating their fruits when they are in plant form will cause them to involuntarily bestow power on people. The Chet'lyn are hinted as being more advanced than the other races, but not in which ways. They might also be magical to an extent, this is just my guesses of course.

I'm guessing these Chet'lyns are different from the other Chet'lyns.. older, and more intuned with the original powers of the world.

And I knew it had to do with the infinite favor token. I wondered why the selalighi would honor a token that really only means something to the Chetlyn. Now we know!

Actually I sorta knew when I saw the Chet'lyn in Shrike Team One, but I couldn't figure out whether that was a spirit inside the plant, or something the plant manifested or the plant itself. Now I know it was the last part.

How did I do for answering him, mr H? Personally I still have a question about Felicity and how her powers work. I know she's supposed to be superfast now but I'm sorta pondering how exactly that works, there's always some paradoxes when those powers are portrayed.

First of all what's her top speed? A few hundred mph? Or can she break the soundbarrier if she cared to?

What's her perception of the world when she's running? That's a problem no other artist have really tackled in a satisfying way. People can barely drive properly at eighty miles per hour, but she's supposed to be able to run through a forest at several times that speed, while dodging trees. Is she just doing it unconciously, in which case her own actions are a blur even to herself? Or is her perception speeding up when she is, so that one second to us is like five seconds to her, i.e she's really running at five hundred mph but it only feels like one hundred mph from her perspective? If the latter is the case, then when she heard someone talk over the radio it would be like listening to a slowmotion tape "Thiiiiiis iiiiissss ssssheeeiiiilllllaaaaaa, coooomeeee innnn Sooooonnniiiiiicaaaaaa" for her. But if its the former, you should expect her own actions to be quicker than her own awareness, i.e she just wills herself to run through the forest and everything become just a blur to her, dodging everything faster than her mind can keep up. Or is it different from this yet?

[Sinclair]

Well.... that was unexpected.... I've gotta pay more attention to the story it seems... ;)