Chapter 3: Page 5
And back to our regularly-scheduled program, with some more details of the world hinted at here! One of the things I really enjoy about this scene with Janik and Mitra is the ability to pepper in some world details that have been known to me and Rachel for a while but not necessarily to the readership.
Like, for example, that Sunsgrove is technically a single kingdom, but the demarcation between Tamian and Lutren interests isn’t quite as homogenized. King Dabheid rules from Terria, while Queen Sorcha sits on the throne in Lutra. Dabheid generally handles Tamian affairs in the northern half of the kingdom, while Sorcha handles Lutren affairs in the southern half. Anything that would affect the citizenry throughout the kingdom requires a joint resolution between the two leaders.
We’re also about to learn a few more details about Vulpin history, as you can probably tell by how this page ends. Speaking of Vulpin history, this sequence gave Rachel the opportunity to show off some cool Vulpin-inspired artwork, based on the kinds of things you’d see in Sumerian-style art and pottery. You might remember Rachel’s previous “historically-accurate” art styles for the Felis, Canid, and Tamian kingdoms, which were a lot of fun to see come together throughout the page production process.
Our general rule (which Rachel invented and I can take no credit for) is that any historical event being referenced off-handedly that’s taken place well-before our characters were alive tends to be shown the way our characters would have learned about it themselves — paintings, carvings, sculpture, etc. Talking about the legends of Tesque? We’re going to see some ancient Tamian paintings! Talking about how the Canid overthrew the Ermehn in ancient times? Let’s see some Canid propaganda art!
Speaking of the Canid, have you managed to keep them from killing Bevan in last week’s choose your own adventure story? What about the pikes? Or the swamp? Well, in honor of the CYOA experience from last week, Jerijune approached some fun guest art that portrayed it in the style of a Telltale-esque adventure game! Check them out!
Thank you so much, Jerijune! We love your artwork, and it’s cool to see some of these scenes from the story rendered out this way. “HARDIN WILL REMEMBER THAT” would definitely make me uncomfortable regardless of any choice I made.
Makes me think I should look into adding illustrations directly into this story sometime — or perhaps plan ahead for the next one :)
Oh politics, when will you ever stop screwing or heads as much as you screw with the fate of nations? I like the little chunks of world building here! How much more til BWD is detailed enough to sell travel brochures about the four kingdoms? XD
There’s more than enough released information for Lutra, Terria, Kishar and Navran have enough for their own brochures. Same for Aisling and the Wastes, but the problem with those two is making it sound appealing without (blatantly lying) hyperbole and a half. Then again, hyperbole is a long, well-established tradition in the travel industry.
Visit the scenic Northern Wastes! A great way to meet people from exciting new cultures! Running from Ermehn scouts and Canid patrols in an inhospitable wasteland with almost no food is a great way to lose weight! And if they catch you, they’ll provide you with free bloodletting!
Book your reservations today!
Experience firsthand a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity of Ermehn revolution as they fight for their freedom! Get the Sratha-din Live-in package and join the ranks of these noble revolutionaries!*
*survival through this trip not guaranteed; waivers must be signed by you and your next of kin
Hardin: why are these strange people pointing little metal boxes and glass tubes at me?
Any travelling brochure to the kingdoms as they are now (i.e. xenophobic pseudo-fascist wasteland, elitist slave-empire, feudal backstabbingland and disfunctional kingdom) would have to be miles deep in propaganda.
There’s no evidence for Feudalism as a system anywhere in the Four Kingdoms.
Also, “dysfunctional” and “backstabbingland” can be applied to many so-called “civilized” countries today and that doesn’t stop tourism in Europe or the States- nor does the knowledge of colonialism or racism stop tourism in other countries.
Here is for my attempt at an atractive AND honest tourist brochure.
Northern Wastes: Lawlessness Vast landscapes! Sparce population! Hostile tattooed warriors! Ruins! Glaciers! Life-risking adventure!
Ever wished to get lost (figuratively and maybe also literally) in a vast realm of tundra and pine forest? Did you ever seek to leave the rules of society behind and abide only to the “maxim” of might makes right? Then this can be the place for you!
Experience the thrill, the TRUE thrill, of constant struggle and lethal risk, climbing hills and crossing wide expanses of snow-strewn valleys in search for much needed food and lumber. Learn about and meet a tribal, nomadic people with a unique culture and striken by famine and a deep distrust for foreigners!
Visit the beautiful and melancholy-inducing ruins of their ancient fortresses, from before their Aisling neighbours killed most of them and exiled the rest to this frozen desert.
See the sights! Walk the path less travelled! Live the dangerous life! And take what you want… if you can!
Truth is you will most likely feel great disconfort from the low food sources and constant cold, and the locals will most likely kill you if you try stealing from them, but it’s got great vistas, so it’s nice for visiting!
Aisling: Big castles! Big soldiers! Strict standards! Subordination and valor!
Ever wanted to join the military? Have you become disenchanted with moral subjectivism and social liberties? Think things would be better under a militaristic regime that incite order through the glorification of discipline and national pride? Do you believe the best forms of international relations are the manipulation of foreign powers, forceful conquest, and punitive expeditions? Have desired to live in a society where you rise through the ranks by busting your posterior, or become doomed to work hard at the bottom rung? Now’s your chance!
Witness the massive castles and overwhelming cities of Aisling, all built in dark and solid rock and with a perpetual aura of foreboding.
The climate gets really cold in winter, but not to deadly freezing temperatures. That’s what the Northern Wastes are for, ha ha!
The Canid people of Aisling view foreigners with a range of emotions that varies from disinterest to barely-contained contempt, but they are big, fuzzy creatures with fluffy tails, so I didn’t mind.
Actually, I should have mentioned that the Ermehn of the Northern Wastes are also fuzzy with fluffy tails. That would have been a good sale point, too. Ah, well.
If you like foreboding architecture, giant wolf-men, and snowy winters, then Aisling is great for visiting, and if you like being part of a militaristic dictatorship, then Aisling is GREAT for staying!
-These brochure are brought to you by the Honest Tourism Company.
Honest Tourism Company.
“We only care….for your money.”
Oh wow there’s a Queen in Lutra? I don’t think that was ever revealed before. At least, not explicitly in the comic until now. Now that fleshes out Sunsgrove’s politics quite a bit. I would love to see her and what she looks like. So far the Lutren designs have been my favorite, probably because it looks the most comfortable to me.
Having a royal family in control of a nation is a fragile setup, in practically every way imaginable aside from it being extremely easy to find a successor without too much thought. In the last panel we know that such an organization failed. We can be fairly positive that the poor family in charge met with some…disasters. Perhaps Mitra has a connection to that somehow, who knows? :P
Due to complex socio-political issues?
It’s gotta’ be inbreeding. Inbreeding always gets the ancient royal families.
Why not complex socio-political issues exacerbated by inbreeding among the royal family?
Oh snap! That would be a thing.
Not surprising at all to see that Mitra keeps up to date on Sunsgrovian politics- given that she’s a resident, any change in the political system will impact her. Interesting- so she left Navran, and then was adopted as tutor? I assumed she went to Sunsgrove specifically to serve as a tutor. I wonder how she got chosen for the job.
The wording here could be interpreted to mean that the Tamian line is patriarchal while the Lutren royal crown is matriarchal, but I think it’s just indicating the state of things at the moment. I’m assuming Sorcha is influenced/advised by the council that was mentioned way back at the beginning of Chapter Two when the Canid came down to recruit Sunsgrove for Operation Exterminate. I’m not sure how united the Lutren are but considering they were mostly scattered tribes and the last race to have a capital I’m pretty sure they still have some feuds and conflicts of interests between clans going on. I seem to remember the Lutren Queen and Dakkan, ah, not being very fond of each other on the production blog which,I know isn’t canon, but maybe that’s the real reason Dakkan went with the envoy, she sent him to the Canid so they’d take care of him and she wouldn’t have to keep kicking him out of her throne room.
….who is next in line for the crown after Dabheid, anyway? A question no doubt for another time, and hopefully one that’s not important to our story of war and death, and given how ugly the line of succession for Captaincy got, it doesn’t bode well, lol. Poor Quinlan’s lost enough people close to him.
Have I mentioned I love Mitra’s design? Because I do. Does the trapezoid have any significance in particular because that shows up in a lot of Vulpin art forms- maybe Nessa is on a plateau or something?
Oh man, do they //all die? Wait, let me rephrase that considering, well, it’s history and everyone is definitely dead- do they all get murdered? I mean we’ll find out next week but poor childrens. Dying isn’t much worse than getting snatched up and used as political pawns, and the latter often leads to the former- as Dakkan and Quinlan are about to discover.
I really appreciate how you use the eyemarks, both stylized and not, to help indicate gender, Rachel.
Learned a new word today, wootwoot! (and might I add that I really appreciate the dual meanings behind Beck’s name. it’s perfect!)
Sorcha brings to mind Sorsha the awesome warrior princess from George Lucas’ “Willow” even though I doubt there’s any relation between the two (and I certainly hope there’s no correlation with Bavmorda)
…so does this mean that the Tamian use thin wooden slates instead of paper? I thought the wooden background on the myth was just #aesthetic. That is an awesome rule and I love seeing the diversity in the different art styles for the races! …What do the Lutren do, anyway? I bet oral storytelling and tradition is very important, especially given how difficult humidity is on paper. I could see them writing on low-grade shark leather unfit to make armor from, or maybe some clay tablets?
Ahem. Crappy puns and clumsy worldbuilding aside, I get the feeling that “HARDIN WILL REMEMBER THIS” would be constantly blinking at you from the bottom of the screen as long as you were around him.
“Everybody’s dead, Dave . . .”
Mayybe this will also shed some light on your Vulpin/Tamian betrayal theory.
What sort of friction did the Lutren Queen and Dakkan have between each other, again?
Maybe, but the First Era is a bit early for that, I think- given that the Ermehn War is in the Second Era and Mitra specifies the first era here.
It wasn’t really specified, not to mention it on the production blog so I haven’t looked in a long while, but if I recall correctly it was implied that the tension came from Dakkan being, well, Dakkan and she had a personality more like his father’s than like Dabheid’s- the joke I made drew mainly off the fact that the first thing Quinlan says when he sees Dakkan waiting for him outside Dabheid’s palace (1.16) is “kicked out already?”
Is it possible to get 2 or 3 updates a week like with a patreon
Hi Nate! We were thinking of doing a Patreon actually, but will likely stick with the weekly update schedule regardless of what we do there.
While we’d love to turn Western Deep into a 2 or 3 page per week endeavor, that would likely mean putting our other careers on hold to do so. Rachel is looking to expand her skillset into the animation industry, while I’ve been working in the video game development industry for the last nine years. We both have a lot left we want to do there, and lots we feel like we can learn from doing so that will help us grow as creators.
So, though we love making pages along with additional content to supplement the story and world, doing more pages a week probably isn’t something we’ll be doing for a bit. Perhaps someday we’ll look into doing Western Deep as a full-time thing — but not just yet.
Using the race’s different cultural artistic styles as a form of lore is such a neat little idea. I hope this means we’ll get to see more of it in the future!
Speaking of visual storytelling, I’m all for Jerijune’s telltale inspired idea for illustrating future “pick your adventure” style games down the line. If we ever get to see a “Hardin will remember that” message anywhere, you better start making sure you don’t outlive your usefulness mhmm.
For someone who left her homeland to escape the politics, Mitria seems to understand how the game is played quite well. This is good, since Janik’s understanding is pretty sketchy, especially for someone who’s been studying this almost all of her life. But I’m willing to let that slide since we need to get the exposition out of the way somehow. Really looking forwards to seeing where this will go, Vulpin history is a big blank zone right now, marked with only “here there be foxes.”
I’d imagine that the royal family met an unfortunate end and an interregnum of chaos followed.
Probably because either the first royals or their kids turned out to be incompetent or bloodthirsty psychos and nearly burned the state down. Other monarchies survived because they had a string of sufficient rulers, and could trick the populace into thinking the bloodline is superior, that it’s a good idea to place absolute leadership into offspring with random personality traits.
You know, like in real life.
There’s also inter-family and court politics to take into account- even if the current king is competent, that won’t stop another high-ranking noble in line from murdering everyone in their way to get to the throne- see: Richard III.
Peasant revolutions don’t always work, especially when the monarch is backed by the army. Again, feudalism itself doesn’t seem like a system that exists in the Four Kingdoms- although I could be wrong- and there’s far less transparency into government then than there is now.
My guess is that the king and queen entered all the farms in the kingdom to steal chickens to eat and the farmers couldn’t chase them out because they where kings and queen.
There were three farms, actually. Run by some rather nasty fellows named Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.
https://media.tenor.co/images/4222e9c42442b13878a03488df7b9056/raw
Stupid question: Is that a mosaic?
The Vulpin art? Yes.
I honestly don’t know why that fact eluded me the first time- the mosaic is very beautifully rendered. The way the tesserae reflect the light- particularly the border segments- looks awesome.