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Howdy, New Readers! Thanks for reading Exiern!
Written by Scott T. Hicken with art by Antipus, the comic updates Thursdays. Please check out the Archive to enjoy the earlier adventures of Typh and Peonie!
Exiern contains mature themes and is best for readers 18+.
(Probably not, to tell the truth. Rather, it allows Theresa to recharge.)
“Why, isn’t it obvious?” I expect is Daddy Urtica making his entrance.
And yes, it is obvious: as I guessed, the humming has to do maintaining some kind of defensive field. Theresa is the power supply, and she is sorely taxed. This is not a bad cap or loose ground wire; this is her running at full capacity.
What is not obvious to me is what Peonie’s role might be. I assume, given previous hints, that it has something to do with questing under Tiffany’s protection.
Peonie will not need a bedroom in the castle for long.
It’s Isabelle disguised as Urtica! The King is disguised as a statue of Peonie’s maid!
Of course! How did we miss it? The implications are trivially obvious to the meanest intelligences, so I won’t insult everyone here by laying them out.
Would you ever consider bringing back twice-weekly comics, Scott? I love this comic, but I’m having a difficult time maintaining interest with the once-weekly updates. I remember when the Thursday prose updates first started, some readers expressed concerns about the pace of plot development; I feel like that has been a valid issue as time has gone by. Perhaps twice-weekly is too often for your team to keep up with, but it can’t hurt to ask, right? 🙂
Zafnak, it’s obvious to me that Urtica and Theresa need Peonie and Tiffany to help defend the realm.
But that’s not very specific, and I agree, Peonie’s right to be getting a little frustrated. I myself don’t want this put off anymore. Today’s interruption was necessary, and not entirely unexpected, but no more please.
===
Pretty sure this is Urtica asking “isn’t it obvious”.
And I just realized: Isabel got stoned because she came into Peonie’s room and saw or overheard something that simply must be kept secret. There is no punishment, it was an accident, but whatever it is, a maid simply cannot be trusted with it. She might even be kidnapped and tortured for the secret.
@Gaia – I would love to return to more Thursday updates – comics or prose – but sadly resources have have not allowed it. I agree regarding the pace, and these “exposition pages” will be the first that were written right when that change took place (we’re finally catching up to them). We’ll see an accelerated pace to the story now.
Okay, so Terry has been poisonated and the singing is the only thing keeping her alive?
Okay, probably not but will wait and see if that is Izzie or Kingie talking off screen (or maybe even a third person)
@Jake http://www.exiern.com/2011/06/29/they-know-each-other/
It was established when they first meet. Jake they were Ex and Friends.
She was ether his beard or his Exception or he was bi or she was his Attempt.
Isabelle was his Lover. And Honey Nectar..
Ok so apparently some one has go around and sung a spy spell around the castle to spy on the king and stuffs, and her humming is likely a counter spell to block it. Probably some one visiting the castle disguised as a honored guest, or the servant of an honored guest. My bet would be servant, more mobility.
Marscaleb, you’re right: the “Isn’t it obvious?” comment is frustrating because, no, neither Peonie nor we have a clue what is going on, exactly. We’ve had two-three weeks to speculate, and haven’t settled. Peonie’s had maybe a minute or two, of course she’s confused.
Whoever’s asking knows a great deal more than we do. All we and Peonie really know is that Teresa is exhausted, and there’s some threat to the realm, or to the royal couple.
Heck, I’m not even sure that Theresa is truly Urtica’s intended. She may be filling in for…who knows?
I was going to leave this as a surprise, but at this point even I’ve lost my patience. Tune in tomorrow for the next page, and then NEXT Tuesday will begin some posts of exposition that will move us along.
I finally submitted to Shipeng the script for a page I’ve been envisioning since before I started writing, and I am just very eager to get to it. So I’ll do what I can to get the characters up to speed and things moving forward.
Thanks for the reply, Scott! I definitely understand having other things to keep up with in your life (besides feeding the story-hungry masses). I will try to be patient~
And now that I’ve said that, hooray for a Thursday comic! I look forward to tomorrow!
Hm, I just twigged to something that’s been nagging at me, but which I couldn’t quite identify:
Theresa says that no one would have thought to bug Peonie’s room while she was away–but wouldn’t they have wanted to bug the almost-Queen’s room, what with all the maids coming and going? Never mind if this, too, will be made clear in comic.
The FUD rune? The Fear Uncertainty and Doubt rune?
(Probably not, to tell the truth. Rather, it allows Theresa to recharge.)
“Why, isn’t it obvious?” I expect is Daddy Urtica making his entrance.
And yes, it is obvious: as I guessed, the humming has to do maintaining some kind of defensive field. Theresa is the power supply, and she is sorely taxed. This is not a bad cap or loose ground wire; this is her running at full capacity.
What is not obvious to me is what Peonie’s role might be. I assume, given previous hints, that it has something to do with questing under Tiffany’s protection.
Peonie will not need a bedroom in the castle for long.
It’s either King Urtica……Or Isabel back in the flesh.
It’s Isabelle disguised as Urtica! The King is disguised as a statue of Peonie’s maid!
Of course! How did we miss it? The implications are trivially obvious to the meanest intelligences, so I won’t insult everyone here by laying them out.
Eagerly awaiting Exposition Week, Scott. I’m prepared to see Walls of Text with the occasional thumbnails of the speaker’s head.
But in any case, Peonie’s plea in frame three resonates very strongly. I consider myself teased about as much as I can stand.
Alternatively, maybe we’ll learn that Isabel can still talk even as a statue.
The statue is a decoy. Isabelle is actually disguised as a wardrobe.
Clearly none of you here under stand……THE CAKE IS A LIE
Well, as I always say, “there’s no sense crying over every mistake, you just keep on trying ’til you run out of cake!”
On another note, I’m really bummed that it’s looking like Teresa isn’t evil, wicked, mean and nasty … ’cause I want to hate her so much!
Called.
It.
Obviously the Phd Rune is mis-spelled. & it stands for “Picky Hearing device.”
It’s more than likely Isabelle, what better way to make an undercover spy, then someone who’s supposedly “Dead”.
For those of a baser mind, Fud is also Scottish slang for a body part that I don’t have.
Would you ever consider bringing back twice-weekly comics, Scott? I love this comic, but I’m having a difficult time maintaining interest with the once-weekly updates. I remember when the Thursday prose updates first started, some readers expressed concerns about the pace of plot development; I feel like that has been a valid issue as time has gone by. Perhaps twice-weekly is too often for your team to keep up with, but it can’t hurt to ask, right? 🙂
NO! No it isn’t obvious! Not to Peonie and not to me!
And what the heck is a FLD Rune?
Zafnak, it’s obvious to me that Urtica and Theresa need Peonie and Tiffany to help defend the realm.
But that’s not very specific, and I agree, Peonie’s right to be getting a little frustrated. I myself don’t want this put off anymore. Today’s interruption was necessary, and not entirely unexpected, but no more please.
===
Pretty sure this is Urtica asking “isn’t it obvious”.
And I just realized: Isabel got stoned because she came into Peonie’s room and saw or overheard something that simply must be kept secret. There is no punishment, it was an accident, but whatever it is, a maid simply cannot be trusted with it. She might even be kidnapped and tortured for the secret.
@Gaia – I would love to return to more Thursday updates – comics or prose – but sadly resources have have not allowed it. I agree regarding the pace, and these “exposition pages” will be the first that were written right when that change took place (we’re finally catching up to them). We’ll see an accelerated pace to the story now.
Okay, so Terry has been poisonated and the singing is the only thing keeping her alive?
Okay, probably not but will wait and see if that is Izzie or Kingie talking off screen (or maybe even a third person)
@Jake http://www.exiern.com/2011/06/29/they-know-each-other/
It was established when they first meet. Jake they were Ex and Friends.
She was ether his beard or his Exception or he was bi or she was his Attempt.
Isabelle was his Lover. And Honey Nectar..
Ok so apparently some one has go around and sung a spy spell around the castle to spy on the king and stuffs, and her humming is likely a counter spell to block it. Probably some one visiting the castle disguised as a honored guest, or the servant of an honored guest. My bet would be servant, more mobility.
Uhm if it was obvious I wouldn’t be asking like I don’t know.
I figure THAT would be obvious.
Marscaleb, you’re right: the “Isn’t it obvious?” comment is frustrating because, no, neither Peonie nor we have a clue what is going on, exactly. We’ve had two-three weeks to speculate, and haven’t settled. Peonie’s had maybe a minute or two, of course she’s confused.
Whoever’s asking knows a great deal more than we do. All we and Peonie really know is that Teresa is exhausted, and there’s some threat to the realm, or to the royal couple.
Heck, I’m not even sure that Theresa is truly Urtica’s intended. She may be filling in for…who knows?
I was going to leave this as a surprise, but at this point even I’ve lost my patience. Tune in tomorrow for the next page, and then NEXT Tuesday will begin some posts of exposition that will move us along.
I finally submitted to Shipeng the script for a page I’ve been envisioning since before I started writing, and I am just very eager to get to it. So I’ll do what I can to get the characters up to speed and things moving forward.
Thanks for the reply, Scott! I definitely understand having other things to keep up with in your life (besides feeding the story-hungry masses). I will try to be patient~
And now that I’ve said that, hooray for a Thursday comic! I look forward to tomorrow!
Scott, thanks for the extra update, and for your patience with your impatient fans!
===
It is, apparently, extra TG update week; I Dream of a Jeanie Bottle will also have an extra update Thursday.
Hm, I just twigged to something that’s been nagging at me, but which I couldn’t quite identify:
Theresa says that no one would have thought to bug Peonie’s room while she was away–but wouldn’t they have wanted to bug the almost-Queen’s room, what with all the maids coming and going? Never mind if this, too, will be made clear in comic.
I call for Waffels !