Height and the fear thereof
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Chasing the Sunset
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Jackiie says:

Weei, this comic do really rule!!!

Osk says:

is blue dragon in coma?

"though it opens possibilities."
Didn't Lava ever learn to watch his words when talking to pixies?

And what is Leaf doing? You will find out, next (or next after next) time (or even later) in: "Chasing the sunset!"

~~~~~~
I'm not afraid of height, but of depth. I have nothing against the air, it's the ground that kills you every time

Me says:

Oranges

Deman says:

Potatoes.

So dragons' flight _doesn't_ rely on gas power?

Chariset says:

I think Leaf's just making a little sculpture out of boredom.

I love how solemn the seahorse looks in the last panel

odo says:

Actually, I think the seahorse looks smug rather than solemn. He/she knows that since it is being ridden by a pixie, it doesn't have to worry ... about falling.

egwene says:

as alwais this comic make's my day :D

Empress Catriona of the Cat People says:

I think Feiht forgot that gravity exists, and has thus just been ignoring its existence (she's done that before). Does this mean, that now she's realised there's gravity she'll fall out of the sky?

Is that a pixie-trap Leaf's building?

Gemset says:

Woot

MB says:

Dragons must make use of some magic to fly ... They're just too big to achieve flight otherwise in an Earth-like gravitation field. But it's probably tied in to wing action.

That sea horse may be more mature in outlook than Feiht ... ^^;

Moonclaw says:

What's Leaf doing...Aww I fear that dragons of the future will be in danger of mid flight troubles, due to pixies. Great strip, can't wait till the next one!

JonMW says:

I always thought that dragons flew more like seagulls, gliding on the thermals and wind currents, hardly expending any energy at all except for the occasional wing-tilt. Not much flapping going on here at all.

And anyway, if you're talking about falling from huge heights, staying at 10,000 metres is safer than staying at 1,000: if you don't manage to deal with whatever your problem is, you're still as dead, but you'll have that much more time to deal with it.

JonMW says:

Oh yeah, and making some use of magic too, especially if you're talking about complex aerial acrobatics...
Just read the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett: they rock.

Black Unicorn says:

is it just me or is Lava stupid?

Black Unicorn says:

OOOOO Discworld is GOOD!!!!!!!!

bookbook says:

Oh, pixies have faced gravity before. After all, see Comic #27. Or Comic #29. I cant remember which.
Notice the energetic battle between pixies and the law of gravity.

Black Unicorn says:

Black Unicorn says:

Mithandir you are suposd to update lef's journy

wierdo says:

What on earth is Leaf doing?

Shadow Phoenix says:

I

Shadow Phoenix says:

Hey! what happened to my post? *Goes ballistic* I love Discworld. In this case, the relevant books are Guards! Guards! and The Last Hero. I have several questions: Why would a dragon forget to flap its wings? What mad scheme has Leaf come up with? Why does Black Unicorn think Lava is stupid? And what horrible, sadistic thing has Feiht thought up? On another note, of course Blue's comatose. You would be too if you'd had a pixie knight charge out of your stomach.

harpersong says:

It actually kinda looks like Leaf is building a memorial for something...maybe that's just crazy ol' me

Remmon says:

Or in the case something is else is doing the flying (or more precisely, is failing to do the flying), you have that much more time to ensure you get a soft landing. Parachutes as well feather fall and fly spells come to mind as being particularly usefull.

And you can cast feather fall at the last moment so the pixie doesn't have a chance to dispel it when you're using your last spell slot.

Furia Firelander says:

or leaf is arming his weapons, is he REALLY so stupid to fight 2 full grown dragons?????

straberi says:

im confused

Mia says:

Hmm... Leaf and his weird plans again. ... Well, this'll be intresting. ^^

shineeeeeeyyyyy says:

what is Leaf doing with that stuff

Hoazin says:

Maybe he's just passing the time, he seems to have been left out of this alot. :)

Or he could be making some statue to his greatness.

... says:

Hmm. Maybe Leaf is getting so bored he's riging his bow to shoot himself? *EG*

Wildy says:

A little difficult to shoot yourself, especially if the bow is facing the other way. Towards Feiht and company.

hkmaly says:

JonMW: Seagulls ? I was thinking about eagles ... but principle is same, flapping is needed mainly for taking off.

On the other hand, if you forgot wing in bad position, you are getting down. Maybee dragon is simplifying it a little ...



Your second point is more important. The most dangerous height is the minimal deadly one, especially if you know some flying spell which take some time to cast.



MB: It's not about being big. It's about material density and firmness. "Flying power" of wing is proportional to surface (and speed), weight of wing is proportional to volume. So unless dragon wings is using some monomolecular wonder, their can't be thin enough to carry itself and dragon.



Also, the dragon wings as displayed in comix is not nearly big enough. I think they will need more that 100 metters. They can't land at so high speeds as planes ...

smile =) says:

wow lots of scientificy stuff... I fear for all dragons, Feiht is dangerous. Lava should know better...

4WindsWanderer says:

Maybe leaf's going to shoot Feiht. :-D

Empress Catriona of the Cat People says:

The arrow is tied to his bow with green ribbon, and he's wedging the whole thing upright with a broken branch and rocks. I still think it is some strange kind of pixie trap. Maybe the pixie tries to steal the shiny arrow and gets catapulted a long long way away or something. I dunno what it does.

Empress Catriona of the Cat People says:

Ok, I've dug my bow out from under my bed, and tried to build a copy of Leaf's contraption, and I still don't get what it's for.

Flaming Mono says:

dragonqueencr says:

looking back on the first chapter you really notice how the art has evolved.

also, enough with the science. In a world where blue women run around, demon spirits posses elves, and pixies can create air breathing, flying seahorses, why cant dragons be held up by impossibly thin wings?

Arya says:

I can tell Fieht is thinking of something and when she is thinking, you know there is going to be trouble. The Lava dragon is giveing Fieht too many ideas. Somebody, call the doctor and scedule an appointment for the blue dragon.

emeraldcat says:

Oooh, I wouldn't want to be a dragon in that WORLD with Feiht on the loose!

Furia Firelander says:

Don't schadual an apoitnment with a doctor for the blue dragon, make one with a shrink for lava, that will have mutch more effect.

hkmaly says:

dragonqueencr: Everything must be explainable using physical (and magical) laws (or rules) of World That Is. They are different that laws of our universe, but must be consistent. Pixies can create air breathing, flying seahorses because pixies have more magical power to their disposal than any other creature (cited from Magic in The World That Is. You can't play with physical laws of flying, because there is long way from atoms to flying so you will get too much sideefects. Explaining dragon flying with magic (or organs with light gas) is much easier and only sideefect is their wings don't matter so much.


Arya: You know, maybee Lava dragon gives Feiht so many ideas she overload and faint ... as in Comix 262.

hkmaly says:

Comix 262 ? Does it work ?

hkmaly says:

Oh. Comic #262.

Bluedragon_012 says:

Woot!!! I read from the biging to the some what end? I cant wait to see what Happens next!!!!

thewatermelon says:

awk.

soooooo, how is leaf going to stop a confused dragon who tells a pixie that dragons are afraid of heights with a bow=arrow that only works for amazons?

thewatermelon says:

bow+arrow, i mean.

thewatermelon says:

in marble walls as white as milk,
lined with the smoothest softest silk,
within a fountain crystal clear,
a golden apple doth appear.
no doors are there to this stronghold
yet theivs break in and steal the gold.

crack this riddle!!!

thewatermelon says:

ah,i noticed a flaw.
this comic is in the "party" chapter. more like a joust.

dragonqueencr says:

riddle answer: an egg
easy peasy

Osk says:

or, if you take it literaly: you never said anything about a roof, only walls...

emeraldcat says:

that lava dragon better know about income taxes.

SuperCat says:

heehee... oh the possibilities... oh yeah and i endorse the discworld books too. ;) THey rock! ^.^

PrancyPranceUnicorn says:

Discworld? never heard of it.

PrancyPranceUnicorn says:

great comic though

Machiavellian says:

The dragon REALY needs to stop giving Feiht Ideas

Silverwolf says:

You know, dragon flight may be possible given sufficient wing area. The real issue though is muscle strength and the ability to get enough force out per wing cycle to attain flight. The wingspan would have to be greater than that of a 747, and the muscles would have to have phenomenal strength...but such strength to mass ratios do exist even in the real world. A dragon would burn more energy on launch, lots of energy on a hover (all wingbeat energy would be spent on keeping aloft), but relatively less energy in normal flight.
If you've ever seen Michael Whelan's artwork (particularly for the cover art of the Pern series) you see a dragon with a relatively feasible flight architecture. You'd be surprised what is physically possible when it's actually put into practice.

Pixie Slayer says:

My guess is that the bow was already there like that. Perhaps the dragons set it up to remember a good meal or something. Anyway, I'll be surprised if Leaf set it up himself.

Blue River says:

Perhaps he's finally come up with a pixie stunning device that works!!!!

4WindsWanderer says:

I know! The bow thing is probably just a ploy to arouse Feiht's curiousity or some such thing! Maybe it doesn't REALLY do anything, functionally.

4WindsWanderer says:

Alien: There, there, kitty, calm dow -
Ithildin: I will NOT be placated! Mrrowr!

Aklon says:

Flying Sea Horses, why cant it be Pixie size Goat mount, no one ever gives the infamous goat credit

Furia Firelander says:

How can that seahorse stay so confident, is it linked to feith or something?

Nebra Reppalk says:

Leaf is probably bored out of his mind and is doing something just for the fun of it. That's why I always carry a deck of cards, it's solitare time!
Does anyone else know that Chinese dragons don't have wings and yet they still fly? Actually winged dragons only appear in places once controlled by the Roman Empire, something to do with a windsock sort of banner called a draco the legions used to carry around.

Gemset says:

Of course dragon flight works! Have you never seen the dragons above the mountains at sunset! Or haven't you...? Is everyone but me blind or something?

hkmaly says:

Chinese dragons and "european" dragons have nothing common except name. It's like pigs and guinea pigs.

There is also a winged dragon without legs (and arms) and there are multi-head dragons. Probably none of these other types exists in World That Is.

Ebeth says:

I would be scared...
Haha...feiht. Feiht, feiht, feiht. Feiht feiht. Feiht.

dragonqueencr says:

Is it just me or are Mith and Alien a bit accident prone?

Aklon says:

*glances around, and sneaks off*

Silverwolf says:

I think the ultimate pixie slaying device would be a chrome-plated hand grenade. Deployable multiple ways, and shiny enough to bring the target to the seat of the blast...
Could be that Leaf is setting up an improvised sundial to find north. I remember that trick from a survival course.

Chakel says:

Ok, the blue dragon is playing dead. Considering all the pixie has done, it's probably the safesty ploy. I wonder if dragons are able to get rid of pixie infestations perminately.

bookbook says:

Whats Leaf doing?
Plotline Idea: Leaf operates the bow/arrow thingy and shoots an arrow past Lazy Blue Guy's ear. This is interpreted as a signal of war with a white dragon who has black stripes. (Dragons have complicated message signals.) The dragons fly off to attack the white dragon with black stripes and drag Leaf, Ayne, Myrhad, and Feiht along with them. Methinks another 7-minute war?

OtakuLiz says:

I think the best expression on the page is that of the blue dragon in the third panel. Or rather the whole body slumped over like that. It's pretty funny.


As for what Leaf's doing, my only theory is that it has something to do with Feiht. After all, this is Leaf. Does it have to make sense?

Empress Catriona of the Cat People says:

I'll go with the sundial idea, as it might just work.

OtakuLiz says:

I'd ask what the point of that would be, if it weren't for the fact that it's already been established that Leaf's plans do not necessarily require a point.

Nebra Reppalk says:

I'm not in the business of making sense, those that are are psychiatrists and psychologists.

Trelweny says:

All I want to know is: what is Leaf DOING anyway?

Furia Firelander says:

he is setting up a very idiot bow.

PrancyPranceUnicorn says:

so, what crazy plan do you think leaf is setting up?

im on power rangers mystic forrce says:

hey you stole my word


I say "thats just silly"



all the time




you stealing my phrase



I think thats just silly

Bob says:

Duuuuuuude, like, don't take up so much, like, space duude. Or, like, dudette. You know whati, like, meen?

thewatermelon says:

hey dragonqueencr:

old ms.edgewise has one eye
and a long tail that she lets fly.
every time she goes in a gap,
she leavs a bit of tail in the trap

NO STINKIN LITERALLISTS MAY ANSWER THIS!!!!

Bob says:

needle
*thhhbbtt*

thewatermelon says:

and thread, bob. and thread.

Bob says:

*sobs*

Soleil says:

the bow looks like it's taller than Leaf is

JuneBug says:

How does the seahorse breath?

hkmaly says:

JuneBug: The same way he's flying: by Feith magic.

ultrainventor says:

oh no, leaf is planing something again. back to the bomb shelter.


note how the seahorse closes it's eyes sort of thoughtfully when Feiht says it opens up possibilities

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