Chapter 35 – Page 38
And that, guildies, concludes the mammoth Chapter 35. Thanks for reading along, hoping your feels remain well intact.
Next week is the beginning of Axemas Season here at Guilded Age! That’s right, it’s time for the 2014 Axemas special… and by special, we mean special! Trust me, there’s going to some fun surprises and interesting people to hear from in this, our most relevant of Axemas Specials yet!
Somebody’s grumpy!
Well the village is in peaces so that’s a start I guess.
Perhaps, but how long will that last? I’m sure the fighting will resume come the next mourn.
that was a pun
You look uncertain.
Too puns, at least.
Cleaning up the place is going to involve a lot of hungry work. I think I’ll set up a veggie stand & advertise a special bargain: http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/346/3/7/rest_in_peas__by_blueberryblack-d34qjc5.jpg
You could all celebrate over some land shark fin soup.
Penk sure knows how to cut a quarry short.
“I’m tiered, I’ll kill all of you tomorrow.”
Good job, sleep well, I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.
+ 1
+1 for comment. +1 for avatar of awesome.
I’ve always liked Penk. This strip just reinforces that. Well done, gentlemen.
HAMMERHEAD NOT HAPPY.
I am also guessing that Hammerhead turned off “Friendly Fire” while he waited for the fight to be over.
I don’t think his kind ever bothers to turn it on.
HAMMERHEAD*
Standing and clapping. This whole chapter was a freakin’ roller coaster ride. I bought it – Rachel’s sacrifice, Frigg’s anguish, the extreme danger of a monster that kills with a touch. I’m so touched, and impressed. One of the best comic chapters (print or electronic) anywhere. Thank you, gentlemen.
Seconded.
It didn’t feel as long as it was. Not a wasted panel. And while there was a very significant piece of plot advancement — H.R.’s machinations finally having a tangible effect on Arkerra — it was dwarfed by the emotional impact.
I feel… kind of drained.
I have to agree.
Good call, Penk. Though I suspect Hammerhead is going to have words with you later.
HAMMERHEAD doesn’t use his words.
HAMMERHEAD is going to have teeth with you later.
Then he´s lucky his teeth will grow back…but maybe Penk will hurt his feelings.
…after Penk has hurt his fillings…
Which works well, since I suspect Penk will probably want to have words with Hammerhead as well.
Now if we can just find out what happened with The Berzerker crew after they got slimed with the likwid darkness. Oh and just what will Just Joe do to avenge Shanna jackin his wheels. I mean we now know what freeked Ashok’s ghost. We have the basic idea what Mini H R is up to. How are real HR and Carol doin these days?
He tracks, he sings, he cleans! Truly every house needs a magick knight guy on their staff.
Aaaaand since the Mac version of Arkerra hasn’t been released, we know he does Windows!
Nice one :-)
Don´t let the Windows bug you.
Does Penk really mean Gastonian in panel 5? Seems rather complimentary of a nation he wants to destroy.
He means that he doesn’t intend to just ignore the peacemakers’ sacrifices, like the Gastonians would do.
Because all Gastonians are terrible. Especially the berzerker guy and that OTHER wood elf and that tiny stabby woman.
The worst.
= D
Technically, Byron, Syr’nj and Bandit are not Gastonian. Gastonian allies and represenatives yes, but I am sure the Heads of Hoyses draw a line.
Penk doesn’t, the rebellion doesn’t. Which is, tonight, the more important part.
Oh wow, I see it now. Complicated syntax is complicated.
Apologies for the serious post, all lacking in puns and everything, but this was an absolutely fantastic chapter. Kudos, everyone.
Plot twist: Penk attacks him as soon as they turn their backs on him.
Their backs are already turned, Penk is just slow. As evidenced by the previous battle.
With the helmet, he was the Avatar of Tectonicus. Without it, he Penk again. And, he’s just starting to figure out who Penk has become.
Congrats! This chapter was amazing!
Hmm. “Merry Axemas…one and all.” As someone said. Who said that?
I wish more games had a Bard class. :(
Try out Archage. It actually has a fully-fledged musical magic Bardic system implemented- granted, you combine it with two other ‘class bits’, but that’s the same for every class in that game.
It’s pretty keen, though- you even start with a flute or guitar that does aoe healing or mana regen, and those can be upgraded just like your weapons- and the class skills include things like cacaphonous attacks and stuff.
I agree with many of the posters above. This was an excellent issue.
An excellent issue where the end requires a tissue.
I wonder if the Gastonians are going to consider razing what’s left of that village. It doesn’t seem to be well guarded by the World’s Rebellion army. Yet it has several of the key players in that army hanging out there (Penk’s crew). The Gastonian’s could be one sneaky ambush away from a favorable turning point in the war.
I doubt very much that anyone who is currently focused on the “Savage Races” as the enemy is going to learn tactical details from anyone here.
(Unless Sundar demonstrates a combination of clever in a way I don’t think he is, stupid in a way I don’t think he is, and treacherous in a way he’s at least ostensibly stopped being.)
(Meaning treacherous to the Peacekeepers: going behind Syr’Nj’s back to Ardaic.)
Wow, their bard is so much cooler than our bard was…
I’m so sure that I feel like it’s borderline spoilers, but… it’s definitely the same guy. Payet Best didn’t die, he just fell into a magical vortex with a bunch of miscellaneous temple chunks. H.R. even said something to the effect of, “he’s still alive, just in a different place.” Now WAV comes back to save Arkerra, from another world, on a solo mission that gets co-opted by a larger group of adventurers, and he’s armed with his musical abilities and a sacrificial ride.
If this comment doesn’t get through moderation, nobody else will know I’m right, but *I’ll* know.
On an unrelated note, how much you wanna bet that Rachel’s IRL player is the first person Shanna visits on her Interview Quest?
There is at least as popular a theory that Penk is Xan, remember.
Guys, don’t be gross. Please?
Speciesist. Ageist. Heightist.
But seriously man, you’re censoring their irreverently immature humor now? Does it really offend you that much, or are you afraid it might offend the rest of the audience? Because if you’re just worried that people won’t get the sense of gravitas you’re going for… deleting comments isn’t really going to do much about that.
We had received complaints privately, agreed with them and took action. Sorry if you don’t like our decision, but we reserve the right to make it.
No that makes me want to see the comments more. Some people may take offense. But some of us love to be offended.
I’m curious what the comments were too, but not enough to want them back. Offense for offenses’ sake, or offense for the lulz. well, it is a losers game.
Log in on YouTube.
Select a funny cat video. Any cat video.
Write a negative comment.
Enjoy.
I’m sorry to have taken part in a joke thread that was deemed offensive. It was never my intention to make people feel uncomfortable. It’s certainly not the sort of joke I would have made if real people were involved instead of cartoon characters. (Commenting on a suggestive pose, that is.)
I can understand that, to those who experience a lot of feelings reading fiction, irreverent humour of the sort we participated in can come over as callous & hurtful. Jokes like these can come as a punch to the gut when you’re processing feelings of sadness, like today’s episode might inspire. To this I can only say that our joking about it doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate the story & the efforts of its creators. That is to say, we too are moved by it, although we didn’t choose to comment to that effect.
It’s still strange that people can’t keep the comments distinct from the work itself. Anyone who felt offended enough to complain to the authors apparently thinks that their interpretation of a scene is somehow superior to everyone else’s, so the original comment (and the irreverent jokes derived from it) should be censored.
That’s the equivalent of demanding that a movie review be removed from a site because it interferes with another viewer’s experience of the movie, as in, they found the reviewer’s interpretation of a specific scene to be “gross”.
While it’s well within the authors’ rights to censor interpretations that they object to, it seems far too touchy-feely think-about-the-children to me. I hadn’t participated in the thread, but now I kind of wish I had.
I don’t know to which depths the joke thread had descended before it was censored & it doesn’t particularly matter. The motives behind the complaints can only be guessed at, but likely they were not about the superiority of one interpretation over the other.
I can understand how the description of sexual acts – not actually taking place in the comic & therefore needlessly off-topic – might have the effect of triggering bad memories in some readers. This is understandably an effect the moderators wish to avoid.
I don’t see how you came to the conclusion that the motive for making the complaint wasn’t about the superiority of one interpretation over the other. It certainly wasn’t about questionably content of the comic itself – I doubt anyone had asked for the first panel to be edited or removed. What they did ask for (and receive) was the removal of a particular (irreverent, mildly humorous) interpretation of that panel. To me, that reeks of entitled superiority – “I know what this work of art is about while those proles clearly do not, and I wish to see them put in their place.”
Anyone who thinks that oral sex is gross 1) has been doing it wrong and 2) didn’t need to plumb the depths of that comment thread at all.
And re. “bad memories”, I wonder if any could have been triggered by that scene where a warrior slams two axes straight through the collarbones of an unsuspecting young blonde woman of childlike proportions.
Sorry for answering so late, I want to add something. You’re one of the commenters I really like (among the reasons for this is your avatar), but I think there’s one part of your statement that is worth rethinking.
It’s the part after 2). Yeah – sure. But I for one value that more sensitive or perhaps thin-skinned persons than I or you can stroll around the comment sections, too. Perhaps you do, too?
Obviously Phil interprets the only rule of the comments – don’t be shitty to each other (more or less) – quite generously here. I still get it.
If people are being jackholes on a private board (which, really, this is, it only LOOKS public, the site is owned) and the owners don’t want that kind of jackassery on their site, then they’re totally within their rights to remove it.
And personally, my opinion only, I think trolls suck. And that there is never any excuse for them. And I applaud someone taking a stand to remove them.
I wasn’t one of the people who complained (I figured the thread would peter out of its own accord), but thanks for killing that thread. It really was icky.
Here is hoping that the restoring the data of people is part of the repairs (aka the universe adjusting around the back up servers going online).
Hey. I have a dumb theory. Think that Penk and Cyber Knight are both Best, I think there are at least three more Bests. Think they all play a different instruments. Think that All these Bests need to be formed into a five man band. The Best band.
Well if Axe Best is coming back, then with Keytar and Drum, there are two spots left. One will need to be Vocal, leaving the final spot for the best Best.
Cowbell Best.
every song needs more cowbell. every song
Interesting theory. I’ve been on the WAV=Best train for awhile now. While I doubt there’s a bunch of Bests running around, that would be a hell of a mindfuck.
With all the talk of Best lately, am I the only one who doesn’t miss him and the only reason I’d want to see him come back is when it’s around closure time for when they all get out of the tubes? Or just to see him get his ass kicked would be nice too I suppose.
It’s not a question of missing Best as a character, but of expecting him to be of further purpose to the story. His return is expected, because there seems to be more to his being absent. Although I can imagine a scenario were his Missing Person turns out to be dead after release from the tube, to indicate that the stakes have been raised for the survival of the other four Missing Persons.
That… explains it so much better; thank you. I thought everyone just REALLY liked Best for some strange reason. Thank you!
Also, guessing who might be Best is a running gag in the comments. Just about every character has been called Best, at some point. Also called Best: Guilded Age’s creators, various commenters, and the entire Internet, if I recall correctly.
I, personally, am looking forward to seeing everyone get out of the tubes, give HR the lethal “post beta-test feedback and review session” that he richly deserves, then crawl right back in the tubes. With Carol then running the company as CEO and monthly (in-tube?) interviews to the trade publications, of course.
Carol is an accessory to murder, who chose to abide by it instead of tipping HR off to the police. If you think she will come out of this unscathed, you’re either very optimistic or very cynical.
Optimism and cynicism, somehow co-existing in this infinite space within a tiny nutshell which is reality, where it not for my bad dreams, to paraphrase Hamlet.
I’m just thinking aloud and looking around for a silver lining, to distract myself from art imitating life, which in this chapter has reminded us that despite how much we might wish otherwise, those we value and admire sometimes pass away from life and are seen no more.
Merry Axemas.
I think Wav is Kaspersky in disguise.