Page 1027…
Happy Monday!
So I was really troubled with today’s page.
I needed Nicodemus to produce the Amulet from SOMEWHERE.
So I figured…maybe he has a secret pocket in his wing or under his arm.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility. But it still feels kind of awkward.
The other possibility was to go back and have it in his hand for every frame starting from his re-appearance in Chapter 14.
What do you guys think?
Also…
The Dreamland Wiki is really coming along nicely.
http://thedreamlandchronicles.wikidot.com/
I’m hoping eventually we can have all of the characters and places in there.
It’ll be a wonderful repository for this world.
Thank you all who’ve been participating in building this fun project.
That’s it for now.
Have a wonderful day…and I hope you enjoy this week’s pages.
Scott
Pocket space. Nicodemus has a small pocket dimension he can store things in, such as magical elven amulets.
This might be a bit much, but if it’s a small enough space it seems fine. He’s a dragon after all, one of the most magical creatures in all fantasy – having little extra-dimensional areas he can keep things in seems practically par for the course.
My 7 year-old son would have the easy answer to that one.
“From his nose! See! I can make something appear, too!”
He could have a chink in his dragon scales.
Has it occurred to our “heroes” that Nick is just stalling for time. Waiting for the flames to die down so he can hunt out whomever he can smell? Until his night vision returns, he’s trying to keep these not-so-farsighted pests as close as possible.
Many animals have cheek pouches. Prehaps he has some as well.
…he’s a goddamn dragon, it’s quite possible he has some magic tricks up in his nonexistant sleeve. Like conjuring things from and to his treasure hoard… (How else could he have put them there anyways?)
i think he has hidden in some ventricle pouch that he can store things it may be near his sides like under a scale that he can use since he needs the amulet to track the stones.
so might come to reason he would have this you could getaway with it since its fantasy based store or even say magical storage.
Long tim reader, first time poster. I agree with Kronostar, a chink in the armored scales works, its fanciful and belivable. It could also work as a demensional pocket.
I thought he just wore it on his pinky. 🙁 Dragons can be fashionable too!
Tricky problem.
Back when Nicodemus was being attacked by Dwarves gone ballistic, I was wondering how he was going to hold on to the amulet.
It’s not just that having a pocket of some kind somewhere begs the question of “how did that get there” – there’s also the problem that it’s something he has to be able to get stuff in and out of it with those rather large talons and fingers of his.
Not completely impossible – we know that Nicodemus has some kind of magical powers: he can sense the sword when it and Alex are in Dreamland. He was able to sense some kind of magic in the amulet once he saw it in action. So, a magical explanation could serve.
My own inclination is towards some kind of magical device, rather than some innate ability. We know Nicodemus is a thief and a hoarder – who’s to say he didn’t pick up a magical artifact that lets him carry things around?
There is precedent. Wikipedia cites a “bag of holding” from Dungeons and Dragons, something that can contain objects larger than its apparent volume.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bag_of_holding
For that matter, in the last Harry Potter book Hermione charmed her handbag to work that way (according to the same Wikipedia article above.) Hazel Stone had a similar handbag in the novel by Heinlein “The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.”
My own inclination is this: it’s something Nicodemus wears around his neck and it’s invisible to everyone except the wearer. Kind of an anti-theft feature. (And this way you don’t have to go back and redo all those pages, Scott.)
It’s a plot device with some potential too. If it’s something he has, can it be taken from him? Does he ever take it off? Is it fireproof? (Considering how he seems to be lying in flame at the moment?) And who knows what else he might have tucked away inside there? Bad guys usually have some kind of hold-out.
We already have seen one kind of magical pouch in Dreamland – the pouch Alexander uses to carry messages back and froth between Dreamland and this world. Who’s to say what other kinds of pouches the centaurs might have made – or that Nicodemus might have stolen from them? It’s something Orion might know of, in theory at least.
There’s one person in the group who also could plausibly know about it – from seeing Nicodemus use it: Felicity.
It’s the kind of contribution Felicity ought to be making to the group now; there are a lot of things she must know about Nicodemus and there are also her skills which she’s now free to share with her friends. Plus, as a thief and pickpocket, it’s the kind of thing she’d need to know about professionally.
There you go Scott – hope that helps.
Dragon’s are full of magic, why would the amulet be pulled out from somewhere physical? He could have pulled it out from a magical pocket of space.
Easy answer… Magic.
Where does the coin the magician pull from your ear come from? (yes I know it’s a slight of hand trick, but in a world with real magic…)
In fantasy there are no logical plotholes just unmentioned magic. ;P
I’d say, spit it out. No reason he couldn’t be keeping it in his mouth, it’s certainly the safest possible place.
I agree with this theory. In a magical world like Dreamland, why couldn’t you just pull something out of thin air?
Although, I’ve always called it “Hammer Space”, named after the numerous anime characters who are able to pull hammers out of thin air. (Though now that I think about it, the Looney Tunes used the exact same concept. Bugs Bunny sure as heck didn’t have any pockets.)
Ah, why doesn’t he just have it as an amulet or a bracelet 🙂 Or perhaps even as a ring. Or maybe it’s attached to him at some other place – dragons sure do have a lot of space on their body to attach jewelry to. ^^ It might be attached with a (gold) chain to his feet or wings or something. That way it’d be easy to use and easy to take with him, without having the risk of it being stolen once again.
Nicodemus just doesn’t seem to be the ‘taking a handbag everywhere’ type to me. Neither an actual ‘handbag’ nor a magical one. ^^ But Xaxnar’s idea makes sense too. 🙂
Actually I hadn`t even thought of the fact. The reasons given by the others here seem plausible enough to leave it like this instead of having to change all those pages! I just thought he had room between his scales or something when I read your concern.
I love this sequence. Nick`s speech is awesome and dramatic, just the way I like it and I love how intimidating he looks. *suspense*
I wouldn’t worry about Nic and the amulet. This IS a fairy tale. Readers already suspend their believe in “normal” at the door. I think it’s fine. Relax, it’s magic, of a kind. 😉
That would be logical, my only question is what happens if one of Nic’s scales is hinged? Like a hidden door. I am aware that would make a huge weak spot for him and all, but its hidden amongst his scales. How many people are going to get the chance to plunge a sword in to every scale on his body and not get eaten after a couple? It makes sense at least to me any ways.
Thank you!! I am not alone in my thoughts of a hole in Nic’s defenses!!
Velcro? Or maybe the back of the amulet has some glue on it, like a sticky note 🙂
Personally I don’t like the idea of a dragon with pockets or hand-bags since although dragons are some of the most intelligent creatures in fantasy they’re still creatures (or dragonkin if you like) and normally the only creatures to carry any kind of clothing or bags in fantasy are humanoid creatures (I guess undead might as well but they’re technically humanoids as well).
Jewelery on the other hand would be fine I suppose (in this case I think making it a ring would have worked (or possibly having it attached to a much bigger chain around his neck).
The whole extra dimensional space/magic in one way or another is also a workable solution I suppose but personally I feel that’s taking the easy way out. Depending on magic to solve these kind of situations is a dangerous road to walk because it will lead to complications up ahead when you suddenly don’t want your already powerful and cunning dragon to be able to produce things out of thin air.
We have dragons, elves, pixies, fairies, giant cyclops that die and leave butt cheek islands, flying pirate ships, etc., etc., etc.
I don’t think it breaks any sense of disbelief to just have this usurping dragon to be able to just make small items appear and disappear as he needs them. No explanation given, let everyone figure out something on their own….if they even need it.
Well, it’s a MAGICAL amulet, right? You could just say “it sticks to anything, and stays until it is removed.” That way, Nicodemus simply had it under his wing in a secluded spot.
Or, there’s a place under his wing where it fits snugly and securely.
I would avoid having a chink in his armor or a missing scale (like Smaug) because we’ve seen a lot of full-torso shots of Nicodemus, where he seems to be in perfect form.
To me, I thought the most obvious thing to do is have a subplot which explains why he is where he is. He left the bauble in this village he’s torching and is simply retrieving it. And why he’s torching the village is because they were going to hand it over to the others but through any means, he sensed their intentions and came to teach them a lesson for thinking about going against him.
Thank you all!
I love all of your suggestions.
I’m glad it didn’t upset anyone. I’m slowly becoming “OK” with it.
🙂
Guys,please,PLEASE be appropiate, i’m only 10 years old!!!!!(I don’t know how to spell appropiate) I like the idea that he minimized it and hid it in his hand the whole time!
*cough cough* thinkEdem
i’m sad that there’s only adults and only one of me (which is me,the child) (sad face)
I just realized that some of the adults are using words I don’t know(like “subplot” and “precedent”) Any way, he hides it in a TINY hatch like SilentMetch said
Hi Scott,
What if the tablet is so small he is able to slide it under one of the scales at his wrist?
I think he should have had it woven into the spines on his head. I think it could hook on quite nicely there. (Might also open up a great action sequence later of someone jumping on his back to get it back)
I say ignore it, I didn’t even question where it came from.
Given the angle of his wing in the 1st panel, it gives some credibility to the chink/pouch theory, probably discretely positioned somewhere in the joint area, which could explain why it wouldn’t be evident in the previous shots of Nic, even if his chest was fully exposed. But honestly, as LazerWulf said, “Hammer Space” theory does account for this sort of thing. Since time eternal, characters in animes, video games, cartoons, etc have been pulling much, MUCH bigger things from the crevices of nowhere. We’re used to it. Just move on man, it’s cool.
P.S. I have actually seen Bugs pull stuff out of pockets before, just that they never seem to be there before OR after he goes into them
I agree with most everyone: some hidden “pocket” on him or he pulled it out of thin air, or at least something that doesn’t require him to hold it in his hand the whole time. It makes a very dramatic reveal, IMHO. I get the feeling that he’s going to discard it somehow, either by crushing or tossing down the ravine.
WOW can he monologue! Is he really waiting for time like @JakesDad said or just lording his power over them? All the same, I do wonder who he’s talking about. Maybe it’s Arthur and he’ll say why Arthur pushed him over the edge to do what he did.
I don’t think Alex has ever looked sexier either. 🙂
I know this is a little off topic of this strip but i just gotta say it. I read Percy Jackson and the Lightning thief before and saw it last night. I walked out pretty mad. I wish I hadnt read it first. The movie itself was not bad. I say this because of the changes that they wanted to make to Dreamland Chronicles to make a movie. I expected some things in the movie that was in the book. They completely removed a few characters changed some of thier roles in the movie and changed the relationships of people as well. We love this comic and the characters and the story, if to much was taken away or changed it wouldnt be the same and it wouldnt even feel like this comic.
There are kids reading this? How quaint!
I thought that maybe it would be a good idea if he swallowed it or something lol. There’s ample space in his mouth for him to keep it there.
Wow, lots of good comments today that I want to respond to! I’ll just tack this on the end first, to remind everyone to VOTE! http://topwebcomics.com/vote/4274/default.aspx
And as far as the amulet, Nicodemus simply has it. The heroes don’t know (or care, probably) where or how he carries it, since not even Felicity has any real chance of picking whatever pocket it might be stored in. (I would think the difficulty modifier for a Pick Pockets roll against a dragon in flight would be about +[whatever it takes to make it impossible] … ) In Scott’s narrative style, we – the audience – are not privy to much information that the heroes don’t have, so it stands to reason that we wouldn’t really know where Nic stores the amulet either. We can speculate all we want, but Scott is under no obligation to confirm or deny our speculations. (Problem solved.)
Storing a bauble that appears to be made of soft, precious metals (mostly gold) in the mouth that just spouted a HUGE jet of fire? I don’t think there’d be much left of it …
😉
In all fairness, Scott, had you not said anything, I probably wouldn’t have even questioned it or thought about it.
… at least not until someone brought it up in the comments, at which point the discussion probably would have gone pretty much the same way it has anyway …
😉
Oh my word, this made me laugh out loud. XD
Through the “suspension of disbelief”, (mentioned earlier in the posts) I didn’t have a problem with how he came up with the amulet, Scott. It’s not unheard of to sacrifice nit picky details in order to have a story flow more smoothly. The example of the TLOR movies comes to mind. All through those movies you never saw anyone struggle with lighting a torch with flint and tinder where no fire is burning. Yet, torches amazingly appear and disappear throughout the underground scenes. No one complains because the flow of the scenes are so good. Hence, since the flow of your dialogue is so good here, I didn’t sweat about where the amulet came from.
Hmm, which of your comments to respond to? This one will do … 😉
You make a good point about language, and I hope thinkEdem and others will keep it in mind in the future, and tone down their language …
And don’t be sad about all the adults about! There are other children that read this, I know. Off the top of my head, I remember a mother/daughter team that posts comments frequently under the name “Bobbi”; the daughter’s name is Nancy. (You might consider getting a parent to read Dreamland with you; they’ll probably love it as much as you do, and can help with bigger words when you don’t know them!)
And that leads me to the next point: subplot is easy, if you puzzle it out. Sub- means “under”, and plot is the story; so “subplot” is “under-story”, or a small story within the main story.
Precedent means something that happened before that is similar to what’s happening now; it often can give clues to what’s going to happen next. For example, each of the previous Kings that Nicodemus mentions (Arthur, Solomon, and a whole bunch more) are precedents that Nicodemus is familiar with that give Nicodemus an idea of what any future human king (like Alex) is going to be like.
And that’s about it. Welcome to Dreamland, Sophia! I, for one, hope you stick around; after all, you (more than we) are the target audience for The Dreamland Chronicles!
(Actually, most of the Moria scenes are lit magically by Gandalf’s staff, but your point is still valid.)
😉
Firstly, I’d like to agree with Sophia, thinkEdem. There wasn’t any reason for foul language in the comments of a webcomic written with children in mind.
Secondly, Scott, it’s so awesome you’d worry about continuity like that. Not many places do. XD Dimensional pockets are a good idea, and I like the idea of him wearing it like jewelry. Xaxnar also had a good idea with magical pouches and all. I tend to lean towards the dimensional pockets myself, but I’m simply impressed that you thought about it.
He could wear it on a chain around his neck?
I like the “dimensional pocket” idea.
I almost want to suggest having the amulet hanging on a chain around his neck, but that’d be a hella-big chain, and a ton of work for the artist (cuz they can be a royla PITA to pose).
He grabs down there somewhere….eeehh..eeeps[trying to shake groce picture]
Let’s keep it at “dimensional pocket”… After all, anyone that’s ever played a fantasy games [i]knows[/i] that in those realms One can carry far more than humanly possible(especially when using cheats. 😆 )
Thanks Amber. It’s good to know this.
I promise…it WILL change for tv and movie.
But all that matters is that the “heart” is still there.
I’ll make sure of that.
Dragons are well renowned for hording treasure and gold. They carry it under their scales, which may be folded back to reveal a neat compartment. They make a bed of it.
It would not be unusual at all for a dragon to pluck a treasure from beneath its belly scales. I’d vote to keep it as is.
I don’t blame you for getting upset with the canon changes of the movie, not that I read the book(s) or saw the movie, but I had a similar expierance with “The Dark is Rising” and its movie, The Seeker. I LOVE Dark is Rising but I quit watching the movie after 20 or so minutes because the only thing remotely canon was the fact the protagonst’s older brother was stationed in Jamaica with the Navy, and then preceeded to put an event from almost halfway through the book in the very beginning before the plot really picked up. I percieved it as a slap in the face. I’m sure it’s an okay movie on its own, but the distinct lack of most everything canon really chases me away.
I too am disapointed to hear that Dreamland will be changed up, but hopefully the changes will be minimal, and if not, well it’s Dreamland, I have to support it. If if can’t be as faithful as Princess Bride, then I’ll settle for something like Stardust. (ABSOLUTELY ADORE the movie, CAN’T STAND the book)
Plenty of ways to produce it from thin air. Heck, Rolemaster and D&D had at least three or four such items that would let you pop things in and out from small local dimensions.
RE this comic: I’m reminded of the Klingon captain quoting Shakespeare while bashing the Enterprise apart in STVI. If only they had a rocket launcher this would be over.
Just have the amulet be something that adheres to the outside of his scales, like a plasma grenade from Halo, lol. Plenty of ways for magical objects to adhere to things. 🙂
he could keep the amulet where he keeps his head (when in inverted postiton)…
yea, ok to delete if you think it is too rude (buI really don’t like mr N.). I won’t be offended. 🙂
I agree with LazerWulf’s and xaxnar’s idea. Hammer space and fantasy dimensions are good, but the xanar’s idea is pretty cool. Don’t worry about it too much Scott :).
if the dragon knows magic, he could have used some spell of ‘recall’ to summon and put away certain things to and from his location, that way he wouldnt need to carry it with him always
In Old school D&D I remember it was said that a part of dragon’s armor was all the gold and jewels that got stuck between it’s scales, in the nooks and crannies, you might say.
I don’t think it’s out of the realm of reason that he should stick the amulet in a convenient crevice. Love the comic.
Keep up the good work.
A.
why is he laying in fire in the first place? Don’t dragons usally have a soft underside?
Hi!
I vote for a magical pocket-sized plane. It’s just the thing for a creature that either doesn’t wear clothes (like Nicodemus) or wears clothes without any pockets. You don’t even have to mention it in the story line, although you could allow ol’ Nic the ability to keep an ace or two up his sleeve (so to speak) if he could stash a couple of small, non-living objects in it. Something he could suddenly reveal with a big “A-Ha!”
Think about it: where did Superman stow his Clark Kent disguise (suit, glasses, shirt, tie, shoes, socks) whenever he had to go “into a nearby phone booth” and then went flying off somewhere to battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way and returned WRINKLE FREE as Clark Kent? Did he leave a garment bag with a tag saying, “Please return to Clark Kent”? No!
Why can’t he wear the Amulet on a claw or something? I mean seriously whats stopping him from wearing it on his wing claw or any of his finger claws? if you are worried about slipping then think about this he is a dragon! I am sure he has enough strength to bend the amulet to fit his claw so he can wear it without that fear. or even ream one of the claws to fit the amulet on there are a bunch of opportunities for this idea to work in one way or another.
Anyone ever seen “The Flight of Dragons?” I think he got the amulet from his craw.
Dreamland is definitely a place where paratactic storytelling must be allowed. If there can’t be unexplained happenings in Dreamland, then where is the mysterious allowed?
That’s my take on it anyhow.
~Prince Demitri
Amber, I know what you mean, but then I learned to get over it. Dune the movie was a butchery in many ways of the book Dune. Then I read Frank Herbert’s (author of Dune) discussion of his time helping translate the book into the movie and the compromises that had to be made. The same thing can be said about Lord Of The Rings. Remember the media changes how the art must be presented. LOTR was a well done adaptation IMO, but… Each of the trilogy had what I consider a major error in it. Nothing that cannot be dealt with, especially with the corrections made to the story for film. The long, boring trip through the wilds from Bree to Rivendell? Cut to a couple of scenes you needed. The acceptable break (in books) from the Fellowship to the Two Towers was revised for the movie so that Fellowship the movie ends on a big fight by stealing a bit from the Two Towers (book) and a cliffhanger. We didn’t need the Woses along the way when the Riders of Rohan rode to Minas Tirith, so snip, leave them out.
I’d have to back looking for them, but there are a couple of scenes played out in the day by day here that could be dropped or shortened IMO. Others might be added to. Example: The butt cheek islands could either be dropped from the storyline after seeing them sticking out of the lake OR they could be a running gag throughout a film (“Alexander? Are you the guy that island in the lake is…” “Yeah, yeah, that’s me, but that was a long time ago.”) and it could be played up a lot more depending on audience appeal.
The only way we will see anything close to the current comic would be a long dedicated series on TV, but even if it is kept clean, there will have to be a bit more sex and violence, which is not the same as porn and splashing blood. Just more innuendo and semiconfused flirting with a bit more confrontation. Hmmm, now that I think about that, pacing might be the problem, since the entire chase by Nick through town sequence out to be left in, that would be a blast.
Long time reader, first time poster. Wow, talk about a long diskussion about Nicks assuming storage-space. Anywho! Isn’t that the tablet that was ON that hill/Cliff/Rock to begin with? Wich would mean that he Didn’t have a storage-space on him, he just picked it up from where he sat. No? Am I missing something? Or am I an artard… 😛
There was some early discussion about a chink in his scales. Wasn’t the dragon stabbed when the sword was first retrieved? That would provide a chick to store the amulet in. But any of the suggestions sound fine to me.
Aww he DID have the amulet 🙁
…yes?
He’s baiting Alex with taunts, Nastajia with the amulet…what’s he going to bait Felicity with?
“He has…CHEEZBURGER!!!”
Uh, Nico…you’re monologuing (sp?) again….