Chapter 2: Page 44
The mystery of this modern-era Sratha-din continues this week! We also get a little bit of a glimpse as to the Canid perspective on Aisling’s history — there’s a definite element of ownership and possession they feel about the land, and this rigidity has no doubt helped to exacerbate the current conflict.
Not too much else to report on this week! The first shipment of books comes ever-closer, and I’m looking forward to sharing that unboxing with you when the time comes. We’re also creeping further into summer, which gets us closer to Boston Comic Con and Baltimore Comic Con in August and September, respectively. As those draw closer, I’ll try to share progress updates on things like the banner art we’ll be displaying with the booth, the accompanying merch, etc.
Until then, remember that you can email us your fan-works and we’ll post them up alongside a page! Just send it to thewesterndeep(at)gmail(dot)com!
“Ever since we took back our land.” Implying that it was theirs at any point in time before they took it from the Ermehn, who were the original owners, emphasis on original. Oi, oi, Clovis. It was great that the Canid escaped the Northern Wastes and all that jazz, and that they’re now flourishing, but hold up a little bit; you don’t have a permanent mark of ownership on the place since the beginning of time.
Wait, I forgot. You’re Clovis. Holding back in any capacity is not your specialty. Carry on.
Still lovin’ the lighting in this scene, though, and Clovis looks distinctly perked up at the news of a campfire being sighted. It’ll be interesting to see how good Hardin’s game really is up against a general and Deltrada. Also interesting to know that the Canid basically banned the use of an old Ermehn hero’s name from future use (though how heroic he was to the Ermehn is debatable; he was a still a huge rallying point, as Clovis notes). What’s in a name? A lot, apparently.
This reminds me of that time back in chapter one when that one Ermehn referred to Hardin as “the self-proclaimed” saviour of the Ermehn. It took quite a bit of convincing to get them to help, so I wonder if Clovis’ information is entirely accurate. The Canid remember Sratha as a great threat, but the Ermehn may remember him as a fool who only made things worse.
“We took back our land” As Sara pointed out, the Canid never owned Aisling before they invaded. I wonder if that’s connected to an incident in the second war… maybe the Ermehn reclaimed some land? Hmm, history history history!!!
YESS LADY CANID SOLDIER!!! With a scar!! (wondering if that spear on the wall is a Chekov’s Gun)
And hello, Rhosyn’s decoy campfire. Maybe he doesn’t expect Hardin to be that sloppy?Let’s see if Clovis figures it out or not. That expression on his face almost looks like surprise…
Beautiful work, as always, and Clovis’ facial expressions never cease to provide much amusement for us. *Quick question on the door- the frame looks wider than the wood. At first I thought it was a sliding door, but then I saw the hinges.
Friendly reminder that Bevan is infiltrating the fortress as we speak and bodies are gonna start falling any moment now. Here’s to our babies surviving the next page! (and the next, and the next, and the next…)
Honest question: How can you tell it is a female canid soldier?
The design. The female Canid have the chain mail on their arms, while the males do not.
http://kobbers.tumblr.com/image/17344526117
The guys don’t get chain-mail undershirts? Better hope no one aims for the gut.
They probably have a sleeveless hauberk underneath their robes, just not on their arms. Like how Kenosh is still wearing armor under his robe.
Actually this brings me to a quick question- back in the beginning of Chapter two, page three, both Dakkan and Kenosh took off their armour when they went to sleep.Is that just because it was uncomfortable? It seems almost reckless to remove your armour in enemy territory.
I can’t speak to the comfort of armour but I have worn a full fire suit. It gets warm plus the zips and buckles that would press into you if you lay down while wearing it would make sleeping in it an unpleasant prospect. Also, fire suits are made with modern materials and craftsmanship so I can’t imagine cobbled together metal plates and shark leather would be any better for napping.
I suppose the groups real vulnerability in that situation turned out to be lack of vigilance rather than lack of armour.
Conceded on the materials- metal plates and leather ouch- but craftsman ship isn’t necessarily inferior just because it’s not modern. That fire suit was probably made in a sewing machine, while Dakkan’s armor was probably handmade by an expert, not “cobbled together”- not that it would change the lack of comfort for sleeping in.
Haha, lack of vigilance. Why /did/ Dakkan wake Quin up so late, I wonder? Hmm, the world will never know.
*wait so does this mean Quin is wearing no armor b/c he slept in his clothes? He pulled on his archer’s glove and equipped his bow and arrows but no armor…
….
*Off to update the betting pool again
No, he doesn’t wear any. You can see tamian armor on page 9 of chapter 1, but Quinlan is a Scout who most likely favor speed over protection.
The female Canid are generally less scruffy and have slightly more delicate features. Their uniform, as mentioned above, has a chainmail shirt instead of the big chestplate, and lighter pauldrons.
However, the differences between Canid sexes is more subtle than most of the other races. Especially when they’re in uniform – their women are pretty solid. Not as ambiguous as, say, dwarves – but certainly about as fuzzy :D
Bah! We dwarves don’t be fuzzy! It be called “hairy”!
Thanks for the clarification. It’s nice to see gender equality in a fantasy setting. I would say that your cast is fuzzier than any of the other standard fantasy races, but dwarves? It would be a contest, that’s for sure.
I wonder if this scene has ever played out in the comic universe, but with a Canid in place of the dwarf:
Roshyn: I can’t believe that they fell for that! It’s the oldest trick in the book!
Bevan: What book?
Roshyn: You know, the Art of War, by Sun Tzu? Deception is the most key element in warfare?
Bevan: Who?
Roshyn: Never mind. I don’t know what I was saying.
“Sun Tzu invented war. Now every time a bunch of animals like is found together in one place it’s called a zoo!”
“But we’re a bunch of . . . wait, what?”
Clovis: Where?
Alex: On a ridgeline outside of the garrison, but really it’s a play and they’re sneaking up to surround you all and wipe you out. Watch your back. Oh, hi, Quinlan, Kenosh, Dakkan.
Rachel: Ooh, Dakkan, your face looks a little off. Hold on. *poof* Much better!
Dakkan: [Stands in shock feeling his face].
Canid soldier: Wha-?
Clovis: Who are these . . . monkey-people? How did they get inside?
Alex: We’re the writers. It’s called “breaking the fourth wall.” Oh, and FYI, the proper term is “humans”.
Rachel: Don’t worry, you won’t remember a thing.
(Flash of light. Alex and Rachel disappear).
(Comic continues on as normal).
Dakkan: There’s nothing wrong with my face!
Clovis: *thinks up snarky comment but too distracted to say it b/c ERMEHN CAMPFIRE RARGH- EX-TERMINATE!!
I knew it was coming but I laughed anyway
So it seems everyone is now on the same page and /most/ of the cards are laid down on the table. I say /most/ of the cards because I think its obvious to everyone that Clovis only tells people what they /need/ to hear. It seems as though chaos is going to begin and we’ll have to wait until next week to find out what happens when Clovis learns the location of the fire: Will he set the garrison for siege? Will he muster a legion and take them out to snuff out what might be lingering near the flames? Or is a signal meant for him? Only time, and a week’s worth of patience, will tell.
Great work on the page – fantastic lighting and shadows.
Cheers,
FT
Um, excuse me Clovis, but you have no authority to forbid them to do anything. Much less forbid them to use a name of an ancestral hero to name their tribe
He and the other Canid have the Ermehn pinned down in a desolate wasteland and a military at their disposal which could crush all of them, as well as two war victories under their belts and a string of fortresses; I think that counts as “authority” in the world of Western Deep, even if it’s unfair. But hey, if they don’t have authority, what’s the worst the Canid could do to them if they disobey? It’s not like they could execute them and put their heads on pik–
…oh.
Saraa is a treasure and must be protected at all cost save character death.
The joke’s on them, they’re stuck in a desolate wasteland too pinning down the Ermehn.
I don’t think Canid know what a joke is, so the effect may be lost on them.
That is arguably better than the “Much Rage” Clovis face a few pages back.
I just realized that Clovis makes an appearance waaaaaaay back in the prologue when the Canid were first introduced along with the other races.
This page: https://westerndeep.net/2012/01/28/prologue-page-9/
I wanted to say this for a while but, now that people are noting it. I want to give major props on Rachel’s style for drawing animal people. It’s so refreshing to see these wolves, stoats, otters, felines etc look very animalish even while taking gender into account. Not trying to dog anyone who draws anthros, but I used to not get into it due to the fact that many artists make them look “too human” for my tastes….which inevitably ends up looking awkward.
But with Rachel’s work, I’m not getting that feeling at all. The characters are represented very well (like the Canid for example, I didnt notice that soldier who barged into the room to be female! until Shieldmaiden pointed it out and gave the link to Rachel’s Canid design sheet. Now that I know, I can see how subtle gender plays here). Like with the Tamian. I’m so used to seeing squirrels with puffy cheeks and adorable looking eyes and big bushy swirly tails and what not, but how they are treated here……it’s weird for me to explain…they kinda look human, but at the same time they do not (probably thanks to their quote on quote “fuzziness” lol), but It still doesnt feel awkward at all.
idk, I suck at explaining my own feelings on things. tl;dr I’m in love with Rachel’s drawing style thats all. Awesome work as always!
Much agreed! I’ve never understood the need for people to put humanish hair on anthros, especially on reptilian and avian species that don’t possess hair or fur of any type at all. I’m sure that there are other things too, but this one always bothered me the most.
That said, I also love Rachel’s art. And Alex’s writing!
More animal-like animal people are difficult to draw, especially expressions (ahaha, oh, expressions) but I prefer them a lot more than more human animal people.
“Took back our land”? It wasn’t yours to begin with! >:(
This reminds me of a movie in which an United States soldier infiltrates in nazi Germany and a German soldier gets suspicious of him after he mentions the conquest of the easternmost France territories:
“We did not conquer those territories, we RECOVERED them!”
I’m a big fan of symbolically taking national heroes’ names as a statement. :D (In fiction, anyway.)
cool video !
You forgot to comment on the actual /page/, squirt
I’ve recently realized how fitting it is that Clovis has the same name as the sociopathic teddy bear protagonist from Imagine This!