3316 The Amulet
If you’re reading this as I post this, then it’s to let you know. If you’re reading this as of Friday morning, then it’s an explanation.
There’s no update for Friday, March 6. This isn’t hugely unusual in itself, I’m late with updates reasonably often. But the reason for this one is unusual. I’ve stumped myself.
The strip I had planned is a biggie. And I’ve already made three attempts at it and rejected much of what I’ve done so far. This is, as most of you know, a rather big and complex story arc involved a bajillion zillion characters and I’m trying to find a way to do most of them justice as well as keep the story flowing and so I’m doing something now that I almost never do for YAFGC strips. I’m planning it out carefully. I’ve created myself a couple of cheat sheets for current character locations, storypoints and timelines and now I’m at that most hated of stages…. scripting.
Yes, I think I’ll be scripting some of this one. So please be patient, I’m working on it. It’s important as it’s the beginning of the final leg of this massive Rannite story and I want it to pay off.
Thank you!
-Rich “BK” Morris
Well there goes the protection as he just said it…no "mortal" assailant
Also, as long as he wears it
And given his dad’s apparent level of intelligence, I suspect some con artist ran off with his money laughing.
Eldwig might have been thinking that if doesn’t work there’s one less mouth for him to feed. If it does work, than he’s got someone to fight off the monsters for him while he runs away.
But even it if does what it says it does, it doesn’t protect the ones he loves. Hence he can still get into real danger, and he knows it.
Magic Item:
Amulet of Placebo
+100 to Confidence in a Crisis
"Amulet of Protection"
When not worn, keeps small piles of papers from flying away in a breeze.
When worn, +1 to AC, +1 to Dex, +10 to Wisdom check to prevent panic (even when you really should); Wisdom stat otherwise unaffected.
So if he faces the undead, Louis is in trouble? Hmm, where’s that bony guy with a similar name?
Ominous foreshadowing is ominous and foreshadowing.
Given how many immortals of various descriptions we have running around, this kid is toast.
That’s very interesting.
Assuming the amulet is *not* a con job – and I think from his clothes, demeanour, and future prospects that we can extrapolate Eldwig has the financial means to get the genuine article made on his own initiative – then it prompts the following:
1. He has foresight. And, on some level, a desire to keep his child safe.
2. When he sold his son into slavery, he knew the boy was safe. Louis could not be physically harmed for refusal to cooperate. Did that enable him to rationalise the decision to himself? Or, maybe, was he trying to trick the Rannites somehow?
t!
Welded around Louis’ neck? Welded?! The amulet is now permanently attached to his skin? Just how was this welding accomplished? Given what we’ve seen of Eldwig so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if it involved a LOT of heat.
Hehe. It isn’t welded *to* his neck.
It does say welded around my neck. Which also means that as he get older and bigger the amulet is going to choke him.
And given the level of cowardize of his father, I’m surprised his father didn’t get the amulet for himself.
I feel that this one is too strongly a "plot insert".
I will not discredit your feelings on the subject, but I believe I drew it in such a way as to suggest that it would allow enough room for growth into adulthood. Unless he becomes freakishly huge like the Hulk or something.
Still, as you like. Absolutely a cowardly father would protect himself instead of a son he would happily throw to the wolves to save himself.
Or perhaps there’s more going on here then it seems on the surface.
Though that never happens in YAFGC. 🙂
Indeed, it will be interesting to see what the amulet is actually about.
Now, now. We all know that people tend to change over time, some even drastically. We saw what kind of a person Eldwig is now, but we don’t know whether he was always like this.
So, he might have stopped to care about his son by now, or he still cares, but has a… unique way to show it, or the amulet is doing something else (too). Pick your choice. 🙂
In *traditional* D&D, magic items change size to fit the wearer. I don’t know if that’s the case in this universe, but it *could* be.
Ah, right, "around" his neck, not "to" his neck. I goofed.
Still, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Eldwig had considered that possibility.
Naturally Louis and Charles are going to choose one of the highest spots on the castle to sit and have a chat, never mind how much of a drop there is to the ground. But hey, that’s okay, because as we all know kids at that age are made of rubber. 😀
I, myself, at about their age, used to jump out of the one-story hayloft window and land on the ground rather than climb down the two-story ladder in the back of the barn. If I attempted that jump today, I would die.
If I learnt anything from pro wrestling, it’s there’s always a group of people to land on or or a stack of tables to break the fall somewhat.
There were people last time we saw a big fall here.
If werewolves weren’t already so thick on the ground around here, I’d say Louis, unbeknownst to himself, is a werewolf or something similar. He ALREADY can’t be seriously harmed by mortal assailants; what the perma-worn amulet does is hold him in human form, and protect everyone ELSE…
Well that’s nicer than I thought the dad would be.
I’m mostly a lurker here, but I just wanted to let you know, Rich, that I really enjoy reading your comic and, maybe I’m strange, but I really love that you leave your pencils on the finished strips. I’ve been a doodler since I was a little kid, but I’ve never properly put enough effort into learning how to draw well enough that I could draw comics as a hobby or as a profession. I have, however, had enough schooling in drawing/art that I appreciate how much labor goes into drawing characters consistently, how much consideration goes into framing a scene, and how challenging it can be to put words into pictures. I like seeing the pencils because it helps remind me how I can improve my own drawing if I put the effort in, and I like your drawing style, so if I ever do get around to learning more, I’m certain to be using your art as a reference.
Thank you for sharing your art and storytelling for free, I both appreciate and enjoy it. 🙂
Thank you very much, Thracecius (Awesome user name, sounds Roman!) I’m very very VERY pleased to be an inspriation to anyone! I’ve had a few compliments on my rough drawings (I don’t ink them at all, the roughs are done in coloured pencils -blue or red or purple usually) and the dark lines are just B pencil directly on top, which is why you can see the construction lines. In the older ones they’re darker because I didn’t use coloured pencils or clean them up at all.
I hope to see some of your artwork sometime! Thanks again and welcome to the community!
Thank you for the response and kind words, Rich. The name is a hodge podge Greek/Roman idea I came up with when I was in high school (many moons ago) creating a new character and world for stories and an RPG, using the province/region name Thrace as the base because I liked how it sounded. I grew up in the 80’s watching classics such as ‘Jason and the Argonauts’, ‘Clash of the Titans’ and ‘The 7th Voyage of Sinbad’ (Ray Harryhausen was a genius animator), as well as reading Greek mythology, particularly about the Trojan War. Ancient and WWII history, as well as sci-fi (and some fantasy), were my main reading material as a kid. Well, and dinosaurs, of course.
Thanks for the information on your process, it’s nice to see "old school" pencilwork hasn’t completely disappeared. As for sharing my work, it’s kind of you to offer encouragement, so if I have anything I’m not completely embarrassed to share I’ll let you know. 😉
Oh awesome! Yeah, I’m a Harreyhausen fan myself! I run an Al Qadim campaign (AD&D 2e Arabian Nights setting) and try to capture the world of Sinbad as much as possible! I also am running an AD&D 2e campaign for my kids set in Mythological Greece! They’re children of Apollo and they’ve fought two-headed bulls and Harpies and things. We’ve got lots in common it seems! haha
I’m soooo envious! i love 2e and can’t find anyone to run it. on top of that, having such an awesome storyteller as the dm would be mind-blowing 🙂 I’ve been wondering how the gaming is going! how did the group and you decide to handle the characters/gaming/short time situation?
I’m happy to tell you all about it! Quick rundown -and I assume you mean specifically the Jr.High D&D club I’m running where I have a bazillion kids and only an hour a week: I did a character creation session which was MANIC, fortunately some of the older kids were experienced at it and had stock characters already made up to help out. I started with massive combat so they could get into the game play and my style, then broke them into a couple of groups (the mad killmongers and the more gentle character players) to lighten the playtime load. I have to do a LOT of super-fast manic improvising and DM-ruling (which I think I’m pretty good at to be honest) and it’s going pretty well. Well enough that we keep getting new kids asking to join in. So I’ve got NPC sheets on hand to give out and am happy to improv first-time PCs if they have a solid idea. I’d love to chat with you about it but this isn’t the best kind of forum for that. Ping me again and I’ll try to contact you privately.
I love your user name too, btw. Clever use of punctuation.
Very nice! My first RPG was Palladium’s RIFTS and TMNT games, but my first D&D experience wasn’t until the original Baldur’s Gate computer game (which I really enjoyed). The first time I played PnP D&D wasn’t until 3.5, and then only a couple of sessions, but it seemed fine. I don’t really have time for PnP games, but I keep collecting the stuff that interests me ‘just in case’. If you want something for younger kids, there’s another great webcomic called SideKick Quests by James Stowe, and it’s a comic with an RPG built into it. I actually got to meet him in person at a local con in 2018 (he’s a cool guy and a talented artist), but last I checked it looked like the website was down, unfortunately. He apparently runs the game for his kids and their friends who are ages 6 or 7 to teens, which seems work out pretty well, at least for him.
I’ve encountered all sort of neat people via webcomics that are DMs/GMs for active PnP games (you and Brian Patterson of D20 Monkey, most notably), which makes me wish there were people like you in my area. I mainly just stick to single player cRPGs and other story driven games (currently giving Metro Exodus a run – it’s great so far – and started another play of Mass Effect 2) to feed that particular habit. 🙂
Your look reminds me a lot of Disey’s original "jungle book" and "Aristocats" – both of those were less Cleaned Up than most of the other animated features, and it gave theme a more artistic feel.
Yeah, that was the period where they were experimenting with using a new-fangled device called a Xerox copier. They thought the rough lines wouldn’t show through… but they did. 🙂
My art style is definitely influenced by the old greats as per my education and training. If only I were in that league!
Invariably the Amulet does not protect him but binds him or some entity in his form.
his "father" clearly protects him only in exchange for some boon but will happily cast him and his "wife" aside at the first offing
I really like Louis’s haircut. This amulet adds an interesting twist to things. Either his father isn’t as big a jerk as he seems, or something else is going on… given Louis’s name includes "the Younger", but his ‘father’ isn’t named Louis, is he perhaps the child of his mother’s first marriage, and she was widowed? That would explain a few things. The amulet could have been a precaution his true father took… Or I could be completely wrong, and he could be named after his grandfather Louis.
Now I was wondering if the glance at the amulet was envious and if something would be done to acquire it.#
It will be fun to revisit the whole Ranna storyline in a year or two and see what little background encounter paves the way to a future story.
I, for one, can’t say I’ve ever been disappointed in your efforts, Rich. And I’m a patient fellow by nature. I’ve no doubt you will follow through on your promise magnificently.
Take the time you need, Rich, it’ll be worth the wait =)
Take all the time you need, Rich! I am sure it will turn out brilliantly, as always!
Ah, not in danger from any "mortal assailant". I first read it as not in any mortal danger from an assailant.
I wonder if Eldwig had one made for his wife, too, and hence he was the only one unprotected. Which would then paint the original situation in a completely different light.
Life’s script – rarely turns out the way we plan it. We do the best we can and hope for the best.
When it’s bad, we want it to be good, and when it’s good, we want it to be more good.
Luckily the universe also seems to have a bias in the "more good" direction, overall 🙂
In just about everything, the path forward is usually littered with banana peels.
Take all the time you need, Rich.
I wonder if Chakal wants his amulet back…
And Rich, take your time. You know all your fans will be waiting for you.
Thank you for the explanation, Rich!
Don’t worry, we will wait patiently, as always!
Scripting?? I’ll have Tim’s on standby for you.
Found again the timeline post Eolhin asked about last comic https://www.yafgc.net/comic/3284-i-spy-with-my-little-ninja/
(I’m posting it here because that subthread was just getting too deep for anyone to find it.)
Thanks! I am sure others will appreciate it as well. 🙂
I loved the exposition about the bickering of the scholars in that post. 😀 Great fun.
A wise move Rich – look what happened to GOT when it was rushed
Mmmm… they are going to test it, aren’t they… ?
Do you know how did Balder die, kid?
Well, I doubt he will die, but he may get a wound or a broken bone…
It’s so fun knowing the things and seeing all the conjecture 😉
Hah! Isn’t it though?
Sunnova! Everyone was speculating (well, obviously not _everyone_, more like ‘everyone not already in the know’) about who Louis Steward the Elder was, and, thanks to Rich’s comment on page 0251, we see he has already been in the comic and met Arachne (the fact we don’t see him again doesn’t bode well for him)
Rather than an amulet…isn’t that a certain ring?