Yeah, I noticed that the looser hair makes her seem older/shows more hints of future Julie. A little bit of her choosing for herself instead of the neat har she’s been expected to show. Nice chnge.
Argh! Cliff-hanger! Cliff-hanger! Argh! Aaron, you are an evil, evil person to do this to us. If you do not show us the answer soon, I will poke fun at your hair-do for months! i will never, ever, let your pants pass without comment, and your cooking skills will be mocked most viciously.
I NEED THIS!!!
Argh!!
*runs off, screaming and pulling at hair*
(But seriously, don’t leave us hanging for too long. This is going to dry me nuts in short order.)
Notice the placement of the comma and the semicolon. I am indicating that beholders are always dangerous, but you might find beauty there, but only if you survive the initial encounter by making the saving throw.
The oval around her face is a mirror. You can tell by he hair being different in the reflection from all the other drawings of her. That little bit of color triangle is on a different side.
I wonder if even Arrogant Jerkmage (aka The Conjuror) would have figured it out. Koschei is from Slavic folklore, and the stories tell exactly what the heroes were looking for. You’d think he would have known that and said something… but apparently he hadn’t put 2+2 together. Julie seems to have it figured out, though…
HAHA! And the “Speed” portion of the FISS power-suite comes in handy! Let’s see some non-FISS hero lay claim to the eye with the same alacrity!
…Also, “Not paint, not a jewel, but what else is an eye?” In this room, that has to be the biggest clue yet, but what on earth… No lie: at this point, I would be tempted to just lay claim to one of the potatoes.
It is actually her reflection in a mirror. If you look at her hair. In the oval drawing there is a triangular shaped, or maybe fang shaped color change on the right. In The last drawing it is on her left. It is her reflection.
I noticed, in the archive page for 07/09/2014 (more than a year ago now!), that the button she’s reaching for has radial speed lines (or whatever those are called) and a small lighter circle around it, making it look like it’s at the center of a stylized eye. Deliberate? Probably.
I really, really, hope it is NOT a mirror. Such a solution would involve way too much navel gazing for Earth’s champion that is to battle a god. In my most humble opinion, having the Eye be an “I” (or be a mirror, or a picture of Julie in some form) would be terrible story telling.
I will be far, far happier if the tale stays true to the Slavic story and the eye is the eye of a needle or a variant of that.
True- I should have been more specific. It would be the IMAGE of “the eye” REFLECTED by the mirror. That image would be the same for whoever looks into it, and be known by no other name.
But the actual object they were told to retrieve cannot possibly be an eye, because then the guardians of the first gate would have known exactly what they were after, and would have opposed them (and it would not have been “clever” to call it that).
So the eye must be some feature or component or decoration or whatever of the actual object they are after.
I think a good argument against it being a mirror, though, is that Baba Yaga’s words strongly imply that there’s only one eye to be seen, and 84 is not wearing an eyepatch.
I’m going to quintuple down on my wild guessing, and suggest that it’s a hoop, large enough for someone to pass though, maybe elongated with two handles on either side, and maybe a round dilating central part.
Has anyone suggested that the Revenant is in fact Koshchei the Deathless/Undying?
See, that poster on the wall in the fourth panel isn’t just any representation of the Eye of Horus. It’s specifically the cover of “Eye in the Sky”, by the Alan Parsons Project. Which was last seen being looked at (as a CD jewel case) by Cecil in “Kent Allard”‘s car ( 09122011 ).
Now, maybe it’s just Aaron Williams’ fangeeking for the musicians in multiple places. But conservation of character & Chekov’s guns offer the alternative possibility that maybe the character who shows an affinity for a certain musical group (and seems to have embedded their design in his personal logo) is the same as the unknown individual who shares the same tastes, in-narrative.
Also, a revenant is an undead entity. Undead, undying, deathless . . . same sort of thing, да?
It is certainly consistent with how there’s so much modern stuff in this room. Koshchei the Revenant comes back whenever he feels like it and stashes more stuff. And it also helps explain how the Revenant has so much money to burn: “Here’s a giant emerald as collateral. By all means, have it appraised.”
And it’s also consistent with Veles wanting to create chaos, havoc, and shenanigans by setting one set of heroes (the NY superteams + 84) to undermine another.
“The eye” might well be on one of the Revenant’s business cards, or something like it.
Or the eye of a needle, after all. It’s traditional for Koshchei.
A quick Google finds the novel titled “Talion: Revenant” by Stackpole, which certainly doesn’t look like it has anything to do with the PS238-verse character.
Looking at his ISFDB entry, he didn’t publish that much short fiction at the appropriate time, and I don’t see anything that looks obviously like a story about a superheroish character.
Of course, the first problem with the above scenario is that Cecil gets no strange vibes from the Revenant. After thinking about it, I came up with the following addons to the idea:
1) Perhaps the Revenant is not actually Koshchei. Rather, the Revenant somehow entered the egg, made his way carefully past all of the challenges using nothing more than his human skills, insight, and wit, and once he was in the center, decided to simply take over the egg and use it as his lair.
Because he’s just that badass.
2) Alternatively (with Revenant still being Koshchei), we should note that Cecil may not be able to detect all types of unusual powers. After all, he himself has an unusual power, and doesn’t set off his own tripwires. I have wondered if a Gadgeteer/Engineer like Herschel Clay actually “feels alien” to Cecil. And the Revenant’s sole power may just be to be deathless, whatever that might mean.
3) And finally, if you’re an undying entity who knows that he’s going to be in the presence of someone who detects unusual powers, you might just take a few precautionary steps to hide your unusual nature, and because you’ve been around that long, you might know a few tricks that actually work.
I note that it’s set out explicitly in the narrative that Cecil does not seem to be able to detect at least one person, perhaps an android, as being “alien”. Hm.
The needle thing works, I think. You can’t expect it not to include words in other languages. And, more importantly, it’s always “the eye” of a needle, not “an eye” of a needle, and the guardians back at the first gate specifically said that it was “an eye” that was not on their list of things to protect, with quotation marks and everything.
The first question was “Which one of you is the most guilty of having a false self?”.
The second question was basically that of motivations, why do you bother when you don’t even know what you’re facing”.
Baba Yaga? “This story is one about humility”. “Being overly humble rarely makes one a better hero”.
Here’s my $5 – it’s a deliberate homophonic. If it’s not about ego and identity…
– I think she’s going to desperately reach for the thing she thinks is right (which is in fact wrong)
– She’ll get teleported out of the egg by herself, having failed to grab it in time
– She’ll get asked what she is returning with and reply “just me”
– Which is the correct answer- the villain is looking for a hero to fight, and that would be “I” for 84.
– And she accidentally passes the challenge, becoming the god’s official nemesis going forward.
So, quick review of the clues as to what is being looked for, by page date:
Oct.24: Veles says of the egg, “Whoever claims the eye at its heart and brings it to me will become the new Champion of Earth.”
Nov.06: Grigor says “This place was made by Koschei the Undying, to protect something most dear to him.”
Nov.24: Grigor says “Whoever sent you here says he’s giving you seven hours to retrieve the eye…”
Dec.10: The stone guardians, in response to 84 saying they’re looking for “an eye”: “We don’t think that’s on the list of stuff we’re supposed to guard.” “At least, there’s nothing we know of past here called ‘an eye’.”
Apr.08: The mist asks “Why do you seek what lies beyond this gate? You know not what it is, what power it will give to the being that sent you here, nor what he will do with it.”
May 08: The mist says “You still have to figure out this ‘eye’ business. It was clever to call it that, so you could get past the guardians of the first gate. Not so clever if you can’t figure out what it means in time.
May 15: Baba Yaga says to 84, “I am bound here until someone, a young hero, perhaps, finds Koschei’s trasure.”
Jun.02: Baba Yaga says to 84, “Now find the eye, child.”, “The eye is just that, called by no other name.” “Be quick about your work, for I would be quit of this place.”
Given the mist’s second comment, the eye is something that is on the list of things the stone guardians are supposed to guard, but which they don’t recognize by that name. Assuming “eye” = “I” doesn’t fit with that.
Baba Yaga’s comments imply that 84 successfully completing her “work” will let Baba Yaga “be quit of this place” – but that would require what 84 is looking for to be “Koschei’s treasure”. Again, this does not fit the idea of “eye” = “I”.
Both these clues, however, fit nicely with the object of 84’s quest being the needle that Koschei keeps his soul in. If “eye” means “I”, then I think we’d have to assume the mist and Baba Yaga are both mistaken about what 84 is supposed to retrieve from the heart of the egg.
I’m in agreement with this: Koschei didn’t create the egg to give Veles a testing ground for champions. He did it to keep something important from people like Veles. The reason why the tests can be solved is because, as the Conjurer explained, magic is stronger if you allow tricky loopholes (a bit like the Hero RPG system!)
Right now, though, a part of my mind wonders if the idea was to crowdsource a clever solution, and the reason for the cliffhangers is because none of us has come up with anything clever enough!!!
What I think is going to happen: Julie grabs something just as she is pulled out, but we don’t quite see
what it was… and then the parchment appears: “…and so the hero named 84 succeeded in her quest.”
Go 84, go go go!
YES! And it’s a physical thing, confirmed.
The needle with Koschei’s soul in it! Criminy!
Specifically the “eye” of the needle. At least probably.
a mirror is a physical object.
LOL, snake eyes.
An eyebot! And a walking eye! Fallout and Venture Brothers references GO!
That’s a bottle of Canada Dry in there.
At least someone has taste.
The hair looks like a sign of Julie’s developing her own personal style.
Yeah, I noticed that the looser hair makes her seem older/shows more hints of future Julie. A little bit of her choosing for herself instead of the neat har she’s been expected to show. Nice chnge.
Or it’s been a really long day, and her hairstyle’s starting to unravel. Hair does that you know.
I think it’s just the static-electricity giving her an 80’s mullet though.
I am holding out on shawn. It is totally illogical, but the sheer hilarity would be worth it.
Do I spy an Eyebot there?
Yes you do. Hello, ED-E.
And cat’s eye marbles
Argh! Cliff-hanger! Cliff-hanger! Argh! Aaron, you are an evil, evil person to do this to us. If you do not show us the answer soon, I will poke fun at your hair-do for months! i will never, ever, let your pants pass without comment, and your cooking skills will be mocked most viciously.
I NEED THIS!!!
Argh!!
*runs off, screaming and pulling at hair*
(But seriously, don’t leave us hanging for too long. This is going to dry me nuts in short order.)
CURSES!! A cliffhanger!! Now no part of my seat will see use except the edge until the next update!!
For shame! The back part of the seat needs use too!
Is that some static charge generated by super-powered head scratching? Suddenly we have sparkles.
No, that is not an indicator that time is up; you just built up a fantastic static charge rubbing your hair so fast and so hard.
Hmm. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if you make the saving throw; those things are dangerous.
Against a beholder, failing saving throws is far MORE dangerous.
Notice the placement of the comma and the semicolon. I am indicating that beholders are always dangerous, but you might find beauty there, but only if you survive the initial encounter by making the saving throw.
Dragging out the cliff-hanger. AAAARRRRGH!
I think Aaron needs time to think of what it is. Or figure out how to draw it.
lol I agree, I think Mr.Williams is enjoying the torture
Almost there…
Hoping it’s a mirror.
Definitely believe it is a mirror. It sees, and if it’s a magic mirror allows others to see perhaps.
The oval around her face is a mirror. You can tell by he hair being different in the reflection from all the other drawings of her. That little bit of color triangle is on a different side.
Damnit! Why is the “next” button not working? Make it work! Make it work NOW!
*twitch*
Or an “I,” like a picture of himself.
I wonder if even Arrogant Jerkmage (aka The Conjuror) would have figured it out. Koschei is from Slavic folklore, and the stories tell exactly what the heroes were looking for. You’d think he would have known that and said something… but apparently he hadn’t put 2+2 together. Julie seems to have it figured out, though…
At least one of those marbles floating near the snake-eyes dice must be the cat’s eye variant.
Eye-patch to go with the eye-glasses.
That CBS logo is just taunting her. “Look! Eye’m over here!”
Hm. I wonder if “Oh. Oh!” is meant to be a clue, or if I’m following yet another red herring.
o.O , ← see?
I bet Aaron has been chuckling evilly to himself as he produced these pages.
HAHA! And the “Speed” portion of the FISS power-suite comes in handy! Let’s see some non-FISS hero lay claim to the eye with the same alacrity!
…Also, “Not paint, not a jewel, but what else is an eye?” In this room, that has to be the biggest clue yet, but what on earth… No lie: at this point, I would be tempted to just lay claim to one of the potatoes.
[grumbling] Even after examining the wiki disambiguity page for Eyes, I’m no closer to an answer.
Other Uses, #4.
Super speed. She even beat a pure speedster earlier.
She got this easy 🙂
I love the oval vignette around her face as she realizes the answer, like we are seeing her through the eye of the needle as she sees it.
It is actually her reflection in a mirror. If you look at her hair. In the oval drawing there is a triangular shaped, or maybe fang shaped color change on the right. In The last drawing it is on her left. It is her reflection.
I bet it’s not actually spelt “eye”. And there’s a very good reason 84 is the only one who could provide her answer…
Wait.. Is there an egg at the heart of the egg? Is it a recursive egg?
I noticed, in the archive page for 07/09/2014 (more than a year ago now!), that the button she’s reaching for has radial speed lines (or whatever those are called) and a small lighter circle around it, making it look like it’s at the center of a stylized eye. Deliberate? Probably.
I’m going to double down and say its a mirror
That’s my guess too. I am going to throw my money in with you!
That’s my final guess as well
I really, really, hope it is NOT a mirror. Such a solution would involve way too much navel gazing for Earth’s champion that is to battle a god. In my most humble opinion, having the Eye be an “I” (or be a mirror, or a picture of Julie in some form) would be terrible story telling.
I will be far, far happier if the tale stays true to the Slavic story and the eye is the eye of a needle or a variant of that.
The eye is not known by any other name; if you can call it a mirror, it’s known by another name.
True- I should have been more specific. It would be the IMAGE of “the eye” REFLECTED by the mirror. That image would be the same for whoever looks into it, and be known by no other name.
But the actual object they were told to retrieve cannot possibly be an eye, because then the guardians of the first gate would have known exactly what they were after, and would have opposed them (and it would not have been “clever” to call it that).
So the eye must be some feature or component or decoration or whatever of the actual object they are after.
I think a good argument against it being a mirror, though, is that Baba Yaga’s words strongly imply that there’s only one eye to be seen, and 84 is not wearing an eyepatch.
The last “S.” is for speed…SPEED!!!
I’m going to quintuple down on my wild guessing, and suggest that it’s a hoop, large enough for someone to pass though, maybe elongated with two handles on either side, and maybe a round dilating central part.
It looks like an eye.
It’s actually a portal device.
I’m thinking it might be the literal letter “I”. It’s the only thing I can think of that is known by no other name then its own.
… oh, hey … that’s ED-E … the Enclave “Eyebot” … ha! Fallout reference, yayy!!
Has anyone suggested that the Revenant is in fact Koshchei the Deathless/Undying?
See, that poster on the wall in the fourth panel isn’t just any representation of the Eye of Horus. It’s specifically the cover of “Eye in the Sky”, by the Alan Parsons Project. Which was last seen being looked at (as a CD jewel case) by Cecil in “Kent Allard”‘s car ( 09122011 ).
Now, maybe it’s just Aaron Williams’ fangeeking for the musicians in multiple places. But conservation of character & Chekov’s guns offer the alternative possibility that maybe the character who shows an affinity for a certain musical group (and seems to have embedded their design in his personal logo) is the same as the unknown individual who shares the same tastes, in-narrative.
Also, a revenant is an undead entity. Undead, undying, deathless . . . same sort of thing, да?
It is certainly consistent with how there’s so much modern stuff in this room. Koshchei the Revenant comes back whenever he feels like it and stashes more stuff. And it also helps explain how the Revenant has so much money to burn: “Here’s a giant emerald as collateral. By all means, have it appraised.”
And it’s also consistent with Veles wanting to create chaos, havoc, and shenanigans by setting one set of heroes (the NY superteams + 84) to undermine another.
“The eye” might well be on one of the Revenant’s business cards, or something like it.
Or the eye of a needle, after all. It’s traditional for Koshchei.
The Revenant was actually created by Michael Stackpole for an anthology about a quarter century ago. If memory serves, it was a good story.
A quick Google finds the novel titled “Talion: Revenant” by Stackpole, which certainly doesn’t look like it has anything to do with the PS238-verse character.
Looking at his ISFDB entry, he didn’t publish that much short fiction at the appropriate time, and I don’t see anything that looks obviously like a story about a superheroish character.
The short story’s called Peer Review.
Thanks. I interpreted “about a quarter century ago” as meaning “1990 ± (1 or 2)”, and the story actually came out in 1995.
So now I know that it is in two anthologies: “Superheroes”, ed. John Varley, and “Perchance to Dream”, by Stackpole himself.
Unfortunately, neither anthology seems to be available on Kindle. 🙁
Of course, the first problem with the above scenario is that Cecil gets no strange vibes from the Revenant. After thinking about it, I came up with the following addons to the idea:
1) Perhaps the Revenant is not actually Koshchei. Rather, the Revenant somehow entered the egg, made his way carefully past all of the challenges using nothing more than his human skills, insight, and wit, and once he was in the center, decided to simply take over the egg and use it as his lair.
Because he’s just that badass.
2) Alternatively (with Revenant still being Koshchei), we should note that Cecil may not be able to detect all types of unusual powers. After all, he himself has an unusual power, and doesn’t set off his own tripwires. I have wondered if a Gadgeteer/Engineer like Herschel Clay actually “feels alien” to Cecil. And the Revenant’s sole power may just be to be deathless, whatever that might mean.
3) And finally, if you’re an undying entity who knows that he’s going to be in the presence of someone who detects unusual powers, you might just take a few precautionary steps to hide your unusual nature, and because you’ve been around that long, you might know a few tricks that actually work.
I note that it’s set out explicitly in the narrative that Cecil does not seem to be able to detect at least one person, perhaps an android, as being “alien”. Hm.
I’m confident that Revenant has no super-powers and therefore can’t be Koshchei. Besides Koshchei was a total dick, worse than Baba Yaga.
I’ll bet we switch to Julie appearing outside of the egg, Showing Koschei something but not us, and him going correct.
I was kind of hoping to see Brother EYE in the background
The needle thing works, I think. You can’t expect it not to include words in other languages. And, more importantly, it’s always “the eye” of a needle, not “an eye” of a needle, and the guardians back at the first gate specifically said that it was “an eye” that was not on their list of things to protect, with quotation marks and everything.
I also don’t think that “the hole in a needle” would work as a name. That’s just a description. The name of the hole in a needle is “the eye.”
The first question was “Which one of you is the most guilty of having a false self?”.
The second question was basically that of motivations, why do you bother when you don’t even know what you’re facing”.
Baba Yaga? “This story is one about humility”. “Being overly humble rarely makes one a better hero”.
Here’s my $5 – it’s a deliberate homophonic. If it’s not about ego and identity…
My theory:
– I think she’s going to desperately reach for the thing she thinks is right (which is in fact wrong)
– She’ll get teleported out of the egg by herself, having failed to grab it in time
– She’ll get asked what she is returning with and reply “just me”
– Which is the correct answer- the villain is looking for a hero to fight, and that would be “I” for 84.
– And she accidentally passes the challenge, becoming the god’s official nemesis going forward.
What if it’s whatever device Veles is using to watch her with?
Maybe it’s an actual eye? I can’t really think of anything else that is nothing BUT an eye.
I am literally and metaphorically at the edge of my seat.
For real, what can I do to speed up releases?
How much money, and where do I throw it?
So, quick review of the clues as to what is being looked for, by page date:
Oct.24: Veles says of the egg, “Whoever claims the eye at its heart and brings it to me will become the new Champion of Earth.”
Nov.06: Grigor says “This place was made by Koschei the Undying, to protect something most dear to him.”
Nov.24: Grigor says “Whoever sent you here says he’s giving you seven hours to retrieve the eye…”
Dec.10: The stone guardians, in response to 84 saying they’re looking for “an eye”: “We don’t think that’s on the list of stuff we’re supposed to guard.” “At least, there’s nothing we know of past here called ‘an eye’.”
Apr.08: The mist asks “Why do you seek what lies beyond this gate? You know not what it is, what power it will give to the being that sent you here, nor what he will do with it.”
May 08: The mist says “You still have to figure out this ‘eye’ business. It was clever to call it that, so you could get past the guardians of the first gate. Not so clever if you can’t figure out what it means in time.
May 15: Baba Yaga says to 84, “I am bound here until someone, a young hero, perhaps, finds Koschei’s trasure.”
Jun.02: Baba Yaga says to 84, “Now find the eye, child.”, “The eye is just that, called by no other name.” “Be quick about your work, for I would be quit of this place.”
Given the mist’s second comment, the eye is something that is on the list of things the stone guardians are supposed to guard, but which they don’t recognize by that name. Assuming “eye” = “I” doesn’t fit with that.
Baba Yaga’s comments imply that 84 successfully completing her “work” will let Baba Yaga “be quit of this place” – but that would require what 84 is looking for to be “Koschei’s treasure”. Again, this does not fit the idea of “eye” = “I”.
Both these clues, however, fit nicely with the object of 84’s quest being the needle that Koschei keeps his soul in. If “eye” means “I”, then I think we’d have to assume the mist and Baba Yaga are both mistaken about what 84 is supposed to retrieve from the heart of the egg.
I’m in agreement with this: Koschei didn’t create the egg to give Veles a testing ground for champions. He did it to keep something important from people like Veles. The reason why the tests can be solved is because, as the Conjurer explained, magic is stronger if you allow tricky loopholes (a bit like the Hero RPG system!)
Right now, though, a part of my mind wonders if the idea was to crowdsource a clever solution, and the reason for the cliffhangers is because none of us has come up with anything clever enough!!!
The suspense is killing me.
What I think is going to happen: Julie grabs something just as she is pulled out, but we don’t quite see
what it was… and then the parchment appears: “…and so the hero named 84 succeeded in her quest.”
Last minute wild guess, because why not:
A prop letter “i” from Sesame Street, complete with dot.
Anyone wanna try to out do that? ^_^