Exiern
Swords, Sorcery, And Then Some!
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Swords, Sorcery, And Then Some!
Howdy, New Readers! Thanks for reading Exiern!
Written by Scott T. Hicken with art by Antipus, the comic updates Mondays.
Please check out the Archive to enjoy the earlier adventures of Typh and Peonie!
Exiern contains mature themes and is best for readers 18+.
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Not lethal. Please, be not lethal.
Going by the angle of the thrust, this blow is not immediately lethal. Olivia’s got a punctured lung. It could be survivable if she gets immediate professional care. Considering the faux medieval setting, that is unlikely. So barring some powerful healing magic, Olivia’s set for a slow and painful death.
Oh, that’s gotta hurt like hell. I’d like to say it’s not going to be lethal, but since we’re not in a realistic setting, I can’t say for sure.
Well, do remember that Peonie has North Wind in her hands…if any sword could stab you in the chest and NOT kill you, that’s the one.
I wonder if Olivia is/was a mole and that is why North Wind cut her?
I’m no expert on sword wounds, and I’m privy to how Shipeng chooses to draw them–but there’s something odd about this one.
It looks more like a little band of fire or plasma than blood.
I’m not sure Olivia has been pierced, although it looks like she’s still hurt.
Could be completely wrong on this, though. Again, it depends on the art.
Dang it, I’m NOT privy, NOT.
Sense-reversing typos, my favorite.
LOL! No Cerulean Lion This one is not lethal. THe idiot spell places the globe over the left breast which is where the aorta and the pulmonary arteries come out of the heart. These are between the lungs and come come from behind the breastbone generally sideways and DOWN. The strike looks at a slight angle (no more than 20-30 degrees to the vertical which takes the point through the globe ABOVE the Aorta and pulmonary artery probably between the collarbone and the shoulder blade out her back. Spirit of the North Wind Strikes again!
@Uhl: That blow is lethal under any normal circumstances though.
@Jake: Define normal circumstances. In real conditions, that stab would most likely stop at your bones, perhaps fracture or break them, but not go any further unless she’s immediately falling on the blade, which is unlikely.
At that angle the sword might cut the top portion of the upper lobe of her left lung, but the angle of the sword suggests that it also sliced a couple of ribs. Mostly though, what’s up there is muscles, ligaments, and bone. That left arm isn’t going to work too well, for a while.
Something is going on here.
The North Wind refuses to injure/kill when doing so would be bad for the wielder. The fact that it inflicted a probably mortal wound on Olivia means that killing her is be a good idea.
Why? Also, why did Coriander make Olivia fight so poorly?
This isn’t over.
Yeah, thats debilitating but not fatal with any form of immediate medical attention. She is going to be losing a lot of blood but is very unlikely to die.
Does anyone else notice that the sword ISN’T coming out of her back? I wonder if the artist just forgot to draw the other side (based on the length of the blade and the angle of the strike, it should be clearly visible coming out of Olivia’s back), or if there’s something else at play here.
@MadCat221 That’s an interesting idea. I like it.
One thing I would suggest (and no I’m not privy to anything at this point either), is to remember that a magical item’s STATED power might not be it’s REAL power.
Popping the orb thingy without harming Olivia would have made Coriander get mighty suspicious about the whole thing. North Wind probably took this into account and decided it had to sell the strike a bit.
As for CorianderPuppet!Olivia’s poor showing… again, North Wind. Subtle alterations to Peonie’s technique ensures that she successfully parries all of Olivia’s attacks.
Remember: “Never fails its wielder.”
She will need healing magic. Somebody get a spellsinger in here, stat!
Oh wait… yeah.
Now the unanswered question is why she was fighting so badly. Could she have been … resisting?
Okay … no one else has said it … yet, so I guess I will.
…
OUCH!!!
Looks shallow. Point may not be exiting – arm is already fully extended. Could also be exiting under the hair. May have lung inpingement, but not 100% sure. Figure clavicle is broken. WAG? Hurt like hell, left arm of little use for a while (collarbone), she’ll be OK
S’okay P, the orb is pierced and while it would hurt and probably leave a nasty scar, the angle is such that it’s just a flesh wound, she’ll be okay if tended to quickly.
She might not want to wear cleavage revealing tops in the future which may upset her, but better that than death.
And magic healing might even fix her right up. Not sure about magic healing in this world.
As a follow up, I’d guess it would slide along the ribs, maybe pierce between them a bit, but it doesn”‘t look deep either. I’d guess fatty tissue in the upper breast, pectoral muscle damage, maybe some damaged ribs, and a shallow lung injury. Survivable with quick treatment, even with primitive medicine (infection would be the biggest concern in that era). As was suggested by another, her left arm won’t be very useful for a while.
That stab is about as non-lethal as you can make it anywhere on the torso.
Over the rib cage, under the collarbone, up out through the trapezius muscle over the shoulderblade.
If she doen’t thrash around and the sword is pulled out cleanly, there’s even a decent chance Peonie hasn’t even hit a major artery or nerve.
Mind.. it still hurts like hell (**) and then some, and she won’t be using that left arm for a bit.
** personal experience.. spiral fracture of the collarbone through shoulder impact. Protip: Just… don’t..
@Grikath Yeah, I’ve had a break in the collarbone. I also do not recommend it.
Yeah, don’t try to do the splits with skis. Granted, that wasn’t my intention…
Also, who knew we had so many anatomy experts here?
Coriander may not have made Olivia fight badly. At least not by intent.How skilled a swordsman is Coriander likely to be?
And I think North Wind has just saved two lives.
A lot of Talkie talkie about how Olivia is not hurt that bad.
But I will point a few things that are in the comic. Re read the Arc to confirm
1) Olivia could only fight as good as her puppet master
2) Who ever is right will have a better fighter
3) skill of the puppeteer’s use of magic makes a difference
4) skill of the combatants probably is only a minor factor
5) The North wind is not a moral compass. It just does not fail it’s wielder.
6) win or lose Mr Bad guy just gained a advantage, a wounded Olivia will hamstring the good guys. Unless they let her die.
In war you do not have to kill everyone. In fact it is just as easy to wound 1/3 of them. Because it normally it takes 2 people to care for a casualty.
The fight is just a primer for what is really going to happen. Mc Baddie is not going down easy.
This was a easy out/ stalling technique. His henchmen are up to something.
@Bad Tamining: As for #6, no. The orb is pierced and broken. The contest is over.
As for the other folks: Everything points to Olivia dying, although not necessarily instantly.
The title of the previous strip is “Final Moments”.
The title of this strip has the word “Finisher”, with a pun on “Finish Her”. Ever play Mortal Combat?
Half the length of the sword is thrust into Olivia’s chest. This is a major injury. Even if it doesn’t hit a lung or artery, that kind of a wound is always fatal from bleeding or infection (well, without transfusions, antibiotics, and surgery).
The comments from Peonie and Tiff plus the cut on the shoulder make it clear that the North Wind’s ability to avoid killing is not going to apply in this situation. It’s been brought up and dismissed.
The only way for her to survive is via magic, and there hasn’t been healing magic in this story before (unless you count what warlocks and Mingalows can do).
Oh, two more points.
This panel is a work of art. Look at Peonie’s elaborate hairdo. Look at Olivia’s elaborate hairdo, which requires drawing three different textures. Look at the wrinkles in the fabric of Olivia’s dress and Peonie’s sleeves.
Look at the positioning of the bodies and the weight balance that implies. It tells a story. Peonie is on her butt and unbraced, which means that Peonie put a sword halfway through her target – including the ribs – on only the strength of one arm. That’s a really good sword.
Look at the expression of shock and pain on Olivia’s face.
Meanwhile, the whole composition draws your eyes to the sword thrust. The limbs of the combatants, the flags in the sky, the tops of the trees, even the lines in the pavement all lead there.
That said, Olivia would never be able to yell in pain with a sword through her chest.
could be Northwind just hated Olivia as much as me..
It’s definitely a major injury, but it looks like it missed the heart, plus I doubt that Scott worried about the minutiae of where the major arteries and veins are. The fight is definitely finished, as the title of this page and previous indicate. Whether Olivia is also finished we’ll have to wait and see.
At the angle of entry, it seems like a broken clavicle is the worst possible wound here. And I assume some of the spell casters nearby can cast healing spells.
There’s a rather large blood vessel in that area called the subclavian artery…it’s the largest artery going to the head and arms…similar to the femoral in the leg.
If Olivia’s hit in the subclavian…in the real world she’d bleed out long before help got to her.
I am hoping that Olivia does not die.
Not going to guess on what happens next, or even speculate. Just waiting in eager anticipation. 🙂
Awww s!!t! Guessing Northwind only works for Tiff? 🙁
Kathucka: no, she would only not be able to yell if it had gone through her lung(s)
Grikath: unless your shoulder impact was from a sword, it ain’t nothing like the same thing
It´s not necessarily a fatal wound. Olivia is well built, a fighter trained woman with a very able body so her complexion may allow her to recover if treated fast enough. Though, the present odds aren´t nice in the world of Exiern. Let´s see.
I do notice that the shoulder wound doesn’t appear to be bleeding after the initial hit.
My figuring is the good spell singers could do some healing magic if this wound doesn’t kill her too quickly as well.
Otherwise… Hey… Maybe someone will just go ahead and die.
Duh! Guys! Purity of song! Coriander is guilty as sin,!Therefore, Olivia loses.
Wrong angle to be lethal.
Omry, Good Point!
Coriander must have chosen the duel because he knew about Teresa’s previous life as a child-molester and figured Teresa’s past would make her less pure and he’d win, “exonerating” himself.
@Vorlonagent Teresa’s not nor ever was a Child Molester.She was Gay(maybe). Tiff just said that bc Teresa was being a Snot as Tiff was being a a!s hat and the Clerics had that reputation.
I miss the rest of the blade sticking out behind the shoulder, a mix of metallic gleam and bloody smear…
The Artist really killed it, Hit it out of the park. This is a fantastic page.
I agree with the above commenters. Its not an instantly lethal hot, so if they have magic healing she should be ok. On the other hand it’s right by a lot of important structures,(major arteries, lungs, etc) so if they have to rely on quasi medieval medicine either it has to be the luckiest stab ever (a real possibility) or she’s dead.
I don’t know how to paste a picture in here, but you can Google anatomy of thorax or follow this link
http://www.medivisuals1.com/images/products/detail/204346_01X.jpg
If there was no blood there could be a argument about who won this way? Its very clear…
Sam’s right, that went through the subclavian artery. She’ll bleed out in under three minutes.
Well….in the REAL world, yes….in a world of magic? Probably not.
Besides, Olivia’s not the bad buy here.
Now, if it was Faden….
Nuuuu! Olivia’s boob! =(