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.

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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.

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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!

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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 :)