Chapter 2: Page 45
This week, the conversation turns away from the Sratha-din and right around to Kenosh — and Clovis isn’t the type to mince words! Kenosh isn’t too keen on sticking around (as I’m sure neither are Quinlan and Dakkan), but Clovis is pushing his case pretty hard!
A quick update on the book front! The initial shipment of 50 books has left the printer and is (at the time of this writing) sitting in a customs office in Hong Kong, preparing for its aerial journey across the sea and to my doorstep — hopefully in time for next week’s post!
Due to a minor miscommunication, this initial 50 copies will have glossy laminate covers as opposed to the standard matte finish. I suppose that makes them a kind of “special edition”? Well, any that aren’t sold at Boston Comic Con in August will be held for readers here who want to buy them — I’m hoping to get the online store figured out around mid-August after that (but before Baltimore).
We’ve got some great guest art this week (and next week, and the week after that!) of a character who hasn’t made an official introduction yet, but has been looming in the background for a good deal of this chapter. General Tosch!
SaraaLuna was participating in a Tumblr meme where readers supply a color palette from a selection of color palettes and then offer a character to draw. LadyoftheShield, wonderful Western Deep reader that she is, suggested General Tosch with this earth-tone color scheme, and SaraaLuna was more than happy to oblige!
We haven’t really seen any of General Tosch in the comic yet, but there was a good deal of concepting done of him back in the early days. I’ve been excited for his return, and this piece of guest art has me even more excited to introduce him! Thanks Saraa for the wonderful art, and thanks LadyoftheShield for recommending it!
Ooh, the plot thickens . . .
I like to think that while Clovis is down here, this is what the rest of his garrison is up to. Just replace Camelot with Deltrada and King Arthur with General Tosch and the setup is perfect:
Does Clovis remind anyone else of General Tarquin from the Order of the Stick? Even their color schemes are similar. Look at them side-by-side.
How canid pelt coloration works? Are Tosch and Clovis from different parents?
What is the significance of the “second marker?”
The “I’ll be blunt” made me laugh, because since when are Canid /not/ blunt?
Kenosh, buddy, should not have dropped that “I doubt we’ll be there long” comment back in Chapter One… Clovis looks as if he never intends to let you leave. Ever. Kenosh’s face right after Clovis mentions the time among the Ermehn looks a little affronted, a little angry, a little surprised, even?
“Spent time among the Ermehn”…. does this mean Kenosh was a POW? Quinlan is clearly confused (gotta love The Watson trope) but Dakkan looks as if he knows all too well what Clovis is referring too, an it seems to be bringing out more annoyance than anything. Hmm maybe not a POW then… Either way, yay for more issues to analyze in our favorite screwed up Lutren family! I swear, the /Axehounds/ have fewer issues than Kenosh and Dakkan and it is beautiful, not to mention an impressive achievement.
Kenosh sticking to his guns, with a “MY cause is peace” (Just go back to using sass, Kenosh, that worked the best) clearly challenging the “our cause” clause Clovis threw out there, so then Clovis tries to turn it to his advantage, showing clearly that they have very different ideas as to what “peace” actually means. Scary Clovis face in the last panel, and Kenosh’s stubborn face is… oddly endearing.
The tension’s really heating up, complete with invasions of personal space… nice detail of the pauldron clacking on pauldron! ugh and Bevan is showing up any moment now. I love the animal anatomy here- teeth showing, fur bristling, the whole shebang.
“a character who hasn’t made an official introduction yet, but has been looming in the background for a good deal of this chapter. General Tosch!”
So my bet on Tosch being dead was wrong, then. Dangit. *To being wrong, not to him being dead… though I bet it’d be easier on Our Heroes if he died. Hardin you have disappointed me.
Aw thanks, Alex, I think you’re wonderful, too. And we can’t forget Rachel, Queen of the Facial Expressions.
Nose shot!
And great page overall! Ooo, the drama!
I wonder what Dakkan is thinking in the second-to-last panel? And also what does Clovis mean by Kenosh having “spent time” among the Ermehn…?
Well, things are certainly getting aggressive, aren’t they? As usual, I love all the facial expressions in this page, though it seems Clovis and Kenosh are going to be clashing for as long as the Ermehn conflict persists. As for Clovis’s line about Kenosh “spending time among the Ermehn”, I have to wonder if that means he actually lived among them a while for diplomatic purposes or something of the like, or if it’s something more battle-related. Only time will tell.
I like how you word things.
By all means, help yourself to the compliment cookie jar further. No one in-story right now is going to see it for the next six months.
Oh, get a chat room, you two!
Nasty!
Gottfried, I think, is too whiny for Clovis and Morgan Freeman is alright, but not my preference.
I would cast Kevin Michael Richardson as Clovis and James Arnold Taylor as Kenosh.
They already do. ;)
Great page!
It’s unclear how Kenosh ‘spent time’ with the Ermehn (POW or envoy), nor is it clear in what context Clovis intends to use Kenosh against the invasion (mediator or snitch on battle tactics). Given the two personalities, I’d say Kenosh was perhaps an envoy in his youth (although looking back at Kenosh vs. Dak confrontation earilier, we don’t know who Kenosh’s war was against or for), and Clovis wants to exploit Kenosh’s knowledge to find Ermehn weaknesses.
I’m going to take a shot in the dark and predict that Ashtor and Kenosh know each other. They seem to have the same train of thought – diplomacy vs. war – and appear to be roughly the same age; perhaps Ashtor being slightly older.
I love Dak’s expression in the second to last panel – “Don’t even ask, Quin. Don’t even ask.” Hahaha. Priceless. But the one that really did it for me was the last panel – Clovis and Kenosh figuratively banging heads while literally banging pauldrons. I love Clovis’ snarl as much as I love Kenosh’s grim defiance – very well done.
It almost looks like Dakkan is ashamed or sad in panel five. Perhaps Kenosh’s time with the Ermehn has something to do with Dakkan’s mother.
Oh my I very much enjoyed the heat building up within this page as much as the various speculations and theories the readers are dropping here. As expected, both Clovis and Kenosh are at different ends in regard towards the upcoming turmoil.
The tension between them right now is soooo good that I’m somewhat expecting Kenosh to just bop Clovis in the mouth in the next page! Then again, I dont think he would pull a Dakkan in situations like these (but then again! he is Dakkan’s dad).
Just like the rest of the readers here, I’m also interested in what Clovis meant with Kenosh spending time with the Ermehn. And the way Dakkan looks at Quinlan when he questions it………bah! I got nothing….Freya’s theory of Kenosh and Ashtor knowing each other is interesting. I really cant wait until the Sratha-din shows up here though, I looks like this act is going to be end of a very bloody note…………….and THEN BOOM “Y’all need to pop in Disc 2 of Beyond the Western Deep because it’s time to see what Janik has been up too!” (*sigh* oh Final Fantasy IX Disc swapping cliff-hangers. One of the few PS1 rpgs that did that so beautifully well).
Of course, the awesome fan-art does not escape my sights. Really though, how do you guys manage to make those nice painterly textures! Rachel, Jerome and now Saraa. Every time I do that, it ends up looking as flat as an iron board :U Anyway, I love Tosch’s arrogant look and yes that also brings me to question if he’s much much more sour than his brother.
You know it’s funny … I see Tosch being the other way and LESS sour than Clovis, but that might just be me. IDK, I envision Tosch being blunt, perhaps more so than Clovis, but in a way that at least you know where you stand with him instead of Clovis’ fake friendship and lofty manners. I could be WAY off on my guess, so we’ll see when he makes his appearance. Either way – I’m very excited to see him enter the story! :)
I was thinking the same thing. Not to say that Tosch might be pleasant, or anything of the sort, but a blunter and less facially expressive brother would be a natural yin to his yang. Though seeing the two are related, I imagine Tosch would do plenty of his own planning and manipulating others, while making few pretenses at all that they are anything more than pawns. But this is all guesswork.
…now the question remains as to how Galleon fits in with those two, though I imagine we’ll eventually get to hear from him too, and we have to see how Tosch fits into this mess before that.
Galleon?
Galleon was a Canid officer I gave a name to in some early BWD material (back when it was still called “The Four Kingdoms”). I actually ended up writing Galleon out of the script almost as quickly as I named him :)
In the current drafts of the script, there is no character who goes by that name. Sorry, Saraa!
He’s mentioned on the production blog. According to the blog, which is admittedly outdated, Aisling has three generals- Clovis, Tosch (ID’d on the site as Tyril) and Galleon. Since it’s pretty unlikely that Aisling only has two generals, I’d say Galleon is still in the picture just not… in the picture yet, you know? (it is funny b/c webcomic… pictures…. yeah I’ll shut up now)
AHA Ignore me clearly I didn’t refresh the page before I commented. Alex beat me to it. His word is law and I am a lowly worm. I bow before the Great Alex.
Eh, I’m not too broke up; glad to have further clarification that he exists no more. This means more screen time for the two generals, after all. :P
Galleon is now hiding in Kishar, where he’ll be until Clovis and Tosh get around to hiring someone to assassinate him via icepick.
Clovis: Hey, have icepicks been invented yet?
Tosch: Still no.
Clovis: Damn.
Oh my goodness. You don’t know how happy that made me. One, that there are actually people who have the knowledge and wit to make a joke about Trotsky, and two, that I got it. :) (Yay, European History class!) Sorry. I just had to express heartfelt (albeit nerdy and awkward) joy at good jokes.
Ahem. Anyway, to the comic. I had the same questions as everyone else, and also appreciate the gorgeous guest art. Something about the comic that stood out to me this time (besides the great- as always- expressions) was the lighting. It’s beautiful! Besides being really well done, it also helps add to the overall mood. Great job, guys!
Is it Saturday yet? :P
Maybe if we find a time machine we can remedy this. Or maybe I can nap until Saturday. Or something.
Nap until Saturday? Not fair. ;)
I’m capable of sleeping in far beyond what I should; you watch me. If it were cold I could convince myself I need to hibernate for a short time, but since it’s summer and also not Aisling where I live, that is a bit more difficult.
*seconds what Freya said*
IKR – the suspense is killing me! I know they will come out in the story as the plot evolves, but all these little ambiguous backstories and sideplots are driving me nuts!
Can’t wait for the books to come on sale.
The best online comic I’ve ever read!!
I’ll buy one so we can share, dun worry.