Comic Page for January 5th, 2017

[Vintage]

So coooooooool! I love this page!

Reni is being cute, too.

Thank you so much for this beautiful page, Tom! This is one of my top favorite pages of all time!

Spoiler!

[amenon]

The sun finally sets on the longest day in Comic history....

It's only the third longest, actually

and I can't help wondering;
Who did the old Trace kill to get that palace?

Well, the Duke of Edinmire would be a solid guess.

And more importantly, how will he be able to find his stash in there, what with the memory issues and all?

He'll ask his steward, probably

[TinyVoices]

It's only the third longest, actually

I dunno how you calculated the dates, but I feel those are off a bit.

I think the early dates are fairly accurate. It was about 1 month when Natani joined the group, last time I calculated. But 6 months past Trace losing his memory translates to day 58? 6 months would be at least 180 days. Unless what d[number] stands for is just order of clearly divided day, and not an actual time lapse. However, you seem to be missing a lot of days there, then.

[amenon]

I think the early dates are fairly accurate. It was about 1 month when Natani joined the group, last time I calculated. But 6 months past Trace losing his memory translates to day 58? 6 months would be at least 180 days. Unless what d[number] stands for is just order of clearly divided day, and not an actual time lapse. However, you seem to be missing a lot of days there, then.

The count of days in search is simply what you get from looking at the transitions, and it's not authorative, just the only way it's actually possible to count. But I don't think it can be off by more than a month (and if it is, that month would be somewhere in the first six chapters.) I think Trace is just confused about the time.

If you think six months is accurate, then you have to answer why the story started in summer, but is only now seriously reaching fall, and why Flora only went into heat once when that's supposed to be a five-times-a-year thing for her.

[SirJahar]

Five times?
Also, it does seem to only be reaching fall-like conditions now, but there have been clearly defined timeskips before.

[TinyVoices]

The count of days in search is simply what you get from looking at the transitions, and it's not authorative, just the only way it's actually possible to count. But I don't think it can be off by more than a month (and if it is, that month would be somewhere in the first six chapters.) I think Trace is just confused about the time.

He also mentions it once before. Here he also says that it could have been about 6 months. But yeah, considering about a week or two passes after that where they reach the Isles, then a week passes while on the Isle, and then two weeks again pass before they reach the page I linked in my last post... Even with that being a rough estimate we're nearing another full month here between two separate times that Trace said it's been 6 months. So yes, you could be right. I wish I could remember what my calculations were for the total date up to the point where I stopped. It was about where Keith woke up after Laura disappeared, is where I counted it up to.

I doubt Trace could be that off, and yet now that I think of it... Considering only a day or two passes between Natani joining, and the gang heading off for the Isles, and then about a month passes for that voyage.... I think there are some issues that need to be addressed. Perhaps you aren't that far off as I originally assumed.

If you think six months is accurate, then you have to answer why the story started in summer, but is only now seriously reaching fall, and why Flora only went into heat once when that's supposed to be a five-times-a-year thing for her.

I don't think Keidran would go into heat again if they're already pregnant. But that's just my guess.

[Ddraig]

And more importantly, how will he be able to find his stash in there, what with the memory issues and all?

He'll ask his steward, probably

"I have a steward?!?!"

Five times?
Also, it does seem to only be reaching fall-like conditions now, but there have been clearly defined timeskips before.

The trees are still green, so it's early fall at the latest

[amenon]

Five times?
Also, it does seem to only be reaching fall-like conditions now, but there have been clearly defined timeskips before.

Five times, or so they say. [2004-11-08]

Word of God-wise, it's known that wolves only go into heat twice a year, and basitins once.

And yeah, there have been plenty of timeskips. And all of them are well-defined (except for the recent 'many days later'), which leads to the question of "if there's supposed to be this extra time, where is it?"

He also mentions it once before. Here he also says that it could have been about 6 months. But yeah, considering about a week or two passes after that where they reach the Isles, then a week passes while on the Isle, and then two weeks again pass before they reach the page I linked in my last post... Even with that being a rough estimate we're nearing another full month here between two separate times that Trace said it's been 6 months.

It's not that long between those two times. I have them as days 43 and 58. Notably, they're only on the island for like three days, and then everything after the island before the recent timeskip is within another three or so days. (Don't care enough to remind myself of the specifics at the moment. Maybe I should do a cited timeline or something, since this seems to keep coming up.)

So I think he's confused, but at least between those two instances, it's pretty consistent. But it wouldn't be weird for his sense of time to be a bit off, since it's not like he remembers nothing from his previous life --or at least, that's how it appears to me, what with the occasional flashback. So maybe he's getting a bit mixed up on the calendar.

(Here [2015-05-18] Trace says 'months', where I'd conversationally expect 'over half a year' because it's a stronger when you're making the point that you've been gone for a while. But it's not really inconsistent with him thinking it's been half a year, either. Just a datapoint.)

A week (and 9 pages) before Trace's first 'six months', Flora says it's been 'several months'. [2006-10-23] That's day 36 by my count, which is a big part of the reason I think there may be some early time missing. On the other hand, she could just be exaggerating to make it seem like a bigger deal to Eric.

There are probably other references to time, but I've forgotten.

And of course, there's always the cheese it answer: We don't know anything about the calendar. It could be five days to a week, or twenty months to a year, for all we know. I'm just assuming an Earth-ish year and calendar because it enables discussion.

I don't think Keidran would go into heat again if they're already pregnant. But that's just my guess.

Yeah, but the missing time would be before then, since from there onwards the timeline is really solid. But when Flora goes into heat, it's clearly for the first time since the gang has been together.

[Lordadmiral Drake]

At some point people or going to start thinking Its not Trace because he seems to know nothing, might be fun to see how that works out.

Yea, thats what I was thinking too at some occasions. And yes, it's understandable that he's genuinely surprised about finding out some things given his amnesia.
But, while it's quite funny, he should try and contain his surprisement on finding out stuff he's supposed to know. It could give people an angle against him. After all, most people don't know that the has been robbed of his memory and only recovered some scraps of it so far.

And Reni being Reni
Now I want her paired up with Nora. Oh the mischief that would come from that pairing

[Kyrit]

Reni? Did you turn all the lights on? If not, there's definitely been someone living there. I doubt anyone made it to the estate before them just to turn all the lights on for their arrival. There's also that small cottage near the estate with the door light on, so perhaps Trace did have people taking care of the place. A bit of a farfetched theory would be to see the return of Rose, if she's still alive. She was friends with Saria, so it's possible that Saria had Trace offer her a job around the estate. In TDM, Rose knew of Saria's interested in Trace (at the time they were not yet even dating) and referred to Saria as "Mistress" and also stated "a servant joining a carriage alone with a human is..." implying that she might have worked for Saria's family. Not as a slave mind you, as Saria didn't like owning slaves. Rose was already starting to go grey in the hair during TDM though, so it's possible she's already passed on by now.

I'm also a bit disappointed to still only see two carriages, since it looked before like Keith and Natani have their own carriage and Trace/Flora have theirs. So we're still missing sight of a good amount of cast, but I guess it's possible we just don't see the other carriages yet (the two we do see are pretty well spaced) or there are more characters per carriage than we've seen.

It also looks like Tom had a change of mind in how Reed was facing and where she was looking. The sketch has her on the opposite side of the page, eyes looking off to the side. Now she's looking straight forward. Not a huge change, but enough to notice easily.

As for those wondering if this is the same location as TDM, probably not. Unless Nora decided to give/sell the estate to Trace. TDM took place at Lady Nora's dwellings, and she event states at least once or twice "my home" or things of the like; "taken something belonging to a dragon," "infiltrated my home," "my ballroom," ect. She's also referred to as the host/hostess a few time, solidifying that it's her residence and she's the one putting on the masquerade.

Meanwhile, the estate is said to be something that Trace owns for being the Duke of Edinmire. We don't see a lot of the outside of the setting of TDM, but what little bits we do see make it seem like there are other buildings in the area too. Tom also mentioned taking time to design the Legacy estate, which I doubt he would've had to do if he reused the setting of TDM. Just thoughts, and it's always possible they're wrong, but yeah. Probably not the same location as TDM.

[BadJoke]

Reni? Did you turn all the lights on? If not, there's definitely been someone living there. I doubt anyone made it to the estate before them just to turn all the lights on for their arrival. There's also that small cottage near the estate with the door light on, so perhaps Trace did have people taking care of the place. A bit of a farfetched theory would be to see the return of Rose, if she's still alive. She was friends with Saria, so it's possible that Saria had Trace offer her a job around the estate. In TDM, Rose knew of Saria's interested in Trace (at the time they were not yet even dating) and referred to Saria as "Mistress" and also stated "a servant joining a carriage alone with a human is..." implying that she might have worked for Saria's family. Not as a slave mind you, as Saria didn't like owning slaves. Rose was already starting to go grey in the hair during TDM though, so it's possible she's already passed on by now.

I'm sure people must inhabit the castle. It's still common today, when you own a very big house/castle, to have part of the staff living in with you or in close smaller houses build for them, so it would be no surprise they stayed after their master got away. Through I wonder what they must look like. They must be "special" if they had been working day after day in close proximity of an unstable bloodthirsty dark lord.

But Rose... even if Saria treated and considered her very well and trace respected her, once he "snapped", even if she was like a memento of his lost wife... she was a wolf and it could have been enough to trigger him. Or, even if he tolerated her, she could have choose to not take the risk and run away the moment she could.

[Cyon]

I'm sure people must inhabit the castle. It's still common today, when you own a very big house/castle, to have part of the staff living in with you or in close smaller houses build for them, so it would be no surprise they stayed after their master got away. Through I wonder what they must look like. They must be "special" if they had been working day after day in close proximity of an unstable bloodthirsty dark lord.

Nice of you to say this, it brings me onto my theory:

The epilogue to this scene happened in the castle, so that is where the Temple Seer and Clovis are. The windows on the first panel are identical to that of the epilogue, and who better to take care of a dark lord's manor than evil templars?
That would also explain the cat on the roof of the carriage

It's a trap!

[amenon]

Nice of you to say this, it brings me onto my theory:

I'm 98% sure the epilogue is in the Templar tower in Edinmire. Note the rising smoke, contrast with this view [2016-12-17]

Of course, they're [censored] either way

[Cyon]

Of course, they're [censored] either way

Group B to the rescue??? *wink wink nudge nudge* I need this in my life

[MuonNeutrino]

Reni? Did you turn all the lights on? If not, there's definitely been someone living there. I doubt anyone made it to the estate before them just to turn all the lights on for their arrival. There's also that small cottage near the estate with the door light on, so perhaps Trace did have people taking care of the place. A bit of a farfetched theory would be to see the return of Rose, if she's still alive. She was friends with Saria, so it's possible that Saria had Trace offer her a job around the estate. In TDM, Rose knew of Saria's interested in Trace (at the time they were not yet even dating) and referred to Saria as "Mistress" and also stated "a servant joining a carriage alone with a human is..." implying that she might have worked for Saria's family. Not as a slave mind you, as Saria didn't like owning slaves. Rose was already starting to go grey in the hair during TDM though, so it's possible she's already passed on by now.

Unfortunately, unless Euchre chose to share whatever life-extending mojo he's got going on with his cousin (and assuming she didn't attack him on sight!), Rose has almost certainly passed away from old age by now.

We know that this flashback took place a few months before Raine was conceived. Raine is now 18, which makes that flashback occur about 19 years before the present comic time. Rose is already at least the equivalent of a late-teens human in that flashback, which, as best as I can parse keidran aging patterns based on what evidence we have, makes her probably 7 or older. In which case, at the current comic time she'd be at least 26, and Tom has stated that most keidran die of old age around 20 and that a keidran making it to 25 is like a human making it past 100. Even if I'm off by a year or two, she'd still be very, very old to still be alive.

It's not *impossible*, mind you, if Tom decides he wants to have it happen, but it seems quite unlikely based on what we know of the timeline and keidran aging.