Page 1026…
Well…we’ve made it through our first week of Chapter 15!
I hope you’ve enjoyed it.
Nicodemus has already quoted Solomon. Today…Homer’s Iliad.
I figured…if I’m going to write a character who “monologues”…
…it may as well sound interesting.
🙂
Oh…
And for any would-be writers…
I’m having a discussion on the Facebook Page regarding writing a Prose Novel for The Dreamland Chronicles.
So if you have some talent. And an interest…
Please stop by.
And please don’t forget to join the Facebook Page.
Lots of cool stuff going on there.
Thank you all.
And have a wonderful weekend!
So good to be back!
Scott
Cheery fellow, ain’t he?
UH OH! is that a type I see on the first panel? Or a word I never heard of?
Wow.. My name was a typo this time >.<
Wow, what a way to end the first week of Chapter 15 😀
Can’t wait for the next page…..
(Btw, would I be first to post? Hmmm…)
Guess not, lol
What, Illusory? It’s the adjective form of Illusion. One of my favourite words because it’s so exotic and never used.
Great choice of words, Scott! And that last panel is so awesome looking. I’m not sure why I’m loving Nicodemus just lounging there, but it sure does make him look ominous and calm at the same time.
Or was it vied…
Hmm, vied looks weird, but according to Merriam Webster, it’s how it’s spelled. I guess I’m used to vying. (Vie, Vied, Vying.)
*shrug* Whichever. XD;
The worse thing with monologues, heroic or villainous, is that you cannot interfere with them. No matter how conceited, megalomaniac, or plainly wrong they are, they just keep babbling their excuses for what they have done. So his excuse was chaos. He couldn’t stand the destabilizing influence of Humans in Dreamland. But why would he find it so vexing? Something happened, and I hope we will learn it sooner than later.
xD
O-o some seems pretty full of them selves :3
Someone*** stupid typo
Ol’ Dragon-butt’s at least well read. I agree with Month, Nick’s got his reasons…
Mayyyyybe… Arthur was a bit more like the annoying Disney version we all know and love,
and that was the last straw. 😀
On second thought… I’m not sure he can be well read in that sense, as – understanding the rules of Dreamland in the way that I do, so correct me if I’m wrong – nothing really passes between the worlds except consciousness (and the sword and pouch/parchment,) and the only adult humans that have visited Dreamland to the best of our knowledge thus far are the Kings of the past and now Alexander.
So, by that logic, whole accurately quotable versions of The Iliad or The Bible wouldn’t -exist- in Dreamland. Unless some really cool, extremely well read kid with a photographic memory spent all his/her time in Dreamland rewriting manuscripts for the Dreamlanders. Meh, it’s 1am and I need sleep. Good night 😀
Not just past kings. Native Americans learned how to enter Dreamland as adults with their vision quests. Potentially mystics in other cultures too.
That aside though, Nick probably knows these quotes because he personally knew the men that originally wrote them (and possibly helped come up with them too).
GREAT pages 😀 I like them much!
in a strange way, he actually makes sense. should I feel bad for agreeing with parts of his whole speech? XD
he’s a bastard as proved by his actions, but right now I can’t really hate him. >.>
Would somebody kill him already?
So…Nicodemus’ plan is to keep monologuing until Alex dies of old age?
Who’s Nicodemus going to quote next? Shakespeare? MAD Magazine?
No villain ever sees himself as truly evil, it’s a matter of perspective. And here he knows his audience is there, namely Alex, so he’s presenting human history as he sees it. It’s possible he’s actually trying to disuade Alex from pursuing the goal. That would no doubt help him. It’s fitting that he’s quoting these old texts; he’s been around a long, long time.
Or maybe Monty Pyhton 😀
I can see the lines “Go away yu human kniggit” ;P
Y’know… I know probably a dozen people have said this before, but that lighting it beautiful.
I love Nick with fire. ^_^
Maybe through the human kings, and perhaps even stories relayed from visiting children to the guards who in turn spoke to Nick, he saw that the human world often had so many problems caused by humans, and he was afraid that such problems would invade Dreamland.
For example, Wikipedia puts King Arthur living the 5th-6th century, so I imagine Nick heard all about tribes of people constantly try and take over some kingdom all over the world for centuries before him, and probably even spoke directly to the leaders of said tribes (I could easily see Alexander the Great being a king of Dreamland) to hear their reasoning, wise or foolish, for it, and this built up until something, or someone, pushed him over the edge.
Considering how this chapter is supposed to have a lot of Arthurian references, I think Arthur was the last king of Dreamland and did something to encourage Nick to usurp the throne. I can’t see Nick simply snapping and taking it out on the relatively innocent king at the time. He strikes me as far too intelligent for that, this page especially.
Dreamland FTW for making the villain a definite gray rather then a fairy tale black and white! Nick and Alex can reasonably debate that what they both do is wrong, however Alex has the upper hand fighting to make sure human children can still visit.
Man do I love this comic. 😀
*BUSTS UP LAUGHING* I thought it was bad enough that some call him Nick, but Ol’ Dragon Butt is PERFECT. 😀
I have a sneaking suspicion that Nic is sore on dragons being “wrongly” portrayed as villains and monsters in human mythology – St George slaying the dragon, for example.
In fact, perhaps humanity’s perception of some creatures as ‘monsters’ as opposed to ‘animals’, and the instant (and facist) labelling of entire species as evil villains would be a reason to be driven to, ironically, dislike a species, and become an evil villain..
Of course, that only explains his behavior toward humanity, and lowering himself to what he sees as their (our?) level doesn’t in any way excuse his behavior, let alone – and perhaps more importantly, his behavior towards the other races and creatures of Dreamland..
What is a monster? Where is it different from a creature, or an animal?
Is it a matter of species, or behavior? or is it a matter of perception, of humanity’s instinctive reaction to creatures of certain shapes and features?
No creature can help how it is made, even dragons..
Evil Monologues for the win, man
Sequences like this remind me of one of the hardest things I do as a writer: NOT KILL OFF THE VILLAIN EARLY. Because villains like Nicodemus you REALLY REALLY want to see pwned, slapped around, and THEN killed. Often. Doing that at the wrong time, unfortunately, rather cuts your story short.
That is GORGEOUS work, too. I wish I could do anything artistic.
“Your mother was a hamster… and your father smelled of elderberries.”
😀
This has to be one of the best villain monologues ever. I love the glimpse into the perspective of a 1000+ year old near immortal non-human of very high intelligence!
Don’t forget to VOTE, everyone! http://topwebcomics.com/vote/4274/default.aspx
But, if he’s afraid of it causing problems, then why all the creatures from the Nightmare Realm? Wouldn’t that pose problems? No, Nicodemus has a much more sinister plan than just “eliminating the human problem.” Personally, I think it’s what it has always been about with villains- absolute control.
Something tells me you’ve seen Wicked one too many times. 😉 Is it nature or nurture? Or, perhaps a bit of both with the element of free will thrown in to make one’s own choice? If you’ve not seen Wicked, though I disagree with it on a philosophical level, it is good entertainment (and the philosophical issues brought out by it are good questions to be asking).
Patience! All in good time! 😉
Felicity needs to steal the One Ring and search Nick’s torso for a missing scale, then Alex can plunge his sword in.
In the last panel he looks like a well content kitty that just feasted on cream. Not to mention just laying in his own fire, just as smug as he can be
I forgot about the alliance with the Nightmare Realm. Nick might have the brilliant idea of wiping out Dreamland all together, perserving the land itself by making it uninhabited by anything but him, but if the issue of balance comes into play (if good *needs* evil, then maybe dreams *need* nightmares) maybe Nick feels he can wipe out the Nightmare Realm on his own after gaining their trust and then stab (literally and figuritively) whatever leader they have and then proceed to wipe everybody else out.
Wonderful how you’ve sparked all the discussion about villains, Scott! Fantastic choice of dialogue!
would be the less bloody approach. 😉
though I’m sure that it wouldn’t be interesting enough for him. he enjoys destroying things too much. 😀
maybe he just wanted to warm his belly a bit. that he comes across as badass is added bonus. 😉 (jk)
The difference between monsters and just another predator? I believe it has to do with choice and motivation.
Thank you all!
🙂
Yeah, I really love how he just casually settles down to relax on the still-flaming ruin. XD
This is slightly off topic, but isn’t it interesting that dragons show up in the mythology of several different cultures? They’re in both Chinese and Anglo-Saxon legends, and I don’t think those two cultures really mixed much (although I may be wrong, as our history classes only went back 200 years … good old N. America, not).
My guess is that dinosaur bones were found in both of those places, specifically the skulls and probably some intact skeletons, and so people made fairly logical assumptions about the creatures that left them behind. Dragons do look a heck of a lot like dinosaurs, after all. And people then couldn’t carbon-date things, so I think it would have been pretty natural for them to assume that the skeletons were left by animals living in the same time period as them.
Blah blah blah, somebody stick a sword right in his monologue already, sheesh. This week was very well done, I like the fire effects, but think that Nic will regret all the time he wasted yakkin.
Ha you know this is actually a topic i debated with some people a week or two ago, as i’ve seen this before, how do cultures that never had any contact with eachother come up with the same idea at the same time (example: 2012 prediction). The dragon debate has seen conspiracies such as a lasting species of dinosaur that survived up until human cultures were being created to a subconciouss connection between the human population that allowed everyone the insight that dragons did at some point in time exist. Of course your idea is probablly the most logical assumption but it still would have been kool to see dragons running about the world in medievel times.
So what’s your point Nick? Are you saying that all humans want to be immortal and do so by conquests, poems, ballads, or deeds? While some do, not all humans want to be immortalized, they just happen to be by history and people looking up to them. Still waiting for the climax of this monologue so that it all makes sense. The lighting, shadows and the FIYAH make the last panel truly evil.
You know, Placebo, that typos always hide until you’ve posted!
Could Dreamland be like Narnia, in that it was only right when a human sits upon the throne? That would make any other race an usurper.
We can hope rather for: “None shall pass!”
. . .
” ‘Tis but a scratch!”
“A scratch? Your arm’s off!”
“No, it isn’t!”
“Well, what’s that then?”
“I’ve had worse.”
But that’s the point of a good evil monologue…it uses up time the villain could have used to defeat the good guys.
Nico is a really good villain, Hats off to Scott, because he has me wishing Nicodemus would have a chance encounter with a Grey Warden.
for a evil dragon, he sure is poetic. lol
I second this theory
Finally, up to speed. I’ve been back-reading this comic for about one and a half days now. I must admit how greatly impressed I am. The artwork is stunning, the plot is well thought-out, the characters have so much depth, it all just comes together so perfectly. Props to you Mr. Sava. And your team. I’m looking forward to next week.
actually, whilst the bible didn’t exsist before the 1100-1200’s ish, the book that is in the bible called “kings” was. Soloman was around atleast 1000 years prior Jesus… so there fore he could quite easily be quoting Soloman. Also the Illiad would have been written well before then, with most of the greek advances in the arts and civillisation happening before the romans took over that part of the world atleast 500 years before Jesus… it is very very possible that “Ol dragon butt” was able to talk to kings who were educated.
“But an African Swallow or an English Swallow???”
Maybe he is trying to stall a quick escape by Alex, by talking, “Ol Dragon Butt” could be trying to lure Alex into staying a bit longer to figure out exactly where Alex is… to pounce!
I like Nic.
as i know my comics right, the monologue of the evil-doer always precedes his unavoidable demise…. Bit quick i’d say 😆
I agree, and also those early people who knew the works would likely have them memorized–oral cultures have well developed memories, and the works tend to be composed to help remember them. And, as a dragon, he well might have lived through most of that history.
I think Nic won’t go down that easy… yet. Usually there is some sort of Deus Ex Machina that has to be used to actually finally defeat the evil villian (see “stick Excalibur here” sign). I don’t even want to guess what it is for this comic, partially because I would probably be wrong about it, but mostly because I don’t want to ruin the suprise with an I told you moment, if I am right. Damn predictability of stories like this!! 😛
I am now caught up… after what? Two weeks? Any way, in honor of the return Nicodemus and the story, I shall now begin the monologue of doom. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*coughs up a lung*. Ow… note to self, get that replaced. Any way! Why is Nicodemus so well read up on humans and yet the entire world largely perceives his kind as evil fire breathing creatures that eat live stock (we weren’t wrong about the live stock in regards to the actual real life dragons, THOSE THINGS ARE HUGE!!!(eight feet is the longest to my knowledge at 5:30 am on a sunday))? That being said, I am not complaining about the fact that he is well read, rather questioning exactly why he stopped to read so much. I can understand if he got bored and what not, but come on. He is a dragon, what can’t he do to kill time until the next human shows up? It couldn’t have been more than a century since a human king bumped in to him. If I was a dragon I would have put that century to good use, and destroyed a couple of races and took over the world. I am not saying that Nic isn’t in charge right now, but come on, no extinct races? No blackened ruins that still burn? No black castle? No black keep? Nicodemus is boring with out humans it seems.
Nic’s an archdemon? I never knew… Wow, this explains a lot. By the way, where is the nearest church of the holy Andraste? I have a dwarven long sword I need blessed. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you haven’t played Dragon Age and wouldn’t get the bit about the Grey Warden’s either.
No, thank you for creating this incredible novel. Albeit a visual novel, it still counts as a novel in my book (book, novel, word play humor at ungodly hours of the morning… I am going to have a good day it seems). Thats not saying much considering I read Trigun Volume 1 and Volume 2, LOTR 40 year collectors edition aniversary, Harry Potter (all 7), Twilight (to my everlasting shame, all four books), and about 10 of the Dragonriders of Pern series. If you haven’t read these books, except for Twilight, then you need to spend a few days locked in a library.
ooh SOMEbody’s bitter he has to follow a human king instead of being king himself XD
Well, SOMEONE is a little world-weary, eh?
Uhg, more monologing. Can someone type up a sumary so I can skip it? PLEASE!?!
That was Shakespeare?