I Surprised Myself (The New Orbahlen Comic)

[Dreamaniaccomic]

I sketched this earlier today, not really thinking about it at the time:



Pretty simplistic, meant to just be a random drawing depicting a bit of Orbahlen.

Then Inspiration decided to clobber me over the head.


Honestly, I have no idea where this is going to go, but I'm desperate to find out.

[XIVcaliber]

I'm taking a look at it. It's fine as a side project, don't let it interfere with important campaign work or YOUR NOBLE SPRITING DUTIES.

[Dreamaniaccomic]

I'm taking a look at it. It's fine as a side project, don't let it interfere with important campaign work or YOUR NOBLE SPRITING DUTIES.

It wont interfere with the important campaign work, as you call it, but the sprites will definitely be playing second fiddle to this.
And it isn't a side project anymore. It's a full blown primary project now. The idea took hold of me like a 500 pound pancration wrestler.

[XIVcaliber]

I'm taking a look at it. It's fine as a side project, don't let it interfere with important campaign work or YOUR NOBLE SPRITING DUTIES.

It wont interfere with the important campaign work, as you call it, but the sprites will definitely be playing second fiddle to this.
And it isn't a side project anymore. It's a full blown primary project now. The idea took hold of me like a 500 pound pancration wrestler.

Well...okay...that just means that according to Jake Time (not to be confused with Valve Time), the sprites for Andrew's game will be finished Christmas 2007.

[Dreamaniaccomic]

I'm taking a look at it. It's fine as a side project, don't let it interfere with important campaign work or YOUR NOBLE SPRITING DUTIES.

It wont interfere with the important campaign work, as you call it, but the sprites will definitely be playing second fiddle to this.
And it isn't a side project anymore. It's a full blown primary project now. The idea took hold of me like a 500 pound pancration wrestler.

Well...okay...that just means that according to Jake Time (not to be confused with Valve Time), the sprites for Andrew's game will be finished Christmas 2007.

How did you know I was planning to hitch a ride with Mr. Fleet on one of his Time Travel excursions next week?!

[IceBug]

Oh Jake, there weren't any great philosophers in 2007. Why would Fleet go there?

[ApparentlyTsundere]

Well, if your committed to it, go for it. But don't let it flutter away lake some of your past projects have. At least follow through long enough to created some small trace of an ending.

[Dreamaniaccomic]

Oh Jake, there weren't any great philosophers in 2007. Why would Fleet go there?

To drop me off.

Well, if your committed to it, go for it. But don't let it flutter away lake some of your past projects have. At least follow through long enough to created some small trace of an ending.

Don't worry about it!

[Dreamaniaccomic]

So I thought I'd tell you a bit about the characters here.


Tal is a human soldier from the country of Renshire. She's the fourth of seven children, the second of two girls in the family, born to a reasonably well-off farming couple. During her childhood, it was evident that she was stronger and tougher than most of her siblings, her two oldest brothers excepted due to their age. Her parents turned a blind eye to this, expecting her to become a dowager wife like her older sister.

Tal ended up being saved from an arranged marriage by her siblings. Her brothers, who considered Tal to have far too much potential to be married off (even to the nice, quiet young man her parents had selected) and helped her plan a way to escape. Her oldest (and favorite) brother, Toran, contacted an old army veteran and convinced him to take in Tal as an apprentice in the art of combat. Her brothers then set up a diversion (quite easy for a group of six boys) that allowed Tal to sneak out to the veteran's home and sign the oath of apprenticeship he had prepared.

Renshire law dictates that once an individual becomes an apprentice, they are legally treated as an adult and given rights of citizenship, rendering void any contracts or agreements made by other parties regarding said individual. tl;dr: She said 'screw it' to an arranged marriage.

Despite this conflict, Tal still loves her parents, and hopes to prove to them that she made the right choice in taking control of her life. As there are no active wars in Ailev during this time, she ends up becoming an adventurer to make ends meet.

Menna is an elvan magician/shaman originally born in one of the fortified cities of Shrith. Her childhood, like that of most elvan children, was extremely rough; beatings were a regular occurance, and the time inbetween those was filled with brawling with her siblings and other elvan children of the same age. She accompanyed her mother (a merchant) on a trip to Mecha at the age of 13. It was there she first observed an xalvian street magician using cantrips to amuse children in the street; the possibility of a skill that could distract her peers from fighting took a powerful hold in her mind. Slipping away from her mother, she made her way to the magician and bluntly demanded to be taught the "light-tricks." Amused by her bruesqueness, the magician took the girl under his wing, assuming she was one of the (depressingly) many orphans living on the street in the city.

Roughly one month later, Menna's mother successfully tracked her down, and the ensuing arguement shattered 17 windows and caused the Archdean of the Magicians University to lose his hearing in his left ear. Roughly two hours after sound-dampening spells were applied, Menna's mother grumpily left, leaving this note for her teacher "I'm f***ing ashamed to leave a weakling like you to whip my whelp of a daughter into shape, but it can't be helped, dammit." Menna finished her apprenticeship four years later, but instead of enrolling at the university's Graduate course, she decided to take a trip around Ailev and experience the continent on her own. During these travels, she discovered she had a talent with nature and animals (undiscovered in Shrith due to a lack of plant life and non-predatory animals.) and began to explore the path of the shaman cautiously.

Menna ended up becoming an adventurer because she was too rude, abrasive, young, and stubborn to find work as an entertainer or spirit talker (village wisewoman.) She's in it entirely for herself- her family has cast her out of elvan society, the magicians are relieved she finally left, and there's no one out there who really cares if she lives or dies at the moment.

[ApparentlyTsundere]

those be some through characers you got there. I still think Tal is badass.
What will the story be about? Like the main plot?

[Dreamaniaccomic]

Wait, you want me to give the main plot away? Sure, why-

Can't let you do that, Jake!

Well damn. Nevermind. Guess you'll just have to read the comic as it updates.

[ApparentlyTsundere]

Aw.

[Dreamaniaccomic]

I'll tell you a bit about it in person. I realized it wouldn't be the wisest idea to post all of my plans online; face-to-face conversation is safe enough, though.

[ApparentlyTsundere]

Yay.

[Dreamaniaccomic]

Second page is done and up!



I'm liking how this entire thing has managed to hold my interest. And I updated on time!

[ApparentlyTsundere]

If it's holding your intrest start a buffer asap.

[Dreamaniaccomic]

Eh, I'll let you in on a few tropes that happened to match my plans for the characters:

Tal:
Action Girl: Duh.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: This is an actual mental disorder, with symptoms, classifications, etc. on Orbahlen. Tal has a really bad case of it.
I Have Brothers: Seven of them. They're pretty protective of her, too.
Magnetic Hero: People are drawn to her like flies to vinegar. Unlike vinegar, Tal is sweet and likes people in general.

Menna:
Abusive Parents: Conventional elvan child-rearing wisdom boils down to: 1.) Beat child 2.) Let children fight each other 3.)???? 4.) Profit!
Don't You Dare Pity Me: Don't express pity for her childhood. There will be pain and blood, and it will be yours.
Jerkass: Not apparent from her interactions with Tal, who is one of the two people in the world who she kind of almost likes. The other is the avian magician who taught her.


Keep in mind, these tropes just happened to fit my characters. I did not build them from tropes, as I have tried to do in the past (You can go back to whatever you were doing, Niko).

[XIVcaliber]

That font on the second page is distracting.

[Dreamaniaccomic]

That font on the second page is distracting.

Could you clarify? If you're referring to the font used for Tal's dialogue, it's supposed to indicate her accent. Actually, all of the characters use different fonts to indicate their accents.

You're probably right, though. I need to find a better font for her.