Lora Blora, the Guileful Cupbearer
Rae the Doe was created by Russell Ramey, it can be read on Tumblr and Tapas
Welcome back to the blog! Since Cupbearers recently hit its 10th anniversary and passed 1,000 pages, so it's no better time to cover such an extensive series! Here's a toast to Russell, and I hope y'all enjoy ^w^
Background
“Kath… Warren… Let's raise a glass!”
In the nation of Elosha, magic can be found throughout. It's a country containing animal-food hybrids, spellcasters, and floating vineyards. However, a piece of history Elosha has been trying to erase is the existence of the original people who inhabited the land, the Preoans. The Eloshans banished them to a pocket of time created by a fruit company, erasing them and their rich culture off the face of the earth.
Eventually the Preoans would break free and invade Elosha, leading to chaos and destruction. It was a time of war, but peace would soon be restored by… three children with magic cups?
Meet the cupbearers, a trio of kids born without a connection to magic, but have mastered wielding three chalices with limitless magic potential. The three of them met at the cupbearer corps to train together, and have become inseparable since. Joined by their bizarre and unexplainable mascot the Duke of Grapes, the trio consists of the nerdy mage Warren, the brazen muscle Kath, and the responsible team mom Lora.
Lora Louise Blora is an overbearing and cautious girl who makes sure everything the team does goes according to plan. She prioritizes the needs of people over individual wants. There are times when she becomes too controlling, justifying her tyrannical actions because they’re “for their own good”. With her friends around, she learns that she can’t prevent every little thing from going wrong, and that going to extremes is only going to negatively impact her.
She may appear strict and by-the-books, but she's still a kid. Lora has shown plenty of times she can be as goofy, sassy, and bouncy as her friends when she wants to. She and Kath are also dating!
Prior to enrolling in the cupbearer corps, she helped her dad work in royal archives, leading her intelligence to flourish. Her mom was a union president who tried to better lives of others, but the previous king secretly ordered her to be cursed. She was left in a catatonic state for years, framing it as an accident.
Although the cupbearers stopped the invasion of the Preoans, that came with the cost of learning Elosha's dark origins. Combining this with discovering what happened to her mom, this led to Lora confronting the king to convince him to step down from his position. Now, she and her friends strive to peacefully reintegrate Preoans into their country.
Nowadays, Lora and her friends are all still young, but they're hailed as heroes for saving their nation. They're currently positioned in the city of Grapendale, they run the Flying Flagon Juicebar together while continuing to perform heroics. Lora herself cares deeply for Grapendale and seeks to make life easier for its villagers.
A lot of what she does is to find a way to heal her mom, which thankfully becomes a reality. Still, her empathy extends to the rest of Grapendale. Her big goal is to establish social programs and city restoration projects like floating vineyards.
Lora may be beloved, but she has some nasty detractors who view her as a tyrant in the making. Thanks to her growing influence and authority in Grapendale at such a young age, Lora has to come into conflict with concerned radicals like the nationalist Bennon and his alpha males (that is literally what they're called).
Dealing with those stuck-up jerks was bad enough, but Lora's greatest challenge is yet to come. Throughout their journey, the cupbearers have been observed by a mysterious girl named Winnie to test their resolve. She tasks them with dealing with a revered and ancient spirit of the woods, who is planning on extinguishing humanity.
If that wasn't a surprising reveal, the three learn from their mysterious benefactor that
Lora and her friends’ lack of magic wasn’t by chance. A coalition of mages instigated a mass rune, hiding a spell within a great plague to cause a gradual decline in humans born magically inclined. The three of them didn't come into this world without the capacity for magic, but were born restricted.
With that in mind, Lora is more than up to the task to save the world once again. Even if many of her greatest desires were already met, of course she’d continue to work to improve the lives of Grapendalians everywhere. That's simply the way of the cupbearers!
Experience and Skill
At the start of the series, Lora and her friends already mastered wielding their cups at the academy and saved the world.
Lora is responsible and a great planner, even when put on the spot. When the Winnie in disguise forced her to go through an obstacle course, Lora took a moment to study the course, did the math in her head. Then shot portals in precise locations in order to properly dismantle it.
She's the most cunning member of the trio, having outsmarted people over twice her age like Bennon and his posse. For someone so young she's also surprisingly well-versed in politics.
At the start of the series, Lora and her friends already mastered wielding their cups at the academy and saved the world.
Lora is responsible and a great planner, even when put on the spot. When the Winnie in disguise forced her to go through an obstacle course, Lora took a moment to study the course, did the math in her head. Then shot portals in precise locations in order to properly dismantle it.
She's the most cunning member of the trio, having outsmarted people over twice her age like Bennon and his posse. For someone so young she's also surprisingly well-versed in politics.
Equipment
Cup
Enchanted objects can let unbonded people wield magic, but they have limits. The goblets the trio wields have zero cap for how much magic can be used, making them absurdly powerful. Lora's cup also received an upgraded appearance later, or would it be a cupgrade…?
Lora's cup has plenty of utilities, like communicating with other cupbearers in long distances by swirling the liquid it holds. The cup can turn into different kinds of weapons and tools, including:- Scepter: This is the form Lora uses the most, as it's capable of a wide variety of spells I'll discuss below
- Bow: It shoots a few types of projectiles, which include:
- Crystallizing arrows
- Grape juice to vault herself into the air
- Portal arrows
- Ball and chain arrows
- Flashlight: Not dangerous at all but it's handy
- Parasol: Helps for a slow descent
- Microphone: Her cup forms a magic cone that amplifies who speaks in front of it
Enchanted objects can let unbonded people wield magic, but they have limits. The goblets the trio wields have zero cap for how much magic can be used, making them absurdly powerful. Lora's cup also received an upgraded appearance later, or would it be a cupgrade…?
Lora's cup has plenty of utilities, like communicating with other cupbearers in long distances by swirling the liquid it holds. The cup can turn into different kinds of weapons and tools, including:
- Scepter: This is the form Lora uses the most, as it's capable of a wide variety of spells I'll discuss below
- Bow: It shoots a few types of projectiles, which include:
- Crystallizing arrows
- Grape juice to vault herself into the air
- Portal arrows
- Ball and chain arrows
- Flashlight: Not dangerous at all but it's handy
- Parasol: Helps for a slow descent
- Microphone: Her cup forms a magic cone that amplifies who speaks in front of it
Emergency Kit
She has these stored in case of a draganana on the loose. These items include a prying rod, axe, rope, and mirror
She has these stored in case of a draganana on the loose. These items include a prying rod, axe, rope, and mirror
Spells
Teleportation
Lora can teleport herself and others with her scepter.
Lora can teleport herself and others with her scepter.
Magic Projection
Lora can shoot magic beams powerful enough to melt her own crystal shots.
Lora can shoot magic beams powerful enough to melt her own crystal shots.
Barrier Reinforcement
It's quite handy.
It's quite handy.
Slow Descent
Lora can slow down her fall with her scepter.
Lora can slow down her fall with her scepter.
Negotiation Zone
This fits into the cup transformation category, but I need to analyze this one in particular because it's by far Lora's most powerful and complicated usage of her cup.
Lora creates a table and chair that stops time in a large area. She can clap to make it so that anyone caught in the radius can speak, but can’t move (don't ask about the physical consequences of this usage of time stops).
There's no limit to how long she can keep the Negotiation Zone up. She usually just reserves this for negotiating with enemies and lasts however long it takes to get through to them.
This fits into the cup transformation category, but I need to analyze this one in particular because it's by far Lora's most powerful and complicated usage of her cup.
Lora creates a table and chair that stops time in a large area. She can clap to make it so that anyone caught in the radius can speak, but can’t move (don't ask about the physical consequences of this usage of time stops).
There's no limit to how long she can keep the Negotiation Zone up. She usually just reserves this for negotiating with enemies and lasts however long it takes to get through to them.
Secure-Release
This spell secures an object inside her cup that can be released on command. It's coded it so that when Kath activates it, her cup releases an appledove origami. It’s a code word between both of them to let Kath know to trust her regardless of how dire the situation is.
This spell secures an object inside her cup that can be released on command. It's coded it so that when Kath activates it, her cup releases an appledove origami. It’s a code word between both of them to let Kath know to trust her regardless of how dire the situation is.
Selective Hearing Filter
Lora has to deal with obnoxious nags from time to time, so having this spell on hand is a relief.
Lora has to deal with obnoxious nags from time to time, so having this spell on hand is a relief.
Binding
To easily clear an obstacle course, Lora shot these magic lines through her portals that solidified into ropes, keeping these swinging balls in place.
To easily clear an obstacle course, Lora shot these magic lines through her portals that solidified into ropes, keeping these swinging balls in place.
Techniques
Girlfriend Tower
The unstoppable technique, truly impenetrable……
The unstoppable technique, truly impenetrable……
Feats
Overall
- The Cupbearers worked together to direct a wild draganana to a refuge
- Saved Warren and the professors from being drowned in a current of grape juice
- Anticipated Bennon’s coup and successfully executed her plan to discredit him and expose his lies to his underlings
- Used her math skills and perception to totally dismantle Winnie's obstacle course
Strength
- Melted crystals covering a large draganana's snout
- Her magic ropes held giant swinging balls in an obstacle course in place
Speed
- Refer to scaling
Durability
Scaling
Kath & Warren
With how vast Lora's abilities are compared to the rest of her group, I am surprised she doesn't perform many notable feats throughout the series. Thankfully her fellow Cupbearers can provide some much-needed scaling mostly Kath tho.
- Kath broke a big rock
- Kath slightly dented a wall by knocking it in her sleep
- Kath sliced through Warren's magic barrier
- Kath hacked off a big stone golem's arm
- Kath reacted in time to save Lora from being stomped
- Kath reacted to a sword strike without looking
- Kath deflected a thrown cleaver
- Warren disintegrated a staff
The Duke of Grapes
A blog on The Duke of Grapes would've been way funnier since this… creature somehow has the best feats in the webcomic. The cupbearers haven't performed anything compared to his feats yet, but they work with him often enough that downscaling should be reasonable.
- The Duke of Grapes threw a giant boulder over himself
- The Duke of Grapes lifted a tree
- The Duke of Grapes sent the giant despairagus flying, which towers over trees
- The Duke of Grapes Carried a carriage
- The Duke of Grapes ran through a cave wall
- The Duke of Grapes blew a hole through a cave with his spit
- The Duke of Grapes ran so fast his legs became smear frames
Weaknesses
- Overbearing around her teammates. She tries to help steer them away from trouble for everyone’s good, but ends up causing more problems for them instead.
- Powerless without her cup
- She’s a bleeding heart
- All three struggle with facing their feelings
Matchup Potential
Imma be real, I don't like Lora much as a character, especially in chapter 3 with how exaggeratedly controlling she became. Despite that and her lack of direct feats, she was easily the cupbearer I was most interested in making a blog on since she by far has the coolest powerset. I may prefer Kath narratively but Lora also has a lot going for her story-wise for an interesting analysis.
Thus, she's the cupbearer I'm most invested in finding a matchup for. I'm mainly looking for someone who matches her motherly role in the team along with her varied powerset.
NEXT TIME ON WCAB… whenever I feel like it
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