Quinlan and Crim are having a bit of a moment here, admittedly–but there’s more to it than Quin finally making peace with his childhood tormentor and gaining his respect. Quinlan was a scout before he was promoted to the Captaincy, and he took part in more than a few treewalker hunts–but to have the Scout Captain personally request his aid for a task that requires impeccable coordination and teamwork? Well, to a tamian, that’s REAL trust.
I was particularly pleased when I saw this initial thumbnail from Rachel because Quinlan’s VERY SRS face in the center panel there reminded me of the last time one of our protagonists silently forced the other’s hand during a tense moment:
Quin and Dak are rarely not on the same page, so when the chips are down and the pressure is on, a single look is all it takes to let the other know: This is important to me. And you know what? That’s usually going to be enough.
I can’t imagine they make these kinds of faces often, so when they break one out, it’s a big deal!
In other news, we did hit a pretty significant milestone for War of the Western Deep between our last page and this one–it’s kind of crazy to think how far we’ve come from its earliest days a little Unity demo I was futzing with back in my apartment in West Hartford (goodness, that means I’ve been working on this particular War of the Western Deep incarnation for nearly ten years in some fashion or another).
Anyway, we don’t have any public announcements ready yet, but when we do make one, it’ll likely hit Twitter/X (@thewesterndeep) and BlueSky (@westerndeep.bsky.social) first!
See you all on the next page!
And with a successful combo attack, Quinlan and Crim pursue the Treewalker to perform a final strike.
Crim is giving some big bro vibes in the first panel, and I approve!
Is Crim single?
Asking for a friend……
Haven’t they heard any horror stories!? Splitting up is what you DONT do!