The gods are real. In the past, the great goddess Amari created Elves and other races of Amarikind from the blood of the men. Elves were given the magical powers such as healing (with blood magic), bird-people the flying. Today she rules over the land of Anocura, where the amarikind and various human races live in peace amongst themselves, guarded by the Saltblood barrier against the wild gods and other enemies of the Wilderness beyond. Live in peace, or else. In this world, it seems to make sense to really believe the evidence you see with your own eyes and be a devout believer.
Young Eliano spars with the other cadets and wants to join Anocuran military, and do great deeds as his uncle, a decorated war hero, did. But for now, his life consists military training (at which he excels) and taking care of his younger siblings (which is a chore) and other such normal things. Until the plot begins.
Adventure (both epic, "this is an epic deed you must complete to reclaim the honor of your family" and mundane: "these are the gritty details you need to know so that you don't get dead in the process"), dark themes, and lots of blood.
It's also a LGBT webcomic because it features a protagonist who is trans. But for once, it actually works very well: there's maybe only one page of exposition "he was a boy all along since kid" I'd consider less than needed (the same information could have been and is conveyed better with show-don't-tell style characterization elsewhere instead of ...lecturing...), but in general the whole "sworn maiden" concept works very well, both in narrative and world building sense. So actually I'd like not to spearhead with the "hey it's a LGBT webcomic about a trans person" advert line. Instead, I'd like to simply advertise that it's a great fantasy webcomic! Brings Ursula Le Guin to my mind a couple of times conceptwise.
(There also is a Trial of the Sun for another summary if you want an alternative take.)
So apparently there's no discussion for this.
The gods are real. In the past, the great goddess Amari created Elves and other races of Amarikind from the blood of the men. Elves were given the magical powers such as healing (with blood magic), bird-people the flying. Today she rules over the land of Anocura, where the amarikind and various human races live in peace amongst themselves, guarded by the Saltblood barrier against the wild gods and other enemies of the Wilderness beyond. Live in peace, or else. In this world, it seems to make sense to really believe the evidence you see with your own eyes and be a devout believer.
Young Eliano spars with the other cadets and wants to join Anocuran military, and do great deeds as his uncle, a decorated war hero, did. But for now, his life consists military training (at which he excels) and taking care of his younger siblings (which is a chore) and other such normal things. Until the plot begins.
Adventure (both epic, "this is an epic deed you must complete to reclaim the honor of your family" and mundane: "these are the gritty details you need to know so that you don't get dead in the process"), dark themes, and lots of blood.
It's also a LGBT webcomic because it features a protagonist who is trans. But for once, it actually works very well: there's maybe only one page of exposition "he was a boy all along since kid" I'd consider less than needed (the same information could have been and is conveyed better with show-don't-tell style characterization elsewhere instead of ...lecturing...), but in general the whole "sworn maiden" concept works very well, both in narrative and world building sense. So actually I'd like not to spearhead with the "hey it's a LGBT webcomic about a trans person" advert line. Instead, I'd like to simply advertise that it's a great fantasy webcomic! Brings Ursula Le Guin to my mind a couple of times conceptwise.
(There also is a Trial of the Sun for another summary if you want an alternative take.)
edited 22nd Jan '17 9:22:48 AM by maus42