Chapter 3: Page 36
Tides!
It’s hard to swim with one arm, that much I’ll admit. Harder still when you’re fully-clothed and you’re carrying a bow and arrow and a bedroll. So even if you know how to swim, the odds are certainly against you. I think this sort of thing might make it impossible to build our Western Deep-themed theme park without requiring everyone to sign a pretty extensive waiver up front. I know people sign those things without really reading them, but I’m pretty sure warning text like “YOU WILL NOT HOLD OUR PARK RESPONSIBLE IF YOU OR ANY MEMBER OF YOUR PARTY DROWNS IN OUR DELTRADA ESCAPE ATTRACTION.” That wouldn’t go over well.
Let me tell you what DOES go over well: every other attraction at this fictitious theme park. You’ll have a flume ride inspired by a sea battle between polcan and lutren, a spinny twirly roller coaster called “The Treewalker”, and of course you can take a break in the Land’s End restaurant which lets you pick between pasta, a vegetable medley, bread and soup, or cedar plank salmon. There is literally nothing else on the menu.
For guest art today, an absolutely wonderful piece by Salmon Party newcomer Neil Schultz, who just discovered Western Deep and gifted us with a very cool realistic rendering of Quinlan! Check it out:
This piece actually reminds me a lot of the piece that David Petersen (of Mouse Guard fame) did for us of Quinlan and Dakkan for the original hardcover of Volume 1. I particularly love the detail on the fur! I believe it was Shakespeare who first coined the immortal phrase: “IT’S SO FLUFFY!”
To add to the awesomeness, Neil put together a Let’s Draw video of the whole drawing process, so do check it out below!
Only Dakkan could manage to forget that his best friend has taken an arrow to shoulder just a while ago -_-
Also, that is a really neat fan art piece Neil!
Well, they’re out. Now They just have to make the fortnight-long walk to Sunsgrove in one piece. No pressure.
Ha, got a bit ahead of yourself there, Dak- rather, ahead of Quin. It happens, just, uh. It’d probably be best not to let that happen again. Yeah, pretty sure Dak doesn’t know he can’t swim, because his focus is on the wound.
I like the way this page is set up- we have a nice look at their new surroundings. Hopefully it’s not in a direct line of sight back to Deltrada.
Rachel, you really do water and wetness well- the way you rendered the interaction of light and water looks fantastic. The water droplets flying up when Dak pulls Quin from the water look dynamic, as does his hand reaching down to grab him in that inset. those two underwater panels really bring home how bad this was for Quin, especially that first inset. I am Also admiring those clouds in the background. Wonderful job!
Well, there goes Quin’s arrow. Looks like it might have floated to the top, though so he just might have got a lucky break there.
I feel like I mentioned Lake Felnach in a previous comment but I’m going to do it again: wherever lake felnach is, it can’t be terribly far from Deltrada. I doubt they fell on its shores here but maybe this river feeds it? In the unlikely event they hit lake felnach, the Ermehn would be long gone, but maybe the remnants of their camp would remain.
…in retrospect, it’s interesting the guard said ‘you fool’ not ‘you fools’. And they noted it was the tamian, so it sounds like they didnt realize Dak made it out- at least not yet. They probably have by now. In that light, ‘you fools’ might have just meant the obvious ‘you are injured and a tamian, this is not ending well for you’
Well, regardless, they made it out. And I doubt they would have had they tried any other way.
It’s a shame Clovis didn’t sign the waiver to his own attraction. Although really, you don’t expect your old friend to stab you in the back over a delinquent who snuck on without paying.
But the real draw of the Western Deep theme park: lethally cute Hardin plushies. Half the proceeds go to the Sratha-din, as do the sales for the Kenosh one but you have to read the fine print to find that out.
What, no alcohol at the Land’s End Tavern? Geez, no wonder we can’t get any funding!
Neil, that is an excellent Quinlan- I appreciate that detail on the hem of his tunic.
All good points. Dak probably didn’t hear or misinterpreted Quinlan’s complaint. Hopefully the Tamian will think to set the record straight sooner rather than later.
I don’t think they’ll end up on Lake Felnach because based on Dak’s remembered chart, it looks like the river they just took a dip in flows south from the mountains, and I doubt Hardin would have set a rendezvous point for his incredibly important scribes on the Aisling side of the border, where there’s less cover and hostile patrols. I get the feeling that Sunsgrove will be busy with the Canid for quite some time, and Quin and Dak won’t cross paths with the Ermehn until near the end of the story. But I’ve been wrong before.
Ah, I thought I said I though they wouldn’t encounter them. My bad.
Thing is, I’m fairly sure the din fled from the Aisling side of Deltrada, though I could be wrong.
….what is Hardin planning next anyway?
Perhaps he’ll send Tosch an apology fruit basket and the Canid and Ermehn will link hands and sing Kum Bah Yah.
Or perhaps not.
Well, I guess being sent crashing down a waterfall is one of those classically Redwall scenes that needed to happen eventually (and you’ve already got the “party is captured by bandits” scene covered).
Though, when Martin and co. went down that waterfall in Mossflower, they had a tribe of adorable, friendly bats to greet them at the bottom (which is the best possible thing to be greeted by). Here, all Dak and Quin can really look forward to is a manhunt by an army of angry woofers, which quite a bit less pleasant.
Deus Ex Machina! Cool!
Dak went in the stream before Quin, and in this strip pulled him out.
That’s an absolutely logical sequence of events.
Well I’m glad everything turned out fine for Quin and Dakkan for the most part. I have a feeling that we’ll be switching to Janik or perhaps even Hardin, Kenosh and the Sratha-din to see what they’re cooking up next.
Giving major props to Neil Schultz for making such a nice looking Quinlan here. Yes Shakespeare is right he definitely looks fluffy hahaha
I’m reminded of that scene at the end of Fellowship of the Ring (film) with Frodo and Sam.
*Raises hand*
I agree.
Another wonderful page. This Beyond the Western Deep theme park is going to need a ride in Nessa for Song of the Eastern Sands. Perhaps the roof hoping chase moment as one of those big tubing coasters? Next time I’m at Kalahari water park up here in Ohio that is all I’m going to think about.
Oh man, I feel as bad for Dakkan as I do for Quin on this one: nothing like realizing you’ve just put your friend through hell out of negligence. Also nothing like trying to swim and not being *able* to swim, ha ha. But at least they’re out now. Could still be in danger though: someone might go after them. Quin might have sprained an ankle while getting tossed around.
Thanks for the compliments, everyone – much appreciated. :)
Interesting (and flattering!) that you compare mine to Petersen’s piece, Alex, as Mouseguard was what I had newly discovered before finding Beyond the Western Deep. I’ve also been a big fan of Brian Jacques (who got me into both reading and drawing to begin with), Sean Rubin, and Jerome Jacinto for quite awhile. And Tracy Butler! All these cool people.
What else could Dak really have done for Quin, though? They *had* to go into the channel, because of the guard. I suppose he could have gone with him and tried to keep his head out of the water (at least when they weren’t going down the waterfall)?
Oh, now he remembers. Typical.
I’m surprised they got outside so fast; I guess that isn’t a very long waterway. They’d best run in that case, Deltrada is probably right over the hill and that one soldier will be alerting the whole garrison by now. Hopefully Quin and Dak have the sense to run in the right direction.
I do love your vision of the Western Deep theme park, Alex.
I’d also like to thank Neil for his piece. Seeing the cast in realistic fashion is a fun change.
I’m glad Quin and Dak made it out safely. yay, the universe (Alex) is done punching Quin
…..for now
if that river does lead to Felnach, I’d like to see Kenosh’s reaction to bumping into the two guys he just ditched the night before… I’d say it probably won’t be the best family reunion in Dunian history….
I’d like to see what kind of merch the souvenir shops have besides main cast plushes. but still. TOSCH PLUSHY. MY WALLET IS READY… *ahem…* and I wonder if the security guards would be dressed as Canid guards…. and if there’s gonna be people dressed like Sratha-din members and be chased by them so the people get an immersive experience :V
also, here’s a really quick sketch of a brochure:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DF6ZHPuUwAEi9zY.jpg
Love the brochure! I got quite a few chuckles out of it. I’m assuming the Theo’s Tea House experience comes with a required, unnoticed 100% tip?
I doubt we’d want the security guards to be distracted from their duties, but I could see them wearing the uniforms. And I’m sure there would be stands where you could get Ermehn tattoo face paint if you wanted.
Oh, and I’d prefer a Clovis plushie to a Tosch plushie myself.
ooh, good idea Fourth!
I figure at the point we’re building an entire theme park, plush toys of the entire extended cast would probably be well within the realm of possibility. Heck, there’d probably be variants too: BATTLE DAMAGE QUIN, TESQUE QUIN, SCOUT QUIN, ROYAL CAPTAIN QUIN, LIL’ QUIN, AND MORE!
Oh, and all the possibilities for the Sand Spiders too!
At the very least you’d need Asha with and without her mask, and Beck in her thieving outfit as well as her ridiculous fluffy pink disguise.
Eh, you could just make the hood detachable.
For a moment I interpreted “tesque quin” as the deity tesque and got very apprehensive for the direction of the narrative
Quin with Tescue Grip Arm Action?
Oh, I just noticed Dakkan’s “Tides . . .”
Another Lutren oath to add to our vocabulary.
Not meant to be a reply.
OH! He didn’t literally mean there were actual tides! Okay, I’m less confused now… I think…
The guest drawing kind of makes me think of Beatrix Potter or the Redwall books.
At this theme park you could also have some tree-climbing attractions, an archery booth, and the foam-weapon battle set up.
Yay scenery change!
Well, now the blood has been washed off Dak’s face. Also I can see where his missing tooth used to be, good detail.
I didn’t even think about the lack of a tooth until you pointed it out! Very good attention to detail indeed.
It’s kinda frustrating (though more interesting) that a guard saw them leave down the channel. If only they had jumped in before they were noticed, the guards probably wouldn’t’ve discovered that they were missing for a while (at least until Ol’ Jerky McOne-Eye was missed), and when they did they still wouldn’t know exactly how or where they went. Now, they’ll be headed down to the channel opening to find them, dead or alive. However it’s all for the best I suppose, because otherwise Quin might’ve convinced Dak to try a different way and they might have gotten killed by guards on their way out. Going down the channel was safe in one respect at least- no guards to fight along the way! So the guard motivated them to escape in possibly the best way, and also maybe quelled the more guilt that Dak would be feeling now if he had forced Quin to go down the waterslide when there *wasn’t* a guard right there.
Also I’m confused about exactly what happened. I don’t see any rivers in the overhead shot of Deltrada from the end of Chapter 2, at least not in the area that (I think) is indicated by Dak’s imagination (/memory of a map??). So they were in an underground river that eventually emptied into a regular river, a good bit away from Deltrada, I guess? Where are they now?? I guess we’ll find out…
Also apparently it isn’t as late in the day as I thought it was. Also apparently Quin’s clothes got the blood washed out of them too.
I like how they both contributed to their escape. Quin got them out of their cell and Dak got them out of the garrison.
Quin had the harder job, though, as it turns out.
You know . . . is it just me or does Dak look awfully fluffy for someone who just took a dip? Shouldn’t his fur all be slicked down against his skin?
You know when a dog has shaken water out of its fur but it’s still shaggy from the moisture? It’s like that.
Have you ever seen a wet otter? They get all spiky once they get out :D
I guess the otters I’ve seen have been IN the water at the time.
I don’t think I’ve commented on it here before, but I absolutely adore the Lutren armoring style. I’m really glad you went through the effort to design a suit of amphibious armor.
Same. It’s one of my favorite design innovations in Western Deep
They swim in garrison poop c:
I think not. That’s the garrison’s water supply, remember?
Jeepers, I didn’t notice until now that Dakkan’s hand is coming through the panel border to pick up Quin from the water. It’s such a neat effect!
Oh no! Quin’s lost his arrow! And his bow too!