I bet Gravedust deserts and either tries to take on the cultists himself, or goes to the savage races in an attempt to gain their assistance. At this point I see him quite willing to stand against the humans and elves, as neither give him any kind of respect.
Gravedust was never looking for or expecting respect. Only for a chance to help his people. They are still, unfortunately, far less likely to listen to him than the humans and elves are.
And he’s also smart enough to realize that Ardaic is right. Armies are for fighting armies.
Well, just like mentioned on his “Ask an Adventurer” letter, his greatest fear is that he might be the last person left that reveres life.
So, what we have here? On top on everybody hating his race and the boatmurdered mountain they came from, now there’s some cultists bringing an endless void who can screw up even the ever-after (rendering his job moot), and those who can do something not going to do anything about it.
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to rabies, rabies leads to Gravy going all stab-stab-stabby with a quiver of arrows.
Yup, looks like we’ll see why he has “hammer” as a surname anytime soon.
One of the most heart wrenching pages of this comic.
Racist sky elf nazis. Prideful greedy short sighted humans.
I am now rooting for the world’s rebellion, as long as the Guildies survive.
OH! Thanks for reminding me. Yeah, the last time we had a moral melee here I tried to suggest we stop, only to get barked at. I shall remind myself and all of us: IT’S ONLY A COMIC … IT’S ONLY A COMIC …
No offence, but I think the Sky elf leader would be one to support our poor Dwarf here.
And you think the world’s rebellion is any better? They’re just as racist, if not more. Heck, remember how the Gnoll’s genocided the catfolk, mousemen, elkfolk etc?
The fuzzy people literally didn’t have enough resources in their entire region to support all the different races of fuzzy people, and had no nowhere else to go, since Gastonia kept pushing them off fertile land and there was no World’s Rebellion to join. At the time, it was either genocide, or starve.
but then in a surprising twist graydust Kills the leader of the dwarfs and then keeps his soul in a tiny jar and states, ” You see? you still have your old leader and I’m your new leader and if you disobey me I’ll keep you in a jar FOREVER MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
After 31 chapter of Gravedust being unstoppably calm, wise and stoic, I have to wonder if his outburst of emotion is more than it seems. Ardaic not instantly stopping a war on his word can’t possibly surprise him, Syr’nj didn’t even get a word in edgewise, and he’s still got an entire adventurer’s guild to ask for help.
I think something else has him this upset. Something about that abyss he looked into, perhaps.
I expect he was more upset about what Ardaic said about the dwarves than his refusal on the cultist matter. Also, what the elves are saying probably reflects GD’s thoughts at the moment. He probably feels he’s betrayed his people and sold out to Gastonia, became their “pet”, all in the hopes of changing peoples’ attitudes and bringing about some sort of resolution to the conflict and now it feels like that’s all fallen apart.
In any case great page. Over 26 chapters worth of build up for this one.
I think the captain is right, especially when Gastonia has done little to hold Gravey’s end of the deal for joining the adventurers unit and doing Ardaic’s bidding.
Or he’s had enough. All of his struggles and patience for nothing. He’s put duty and the good of all ahead of his own pride and feelings. And nothing changes. You can only take so much for so long.
Gravestone “exited the cave,” so to speak, when he learned the danger that the cultists really pose. His returning to tell the others is analogous to the free man returning to his cave to enlighten his peers.
He’s seen a greater truth beyond what the others have. Perhaps he hasn’t comprehended its full meaning yet, but his glimpsed knowledge is greater still than that of Ardaic and the other Gastonions.
“And if he tried to free others and lead them to the light, they would catch him and put him to death”
I just now noticed. Previous page, panel 4. Everyone is looking and whispering, staying clear of the obviously untrustworthy and half-civil desert runt.
Again, the brave dwarf is alone in the dark night. Humans for greedy arrogance, sky elves for blind isolationism, they fail to see the whole picture… and the Rebellion? There are some greedy bastards too, mainly dwarf and goblin leaders, and about blind isolationism, well, at least Tectonicus is a Chaos Deity and that includes following own agenda over everything.
The only ones in the path of becoming better and more aware of their faults are the woods elves, due Syr’nj heart-shaking effort. Perhaps, she can also help Gravedust in getting all Peacemakers united to fight for every race and land against the Devourer of Universes, before the complete annihilation of everything…
For sure, Gravedust will raise from the tear stained floor and go to fight, perhaps not for the living beings, but for the Dead ones. They deserve the peace he can provide with his efforts, and until he becomes one of them, he will stand out in the very front of the Abbyss.
The Last Standing Dwarf, at least, have good friends, and a bunch of friend is much more and much better than any army, specially any army lead by that fascist oppressors the Gastonian, Sky Elves or Tectonicus blind believers. Silver Centurion or Red Troll, they are both sides of the same glimmering coin….
He expected it was possible to “negotiate Savasi reparations.” It was incredibly naive from the word go. He’s just had his nose mashed in the fact that Ardaic, and by extension the humans who run Gastonia, do not consider they have, or can ever have, anything to make reparations for.
To be fair, just expecting some type of “reparation” after a “negotiation” is not too naive by itself. It was Gravy’s expectation of REMOTELY SIGNIFICANT reparations that was childishly naive.
Oh come on, it was reasonable to expect that he’ll be able to talk them into seeing who the primary threat is here. I mean, wasn’t he always the voice of reason and insight? Have they *ever* known him to be wrong? Did he not friggin’ bring them back from friggin’ death, for frigg’s sake? How Syr’nj can be cool with Ardaic’s blind dismissal of Gravy’s warning is beyond me.
That said, I fully expect a tap-on-shoulder moment in two days, he turns to see all his teammates ready to do what he says needs to be done, Gastonia be damned…
What needs to happen now, of course, is Gravedust must physically bring Ardaic to the rift to allow him the imminent threat that risks the whole world. Finally understanding, Ardaic tells Gravy he must meet with Iver to bring him to the rift as well, where they may negotiate a temporary truce to give Gravy time to realize his true power and end the threat to all of Arkerra…
And I just realized I’ve been playing far too much Skyrim lately.
And that’s when GD stops playing and simply uses the arrow with the REALLY ANGRY ghost. The 40 gigaton one. Without a battlefield, the war must stop, at least for enough time to adress the real problems.
Take this as a teachable moment. Allow the haughty elves to mend the statues. Then give them a sneer, smash them again, and maybe bark once or twice. Repeat until they’re /OOM.
And then laugh, loudly and well. Break the haughty!
Those poor, oppressed Sky Elves.
Bullied by a bunch of racists for protection.
Yes, those poor sky elves being held under the tyrannical boot of those pointy-eared, magic using jerks… wait, which ones are the sky elves again?
I suppose, wherever Gravedust goes, this sort of thing will be dogging him.
At least when he wants to break something he doesn’t pussyfoot about.
I bet Gravedust deserts and either tries to take on the cultists himself, or goes to the savage races in an attempt to gain their assistance. At this point I see him quite willing to stand against the humans and elves, as neither give him any kind of respect.
Gravedust was never looking for or expecting respect. Only for a chance to help his people. They are still, unfortunately, far less likely to listen to him than the humans and elves are.
And he’s also smart enough to realize that Ardaic is right. Armies are for fighting armies.
If you want to fight villains, you need heroes.
Then why have armies in the first place?
For fighting armies, like the comment you responded to just said.
If you’re in a room with 20 other people, and they all have weapons, do you want to be the only guy without one?
Well, just like mentioned on his “Ask an Adventurer” letter, his greatest fear is that he might be the last person left that reveres life.
So, what we have here? On top on everybody hating his race and the boatmurdered mountain they came from, now there’s some cultists bringing an endless void who can screw up even the ever-after (rendering his job moot), and those who can do something not going to do anything about it.
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to rabies, rabies leads to Gravy going all stab-stab-stabby with a quiver of arrows.
Yup, looks like we’ll see why he has “hammer” as a surname anytime soon.
For Boatmurdered!
For those who don’t understand this beautiful reference…
http://lparchive.org/Dwarf-Fortress-Boatmurdered/Update%201-1/
And another story, in picture format. :)
http://bronzemurder.timdenee.com/
Sounds like a retelling of The Hobbit
I doubt he’d switch sides. They- or at least Ivler- already killed him once.
(I was about to say “already *tried* to kill him once.)
One of the most heart wrenching pages of this comic.
Racist sky elf nazis. Prideful greedy short sighted humans.
I am now rooting for the world’s rebellion, as long as the Guildies survive.
Sometimes it’s easy to feel like there’s no point, it can’t be salvaged, let it all burn.
Careful now, lest you lend a spark to the dry tinder that is the Peacekeepers v. World’s Rebellion morality analytics.
OH! Thanks for reminding me. Yeah, the last time we had a moral melee here I tried to suggest we stop, only to get barked at. I shall remind myself and all of us: IT’S ONLY A COMIC … IT’S ONLY A COMIC …
No offence, but I think the Sky elf leader would be one to support our poor Dwarf here.
And you think the world’s rebellion is any better? They’re just as racist, if not more. Heck, remember how the Gnoll’s genocided the catfolk, mousemen, elkfolk etc?
Plus the enslaving of the orcs. Plus the attempt to immolate the wood elves. Plus Harky’s stated intention of exterminating the humans and gnomes.
Neither side is worth rooting for.
The fuzzy people literally didn’t have enough resources in their entire region to support all the different races of fuzzy people, and had no nowhere else to go, since Gastonia kept pushing them off fertile land and there was no World’s Rebellion to join. At the time, it was either genocide, or starve.
… and Gravedust then joins the Worlds Rebellion.
Surely at least Magda would understand the struggle he is having.
Well, except for the leader of the dwarves trying to kill him.
but then in a surprising twist graydust Kills the leader of the dwarfs and then keeps his soul in a tiny jar and states, ” You see? you still have your old leader and I’m your new leader and if you disobey me I’ll keep you in a jar FOREVER MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
What Cassandra said.
I guess there’s a first time for everything. Somebody believing what Cassandra says… I guess Apollo’s spit finally wore off.
After 31 chapter of Gravedust being unstoppably calm, wise and stoic, I have to wonder if his outburst of emotion is more than it seems. Ardaic not instantly stopping a war on his word can’t possibly surprise him, Syr’nj didn’t even get a word in edgewise, and he’s still got an entire adventurer’s guild to ask for help.
I think something else has him this upset. Something about that abyss he looked into, perhaps.
I expect he was more upset about what Ardaic said about the dwarves than his refusal on the cultist matter. Also, what the elves are saying probably reflects GD’s thoughts at the moment. He probably feels he’s betrayed his people and sold out to Gastonia, became their “pet”, all in the hopes of changing peoples’ attitudes and bringing about some sort of resolution to the conflict and now it feels like that’s all fallen apart.
In any case great page. Over 26 chapters worth of build up for this one.
I think the captain is right, especially when Gastonia has done little to hold Gravey’s end of the deal for joining the adventurers unit and doing Ardaic’s bidding.
I expect he’s just warming up to some dwarf-on-Frigg action…
What?
Or he’s had enough. All of his struggles and patience for nothing. He’s put duty and the good of all ahead of his own pride and feelings. And nothing changes. You can only take so much for so long.
Exactly.
Gravedust looks like he’s about to go all Rambo. We know he can shoot fireworks arrows. I wonder if he can do Rambo level exploding arrows?
He looks mad enough to become an army of one.
“I’m coming for you, Brother Tom!”
Calm, yes, but I wouldn’t say stoic. He’s been bitter from the start, and after what Gastonia and Iver did to the Savasi, who wouldn’t be?
That’s fuckin’ rough… on the other hand I love how the clouds on the vases matches the artistic style of clouds as they are drawn in the comic sky.
Oh, man. Poor Gravedust. I’m not sure what he can do to help with this view. Probably nothing.
Poor Gravy. I don’t know if I could do anything more than cry right then either.
Aw no, Gravedust :( Want to hug him.
Ditto.
And so Gravedust finds himself in Plato’s Cave.
How so? Or is this in reference to GraveDust being an avatar of a human whose forgotten he’s not really a dwarf.
Gravestone “exited the cave,” so to speak, when he learned the danger that the cultists really pose. His returning to tell the others is analogous to the free man returning to his cave to enlighten his peers.
Okay. That makes sense.
He’s seen a greater truth beyond what the others have. Perhaps he hasn’t comprehended its full meaning yet, but his glimpsed knowledge is greater still than that of Ardaic and the other Gastonions.
“And if he tried to free others and lead them to the light, they would catch him and put him to death”
Seems analogous to me
I just now noticed. Previous page, panel 4. Everyone is looking and whispering, staying clear of the obviously untrustworthy and half-civil desert runt.
Man at least the Gastonians would pretend to respect him. The sky elves can’t seem to be bothered to play the part.
Again, the brave dwarf is alone in the dark night. Humans for greedy arrogance, sky elves for blind isolationism, they fail to see the whole picture… and the Rebellion? There are some greedy bastards too, mainly dwarf and goblin leaders, and about blind isolationism, well, at least Tectonicus is a Chaos Deity and that includes following own agenda over everything.
The only ones in the path of becoming better and more aware of their faults are the woods elves, due Syr’nj heart-shaking effort. Perhaps, she can also help Gravedust in getting all Peacemakers united to fight for every race and land against the Devourer of Universes, before the complete annihilation of everything…
For sure, Gravedust will raise from the tear stained floor and go to fight, perhaps not for the living beings, but for the Dead ones. They deserve the peace he can provide with his efforts, and until he becomes one of them, he will stand out in the very front of the Abbyss.
The Last Standing Dwarf, at least, have good friends, and a bunch of friend is much more and much better than any army, specially any army lead by that fascist oppressors the Gastonian, Sky Elves or Tectonicus blind believers. Silver Centurion or Red Troll, they are both sides of the same glimmering coin….
Oh, Gravy…
Ouch. :-(
I don’t usually say this sort of thing, but it looks like Gravedust needs a hug.
panel 4?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7qnkY0PHj_o/TUMwQSJ_3EI/AAAAAAAACl8/wP8DcJhucpc/s320/crying-indian1.jpg
Yes! I remember him. He’s the first person that came to mind, when I read this page.
For such a practical man, I have to ask… Gravedust, really, what did you expect?
He expected it was possible to “negotiate Savasi reparations.” It was incredibly naive from the word go. He’s just had his nose mashed in the fact that Ardaic, and by extension the humans who run Gastonia, do not consider they have, or can ever have, anything to make reparations for.
To be fair, just expecting some type of “reparation” after a “negotiation” is not too naive by itself. It was Gravy’s expectation of REMOTELY SIGNIFICANT reparations that was childishly naive.
Oh come on, it was reasonable to expect that he’ll be able to talk them into seeing who the primary threat is here. I mean, wasn’t he always the voice of reason and insight? Have they *ever* known him to be wrong? Did he not friggin’ bring them back from friggin’ death, for frigg’s sake? How Syr’nj can be cool with Ardaic’s blind dismissal of Gravy’s warning is beyond me.
That said, I fully expect a tap-on-shoulder moment in two days, he turns to see all his teammates ready to do what he says needs to be done, Gastonia be damned…
Nailed it!
What needs to happen now, of course, is Gravedust must physically bring Ardaic to the rift to allow him the imminent threat that risks the whole world. Finally understanding, Ardaic tells Gravy he must meet with Iver to bring him to the rift as well, where they may negotiate a temporary truce to give Gravy time to realize his true power and end the threat to all of Arkerra…
And I just realized I’ve been playing far too much Skyrim lately.
And that’s when GD stops playing and simply uses the arrow with the REALLY ANGRY ghost. The 40 gigaton one. Without a battlefield, the war must stop, at least for enough time to adress the real problems.
Take this as a teachable moment. Allow the haughty elves to mend the statues. Then give them a sneer, smash them again, and maybe bark once or twice. Repeat until they’re /OOM.
And then laugh, loudly and well. Break the haughty!
Congrats Gravy, you’re learning how pointless and painful it is to protect a society that hates and fears you.
*Hands him a ‘MAGNETO WAS RIGHT’ shirt*
Gravedust Deserthammer withdraws from society.
Gravedust Deserthammer has claimed a workshop!
You make Gravedust cry, you must die!