Chapter 3: Page 25
Quin’s having a hard time getting the mortar loosened up, but he’s lucky he doesn’t live in a world with modern cements — the mortar he’d have to deal with likely wouldn’t yield easily to any scraping implement, even if he had a whole day to chip away at it.
Medieval mortar is a lot different than the stuff we use now — even in a time of cross-kingdom trade and industry, you can’t exactly just pop down to the Home Depot and buy a few buckets of the stuff to build your garrison.
A 2015 study of mortar used in a 13th century renovation of the medieval Italian port city of Amalfi, for example, saw the mortar contained a mixture of limestone, volcanic rocks, and rock salt, with a binding agent inspired by a recipe suggested by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century AD consisting of wine, hog’s lard, and fig juice. They were holding their port together with LUNCH, basically.
In other words, not the sort of thing you find in your modern skyscrapers and office buildings.
For guest art this week, I wanted to share this really cool piece that long-time reader and previous guest art contributor Sawyer Ruzzin sent over of a band of Tamian troublemakers!
I love the awesome clothing and armor designs here, Sawyer! These three look like they might be a trio of bandits hanging out in the forests of the Western Deep, dropping down on unwitting travelers and absconding with their valuables and/or lives. I particularly love the full face mask on that Tamian warrior on the left — super menacing!
All in all, a very cool piece, Sawyer! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!
LOL! You should use that panel of Quin “chk”ing away at that wall next time you need a delay post!
Also Quin, I hope that arrow wasn’t sticking up when you sat on it…
Pfft, that would be a good thing to use. X)
Haha mortar facts!
Quin reminds me of his grandfather in this page, it must be the constant scowl…
I agree with fruitso hopefully Quin didnt just accidentally sat on top of the arrow and will now have to endure some interrogation hi-jinks involving him trying to hold the pain.
Ok Sawyer’s design for Tamian armor is very interesting, especially that iron mask! Those squirrels look very imposing with all that gear.
Appropriate comics are appropriate:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0263.html
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0264.html
So it won’t be so easy as Quin detaching their chains from the wall and them sneaking out. I wonder who’s coming back? Tosch, or is it just going to be a guard? I definitely predict a fun interaction either way. The stakes are about as high as they get for our dynamic duo.
Can’t wait to see where this goes! Very excited to see what comes next!
I appreciate the various cues for the passage of time between the first and second panels; fewer and farther apart “chk”s, the burned down torch, the dimmer light coming from the window, Dak’s obvious loss of interest, Quin taking a knee. Very thorough!
And I’m with Fruitso, I hope Quin didn’t drop that arrow in an unfortunate way..
Mind you, even if he gets the chains out of the wall, they still have to get out of the cell. That one’s probably harder, though perhaps the Canids won’t be expecting a Tesque master loose in the cell and won’t take precautions next time they bring food?
Well, even when Quin gets the pin out of the wall, his hands will still be cuffed and chained. I’m assuming that will hinder our favorite Tesque master a little bit. Then again, he could always sneak up behind one of the Canid and garrote him or her with the chains, so it could work in his favor.
In any case, he’s shown he can fight through the loss of an ear tuft, which is a substantially worse disadvantage. The last thing a Tamian needs when making acrobatic flips is an unbalanced head!
The horror . . .
Nice page! Let’s hope Quin won’t end up sitting in the pointed part of that crossbow bolt… But at least he managed to hide it from whoever’s unlocking the door.
I’m loving the guest art! I like the designs of those Tamians’ armor. None job, Sawyer!
yep. that would hurt, alot if he sat on it wrong. hope with a bit more jiggling, he will get loose, knockout the gaurd, and use the key to get dylan also free.
I imagine that arrow can’t be too comfy to sit on no matter which way it’s turned. Fortunately, tamian come factory-equipped with big, fuzzy tails, perfect for hiding things in floof so they don’t have to resort to using their butt-meat. From the sound of that “thmp” though, I don’t think Quinlan’s taking any chances.
I don’t suppose that click is the sound of someone coming to tell them their lawyer’s here, everything’s cleared up, and they’re free to go, is it?
Well, here comes the second interrogation. I agree with Kelsey about the little details showing the passage of time: all of those are lovely, and add a lot to the page. The atmosphere here in general is great (for readers). I love Dakkan’s stressed expression, too. Poor Quin! Be careful with that arrow. It may be the least of your problems, but I doubt he needs more scrapes. I’m looking forward to where this twisty narrative goes.
That’s wonderful fanart from Sawyer, too. In general it makes me happy to see old fans stick around and watch them get better with every fanart they submit as time passes. Everyone in the Salmon Party is pretty stellar.
Perhaps the Canid are the French soldiers from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and are coming to taunt Quinlan and Dakkan a second time.
Then I suppose the Sratha din are the Spanish Inquisition?
*Trumpets* NOBODY EXPECTS… THE ERMEHN INQUISITION!
*ahem* I do believe it’s the CANID Inquisition we must be concerned about!
This is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Shame the Canid leader is (officially) King Janus, not some sort of emperor, else we could also start breaking out the Warhammer 40K jokes. I might do that anyway . . .
In all seriousness, though, I’m sure the Canid take their religion very, very seriously. Whatever it is.
Aaaah, who could forget the sacrifices the Canid priesthood made in the name of Sonuvavich, their hateful deity.
@Fourth Master: I don’t think Warhammer 40k’s Imperium of Man is gonna be too pleased that Alex labelled this a “human-free world”.
Seriously, they have much pro-human, anti-everything-else propaganda that I think if I read any more of it, I’ll be so pumped with speciesist pride that I will end up kicking a dog or… punching a tree or something.
Do not punch a tree.
So I guess if Quin and Dak were left in the cell permanently and nobody noticed what they were doing and they the blade didn’t get dull and they were on opposite sleep schedules, they could theoretically carve out a big enough piece of the wall to escape from in possibly as little as a month?
Arrow in the butt ;)
they better hope that’s not Tosch coming back because he might miss the quarrel. Maybe it’s Lady Canid, but considering how much time has passed it might just be Canid Mook #23 with food and water.
Speaking of the passing of time, I love how you use the poses and the lighting to show how long Quin’s been at that- the burned down torch, the light (and lack of) shining thought the window, the changes in the sound effect used on the mortar- ie, the change in the frequency and the lines after each one to indicate certain sound qualities. I bet Quin’s shoulder is killing him, too.
That arrow head is pretty well made it seems- let’s hope quin’s weight coming down on it doesn’t snap it, although depending on where it breaks (assuming it breaks) it could still be useful.
Either way, hopefully that ring is loose enough to lever out without the quarrel- if I understand the mechanics of the restraints properly, it might be possible for Quin to get some extra leverage from Dakkan.
I am interested in seeing what exactly Quin wants to do after he gets the chain out of the wall- overpower a guard? Can he do that alone? Do guards even carry the keys? and what about Dakkan? Will he ever reconcile with his father or is he doomed to be sleeveless for the rest of his life?
Tune in next week, same time, same bat-website.
…yeah, humor isn’t my strong point.
Clearly Lady Canid is sneaking back to break her crush out of prison. Dakkan’s just too otterly adorable for her to resist. Oh, and she might as well get his friend while she’s at it.
Or not.
Well it’d be one or the otter at this point, but she otter be careful if she’s thinking of busting him out!
Sorry for the slight delay on this weekend’s page btw — should hopefully be up sometime today!