April 30th, 2019
30 Apr 2019 · page 894 of 1306
Intrigue :O
This week and next week we're only doing Tuesday updates, apologies! Should be the last interruption before this book is finished though.
Cast: Dr Esther Flack, Robert Hackett, Yasmin Rana
Comments (29)
Events
ThoughtBubble
14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
Harrogate Convention Centre
Manchester Megacon
31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
They are going to Sharpen/Flack her, aren't they?
And yeah, a rug covering a circle solves the problem "a victim isn't so stupid". :/
It does, however, create other... let's call them puzzles. What was the original nefarious plan before Hackett changed the venue of this meeting to the depths -- and why did he have to change it?
Perhaps Councilwoman Rana was not taking the bait to come to the original location. To get her there Hackett had to hint at some problem to do with, oh, the nature of magic or sommat, that any mayor of Widdershins was going to have to deal with? "Since there's a chance you'll (ha-ha) win next month..." ...no, not feeling it. Her opening remark on this page doesn't fit with that sort of hook.
Presumably re-creating this circle/rug setup in the depths was the last-minute "work" that Flack was busy with.
And judging by the number of rugs, they aren't taking any chances in regards to where she might step and just put circles everywhere (because there's no possible way that could ever backfire).
Or they're camouflage -- there's one circle, but lots of rugs, so it's less suspicious that there's a circle under this particular rug
Now when it comes to solving this mess of half the city's hierarchy being magically swayed, the question is: Are the villains dumb enough to use the same failsafe word for every victim?
Officer-level thinking ;)
The same word worked on both the students and Sharpe, so yeah probably.
But I don't think it's a password the caster gets to set; it seems more like "Quiescete" is just the word that casts the undoing spell.
So she's covering up a circle on the floor to do some magic on this woman. I'm not wondering if any amount of obscuring can stop a circle? They've done ones blocked by floorboards and now rugs, what can you do if you have a circle under you?
Yeah, so far it seems like as long as you're above it and the medium the circle is drawn with is intact, it works fine.
Though I've been curious what would happen if you were within a circle but below it, like it was drawn on the first floor but you were in the basement.
I wonder what would happen if you were on the exact opposite end of the world from an activated circle. Unlikely, yes, but would it work?
So given Eliza's thing about the Fourth Anchor being on the opposite side of the world, could this circle be used to summon something at another anchor?
What if you draw the circle on the ceiling? Does it reverse the effective direction or still only work for the floor above? Is there a certain maximum height of the cylinder formed by a circle?
My assumption is that the circle doesn't recognize "ceiling" or "floor" distinctions, but it does know "above" and "below". The fact that the anchors are paired along poles through the earth seems to indicate that there's something significant about the planet itself, so the circles would direct "outward".
Just a theory though! Maybe it's targeted locally, in either or both directions.
Actually, I just remembered this from Chapter 4 - circles drawn on the wall, around the connections for the light fixtures. So maybe you're right and circles project outward from the surface they're drawn on!
[https://widdershinscomic.co...](https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/march-7th-2014 "https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/march-7th-2014")
We need Ben and/or Izzy to research this! I think they’d both find it fascinating.
If air travel ever becomes mainstream in this universe, there are gonna be problems
I wish I had a problem such as "too many pretty carpets everywhere" too
Yikes, this is a pretty smart move. Who needs to control a whole city to influence an election if you can just make the other candidate drop out or look bad to their voters?
Or for that matter make the other candidate into a puppet candidate so that even if you lose you win.
Oh ho ho, now that's a sneaky little plot they've cooked up, if they're about to do what I think they're about to do
Hmm, wonder if Flack's possibly planning to influence her financier if this works as planned
Also Kate, that sarcastic laden smile of Flack in Panel 3 was just perfect XD
"Mr. Sharpe, have you anything to say in your defense?"
"Quiescete"
Y'know, I was all set to like Hackett as decent guy who had terrible luck when it came to wandering into Crazy Villainous Schemes Involving Magic, but here? Not so much.
Yeah. Which means that, as far as the previous election goes, both candidates were apparently quite corrupt. Which is always sad.
Wonder which of Councillor Rana's emotions they can amplify and imbue her with in order to gain an advantage in the election?
They could make an honest politician.
My, my. Politics in Widdershins continues to be … interesting.
well shorts this is not a small-time conspiracy
The look on Flack's face in panel four suggests that she isn't very fond of Hackett. So, parties in play here:
- Mayor Hackett
- Councilwoman Rana
- Doctor Flack
- Sharpe and his defense panel
- The Widdershin public
It would be highly amusing if this is all an elaborate double-cross by the two ladies to nobble Bob Hackett.