Chapter 2: Page 28
Sorry about the delay, everyone — this week’s page gave us a bit more trouble than usual.
Anyway! This week’s page marks a return to our Sunsgrovian trio at the gates of Deltrada. As the parallel storylines of Beyond the Western Deep begin to converge, the stakes rise ever-higher for both sides of the conflict — and finding just the right cutoff points for each side’s storyline has proven to be a very fun element to the scriptwriting process!
One thing you’ll notice in this week’s page is the inclusion of trained birds. As with any fleshed out world featuring animal-like characters, an important element to consider is the food chain and how the heck that works. TV Tropes calls it “carnivore confusion” and it can pull observant readers out of a fantasy world very quickly. In the world of Beyond the Western Deep, fish and birds remain in the food chain as “normal” animals, which can be caught and eaten (or in this case, trained as messengers).
Aside from fish and fowl, there is the wealth of fruits, grains, and vegetables to make up the rest of the diet. As seen in the tavern in Chapter 1, this is not a world without its culinary delights!
A last bit of guest art this week from Jerome Jacinto — the doodling is done and he has moved on to layout out his piece for the book. I’m not sure I’ll be posting any sneak peaks of that (gotta leave SOMETHING for the book, yeah?) but it’s already proving to be an incredible piece that I am very excited about.
More Ermehn, of course! They are, after all, the subject of the piece. Bevan is looking rather charming there, with a tankard of what I imagine is either a mead or barley wine. Ashtor and Hardin seem to be looking at something fondly on the left there (a smile from either of them seems an odd sort of thing, doesn’t it?) and Rhosyn seems to be giving Rathik a piece of her mind over there on the right. Not sure what the big guy said, but let’s pretend he deserves it!
I love Dakkan’s cheeky expression in the second-to-last panel XD
so the canid have no sense of humor, huh? And exactly what room do you have to talk about other people having no humor?
No, I’d say Kenosh is correct. Takes one to know one, after all.
that’s exactly what I’m saying
Actually, it is a little known fact but during the war Kenosh used to keep up troop morale with his stand-up act. He had a routine that would just kill.
this is all kinds of brilliant
Another page of delights, and well worth the wait! When I first looked at the panel with the messenger bird, I was wondering whether it might be sentient too; glad you addressed that in the comments. And for Kenosh of all Lutren to be warning of another species’ lack of humor speaks volumes. Looks like Dak will be WAY out of his element at Deltrada!
Deltrada! I absolutely love the dramatic background before the fortress, and it looks intimidating indeed. I’m mainly excited over the fact that we’re going to see lots of Canid, and a pair of generals to boot, though I wonder why Hardin is only aiming for Clovis. Is it because of personal vendetta? Or does he not even know Tosch is there? If he doesn’t, the presence of a second general could complicate things very, very badly in a hurry.
As always, Jerome Jacinto’s work is pure eye candy for ink sketching, and I love seeing little snippets of what he’s done for BWD. :) Though Dakkan’s cheeky face and Kenosh’s last panel are the highlights of the page here, heheh.
…ooor Tosch might not be here and I read that dialogue wrong. Whoops.
That fortress looks so bland and unfriendly in comparison to the soft grass just outside. It probably doesn’t look any better from the inside either.
(Psst… you forget the blade of Kenosh’s sword in frame one… ;) )
Well, this page is just FULL of details – no wonder it took you some extra time to perfect!
Ah, Deltrada – the trio has finally arrived at their destination. There appears to be some weaknesses to the fort’s structural design that I’m sure will play a role in the right to come. Hardin is, or rather gives the aura of being, an astute militant and I’m sure will exploit the fort’s shortcomings and use them to his advantage. This adds depth to the Candid characters – yes, they are great soldiers, but they are not invincible/they too make mistakes, allowing us to ponder if Hardin and the Ermehn will triumph. Or at least it allows for the possibility that it could happen. I see the gates are open and two sentries are waiting for the travelers. Did they know Quin and co. would be arriving?
Regarding the whole ‘animals within an animal-centric world’ – personally, I think alone the same lines as you and have used birds as messengers (and fighters) in my own stories so I guess I don’t see it as that big of a deal. Though there are those out there that will always question certain elements, so it is good you addressed it. :)
And the last two frames – okay, I will say I laughed. Dakkan always cracks me up a little and with his ‘we should behave ourselves’ comment… does Dakkan even know the meaning of the word behave??? I can imagine as a youngster he had pretty much a free leash in Lutra. I mean, its been hinted his mother is not around (and I get the sense this has been for some length of time) and Kenosh would have been busy in his Captain of the SeaGuard position, so little Dak would have been… well, wild. I picture a laughing otter pup running through a market with a nursemaid trying to chase after him. And of course he’d have an armful of salmon. ;) But, I digress. Sorry.
Then we have Kenosh calling the kettle black. Okay, not entirely. He’s strict, not humorless (he did have a chuckle when they were back in the pub so he is capable of that emotion… he just doesn’t display it that often). Still, when he says the Candid humor is nonexistent, I could see a lightning bolt come down from that dark cloud above them. Something tells me it’s not going to be a good meeting.
Well, this was a really long set of comments… ugh. Sorry. I blabber on about nonsense sometimes…
Until the next post!
Cheers and sharp quills,
FT
P.S. I really like how the three are depicted in the last frame; more specifically Dakkan and Kenosh. Quin is his own entity because he’s the only Tamian (sp?) there, but it is great to see the contrast between the two Lutrans (is it Lutran or Lutren???). Dakkan still looks like an undeveloped kid standing next to his father, and by that I mean he hasn’t filled out at all. Yes, sure Kenosh has armour under his tunic, but the contrast even through their necks is very well distinguished. It really adds to the fact that Dak has a lot of growing up to due and also reminds us of the difference between a creature raised in war and one raised in peace. I bet if there was a similar ‘picture’ of Quin and his grandfather together, we would see the same differences. It takes great artistry to further the story through details like that. Great work!!! :D
Gah, and Quin’s quiver as well. Fixed… though the website may take a while to slot the new image in. *kicks*
I am so very, very sorry: http://imgur.com/CTdAGaT
(Not really)
(At all)
We all know Dakkan just wants Kenosh-sama to notice him for once with respect. Maybe it would work better if he were a magical girl.
Not sure, mister, but you’d better be prepared to see where it goes, kawaiis, frills, and potential murders in all.
It’s like the prison tattoo scene from Walk The Line meets Sailor Moon, but with the inclusion of murderous fluffy animals.
*chokes on drink*
Oh my god.
No sense of humor, cant go through life without one. *HMPH*
When is this happening in relation to the Ermmehn camp?
The two stories are occurring right about at the same time, Altairey.
Follow-up: How much time has passed since we last saw this trio?
It’s been a couple days since we last saw Quin/Dak/Kenosh. As Dak said, they still had quite a bit of walking ahead of them :)
Yay, we’re back with the Sunsgrove trio! And they’ve arrived at Deltrada too… which I thought would be a bit bigger for such an important place, I must admit.
And… well, it seems Freya Thorine has taken over the role of in-depth commentator here, making this poor rat feel kinda superfluous :(
It controls a significant chokepoint, but in the end it’s still just an outpost. ;)
I’m not sure about ‘in-depth commentator’ there Samadhir… maybe most long-winded… ;)
Now, if Deltrada is just an outpost… is Hardin attacking Deltrada simply because Clovis is there (one may assume on inspection of some kind), OR is Clovis there because he’s heard rumours of this ‘Hardin’ creature planning on attacking Deltrada??? Questions, questions, questions…
Random House had a great question up on FB a few days back about who was guilty of getting to a good part in a book and skipping a few pages ahead to find out the outcome because you couldn’t wait any longer… kinda getting that urge right now. Except, there’s no reading forward :( … … …
I think it’s because Deltrada is such an important figure, despite being an outpost, that Clovis has decided to pay a visit again. That and the fact the Canid forces have bound to have noticed all the Ermehn activity. Clovis would want to check on weak points. I have the feeling he and those at Deltrada don’t know Hardin’s name, even if they know a leader is starting to rally the Ermehn.
Damn those nameless upstarts!!! ;)
I love your story development, a well versed plot makes for an exciting adventure. Can’t wait for next weeks page.
Thanks so much, Daryl! We’re glad you’re enjoying the story!
I’ve known people who could have been canid based on their sense of humor (or lack of).