Chapter 2: Page 64
For those of you last week who pointed out the lead Ermehn breaking into the Deltrada guest quarters is indeed the one-eyed fellow who challenged Hardin back in Chapter 1, good eye (no pun intended–mostly)!
You might also recognize the axe-wielding fellow as another bystander from that fateful scene! One thing I love about Rachel’s background characters is that there’s always an element of life in them that you don’t normally see in background characters. Many of them have their own little back stories, even one or two-line things that help establish their place in the world, like the omega-caste Canid sitting in the Land’s End Tavern, or more pressingly, perhaps, these Ermehn here!
This week, the second of two pieces I promised from artist Kogawakenji — a wonderful compliment to any Kenosh piece is naturally one of Dakkan!
I love the way you drew these two characters, Koga! They both seem suitably introspective, and I love the linework that brings them both to life!
As always, remember that we’ve got copies of Volume 1 for sale on the Western Deep store, along with prints of Lutra’s resident shark hunters! They’d all make great holiday gifts, I’m sure! Who WOULDN’T want to get their own copy of Western Deep: Volume 1 or a kick-awesome print of Lutren shark hunters for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus?
Welp looks like I was right about Hardin not anticipating a Sunsgrovian presence. And the nameless one-eyed Ermehn see-ms to have gotten more into the spirit of the attack.
Quinlan’s expression in the second panel is a thing of beauty. I love the way you outlined the sword to indicate that it was missing. A simple but effective tactic. (and his tail is still all floofed up with stress)
Which, of course, leaves Dakkan defending with the staff unless Quinlan gets to his sword or whips out the arrows. Tesque may not be such a feasible option here considering the one with the sword and the one with the ax both have a longer reach than he does, although Quinlan might be able to take the one with the katar unarmed.
If that staff snaps, they’re both in even deeper trouble.
The lighting is beautiful and really helps make the mood.
A happy Thanksgiving to you both. (I’ll be pretty thankful if Dakkan and Quinlan make it out of this situation alive!)
I agree, Rachel’s background characters do have a unique element of life to them that other series often lack!
Must admit that I’m a little unsure about the dashed line showing that Quin doesn’t have his sword. BWD is so realsitic that seeing something like that jars me out of the moment for an instant. I understand it’s to reinforce the fact that Quin is unarmed, but meh. We already know that he’s a master at Tesque. Speaking of which . . .
BRING ON THE FLYING TAMIAN KICKS TO WARRIOR ERMEHN FACES!!!
I wonder if Koga does commissions, that’s a really cool picture of Dakkan :D
But yeah, of course a bunch of mavericks would make this situation harder on the Ermehn. Hopefully someone can explain the situation to them. I doubt anyone in this fight is going to die unless Kenosh comes back in to check on the boys.
I know this is a dramatic moment, and it’s fantastic to get to see a fight scene, but the panel with Quinlan’s missing sword cracks me up.
I know how he feels. When the time comes to draw down on a fool it’s always a real bugger to find you’ve gone and left your piece in your other coat.
I was gonna suggest tossing a bone to distract them, but they’re not dogs! Shoot! Well, maybe a laser pointer? (I don’t know what animals the Ermehn are supposed to be based off of)
Stoat/Ermine.
Hence Ermehn.
I guess you could threaten to turn them into fancy coats . . .
I think Dakkan has more cause to be worried about that than any of the Ermehn. (Not so much Kenosh tho- his fur’s starting to thin. Juuust a little.)
This leads me to wonder- do the Lutren have any sea otter in their design or are they based only on river otters?
Looks to me that they’re just river otters. Which is great, because I like the look of river otters much better.
A great question, to which I ask another:
What do you mean there are sea otters?!
I can’t tell if you’re joking or not, zealot.
All I know about otters is that they live in watery areas, they are hairy with long, equally hairy tails, and they are apparently, IN THEORY, not rodents.
They aren’t rodents because rodents have a two pairs of incisors that constantly grow. (Rabbits and hares were once considered a part of this group, but have been moved to the Lagomorphs) Otters are a part of the Mustelidae, or the weasel family, which is characterized by a long body, round ears and short legs.
Otters are the most aquatic of the mustelids, and they are known for their playfulness. Sea otters are almost entirely dependent on the ocean. Sea otters are much bigger than regular otters and their faces are paler and flatter. Sea otter fur is also one of the most luxurious furs known to man- they have nearly one million hairs per square inch (and that is not a typo). They have been extensively hunted because for their fur, which is why sea otters are almost extinct.
Sea otter: http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/images/exhibits/otter-sitting-up.jpg
River otter: http://www.jamesriverassociation.org/img/river-otter.jpg
A few links that might help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustelidae
According to wikipedia, their subfamily is Lutrinae, which, to any BWD reader, should sound familiar . . .
Look, have you ever seen a giraffe? They are huge, aren’t they? Well, imagine that suddenly a biologist, a supreme authority in zoology, comes to you and says “Giraffes look really big, but in actuallity, they are very tiny.”, but you can see it. It’s there! It’s HUGE! But the biologist says it is actually tiny. What would you believe?
Now imagine how you feel if everyone and their mother came your way and kept claiming that wet, long, furry rat over by that pool in the zoo is NOT a rodent?
Do you SEE my dilemma here?!?!?!1!!111two
If it makes it easier… do these look like the teeth of an herbivorous rodent? Otters are water weasels on steroids. >:)
As a skull collector, I can confirm that any lutrinae/marine mammal skulls will be the wickedest skulls you’ll ever see (with pigs in close contest), namely due to the sheer amount of teeth they have. The sheer amount of sharp teeth they have.
In response to Rachel’s image:
Dakkan, haven’t you learned by now that bad things happen whenever you open your mouth?
*facepalm* Quinlan you DUN GOOFED!
Everybody’s been complimenting on it, but it really is such a nice touch to have the various background characters from earlier parts of the story still play a role within the narrative. And I cant ignore Koga’s wonderful renditions of both Kenosh and Dakkan. I love how their portrait like poses and somehow I’m getting a “modern” feel with Dak here.
Gooooooddaaaammmnnn it Quinlan! Why do you goof up so much!
Ah, action! Excitement! The first bubbles from the boiling pot!
Incidentally, I love that first Ermehn’s expression. He’s so incredibly nonplussed/confused. The perfect WTF face. Great for any occasion!
I’m not very keen on the flow of action on this page. The axe wielding ermehn is shown to be far in the back, yet he’s the first one to swing at Dakkan. What is the one-eyed one doing in the mean time? Is he just standing there? He seems too eager for that. Even if he’s shown going after Quinlan on the next page, I’d expect to see that first because he’s the closest one to Quin and Dak – it takes him the least time to close in on his target, placing his attack before the other one in the order of events.
Stay tuned? :P
NEXT week, on BEYOND the WESTERN DEEP, see how our heroic protagonist AVOIDS getting a SWORD to the FACE.
(My attempt at simulating a TV announcer voice in text).
I can do a fairly decent impression of a spanish sportscaster, but TV announcer is beyond me.
Spoiler: he gets it in the chest instead
QUIN FORGOT HIS SWARD!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sM4rrcCw6k&t=1m11s
I think this is how we all feel right about now
Dakkan: Wait, we can understand the Ermehn now?
Quinlan: Apparently.
Dakkan: Well, I’m glad we…. *Puts on shades.* .. speak the same language!
I think it’s more that Dakkan probably knows how to speak at least a little of the Ermehn language- I mean, Kenosh is grooming him to be his successor and Kenosh definitely is fluid in the Ermehn language.
*fluent argh
Dont they all relatively speak English anyway, I assumed the individual language barrier only comes in focus during written form. Unless there really is an established language/dialect going on here that we cant see without it being subtitled for us *In Chinese*
I’m pretty sure Alex said that the common language was the equivalent of English.
do you guy’s thing there will be more pages in-stand of 65
Isn’t Dakkan’s tail long enough to be seen even behind his legs?
Not if it’s directly behind him and being held up because he’s surprised.
You know, now that you mention it it does look weird. I’d prefer it if even a small bit of it would be visible – he’s not a dog, and his tail is thick and heavy.
Yes, but my mental note to add that before publication was apparently an offbrand post-it note. A fixed version has already been uploaded, just waiting for it to go through.
Also, happy turkey day to everyone!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I for one am ever thankful to have such amazing readers enjoying our work here, and most of all to have an artistic partner as gifted as Rachel working alongside me to help bring everything here to life.
Enjoy your turkey/ham/salmon! :)
BWD things I’m thankful for:
-Alex and Rachel met and agreed to work on this project.
-This project has survived numerous rewrites and brainstorms and continues as the comic we all know and love.
-The fantastic community of a small but passionate group of dedicated readers who keep me coming back to the site day in and day out to exchange thoughts and laughs with.
-My decision to overcome my usual compulsive lurker tendencies and participate in said discussions.
-The universal wave function and laws of physics that allow everything that we know and love to exist, including BWD.
-This planet known as Earth, which is quite a pleasant place to live, work, and participate in enjoyable activities, like read BWD.
-That this planet has spawned a species known as Homo Sapiens, who have the mental capacity to create deep and thought-provoking works such as BWD.
-That of the existing members of Homo Sapiens, I am fortunate enough to have a computer that I can use to read comics such as BWD.
I could go on, but I won’t. Instead, I will second Saraa’s comment for American readers and I hope that non-American readers have a pleasant Thursday, no matter where they are.
Cheers,
Fourth Master
Here’s to future updates, warm rooms, and coming back every week to talk to all of you. It always makes my day better. Thank you. To everyone.
Fourth said it better than I could, but I’d like to chip in a thanks to Brian Jacques, the master who inspired us in ways he’ll never know. But if he’s watching, I think he’d be proud of this work. It’s certainly a story worthy of his legacy, and I believe it has the potential to surpass him. Have a wonderful day, everyone.
On another note, Dust: an Elysian Tail is on sale for $2.99 until December 2.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/236090/
I haven’t finished the game yet because my laptop is too old to play it and I have to piggy back off my sister’s whenever I visit home, but it’s absolutely beautiful. The storyline is captivating and well-written. Seriously, give it a shot. You won’t be disappointed.
Quick! Say something clever Quinlan to destroy the morale of the opposing soldiers! ;P
Quin! A good soldier always has his weapon in arms reach, even masters of Tesque.