Prologue: Page 9
Time to meet the first two races of the Four Kingdoms!
Seven races, four kingdoms. Obviously every race doesn’t control its own kingdom, and the Ermehn is one that goes without. Driven to the Northern Wastes by the Canid during the war, they now struggle to survive in the inhospitable environment. They’ve since split into tribes and fight savagely for whatever resources they can. The Wastes have no time for the weak, and the Ermehn themselves are just as harsh.
The Canid set up their kingdom of Aisling, after winning control of their land in the war from the Ermehn. Theirs is a militaristic kingdom which has been very diligent in replacing all evidence of Ermehn civilization with its own. It is better to keep the Canid as an ally, because the alternative is not exactly recommended.
Click for full-size
This page has changed a lot from the original draft that we did back in 2008 or so, but the general staging of the Ermehn and Canid panels have remained similar. In the Ermehn panel, Hardin (who will be formally introduced later on) is standing on a large rock overlooking the Wastes while his fellow warriors wait below. In the Canid panel, a commanding officer lectures his underlings (likely about the importance of the Ermehn threat). The positions of the Ermehn are meant to feel scattershot around their panel, while the Canid are rigid. The Ermehn have a natural, dynamic backdrop, while the Canid have their gray stone wall. These themes are brought out a lot more in the page now, but were always present for the most part in earlier drafts.
The thumbnail for this page makes the “freeform vs rigid” elements a little clearer, particularly when the background elements are reduced to simple linework. The Ermehn and the Canid live in a world of opposites, and represent very different things in the story, so establishing a visual language for the two races that is consistently at odds was a very important element. We also wanted to take this opportunity to introduce a few characters that will become more important as we move past the prologue, so this was a good jumping off point for establishing how some of the characters would look in later pages.
Man, I really feel bad for the Ermehn. In my opinion, this lands the Canid race on my “jerk races” list.
What significance does the hand(paw?)print on some of the Canids’ breastplates have? It looks like blood — I’d assume some kind of battle trophy?
I figured it as something that they just think looks tough. A sign of unity, but each handprint is individual, etc. It’s probably not even blood. Of course, if that makes their enemies nervous, they’re not going to complain.
Ah, gotcha. I’m sure it’d make me nervous. :P
Man, I love history. This is a great page, and I love seeing the thumbnail work. Always awesome to see how things have developed. :3
Also, what’s your update schedule? I feel like I’ve seen it written down somewhere, but I can’t seem to find it now.
Hey PB&J! Thanks for the kind words – Rachel and I are history buffs as well, so giving the world a solid backstory was very important to us :)
We plan to update the comic with a new page every Saturday – which means there’s a brand new one coming tomorrow!
Yeah, a solid backstory just adds so much depth to the story.
Ah, cool! Another reason to look forward to Saturdays. :3
I’ve been meaning to change the header image to include the update schedule – thanks for reminding me!
Huzzah! It’s there!
And here we get the introduction to each of the seven species of the kingdoms! Or the five species of the kingdoms and two outcasts. Seems the treaty at the end of the last war left two of the peoples with the dirty end of the deal…
One of them being the Ermehn (who have left me in bitter tears when I try to spell their name because I can never remember where the “h” goes) who have been expelled from their ancestral homelands and forced to eke out a barbaric existence in the cold north. Their picture shows four characters who will become important later. The style of the Ermehn, with their kilts and scarfs and all that, seem like a mix between people from the Scottish Highlands and Germanic tribes.
Btw, the big Ermehn in the center, with his stripe tattoos, muscular build and distinctive grin, reminds me of a certain iconic cereal mascot…
Below them we get the Canid, It’s funny that the Ermehn reminded me of Germanic tribesmen, because the Canid here give very strong “Roman legion” vibes. The contrast between the two – the ermine’s chaotic, haphazard image with the wolves rigid, hierarchial one – worst wonderfully.
I really like these panels and I think you should be proud of them. As Rathik (the big, grinning Ermehn) might say: “They’re GRRRREAT!!!”
Ermehn driven out
Canid warlike
Celts and Romans, respectively?
What critter are the Ermehn? They remind me of Viverridae but I can’t tell if I got the right family. I can’t find anything that really looks like them.
They’re ermine/stoats!