So approximately two and three quarters of an hour.
Indrel release pheromones and breathe through the side vents in their abdomen; their mouths are connected only to their digestive systems, never making contact with their respiratory systems. This is the reason indrel are completely silent most of the time.
However, they can quickly and repeatedly grind together a pair of rough, ridged tendrils inside their throats, which creates a harsh buzzing sound as an alert signal, or as a way of indicating their location to others.
It takes a lot of training to form specific sounds this way, but Yannit was quite obsessed with the idea, and has learned how to “speak” this way.
Wow, he’s calling her a pervert?
Well he’s certainly never fallen asleep on a member of a different species before! Also he’s not very big.
He seems a lot like me in my early years. Flamboyant, COMPLETELY without regard of social standards, and extremely intelligent. Aspberger’s ftw…..
There are 3 potential perverts in this room, not just Isher. And Ran calls himself a scientist.
When “science” is in such rough, early stages, documenting anything at all adds to humanity’s collective database of useful knowledge!
“Useful” being the key word, am I right? 😉
It’s not science, it’s natural philosophy!
Do indrel have lungs?
They have a general equivalent in their abdomens, yes!
Like a book lung?
Indrel are more insects than arachnids so I would assume they have spiracles.
Welcome to the hell that is being associated with Kass in any way.
He does seem to radiate an aura of difficult situations, doesn’t he?
Welp. it has happened. I have another webcomic project where I will be saving every single page publicly listed and all of the side pages so that I have access to it when the net is down.
‘Curse’ you and your wonderfully written and pleasingly be-charactered story!
Eyyyy, great to hear! Plenty more of this stuff to come, so I hope it continues to hold your attention.
He is …
the creepiest man in the world.
It seems that most of the early genius “scientists” in world history were!
Leonardo Da Vinci dug up corpses from the local graveyards for dissection and dressed up like a dragon to jump out of the woods and scare travelers, Ben Franklin was a total sex fiend, etc etc
Yeah, most historical scientists were quite eccentric. However there is a difference between being eccentric and being creepy.
Ran’s a bit of both.
Broken link. 🙁
Fortunately, it was archived!
http://web.archive.org/web/20180104072214/http://www.knightlifecomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-27_creepiest_guy.gif
Sssoooo lucky twhoo not be soffft.
It means she can survive a few hours of laying underneath Isher, if nothing else. Which is a pretty important feature if you’ve being laid on by Isher.
ProTip: Bugs are great pillows.
I hope we eventually get to see a Field Guide entry on the Indrel’s internal workings. I’m really curious to see how they fit together. With their respiratory and digestive systems separated along with all of the glands that have been mentioned previously. Not to prod but is that something we can look forward to?
Possibly! They resemble ants/bees in a lot of ways, and Ran did get to dissect one once…
I was gonna ask how he managed to find a specimen, alive or dead, to dissect but it’s most likely safer to not ask questions we don’t want to know the answers to.
(PS: I’ve been looking up the various vital systems of ants, bees, and other insects and they’re super cool. I can roughly see how these set-ups could snap into an indrel. I find it interesting that all the spiracles would be in the abdomen. Does that mean the top of the body is reserved almost exclusively for pheromone glands?
PPS: Insects have such interesting body layouts. Thanks Val for giving me something cool to research on a lazy Tuesday.)
We already know the answer though.
How do you mean? Did I miss something?
http://www.valsalia.com/comic/the-val-salian-regional-field-guide/fg03/
Apparently one went crazy… had to be put down.
Can’t imagine an opportunity for science would have been wasted by Viracroix or Ran.
Ahh, yes. That slipped my mind. Thank you.
Guess you wanted to know the answer after all.
Had we not been let in on that fact, that method of Ran finding a specimen is a LOT more tame than would I would expect from the guy.
Naa, he seams very tame for his research, but definitely an opportunist.
So the general idea then is that Indrel don’t really require sleep then, however are incredibly patient, following two pages to suggest such. 😛 Perhaps they rest only half their brains at any one time? Like dolphins?
Pretty much! Like a lot of insects (most of which don’t have eyelids to close), they just kinda go into “power conservation mode” and semi-consciousness.
Now would be a good time for Kass to wander in and say something like “Ran, I just found out zat I can pull a mollusc out of its shell using my only my tongue, so imagine what I could do to a persons eyes…”
Also he might not want to upset the woman with knives on her thumbs.
On a side note it seems like what’s ups with Ishers tail? It seems like it would be detrimental to have a tial you have to drag on the ground.
Lots of large reptiles have tails that drag on the ground, it seems to just be a thing they do.
I know that some, like the komodo dragon, weaponize their tails. The tails are so strong and heavy that they can be swung with enough force to break bone and cause internal injuries. I can imagine Isher’s massive tail to be even more deadly.
Good catch! Her nonhuman parent species are mountain-dwellers, and those tails are commonly used to give them traction and wrap around things as in: http://www.valsalia.com/art-extras/291-2/
Ooh, a hinty hint on Isher’s origins. Mountain-dwellers supports my theory of dragon something but last time I checked they never used their tails for much else than balance and bashing. So many stories need to be told in this universe, I almost envy those who will eventually find this comic in it’s completed state. Almost…
Isher..stop crushing people/giant insectoid people!
…they might start to like it … I know I would :V
It’s a big upside to having your skeleton on the outside! The carapace bears all the weight, unlike those poor squishy humans who might not entirely enjoy being laid on by a 400lb Isher.
But Yannit’s already a humanaboo so she’s likely to pick up all sorts of new “interests” easily…
Also, check your DA/FA messages- you had me worried about a thing!
Poor poor Isher. Who knows how long that scientist has been sitting there watching them. The woman’s not even decent, man!
Two and three-quarters of an hour, since Yannit crawled into bed with her and Isher unconsciously rolled over on her. No way he could leave until he saw how that would play out.
Thank you for making these wonderful creations. I have just finished reading all the thing, and eagerly look forward to the next instance.
Well glad you’re enjoying it! I sure ain’t stopping anytime soon, so I hope it continues to entertain.
This comic is amazing and disgustingly adorable and just the right thing to feed my addiction of webcomics.
It’s always great to hear that. and hey, if I’m going to make something adorable, I probably want to make it disgustingly so.
What field do you work in/study? You seen to have an astonishing knowledge of biology.
You’d be *amazed* what you can learn when you decide to put your mind to something and figure out how it works.
Ohh man, what a laugh you got out of me! 🙂
It’s cool that you are adding esoteric science facts via expert-mode level of comedic delivery.
P.S.: Way off topic, but I don’t have the time to send an email or make an DA account…
Any chance you might design some Yinglet face cards? There are 12 in a deck, plus the 2-4 “Jokers” which are mostly unused.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_52-card_deck
The Patriarchs would be the Kings and the matriarchs the Queens. I’d assume the underlings/servants would be the Jacks; Lopin as the Jack of Hearts!!! 😉
I mean, half these guys look like they would enjoy a game.
http://www.valsalia.com/comic/out-of-placers/oops-021/
I’d imagine you would have fun designing the “Jokers”. 😛
The “Suicide King” could be a really clumsy Yinglet, probably shouldn’t have let him use a spear after he got into that biteleaf.
Anyway, just some semi-random thoughts.
P.S.S.: No Yannit, that is not how pillows work, LOL.
“This is the reason indrel are completely silent most of the time.”
That doesn’t really make sense to me. One of the biggest size caps of IRL insects is that passive respiration just doesn’t bring in enough O2 to support larger organisms. While I could accept that an Indrel’s ridged exoskeleton contains an internal space for a lung equivalent to inflate/deflate the air traveling in and out should still make some noise.
Though I suppose if they had a respiratory system more similar to a birds then they would produce less and steadier amount of noise than tidal respiration.
Perhaps the atmospheric oxygen concentration is greater than that of Earth’s. There are some really large fossilized insects from millennia ago.
This idea is reinforced by the presesnce of other large insects in the comic’s world. Besides the indrel there is the ever present ivenmoths, bigger than any moth on Earth today, the tiplods, which are large enough to pull carts, the baxxid, though their insect nature is questionable, and a few other unnamed creatures we’ve seen.
Like the baxxid, there seems to be a number of creatures on this world that are not really insects but have insect-like features. Armored exoskeletons on the heads or reptilian creatures seems especially common.
Call me weird, but I can’t get over Isher’s thighs and hips.
” ivenmoths, bigger than any moth on Earth today”
I’d say the Atlas moth gives them a run for their money. That said all the larger insect like creatures could also be explained by the development of alternate respiratory methods. This world doesn’t seem to have the megaflora that dominated the Carboniferous period.
😀 It’s bigger than my hand, cool!
I’d say the ivenmoths man body is 2-3 times bigger than an atlas moth, but the atlas moth does have a comparable wingspan. The ivenmoths wings are impractically tiny for their body size, but that might be why we see them crawling around more than flying, they can probably only fly in short bursts.
It could be that they flap their wings more like a bee than a butterfly…
Ohhhhh, if the density of the air is higher on this planet… 😉
The problem with the whole ‘different atmosphere’ theory is that a high density and or high O2 atmosphere would have impacts beyond giant insects. For one thing out of control fires would be a CONSTANT hazard. Plus you would expect the humans to look different I mean trying to use human style lungs in that kind of atmosphere would probably result in oxygen poisoning.
Great point. But then again, the plants and wildlife might evolve to be less flammable, haha. I think you’re right.
Have you considered that the gravitational mass of the planet is less than that of Earth? Nothing to write home to mom about, like on a dwarf planet, but like 90 – 96% of Earths mass. I’m working on a story of my own, and it required me to know the difference between Earth’s mass, the mass on planet Tal where Sergals are from (super Earth by the way), & on Val Salia’s world.
Lower gravity would certainly help with things flying but wouldn’t explain the giant bugs.
Wait, what?
Did i just… reach the latest page? And have to wait for an update?
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, i must say: this is the first comic that made me smile at every panel. I am in love. Great work!
Oh my! OwO
I wonder if the coy way she twirls her hair with her thumb (nail? talon?) played any role in the damage to her right ear… the tear aeems just about right for a pierce and pull
Nope. I’ve read way too many comments on the DA site…
Somewhere, Valsalia responded to a comment about Isher’s damaged ear and horn.
No spoilers for you from me, bwahahahahaha. 🙂
Good-on-ya for checking the old comments!
Now I suppose I must hunt down those DA comments! … …. so much reading!
I’m still trying to prepare for the new season(s?) of Samurai Jack!
Nice name! Do you do any of the tropes modding for web comics as well?
I don’t actually have a Tv Tropes account yet, it just “got me hooked” when I finally started clicking the webcomics folders. Found Sandra and Woo and then Housepets!…
Now I read 8 or so. I don’t like ‘magic/fantasy comics’ so my list appears random.
I don’t have any time between actual work and making comments, haha. Will make a new username at some point.
If I find the DA comment I’ll post it on the next comic probably. It wasn’t anything spoiler-ish anyway; implied the damaged ear may have been caused by an uncooperative farm animal, or something like that.
http://comments.deviantart.com/1/497665063/3880947334
Another funny comment, dead-linked to avoid spam-filter:
[http://comments.deviantart.com/1/497665063/3675384821]
Both from the comment section of OOPs #3:
[http://valsalia.deviantart.com/art/Out-Of-Placers-3-497665063]
Stop making creepy bug aliens so dang hugga-hugga-dorable! 😀
Inter-Species sexual harassment lawsuit a thing there? The guy’s curiosity for knowledge is admirable but creepy and is borderline invasion of privacy I think.
….dont tell me he sketching those two or something while they were sleeping xD
Ran sketches everything. 😉
Nah, I’ll bet he is counting Indrel heartbeats-per-minute and sketching out the body segments. Calculations involving stressed exoskeleton panels and such are in his logbook now.
In an earlier comic he did respect Isher’s wish not to be called something that starts with an H, and then said that he has no right to pry into her secrets. He is a strange and weird dude, but I doubt he would go too far. Besides, Isher could smack him and Ran would be launced across the room!
As long as their fortunes are tied to Kassie’s, they will just have to get used to not having any privacy. I suppose they could sneak out of the city and just keep on going, but that could have repercussions fro any left behind, and there’s not supposed to be any human settlements for hundreds(?) of miles. Hopefully, they’ll start seeing some more benefits of their “deal with the devil”.
If Isher wasnt so shy, those other two would be on unplanned flight experiment right now.
…Does Ran ever sleep?
Dammit Yannit.
Indrel kinda remind me of the thranx.
That Ran guy reminds me too much of Eric from the webcomic TwoKinds.
I thought Yannit “talked” by swallowing air and speaking esophageally; effectively a modulated burp.
Wait hold on, did they fuck? I’m confused, when did that happen, when they were hugging?