HAWM, Guildies. Since you asked, we’ll deliver: There is now an official World of Warcraft guild. Roll an Alliance character on Steamwheedle Cartel and look for Bigfrigg (Phil) or our 100% Certfied Rad Officers and comments regulars, Styrn (The Indomitable Eric) and Hawknote (Hawk), and say you came for the comic about wizards and elves and shit. We’ve got seven players in the guild so far, and if there’s enough people before my 10-day trial runs out at noon on 11/19, we’ll make it a thing and decide what it’ll be all about. We’ve already got seven of us so that’s a pretty good start! Come play, join me as we lol through all the changes since I left off during Trial of the Champions.
And if you’re already on Steamwheedle and don’t want to leave your guild, we’ve got an open chat channel (command: /join GuildedAge) for all to enjoy!
“Hello Clarice”
“A census taker tried to BLARBLHARGHARRRRH!”
Haha, well done.
Put the zerker in the basket or else it gets the frigg again.
Ogre she’ll be tannin his hide?
GNNNGH! GRAAAAAAGHAAAARRAAAAGH!
(Lovely place you’ve got here. I quite like the color scheme)
Now THATS a Berserker!
You can tell because he generates his own light source.
Byron the berserker can be a bit of a barbarian when battered and bruised, but is bewilderingly one to begrudge his buddies the advantages of this belligerent state of being.
Not puns, but it’s something I guess.
Well, at least we know you are alliterate.
Puns aren’t perfect, perhaps the populace will push for progress and pass on punditry?
Kudos for cleverly kicking that crappy convention to the curb.
Alliteration: (As always) Awesome.
Cheers,
Cote
PS “bonus” would have worked in place of “advantages”
Haha, good call. Wish I’d thought of that then.
I hope Byron is in berserker mode and not passing a kidney stone, those hurt.
It seems Byron has a rabid objection after a change of heart-rate.
Syr’s lookin’ positively badass…
Not really. -hides the bubble bursting needle and flees-
Why the rage face?
This comic is rage worthy indeed.
WAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!! HNNNNNNNNNNNGUAAAAARRRRGH GAAAAAAAAAARGH-WARGHLE-GARGLE! BLAAAAAAAAGH, UGH, RAARGH, HNG-GAAAAAAAH!! LEEAAARGH, REARGH UGAAAARGH!
(My love! For so long, I have admired you from afar! Byron is but a mask, but now, my passion for you can know no boundary! Set me free, and we shall sail off into the horizon together!)
Magnificent.
Disturbing connotations, you raise here. Filtered through an active imagination, it’s rather potent Nightmare Fuel. Well done, sir.
Now we’re just back to Oglaf.
“Syr’nj, my love for you…is like a truck….”
well played, sir.
GLAAAAARGH WEEEERRRGH NNNNNGH FUCK!
(Would you like some making fuck?)
Interestingly enough, the word “fuck” in Berserkerese is the same as it is in English.
Fuck is universal. Fun fact, if you learn just that one word and the right set of physical gestures you can court anyone in Arkerra regardless of language barriers. It’s gotten Payet out of a sticky situation a time or three, and then right back into one ifyouknowwhatImean ;)
Panel four is a treat. Lotsa solid characterization, there, with the trepidation, resolve, and preparedness. Also, it never ceases to be a solid gag when Gravedust’s head barely enters the frame.
His chest is his angry button.
I’m getting kind of a Wolverine vibe here, actually.
“You, uh, got something on your cheek right there.”
Byron’s the real deal. Even his hair is berserking.
Hello!
Welcome to my show.
I’m glad that you could come…
We’re going to have a hoot, we’re going to have some fun.
Okay. How many fingers am I holding up?
*CHOMP*
I love how this page ist done, the contrast between the calm spectators on the one side and the pure rage on the other side is really great!
I love that Syr has personified Byron’s berserker-ness; it’s cool and also psychologically interesting. Is she doing this to make certain she keeps the two “identities” separate in her own head, or for the benefit of the others? Is this how she rationalizes being in love with a human who nearly killed her?
She loves Byron. The Beserker isn’t Byron, it’s the horrible monster living inside of him, the one that killed the party, that torments Byron every waking second, and makes him long for death. I think it would be fair to say she hates it more than any living thing.
As someone who just started watching the UK “Being Human,” there’s a certain poignancy to that statement.
Indeed. Especially given the medical parallels between the love interests.
It might be more accurate for Byron however. We saw an attempt to activate it via dark magic before, an an orc who seemed to know something about it considering it “infectious” it’s possible it’s a magically induced state or otherworldly presence. Hopefully we’ll get more answers as to exactly what it is, whatever it is, during the course of this research.
Or at least find a way to market that fine looking berserker hair.
Help the sick, kill the sickness.
I think it was always lurking there in the back of my head, but I never quite understood why the creators named him “Byron”.
Now I get it. Truly, the writers of this comic are demi-gods of literature. A Byronic character named Byron, and I NEVER SAW IT COMING UNTIL JUST NOW!
Not enough bisexual drug-addict for you?
Well, also look up the term Byronic Hero. Might fit him damn well.
It does. That was sort of my point. Although, Byron is only brooding and melancholy about a quarter of the time…
Frigg’s face. That is all.
Frigs mind: Chains hold oh please oh please….
Gravedusts mind: Not enough arrows at this point…
Syr’s mind: hello focus of my hatred…
Byron out loud: WORSTCASEOFHEARTBURNEVEROHGODGETMEATUMMSYOUBASTARDS!!!!
“Hello, Berserker!
Hello, Meshuggah!
Hello, my rage-filled pal!”
“Hello, breaking chains!
Frigg feels like she might die!”
Very nice callback to http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-9/chapter-9-page-8/
MY BRAIN! -ASPLODE-
…DUDE!
And now I’m picturing the Byron in the tank waking up and screaming soundlessly at Dedalus.
With the traditional shock moment close-up.
Wow. Well-spotted.
I believe you are now entitled to an honorary degree in the humanities.
Nice catch, thanks for sharing.
So “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH” versus “RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.”
On an unrelated note, I do love me some haaaaaaaaaaaaagh-gis.
Has this comic gone from story-oriented to a “Gaaagh” strip?
What does a Klingon delicacy have to do with Guilded Age?
[trollface] U MAD, BRO?
dang, you beat me too it lol.
Remember, those were Frigg’s Last Words…
Just noticed in panel 3 you can see litle bits of the column fraying off already I think.
Just little, eensy-weensy, itty-bitty, tiny bits from the chains pulling taught against the wood. Not enough to speculate on yet, if you ask me.
Also, am I the only one hoping that this chapter may end with Berserker!Byron fighting Fantasy Godzilla? Like, he’s just hacking away at the big toe, or goes all Kratos and scales it to attack the face?
This comes immediately after the farce of Brix the Berserker. Byron is actual tragedy.
Somewhere, I once read a claim that in fantasy fiction, all internal conflicts become external conflicts. While that’s an exaggeration, that’s surely what’s going on here. I suspect that Byron (the player) has suffered real trauma, and this is the expression of it.
Fantasy tropes have meaningful roots, even if that gets forgotten. I think Brix represents the forgetting of the basis of the trope, and Byron is the return to the meaningful root of the trope — and I think getting at the roots may be the point of the five going in the tanks to begin with.