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Annotations Every Day - Written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn - Illustrated by John & Jason Waltrip

Von Carnaj gets all his cues from storybooks. That's why his previous schemes involved carriages made entirely of pumpkin and cross-dressing as some poor kid's Grandmother.

Chapter 4 – Page 9

on March 22, 2010
Chapter: Chapter 04
└ Tags: Byron, Frigg, Gravedust, Syr'Nj, Taro Iwatani, Von Carnaj
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Discussion (32) ¬

  1. Hypothetical
    Hypothetical
    March 22, 2010, 1:26 am | # | Reply

    Heh, I was wondering if I smelled a Treasure-Islandy kinda plot twist there.

    I’m wondering if Frigg understands stealth, or if she’s just tired of not being the one doing the Thwacking?

    • Tolrick
      Tolrick
      June 12, 2010, 10:28 pm | # | Reply

      She really doesn’t understand the question.

  2. SaltyKracka
    SaltyKracka
    March 22, 2010, 1:49 am | # | Reply

    I suspect that von Carnaj may be the toughest opponent they’ll ever face. After all, he reads stories! That means that he knows and lives all the cliches, and in a story full of them, knows what to expect.

    On the other hand, he’s a pirate, so being savvy’s all he’s got going for him in a melee. Now if he were a ninja…

    • Jim_Deets
      Jim_Deets
      March 22, 2010, 12:49 pm | # | Reply

      I smell alota if coming off that idea.

    • Joe
      Joe
      July 25, 2013, 6:24 pm | # | Reply

      You’re not much of a ninja if everyone KNOWS you’re a ninja…

  3. QAlchemist
    QAlchemist
    March 22, 2010, 4:44 am | # | Reply

    I don’t trust that boy at all.

    I think /he’s/ the evil one!

    • Riotllama
      Riotllama
      March 22, 2010, 8:43 am | # | Reply

      TREASURE MAP!

    • matt w
      matt w
      March 22, 2010, 8:49 am | # | Reply

      Gravedust should cast Detect Shenanigans, posthaste.

    • Thamerlin
      Thamerlin
      March 23, 2010, 5:24 am | # | Reply

      I agree. Looks like he’s tying himself up, there.

  4. Clyde
    Clyde
    March 22, 2010, 5:10 am | # | Reply

    @QAlchemist, I think the faded color pictures in the 3rd panel was intending to show *What* he would have done if they didn’t come save him, rather than showing what did happen before they rescued him. But I could be wrong :P just speculation until the next update!~ :)

    • Wes M
      Wes M
      March 22, 2010, 11:22 am | # | Reply

      Nah, the right side of the third panel is the kid binding himself to th mast. I think Carl-E (below) is right – the kid *is* Von Carnaj. (Though I don’t think he’s an illusionist – I think he’s just a pirate savant.)

      • Joe
        Joe
        March 22, 2010, 2:22 pm | # | Reply

        If it’s Von Carnaj, it has to be some sort of magic or illusion.
        We got a little flashback montage when Cap’n Hookeye first mentioned him. He’s an adult.

  5. DCB
    DCB
    March 22, 2010, 7:57 am | # | Reply

    Children stacking….why didn’t “I” think of that?

  6. Carl-E
    Carl-E
    March 22, 2010, 9:12 am | # | Reply

    The kid is von Carnaj. He’s an illusionist of some sort, and once they “rescue” him, he’ll show his true self when they least expect it.

    Oh, and he’s just stealing boys to train as new crew. He keeps on losing the old crew members to rescue attempts…

  7. Lloyd
    Lloyd
    March 22, 2010, 11:34 am | # | Reply

    The look on Frigg’s face bodes ill for the party’s next stealth check.

  8. MajorPhilosophy
    MajorPhilosophy
    March 22, 2010, 11:54 am | # | Reply

    I don’t think the kid is von Carnaj. Look at how he’s tied up in the last page. It looks like his wrists are bound and then his arms tied to the pillar. That would be nigh impossible to do by yourself. Plus, I think the kid looks like one of the families from earlier on, with the black hair and brown eyes. He looks like that girl who talked about how the pirates kidnapped the kids.

    OR HE IS A TIME LORD

  9. Wyrd
    Wyrd
    March 22, 2010, 1:18 pm | # | Reply

    You have to remember that there is magic available, which greatly expands the possibilities. Maybe the kid is eternally young, and reading their world’s version of Peter Pan inspired him to do this. Maybe the mind of the captain has been transferred into the kid’s body. Maybe the kid is just a precociuos pirate genius. Maybe he’s a vampirate. He could also be the captain’s son, and this is part of their plan, or be otherwise cooperating with the captain without actually being the captain. So many possibilities.

    Looking back at the description given by the ghosts, they call him both a youth and lad, so it’s possible that the kid is Von Carnaj. there are pictures on that page that suggest otherwise, but they could have been representing what the adventurers were thinking, not what actually happened.

    • SotiCoto
      SotiCoto
      June 21, 2013, 8:13 am | # | Reply

      You’re making me distrust every NPC in every D&D campaign EVER.

  10. Alison
    Alison
    March 22, 2010, 5:40 pm | # | Reply

    I think the faded sepia tones are showing that the kid is in cahoots with Von Carnaj, going over his maps with him, tying himself up to lure in the rescue party. The kid is two-faced.

    • ocelot
      ocelot
      March 30, 2010, 6:58 pm | # | Reply

      this is the one i’m thinking. there’s something sneaky ’bout that last frame. i feel like he’s dressed like a girl? i spent some time wondering if he *was* a girl …?

  11. taltamir
    taltamir
    March 22, 2010, 6:54 pm | # | Reply

    kill them (pirates) all, treat the hostages as loot?

  12. SteelRaven
    SteelRaven
    March 22, 2010, 8:39 pm | # | Reply

    Sneaky kid

  13. TraderInTown
    TraderInTown
    March 22, 2010, 10:33 pm | # | Reply

    Look I understand, he’s a kid. And a good pirate.

    But he’s evil man, you can see it in his eyes. Kill him now.

    Then kill Best.

  14. King of Zeroes
    King of Zeroes
    March 23, 2010, 1:11 am | # | Reply

    The kids no pirate. Look at that face. That’s not the face of a pirate.

    There’s no eyepatch.

    • TraderInTown
      TraderInTown
      March 23, 2010, 1:22 pm | # | Reply

      Good point, but the plan will still hold up.

      Kill the kid. Do it, Byron, and take your place at my side.

      Burn Best alive and watch his eyes melt and ooze down the charred, blackened face of his skin as his vocal cords all graft together and his tongue shrivels.

      Collect your pay which now seems very little in comparison to what you’ve just been through.

  15. FadedC
    FadedC
    March 23, 2010, 12:11 pm | # | Reply

    As hard to imagine as it might be, it’s possible that he’s not an illuisionist or shapeshifter, but simply a boy who thinks that being made the captain of a pirate crew is the coolest thing ever.

    • TraderInTown
      TraderInTown
      March 23, 2010, 1:23 pm | # | Reply

      A kid capturing other kids? Is he lonely or something?

    • Phil
      Flo
      March 23, 2010, 1:31 pm | # | Reply

      :|

    • Joe
      Joe
      March 23, 2010, 3:18 pm | # | Reply

      That’s too boring for the fantasy genre.
      There’s something else going on.

    • TraderInTown
      TraderInTown
      March 23, 2010, 5:19 pm | # | Reply

      Hey, it’s legit. He’s a kid, he’s tired of being around grown-ups all the time so they get other kids for him to hang around with.

      And then he dies.

  16. zack of hiskatana
    zack of hiskatana
    August 3, 2011, 1:11 pm | # | Reply

    hmmm.. my urge to “kwok” is warring with my urge not to scar children for life…

  17. atypicaloracle
    atypicaloracle
    October 30, 2012, 5:02 pm | # | Reply

    I love the Tailspin reference in the pirate’s name.

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Guilded Age is co-written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn, and illustrated by John Waltrip. Site design by Samantha Kyle. Fonts by Blambot.com.
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