Unsounded

Behind them? If he didn't drop the cloak, it looks like it.

So far we know Illganyag is manipulating him in his "dreams" which we know he used to reminisce on his life when he was alive, (he might have been subconsciously using these to stay sane), we saw red eels clinging to him in the khert as well.
Sette was using whatever that amulet is to control him at night, but during the day now as well to play along, which he was clearly aware that something was wrong going off the last page.
Hes in a temple devoted to his enemies and surrounded by zealots.
He saw the priestess has senet beast corpse(?) in her quarters.
He believes this temple is also a construct staging area for Cresce's military.

Duane has A LOT of reasons to be upset right now, not all of them his own fault.

Yeah see this is why this is so dangerous. Everybody has been saying that Duane isn't in his right mind. But he is he in ENOUGH of his right mind? If he's just coherent ENOUGH, if he's just together ENOUGH, he can still beat Quigley even in his troubled state. Because Duane frankly has more raw power and more instinctive pymaric skill than Quigley, AND he's a tacit caster. AND the last time they fought, Duane was holding back because he wanted to be a gentleman. He won't hold back now.

He really started to unravel with the memories stuff. I think the entire persona he constructed for himself to stay sane has basically shattered and he's losing it.

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Oh fug

Maybe it's a lizard?

I dunno, looks like Duane to me in that furred cloak, with his head bowed forward.

Maybe, but it is odd for him to basically circle around the building but I have no idea about the layout of the temple now that I think about it.

Duane is not and has not been 100% since we met him, he's constantly fighting the urge to eat people on top of a general malaise about being a zombie casualty of war. He had built for himself a very specific routine in a small village where he could more or less handle his situation but slowly over the journey his patience and ability to control himself have eroded. Why now? Specifically? I would guess it's Sette's mind fuckery. You've played with the mental state of a creature torn between two realities and now he's snapped back into a shitty situation in a shitty place surrounded by people he doesn't want to be around (for various reasons) several of whom are agents of or directly acting on the behalf of the woman he ultimately blames for his shitty circumstances. Yeah, I'd burn the bitch down too.

>Shot of windows, nothing there
>Next shot, there's something there to cast a shadow from the light coming through them
I think he was hiding up on the big chandelier things, that or he's hung the robe to be a decoy
Ssonum Ssael how horrifying

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>more raw power
That is the one thing he doesn't actually have as good as he is he still has less pure pyramic power strength than a plat. He would still absolutely destroy Quigs particularly if he surprises him which is pretty easy with tacit casting.

He would if he's being smart and knows he's being pursued.

That's the thing. That's what I was saying. What if Duane actually is in his right mind, or at least he's more coherent than everyone expects him to be? He's not a gibbering lunatic. He's coherent enough to talk, and argue with Quigley. If he's coherent enough to do THAT, he's coherent enough to have his head on straight in a fight. Which is VERY BAD for Quigley because if Duane has his head on straight and he's not holding back Duane will grind him into the pavement.

Duane you didn't finish your owl.

I guess the thing is, do we know how much, or how little, of Duane's power as a wright comes from skill? Versus power? Because he is the most formidable wright in the entire comic. It can't ALL be skill. He most assuredly has his fair share of raw power. The question is: is it more raw power than Quigley's got?

How do you measure a wright's power anyway?

I don't think "power" matters much. Pymary is more about being clever. Who can use what's around them in the best way. "Power" isn't going to matter here indoors when they can't be throwing explosions at each other anyway.

No, judging from the word bubbles and font, Duane is not doin ok.

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Well I think a big part of it is that he's tacit, which gives him a YUGE advantage, particularly on a first encounter where he has the added bonus of surprise
Quigs knows this by now and should be a little more prepared but he's still Quigley so naturally he oughta get spanked
Matty's there to tug at the heartstrings so I don't think Duane's gonna just go straight for the leech

Real question, is Duane's power over 9000?

Eww, freshly dead Duane looks way grosser than dried-out Duane, somehow.

Plats can hold more aspect, can take aspect from farther away, can more accurately send spells down khert lines at further distances, and are generally more attuned to the subtleties of the Khert.

Duane is an studious dweeb with nerd rage who's doubled down so hard on core technique, he's on par with an assembly-level programming guru hidden away in the bowels of a corporation's server room.

Quigley has natural capability, but Duane is genuinely one of the single best battlewrights in contemporary times.
Duane is mediocre at glamours, he's mediocre at artificing, he's shit at sounding, but he will absolutely fuck most other wrights up in a duel or in combat.

We know the castes of Alderode have varying levels of power.

I mean, think of Bastion. Bastion's a Jet, right? But Bastion's also a Black Tongue. Bastion's SKILL as a wright is immense. But when push comes to shove he's actually a pretty shitty wright because his raw power is low. Bastion is high-skill, low-power.

Quigley basically seems to be the opposite. Quigley's repeated tendency to lose, to get punked, indicates that even as a Plat he's not a good enough wright. Quigley is low-skill, high-power. Quigley isn't a GOOD wright but he coasts on the raw power of a Plat.

Duane seems almost to be a balance between the two. He seems to balance high power with high skill.