Mt-Hermit: Im more surprised now one made a reference to rule 34 of the Evil Overlord List: "I will not turn into a snake. It never helps." Though the demi-god was probably always a snake, this probably further enhances the Doom it faces.
Uhl: Cobra Commander (even after being turned into a Cobra by CobraLa and then half-restored by Destro) does not have a lisp.
Al-X: I shall insert "knowing is half the battle" at some point
Xpheyel: That would make the Hawk Maidens G.I.JOE.
Al-X: Dang... now I can't get the image of Xis'veki speaking in the voice of Cobra Commander... There goes my villain's dignity...
Ark the Legend: No one is willing to make any COBRA puns?
Uhl: Yessss! You are ussseful now, but do not forget. You can be re-playssed!
Arklite: Sadly the millenia old demi-god snake sorcerer union lacks decent organisation, what with all the interunion murdering ;)
Wodan46: Yes, I'm sure the millenia old demi-god snake sorcerer is really scared that you might take away his paycheck.
Al-X: I'm particularly happy on how Xis'veki came out in this page
Al-X: Ding! Xitlani Tzelan indeed
azalea: Xi Tzelan? I think that was what Derrexi called her in the one flashback...
azalea: Derrexi's sister?
Arklite: Aspis shield rather (darn spelling) however, considering nahast is more far east than western fantasy we're not too likley to see europian style shields and armour so the handle grip shield is probably going to be more likley
Arklite: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/war/ArmorC.jpg for a bit of reference ;)
Arklite: well no, the aepis sheild used by the greeks in the classical period used the arm style grip. the romans however used the more traditional boss centre grip as it suited their tactics better.
Ashley: With shields like that, if there was any sort of arm-armor, it would be on both arms.
Ashley: Nearly all greek and roman shields were actually held in the hand, instead of warn on the arm. (the handle was behind the Boss, which was actually the reason the Boss existed)
Ashley: It also depends on the type of shield. Shields that are actually worn on the arm are actually (at least in european history) a relatively new invention.
Arklite: a good example of typical partial plate would be the armour worn by Arthur in the BBC's Merlin series. plated on the sword arm and across the shoulders while mail and a shield provided the main protection.
TheDom: Nope, usually your shieldarm would be unarmored, to reduce encumbrancel.But most armors are equal on both sides.
Osk: authentic armor also usually only provided armor for 1 arm, since the other was needed to swing a weapon. I dont know how that went for spear wielders though
Al-X: Hawk Maiden armor is modular; there's ceremonial, which even has exposed midriff, there's practice/patrol (the one here) and full battle, with more back cover and full helmet.
Arklite: all things considered, that armour seems more ceramonial than anything else. though the open back definently allows freedom for the arms and shoulders
Wanderer: Most armor of that design only protects the front. Silly, I know, but still. And look in the background, the other character wearing that armor reveals that the golden part is only in the front.
Tangent: If it's good armor, then the plating would be on the back of the leg to prevent that. Considering the design of the bottom, I suspect the armor protects hamstrings.
Wanderer: Niriko looks like she's about to be hamstrung, there.
Al-X: Damn typos! There, fixed n_n
Nyx: The blog thingy says that it's chapter 10, but the roman numeral/number on the cover says 9 o.O;; confusion D:
Al-X: The twitter says it; sneak peek of next chapter on the Facebook fan page
Al-X: @Ashley: Quetz~ and his brother Tezca~ are my favorite gods, but egads! The Feathered Serpent can be so whiny!
azalea: Gisako's spying while Zintzi seems to be comforting Eruhien aww~ Behari's awake yay!
Ashley: Heh. When I told dad what you'd said here, Al-X, he thought it was very amusing. Mostly because of how accurately that does describe the difference between them.
Al-X: That'd be Kukulkan. Old Quetz is his more emo Aztec cousin ;)
Uhl: As for dragons speaking Mayan, see Quetzocoatl!
Tangent: Cookie! *noms*
Al-X: Their cloaks bore the brunt of it
And Tangent earns a cookie for spotting the meaning of Derrexi's change
Osk: their shirts and bodies are amazingly clean for having been in a mudslide, even considering the rain washing them clean
Tangent: So the outfit change is logical. In a spiritual sense, that is. ^^
Tangent: If you think of it, Tezlan isn't being a warrior now. She's being a mother. The mother that Behari has lacked for so long.
Ganx: yep, at least her shoulderpads are now missing
Arcura: is it just me or has Tezlan's outfit changed
Wanderer: Well, I think they deserve to be a bit proud of themselves right now.
Drakanor Dream: They all seem to be quite proud of themselves at the moment. And Waio Ko Xiang is awesome to manage that small feat.
Ganx: Dragons speak in mayan... cool!
azalea: baby steps~ She's got the box, now to perfect the font! XD
Silverthorne: If your speaking the same language as a dragon, then you should be using the same font.
Al-X: When she's an archmage she'll also be able to change her font! ;)
Wanderer: And Jakitza's speech bubble suddenly matches the dragon's. Makes sense.
Darius Drake: Go NOW! Don't freeze to death while holding those precious herbs.
guto: oi
Al-X: Eeeh... obrigado?
matheus: e muito massa
Silverthorne: Looked at the Pathfinder and it looks good. Remake of 3.5 D&D some better some worse. Over all a good shot.
Ganx: the rain is cold and she is only wearing her nightshirt
Uhl: She's cold, wet, and most likely doesn't have access to a bra.
Spider: either Jakiza is pretty excited to try out her magic or she's just cold =P
Al-X: The PF Core Rulebook is HUGE because it has both player and GM info in it
Drakanor Dream: I should probably buy the Pathfinder PHB and GM Books shouldn't I?
Ashley: It'll be fun seeing the new stuff you put up for Pathfinder. I'm having fun with my char that follows Ker'zei, and will be looking forward to seeing other stuff from this setting updated to PF.
Ry-kno: Excellent story, Great art, i can't wait for more.
Al-X: You're going to like the next couple of updates, then
Drakanor Dream: I must say I like this page!
azalea: excellent page!
Al-X: Contest ends at midnight (-6GMT, Central) tonight!
Al-X: Thanks! And on the topic... the contest deadline is next Monday!
Timeghost: 7 years, and I'm just now finding it? Crap. Congratulations!
S San: Congrats on 7 years! It's a great comic!
Vraymar: Congrats for the anniversary!
Gax: 7 years already, congrats!
Al-X: WRCA nominations are closed, and voting has started, I'd count votes for Nahast in writing as contest entries but there's no way to verify voter ID.. Still! You can vote, no?
Al-X: Nominations for the Webcomics Readers Choice Award count as entries for the contest! *hinthint*
Al-X: Start, you say
Thanks and welcome!
Lora: Wow, just found you, thank you so much and congratulations on 7 years.. a good start!!!
Al-X: Contest Update: The PDF copy of Mecha & Manga in the prize will now be a PRINTED copy!
Celidah: Poor little death guide. I almost feel sorry for it. It just wants to help Behari...
azalea: *pokes* Help with the Shout contest! a lil' mention on your blog/twitter/DA/forum/youtube won't hurt. ^_^
Al-X: Many, maybe more
Simple answer: one for every soul in the underworld. Full answer: coming soon! ;)
Darius Drake: The death guide exists for nothing else other than protecting one person? How many death guides are there?
Spider: args. i've misread what the deathguide said way back when the dragon appeared. this gave me a completly different view. good that this is cleared up.
Al-X: @Spider: Death Guides do not start Flayings; Behari's even took her out of hers. @Ikoma: I shall not deny my influences
@azalea: Derrexi's a bit shaken ATM, but Xu're identified it.
azalea: has Derrexi realized who the guide looks like?
IkomaTanomori: This page has a very Wraith: The Oblivion feel to it.
Spider: deathguides. wanting to protect their protégé's to bring them pain ^.^
Celidah: Wow okay...I wasn't expecting that one at all.
Al-X: Thanks! I really appreciate it. That chapter was a lot of fun to write and draw
Walrus: Alex, just so you know, the battle between the good guys and the elves is one of the best I've ever read. Way to bring the passion. Great job! Your is up there among my favorite comics. I'm excited to see where this bit leads.
Wanderer: The death guide is overstepping its authority.
Al-X: And the 8th anniversary event is ON! Check the forum (or the Facebook page) for the rules!
Al-X: Noooot exactly...
Celidah: It will in a moment, when she totally kicks his turquoise ghostly butt. I mean....right?
Al-X: Good point. But it makes no difference for this guy...
Celidah: But...she's not quite dead yet...
Al-X: Comicwise? Yes, just this; I'd go crazy if I started another comic, especially with all the work I'm doing on related and unrelated projects (many of them linked from this page
).
Tom: Do you work on anything else too, or is it just this?
Al-X: Thanks and welcome! Stick around, things are about to get better
Tom: Hey I just discovered this today. Really, really nice.
Al-X: That's one of the questions I made myself as I wrote this chapter, the answer came easily and is shown in a few pages more
Spider: hmm dumb question: isn't dexi's trip rather pointless towards behari's rescue? i mean the dragon should be more then able to get her back.
Al-X: You get a cookie
This is, indeed that same scene. The Region of the Dead is highly subjective, so my artistic license is just covering Derrexi's inexact memories
SuedodeuS: For those curious, I'm referring to page 72. Her uniform was different there (side cut-outs, headband, and purple sash), but that could just be artistic license.
SuedodeuS: Hmmm... She's wielding a naginata, dressed as a hawk maiden, in an arena, facing a swordsman she'd rather not. Looks like this is the fight shown for the death duel when she explained the three types.
Wanderer: She doesn't SEEM to be over it, given how it's getting her angry. Nevermind the ghost.
Al-X: Important-ish news in the news section! And on the last panel... let speculation begin!
azalea: I just like playing a Monster in Nightbane, or the bard in fantasy who's companions usually sacrifice her first chance they get... GM lets me have my revenge at some point~
IkomaTanomori: Palladium games are very enthusiastically written at least. Where else will you get multiple exclamation points in the rules and crunch of a game?
azalea: when was I ever sane? XD
Al-X: Palladium?!?! And you're still sane? Wait... nevermind... ;)
azalea: <_< I play Palladium's Nightbane, Rifters and Fantasy series. Nitebane being my favorite.
Spider: ah neuromancer. you remind me of something. i started reading it but stopped somewhere in the middle. i should pick that up again.
Al-X: I have a signed copy of Neuromancer myself
But I just can't say no to zeppelins, brass goggles and rayguns
Spider: i prefer cyberpuk personally. especally with a good sprinkle of magic added in. but everyone has his preferences.
Arklite: the 349th rule of awesome, everything is better with a boiler and pistons. ;)
Al-X: Because I can?
Also, it's Steampunk Month at tor.com
Spider: @ the GitS twitter post: why would you want to turn a cyberpunk into a steampunk world?
Al-X: Anyone can pray
An actual answer depends on the deity, but it still works well for self-encouragement.
Spider: Does Xiang have some training as priestess or are all dwarves able to call on their god that easily?
Arklite: seems fair, death and darkness aren't nessisarily an evil thing after all. for things to begin other things must end, perspective is everything ;)
Al-X: Unrevealed fact: Kuo'digong, the dwarven Allfather, is in reality Azkenik, the Power of Death and Endings.
Ganx: I like the "create a new character" idea
Arklite: THOU SHALL NOT PASS!
Fenyx: nice pray, it has a good sound to it
Al-X: @Osk: This issue will be addressed next update ;)
azalea: *pokes* People go vote on the forum!
Osk: mudslide leaves behind bare rock and deposits mud in a valley. If they are on a slope and hang on, they might survive. No ordinairy human could hang on though
Al-X: Dunno; I love you, guys and gals, but you're too quiet a bunch for anything forum-y ;)
Arklite: 8th aniversery ay? could always do a forum based competition. create a character contest? winner gets a picture of said character?
Al-X: Well! There's a poll at the forum regarding the story site <.< Feel free to drop by!
Fenyx: lol if you feel lonely talk, alex, ppl will be sure to answer
Darius Drake: Even if they hold on and take that deep breath, they could still be buried under so much mud that they can't get out. I hope that that doesn't happen.
Name: DOOM!!!
Darius Drake: There, there, Al-X
Al-X: This was such a lonely week for the shoutboard...
Darius Drake: The potential assistance group looks cranky. Well, two out of three of them do, and I believe that that is enough.
Al-X: OK, I lol'ed ^^
Teal\'c: @Daniel, Indeed.
Daniel: It's always a good time to arrive at Nahast.
Al-X: Thanks! You arrived at a good time
Moox: Hey there, I just discovered this comic. Looks great! I'm really enjoying the story.
Uhl: Go find your own light, he he. Oh how many quests start that way...
Ashley: Ok, chargen finished and links to the charsheet and other pages sent.
Al-X: Sure
It's always nice to see what others do with one's stuff.
Ashley: Thanks. I'll send a link to the charsheet when done, if you want to see the char.
Al-X: Replied to you by email ^^
Ashley: Hmm. Yahoo mail is claiming that your Nahast email address isn't receiving mail. I left a comment on the Small Justice story, since that was the next most logical place to ask my question.
Al-X: Fixed it for you
klajdi: Opps, wrong way.
Al-X: My hate for Scry-ed is an irrational thing I can't explain; it just irks me wholesale ^^ On the sobbing... we shall see soon enough >
Uhl: I found the ending rather confusing, but the story itself was well told. It was also easy to sympathize/ empathize with the charactes.
Darius Drake: I guess that that was her inner self crying. Of course, I might be wrong to a degree.
ShikomeKidoMi: Really? I admit to a perverse fondness for it myself, though I recognize enough stereotypical elements to think it shouldn't be better than mediocre to most. Hate seems strong, though.
Al-X: I hate Scry-ed, but it's the model that best encompassed all the elements in the book ^^
Dvandom: Just got Mecha and Manga. Nice Scry-ed pastiche for the "default" setting. I agree it's a good sort of thing to cover the main bases.
Ashley: It's a little more archaic, so is less well known, but it is a slightly more technically correct way of saying it.
Traae: I actually say "by the by" quite often ^.^
Spider: i hadn't heard of that before. thanks for clearing it up.
Uhl: "by the by" is an acceptable alternate for "by the way."
Uhl: IT'S
Spider: "and by the by..." is that a mistake? first panel last speechbubble. souldn't that be "by the way"
Dvandom: Warshape, as in dressed up for battle as opposed to looking exactly as her body currently does, or like some other stage (i.e. Behari as child initially).
Ganx: Specially inner darkness
Fenyx: warshape? o.O
Al-X: I'm quite happy here in SpiderForest
singedtentacle: Hi, I found your site on Comic Genesis. I just wanted to let you know about my new site, http://www.comicdomination.com . I'm looking for creators to sign up and post some comics. Please check it out if you get a chance! ;)
Wanderer: ...Ok... The reptilian is disguising his appearance, I assume. But that shadow mark must be real in some way or it wouldn't be worth drawing attention to. I'll have to read the extra stuff later, rather than be late for work.
_C_: Wanderer, I have to agree, that's the cutest dragon I've ever seen, and she keeps getting cuter, nice.
Al-X: The dragon didn't say it, I did in the shoutboard :3
Spider: arg i can't find it. that probably means i've confused it with something else.
Celidah: Ah. Well, that would be logical. Where do you remember the dragon saying that, out of curiosity?
Spider: didn't the dragon say that gender has no meaning to "her" anymore. and "she" probably knows of beharis problems with men and thus choosed this appearance.
Dvandom: Rather interesting place for the golden dragon head on her dress, too.
Celidah: Well, Wanderer, the dragon IS self-identifying as female...
Wanderer: And finally... geeze, man, could you stop making the dragon look so blasted cute? :p I keep wanting to call it "her" and I'm not even sure it really HAS a gender.
Wanderer: My mind keeps going to this "testing" mentioned on the World page. If this reptilian sorceror is part of that, the dragon certainly couldn't interfere.
Wanderer: Something about this situation, these people, this place, is special. The dragon can aid them, guide them, but it is not going to act FOR them.
Wanderer: It's not just that it's not the dragon's business. It has taken a proprietary interest in these events and these people. I believe normally it would step in directly, unless there was a reason not to.
Wanderer: You know... I'm reasonably confident the dragon could stomp that snake-creature if it wanted to. The fact that it HASN'T is important, I believe.
Rytch: The only really good conversations are hypothetical
Wanderer: Except that that is all hypothetical, since we already know that this dragon isn't dead.