Exiern
Swords, Sorcery, And Then Some!
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Dun-dun-DUN!
So, Tiffany finally learned how to read and write. (That, or the scroll has a picture of her brother.) I wonder what would happen if she discovered her “Wanton Wench” t-shirt now.
possibly her clan has marks they use as visual name cues, or a family symbol. It might be the only thing on the parchment she can recognize.
Ah family, can’t live with them….but you can move to a different country and hope they never track you down.
It does seem Tiffany has acquired some reading skills. I am completely sure this was due to her position of royal bodyguard and in no way due to it being a good excuse to hang around with Denver for hours at an end in quiet, private, library rooms where they wouldn’t be disturbed.
Speaking of Denver…what’s happened to our budding dragon? Why didn’t that priest rat him out (you know…the one that figured it out when he snuffed the magic fire?). I’d think the king would be a bit more concerned about having a baby dragon hanging around the kingdom.
@Inconsiquential, maybe the King already suspects/knows but figures it’s better to have a dragon on the payroll (or on a leash as the case may be) than as an enemy.
And Typhan-knee’s own brother wants Tiff dead? Claim to the throne or something?
@ Inconsiquential
There was a massive electrical discharge when the faction took Denver out. Possibly the priest hasn’t recovered or died. It’s also possible that he reported it to the Church instead. After the King’s handling of the Church and it’s priests before they might “forget” to mention it to him.
I knew this would happen. I didn’t think it would happen now, but I knew it would happen.
I like the King’s little bit of drool in panel one.
So, Tiff’s brother is trying to have him killed – or is it ‘her’? How long has this contract been in the Theatre’s possession? It refers to ‘Typhon-knee’, so was it issued while Tiff was still a man, or after? Mother’s assassin knew exactly who to go for, so that argues after.
But, if it is some sort of power struggle, it seems sort of pointless, then. One of the few things we know about Northern society is that it is strictly patriarchal – a woman cannot hold a position of power there. Therefore, Tiff is no threat to anyone there. So, why have her killed? Unless the brother is concerned that Tiff may find a way to reverse the curse!
Or he could just consider her an unworthy abomination for turning female, and/or a traitor for serving the king (who isn’t exactly super-friendly with her people)
It might not be that Tiffany has acquired reading skills, but rather finally was handed something written in the language used by her people…
That said, I suspect that the king isn’t too much different than his little girl, just older and more bad-a!s.(Or what would be truly ironic, the king was originally female and that portrait of Peonies mother was him as a girl…)
As Denver is looking on, perhaps he already did the reading for Tiffany, While the King was in his lustful reminiscence. I noticed even the guard had abead of sweat going from the backstory, or just nervous that the King would slip and say something outloud. Of course I’m surprised he can stand and walk away so soon, heh heh.
Plot magic reading skills and previously unmentioned plot family with a death wish?
Do I smell shark?
@Deanatay
I don’t think the assassin knew that Tiff was Typhan-Knee, but knew that Typhan-Knee was at the castle.
Anyway, the letter was probably in the language of her tribe. That’s probably why she could read it.
This will be an awkward family reunion though. I was wondering when we would see her people/tribe though.
Maybe at the end of this, Tiff will gain a sister?
Though i’m surprised, Tiff’s brother would be a barbarian too, no? You’d think he’d try to kill his “brother’ himself, not hire an assassin. That seems so, un-barbarian like.
@Inconsiquential I believe Urtica is already aware of Denver’s ethnic heritage after this strip in which they first met. Urtica being Urtica he’s probably made a little note of it for when Denver outlives his usefulness. Until such time, as long as Denver doesn’t make waves and is useful (he is a very calming and stabilising influence on Tiff after all, except when Teresa is around when he becomes a catalyst of entertaining behaviour) then Urtica probably won’t care much.
“Though i’m surprised, Tiff’s brother would be a barbarian too, no? You’d think he’d try to kill his “brother’ himself, not hire an assassin. That seems so, un-barbarian like” – we already had the skin changers where father didn’t want hands dirty on daughter.
Killing ones relatives is a serious no-no in germanic “barbarian” culture, which Tiff’s may be based on.
Denver may have quietly read the scroll, Denver may have taught her to read, etc… not enough info to say.
@David:
Even then, when they wanted someone killed, they would do it themselves, hiring someone to kill someone for you is also considered a no no.
It shows that Tiff’s brother doesn’t like doing his own dirty work, which probably means he isn’t a good fighter and a pretty bad barbarian. And probably a coward.
@David
Also, Tiff’s Barbarian people seem to be based more on the Conan style barbarian(A lot of this world is really), which again brings up the whole “hiring an assassin”to kill someone for you as a no-no.
Clearly, Tiff’s brother has no honor.
Not necessarily. Tiffany has mentioned that she is not of ‘pure’ barbarian blood, hasn’t she? Her brother may feel that having a halfbreed disgraces the family, and hired someone to ‘clean up the mess’.
Depending on the barbarian culture, it may be even be considered to be his duty to remove ‘stains to the family’s honour’, and yet it is beneath him to kill a sibling.
That, and he may be too busy at home to go chasing after someone who left, or even ran away to save their own skin. If Typhan-Knee fled a conflict with his brother, then his people may think of him as a coward, not worth challenging to manly battle. Hiring the assassins is then both efficient and an insult, hurled at Typhan-Knee’s memory.
Could have sworn that it was suggested that Tiff was half Northener, no?
Back when she went berserk and punched Urtica, she mentioned the matter after being tossed in jail.
http://www.exiern.com/?p=911 Here it is.
Keep in mind, Tiff may still be illiterate…she may just recognize her brother’s “mark” at the bottom of the contract. Way back when a good portion of the world’s population couldn’t read, contracts still existed…those who could read would read it, and if the contractee agreed to it’s terms, they would “make their mark” on the document.
@Rock: when Tiff said, ‘I’m not a full blood’, she meant not a full-blooded berzerker. I suspect only a small portion of northerners have ‘pyro’ blood in them at all – you’ll note how smug she looks when she says it, she’s obviously proud to have any berzerker blood in her. No, she’s a full-blooded northerner. If her brother needed an excuse to have her killed, I suspect becoming a girl would be enough.
I can’t stop laughing at panel 1.
@ Jack
It’s 100% deniable though to contract out to an Assassin Guild instead of doing it yourself.
You could even have the contract include the planting of evidence to ‘blame’ a rival for the hit and then be able to take out the rival with the support of your own family in ‘righteous’ indignation.
Who wanna bet on brothers name. I call dibbs on Staphan-knee. For reasons of her/his brother getting assassins. His brother probably learned Tiff turned into a woman and in an ealry strip it was mentioned that woman in north are forbidden to even carry weapons. So his borther porbably decided to clean the shame on family but also in early strips it was mentioned if Tiff was still a man she wouldn’t hit Peonie so his brother would feel confused about this and hired assassins instead to do the job.
@Greenstalker, RE: Staphan-knee, Bravo.
Or this could all be some kind of family joke.
Anyone else thinking blood-brother rather than an actual relative?
@Hipiap.
Ah, that’s a good point, that way he could kill whatever rival he framed for his brothers death and say it was for “Justice”.
@deanatay:
I don’t think Tiff’s brother knows that Typhan-Knee has been turned into a woman, The hit was in Tiff’s male name after all.
Despite what Panel 2 says I keep hearing BUUUUUURP! or BEEEELCH!
LOL
“It’s good to be the King.”
I can’t stop chuckling.
I so much prefer the old Tiffany artwork (I checked and the guy doing this is actually the same guy who did the story arc in the city). Other than that, it’s all great!
@Elfguy: yeah, that was my guess. All Tiffany could read was the mark/signature at the bottom, and that was enough.
Who wants to lay odds that her brother will end up as her sister before this is done? And if Typhan-Knee means “She who hunts diamond charm bracelets with her daddy’s money”, what woud Staphan-Knee be? “She who hunts for gossip among the trophy wives”?
AGAIN?
The same comic twice on the previous page and once on this page… What the hell?