Messages

1

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 480

« on: Today at 09:41:13 pm »

Roko-san, kimi wa kanzen'na bakada.

At this point, I'd be sorely tempted to let the Reapers have him. Did you have to start zapping armed kobolds, Roko? Really?

2

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 479

« on: March 03, 2026, 02:55:49 pm »

*sighs* Yes, the Aves are slaves. Saida is just naturally kind to them. The other quetz range from indifferent to hostile from what we've seen. And there is more evidence still in the village. Slavery to the quetz is part of their culture. It doesn't stop the Aves from being treated like garbage by every quetz BUT Saida. Of COURSE they're going to like her. She doesn't blast them to ash every time she gets in a pissy mood.

The Kobold tribe seem a little more, um, independent, though I suspect strongly they're looking for anything shiny to take back to their master and Roko has his hoshi no tama...

This'll end well. At least Virmir didn't say, "Saida is helping."

3

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 478

« on: February 27, 2026, 09:58:25 pm »

Boy, that was an unfortunate turn of phrasing, Brand. Saida treated the kobolds exactly like she treated the Aves - kindly! The FML look on Brand in the background was priceless.

It did have the advantage of being the last thing the kobolds ever were expecting. The utterly baffled look on their faces was also priceless.

4

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 477

« on: February 23, 2026, 09:32:50 pm »

At this point, they ought to offer to trade Roko-san and just get it over with.

And what are kobolds doing this far from the dragon's lair anyway? Man, this must be one powerhouse dragon.

5

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 476

« on: February 23, 2026, 11:59:26 am »

The barren land is from the puppetmancer war.

Not all. It extends all the way to the volcano. The fact that the Long Patrol really looks like they don't want to go that way suggests you have your fire kami right there. And he's probably no more friendly than any of the others.

(And they're right to Not Want To Go There. The debacle at Suzocon-kyo's lair has to be fresh in their mind. He only ate ONE of them... )

As if that wasn't bad enough, you have Roko quietly going rogue due to being bashed through Suzocon-kyo's little "Jaunt."

This gonna be fun.

6

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 475

« on: February 17, 2026, 07:04:00 pm »

Suzocon-kyo corrupted him, didn't he? And with him thinking the other two are plotting his demise, he now thinks his best course of action is to EAT THEM.

This was kind of a mezzanine chapter, but that last bit is a real Wham Line. If Roko turns murderous... what then?

7

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 473

« on: February 13, 2026, 11:30:38 am »

Oddly this whole arc proves me wrong yet again on a major point, which Virmir indirectly confirmed.

I figured that Suzocon-kyo, being a powerful kitsune with full command of kitsunebi, would be the fire kami in this world's pantheon. I was wrong. He was an add-in.

This ancient volcano dragon is probably the fire kami. And pulling a Lord of the Rings on that fake eyestone may have... A lot of undesired effects beyond just killing Roko.

He doesn't even need to have been corrupted by the Puppetmancer. From what Brand has said, mature volcano dragons are corrupt by their very nature and do not care about anyone else's problems.

So what is the Puppetmancer's angle in this? It's obviously the ancient kitsune (?) is still plotting and planning, even as a Voldemort-style mana entity.

To quote Alice: "Curiouser and curiouser."

8

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 472

« on: February 08, 2026, 10:10:58 am »

They're falling under the Puppetmancer's spell. He's offered only the thing they want the most. All they have to do is let everything out that Vetra captured. As I said that may include things won in battle BEFORE she became corrupted. Smashing the thing might be opening Pandora's Box. Hell even TALKING about it already has Roko running off to do something ill thought out and stupid to stop it happening. He thinks they just want to get rid of him!

Vetra needs to go, not that gem. What's in there needs to be released in a controlled fashion.

9

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 471

« on: February 03, 2026, 05:28:23 pm »

What happens to Roko, I have not the faintest. He's a youkai. Part of why, IMHO, he didn't turn into a Mana Wraith but an actual spirit. If he were a traditional kitsune, O-Inari would judge him and if he was judged worthy, she'd MAKE him a new body. In this universe? Who knows?

And Roko ain't too confident about the outcome.

10

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 470

« on: January 30, 2026, 11:49:48 pm »

Brand actually has a point. There is no richer fertilizer on the planet than volcanic ash mixed with soil. The eruptions are deadly, but once over, plant life will quickly take over  the ashfall areas and begin to grow again.

And he does know his volcano dragons.

But they never truly answered the question of WHAT ELSE WOULD BE RELEASED? Her mother might not have stolen everything in that eyestone. She might have won some of it in battle....

11

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 469

« on: January 30, 2026, 08:17:03 pm »

Short Rman88; This whole situation stinks like month old fish.

What a bleak, nihilistic world these two inhabit. Saida and Brand deserve better and I hope something breaks good for them soon. They're practically the only ones worth rooting for.

12

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 469

« on: January 27, 2026, 02:04:45 pm »

I guess the ten million gem question is, "What else is in that thing?"

And exactly what happens when their owners regain what was taken and stored there?

Best guess? The key to the Puppetmancer's and his army's prison. Yeah, you'll get back to your normal bodies, all right. And unleash an army of killer mecha across the landscape again, led by (?) an insane kitsune.

13

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 468

« on: January 24, 2026, 04:31:16 pm »

You know, now that you mentioned this, the thought came across my mind that this tree being "deadly to touch" sounds an awful lot like the mythology surrounding the stone prison of Tamamo-no-Mae and how touching that meant death.

This might well be this universe's Tamamo-no-Mae and it ain't no myth in universe.

14

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 468

« on: January 23, 2026, 09:47:49 pm »

Cut the thread. Connecting them. Kind of like... puppets.

I've been wrong a ton in this series because of how much it twists and turns, but I'm pretty damn sure that's the mana from what was a powerful kitsune. Mana so powerful it maintained consciousness. Deception and illusion are the stock and trade of the kitsune and that's exactly the weapon the Puppetmancer is using against them.

"Release the rest?" All I can say is if he's talking about his puppets... Oh, crap.

15

Rain Burn / Re: Rain Burn, page 467

« on: January 22, 2026, 07:52:57 pm »

Some interesting theorizing on FA that the Puppetmancer may actually be the Big Good fighting against corrupt and evil kami. Another theory that this spirit isn't the Puppetmancer at all but Omin Himself, locked away from the others.

That'd be one hell of a plot twist. But my feeling is the same it's been since early in Chapter 1: Something is WRONG with this world and they've not even started to grasp what the hell is so rotten at its core. Their encounter with Suzocon-sama did not exactly breed confidence.