Chapter 4: Page 07
Quin’s got the right idea! But only after being briefly paralyzed by choice–something that I’m comfortable saying a good portion of us have experienced personally. I love how Rachel portrayed the internal conflict here, all in the same frame, as if the ‘camera’ is holding on Quinlan as he wrestles his brain into a decision.
This was initially a major element of Quinlan’s character, way back when we were building out the original drafts. I wanted to have a protagonist who felt, at the time anyway, like I did in my early college years. Any time I was presented with a choice, I would freeze, contemplating every single potentiality, pro and con, etc. Because that was a flaw of mine, I wanted to make it a flaw of Quinlan’s.
I mean, look how nervous he is in this original concept sketch:
However, as drafts of the script came together, I delved deeper into Quinlan’s background, his skill-set, how he knows the things he knows, and realized that sure, he may once in a while wrestle with important decisions that fall onto him in his acting capacity as a leader, but he wouldn’t freeze up on every little thing.
This makes moments like these in the comic–where Quinlan really is thinking under fire and trying to save his and Dakkan’s life–much more interesting, I think.
I have a quick Kickstarter update for folks: the Limited Edition Volume 2 looks positively gorgeous and fits in nigh perfectly alongside the Limited Edition V1! Check it out:
Looks pretty nice, am I right? The gold foil originally looked like it might be a little darker, more copper than the brighter gold we had on Volume 1, but the advance copy of the final version arrived and–YUP, it’s spot-on!
And remember, if you want one of these limited edition Volume 2 books, you can still get them on our BackerKit Pre-Order store here: https://beyond-the-western-deep-volume-two.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
But remember, once these Limited Editions are gone, they’re GONE! Just like with Volume 1’s Limited Edition, have no plans to ever reprint these Volume 2 Limited Editions once they’re sold out.
Hmmm I wondered if they would use the steam. Could be interesting as Quin doesn’t seem to be a big fan of water. Although that might have only been due to his shoulder. Of course he could be looking at something else.
Quick! Bamboozle the enemy with your newly manifested stress-clones!
But which one is the *real* Quin?
Reminds me a bit of Naruto. I feel a pity for him because of the panic he lost his mind for a moment. But here you are right, the wolves would quit drinking alcohol if he saw 3 of the same squirrels.
He’s looking at a lutren – you can see them if you zoom in!
What’s that thing in the stream?? A rock?
Possible. At first it looked like 2 otters
Actually, it’s an underground chamber hidden behind a small waterfall – into which our heroes will escape, only to find themselves trapped with Cain and Yurk and beset on all sides by sandskimmers…
Hahaha!!!! Enemy number one for boys, not wolves but jokers escaping from ants. And I will probably sacrifice them to the queen of ants.
If you look at it, Dakann trusts Quinlan very much. I wonder if his father also had such problems with troubled decisions. Was Quin’s dad a captain or a general
Poor Quin. He’s just beside himself.
This scene is very tense and exciting. I had been wondering how they were going to get out of this scrape, but I was thinking too far ahead. Glad to see that Quin, even with his momentary freeze-up, is thinking on his feet and focusing on his next move.
That said, it probably is worth considering the long game soon. After all, if the canid are already in the forest, it’s not a sure thing that getting back to Quin’s home turf will actually be safe. For now, though, let’s worry about not getting caught.
Okay, let’s see if my years of reading Redwall has trained me for this scenario: they’re either going to put hollow reeds in their mouths and hide underwater, or as Highwing said find an underwater cave/ledge to chill on, or befriend a giant aquatic carnivorous beast that has been captured since its youth. By setting it free, they allow it to consume all of their unsuspecting enemies, then part ways with feelings of mutual respect!
Of course, a shallow stream! The natural enemy of canids! Surely the boys are saved now…
Good thing they’re right near a stream. Luck or squirrel cunning/ ;)