EQ Readthrough: Issue 6, The Quest Begins

[elf]

Issue 6: The Quest Begins
Questions for this issue:

• Was the transition between last issue and this one jarring to you?
• What did you think of the encounter with the humans?
• Did you get any new insights into Cutter & Skywise's relationship?

Main OQR post with prompt questions
Note: These aren't mandatory questions; they're meta prompts. If you don't care for any of them, or want to tangent from them to some other topic, that's fine too.

Comments

[elf]

If I were going to put a break in the series, or change the pace of the readthrough, now would be the time. The shift from issue 5 to issue 6 is the only time-jump in the original series that's long enough for things to *happen*. (There's other time-jumps, but they're on the lines of "...and we traveled for two weeks until we came to a river.")

(Icon-making on hold until I figure out how to inflict Photoshop on my Vista machine and fix the #$@!&^ gamma settings on the monitor.)

This is an issue that changed *drastically* with the addition of color. In the original B&W series, it wasn't at all obvious that it took place mostly at night.

I have to wonder what would've happened if Strongbow had succeeded in his challenge. Would he have taken the Wolfriders out of Sorrow's End? (I can't think so; Woodlock & Rainsong's family, at the least, have set down strong roots here.) And there's gotta be some mixed-message feelings going on there: "I am chief! Okay, I'm leaving now; Treestump, take care of things for me."

And, ahhm... who designed Cutter's desert clothes? The ones with the nifty hood to protect from the sun but leave the ears exposed?!? Because when *I* travel through desert & other rough terrain, of course my first thought is, "I want to expose the tips of my ears to the weather, and make them into obvious targets for any person or animal that wants to attack me."

[anke]

A few glimpses of peaceful life and transition would have been nice, but the timejump makes sense, too.

I really liked that the humans gave their side of the story, and that we could compare with what we already knew about what actually happened.

This issue is also nice if you look for the kind of costume details Wendy Pini likes to use to tie families together. Leetah is wearing a plain necklace, like Cutter's, rather than one with three beads and claws, like Rayek's. Woodlock and Rainsong are wearing the same ornament, he on his necklace, she sewn to her shirt (IIRC it showed up on Helper later, too).

Another thing I'd like to share is the description of Strongbow's challenge from the novelisation, because it left quite an impression on me when I read it years ago:

His mind boiling with thoughts that had no words, Strongbow launched himself across the distance. Cutter met him shoulder-first, staggering only a single step against the force of the archer's charge. Knife-edged shards of disbelief and anger tore into his senses, and Cutter drew his own thoughts into a stubborn fist to beat the archer's sendings aside.
**I am Cutter!** the wolf heart in him growled. **Cutter!** The blood of ten elf chieftains pulsed in him, and his sould blazed with a love for his small tribe stronger than even Strongbow could understand. It was these that gave him the strength to push the archer physically away, these that let him wrap his mind around the barbed edges of Strongbow's fiercest thoughts and smooth them into harmlessness.

The way the last bit implies it wasn't a matter of overpowering Strongbow, but calming him, isn't really what I expected.

[anke]

Good luck with the Photoshop stuff; I know I could never get my old version of Photoshop Elements to work on Vista.

[dancing_serpent]

I have to wonder what would've happened if Strongbow had succeeded in his challenge. Would he have taken the Wolfriders out of Sorrow's End?

I don't think it would have gone that far. While most of them were shocked and conflicted, some (like Redlance) kept their heads cool. I expect they would have talked him out of it.

I agree on the clothes - and ears get sun-burned easily. But it looks kind of cute. *g*

[dancing_serpent]

Oh, thanks for that. I always wondered about that scene after reading the latter issues, where Strongbow's willpower is presented as extraordinarily strong. Cutter calming Strongbow makes so much more sense than overpowering him!

[darlingfox]

Oh, thank you for that description! Now the whole scene makes more sense.

[dancing_serpent]

Oh, and I wouldn't make a break here. Re-reading the series, those six issues seem more like a prologue to me, an introduction or foreshadowing of what's to come. Not the ideal moment for a break, in my opinion.

[blnchflr]

And there's gotta be some mixed-message feelings going on there: "I am chief! Okay, I'm leaving now; Treestump, take care of things for me."
Lol :oD

The ones with the nifty hood to protect from the sun but leave the ears exposed?!?
Every summer I start out forgetting ears can get sunburned - I always have to learn that lesson the hard way (and forget it by next summer), *headdesk*. With all that elf-ear real estate, that'd be one painful sunburn :o/

[blnchflr]

This issue is also nice if you look for the kind of costume details Wendy Pini likes to use to tie families together.
Oh, I hadn't even noticed that yet - I'm still finding out who is who. That's a nice touch.