Chapter 3: Page 6
MURDERED! WHAT A SCANDAL!
I loved some of the theories I read from our readers in the last week about what happened to the Vulpin royal family, but the truth of the matter is revealed this week: the FELIS! As some readers may know, the Vulpin and Felis have a bit of a historic rivalry going. In modern times this has manifested mostly through technical and scholarly achievements, but in times past, it was a bit more… violent.
This might also be the first comic page to mention how the calendar system works in the world of Beyond the Western Deep. Dates are divided into “Eras” and “Years”, with the beginnings of eras being dictated by the Felis because they manage the calendar. The other kingdoms had their own systems, but the Felis have managed to convince them to adopt their system for simplicity (and also because the Felis like making other races do what they think is best).
The First Era (simplified as 1E) marks the founding of Gair. The Second Era (2E) marks the completion of the Spire of Gair. So the Night of Knives, when the Felis sent their assassins to kill the Vulpin royal family, that would be represented as 2E 43 if you were dating it.
And for those who are curious, Beyond the Western Deep takes place in the Second Era. The current year? 2E 249.
Before I show this week’s AMAZING guest art, I’d like to make a CREATOR ANNOUNCEMENT!
As some of you might know if you’re following me on Twitter, I’ve recently (as in, yesterday) accepted an offer for a job as as a Narrative Designer at ArenaNet. ArenaNet is the amazing game studio behind the Guild Wars franchise, and I couldn’t be more excited to join up with them to create incredible stories and fun new characters for their games.
And before you ask, NO I can’t tell you what I’m working on :)
So, for the comic itself, there shouldn’t be any major changes. Or minor ones, for that matter. If I’m writing up the post on a Friday evening, there’s a chance it will be a little later than exactly midnight EST because… well, I’ll be on Pacific Standard Time! But that’s it, honest!
Now, FINAL FANTASY 15. It’s here, isn’t it? I’ve clocked about 20 hours in it and personally I’m loving it. It’s big and fun and the main quartet is BASICALLY the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles if they wore all black and had magic powers. Also Donatello is British and can cook. I mean, Ignus. I mean… whatever.
Anyway, because Final Fantasy (and ostriches in Janik’s caravan), lilpoplil has graced us with not one, but TWO amazing images featuring our brave heroes riding the FF mount of choice: the chocobo!
Whoa, Quin! Easy now, just try not to let it know you’re nervous. That’s good, just relax! You’ve got it! You’re doing great. You’re a natural at this. Honestly.
Okay. Dakkan, you’re up! Wait, Dakkan — don’t… No, stop, hold on a second. Dakkan?! DAKKAN WAIT-!
DARNIT, DAKKAN!
Ah well. That’s okay, getting lost on a wild chocobo run is how you find all the cool treasures and hidden side content in the open world.
Seriously, lilpoplil, these images totally made my day :) I love crossovers like these, especially when it means I can listen to FF15’s amazing music and play the game and think how cool it would be to have Quin and Dak in there teaming up!
See you all next week!
That might be the strangest stab wound I’ve ever seen drawn. I like it.
Could this be hinting at Canid assassins coming for King Dabheid or Queen Sorcha before the plot is through?
(Also, am I the only one who thought of the Night of Long Knives when I read the phrase “Night of Knives”? Or is that my history nerd getting the better of me?)
Finally, the last panel. Foreboding doom, or fakeout? Discuss!
Ditto, it’s impossible not to misread Night of Knives after learning about the political purge.
Now whatever could Janik be looking up at in that last panel? Looks like whatever it is is casting a shadow over the company (or at least her) which indicates it’s way up high. Would a solitary bird cast such an imposing shadow? Perhaps some bizarre weather phenonmemon which has suddenly overtaken them? (Well, that seems unlikely.) Or perhaps a REEEEALLY tall grass Ermehn? (Those are Ermehn who live in the grasses, for camouflage purposes.) Or maybe a dragon? Yeah, a dragon would be cool!
What’s also cool is my new computer which allows me to participate in the Salmon Party again without fear of my inanities being swallowed up when I try to post. Hoorayness! It’s good to be back! So belated congrats to Alex and Rach on the rolling out of Chapter Three, and looking forward to its many more pages! And all that fun guest art too!
First of all, congrats, Alex! Good luck!
OK, now we got *more* political stuff?? Well, Janik *is* a diplomat so…. Anyway, i got a hunch that the whole night of knives incident could be foreshadowing, I mean after all, history repeats itself for those who don’t learn from it.
By the way, nice fan art! Shout out to lilpoplil (I know you’re reading this) and his first fan art to make it to the site!
Congratulations, Alex.
Is it bad when I get excited about fictional dating systems? For some reason those intrigue me. But what I will be questioning for the next few days is what is that shadow looming over Janik? Is it a bird? a plane? a powerful space alien bend on saving the land from turmoil!?
Also I have to correct myself from earlier in tumblr thinking that this amusing artwork was from jerijune. Sorry lilpoplil! I had a laugh seeing Quinlan riding a chocobo.
I can only imagine either he’s trying to find hidden chocographs or he’s training it to progress in that dumb time wasting of a chocobo breeding/racing sidequest just to get a Gold Chocobo to obtain some of the most powerful materia >:(
speaking of dating systems….
weird question, but… if we use the Western Deep’s dating system up to this day, what year would it be? I mean, today is roughly 700 to 900 years from medieval times, but we still use the Era-Year style of dating, how would today’s date be written?
Well, since the Eras are established by the Felis, there’s no proper 1:1 apple-to-apples comparison. Eras would be established to mark great events or momentous occasions — the Felis saw the founding of Gair and the completion of their Spire worthy of their own Eras, for example. The marking of a new Era would be a big deal in the canon :)
alright.
what if we use historical periods for Eras? like Roman era, medieval era, renaissance era, colonization era, etc…
Historical periods aren’t easily divided (especially to reach a definitive “year zero” in each) unless you do them from a specific viewpoint – and even then things are often blurry IRL. That’s why this question is kinda hard to answer. c:
So Navran doesn’t have a King, then? It still runs on that council system?
Also that can be just as bad if the families start to bicker with one another.
First things first: Congratulations, Alex. Sounds like you’ll be moving across the country- good luck with that, seriously. Moves can be often very frustrating and I hope yours goes smoothly.
WE FINALLY HAVE A YEAR Sorry, I’ll get to the page in a minute but //WE FINALLY HAVE A DATE. Ok, celebration over fictional timelines aside (:}}}}}}}}) I love the layout of this page. It’s dynamic, but easy to read.
It was the Felis, huh. For some reason, I didn’t consider that very obvious possibility. Without knowing more of the politics of the era, it’s hard to extrapolate why or any of that other fun stuff- I’d be very interested in finding out who started the conflict, although given the nature of the comic I’m pretty sure the Vulpin would say the Felis started it, and the Felis would say the Vulpin started it. Ah well. There has to be some reason they murdered the entire family, though. I wonder if any of those ten most powerful families have blood ties to the royal family, or if that even still has any weight today?
….Since Nessa is open to everyone, I wonder how Felis like Tabitha are treated by some of the more traditional Vulpin?
I really like the dynamic between Mitra and Janik- I feel like I’ve mentioned that a lot, but it’s really a joy to watch them interact. I have to wonder what Mitra thinks of Crim and Quinlan, considering she almost certainly knows about them through Janik.
Rachel, I really appreciate your use of lighting and shadows on on this page, and how the lighting stays intact even on the pages with the mosaics. (Which are //really awesome)
My guess: it’s the ostrich. It’s taller than Janik, and I think I can see the shape of the head and the reins in the shadow, although I could be wrong.
Interesting- I wonder if the Felis have ideas to spread currency or other cultural markers to the other races. The Spire of Gair marking the change of eras makes an interesting precedent, and I have to wonder if the events of this comic will mark a change of era- doubtless, it would have to greatly affect the Felis.
Lovely page, and congrats again, Alex!