Webcomic / Juathuur

The magic system rendered in cool symbols.

A webcomic created by Katie Sweet.

Part one, "One Way or Another", was finished in 2007 and is, aside from several color panels, in black & white. Thanks to the frequency of updates (5 times per week) it counts 854 strips in just 2 1/2 years. Part two, "Gatecrash", started in 2008 in full color, and ended in mid-2014.

Part one follows the wandering of Faevv, a young outcast that goes to live on the Raft, a ship the Juathuur ("true wanderers", humans with powers bestowed by the gods a long time ago) use to move around. Having an outsider's look on the Raft, however, she realizes that life there is not what it seems, and it is far from the freedom she longs for. Politics and intrigues are everywhere, old grudges still lurk in the mind of the leader, and her group splits for lack of cohesion. So when she meets Weijuaru, a young king who wants to challenge the gods themselves to find absolute freedom, she is quick to get away from the path set for her. And that is just the beginning of the journey.

Part two takes off after a Time Skip. Faevv is now in service of the gods and travels between other worlds in search of her way. Meanwhile, a plague ravages Fael and Ha Nuul waxes mighty, and the Juathuur are still far from recovered from earlier battles. Old enmities stir and new problems arise, while many characters have problems of their own, and the plot thickens again...

"One Way or Another" starts here, and "Gatecrash" is here.

NOTE: Some of the links below are obsolete. The comic is now entirely on the Gatecrash site and pages are numbered differently.

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This series provides examples of:

• Action Girl: Faevv, Mijuu, Sojueilo, Aeliss everyone but Shugasi, Neilli and Tokal.
• Actual Pacifist: Neilli.
• Acquired Poison Immunity: Lif is scary.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Weijuaru wants to make Erab Adur safe and prosperous, and his people are loyal to the death. Everyone else? Other nations fear a nation ruled by the super-powered Juathuur, and the Raft hates him for sheltering and encouraging deserters.
• And Your Little Dog, Too!: Rowasu's promise to Sojueilo.
• Amplifier Artifact: Well, the amplifier. Also Soveshei's serum.
• And This Is for...: Bivv.
• Anti-Villain: Weijuaru isn't really interested in much that most people would consider villainous - if he was left alone, he'd never directly trouble the Raft. But his "independent Juathuur" state is an implicit existential threat to the Raft, constantly drawing people away. That, and he provides support to people like Beisaru and Rowasu, without caring much at all what they get up to as long as they also keep Meidar off his back out of mutual self-interest.
• Anyone Can Die: established with Bivv's death. Used a lot in the final chapters.
• Arcadia: The Lost Oasis.
• A Real Man Is a Killer: Thomil gets called 'spineless' and 'an insult' for being a healer and not, you know, a murderer. It gradually comes out that he used to be a perfectly capable fighter and was well on his way to being one of Meidar's favorites, but then his girlfriend Neilli killed herself and he made the switch, so it becomes more obvious that the others think Thomil lost his nerve and is now wasting his potential (as well as ignoring his duty), forcing others to step up in his place.
• Attack Reflector: Nice move, Thom. And again...
• Ax-Crazy: Rowasu. Sometimes, he's got that itch...
• Art Evolution: Most evident at the beginning of Gatecrash, with the passage to full color.
• Badass Cape: fwooosh!
• Badass Long Robe: Beisaru.
• Battle in the Rain: The Fava flashback.
• Blood from the Mouth: cough cough cough
• Blood Knight: Mijuu is willing to push herself to the limits to win a friendly spar. But who fits this trope to a T is Sojueilo.
• The Big Guy: Ojuaro and Ushaed.
• Bloodier and Gorier: The gore content gets upped starting from here.
• Blood Oath: Rowasu does that all the time (hence the scars). he breaks the last one.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Beisaru can control people with word magic.
• Breaking the Fellowship: Faevv's group? Dejoru follows Veithel, Faevv goes to speak with the gods and Ratheel gets left behind. When they reunite, there act slightly hostile with each other. Expect to read "a lot happened after you left!" frequently.
• Bring It: Rowasu is pretty confident in his swordmanship (and rightfully so).
• Broken Pedestal: Sort of. Arvval is the same as always, his bigotry is just more manifest after Faevv goes to the 'dark side'.
• Brown Note: Rowasu's distinctive screech is used in battle to distract and confuse enemies. Sonic attacks are generally his forte, magically.
• Bullet Dodges You: Actually, the 'bullet' is unraveled. The first manifestation of Faevv's powers.
• Bullying a Dragon: Faevv grew up despised by normal humans for being juathuur. Despite being of a very important, very powerful Juathuur bloodline.
• Burn Baby Burn: Bivv's funeral pyre.
• Cain and Abel: Rowasu and his half-brother.
• Catchphrase: Rowasu has one, sure as sky.
• Chained to a Rock: Merlu and, literally, Lok.
• Chickification: Averted, and Faevv strongly feels against any accusation of this. In Dej's words, she is being charmed by Juar. Her reply to this?

  Faevv: You make it sound like I'm some naive pushover. You made a choice, didn't you? Why can't I do the same? I have my own mind. I can make my own decisions.

• Conlang: Juathuuvei, the Juathuur language. Mainly used for written signs, honorific titles and character names. It uses some phonemes not really found in English so some spellings (like names) are often best matches rather than perfect representations. That ju might be pronounced like a "hwa" noise (as in Weijuaru or Juathuur) or a "wh" noise (kind of like "why," as in Sojueilo's name).
• Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Veithel when Soveshei confronts Rowasu. Soveshei isn't pleased.
• Combat Medic: Thomil.
• Comes Great Insanity: Lok.
• Cool Mask: Weijuaru when he gets to political business.
• Couldn't Find a Pen: Rowasu at the end of chapter eleven.
• Cutting the Knot: And moving the box. Now you're thinking with shadow magic!
• Cycle of Revenge: One of the main points of the story. Thomil is about the only one who seriously tries to break it.
• Daddy's Girl: Veithel. The feeling is not completely mutual.
• Dark Action Girl: At least Lifolei and Thlassa. And Maybe Veithel.
• Death Glare: The local Ax-Crazy psychopath seems pissed off.
• Demoted to Extra: Dejoru and Ratheel in particular become less important in part 2, mostly facilitating others' plot threads. Soveshei is as well, mostly retired to watch over his garden and daughter during the time skip.
• Despair Event Horizon: To Neilli.
• Die or Fly: See Bullet Dodges You, above. Also, for a while Faevv's powers work only according to this trope. Juinn, to, first manifest his powers in this kind of situation.
  • All three of the pinnacle magics of each path (Shadow for the Word path, Shard for the Wave path, and Shift for the Wind path) are shown only being unlocked in this way, as the Juathuur collectively do not actually know as much about their powers as they think they do.
• Dirty Business: Meidar is the queen of this trope. Juar has his moments too.
• Disappeared Dad: Faerun.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Maerril is an unusual example, being a slim, passionate, arrogant woman.
• Distress Call: here.
• Dynamic Entry: Sojueilo enters the battle! (and the comic)
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Why is Faevv blushing? Oh!... oh.
  • Also... What are you exactly proposing, Soveshei?
• Dressing as the Enemy: Sojueilo, Thomil and Mijuu.
• Driven to Suicide: Neilli. Meidar, having decided that healing sucks, tries to train her as a torturer. It doesn't work. Possibly a Secret Test of Character directed at her boyfriend, Thomil. However, the entire thing was faked; Neilli not only accepted the training but was so enthusiastically loyal to Meidar that she was assigned as a deep cover agent, using the attempted suicide / faked death cover as a way to gain sympathy as a refugee.
• Due to the Dead: Inverted. Rowasu respect Maerril's death with the Luduuth Lo, nine days in which he will spill no blood. Before coming to get revenge. Meanwhile, Faevv's team makes a funeral cart explode.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Orllee puts in an early appearance back in part 1 (first panel) before becoming a recurring character in part 2.
• The Engineer: Sev'vil.
• Enigmatic Minion: Veithel. Until the end, it's unclear if she cares for Ratheel and Dej or if she is willing to betray them for her father's benefit. Both, actually. And she will sacrifice to save Dejoru AND follow her father's wishes for her.
• Evil Duo: Maerril and Rowasu.
• Exact Words: Weijuaru has forbidden Juathuur to shed one another's blood under his roof. So Soveshei challenges Rowasu to a fight on the roof of the palace's tallest tower.
• Eye Scream: Shuugo, in a flashback. And the hand of the sky.
• Face–Heel Turn: Veithel, pre-beginning of the story.
• Facial Markings: And body markings. Most juathuur have them, and they tend to be similar in a family. Also Thomil adopted Neilli's, and Dej adopted Mijuu's. Juathuur traditionally had children with normal humans as they wandered and marked the children to identify them later when it was time to pick them up for initiation into the tribe. Emojuuel, for example, never had any because both his parents were Juathuur and he was raised within the tribe and also his father died before he could give Mo any marks.
• Faking the Dead: Veithel, before the beginning of the story. Neilli, too.
• Farm Boy: Juinn.
• Fate Worse than Death: Merlu, an embodiment of wandering and freedom, is perpetually bound to a tree.
• Fiery Redhead: Ratheel.
• Forceful Kiss: How romantic.
• For the Evulz: Averted, but discussed here. And in the whole comic.
• Functional Magic: All magic is Inherent Gift, gained via the right ancestry which stretches back to either the gods, or the gods' experiments. Most is based on manipulating basic physics as a form of Force Magic, though the Word path functions more like Rule Magic (though its physics basis is more "quantum spooky action" stuff compared to the more Newtonian powers of Wave and Wind). "Gatecrash" discusses the fundamental sources of the Paths a little more thoroughly, with the concept of in-born "strings" that form a person's connection to and leverage against the Gates that define and empower the Paths.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Sev'vil and his idol, Anira.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Arvval slapping Faevv. It works, but not for long.
• Giant Hands of Doom: Maerril's style of combat.
• Golem: One of Beisaru's many tricks.
• Green Thumb: Soveshei and Veithel. The latter actually turns into a tree! And, well, Merlu.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Beisaru is convinced that Meidar killed his lover out of jealousy. He's wrong. But she is jealous all right. Also, Veithel has signs of this. And Dejoru. Oh god, Dejoru.
• Grey-and-Grey Morality: A major point of the series. On one hand, Meidar always works to protect people and stop war, while Weijuaru longs for absolute freedom for everyone. On the other hand, Meidar is a Control Freak and The Chessmaster, while Weijuaru is a manic Visionary Villain. Beisaru is a Jerk Ass, but he acts like he does partly because he thinks Meidar killed his lover. Rowasu is an Ax-Crazy psychopath, but reunites Juinn with his father, kills Meidar for her crimes and decides not to kill Sojueilo. Thomil is a genuinely Nice Guy, but spineless. Soveshei drugs Faevv and Ratheel, and had an hand in the killing of Dej's parents, but he cares for their kids. Veithel is... complicated.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: And sleepy.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Thoss and Thlassa are half-solluu, half-juathuur. Technically the Solluu are, as a people, also Half-Human Hybrids - according to the wiki, long ago a certain god took an interest in a merpeople legend of the world and decided to make it real.
• Half-Identical Twins: Again, Thoss and Thlassa.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Zigzagged and discussed. Some of the Juathuur bloodlines have access to magics that the rest just can't replicate, and which gives them a huge edge. However, some of the more dangerous Juathuur are those who have simply worked their butts off to become the best at what they do - Sojueilo and Rowasu could at least put up a challenge for most any other Juathuur, and Beisaru is flat out the most dangerous person in "One Way." As Beisaru puts it, Arvval wields his power with "blood instinct," while "I wield mine with understanding."
• Heroic BSoD: Dejoru.
• Hidden Eyes: Here.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: All the juathuur who deserted the Raft did so because Meidar screwed with them in one way or another (hey wait...). So basically, the whole conflict she is fighting is her fault. She ends up getting killed for it, too.
• Hover Tank: Thanks to Fluur rings.
• Human Shield: Rowasu with Juinn.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Rowasu's sword? A handicap.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Ratheel to Veithel. It definitely doesn't work.
• I Have Many Names: Merlu (aka the Second, aka the god-in-the-tree... and that's it, for now).
• "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight: Ivitho and Mo.
• Interesting Situation Duel: Soveshei and Rowasu, on top of a tower.
• In the Back: sorta.
• Is That What He Told You??: Soveshei to Dejoru. But with the amount of secrets on the Raft, he could have said that to nearly everyone.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Mijuu. On a flower. On a giant flower with a stiff central spine.
• Informed Ability: Thomil is a great healer. In theory. In practice, we see him doing more harm than good. (Admittedly, it was Soveshei's fault, but when he confesses, Thomil doesn't lift a finger to save the girl until Dejoru calls him). He gets more practical work done later, mostly patching up wounds both serious and minor. Emojuuel goes from punctured lung to reasonably mobile inside a couple weeks under his ministrations, after all.
• Invisibility: Thomil can become invisible, but rarely uses this power. He says it's difficult, especially as he's not a native Shadow-user and it's an advanced application of Shadow magic.
• Invulnerable Knuckles: Sojueilo's should be bloody stumps by now. A lot of Juathuur use a little wave magic to empower their unarmed attacks and achieve the same effect.
• I Work Alone: Arvval and, in a sense, Faevv. Must be In the Blood. Also Sojueilo, to the point of stupidity.
• Jerkass: Beisaru.
• Just Between You and Me: I really wonder what's written in there.
• Just Following Orders: They are on the same side, but this is the main problem Thomil has with Sojueilo: she blindly follows Meidar's orders, and he doesn't.
• Knight Templar Big Sister: Mijuu.
• Large Ham: Beisaru usually isn't, but in this strip he finally snaps.
• Lecture as Exposition: Thomil here.
• Loyal Animal Companion: Grael.
• Love Makes You Evil: Maerril's motivation to follow Rowasu around (although she would have probably deserted anyway).
• Love Triangle: Thom never realized he was part of one between Neilli and Sojueilo. Sojueilo was pissed off at Thom's obliviousness as much as his choice, and beat nine kinds of hell out of him during their ronei finals when he steals a second to wink at Neilli.
• Macho Masochism: Rowasu and his ritual scarring.
• The Magic Versus Technology War: Sev'vil's dream is to use technology to effectively give magic powers to everyone, even normal humans. Thanks to him, the Burnt Country is full of technology mostly based on lots of electricity. Some other Juathuur consider his inventions to be abominations... even though they're perfectly content to use the technology it's based on, which was invented by another of their own.
• Magic Misfire: Ratheel did.
• Marshmallow Hell: Here, but they are brother and sister.
• Meaningful Name: Thlassa's name seems likely to have been derived from "thalassic," which means "of or relating to the sea."
• Meaningful Rename: Soveshei
• The Medic: Faevv lampshades and subverts the tendency of females to be healers. On the other hand, Neilli is one.
• Mêlée à Trois: Technically Aeliss vs Sojueilo+Thomil vs Rowasu, but the latter is already on the brink of death.
• Morph Weapon: Beisaru's staff can get longer. And sharper.
• Morton's Fork: what should Dejoru do? Follow his not-so-dead not-so-girlfriend into the unknown land of his enemies, or be loyal to his crumbling team?
• Naïve Newcomer: Faevv grew up among humans, and is new to the juathuur way of life.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Salamander King, if salamanders weren't such cute critters. And the Shrieking Sky, for sure. Also, Mordth.
• Nerd Glasses: Mo!
• Never Bring a Knife to a Fist Fight: Played with. Both Bivv and Mijuu try to disarm Rowasu, the latter succeeding, without realizing that the sword is actually a handicap.
• Never Mess with Granny: Meidar. Oh, Meidar.
• Nice Guy: Dejoru. It is not clear if it's just a tactic to get laid.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Thomil is the worst healer ever! (it's Soveshei's fault). Also, Ratheel here.
• No Social Skills: Faevv has been shunned all life and seems incapable of forming a decent relationship with another human. When she arrives of the Raft, she is downright hostile to everyone. As someone said in the shoutbox, "Faevv seems a bitch. I hope it isn't a core element of her character". I'm afraid it is.
• Not What It Looks Like: There is a girl on your bed. (An underage girl).
• Oh, Crap!: oh Crap indeed.
• Older Than They Look: Juar is 33 and looks about 20-25.
• Only Sane Man: Faevv, as a result of being raised outside of juathuur culture, allowing her to look at things more critically and make her own choices. This extends to her time among the gods in "Gatecrash" as well, and she ultimately comes to believe it's necessary for god-touched sorts like the juathuur to be the sane, grounding voice for the gods. Ratheel is a lesser case among the juathuur, being an energetic but grounded teen boy in "One Way" and a moderating voice of reason among his peers in "Gatecrash."
• Oral Fixation: Merlu, with straw. Even a glimpse of him pre-godhood shows he chewed obsessively on something that looks like a plastic cocktail-mixing stick.
• Order Versus Chaos: Most of the conflict boils down to Meidar's need to control people versus Juar's longing for absolute freedom. As "Gatecrash" shows, it's not limited to humanity - it's an age-old argument among the gods as well.
• Orphan's Plot Trinket: The main reason for the juathuur's tattoos is to recognize children. Notice that tattoos in a given family tend to be similar (eg: Dejoru's and Mijuu's).
• Our Mermaids Are Different: Very, very different. Solluu start off looking mostly human but for gill slits on their sides and black eyes (due to a protective membrane), and in their late twenties (for most women) or early thirties (for most men) undergo a metamorphosis that replaces their lower halves with an array of tentacles. Some also have poisonous bites or stingers. They can have children with other humans or Juathuur, which may or may not be Solluu themselves.
• Path of Inspiration: The Way. It has some decent principles about balance and freedom from greed, but in particular Meidar's devotion to the Way quickly becomes clearly hypocritical. Her criticism of Weijuaro's juathuur kingdom is especially hollow considering how the Raft has spent a lot of time indebted to and serving the tyrant king of Ha Nuul.
  • Raft society is structured a bit like a cult, with the lower-ranked outer circles of young juathuur - the danei - only knowing that they are "special" and the Raft seeks to do good in the world. As a juathuur ascends in rank they are gradually taught about the harshness of the world and how sometimes they must take sides in a conflict to ensure a more peaceful resolution, even if the path to that resolution sometimes gets a little... bloody. At the top are Meidar's "pets," fully indoctrinated in the belief that they do whatever they must to preserve the Way, even if it means murdering a peace delegation, as happened in Fava.
• The Patriarch: Arvval is this to Faevv, and has lots of traditional values. In the end, they... don't really get along any more.
• Pensieve Flashback: To Faerun's last mission.
• Pet the Dog: Not only Rowasu doesn't kill Juinn, but he also doesn't kill Grael!
• Physical God: All of them. Merlu, Lok and Moire (so far) have human form. The others are humanoid. It seems that a long, long time ago thy were human beings.
• Pietà Plagiarism: Beshren here.
• Play-Along Prisoner: Thomil. Soveshei even dares him to escape. But it's the fastest way to reach Erab Adur... it doesn't work because they get rescued, except for Dej.
• Posthumous Character: Neilli and Dej's parents. But it seems someone is Not Quite Dead...
• Professor Guinea Pig: Soveshei.
• Punch a Wall: Thomil doesn't like patients accidentally committing suicide.
• Rebellious Princess: Ehr... Juar. Except for the "princess" part.
• Red Shirt: Neimal's squad. There are consequences.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Dejoru is dark-haired, calm and compassionate, with the talent to become a healer. Ratheel is loud, fun-loving, has red hair and fights by making stuff explode. Partly inverted in the end as Dejoru is capable of releasing an enormous amount of raw energy. Ratheel, on the other hand, is completely useless in each and every fight we see.
• Rip Van Winkle: A minor version. A short talk with Merlu took three days in the juathuur world.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Specifically, Rowasu's Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Rummage Sale Reject: A mild but probably very literal case among many of the younger juathuur once they get past danei (the lowest rank) - they tend to have much flashier clothes in a more obviously pieced-together style than their more conservatively-dressed elders. Bivv is a particular offender, as her clothes look like a coat and shorts scavenged from someone's discards. However, the juathuur have no real means to make their own clothes and most may literally be wearing other people's cast-offs - it's just that the higher ranks have more choice for something distinctive, plus part of being juathuur is to draw attention to it (as with the tattoos).
• Sacred Hospitality: Thomil tries to invoke that in the Burnt Country, with no luck.
• Sea Monster: Vriths.
• Shirtless Scene: Enjoy it starting from Here. There is one for Thom, too!
• Sibling Rivalry: Oh, my.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: Mo invokes this trope about Sojueilo. Fists of love!
• Slouch of Villainy: Weijuaru here!
• Sorry to Interrupt: Thom to Bivv and Mo.
• Spin to Deflect Stuff: Sojueilo here.
• Splash of Color: Mijuu's blood in chapter 22.
• Split-Screen Reaction: Several times. here is an example.
• Spoiled Brat: Isheil. If you drink (a small dose of) poison just because your father won't come to your birthday, you deserve to die. Apparently, Soveshei and Veithel agree.
• The Starscream: Beisaru. He even has a goatee.
• Superpowerful Genetics: Affinity to shadow, shift or shard magic is inheritable. People of other bloodlines (like Thomil) can learn a few tricks, but that's it. Juinn is identified as Juar's son because of this trope.
• Tailor-Made Prison: Lok's prison. He still gets visitors, sort of.
• Talkative Loon: Lok!
• Talking to the Dead: Thomil to Neilli. who, apparently, isn't even dead.
• Technical Pacifist: Thomil.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Juoira, Renuuth and Ushaed bicker a lot, but still care for each other and function as a group. Contrast with Faevv's, that gets divided soon after the beginning of the story for general lack of cohesion. In the sequel, this 'team' idea is definitely abandoned.
• Telepathy: Standard way of communicating in long distances between juathuurs. Both participants must be willing to "connect".
• Tell Me About My Mother: became a fish. Or, actually, Solluu queen Ishalluu. Faevv too shows signs of this.
• Time Skip: Between part one and two.
• Trash Talk: Rowasu loves that.
• Truth Serum: By application of hands. Another cool trick of Thom.
• Turn Out Like His Father: Faevv. Her human mother, Tokal, is heartbroken. Also, Mo's mother fears this (according to Ivitho).
• Theme Twin Naming: Thoss and Thlassa.
• True Companions: Dejoru tries to inspire a sense of family in his original group. He tries with the second and fails again. He then loses faith in this kind of ideal.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Faevv, Dejoru and Ratheel (unusual, as Faevv is the main character). Ushaed, Renuuth and Juoira. Ivitho, Ojuaro and Lif...
• Übermensch: Juar, Juar, Juar.
• "Uh-Oh" Eyes: Whoever is under the effect of Soveshei's serum gets black eyes with white irises.
• Unwanted Rescue: See Play-Along Prisoner, above.
• The 'Verse: Part of the "Hexacosm," a broader story universe with a fantasy novel series in the works set far after Juathuur and a science fiction novel (also in the works) set very very far before it.

• Villain Decay: In a sense. Juar appears really scary and mysterious at first, and tries to manipulate Faevv to his ends. As we get to know him better, he shows his funny and idealistic sides, becoming sympathetic to the point when you can even stop considering him a villain. The fact that we are shown Meidar’s less-than-nice side helps this process too.

• Visionary Villain: Weijuaru, if you consider him a villain.
• Walk on Water: A basic trick, apparently. Having been stranded on an island her whole life, Faevv is eager to learn it.
• We Help the Helpless: The ideal, for the Juathuur of the Raft. It even looks this way when Thom's squad goes out to heal a mysterious illness at the start of the series. It's soon very obviously averted.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Weijuaru. "Let's give absolute power to everyone!"
  • Meidar. She grew up in a time full of war, with Juathuur tribes getting caught in the middle. She wanted nobody else to have to go through what she did, but she turned the Juathuur into a tribe of assassins and commandos in the pocket of a tyrannical king.
• What Is Going On?: Mijuu is understandably confused.
• Words Can Break My Bones: The word path.
• Wrecked Weapon: Happens to Rowasu's sword. "ts' almost too bad yer alrady dead".

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