Comic for March 7th, 2020: Chapter 20 Epilogue

[Rafe]

Adira indeed strikes me to be one to have the tact to not reveal more than necessary out of caution for Maeve. She's smart, especially street-smart.

What I am more curious about is the nature of these guards' inquest, why can't they question her where she is... are these guards acting at Kei's orders? It's been mentioned Adira is a valued member of the Edinmire community. I would think with her respected status and if they knew her whole family situation they'd approach her questioning domestically and, tbh, a bit more cordially. Perhaps over a beer. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, after all. It just seems like hasty treatment to get her somewhere else. I guess we'll find out.

Interrogation Scene [INT]
Guard: "We've heard from reputable sources you licked the former Grand Templar. *squints eyes* WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?"
Adira: "..." "Is THAT what this is about!?" pfffhahaha

Actually not true.

Whatever happens in any kind of inquiry, there is one witness who saw and participated in the whole incident where Adira and Maeve were attacked, and is also a member of the Guard - Reni.
It would be unthinkable to question her credibility, not only because she's a Guard member, but because she's freaking Princess Reni.

Doubts might be thrown in - Trace hasn't been the same old Trace he was, all those new friends of his mght seem odd, but if Reni sticks with them - especially with her mind-reading skills, she could be very convincing.

[steelabjur]

something of note, the transcript names the charactrer as "guardian", not soldier like the other pages.

Makes me wonder why Kei isn't there, he knows Adira, doubtlessly knows of the Portal, and has shown he has sense enough that he would want to investigate the Tavern personally, or send someone like Daniels or Lt. Reed, not send nameless Guards to walk over the crime scene and act the fools (like the one did on the docks). Even if they were members of the Guard, you'd think they'd be more friendly to Adira, just from regular interaction with her as part of the community. Bet you these "guardians" are connected to Brahn (he was connected with that group of Templar with the unnamed "Wolf Templar" that Party B ran into), or even Clovis (more Wolves under illusion spells?) maybe covering up their trail before Kei and the real guards make the connection between the Wolf attack and Brahn. In which case, Adira could be in a world of trouble.

[Rafe]

It could be another case of Clovis'/Brahn's minions impersonating or influencing guards, but if it were, they would probably be well informed enough to know Adira had a daughter. Of course it's possible they know about Maeve, and are depending on her to let the others know what happened. Adira may be (among other things) bait for a trap.

[Hulk10]

Hoo boy this is not good............ Somehow I don't think the local people will be able to protect Adira in this case. If they even decide to do so........

[BadJoke]

Whatever happens in any kind of inquiry, there is one witness who saw and participated in the whole incident where Adira and Maeve were attacked, and is also a member of the Guard - Reni.
It would be unthinkable to question her credibility, not only because she's a Guard member, but because she's freaking Princess Reni.

Doubts might be thrown in - Trace hasn't been the same old Trace he was, all those new friends of his might seem odd, but if Reni sticks with them - especially with her mind-reading skills, she could be very convincing.

Imagine the irony. They could solve it all in no time, but Reni is stuck with the heroes and when they finally get out, all happy to have gone through the ordeal, they discover Adira was condemned and hanged or sold to slavers never to be seen again (or just Clovis deciding he wanted a nice and rare fur coat)... I doubt Tom would go that way but it would be quite the punch for our heroes, like "you can't save everyone, especially if you keep running away".

I wonder if we'll just see the aftermath of her situation or a bit of what she is going throuh. And if she's arrested may be we'll see the adrakist again.

[Bellhead]

All good points. Or did strike me as odd that the guards would take her so suddenly... Reminded me of when the Basitins took Trace; suddenly and abruptly taking a seemingly innocent person posing no threat for no discernable reason.

Darn you all and your plausible theories making me think of how bad this could go.

[AmigaDragon]

something of note, the transcript names the charactrer as "guardian", not soldier like the other pages.

Makes me wonder why Kei isn't there, he knows Adira, doubtlessly knows of the Portal, and has shown he has sense enough that he would want to investigate the Tavern personally, or send someone like Daniels or Lt. Reed, not send nameless Guards to walk over the crime scene and act the fools (like the one did on the docks). Even if they were members of the Guard, you'd think they'd be more friendly to Adira, just from regular interaction with her as part of the community. Bet you these "guardians" are connected to Brahn (he was connected with that group of Templar with the unnamed "Wolf Templar" that Party B ran into), or even Clovis (more Wolves under illusion spells?) maybe covering up their trail before Kei and the real guards make the connection between the Wolf attack and Brahn. In which case, Adira could be in a world of trouble.

"Guardian" may be a specific type of guard troops, like "Scout" would be, focusing on a different skillset, or just the longer form of the commonly used shorter "Guard". I'm not so much questioning the presence of a generic unknown, as questioning why he's running solo, whether just to question her on-site or to take her in for questioning or arrest. The fake Templar (Roan & Sam) came for Brutus in (more than solo) force.
EDIT: Oops, I missed the second helmet in panel 3.

Whatever happens in any kind of inquiry, there is one witness who saw and participated in the whole incident where Adira and Maeve were attacked, and is also a member of the Guard - Reni.
It would be unthinkable to question her credibility, not only because she's a Guard member, but because she's freaking Princess Reni.

Is she actually a member or more freelancer working closely with them? Knowing the Guard manual might just be for personal interest, or suggested reading from Captain Kei.

[Technic[Bot]]

Hmm... so this is how Maeve gets involved, she goes looking for help to try to get her mom back (my assumption anyway). And yeow, the RED is visible from down in the town? Even if we hadn't already seen just how thoroughly Things Are Going Down from the inside, that would be a major hint. If it were full night instead of just sunset that'd have to light up the mountainside like a beacon, but even still someone aside from just Maeve will have to have noticed it. I suppose this could be a way to get other of the town characters involved besides Maeve.

And yeah, they definitely came through while she was out after Maeve. Thinking about it, that might even have saved both of their lives - I doubt Clovis and his bunch would have batted an eye at killing anyone who might have tried to raise the alarm before they were ready to pull the trigger. It does make one worry a bit for the safety of anyone on the *other* side of the Riftwall. And Adira isn't in for a fun time, that's for sure - nobody is going to be feeling very charitable towards any keidran right now, even non-canines, let alone anyone they think might have possibly had anything to do with it.

Honestly I do not think the wolves, or anyone from that matter, came from the portal. Adira mentioned the portal connects to the other tavern far west. But she is a Snow Leopard I imagine the other Tavern is also run by snow mews in the other side of the continent. Moreover Isn't Edinmire really close to the wolf border? I think it is easier that the wolves simply teleported themselves, or walked, to Edinmire.

Personally I think all the foreshadowing to the portal is not because something is gonna come out of it. I think that is the escape route. Once whatever happens in the state the party will have to put a lot of ground between them and Edinmire, with Clovis, Brahn and probably one or two eldritch abominations behind them. What better way than to wormhole your way to the other side of the world? Besides After the [expletive] that is happening at the manor I doubt they will just causally stroll to Lyn'knoll afterwards.
Come to think of it. If I am right, unlikely, and they do need to use the portal to hight tail it to snow mews territory. Well maybe that is because Edinmire, no just the state, might end up leveled to the ground before long...

All good points. Or did strike me as odd that the guards would take her so suddenly... Reminded me of when the Basitins took Trace; suddenly and abruptly taking a seemingly innocent person posing no threat for no discernable reason.

Darn you all and your plausible theories making me think of how bad this could go.

Well even as a lot of people mentioned is standard practice to do all the interviews on the police guard station. And they might have removed Adira so... abruptly not despite her being an outstanding member of the community. But specially because of that If your friendly local neighborhood you knew from childhood turn out to be a foreign agent or spy. You would feel betrayed an wanted to see the aforementioned spy punished for betraying the whole community, even if at the end it turns out it was just hysteria and the gal did nothing wrong.
At this point I am more worried that the guard is just an imposter wanting Adira for some ulterior motive. At the end the real guard is under Kei command. And despite him being a terrible middle manager he is not evil.

[tony1695]

Something I just realised, he asks if she is Adira. She runs the local tavern, wouldn't she be well-known in town? Well enough that a local guard wouldn't need to ask who she is?

[MuonNeutrino]

Honestly I do not think the wolves, or anyone from that matter, came from the portal. Adira mentioned the portal connects to the other tavern far west. But she is a Snow Leopard I imagine the other Tavern is also run by snow mews in the other side of the continent. Moreover Isn't Edinmire really close to the wolf border? I think it is easier that the wolves simply teleported themselves, or walked, to Edinmire.

Well, the portal did *something* in this comic - it wasn't just sitting there, it went "THRUM", which to me says it was activated. And Adira'd just got through saying that the portal had been inactive since the war started, so having attention so obviously drawn to the portal suddenly doing something can't be an accident IMO.

As for geography, we don't know *exactly* where the other Riftwall tavern is, but Adira says it's "far in the west". And we have a map of the continent - Edinmire isn't near the wolf border, in fact it's on the other side of the continent from wolf territory, in the east next to tiger territory. (Which presumably explains its choice as the site for the meeting with the tiger envoys.) As such, it wouldn't be trivial for the wolves to get there - sure, one could imagine they'd been smuggled in on a ship, or somehow traveled across the continent without being detected, but it's a long way. (And if one could easily teleport the entire width of the continent, then the riftwall wouldn't be a particularly special thing, which the narration implies it is.) However, if the other Riftwall tavern is "far in the west", that could definitely suggest it being either in wolf territory or at least on the western borders of human territory, and as such could be a plausible way in for Clovis and his gang. We do have suggestions that the other tavern is also run by a snow leopard, but that doesn't necessarily preclude it being in or near wolf territory any more than Adira being a snow leopard precludes *her* side of the link being in or near human and tiger territory - snow leopards don't have a homeland of their own anymore, so finding them anywhere isn't really a stretch.

[Cpt. H.L. Rodney]

Taking a moment here for some thoughts on Chapter 20: "Stories of the Estate." *sigh* Tbh, I enjoyed this chapter, but am saddened and disappointed that it ended on such a scary note, and so soon after Trace and Flora just got engaged. ;; (at least now they are finally engaged, and the moment was as precious as we hoped it would be for all those years ^w^) I just hope everyone can eventually get back to taking a breather for a while before they have to leave, see more of the mains developing with each other too. Oh, and maybe more exploration of the estate too! (didn't exactly learn as much of the place as we were hoping for when this chapter started, but it's a good, big start! Maybe a part 2? idk)

Now, for the Epilogue page: After what comes in chapter 21, Adira will certainly need help clearing her name, of which I have no doubt Trace, Lynn, Reni and the others will be of great help with. At the least she's only being viewed as a potential suspect, and that shouldn't make things too difficult for those involved in defending her in this case. (unless Brahn and/or Clovis are involved in this to try to cover their tracks. Cowards xP It'd be so satisfying to see at least some of the truth get out, like a moment out of Dishonored!) In the meantime it looks like Trace and Flora will get a lot more parenting practice by babysitting Maeve! And I'm all for it, and they certainly need to do a lot more preparing for the baby after all! I think we can safely relax about the fate of the favorite sneps for the time being

Something I just realised, he asks if she is Adira. She runs the local tavern, wouldn't she be well-known in town? Well enough that a local guard wouldn't need to ask who she is?

That does seem fishy, but then again Edinmire is a big city, and with a large enough populace sometimes there are people that don't always remember who's who. But backing up a bit, like I said it could be Brahn or Clovis trying to save their own hides

[Hulk10]

All good points. Or did strike me as odd that the guards would take her so suddenly... Reminded me of when the Basitins took Trace; suddenly and abruptly taking a seemingly innocent person posing no threat for no discernable reason.

Darn you all and your plausible theories making me think of how bad this could go.

I feel the same way Bellhead.

[Bellhead]

Something I just realised, he asks if she is Adira. She runs the local tavern, wouldn't she be well-known in town? Well enough that a local guard wouldn't need to ask who she is?

That does seem fishy, but then again Edinmire is a big city, and with a large enough populace sometimes there are people that don't always remember who's who.

For a large city full of small businesses and shops, that might make sense. But Adira is a snow leopard keidran tavern owner. She's pretty much the central hub of transit, food and alcohol for her neighborhood, which she's been a part of for quite a while now. And just like a modern day barkeep, she's bound to be well-known to pretty much anyone in the area.

That said.
Putting aside how rough the guards were with her, they addressed her as "Are you Adira", not "Miss Adira" or even "Ma'am". Not even "Are you in charge here". There's something off about them, in a pretty serious way. Not sure if they're wolves or not, but that's not Kei's M.O., he's impulsive but professional with most of what he does, from what I could tell. Crisises aside, of course.

[Ddraig]

Something I just realised, he asks if she is Adira. She runs the local tavern, wouldn't she be well-known in town? Well enough that a local guard wouldn't need to ask who she is?

That does seem fishy, but then again Edinmire is a big city, and with a large enough populace sometimes there are people that don't always remember who's who.

For a large city full of small businesses and shops, that might make sense. But Adira is a snow leopard keidran tavern owner. She's pretty much the central hub of transit, food and alcohol for her neighborhood, which she's been a part of for quite a while now. And just like a modern day barkeep, she's bound to be well-known to pretty much anyone in the area.

That said.
Putting aside how rough the guards were with her, they addressed her as "Are you Adira", not "Miss Adira" or even "Ma'am". Not even "Are you in charge here". There's something off about them, in a pretty serious way. Not sure if they're wolves or not, but that's not Kei's M.O., he's impulsive but professional with most of what he does, from what I could tell. Crisises aside, of course.

Yeah, the guard seems... off. I intended to go back and check if his(?) their getup matched the other guards' (esp that throat-chest jewel-thing) but I haven't gotten around to it. His behavior just doesn't line up with what we've seen from the Edinmire Guard - that while they may be running on assumptions based on stereotypes, they do try to do the best for everyone there, including the local keidran. His demeanor is off, and then there's the suggestion that he suddenly and forcefully took Adira.

[Cpt. H.L. Rodney]

Something I just realised, he asks if she is Adira. She runs the local tavern, wouldn't she be well-known in town? Well enough that a local guard wouldn't need to ask who she is?

That does seem fishy, but then again Edinmire is a big city, and with a large enough populace sometimes there are people that don't always remember who's who.

For a large city full of small businesses and shops, that might make sense. But Adira is a snow leopard keidran tavern owner. She's pretty much the central hub of transit, food and alcohol for her neighborhood, which she's been a part of for quite a while now. And just like a modern day barkeep, she's bound to be well-known to pretty much anyone in the area.

That said.
Putting aside how rough the guards were with her, they addressed her as "Are you Adira", not "Miss Adira" or even "Ma'am". Not even "Are you in charge here". There's something off about them, in a pretty serious way. Not sure if they're wolves or not, but that's not Kei's M.O., he's impulsive but professional with most of what he does, from what I could tell. Crisises aside, of course.

Yeah, the guard seems... off. I intended to go back and check if his(?) getup matched the other guards' (esp that throat-chest jewel-thing) but I haven't gotten around to it. His behavior just doesn't line up with what we've seen from the Edinmire Guard - that while they may be running on assumptions based on stereotypes, they do try to do the best for everyone there, including the local keidran. His demeanor is off, and then there's the suggestion that he suddenly and forcefully took Adira.

If that's anything to go by, I would assume real guards would need a warrant to make an arrest, even for suspects of... treason? idk what these guys plan to frame her for. If these imposters are with Brahn... Reni, we need you to see the truth of the Order that claims to defend an empire that you stand for, that they are tearing apart from the inside, piece by piece, behind your back, that they are turning into a weapon to end millions of innocent lives just for not being humans, despite the fact that they're still people.