Chapter 1: Page 54
Hardin’s victory against the nameless Ermehn warrior has clearly not instilled immediate servitude amongst the defeated tribe. The Ermehn are a hardened and strong people, and they will not blindly follow just anyone, even if they are threatened with death should they refuse.
This scruffy and rather vocal Ermehn has gone through a number of iterations since the original draft of the script. Originally he was a lot more receptive to Hardin, but in writing this scene out a few times, it became clear rather quickly that both this random Ermehn and Hardin benefited from a more confrontational exchange. It also lets us explore a bit more of Hardin’s motives, which we’ll learn more about in the coming weeks!
Today (Saturday!) at 1pm EST I will be speaking at the Naga Theater at PAX East on the writing and story work I did on the Xbox Live Arcade game “Dust: An Elysian Tail”.
If you’re not going to be there, you can still watch the panel if you’ve got an internet connection! Just click this link and you’ll be able to watch live! http://www.twitch.tv/pax
It should be a fun presentation, and we’ve also got a surprise announcement planned at the end of the panel.
I like the look of that male Ermehn on the right in the first panel ^^
For some reason, he kind of reminded me of Jerry Seinfeld in last week’s page, but now he does look really cool.
Why do I have a feeling that the Canid took good care (read: slaughtered most of) the Sratha-Din if the tribe is considered dead and homeless? And anyway, I got a really rude awakening from the Ermehn on the right in the first panel. He kept reminding me of Ermehn Dad-of-the-Year in the first chapter who was protecting his family from the Canid, and for one moment, I believed it was him and started cheering. Then I went back and rechecked Ermehn Dad’s tattoos. Nope, they are not the same person. Ermehn Dad is still probably dead. :c Well, further proof that the Northern Wastes and Canid are not nice things…
(previously Mushroom)
I wonder if perhaps he’s disgraced in defeat? I suppose he did die with honor, but he still lost, so maybe they view him as weak? Or it could just be the situation is still too tense to step into the ring.
I assume they would have to wait for Hardin to close his challenge/fully make sure the tribe has pledged its allegiance to him before retrieving the body, or else– like you and PB&J said– it would be a challenge to a political death match. With Hardin. And no one wants that.
“And Senator Broermehn has taken the floor from Senator Hardi– oh wait, no, now he’s just bleeding out on it. Senator Hardin, carry on.”
This is probably the closest to what we were going for – though it’s a whole week between updates, the reality is that Hardin made his kill only seconds ago realtime. He also made a political claim and was waiting for a response. Broermehn there most likely has family and friends all around the ring right now, but I imagine they’re still in shock, and Hardin still has the floor. And a knife.
Very funny Saraa. Hey, at least their politics is mostly honest.
Ooh, here we go! I have a feeling this dude is going to be the source of much future tension – unless there’s another to-the-death challenge in the works. ;D
I also like how he sneaks out of the background; he could easily pass off as a filler character in that first panel.
It would be completely unexpected but totally awesome if Hardin ends up killing this guy, too. Hardin does seem the sort to take this as a challenge, and it would certainly doubly-reinforce how serious he is.
Yea Hardin! You tell ’em!
Or stab ’em.
To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if he either of those things at this point. Or both. Tell them, and then stab ’em. Y’know, to make sure he’s *slitting* his *point* across clearly?
…I’ll show myself out now. :<
wow, you are full of humor today Saraa.
I don’t know what’s up with me today. I’m just brimming with terrible puns and random quips.
random, yes. terrible, no
Right! I like that point!……I think I’ll call our new friend ‘One-eyed Pete’…
Great page as usual, but Hardin seems to be missing a distinct set of war paints running down his neck and chest in the final panel compared to his other shot in the third. Other than that, everything’s looking good.
Rather, he doesn’t have the paint in the previous pages, so it’s the third panel that’s incorrect, as he shouldn’t have any paint on him.
Yep, I think I went into automatic mode while doing all the background dudes on the last panel, haha. Thanks for the heads up – if you refresh the page it should be fixed now.
You know, it’s strange what kind of characters you’re fascinated by in the comics. In this page, for some reason, I’m really interested in the Ermehn standing to the left in the first panel. He just looks so… different from the rest. It might be the way his ears are pulled up in that bandana and the lines around his eyes and nose – he looks smaller, weaker, more frail and sickly than his fellows. I would imagine him as some sort of omega male, to use a Canid term. Maybe he’s one of those Ermehn who just isn’t very good at fighting and unsuited to such a lifestyle, and so is relegated to domestic duties within his tribe, which would probably be a great mark of shame within his culture. In any event, I think he looks adorably sad and I just want to hug him :(
And it’s cool getting to see our confrontational one-eyed Ermehn here too. It’s interesting that he calls Hardin the self-proclaimed saviour of the Ermehn. That would imply Hardin’s reputation has preceeded him, and that he’s been performing these recruitments for quite some time. And the homeless tribe of Sratha-Din… If the Ermehn of all people call some of their number homeless, that must mean the Sratha-Din are in dire straits indeed.