‘Kill’, they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
For our great lord Harky, pa rum pum pum pum
My feelings are a mess, pa rum pum pum pum
I’ll gore him through the chest, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
My hands no longer clean, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
OK, something is up here. a real peon starts getting ideas of his own and feelings. if drummer boy lives though this, he might become a turn coat. IF he lives. …. could this be that Best’s human persona just roll up a horde toon to play if bandit and best are out of the picture for now?
Okay. Let’s lay this to rest. Payet Best is an obvious homage to Pete Best, the original DRUMMER for The Beatles, so Penk, a drummer, must be Best’s alt.
“But, JarrysKid,” you cry, “that is too simple! Phil and T are not that transparent!”
So, okay, here’s how it gets complicated:
“Penk” is Lithuanian for “Fifth”, as in, “The Fifth Beatle”.
“Aha!”, you respond, “But surely the fifth Beatle was Stuart Sutcliffe, who left before their first recordings, or, by the Beatles own reference, George Martin, the producer!
Indeed. But if you ‘play the record backwards’, so to speak, ‘knep’ means ‘trick’ in Norwegian! An obvious attempt to mislead us revealed!
Ergo, Penk is Best’s alt.
Whereupon you might point out: “‘Knep’ is also Danish for ‘fuck’. Howzabou them apples, JarrysKid? Hah? Yeah!”
To which I reply, this hurts my argument not one iota.
the NPC AIs don’t get this introspective about themselves and the world. only really higher end AIs or players think this much. that tipped me off, we should keep an eye out for NPCs that seem to think or act out of the norm.
in a follow up idea, i wonder of drummer troll boy will not just quit the horde, but join the peace keepers on the alliance side? Gravey shows that it can be done, with him being a dwarf and all.
The Five are capable of “conversing” with NPCs, interacting with and even influencing them in ways normal players cannot. Player characters in physical proximity to the Five become capable of doing the same thing. (See chapter 15, page 22) But little drummer boy here had thought bubbles and moral crises of his own while he was still in distant lands. Therefore, since he had these internal thoughts without contact with the Five, he’s not an NPC. He’s just a player, playing for the Savage Races, who’s into RPing.
Role-playing allows you to imagine yourself as a different person — or really, to express different aspects of your personality, some submerged. That’s more the case if you role-play more than one character, and try to make them distinct from each other.
Payet Best wasn’t introspective. What little we saw of his sepia-world player didn’t seem introspective — but that person pointed out that he had multiple stage personas.
So I could quite well believe that this is an aspect of Payet Best that normally goes understated.
I actually have a crazy theory of my own. Remember at the end of chapter 15, HR ordered supllies for 2 more immersion tubes. So, what if those were finished without showing us and “Penk” is a new, immersed player? As for who the other one might be, perhaps Kur’ik? Just like Penk she’s shown to have thoughts of her own, which is – for me at least – hints at them being more than just NPC’s.
Often, you draw the whole panel, then stick the text on later, or you vaguely plan where the test will be. It’s rare that you perfectly integrate the lettering to the page as you draw it.
(This is because lettering is a horrible nightmare of doom, and there’s no nice or easy way to do it. :( )
Nope! Just one of those times where we’re all on the same page about how things should go. We get a lot of those kinds of happy accidents because of how much time we spend all making sure we have the same idea of what’s going on.
Not really intentional, but it’s probably more unconscious sychronisity. The cog is of course coming from the mashed axe-tank, and Penk of course is just a little cog in Harky’s war machine. Nice how those things just come out that way.
I sort of concur. I think this is pretty much the best way Bibli’Oh could have been killed, while still seeming realistic (as opposed to, say, his death buffing every elf – on the other hand, Bibli’Oh’s spirit could become a new arrow for Gravy now, it seems).
War, war never changes. It starts with the best of intentions, to end a percieved wrong, but ends with the worst of results, more hatred, and more wrongdoing, to be corrected in another war, a future war…
“I think we all know what ‘military fame’ is. It’s to be killed in some faraway place, and have your name spelled wrong in the papers.” – W. T. Sherman (also)
perhaps bard was reincarnated into the Penk character, his personality and memories slightly altered by his new regeneration, like some kind of Doctor.
Because a guy running with his arms full of papers is totally a threat to your race, Drummer Boy.
I really hope he develops free will and breaks away from mindless obedience to Harky, he seems to have a good moral code to fall back on and would make an interesting addition to the group.
“Knowledge is power.”
“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
So depending on what’s written on that armful of papers… yeah, he COULD totally be a threat to their race. Maybe those were the recipes for all those wondrous potions than Syr’Nj uses?
We had a different version uploaded at first, but then we changed it. Sadly, the feed minis did not change along with. I never could manage to get it to re-generate the thumbnails.
Ah…AH!
Quick, rhinosaur – kill the scribe before he finishes the sneeze, and spreads his cold viruses to us all!
Good boy!
But now he’ll be spreading rhinovirus!
Alas, Redshirt. We hardly knew ye.
Hey! He had a name, he’s totally above your standard redshirt. More like the Obi Wan, but mentoring a minor character.
he had a name?
check the tags, Bibli’Oh
In that second to last panel, doesn’t he look l just like a nerdy Steven Colbert????
why yes, yes he does, now that you mention it.
“just like a nerdy Steven Colbert?”
I’m going to report you to the Agency Committee for Redundancy!
Yeah, seriously. Colbert gives me the fellow-nerd-warm-fuzzies.
I believe that’s the “Department of Redundancy Department”, I believe.
Possibly that might be so.
No, it is the Bureau of the Department of Redundancy Agency.
The Auld Grump
And he died in such a graphic way.
Word.
It’s just because they couldn’t have two characters having the same hairdo.
…
Hairlander…
The only land fit for a Hairlander is the upper land!
Short crop or updo?
Mullet!
There can only be … WHAM!
He really just wants to beat it.
So much cymbalism here.
I think you’ve really hit the mark, there.
If you wanna train them, you’ve got to drum in the basic lessons at an early age.
Not to mention getting them to stick to it!
There’s a Zildjian things I could say about this.
Someday he’ll invent dubstep, and then wubwubwubwubwub…
Yeah, he really Paiste’d him good on that charge.
Well, come on. No-one wants to be defeated.
‘Kill’, they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
For our great lord Harky, pa rum pum pum pum
My feelings are a mess, pa rum pum pum pum
I’ll gore him through the chest, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
My hands no longer clean, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
Very good.
Gold Star.
Clapping!
Nice :-)
OK, something is up here. a real peon starts getting ideas of his own and feelings. if drummer boy lives though this, he might become a turn coat. IF he lives. …. could this be that Best’s human persona just roll up a horde toon to play if bandit and best are out of the picture for now?
No, Best’s alt was the guy with the scrolls.
Also, that smiling gnoll in panel 1.
and the falling leaf in panel 4 of next Monday’s strip, and…
Okay. Let’s lay this to rest. Payet Best is an obvious homage to Pete Best, the original DRUMMER for The Beatles, so Penk, a drummer, must be Best’s alt.
“But, JarrysKid,” you cry, “that is too simple! Phil and T are not that transparent!”
So, okay, here’s how it gets complicated:
“Penk” is Lithuanian for “Fifth”, as in, “The Fifth Beatle”.
“Aha!”, you respond, “But surely the fifth Beatle was Stuart Sutcliffe, who left before their first recordings, or, by the Beatles own reference, George Martin, the producer!
Indeed. But if you ‘play the record backwards’, so to speak, ‘knep’ means ‘trick’ in Norwegian! An obvious attempt to mislead us revealed!
Ergo, Penk is Best’s alt.
Whereupon you might point out: “‘Knep’ is also Danish for ‘fuck’. Howzabou them apples, JarrysKid? Hah? Yeah!”
To which I reply, this hurts my argument not one iota.
I’m not sure Payet Best was this introspective. But I’m okay with yes or no.
the NPC AIs don’t get this introspective about themselves and the world. only really higher end AIs or players think this much. that tipped me off, we should keep an eye out for NPCs that seem to think or act out of the norm.
in a follow up idea, i wonder of drummer troll boy will not just quit the horde, but join the peace keepers on the alliance side? Gravey shows that it can be done, with him being a dwarf and all.
There’s no evidence he’s an NPC.
Actually, let me rephrase:
The Five are capable of “conversing” with NPCs, interacting with and even influencing them in ways normal players cannot. Player characters in physical proximity to the Five become capable of doing the same thing. (See chapter 15, page 22) But little drummer boy here had thought bubbles and moral crises of his own while he was still in distant lands. Therefore, since he had these internal thoughts without contact with the Five, he’s not an NPC. He’s just a player, playing for the Savage Races, who’s into RPing.
Role-playing allows you to imagine yourself as a different person — or really, to express different aspects of your personality, some submerged. That’s more the case if you role-play more than one character, and try to make them distinct from each other.
Payet Best wasn’t introspective. What little we saw of his sepia-world player didn’t seem introspective — but that person pointed out that he had multiple stage personas.
So I could quite well believe that this is an aspect of Payet Best that normally goes understated.
I actually have a crazy theory of my own. Remember at the end of chapter 15, HR ordered supllies for 2 more immersion tubes. So, what if those were finished without showing us and “Penk” is a new, immersed player? As for who the other one might be, perhaps Kur’ik? Just like Penk she’s shown to have thoughts of her own, which is – for me at least – hints at them being more than just NPC’s.
Question for John/Phil: In panel 2, was it intentional that there’s a cog flying past his thought-narration where he’s asking whether he has a choice?
Often, you draw the whole panel, then stick the text on later, or you vaguely plan where the test will be. It’s rare that you perfectly integrate the lettering to the page as you draw it.
(This is because lettering is a horrible nightmare of doom, and there’s no nice or easy way to do it. :( )
Ahem. Typewriter. Thank you.
Nope! Just one of those times where we’re all on the same page about how things should go. We get a lot of those kinds of happy accidents because of how much time we spend all making sure we have the same idea of what’s going on.
Not really intentional, but it’s probably more unconscious sychronisity. The cog is of course coming from the mashed axe-tank, and Penk of course is just a little cog in Harky’s war machine. Nice how those things just come out that way.
By the way, what happened to the broken drum? Retcon? Or have I gone crazy?
Considering what Penk’s chosen vocation is, this puts a new meaning to the line “Kickdrum beating in my chest.”
Avett Brothers; “Kick Drum Heart”
I love that song.
Watch them give him the elf’s leg bones as new drumsticks.
OMG this makes me so sad in the best way
I sort of concur. I think this is pretty much the best way Bibli’Oh could have been killed, while still seeming realistic (as opposed to, say, his death buffing every elf – on the other hand, Bibli’Oh’s spirit could become a new arrow for Gravy now, it seems).
A nearsighted arrow with linguistic skills. Harky trembles.
And now he shall use the scribe’s blood to write an apology note!
It’s the elf version of Egon from Ghostbusters
Except for the dying part, yeah.
“The chest cavity trepenation would have worked, if you hadn’t stopped me.”
“Sorry, Syr’Nj, I’m dead beyond the capacity for rational thought.’
“At least now I’ll be able to finish my autobiography!”
Looks like drummer boy is taking life by the horns..
sigh, greenhorns.
He was on the horns of a dilemma and tusk me, he made the right choice.
It’s not like he’s a dental incompetent: he gave the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth.
Pun of the week!
Hey, we got a drummer, a couple of axes, and now a horn section! As soon as we find a keyboardist, we can cut a demo!
War, war never changes. It starts with the best of intentions, to end a percieved wrong, but ends with the worst of results, more hatred, and more wrongdoing, to be corrected in another war, a future war…
Oh, go play Metal Gear Solid 4.
Panel 3 : Geez … he’s killin’ civvies. Guess savage races deserve their nickname, after all.
War is hell – Sherman
“I think we all know what ‘military fame’ is. It’s to be killed in some faraway place, and have your name spelled wrong in the papers.” – W. T. Sherman (also)
The more we see of young Penk, the less he seems like Best; he has none of Best’s cool arrogance. I guess there can be two bards in one story….
perhaps bard was reincarnated into the Penk character, his personality and memories slightly altered by his new regeneration, like some kind of Doctor.
Well, Best’s player DID say something having different stage personas….
something *about* .
I need more coffee.
trolls aint much for that scroll learnin.
But the do know not to spit from a moving rhinosaur.
Meanwhile, second from the right in Panel 1; Ballet Shark expresses his angst through dance.
As Najinsky did for returning Russian soldiers. Of course, he was totally ’round the bend at that point.
Hmph. He may be Ballet Shark, but it’s Bibli’Oh who’s en pointe.
I think that elf sees your point
Because a guy running with his arms full of papers is totally a threat to your race, Drummer Boy.
I really hope he develops free will and breaks away from mindless obedience to Harky, he seems to have a good moral code to fall back on and would make an interesting addition to the group.
“Knowledge is power.”
“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
So depending on what’s written on that armful of papers… yeah, he COULD totally be a threat to their race. Maybe those were the recipes for all those wondrous potions than Syr’Nj uses?
What’s up with the continuity errors? In the RSS feed his drum is broken, here it is not… except in frame 1 he still misses his drum.
Color me pazuzzled!
Dunno, maybe he misses his own personal drum? Perhaps the drum we see is his World’s Rebellion-issued Field Percussion Device?
We had a different version uploaded at first, but then we changed it. Sadly, the feed minis did not change along with. I never could manage to get it to re-generate the thumbnails.
He should probably not say “I miss my drum” though, you know, in the print/ebook version.
See, trolls are people too!