Autumn Bay - Fiat Lux

Fiat Lux

19th Apr 2016, 11:01 PM in Season One - Part 4: Havenport Hardcore

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Average Rating: 5 (15 votes)

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Author Notes:

Professor Etheric 19th Apr 2016, 11:01 PM edit delete

Part one of Mercy's tactics: disorient and disable your enemy. Bright lights, especially when they start as a little glowy thing that appears out of nowhere, would tend to draw a lot of attention.

Once again, this page has some experimentation to it...

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Podgor 19th Apr 2016, 11:11 PM edit delete reply

Bonus points if she had made it look like a fairy. Still, 9/10 for style and effectiveness.

Professor Etheric 19th Apr 2016, 11:12 PM edit delete reply

And she still has much more for them... :)

argylefox 19th Apr 2016, 11:20 PM edit delete reply

Did she just flash them?!

Professor Etheric 19th Apr 2016, 11:24 PM edit delete reply

Yes. Yes she did. :D

Seabiscuit 19th Apr 2016, 11:20 PM edit delete reply

Woah! D:
Scary! H-hopefully that's not permanent!

Professor Etheric 19th Apr 2016, 11:24 PM edit delete reply

Are you permanently blinded by a bright flash? :P

lirvilas 19th Apr 2016, 11:45 PM edit delete reply

The equivalent of throwing sand in an opponent's eyes. I'll bet she goes for "small joint manipulation" and other below-the-belt tactics as well...

@Seabiz: I think retina damage is about to be the least of these assholes' worries...

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:02 AM edit delete reply

When faced with superior numbers (or any numbers, really), CHEAT!

There is no "honor" in a real fight like this!

lirvilas 20th Apr 2016, 12:42 AM edit delete reply

Brah, she can drop a dumpster on their kneecaps for all I care. However, it's tough to get actionable intel out of dudes with broken necks.

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:45 AM edit delete reply

If it came to it, one word: necromancy. :P

argylefox 20th Apr 2016, 8:15 AM edit delete reply

No honour, and no mercy.

azureXtwilight 20th Apr 2016, 12:22 AM edit delete reply

Oooh, I like the lighting effects!

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:27 AM edit delete reply

Thanks! That was the main experiment!

azureXtwilight 20th Apr 2016, 12:53 AM edit delete reply

You should do it more often! :'D

jamie59 20th Apr 2016, 1:32 AM edit delete reply

Are those shades she's wearing or welders goggles?

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:39 PM edit delete reply

They're shades with a little extra (read "magical") help.

Shirokuro 20th Apr 2016, 2:16 AM edit delete reply

Miagic is pretty handy ondeed :3

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:40 PM edit delete reply

It really is. Too bad using it all the time in the open is a REALLY bad idea...

anonymous coward 20th Apr 2016, 3:17 AM edit delete reply

My favourite take on the idea involved making fun of a bad misspelling. The word 'disoriented' sometimes gets misspelled as 'disorientated.' To make fun of this I had a nature mage that specialized in plants invent the, 'disorientato.' This was a magical potato, that when thrown acts as a flash-bang along with smoke, nausea and balance-disrupting effects in an area when it hits something. Fully edible too, eating them granted resistance to the effects. The egrenade versions were pineapples of course.

Disappointed this wasn't a pineapple, but I suppose it's bad form to start a brawl by hucking lethal area effects around.

sigpig 20th Apr 2016, 11:35 AM edit delete reply

Re: area effect ammo. Try telling that to the US military... lol

anonymous coward 20th Apr 2016, 2:50 PM edit delete reply

The USDoD has wisely recognized that the whims of politicians should be served by the absolute minimum of violence and destruction possible because politicians don't tend to give much of a shit about blowback after their term is up (and often don't appreciate the problems that can manifest while they still are in office either). This means their arsenal is broadening and deepening towards the high-discretion and minimally-lethal ranges in use of force.

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:41 PM edit delete reply

The key here is that she needs information, and it's harder to get that from bits and pieces...

Awesome story, though!

anonymous coward 20th Apr 2016, 2:54 PM edit delete reply

I dunno about that. These are obviously thugs low in clue, so chances are Mercy only needs their personal effects, names and addresses to go find someone much better to interrogate than these two.

Miaubol 20th Apr 2016, 4:10 AM edit delete reply

Wow.. o.O

Thank goodness for shades indeed!

I love it how he's still smiling while saying "fuck! I'm blind!" xD

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:43 PM edit delete reply

...I am so busted. In that panel, I was re-using a previous panel, and I thought I had gotten it obscured enough... :(

Miaubol 22nd Apr 2016, 1:29 PM edit delete reply

I see everything... ;P

Ha ha just keep it, I think it makes a particular cool effect xD

Travis 20th Apr 2016, 6:40 AM edit delete reply

When I saw the light coming at them, I immediately thought of Spawn #1. These guys are fairing much better so far..

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:44 PM edit delete reply

I am not going to pretend that I didn't own a copy (or two, let's be honest) of Spawn #1...

As far as how they are faring, just wait... :P

ZeroGee 20th Apr 2016, 6:46 AM edit delete reply

Shiny!

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:45 PM edit delete reply

Big light tends to get that way. :)

Microraptor 20th Apr 2016, 7:11 AM edit delete reply

Some people have an actual reason to wear their sunglasses at night!

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:46 PM edit delete reply

I so have a song in my head right now... but yes, some do (and it's more than just "because it looks cool").

anonymous coward 20th Apr 2016, 3:57 PM edit delete reply

In this situation it seems to help her see the light that's right before her eyes, but they're no doubt useful for tracking visions and watching the weaving of magic among other things. :P

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 4:45 PM edit delete reply

TBH, the tracking of visions and the weave of magic, as you put it, is inborn to Mercy as a sorcerer. The shades are more defensive in nature. And they look cool! :)

anonymous coward 20th Apr 2016, 4:54 PM edit delete reply

*facepalm* Good show, I try to make a joke about the lyrics and....

Delta-v 20th Apr 2016, 9:15 AM edit delete reply

Good start, good start. ^^

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 12:48 PM edit delete reply

Thank you, thank you! And we're just getting started!

NeilKapit 20th Apr 2016, 9:03 PM edit delete reply

Somehow this is more interesting and impressive than if she burned them alive, probably because that level of magic would bring a street magician too much unwanted attention

Professor Etheric 20th Apr 2016, 9:32 PM edit delete reply

Most of what she pulls here can be explained away...

And burning alive? Yeeowch!

AmeliaP 22nd Jan 2018, 4:57 PM edit delete reply

Now makes sense why she's using shades at night. :)

Professor Etheric 8th Oct 2018, 6:40 PM edit delete reply

They aren't just for looks. ;)