Chapter 3: Page 51
Man, Hardin isn’t very good at deescalating situations, is he? Some people just aren’t very good at reading the room. Or the hulking ermehn barbarian standing inches away, for that matter.
As we’re right in the thick of the holiday season, my and Rachel’s collective schedules get a bit wonky. That said, our current policy for updates is to try and never post the “Sorry for no new stuff!” image. If we can’t get the page together in time, I want to make sure there’s at least a short story or guest image to tide folks over. That hasn’t changed, so don’t worry!
I wanted to give a little shout out this weekend to Guild Wars 2, which I’m currently helping out on as a narrative designer (fancy word for a writer). Our latest update, Daybreak, introduces a new interface for lore books you can find throughout the environment, kind of like the Elder Scrolls series. I had the opportunity to help write a BUNCH of these, so if you’ve got GW2, consider checking it out!
For guest art this week, a wonderful piece from regular Salmon Party contributor Jerijune! With the holiday season upon us, it’s lots of fun to see characters in-universe doing wintery things, such as what looks to be a teeny
Bevan and Rhosyn building a “snowmehn” somewhere in the Wastes!
CUUUUUTE! Thank you, Jeri!
And remember, if you want to join in on the fun, hop into our community Discord and hang out with us! Just hit the image below and you’ll be on your way!
That is unreasonably charming, Jerijune.
YAY! New page! First and foremost, Jerijune that is a wonderful picture. Alex says there Bevan and Rhosyn, but I like to think its those Ermehn children from a few pages ago. Gosh darnit Rachel getting me attached to characters who only appeared once. Well, I’ve said my two cents. Back to college finals I go.
Well, that isn’t good.
Ok, we REALLY need that panel of Rathik as an emote for the chat!
Seconded! Not to mention that it’s Prime Meme Material (PMM).
Here you go: https://imgflip.com/i/20fcxq
Yup – that would be me at the office holiday party if I found the cookie plate empty by the time I got there!
Looking at the two of them standing so close, Rathik could likely tear Hardin in two with his bare paws … but he’d better watch out, ‘cos Hardin could slip a dagger somewhere nasty while Rathik’s doing so.
And another Jerijune winner for guest art! Can’t help but notice that they seem to’ve given their “snowmehn” (heh!) Hardin’s face markings … which makes me wonder whether that really is Bev and Rhos, or some other stoaty tykes who grew up in a later time when Hardin is fit to be memorialized thus in frozen water.
Rathik’s so mad, his hand bandages fell off :0!!
I get an uncomfortable feeling that dissension will happen among Sratha-din. Either Rathik will join with the Canid out of hatred for Hardin and co., or he’ll be killed at some point, playing the tragic hero. Then again, I know very little about storytelling so I hope I’m wrong. :}
Uh-oh. Now Rathk’s mad. Everyone’s going to be mad! Who’s going to be mad next? Rhosyn? Bevan? Yurk? I bet it’s Yurk.
Seriously, though, calling someone’s dead father an idiot is perhaps not the brightest move, and this whole argument just keeps getting worse, with more and more members of the group finding a reason to lash out at someone else. Team unity, it seems to me, should be something of a priority. Either this gets resolved and everybody grows up a little bit, or this is going to have some very interesting consequences.
I’ll disagree with the author’s commentary on one point, though: I think Hardin’s reading Rathik pretty clearly. (Or, uh, he may be completely wrong, but I doubt it since he seems to have struck a nerve.)
He’s thinning the, admittedly small, herd.
Excellent series of pages showing Hardin and Rathik’s conflicting motives and attitudes!