Page 1028…
Hi all!
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback regarding the pocket/magic for the amulet yesterday.
I really appreciate all the input.
Also…
I wanted to thank you all who’ve been submitting written samples for the Dreamland Chronicles prose novel.
I have a LOT to go through. SO please be patient with me as I read them all.
For those of you who are not following me on Twitter or Facebook…check out the site here to learn more.
I hope you have a great day…and hope you enjoy this week.
I think it’s a good one.
🙂
Scott
Oh how I could kiss Alex right now! Super sexy! Good thing he’s dettached from his physical body. He’s in such a rage that if this was a regular dream, his body would react and if Dan woke him up, he’d get a black eye and not-so-nice words for his trouble.
If monologuing continues for another week, I do see Alex taking the bait and punching out Orion before he stops him.
Scott: Have you done something new with the shine on Alex’s sword? It looks … well, shinier … and more realistically metallic, somehow …
Everyone: Don’t forget to VOTE! http://topwebcomics.com/vote/4274/default.aspx
I guess the sword must be reacting to good old Nick. Like sting and Glamdring were supposed to react, but the LoTR movies used sting as a plot device. Anyway, I would be pissed off at that time. And would want to kick some dragon ass. Good thing that Orion is there to keep him in check.
I wonder if giving Nicodemus a white beard, a red hat and a huge bag, would make him more liked…
Actually, when people dream a hormone is released to paralyze our muscles. It’s so we don’t injure ourselves (or others)
I actually only learned that last week in Psych class.
The sword’s eye doesn’t seem to be open. Isn’t it usually open when it acts on its own?
Prose novel? What prose novel?
Oh, and I can’t wait to hear who else has been a king in Dreamland. Wow, Nicodemus is older than I expected though.
“Et tu, Brute?”
Ah, that gives a nice time frame for Nick’s betrayal. It must’ve been after Gaius Julius Caesar at the earliest. Perhaps as late as the time of King Arthur since he was mentioned in one of the tablets.
Actually that seems to be false for me… I move around ALOT in my sleep. in fact I’ve actually injured myself a few times. =\
so not everyone has that “feature”.
I agree with Aurora. That particular hormone must be VERY deficient in my body. Let’s just put it this way- I feel sorry for the poor woman that God has ordained to be my future wife (in more ways than one, I suppose since she’ll be marrying a total nerd, but we’ll not go there! lol). She’s going to get kicked A LOT at night….
Don’t forget- he mentioned Solomon and David, previously. David’s reign was for 50 years from 1010-970 B.C., (assuming I’m remembering that correctly). Solomon ruled approximately from 970-930 B.C. That would make Nicodemus FAR older than even Arthur Pendragon, assuming he knew them personally. I guess we’ll find out more on that later. Perhaps he’s just really good at quoting history.
Agreed. I honestly feel sorry for the person who becomes my significant other. I don’t just kick though, I punch as well. All the time never having a dream I can remember.
Well, he’s been ruling in Dreamland for 600 years (since around 1400). And he doesn’t look or act like he’s really old, so there’s no telling what his life span is. He’s also the only dragon I’ve seen in Dreamland. Maybe in this realm he’s immortal.
I’m getting the idea that what ol’ Nic wants, and has more or less provided for the last 600 year, is stability. Dictatorial rule is oppressive, but stable. The human rulers it seems have been a mixed bag. He dicided to fix that. The price of course is all the human children that’ve been taken to the nightmare realm. Careful who you team up with, Nic. Bad dogs can turn around and bite ya.
This has been a great look into Nicodemus’ past. As I mentioned before, Nic thinks he’s doing what’s right for Dreamland.. giving it stability. But dreams are meant to be fluid and ever changing.
Nic has been looking particularly awesome these past few pages. Thanks for all your hard work on them Scott! 😀
Thank you all!
By the way…
Where did I mention that Nicodemus has been ruling for 600 years?
Just curious.
Really, you’re all spot on. Most people produce the aforementioned hormone to some extent, but it is less effective in some people than others – allowing movements ranging from mere twitches, through kicks and tossing about (though most “tossing and turning” actually occurs during brief periods where we wake up, turn, and go back to sleep without remembering it later), all the way to full-blown sleepwalking.
🙂
Just based on a quick archive dive, I suspect we all inferred it from this page: http://thedreamlandchronicles.com/2008/08/04/page-720/
On that page and the next one, while the figure of 600 years is never mentioned explicitly, the tablet does say that Nic has occupied the throne since he betrayed “Pendragon”, which we’ve assumed refers to the rule of King Arthur, and further assumed that the reign of King Arthur in your world was about 600 years ago.
There was also a hint of that here, though no actual figures are mentioned: http://thedreamlandchronicles.com/2007/09/13/todays-dreamland-chronicles-489/
(OCD satisfied … *sigh*)
Ruddy Nic! Interesting how tyrants spin history to justify their own actions…
Love the lighting and effects of this page, Scott. Enjoying Nic’s rant, as well.
Finally updated !
Also, don’t forget that time between Dreamland and the waking world don’t appear to be entirely in sync. Page 75. Although we’ve never seen that events in Dreamland can be out of order for people from the waking world, just because 600 years have passed in the waking world doesn’t mean that amount of time has passed in Dreamland as well. I wonder if people enter at different areas down the timeline of Dreamland. As in a person could meet a younger version of another person they know in the waking world. Or if time in the waking world and in Dreamland map the same for everyone in both worlds.
This is a great week though. I’ve been wanting to learn more about Nicodemus’s past since we first learned of his relation to the past kings of Dreamland. I know it’s most likely not the original incarnation, but this kind of concept (connecting the dots between famous people in history) always makes me think of A Wrinkle in Time. It’s an interesting concept where we try to answer what makes all the powerful people in history who they are and I’m very interested to see how that works in The Dreamland Chronicles. I can hardly wait to see how much we learn from Nicodemus this time and I wonder how it’s going to change what the party’s up to.
This is my personal favorite monologue in any of the webcomics/graphical novels I’ve ever read. You’d think long spurts of talking would be achingly long with only one page per day. Not at all in this case. Besides all the cool info and the dynamic of Alex really wanting to fight back for his own reasons, the artwork on these pages is really engaging. Awesome work Scott!
It’s one of several variant mixed states of consciousness possible. What’s even scarier is when someone wakes up but still can’t move. Or when they wake up, are still dreaming, and can’t move – it can make for some horrifying hallucinations.
Morpheus would be a good bet.
People are interesting. They generally never see themselves as evil or even doing anything wrong, and yet they can justify just about anything they do. This is the secret to creating realistic and interesting villains.
I notice that whenever I have a bad nightmare, my cat usually wakes me and instinctively I end up smacking him in the face, so I assume my body reacts somehow and he gets scared.
Wow, I’m still amazed by how great the fire looks. How was that done? Photoshop?
On 197 it was mentioned that the elven armor had been waiting for a human wielding the sword for around 600 years.
And straight from the horse’s mouth on 620
http://thedreamlandchronicles.com/2008/03/14/todays-dreamland-chronicles-620/
I was going to say, Wow, now we know Nicodemus has been around at least 2000 years plus. Ancient, huge red dragon? Son of Smaug?? Or of Elay???
Tell me, Nicodemus, do you know of a fallen angel called Lucifer? He is now known as Satan. This fallen angel is also known as a dragon that is destined for the eternal lake of fire. I have learned how blindingly foolish dragons could be in the brief time I have heard about them.
No Alex! Don’t take the bait! Let him die from lack of oxygen! The point, Nick, get to the point! Great art as usual Scott.
Ah. Drat. I knew of the armor part. But I forgot about the line from Nicodemus.
Thanks.
I wasn’t sure if I’d mentioned an exact amount of time or not.
Now I need to make sure I stick to it.
🙂
Thanks all!
So glad you’re enjoying the story.
Yup. The fire is done in photoshop. The flames are stock footage. The smoke is painted.
Wild diskussion last day about a pocket on Nick to hold the tablet. Is it me or was that tablet already on that cliff to begin with? I’m implying Nick didn’t have to have a pocket. No?
Alex is angry. But I feel undecided whether he is angry because he feels insulted because Nico is suggesting he might have not heard of Caesar or because mentioning history makes Alex’s head hurt because thinking is hard. Did take Nico a while to utilise the lessons if he has only been king for 600 years though. :p
Doh. Suddenly remembered the poem… of course Nico is talking about Caesar not caring about being remembered through “fanciful songs and fairy tales”… compared with the business of conquest and administation that was beneath a proud Roman.
“Other peoples may yet
more skillfully teach bronze to breathe,
leading outward and loosing
the life lying hidden in marble;
some may plead causes better,
or using the tools of science
better predict heaven’s moods
and chart the stars’ changing courses.
But Roman, remember you well
that your own arts are these others;
to govern the nations in power;
to dictate their rule in peace;
to raise up the people you’ve conquered,
and throw down the proud who resist.”
What about the amulet? That is what Nic is holding up in that page. Last we saw of it, it was being captured by Nic. Now after weeks Nic shows up and is able to just pull the thing out of the thin air seemingly. Where was it while Alex was training????
Nic isn’t holding the tablet. He just destroyed that. He’s holding the amulet that lets people seek out the tablets. That is what the debate yesterday was about, where he was hiding the amulet and where he pulled it out of just then.
Actually, this is 100% true. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if the paralyzing affect is more effective with some than others.
Have you ever heard of Old Hag syndrome? It’s basically a condition where a person wakes up before they are out of REM. It causes hallucinations and can be pretty frightening, because they are paralyzed for a few moments. It’s called Old Hag Syndrome, because in the olden days, people would see an old hag or demon or some such in their room (usually the result of a nightmare).
I know this is real because I have experienced it on several occasions. It was terrifying until I knew what it was. I don’t get the hallucinations so much, but waking up still paralyzed used to scare me something fierce.
Aaanyway; interesting tidbit for all ya’ll.
yikes he had to bring up julius ceasar >_<
Well, I can never actually remember the name I use to post here, since I rarely post here!
Well, here’s my thought: Nicodemus has been here for as long as… well, just much longer than any other. It’s obvious that he’s been king of Dreamland only for a teeny small fragment of his life, the question is what made him take such decision, especially to that extremes, considering he had been dwelling among humans maybe for as long as humans had existed…
Of course he does not consider himself a bad guy, and has a reason for what he’s been doing. Though he still retains the characteristics that make a kid point at him and say “this is the bad guy”, he has to have some moral merit to him to be a credible character to a more mature audience (_JM_ has already showed a version of what Julius C thought of himself, and it sounds just like it). Here is where that merit arises; he is, although with a mean purpose, telling us what he thinks of humans and maybe even the reasons why he crowned himself king of Dreamland. Things couldn’t get any better!
There’s still the mystery of the sword, the mystery of Alex (and possibly the mystery of his brother not being able to dream), the mystery of the nightmare realm, and… Where are all the other dragons? Has Nicodemus ever been good and later changed? For the love of Gaia is there any “good” dragon? Sorry, it’s just… I love dragons and I like dragons that are portrayed as wise and benevolent, heh
It’s possible to activate this when you are meditating as well. I’ve done this from time to time. You feel like you are paralyzed, but you know you could shake out of it if needed.
I have a feeling that there may be, JMV…but Nicodemus is one of the evil ones. We still have yet to see the “Guardians.”
Orion: “He’s baiting you, son. He’s quite good at that. Excellent, in fact. One might even go so far as to call him a master ba…wait, that didn’t come out right.”
Kiwi: “There goes our rating…”
well concidering the face that King David was WAAAAAY before Julias.. King David is the oldest mentioned thus far. seeing as how its he’s from the old testament. Sooo Nicodemus is really really old. Hell im waiting for some one to say something about Hammurabi, from Mesopotamia, and his set of laws and what not.
fact*
WIN.
I can’t help but wonder if I’m the only one speculating Alex’s thoughts here…
‘How DARE you try to give me a history lesson while I’m dreaming! Like I don’t get enough of that in class, you JERK!’
Lolz.
Hail Caesar! Roma Victa!