Chapter 3: Page 29
(You might’ve noticed we tweaked the sixth panel so it conforms to the layout suggested in the cell — we appreciate the readers pointing that out to us. The nice thing about the webcomic format is that we can make fixes like this, so if you see something that doesn’t look right, don’t be afraid to let us know! — Alex)
Looks like that QTE fight sequence actually turned out okay after all! What you didn’t see were the 14,000 bad ending variants where the player didn’t mash the buttons quickly enough, but this isn’t Dragon’s Lair — that sort of thing wouldn’t fly in a comic!
For those unfamiliar, two weeks ago Elson Wong (aka Darkspeeds) put together a hilarious video that couched the initial breakout page as a “QTE”, or Quick-Timer-Event, using visuals and sound effects from the adventure game classic: Shenmue. In a QTE, the player has a set amount of time to press a button — think of it like a reaction test. If you fail, usually something bad happens!
These range from missing a soccer ball kick in Shenmue to getting roasted by a dragon in Dragon’s Lair and everything in between. However, Shenmue was the game that added those little chimes and sound effects for the button prompts — and they would come out of nowhere in the midst of a cinematics-heavy 30+ hour game. I failed a LOT of those button prompts, so Elson’s video made me all involuntarily twitchy :)
Huge props to Elson, he even did some voice acting for the lead-up story moments! Check it out:
For guest art this week, an interesting piece from RM Fung! I’ll let him explain the background for you:
“This picture was mainly inspired by the April Fools Day comic and the comments in it suggesting that “Beyond the Western Deep” was all (modern) Dakkan’s fantasy.
If you start from the top, Quinlan was initially drifting through a dreamless void. He happens to be there ever since blacking out from being shot with an Ermehn bolt near the end of Chapter 2. Is he asleep? Comatose? Dead? Who knows? But he’s interrupted by the appearance of a mysterious being that looks eerily similar to his best friend Dakkan, only wearing clothes in a style not recognized anywhere in the Four Kingdoms. The being only takes Quin’s hand and leads him back out of the void, only telling the Tamian that he’s not done yet, that his story is not yet over.
Getting to the bottom, you see the real reason the Dakkan-being had to hurry up and leave after escorting Quin. Long story short, there’s a lecture going on, Dak’s mind is somewhere else, Principal Tosch happens to come by and decides to get Dak paying attention again HIS way.”
I love the combining of our in-comic and high school AU worlds, RM! The idea that the comic’s events are just an adventure story being daydreamed by a modern-day Dak is hilarious — though I’m sure if that were the case Dak would probably make himself the only protagonist and also not have let himself get beaten up so much by the canid XD
Thanks so much for sending this wonderful piece, RM!
Yikes! Now I don’t know if I’ll look at Dak the same way again with that lost tooth! Well, I guess that’s how you know things are gonna get bigger from here. Either way, I got pumped seeing Quin peer through the door into the hallway, because it looks like Operation Escape Deltrada has begun! Maybe we’ll see more of the fortress along the way…
Cool QTE Elson Wong’s got! Would be cool to see more of the comic’s story as a game. Though I do hope Quin getting Dak out with him doesn’t turn into an escort mission.
I’m totally digging the guest art here! It’s so cool seeing worlds collide. It’d be even funnier seeing the other characters meet their counterparts. If the canon comic was modern-Dak’s daydream, would that mean comic-Quin, being the product of a daydream, just met his creator? I could totally see a hint of medium awareness in this pic.
Hmm, where ARE the other guards? I highly doubt a place like Deltrada would be this empty, especially around the prisoners and ESPECIALLY after an attack which claimed the life of an important general. Something’s going on…
Maybe they’re all having their nightly howl at the moon? That’s why Wolf-Feyn is so grouchy, he’s missing a social event.
I’m wondering if there’s been an attack on the fortress, or if perhaps the ermehn have led search patrols astray and waylaid them in the mountains…
*second attack
“Hmm, where ARE the other guards… Something’s going on…”
The garrison have dozens of funerals to attend. They are probably busy building pyres or digging graves.
Yeah, but it would be REALLY sloppy to have only ONE guard watching over the prisoners! I don’t think General Fluffy is that incompetent…
Well Tosch did leave them in there with the very crossbow bolt that proved to be their means of escape.
Maybe he ordered the guards away from the holding cells?
Maybe he ordered an angry moron with impaired peripheral vision to be their gaoler knowing he would be stupid enough to bring the actual manacle keys into the cell with the prisoners!
Maybe Tosch was secretly on their side all along!!!!!
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!
Or maybe Tosch is just a silly billy who underestimates our dudes.
Or perhaps he’s genuinely distracted and grieving for his brother?
It’s all very intriguing.
Plot twist: Tosch worked with Kenosh and Hardin to get his brother killed and has been on their side all along, he’s just pretending to be upset to keep up appearances. He wants them to escape.
. . . Yeah, probably not.
Quickly Dakkan, find a glass of milk for your tooth! It might not be too late to reattach!
Aw jeeze, this has not been a good day to either of them… Tooth grow back, right?
No zey don’t.
Poor Dak, holy frick.
No other guards, really? Hm. Not what I expected. I assume they will be ambushed at one point and taken somewhere else.
So now Dak will be missing a tooth to go with Quin’s shoulder scar. As Aventune said, a sign that things will be getting bigger. As if they weren’t big enough already.
Kind of surprising that there aren’t any other guards around. This part of Deltrada, at least, is quiet as the grave. Seems a little too convenient.
Lovely guest art, I am quite a fan of the BWD high school alternate universe. The more the merrier there.
Don’t forget Quin’s left ear tuft that’s also cut short
Right, but that will grow back.
Are you sure?
I mean, it’s just fur . . .
It’s been a day at most since he had it sliced off. It won’t grow back overnight, but it eventually will.
Thats true
Just for fun, you have any theories on how the guest art connects both the original and high school universes?
I remember Kobb drawing a young Dakkan minus a tooth and it’s funny how this all brings it back to circle. I would assume the lack of guards were due to Deltrada currently being understaffed at this point…cuz you know…things happened.
Also Fung’s rendition of how much of a friend Dakkan is is very touching due to the whole Quin being the protagonist of his story thing.
nice page! now that Quin and Dak can escape, all is well!
,,,,
too well….. the lack of guards just seems too convenient… did the Sratha-din come for a second raid now that they’ve levelled up more?
Love that last panel. He looks like he has a goatee
They’d better remember to lock the door after them! Also maybe they should take something, anything, that could be used as a weapon?
Ugh, Dak in that upper middle panel… He looks like some character in an early 90’s 3D fighting game…
Let’s hope his tooth can heal as easily as Quin’s shoulder :P
“Go home and be a family ma….”
oh……I’m sorry…
http://jeri-june.tumblr.com/post/161415677775/tdcpresents-kobbers-im-sorry-this-is-how-i
I’m sorry
Oh no! The Tiger Uppercut’s been mentioned! XX3 XD
Oh man, I already have a 4 tier sequence of that scene for their escape. Scenario 01 > Tap (A) Quin successfully wraps chain around the Canid Soldier’s neck > Multi-tap (A) > Quin manages to choke his target. Cinematic of Quin reassuring that Dak is okay and tosses the key, they escape.
Scenario 02 > Tap (A) Quin successfully wraps chain around the Canid Soldier’s neck > Multi-tap (A) but failed > but Quin fails to choke his target and get’s pushed to the wall knocking his head on impact — Quin tries to get his bearings, Canid curses his attacker and (his emotions and adrenaline kicks in) takes out his short sword and aims for Quin’s chest, Dak desperately yells at Quin to avoid a fatal stab > Tap LEFT but failed > Camera pans to a mid-shot of the Canid’s solider come in contact with Quins chest ‘RRrrrrgggh!!’ ‘Urk…. Hhgh…! – fatality inevitable. Quin falls to the ground, the Canid Solider realises what he’s done and curses to himself: “Damn it… General Tosch is not going to be happy about this…” – Quin fades to black as he hears Dak yelling out to his friend helplessly.
Scenario 03 > Tap (A) Quin successfully wraps chain around the Canid Soldier’s neck > Multi-tap (A) but failed > (same as above) > Tap LEFT > Quinlan barely but successful dodged a fatal stab to the chest, you can hear the CLING from the blade in contact with the stone wall, but as Quin is ready to respond he get’s punched to the side of the face! He collapses on the floor but still fighting to survive – Dak yells helplessly at Quin to hold on! – Quin shakes off his unconsciousness but the Canid Soldier let’s out a quiet yet intimidating laugh… “You stupid fool…!” He prepares a powerful kick to Quin’s abdominal > Tap RIGHT>TAP B but failed > The Canid’s powerful kick connects with Quin’s stomach and knocks him out. The Canid soldier curses as he’s rubbing his soar neck, his adrenaline still pumping in his veins: “Grr… How dare you come at me like that…”. Quin fades to black as he hears Dak yelling out to his friend helplessly.
Scenario 04 > Tap (A) Quin successfully wraps chain around the Canid Soldier’s neck > Multi-tap (A) but failed > (same as above) > Tap LEFT > (same as above) > Tap RIGHT>TAP B > Quinlan’s quick thinking and application of the Tenets of Tesque allowed him to block an incoming kick using both hands and utilising his tail to pull down the Canid Soldier’s cape – making him off balanced – thus creating and opportunity for Quin to follow up with a sequence of a ‘wake-up somersault’ and bouncing off the wall from behind to rebound and push him forward – using momentum of the rebound – to slam his shoulder into his target. The Canid Solider feels the impact of his surprise attack and falls back to Dak – upon contact Dak (who also has adrenaline pumping) took initiative to successfully grab him in a choke-hold, slowly but surely strangling him unconscious. Both Quin and Dak were relived that the danger is over, for now. Dak asks if Quin is ok and replies with the reassurance that they’ve been through worse – Dak agrees with a smile. Quin tosses the keys and they both escape.
Okay I better stop. XXXD I WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN ONE DAY (and post it on Youtube)!! Oh Rory! Wolfblade93! I need your help please! Mua ha ha ha!!! XXD
Anyways loving how this scene was illustrated and written – you notice that Quin is taking the lead this time! Nice.
And also, thanks to RM for sharing that fan-art piece! Fun!
Two Sunsgrovians and a guard are in a room
Diametric’ly opposed, foes
Two emerge with their freedom, having opened a door that was
Previously closed, bros
The guard remains with an unprecedented problem
An incident he’ll have to explain to Tosch
The Sunsgrovians emerge with their liberty
And here’s the piece de resistance
No one else was in
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
The room where it happened…
Excellent. You get all the cookies.
Thanks! Now I know that at least one person understood what I was parodying, haha.
Before they abandon the cell completely, they really need to stuff the stale loaves of bread down the fronts of their shirts, to be consumed once they’ve successfully escaped the garrison (because who knows when or where their next meal is coming from?).
This would create a perfect opportunity for some guards they encounter as they leave to attempt to kill them by shooting arrows into their hearts, but fail because of the Pocket Protector trope. :D (Who said stale bread was only useful for prisoner fodder and French toast??!)
Also put the guard’s hand in a bucket of water before they go.
To fight Canid, one must sink to a near Canid level of pettiness.
But all they have is that pitcher, which I doubt is ice cold.
Also I’ve been thinking, it seems like they’re not going to restrain or gag the guard at all, just leave the room while he’s still unconscious and lock him in, which might not be a good idea because he could start howling out the window when he wakes up.
Not sure if I’m correct, because I’m not entirely sure how Deltrada is laid out, or where that door in the background leads, but it’s possible there might be a slight environmental inconsistency in this page. The cell Quin and Dakkan were in had a window presumably to the outside judging by the sunlight coming through. I don’t really know how that window would work if there’s another cell beside them, and having a space between the two cells seems like impractical architectural design- unless of course that door isn’t another cell and just leads somewhere else. Whatever, it’s a nitpick, but just something I noticed and wondered about.
Looking forward to more :)
…this is a good point. My mental sense of the space must’ve gotten turned around. I’ll get this fixed up, though that hallway panel hurts to change because of how much grief it caused me X) oh well.
*sudden flashback to my Witcher II Great Dungeon Escape*
> crouchy crouchy sneaky sneaky
> round the corner leany leany
> how do stealth oh fuckety fuckety
> sixteen guards go stabbity stabbity
Poor Dakkan is having such a bad time. As is Quin, but since Dakkan’s injuries are on his face, his bad time a little more obvious. The fact that there’s no guards around is very suspect indeed. I wonder how the two intend on getting enough supplies to escape Deltrada and outrun any Canid who follow them on the way back into Sunsgrovian turf.
There’s an old tourist attraction in my town that involves escaping a colonial jail cell (which is, uh, substantially easier than Dak or Quin’s escapade) but they give you a certificate if you do. I wonder if the Canid do the same thing, if they catch you after your escape. It’d be a nice consolation prize for fugitives before they got their heads put on a pike.
Cute fanart! Even though Dak is about to get a rude awakening, heheh.
Hi, I’m new but am loving every panel and can’t say how much awesomeness this comic contains.
Welcome to the Salmon Party!
Thanks!
Welcome to our little fandom! I hope everything is to your liking.
Hi! Welcome aboard, it has been a fun ride!
Welcome to the Salmon Party, SuperSonicStyle! We’re glad to have you! :) Thanks so much for the kind words about the comic, and we hope you enjoy the pages to come!