This has been a very unusual day for Elevator Guy.
Out-of-Placers
A story of inconvenient changes
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Elevator Guy sees the ups and downs of service to house Ivanmoth, Surely.
Possibly more than any other!
(Literally)
(Because in the figurative sense, he doesn’t get told much or given any real authority)
He’s I guess The Guy. He probably overhears stuff and probably has some skill, but otherwise… He’s a low tier grunt.
Interesting place Ivanmoth. Founded simply on trade not on war or by kings and thus I assume vastly more open minded than most other places.
In some ways, yes!
On the other hand, if you can’t pay your bills, get ready for some good old-fashioned debt slavery.
Sounds like Ahnk-Morpok to be honest. Though more idealistic and less corrupt.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t influenced heavily by Pratchett’s work.
Wait, Elevator Guy is capitalized like a proper noun. Is this character’s name is straight up Elevator Guy? Fantastic.
Wow grammer.
its his title.
“Only if I can touch yours”, how lewdly implied. 😉
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
I’ll hazard a guess that Yannit won’t be going bonkers, being able to speak to others and having accepted Val Salia as her new hive by her own free will is a big factor. She’s a xenophile; the other cases were cut off from the only world and people they’d ever known, and just couldn’t handle it.
Or she’s doomed and they just want to study her as much as possible before she goes berserk. She might be the only one of their kind that can communicate in a human language, it’s too good an opportunity to waste. Plus, in the main tradehouse building there are lots of armed guards to deal with her when she does go berserk. Then when she’s dead they can dissect the body while it’s still fresh.
There is a chance that their research might find a way to keep her stable. I doubt anyone is counting on it though. Regardless, keeping her there is the right move.
You might be right though. She is the first of her kind to want to live among humans, as far as we know. Banishment isn’t a punishment for her, yet.
Val Salia had mentioned in the comments section previously to the same effect about Yannit. Specifically that the previous I drew drone to arrive in the city of Val Salia had been banished from the Indre Mountains, as opposed to Yannick who not only left on her own accord, but actually is enjoying being away from home. Thus implying that she is not likely to randomly go beserk.
I drew & Indre – autocorrect = Indrel
Good to see all this theorizin’ going on! Without spoiling anything, I can safely say this:
One or more of these predictions may or may not be correct.
Thanks for giving us the straight goods, man. Really appreciated.
now that is how to be a proper politician!
Serious question for once, is the red mark on Isher’s face natural or is it just face paint?
Isher is my favorite character. I drew some fan art a while back of what I thought Isher parents would be, and Val SALIA was able to confirm the red marks are a type of paint, simular to symbolization to the coming of age ceremony some cultures have.
It serves the purpose of facepaint, but is actually tattooed on as an early rite of passage.
There must be a ton of little things you’ve established in this world without telling the audience like that. I’m now super excited to learn about Isher’s past. Now that I’m thinking about it, these characters are so damn good the only two relevant characters I don’t want to see a whole flashback thing on are Elim and Kass and that’s only because of Altered Fates in the Arts & Extras tab already giving that info.
Knowledge aside, foster strong alliances with other species, and becoming a inter-species state will give them a lot of advantages over other human kingdoms. They’ll have a more diverse range of workers/soldiers, with unique skills, abilities, personal knowledge and resources, who can potentially specialize in certain fields to degrees well beyond normal human limits.
For a tradehouse, this means a larger variety of goods and services to offer, some of which may be completely unavailable in other human kingdoms.
Or everybody dies!
Hooray!
Kass jerks bolt upright in bed to find it was all a dream.
(has anybody really awoken from a dream like that, as is shown in every movie “wake from a bad dream” scene?)
Then pulls back the blankets to find his (her) lower half is still yingletized!
Huminglet!
Right on! That is how to keep spirits up!
I don’t know if this setting has dragons as such, but Isher really makes me think of something like a dragonborn or a half-dragon.
I somewhat forced Val Salia’s hand to confirm on the (now defunct) forums that Ishers mother was the human of her two parents. As far as the paternal lineage, Val Salia has only left clues, including the fact that their species uses their long tail as a sort of anchor against rocks to help stabilize and prevent falling off a mountain terrain within which the have evolved. Given the new map, it may be possible that the species lives in the Indrel Mountains
And boy am I having fun keeping it all hush-hush until the inevitable reveal.
Your fingers must be literally worn to the bone from all the delightful[devious] hand-wringing.
Just curious but how humanoid is her father?
Long time reader, first time commenter.
I really love this comic! I check it pretty much every day (just in case) and have read the backlog probably 10 times (it’s not too hard since we’re still starting out). So much world building with always the hint (and then revelation) of more and more ingenious connections and secrets. It’s a pleasure to read and the highlight of my day whenever something new comes out.
I had to comment for the first time to say I’m really glad to see what Isher and Yannit are up to. I think Yannit and Ran will get along juuuust fine. 🙂
Well damn, glad you’re enjoying this story so much! And yeah, I’ve been looking forward to getting back to these two for a while.
I think I may now ship Ran and Yannit
Well, they’ve already established that they like groping each others’ hair, so that would only be a couple more steps, really.
I just noticed how Kass’s “up, up!” at the end of the last comic links up to Yannit’s. Nice!
Glad you noticed! I like me some continuity.
Say what you will, Yannit’s theory on hair being “sofft soffft” is holding up soundly.
It seems the very sensation itself is a rare and pleasant thing for her? I mean, ‘soft’ texture wouldn’t be too common to an exoskeletal burrowing race, so it must have been a genuine joy to feel hair.
What happens if/when Yannit realizes the new yinglet-Kass is covered in hair?
Would we lose her altogether if she ever discovered satin sheets?
Well, she did seem to enjoy regular cloth ones!
Yeah… for lunch! 🙂
The yinglet coat is pretty short, but Kass does still have the same hair as he used to!
what happens when you give Yannit a chinchilla?
Hopefully, not lunch.
new otp :^)
I know, right? Isher and Elevator Guy belong together.
what are their typical conversations on a weekly basis?
Nice to see these characters again, I missed them!
So did I! As much as I love the yinglets, it’s great to get back to this crowd as well.
Hopefully we will get to see more of both for higher levels of cute :).
Feed me more I’m addicted!!!
Also question: In an earlier comments from author it said de is used by tradionaloat and ze used by “hip” yinglets. So why the patriarchs not say de since some of them are traditionalist?
Reason? Or just beacause you forgot? Either way is fine with me I LOVE THIS WEBCOMIC
Ey, good question! The “de” substitution isn’t so much traditionalist as just more common/low-brow, which tends to mostly be used by those who think the others are just trying to sound all fancy and refined. The “de” is used mostly by those who embrace their underdog status, and think the “ze” folks are trying to make themselves sound all fancy, and the “ze” folks feel that the “de” crowd is just embarrassing everyone involved.
And the Val Salian enclave is probably the most cosmopolitan enclave that exists, so there’s a heavy “ze” bias.
The fact that you’re interested enough in this divide to post about it tells me that this comic’s caught your attention, so hooray! That makes me happy.
I’m famous you replied to me :O
ALSO, I can’t wait for a new page! This comic is just ZE best!!
Does Isher have five fingers (including thumbs) in panel one?
I assume you just can’t see the 5th one
she’s only supposed to have 4
I did not know this
It’s true, I checked.
Isher has three meaty fingers and a thumb on each hand. This mirrors her four toed feet. I applaud this as it always bothers me when digitigrade characters have more fingers than toes.
Perhaps Valsalia redesigned Isher a bit since we last saw her?
Oh! That’s an, uh… optical illusion from Isher twiddling her fingers.
(Or it’s been a year since I drew her and I was sleepy when I sketched that panel :P)
can anyone else spot the missing “is”? or has everyone just read over it and replaced it automatically in their heads?
I want you to know that this a special place.
Good catch! I’ll edit that in later.
I recently found this comic and read through the archives. Very interesting mix of characters! The Yinglet acculturation subplot is a nice touch, with many parallels to human history. It will be interesting to see where it leads in the future.
By the way, where did you get your the inspiration for the Yinglets? The closest living thing I could find to this species is the Jerboa.
All right! Always glad to hear that someone’s enjoying not just the story and characters, but also the cultural/anthropological stuff, because I sure do aim to make that a major element.
The yinglets are really just a big mix of things; I actually didn’t know jerboas existed until someone saw the yinglets and told me about them! When I was putting them together, I started with aspects of large rodents/small mammals. And I’ve rehabbed and released baby birds each summer for the past few years- a couple years ago, I took care of one of these things: http://imgur.com/BLzqwF8
And after seeing it move around on those ridiculous little legs, I vowed that at some point in my life, I had to draw some character or species with those awkward stilt-legs. And considering that plovers (the bird family that chick is in) are typically beach-combing birds, it was a perfect match for the rest of the yinglets’ development, given the ecosystem they evolved in.
So that’s yinglets!
Ha ha! Very cute! I can see the resemblance!
By the way, have you ever seen the PBS documentary, “My Life as a Turkey”, about a naturalist who became the “mother” of an orphaned clutch of wild turkey eggs?
It’s based on the book, “Illumination in the Flatwoods”, by Joe Hutto, who skillfully weaves together both scientific curiosity and philosophical reflection into an emotionally compelling story. Given your background, I’m guessing you would have a special appreciation for Hutto’s experiences. I’d highly recommend it if you have the time.
Wow, 67 comments. This comic keeps getting bigger and bigger. I’m gonna love watching this comic grow cause I think everyone knows it’s not gonna slow down soon. Keep it up Val, you’ve clearly got something here!
I’m curious how the elevators are powered in this place.
I am guessing, a mini, liquid fluoride thorium reactor, powering a series of high torque stepper motors, connected to an 8:1 hear reduction. Reactor management is handled by a team of cute yinglets.
No edit 🙁
*gear reduction
This is one of three elevators we’ve seen so far in this place, they all seem to use different mechanics.
This the third elevator, which we’ve seen the most of, it appears to be the main elevator inside the Ivenmoth HQ. It appears to run up and down on some sort of cable or pole that goes straight through the middle of the elevator platform. There doesn’t seem to be any mechanism on top that moves the platform so I purpose that, if it is running on a pole, it is pushed/pulled from under the platform, probably climbing the pole with a gear system. Possibly powered by steam pressure.
The more likely option is that it is on a cable, which is probably connected to a counterweight or sister elevator. Since the cable runs through the elevator platform I suspect it is connected to winches at both the top and the bottom, possible making a complete loop. These winches would probably be hand cranked or, more likely, turned by some beast(s) of burden.
The first elevator we saw was in main chamber of one of the “Teeth” of Val Salia, presumably the larger one. It seems to be a general elevator, probably meant for moving supplies more than people. The elevator has a stabilizing framework built around it and is clearly hanging from a winch, spool, or pulley. There does not seem to be any visible means of operating it, nor does there seem to be any sort of counterweight, but you can see the cables also run through the wall to the outside. I would guess that the bulk of the mechanics are housed in an outside building built into the side of this “Tooth.”
The second elevator we saw seems to be Trademaster Viracroix’s private elevator which leads directly to his personal chamber. We don’t see much of it but is is in a closed off shaft and has several chains around it. This seems closest to a conventional elevator, with counterweights and an elaborate pulley system. As for how it’s powered, my best guess is still either a manual winch system, or steam pressure.
Steam power might seem advanced, but I’m not talking about a full fledged steam engine. Steam pressure has been a mechanism used to move objects large and small for thousands of years, so it should certainly be possible here.
Man, I love that people are actually taking note of this; it is indeed a sort of winch system that runs the span of the main “tooth” formation that runs near-constantly, and the lifts are connected and disconnected with it when they need to be put in motion.
The technology and construction is Baramorian, which was part of a major trade deal a few decades prior.
In truth, I only took note after fe2f9ma8’s question piqued my curiosity. Before today I hadn’t paid much attention to the elevators and assumed they were all the same one.
Still, I hope one day my observations form the foundation for the “elevators” page of the comic’s wiki.
So if this winch system runs so constantly, I would then guess that it is ultimately powered by a water wheel system. Perhaps one connected to the water pools in the Undergardens?
wait there is a wiki?
There probably will be some day.
I am wondering how it actually works. The first elevator is simply a single winch there isn’t a second winch for a counterweight. We don’t know much about Viracoix elevator. This one seems similar to the first.
I should note that I’m not an engineer and know nothing about elevators.
What I want to know is the floor plan for the giant beehive / hollowed out volcano / and the future location for the 5th spy thriller starring your favorite yinglet. Hitting theaters near you in 600 years.
Elevator guy ‘does’ get paid enough for this kind of crap apparently.
Ran X Yannit is the best couple, always finding some new and interesting thing to get excited about.
I (friend)ship it
HAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIRRRRRRrrrr
Man, this complet that phrase: “Stop the world, I want to go down!” Or something like that. My english is not that good.