“We do not make war on terror”… my, how quickly Ardaic forgets 9/11.
Wait – Gastonia hasn’t had a 9/11.
Well, if they keep ignoring the cultists … they will have something similar.
Although his tryst with Frigg was not blissed, he got the gist. Now he’s off to sit on a slab of schist smacking his fist and grinding the grist of his anger into a list while today’s engagement fades from his thoughts like. mist.
I like more how they are a full feet apart, their hands hanging in the air. Whoever made those statues knows exactly how much ‘unity’ really is there. XD
My favorite part of this page is how the two statues aren’t actually shaking hands, they just have their hands outstretched. I interpret it as a subtle reminder about how tenuous this alliance actually is.
Been some interesting things going on in this comic. But the Dull (Ardaic) are just getting too much face time.
Gravedust is good people. Everybody likes Gravy.
Ardaic? Not so much. Think that it is high time the Fightopia flag got dusted off and made to fly high again.
Ardaic needs to run his mouth to Frigg. Just once. But you notice he never does, eh?
Waste the Silver Centurion if he shows his face. Find the Cat People and team up with them. Let Harky wax Gastonia. It’s for their own good, if they are too dumb to adapt, then let evolution take it’s course. All the good people can go to Fightopia.
Like an experienced fighter who breaks low-level sorcerers before they can cast cone of cold, he would doubt that those guys who could barely cast cantrips without sacrificing thirteen virgin firstborns now are able to summon horrors that would make Acererak shiver just sacrificing the loser of a duel (and shoehorning rabies immunity in the same ritual, how efficient!).
Until he sees the void staring back at him… let’s do what worked 80% of the time based on “reliable” information and dismiss the possibility of The Snarl taking a (relatively) low-fantasy realm as a snack.
Yeah, the dwarves(seriously? ‘dwarves’ isn’t in the spellchecker? o_O) Savasi joined with ‘Genocidal Warmongers’ after they were almost wiped out, in a genocidal war, ironic, don’t you think?
Right, because the plural of “dwarf” (i.e. persons or organisms with dwarfism) in English is “dwarfs.” “Dwarves” is a Tolkien-derived plural describing the fantastical short humanoid creatures originating in Germanic myths. See the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarfism#Terminology
Maybe I’m paranoid, but isn’t Ardaic protesting a bit too much about the cultists..? I’d like to believe he’s not one, since I kinda like him, but…This is a cult of people who have people everywhere, it seems.
The other alternative is that he’s unsettled by how poorly the recent battle went. I don’t think they were anticipating the Rebellion to be able to take out their airships. And he was clearly rather concerned for Syr’nj’s well being.
As his entry on the cast page says, he serves Gastonia, not the Peacekeepers or the concept of justice. From the standpoint that only Gastonia matters, it makes sense to insist on focusing on the group which is opposed to Gastonia, not to Everybody–particularly when he’s addressing people who he knows would think Gastonia should make all sorts of concessions if Harky indicated willingness to discuss peace.
He is on the side that just lost a major battle and had a bunch of people, most likely including some friends, slaughtered, and now somebody wants to turn their back on the enemy he knows and hates to deal with a bunch of evil hippies, based on a mere snippet of a conversation in which Gravedust didn’t really say a whole lot about why and how, and gee, look at that run on sentence…
Seriously though, the guy is a bit stressed right now and every muscle in his body wants to strike back at the bad guys he knows are dangerous.
I agree with your evaluation, Bob. For lack of a better term, Ardaic is nothing if not pragmatic. He has to deal with the logistics of mobilizing all of the military and civilian assets of a nation, which necessarily means that once he is committed to a course of action (the Rebellion invaders), he cannot easily redirect or reallocate assets to meet another threat. Furthermore, without actionable intelligence, he would be negligent in his duties to siphon resources from the defense of Gasontia. As with most stories containing this sort of plot, he will have to give tacit approval to the Peacemakers to handle the Cultist threat using resources not critical to the war effort.
I’m guessing that the Peacemakers and the Adventurers Guild will have to take on the Cultists on their own, without the support or approval of Ardaic or the Gastonian Houses.
That’ll cause a lot of friction, and will test the Guild’s independence from the Gastonian Army.
“We don’t make war on terror, we make war on armies.” Smartest bloody thing I’ve heard in a long time. Smack the US government in the face with that factdick, please!
If you dun like Gastonia, yah can geeeewt oewwwt!
Panel 3 thumb gesture is particularly poignant.
One…two…three…four…I declare a genocidal war!
Five….six…seven…eight….Ardaic is a hypocrite!
Nine… ten… eleven… twelve… Who needs Dwarves? We’ve got an Elf!
Ardaic’s an hypocrite? How so?
“We do not make war on terror, Deserthammer! We make war on drugs! …Wait…”
“We do not make war on terror”… my, how quickly Ardaic forgets 9/11.
Wait – Gastonia hasn’t had a 9/11.
Well, if they keep ignoring the cultists … they will have something similar.
BROTHER TOM DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN GASTONIA
“I dont know where, I dont know when. But something awful is going to happen.”
– Donal Rumpastiltskin
The wars of the future will not be fought on land, or at sea, but out in space or on the tops of very tall mountains!
“Wait a minute.. Desert-Hammer.. that name sounds awfully terror-like..”
Sounds more like a counter-terror plan to me. Operation Desert-Hammer!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War:_Operation_Desert_Hammer
Jeeze I forgot that Gravedust’s last name was Desert-hammer.
I don’t know. In Final Fantasy you make war on Chaos and literally kill him. Given the story setting you might be able to literally fight Terror.
‘stonia!
Gravy: dissed, dismissed, and therefore pissed and feeling like he won’t be missed.
C’mon, that was a slap on the wrist.
(Also, Gravy has never been kissed, or played a game of whist.)
Although his tryst with Frigg was not blissed, he got the gist. Now he’s off to sit on a slab of schist smacking his fist and grinding the grist of his anger into a list while today’s engagement fades from his thoughts like. mist.
[mike drop]
You word-based hedonist.
That’s quite a list.
Now the plot will twist!
I think we all got the gist.
Syr’Nj: Keep your advisors in separate time-slots. It doesn’t do well for them to talk over one another.
Yeah, Gravy. Your people have thrown in with genocidal warmongers. That’s totally different from what you did.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the orchard
I like how the Gastonian is smirking and the elf is frowning.
I’ll be disappointed if the elvish writing doesn’t say something completely different from what is said in Gastonian.
“Beware of Pickpockets and Loose Women.”
That sculptor is obviously a genius. Look how grudgingly the elf is shaking hands!
I like more how they are a full feet apart, their hands hanging in the air. Whoever made those statues knows exactly how much ‘unity’ really is there. XD
The Sepia tease went on further than I predicted. This is a good chapter
My favorite part of this page is how the two statues aren’t actually shaking hands, they just have their hands outstretched. I interpret it as a subtle reminder about how tenuous this alliance actually is.
Dwarves don’t get no respect. Everyone looks down on them.
Except gnomes
What about halflings?
Are there halflings in Arkerra?
It’s why didn’t mention hobbits or kender
They’re just too underground for most people. I myself was into dwarves way back in ’84.
No one has touched on the fact that for a statue that is meant to represent unity, it very obviously shows them apart? Or was that part too obvious?
Low blow, Ardaic. Low blow.
And what about both figures being close eyed? At least, the elf isn`t pinching his nose shut….
Been some interesting things going on in this comic. But the Dull (Ardaic) are just getting too much face time.
Gravedust is good people. Everybody likes Gravy.
Ardaic? Not so much. Think that it is high time the Fightopia flag got dusted off and made to fly high again.
Ardaic needs to run his mouth to Frigg. Just once. But you notice he never does, eh?
Waste the Silver Centurion if he shows his face. Find the Cat People and team up with them. Let Harky wax Gastonia. It’s for their own good, if they are too dumb to adapt, then let evolution take it’s course. All the good people can go to Fightopia.
Then the freak flag can really fly.
Ardaic is more pragmatic.
Like an experienced fighter who breaks low-level sorcerers before they can cast cone of cold, he would doubt that those guys who could barely cast cantrips without sacrificing thirteen virgin firstborns now are able to summon horrors that would make Acererak shiver just sacrificing the loser of a duel (and shoehorning rabies immunity in the same ritual, how efficient!).
Until he sees the void staring back at him… let’s do what worked 80% of the time based on “reliable” information and dismiss the possibility of The Snarl taking a (relatively) low-fantasy realm as a snack.
The best symbol of unity: two men in robes five feet apart refusing to move any closer together or even to extend their hands further.
Yeah, the
dwarves(seriously? ‘dwarves’ isn’t in the spellchecker? o_O) Savasi joined with ‘Genocidal Warmongers’ after they were almost wiped out, in a genocidal war, ironic, don’t you think?Right, because the plural of “dwarf” (i.e. persons or organisms with dwarfism) in English is “dwarfs.” “Dwarves” is a Tolkien-derived plural describing the fantastical short humanoid creatures originating in Germanic myths. See the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarfism#Terminology
We know next to nothing about what the history actually was between Gastonia and the Savasi. Certainly there’s no evidence for genocide.
Yep; that sculpture speaks volumes.
Maybe I’m paranoid, but isn’t Ardaic protesting a bit too much about the cultists..? I’d like to believe he’s not one, since I kinda like him, but…This is a cult of people who have people everywhere, it seems.
The other alternative is that he’s unsettled by how poorly the recent battle went. I don’t think they were anticipating the Rebellion to be able to take out their airships. And he was clearly rather concerned for Syr’nj’s well being.
I’d hope it’s the latter as well. But who can say for sure?
Well, I guess one indicator would be if Gravedust starts having near-“accidents” after today.
Recall that awhile back, Iwatani did deal with Brother Tom, exchanging what were basically favors. Perhaps there are oyther arrangements as well…
As his entry on the cast page says, he serves Gastonia, not the Peacekeepers or the concept of justice. From the standpoint that only Gastonia matters, it makes sense to insist on focusing on the group which is opposed to Gastonia, not to Everybody–particularly when he’s addressing people who he knows would think Gastonia should make all sorts of concessions if Harky indicated willingness to discuss peace.
Time for a conspiracy theory: Ardaic’s a cultist. Calling it now.
You disappoint me, Ardaic. It will take more than a glass of brandy and a stealth pun to make up for this.
He is on the side that just lost a major battle and had a bunch of people, most likely including some friends, slaughtered, and now somebody wants to turn their back on the enemy he knows and hates to deal with a bunch of evil hippies, based on a mere snippet of a conversation in which Gravedust didn’t really say a whole lot about why and how, and gee, look at that run on sentence…
Seriously though, the guy is a bit stressed right now and every muscle in his body wants to strike back at the bad guys he knows are dangerous.
Gravvy never said to ignore the Rebel Alliance, he just said that the Cult of Personality was not something to be ignored
Ardaic does not seem to be taking it that way…
I agree with your evaluation, Bob. For lack of a better term, Ardaic is nothing if not pragmatic. He has to deal with the logistics of mobilizing all of the military and civilian assets of a nation, which necessarily means that once he is committed to a course of action (the Rebellion invaders), he cannot easily redirect or reallocate assets to meet another threat. Furthermore, without actionable intelligence, he would be negligent in his duties to siphon resources from the defense of Gasontia. As with most stories containing this sort of plot, he will have to give tacit approval to the Peacemakers to handle the Cultist threat using resources not critical to the war effort.
I’m guessing that the Peacemakers and the Adventurers Guild will have to take on the Cultists on their own, without the support or approval of Ardaic or the Gastonian Houses.
That’ll cause a lot of friction, and will test the Guild’s independence from the Gastonian Army.
“We don’t make war on terror, we make war on armies.” Smartest bloody thing I’ve heard in a long time. Smack the US government in the face with that factdick, please!