Chapter 2: Page 5
As many readers have surmised since the kingdom’s introduction, Aisling is primarily controlled by its military. While it does have a king, they defer to the top generals of the Canid army in the interest of their kingdom’s well-being and future security. To that end, our trio venturing north to visit General Clovis holds just as much weight, if not moreso, than if the trio was headed to the Aisling capital of Arklow.
Even though Aisling is a neighbor of Sunsgrove, it is very rare for anybody but high-ranking dignitaries to travel there. Unlike, say, the windswept majesty of Nessa’s desert paradise or the ostentatious architecture of Gair, Aisling provides very little to wayfarers and wanderers. The Ermehn situation keeps the land hostile, and the ruthless Canid patrols are far more likely to stab first and ask questions later… or never ask questions at all.
This week we have a bit of fanart from longtime contributor SaraaLuna. There was a bit of a discussion last week about Dakkan’s tired state. It was posited that a giant salmon would improve his mood a bit. This is true, of course – Dakkan loves salmon, as most self-respecting Lutren do. This somehow turned into a conversation about Dakkan dreaming about the giant salmon offering itself up to the hungry Lutren, which resulted in this amazing gif:
Dakkan: “O Great Salmon, verily I will honor thee with lemon and a touch of garlic before I commit thy flesh to a hot grill!”
Quinlan (echoey voice in the distance): “Dak? You’re talking in your sleep again, ol’ buddy. Hello?”
Dakkan: “And once thine grilling has ceased, I shall feast upon thee with great verve and purpose!”
Quinlan (voice closer): “Why are you talking like that? Are you having the salmon dream again?”
Before you ask, no, that’s most likely not canon.
… Most likely.
Ook! Too much gabbing on sentry duty by our heroes has apparently allowed a foe to get within taunting range. Not good, not good … and when Kenosh wakes up, he won’t be happy with his son or Quin.
And, now that it looks like Dak won’t be going back to sleep anytime soon, that Salmon Dream will have to wait …
Quin’s probably kicking himself for this already, too – as a scout, he knows how to handle sentry duty. Having a pal around can make you lax, though!
Bandits? This oughta be good.
Dakkan’s trolling expression in the fourth panel looks so delightfully trollish XD He does look kinda tired in the first panel though.
And I see. Aisling is more a military junta than a kingdom. The generals hold all the power, and the king is just a figurehead.
First off, I have to say that I love all of Dakkan’s expressions, and that the feeling of “CRUD” in the last panel is incredibly strong. And second off, oh god, the salmon gif managed to make it here. I almost had a miniature heart attack when I saw the familiar glimpse of a pink fin and sparkles at the edge of my down-scrolling.
But anyway, I have to wonder about the yet unknown species of the thieves/ruffians/what-have-yous that are trying to rob Dakkan and Quin (and a grumpy and probably disappointed and angry Kenosh). Are they some rough and angry Canid who split from the military, or some rogue Ermehn, who are equally rough and angry? Well, we shall have to wait a week to see. c:
I’m going to pick the rogue option and bet on a trio of Treewalkers driven to life of crime due to complex socioeconomic issues.
What if they are Tamien?
I’m sure they were all completely honest, smart, larvae who stayed in school before their metamorphosis hit and the economy went downhill. Honest.
The Terria City Council should never have pulled the funding for that Treewalker youth centre and skate park.
Now the young’uns have nothing to do all day but make trouble in the neighbourhood.
It’s just sad, to see so many young grubs wasting their potential as ne’er-do-wells. They need the opportunity to sink their mandibles into something in life they feel passionate about (ie not their mammalian neighbors.) This is truly a sad time for the Treewalker community.
It’s the great unspoken tragedy of the modern era, to be sure. (Also, all of you get a gold star for making my night.)
Saraa, that gif was a stroke of genius. And this page is great as well, very informative, and those fire-shadows were an awesome touch, as was Kenosh’s finishing line
I would almost guess them to be some Polcan, but I don’t think they would come that far inland.
Dubiously Relevant Fact of the Day:
The ancient Roman mythological multi-headed-monster Janus was “rewarded” with godhood by the Roman pantheon (If I remember correctly).
His many heads were replaced by two: one looking into the past and one looking into the future. He was rooted into the ground like a stone pillar, unable to move or blink, and given the “honour” of presiding over the moment of time when the old year transitions into the new. January is named after him.
For some reason he is also the god of doorways.
“You Are the Doorway … ”
Cheers, Highwing. I like that quite a bit.
…
Wait. I just listened to:
a) A song about doorways delivered via Star Trek mirror universe inspired prog rock band which was posted in response to:
b) A Roman mythology tangent I posted in response to:
c) The name of a king of a fictional country in a swashbuckling animal adventure comic, the comments of which also feature:
d) A Salmon Dream gif conversation and:
e) The sentence: “Treewalkers driven to a life of crime due to complex socioeconomic issues”.
Never change, Western Deep community. Never change.
I love absolutely everybody in this community. Just adding that.
…VarVau, that stealth pun was absolutely terrible, but I feel I need to applaud you now. Also, you may or may not have created the summon for the BWD Bloody Mary of seafood. I’m not sure. I’m assuming you turn into a smoked salmon or something if you say that three times to your lake reflection. And it all goes downhill from there.
This definitely is an eclectic and awesome community, and I’ve seen a few. I’d rank this one at No. 2. The No. 1 slot is a tie between the Gunnerkrigg Court community and the Schlock Mercenary communities.
We are all flattered, RIme.
I started reading a year after this conversation, but that’s beside the point.
If the Canid generals turn out to be incarnations of the Weasely twins, quite frankly, the Ermehn are doomed. Also, the irony of the last name “Weasely” in that situation is hilarious and awful, because mustelids/everyone dying.
The Polcan would disapprove of this, I think. Majorly.
“Look! We have representation!”
“Our representation is being bounced around on the floor, you bilgehead!”
hmmm why does he step on the bow like that? well to straighten it i guess but i mean i didn’t know bows had to be stepped on like that ? is it a technique or something?
nvm just noticed why he is stringing his bow….
More great expressions (especially on the last panel), more great scenery, more information about how Aisling works, and the prospect of our heroes fighting a group of bandits…
…but all of that is of course overshadowed by the now infamous Salmon gif! Man, that was an awesome concept by Saraa, who in addition to having provided so much joy in the comments, have also given us this marvellous dream sequence for our favourite otter! It seems this comic now has its very first meme. Hope that it’s followed by many others!
It seems that neither of the sentries has any rapid-release weaponry. Alas!
You might have known this already but Arklow is a town in Co. Wicklow, Ireland, where my folks live. I was surprised and amused to see the name show up here haha :)
It also showed me you guys are really thinking about the names of things! I haven’t seen the Arklow of Western Deep yet but I imagine already that if you are following Old Norse or Irish naming traditions it’s near an estuary or meadow, an evocative name!
I went on a tour of County Wicklow back in 2011 (the “Wild Wicklow” tour, actually) — it was one of the best things I’ve ever done, and as you can tell, a lot of things I saw there kinda stuck around in my head. That whole area is just so fantastically gorgeous. Your folks are quite lucky to live there, I would say :)
Oh man that’s neat! I was still living there in 2011 so ships passing and all that haha, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Wicklow has some beautiful spots about :) As a resident I’ve never done a tour, but I bet they’re great!
Yeah it’s a good place to live, I prefer Dublin for the convenience but it is lovely to have Arklow to come back to