Girl Genius XXVII: Hoy! Hennybody else not dead?

[HandofShadows]

I know Othar hunts sparks. But I hadn't heard anything about him hunting female sparks in particular. Did I miss something?

Not very many female sparks in Europe foe Othar to hunt.

[Vinyadan]

He doesn't hunt them in particular, but, had he succeeded in executing Agatha, then he would have killed 1/6 of the contemporary female sparks I can remember right now (the light technician, Agatha, Lu, the two Queens, Thorpe). He could have had a disproportionate effect on their numers.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I think the general belief in Europa is that most female sparks are rounded up by unsavory male sparks or burned as witches; In practice I suspect many of those who escaped the "burned as witches" option were rounded up by the Geisterdamen and ended up in Arronev's machine (I grant Arronev counts as an unsavory male spark, but he didn't do the rounding up).

The novels cover it in a bit more detail, but they are in the attic and I don't intend going back up there 'till bedtime...

I wonder who Pookie's "they" are. Could be her sisters, could be something else...

[Rogar Demonblud]

Ugh that second to last panel though her FACE is AWFUL! I cant even describe exactly why other than it looks sort of half manly and half womanly? I dunno, but it really gives me a visceral dislike. At least it goes back to lovely queen in the last panel.

Part of that might be the pale blue eyes. They look a bit different in each panel, like they can't get the color consistently.

[geoduck]

Part of that might be the pale blue eyes. They look a bit different in each panel, like they can't get the color consistently.

Or the change is intentional, they're black when she first makes her Big Entrance.

[Squire Doodad]

I know Othar hunts sparks. But I hadn't heard anything about him hunting female sparks in particular. Did I miss something?

I'm pretty sure he doesn't specifically go after one gender or another. I think it's the Geisterdamen.

[Vinyadan]

If anyone is interested, there are some GG pages without balloons here: http://arcanetimes.com/girl-genius/ I was surprised at how good some of them look.

This is in that page, too.

[Squire Doodad]

If anyone is interested, there are some GG pages without balloons here: http://arcanetimes.com/girl-genius/ I was surprised at how good some of them look.

This is in that page, too.

Sweeeeeeet Caroline

[Rogar Demonblud]

I haven't laughed that hard in a week.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Decent advice from Albia there, even if it does boil down to "Stop screwing around with your friends and get to work".

[Manga Shoggoth]

Actually, I can see a big meeting with Albia, Tweedle, Gil, Tarvek, Zeetha and Seffie in the near future.

I know Albia wanted Agatha for her garden, but I think everyone puts The Other at a higher priority, so she'll be happy to see Agatha going out to remove The Other.

Not sure how the parties will break out afterwards, though.

I think Gill will be convinced that he has to get Europa in order, and might take Tarvek or Seffie as support (we know that he trusts Seffie to a degree, and he and Tarvek work extremely well together when not fighting, as well as Tarvek's knowledge of wasps). Trelawney will go as Albia's envoy (with her own mission to land Gil, which will nicely clash with Seffie).

Agatha will (with incredible reluctance) have to take Tweedle with her unless they sort out a cure. She will also have Adrian and Zeetha.

[Traab]

The problem with tweedle is, he is the storm king, he has been acknowledged as such, at least in paris, not sure if he was acknowledged in england or not. So there may be an issue with him tagging along to africa or wherever she goes next.

[geoduck]

Actually, I can see a big meeting with Albia, Tweedle, Gil, Tarvek, Zeetha and Seffie in the near future.

I know Albia wanted Agatha for her garden, but I think everyone puts The Other at a higher priority, so she'll be happy to see Agatha going out to remove The Other.

Not sure how the parties will break out afterwards, though.

I think Gill will be convinced that he has to get Europa in order, and might take Tarvek or Seffie as support (we know that he trusts Seffie to a degree, and he and Tarvek work extremely well together when not fighting, as well as Tarvek's knowledge of wasps). Trelawney will go as Albia's envoy (with her own mission to land Gil, which will nicely clash with Seffie).

Agatha will (with incredible reluctance) have to take Tweedle with her unless they sort out a cure. She will also have Adrian and Zeetha.

If with Adrian you mean Lady Steelgarter, why on earth would Agatha take her anywhere? She's clearly established she has some nefarious agenda towards Skifander. And I don't think Albia has at all given up on the idea of adding Agatha to her garden; she's still throwing Rakethorn at her. I suspect she uses said garden as the source of her uber-Spark powers, and so has to keep it stocked with (female?) sparks.

And I still think Albia's gonna die, sooner rather than later.

[Fyraltari]

If with Hadrian you mean Lady Steelgarter, why on earth would Agatha take her anywhere? She's clearly established she has some nefarious agenda towards Skifander.

Adrian Rakethorn, the spy sent to seduce Agatha.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Hadrian Rakethorn, as opposed to Lady Adrianna Steelgarter.

[Manga Shoggoth]

If with Adrian you mean Lady Steelgarter, why on earth would Agatha take her anywhere?

You mean, Ariadne?

(And thanks guys: yes it should have been Hadrian)

[factotum]

How does Albia work out that the Continent is only 6km away at high tide? Even in our day the Strait of Dover is 33km wide, and a lot of the south-east of England is sunk under the sea in the Girl Genius universe, so not sure how it would somehow be *closer*.

[InvisibleBison]

How does Albia work out that the Continent is only 6km away at high tide? Even in our day the Strait of Dover is 33km wide, and a lot of the south-east of England is sunk under the sea in the Girl Genius universe, so not sure how it would somehow be *closer*.

1) Albia is using a different sized kilometer for some reason.
2) Someone's been turning what in our world is the English Channel into land.
3) It's a typo or a mistake by the author (this seems most likely to me).

[Rogar Demonblud]

Being under the ocean already, England has expanded into the Channel.

[Narkis]

How does Albia work out that the Continent is only 6km away at high tide? Even in our day the Strait of Dover is 33km wide, and a lot of the south-east of England is sunk under the sea in the Girl Genius universe, so not sure how it would somehow be *closer*.

England's already been sunk. What's to stop them from expanding along the ocean's bottom?

[BRC]

1) Albia is using a different sized kilometer for some reason.

Sparky science has clearly introduced a more efficient kilometer. Just as their airships are much more powerful than airships built in the real world, their Kilometers contain far more meters than ours do.

[Gez]

It's at low tide that distances between land masses are shorter -- there are some islands that even become peninsulas at low tide, like the Mont Saint-Michel.

With real-world geography, the closest part of Albia's domain to the continent (assuming she doesn't have Gibraltar...) would be the island of Alderney (part of the bailiwick of Guernsey, which is a crown possession rather than a part of the United Kingdom). There's still 15 km.

But Britain is sunk, and is largely made of underwater domes and submarines. Clearly, land distances do not matter. Maybe she considers that any area with at least X meters of water depth is her domain, which would bring her closer to sheer landmarks on the continental coast during high tide.

[xroads]

England's already been sunk. What's to stop them from expanding along the ocean's bottom?

This. Best I can figure, since land was no longer issue, England just kept on expanding outwards through the ocean. Probably only stopping when hitting the boundaries of maritime territorial laws.

A quick Google search tells me that 6km from the baseline was about average for 17th and 18th century.

Fun fact, 6km is apparently also the distance a cannon can reach. Implying that the rules were based on whether or not a country could theoretically defend that stretch of water with cannon fire from shore.

Though, given the weapons that sparks wield, I'm surprised that distance isn't longer.

[Squire Doodad]

This. Best I can figure, since land was no longer issue, England just kept on expanding outwards through the ocean. Probably only stopping when hitting the boundaries of maritime territorial laws.

A quick Google search tells me that 6km from the baseline was about average for 17th and 18th century.

Fun fact, 6km is apparently also the distance a cannon can reach. Implying that the rules were based on whether or not a country could theoretically defend that stretch of water with cannon fire from shore.

Though, given the weapons that sparks wield, I'm surprised that distance isn't longer.

Like my papa used to say - if you can fire a high-density blast of concentrated plasma at it, then that's not enough space.

[Drascin]

Honestly, talking to Albia alone seems like a terrible goddamn idea for any ruler, and I expect Gil to be smart enough to realize this.

[Fyraltari]

Honestly, talking to Albia alone seems like a terrible goddamn idea for any ruler, and I expect Gil to be smart enough to realize this.

Why? What could she do alone that she couldn't do surrounded by her loyal subjects?

[HandofShadows]

Gil has a long history of getting people to underestimate him. I hope he is doing that now. He might even have an ace or two up his sleeve.

[lord_khaine]

Why? What could she do alone that she couldn't do surrounded by her loyal subjects?

Talk matters of state politics?

[TaRix]

Talk matters of state politics?

Give an "honorary English citizenship" mind whammy?

[Fyraltari]

Talk matters of state politics?

Why would it be a terrible idea for Gil to allow this, then?

Give an "honorary English citizenship" mind whammy?

Why would she need to be alone to do that?