Chapter 1: Page 56
This week, Hardin furthers his case for the Ermehn uprising and reveals a bit more of the Ermehn side of their unrest and current predicament. Their homes, their livelihoods, their entire culture has been stolen from them – at least as Hardin would put it!
It’s clear that the other Ermehn, including the outspoken fellow who lent voice to the others’ concerns, are beginning to be swayed by Hardin’s silver tongue. Identifying a common disdain for their oppression is one thing, however – the true symbol of an Ermehn leader, one who could lead warriors into battle – will be crafting a plan that the tribe will condone.
It’s one thing for Hardin to convince the Ermehn that they need to rise up against their oppressors, but it’s a completely different matter on how a shattered civilization could rise up against the most powerful military power in the known world.
Next week, we learn more of Hardin’s plans!
We’ve had quite a few new readers join us in the last few weeks! I want to take this opportunity to welcome everyone aboard and thank you for reading our little comic!
If you have any guest art or fan-works from the world of the Western Deep you’d like to share with us and your fellow readers, don’t hesitate! Send your stuff to thewesterndeep (at) gmail (dot) com! We’ll post it right up with the next week’s page.
Thanks again for joining us, and we hope you continue to enjoy the comic!
Seems like Hardin is starting to get through to this tribe. I’m looking forward to getting to know about One-eye and his lieutenant back there.
How long before the comic did the war take place?
The war would’ve ended about 70 or so years before the events of the comic – a few generations have come and gone since the Treaty of Cenolau was signed.
Damn, Hardin, now you’re getting intense. Silver-tongue indeed… but really, he IS right. The Ermehn race was damned from the instant they were chased from their homes out into a barren wasteland that the previous occupants were trying to escape because it was killing them. Hardin had better have a good plan; every Canid veteran of the war will fight the Ermehn to the death and sink their teeth into whoever they can and drag them down with them– because they are *not* going back to the wastes. Never again.
Without good tactics to take on the Canid, stuff is going to get messier than it’s already fated to be…
Anyway, great expressions, great coloring, and fantastic shading, all as usual. This shaping up to be a beautiful and brutal universe. I love that.
…aaand now I just realized I completely misjudged the amount of time that has passed from the end of the war to the current time period. Whoops. My goof.
It seems odd hearing Hardin being called a “madman” in a world where humans don’t exist …
Another great page. I can’t wait to someday re-read all these pages in quick succession, to see how it all plays as a continuous story. Keep it going, friends!
Redwall convention was “This MADBEAST…!” Other than that, brilliant page. It also brings up an interesting question, what would happen to the Canid?
70 years have passed since the Canid were pushed out. Despite how ruthless their government and culture is, they are still a nation, and the new generations have just as much right to be where they are as the Ermehn. That said, the Ermehn have every right to fight for their culture’s survival.
There seems to be only a few possible outcomes. An Ermehn failure would mean their continued death in the wastes, just faster that it would have been.
And the outcome of success depends on Hardin’s true desire, does he wish to fully push out and destroy the Canid? I find that highly unlikely, particularly with how small an army he’s going to be working with. A more realistic goal is to collapse the Canid government from the inside (he might find disgruntled Omega caste helpful, if he could look past their race).
In the crazily astonishing accomplishment of reversing roles with the Canid being pushed out, the Canid’s would not be in as bad a predicament. With so many of their people already living among the other nations, they might just live on as citizens of the other nations, or perhaps as a mercenary people (mostly soldiers, but also farmers, artists, workers etc.). A reality that for some Canid might actually be an improvement.
Does Hardin want to reverse the genocide? Or stop genocide in general? So many questions, too little information!
I await future updates with baited breath.
*70 Years since the Ermehn were pushed out.
In a world where there are “beasts” as we might refer to them in the real world, it didn’t seem right to take the Redwall convention. If a giant centipede-like Treewalker is considered a beast, then an Ermehn wouldn’t refer to another Ermehn in the same way. Also, the last thing we’d want to do is use Redwall conventions for an original world :)
You bring up a variety of good points, Tim. If only I could answer your questions straightaway – but then a great many twists and turns of this tale would be spoiled! Rest assured that your questions are a focal point of the comic’s arc, and how Hardin and Quinlan’s tales intertwine is a major element of solving this greater conflict.
That’s very understandable! This is not Redwall after all. I don’t really want you to answer… but… I had to vent on those questions. You have got me so wrapped up in what’s coming next. I’m just glad they will be answered soon.
Not that I doubted you would answer them, but some authors like to take a boat load of plot points at the beginning, and not explain but a few of them until near the end of the series. Utterly frustrating those types.
I LOVE Hardin’s close-up in panel 3. So intense.
Also, a very minor thing, but I feel like panel 4 might be more powerful without the text bubble; you guys are good enough with expressions to get the point across.
That’s something I went back and forth over, yeah. You may well be right.
Again, a brilliant page. Everything seems to be working out right for Hardin. They’re letting him really get in to what is no doubt a very well prepared speech without any interruption. And it’s really great that you’re going slightly more in-depth into what happened with the Canid.
Poor canines, they can never catch a break. Always the bad guys in pretty much every comic I come across. They need some better representation. haha
Not all the canines in this world are terrible people – keep in mind we’re currently seeing things from the losers’ perspective in regards to the Canid themselves. The Vulpin as a whole generally get along with their neighbors, and they’re a canine race too. ;)
I suppose one could never say the Hardin lacked passion…
Hardin is obviously a perfume model in his spare time; it helps to mask the scent of blood from all the diplomacy.
I’m half tempted to now draw him in one of Calvin Kleine commercial pin-up poses, but I think that would get me a special place in hell.
Don’t tempt me. I would give you 50% of the blame if I ever lapsed in judgement enough to do it; you’d be my partner in crime.
…we have the best conversations on here, don’t we?
Well, you and I have just earned another one. Let it be said that I never back down from a challenge, no matter how bad the judgement or scale.
Tell the fandom I loved them; I don’t know if my mortification is going to be gone enough to show my virtual face for the next few days.
While I do appreciate the fervor, please remember that this is an all-ages comic. I don’t mind what you draw, just be mindful of what you link in the comments. Or else you may be cleansed :)
I was dead the instant our conversation began. But at least we’re going to go out with a memorable legacy/last act, even if it was… highly questionable.
…yeah, our survival rate isn’t promising.
[…]
What happens in the BTWD comment section, stays in the comment section. The conversation has gone past the point of no return. But it’s the most interesting one I’ve had all week. Ah, sorry about that, Alex. But on the other hand, I’m kinda relieved that my link is gone; now I actually look the other commenters in the (icons?) eyes.
At least you had the excuse of running on coffee. I was running on 100% bad judgement. Which is surprising; I’m usually running on only 60%. But this was pretty much the webcomic equivalent of the aftermath of a night in Las Vegas: we came to having Hardin in underwear, a load of Old Spice references, a brief visit from the police, and a gentle chastisement from the mods about public indecency. But at least no one woke up married to a Canid. I consider that a plus.
Agreed. This was quite fun!
I sense many intense things will happen after this.
I really like his expression in panel three. It’s very feral-looking and reminds us that these guys are based off of animals.
And is it me or are the comments getting more and more interesting as the story picks up? Seriously guys, you crack me up! :)
Our little community is pretty great.
Hi! I’d thought that I should say how much I appreciate your hard work. I read your comic yesterday and afterwards found myself wanting to know more about these characters and the world they live in, which is always a good sign.
The characters are likeable, and I think you’ve done a good job establishing their personalities in these few pages with both dialogue and actions. Their designs are quite cartoony, so you could get away with using even more squash and stretch to convey emotions, but that’s just my preference.
Pacing of the story feels right – it’s fast enough to grab the reader, but isn’t hurried or confusing. I like the symmetry of both main characters being introduced with a fight scene, but ones with very different tones. The warm colors of the forest and cold tones of the tundra help to reinforce this divide nicely. Quinlan lives in a coming-to-age story, Hardin in a tragedy. I can see these two clashing very vividly!
(As a side note I really like reading your notes on what kind of decision making goes into creating this comic, it is very enlightening. Please keep doing so!)
We certainly have an… interesting conversation in the comments section. My only two cents is that I have often questioned just what the “all-ages” label mean, especially given that this is not a family comic in any sense that I can come up with.
Anyway, the page is nice as always, and it does indeed seem the tribe is slowly coming around to his side. It will indeed be intriguing to see how Hardin expects the scattered Ermehn tribe to go up against the mightiest military force in the kingdoms… and what his ultimate goal for the Canid truly is…
(Btw, I’ve never had a problem with using the terms “man” or “person” in stories like these. BTWD is not Redwall, and its conventions aren’t this comic’s.)