Song of the Eastern Sands: Page 43
THE FELLOWSHIP IS BROKEN.
Well, yes and no. Beck and Rook are off on a new adventure, but I’m sure Asha, Tabby, and Theo (and hey, maybe Cain and Yurk, too) will have plenty to do in Nessa while they’re away. Following the assassination attempt at the Tamian embassy, it stands to follow that Nessa is about to become a… very interesting place.
A few people have asked about the silly little Unity thing I shared in the Hartford ComicConn post — I’m not ready to talk much more about it yet, but I will say that it is indeed related to Western Deep and progress on it is glacial but promising (even in this incredibly placeholder temp state). Once I start getting more final assets in, I’ll be comfortable sharing stuff again.
So, this week we’ve got some surprise guest music from composer extraordinaire, Nolan Markey! You might remember some of his past works being a fantastic Western Deep theme, and an equally impressive Song of the Eastern Sands theme — but this time around he jumped on the conversation that occurred two weeks ago, starting with Rawr’s guest art of Quin playing a flute, my follow-up mentioning Quin and Dak as possible duet artists, and Jerijune’s fun follow-up piece to that.
This piece, entitled Slip Jig, is one such Quin and Dak duet!
I can imagine the scene fairly well — it’s the Land’s End Tavern on a cool summer night. A band’s been assembled and they’re busting out some marvelous tunes, but then Quin and Dak get into an exchange about who’s better at their respective instruments. It’s all in good fun of course, but the surrounding crowd starts egging them on to prove how good they are. Somewhere in the back, a slightly sloshed Crim is shouting “You’re all talk, Quin!”
Quin raises up a paw. “Look, I’d love to play, but I don’t even have my…”
And that’s when Janik leans out of the crowd, holding his penny whistle.
“…instrument. FINE.”
So Dak borrows the house fiddle and Quin’s got his penny whistle and they go to town with the Land’s End musicians playing along and the whole tavern joining in toward the end.
What I love about this piece is that in addition to being super catchy, it manages to capture Dak’s character in the fiddle. It seems perfectly in character for Dak to show off like that :)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the music! I know I did!
I’m guessing this is setting up a possible appearance by Beck and Rook in chapter 3 or perhaps later chapters?
Also that music is fantastic!
Rook looks like he’s looking forward to this more than he was letting on before. And I’d put even odds on Asha catching up to them later, despite her mother’s rather explicit instructions.
And Nessa is going to become an even more interesting locale in the near future. Navran borders both Sunsgrove and Aisling, and currently haven’t picked a side in the conflict. If they could be turned, they would be a powerful ally.
It stands to be a difficult choice, too. Aisling can claim that they were betrayed by Sunsgrove (true from their perspective, since they don’t know that Kenosh was acting alone), but the Vulpin might frown on the fact that they sent assassins to murder Sunsgrovians in Nessa. Cue Janik and an equally adept Canid ambassador attempting to sway the Vulpin governing body to support their side.
Fantastic piece of music; I especially like Alex’s take on the setup for this piece, it fits the characters perfectly. Though I’m not sure that duets are meant to be competitive exercises. It’s also good to know that Nolan apparently reads the comments, or at least skims them, so let me say: Nolan! Thank you for another excellent piece of music! Your work is top notch, and it’s a rare honor for a little group like us to attract the attention of a professional composer.
(Oh, and Alex, might we get Slip Jig as an mp3 file, like Nolan’s other pieces?)
love it. this whole chapter has been great. i am torn between wanting to see what the eastern sands cast is getting into, and getting back to the main story. i absolutely love this comic. The peace of music was very fun. It is cool to see the creativeness that the comic has brought out of the community. of the comics I follow this has the most active comment section and the creators respond to the fans. keep up the good work.
I agree with Fourth Master about Rook’s willingness to go on this mission. I’m surprised but I’m hoping he realizes that him being a “Polcan” may cause some unwanted trouble if they even manage to get to Sunsgrove.
Anyway it really seems likes things are about to get intriguing with all of these subplots coming together (We havent even got to Janik yet!). I’ll keep my heart still though until any drama llama actually happens.
Nolan, it’s really wonderful whenever we get to hear actual musical pieces for this comic so this small jig you made is just….I really want to hear a bit more. It’s so good!
On a final note, I’m super interested on whatever you’re trying to cook up with that mysterious project of yours Alex :B I bet it’s gonna be fun.
The music is awesome! But poor Asha, No crazy adventures for her.
Wow! Amazing! I like how Theo is so casual about everything BUT the safety of his friends. Then, he’s all business. Nice touch to his character!
And I loved the music! I played it, then read the story idea behind it, and wanted to play it over again so I could visualize the scene. :) It would be fun to see their instruments in the story at some point.
Hey folks! Composer here.
Glad you like the music! I stumbled upon the comic in January of this year and got all caught up a couple of weeks ago. It’s always a blast to write for compelling stories :)
– Nolan
To bad for Asha… Well, let’s hope she catches up sooner or later. Looks like Theo isn’t “all work, no play” after all. At least he cares about his gang.
I love the music, especially the “medieval tavern” atmosphere! Good work, Nolan!
I really need to stop accidentally deleting my own comments.
ANYWAY
I have the feeling that Asha will find plenty of life-threatening activities in Nessa while the others are away- and that those new lockpicks will come in handy. I wonder if the Vulpin Council knows what went down yet because it’s pretty clear the Susngrovians don’t.
I still don’t trust Theo, but he seemed to take the “save the diplomat” side quest pretty well (although the money probably helped). I do like the interplay between him and Rook- it feels to me like they’ve worked together a long time.
I like the way that torch looks in the background, Jerome- the flame looks so real!
At least they should be able to see the assassins coming, depending on how duni the desert is. Although if there’s any Lutren in the convoy that might be a slight problem for Rook, at least if they get there before the assassins.
Ok, I really love that duet piece. For some reason, it kinda reminds me of the last part of Ramin Djawadi’s ‘Physical Compatibility’ even though the two pieces aren’t that similar in melody or instrumentals. Though if anyone’s drift compatible, it’s definitely Quinlan and Dakkan.
Crim, go home you’re a bitter drunk because music (and captaining) isn’t your forte. ;)
Poor Asha, she still cant go with them. Theo looks so serious on calling Beck and Rook. That slight pause made it more serious. I just imagine that face while comforting Asha at his side.
Also, i’d just like to add this
“and so begins the incredible adventures of Beck and Rook!”
I just needed to get that out since it was pointed out that they will be going on the journey together and we just finished a news report project on our class. Also, love the music and the backstory behind it. Janik basically forced Quin to a corner.