Page 1909…
That’s IT!
That’s the last page of chapter 21!
We did it!
So… when’s the rest coming?
I’m writing the next chapter still. So there may be a week or two break.
Thank you all for reading along. And special thanks to Tracy Bailey for her amazing work in taking over art duties for me.
Can’t wait to show you the final chapter. Can’t believe I’ve been working on this story for 13 years… yikes.
Please hang tight. We’ll get back to daily updates in the next week or so.
Promise.
Scott
Indeed, as we all knew, it is Gilgamesh. And now Dan knows what the plant is, as it would be in the article. Time to talk to Niviene and decide what to do with it.
I could have sworn you said the story was all already finished and that all that was left to do was to render it. We’re getting down to the wire here guys, man, thirteen years is a long time!
I think the story is finished, but he (like any other creative person) is properly just adjusting some of his storyboards so that it transitions easier and so that Tracy has a better idea of what to draw. Then there might be a few slight changes, as in that a particular event might have been working 13 years ago, but it doesn’t now. Also I think the story was going to have more chapters and he shortened it, so there are some changes to take into consideration.
But one or two weeks is nothing. I’ll be here to see the last chapter. In the meantime perhaps start reading it from the beginning again…
Well, they’ve got the wrong Gilgamesh (king of Kish, not king of Uruk), and in any case, Namer still predates either of them as the first pharaoh and fits the Egyptian theme…
Aye, he’s a right bad un!
If Gilgamesh is Abaddon,why is he planning to conquer the Earth?
Gilgamesh starts every sentence for the rest of the comic. Gilgamesh is fun to say. Gilgamesh loves mashed potatoes.
Please tell me more.
I don’t know enough about the lore. Any insight would be great.
Kudos to both you and Tracy, Scott. This chapter has been an enjoyable read and the artwork has been outstanding. Cheers, and have a great Labor Day weekend.
Agatha’s gonna be pissed.
Great work Tracy and Scott! I eagerly look forward to a new page each day and have been greatly enjoying the 2D art!
I’d venture a guess that even ole pal Alulim, the first king of Sumer mentioned by Sumerians themselves, was not the first sick scoundrel to notice that a village burnt down yields no more income while a village only threatened to be burnt down pays its taxes as long as its denizens remain scared. Protection racket may have been around for longer than we know.
Wait, there was a year+ art hiatus and the story’s not done yet? 🙁
Also, I know this is picky, but that webpage says 3000 BC and all that.. exactly what Daniel was originally googling. Daniel is apparently the worst googler ever, since the stuff he looks up gets no results…
1 more chapter….and then a Dreamland movie.
…Or Eight.
Also, huge “thank you” to you both for the story and art.
YESSSSS!
CALLED IT!
My guess is that Gilgamesh has been trapped in the nightmare realm, and has been plotting his escape back to Earth. But that’s just my guess!
Wikipedia says Gilgamesh was king of Uruk, for what its worth, citing the Sumerian king list. Narmer would seem to have been earlier, tho, you’re right, at 31 or 32nd century BCE.
Thank you both for finishing this story. I am so excited to see the finally after all this time.
Finale
Even so, both of them (Narmer is also known as Menes) have a lot of guesses as to when they actually reigned (and if they were real or not). That far back in history has an awful lot of guess work, or rather wiggle room for fiction.
LOL
In any either case, historically, these had kings that came before them too, so they’re not the “first kings” ever. No one knows who the first king was, only who the first king significant to a large empire with dynastic traditions might be.
Gilgamesh? Really? What a shock! No one saw that one coming!
Love it! Can’t wait for the rest. Thank you, Scott and Tracey!
Not sure if being sincere or sarcastic….
I was the first one to call this the moment the Sibu Isahir Amelu was first mentioned. So this comes as no surprise to me or anyone.
KLN B)
Whenever partial text shows up in a fictional universe like this I pause to consider that the full text still had to be written and I always wonder if the author ever feels miffed that part of it gets covered up. But then something like this could just be a paraphrase from wikipedia or something.
Abbadon. That’s the only name you’ll hear. Abbadon. It means the end and the death. Abbadon. I am Abbadon. Abbadon is all around you. Abbadon is the creature you forgot in the room behind you. Abbadon will gnaw on your bones. Look out! Abbadon is here.
Then why invade Earth??? Unless he’s been out of circulation for centuries?
Agreed, and I think that is what Scott means too – not just any minor king, but kings of significance. Narmer/Menes had “Scorpion” and other before him, but Narmer is thought by many to have united upper and lower Egypt for the first time, as first pharaoh of dynasty 1. Gilgamesh was preceded by Enmebaragesi (who also has some historical supporting evidence), but Gilgamesh has his Epic.
The last few pages have answered a question i’ve had for awhile, did dreamland exist BEFORE the Dreamer or not. Clearly it did since the Dreamer went there. Very interesting.
I just can’t possibly be the only person having flashbacks to the universe of Fate/Stay Night.
Piping in to fully support this statement!
I’m going by Wikipedia here, since it’s as good a source as any.
I’m drawing a blank now. I have no idea where I got the other Gilgamesh from. I recall I found some references when I searched around 10th of August. That’s also where I found the name Namer.
Looking at Wikipedia again, it was Narmer (not Namer) and also mentioned his other name, Menes (which is the one I recognize).
Menes/Narmer was indeed the first significant pharaoh of all of Egypt. Egypt actually had two kings — of Upper and Lower kingdoms, and the name ‘pharaoh’ wasn’t even in use until some 20 centuries later (neither was ‘king’ in English, obviously).
As such, there were a lot of kings recorded in history before Gilgamesh became king of Uruk. Indeed, he’s not even the first king in Mesopotamia, or even of Uruk, although he was the first one to leave such a profound effect that he had an epic composed about him.
While Uruk was the largest city in the world for some time (before Gilgamesh’s reign, though), city states never had much influence in the world. There are just a few remaining today, the bulk of them was conquered or assimilated by nation states or simply failed.
Uruk itself began losing its significance after Gilgamesh.
Scott, just one thing to add to be clear: The way you run the comic is tons better. Early Egyptian pharaohs don’t have really viable myths associated with them, and no real equivalent of Sibu Issahir Amelu so there would be no MacGuffin to include in the story.
Because he has nothing better to do 😉
I seem to recall that there was an in-universe explanation, though. I think Earth was an easier, unprepared target and with Earth enslaved, Abaddon would be able to overwhelm the remainder of Dreamland.
Plus, his goal is to live forever and until recently, he had no idea where Sibu Issahir Amelu was.
Sincere. I remember when Scott was researching this a while back, he was asking if we (his readers) had any pointers for info on this.
Not sure how many readers got the “Gilgamesh Wulfenbach” reference (I did).
Because he’s a king, old school. And that’s what kings like him do; conquer. He wants Dreamland, and he wants Earth, and he’s built up his forces and made his plans so he can get both. He tried before in ancient Egypt when the Portal was first opened; and now that he’s got the Portal working again, he’s trying again.
Unfortunately our heroes are throwing monkey wrenches into his plans. The Dreamland army has been destroyed thanks to Alex. Nastajia has found out his secret, and may be about to cut off his power source. And Dan has – and can destroy – the one thing Gilgamesh wants more than dominance. So things aren’t going his way.
Gilgamesh. A king. At Uruk.
He tormented his subjects.
He drove them to anger.
They cried out – “Give our king a companion. Spare us his madness.”
Enkidu. A wildman. Of the forest. Entered the city.
They fought in the temple.
They fought in the street.
Gilgamesh defeated Enkidu.
They became friends.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu. At Uruk.
The new friends went into the desert, where the Great Bull of Heaven was killing men by the hundreds.
Enkidu caught it by the tail, Gilgamesh struck it with his sword.
They were victorious. But Enkidu fell to the ground.
Struck down by the gods…
And Gilgamesh wept bitter tears, saying,
“He who was my companion through adventure and hardships, is gone forever…”
Star Trek: TNG “Darmok”
The best part? Dan is the one who said Gilgamesh was the first recorded king in history… He could still be mistaken.
This means that even if Scott planned for it to be Gilgamesh but finds a different king that would suit better, he could make those changes easily enough without any re-writing of the already published stuff! 🙂
Of course, with only one chapter to go, it might be best to just accept that Dan isn’t always completely accurate with his words, but they got the correct guy.
However it goes, I’ve been here since nearly the beginning, you can bet I’m gonna stick out the final chapter and see how it goes! 🙂
Cheers!
As long as Alex says “Excalibur, Be My Strength!” Once in the final Chapter and he and Nastajia get to make plenty of Half Elf Babies I’m good.
Thank you all!
Working hard on getting new pages ready within a week or two.
As eee has already said, he wants the both worlds.
Judging from the Swarm’s reaction to that little pot plant, the old boy needs his fix.
And it even wasn’t Dan’s idea, either. He was told the guy’s the first ever king.
Ageing often plays foul games with one’s memories. Being so self-obsessed as to strive for immortality no matter the cost could also give old pal Gilgo some pretty strange ideas about his precious self. Remember his colleague Caligula?
Which is why I asked (jokingly in a way but also seriously). If Scott’s been researching this for a while, probably years, and asked about any tips we had a while back what makes us think we’ve got any googleable info that others have long been googling and posting in the comments in various guesses that he doesn’t know already. Unless we’ve got a rare obscure book or access to some library only a few people have access to, it strikes me as presumptuous that Scott hasn’t been able to research that tidbit and to “correct” him on the lore he’s written for a story that he’s been researching and writing for so long. Besides the fact that the facts and myths from human history for that far back is sketchy at best. *shrug* I don’t mean to rile anyone, but yeah, I’m not sure it’s “sincere”.
Totally sincere. I’m in no way a scholar on this. I need all the help I can get.
This is so fabulous. I’ve been following this for so many years, and we’re finally at the last chapter! Gosh… life will be emptier when this is over… but I do hope it makes the movies! 😀
AFAIK, Gilgamesh was first recorded in “The Epic of Gilgamesh” (according to Wikipedia “an Akkadian poem that is considered the first great work of literature”), redacted around 2500 a.C. as both king and divinity.
Since The Sumerian King List was written around 2100 and 1800 a.C., Dan is substantially right when he says “The first recorded king in human history”.
Anyway, congrats to Scott and Tracy for this chapter (and the next, obviously!): it a was a real work of art and I am really thankful for the dedication Scott put in his creature (The Dreamland Chronicles) that, even with technical adversities that would have forced others to abandon the project, never slip away from his commitment and found a way to continue (and end !) his work. Kudos and thanks again
Of course megalomaniacs name their kids after great kings of legendary standing. (Though the kid might hate it and just goes by Gil.)
As long as it’s not another several year break, I don’t mind a few weeks ;P
I love this comic o3o
So very much looking forward to the end of the story. The idea of finishing something is always a relief and a bummer.
Relief, because of accomplishment, pride, and joy in the journey that you have just taken.
Bummer because it is now a memory that can not be relived as it once was. The anticipation, the reveals, the learning.
Scott, I implore you to not go the path of George Lucas or J. K. Rowling and further expand on your universe. It is beautiful as is. And stand well on its own.
Groovy choice. I had thought that it would be Sargon of Akkad.
Check this out,even thou it’s from about 2003:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2982891.stm
Here’s a list of Sumerian kings composed by Sumerians themselves. I’m afraid Gil isn’t even in the top 10. He can still boast being the first king to become the main character of an epic poem of course, but it’s hardly the same as being the first one recorded.
http://www.livius.org/sources/content/anet/266-the-sumerian-king-list/
This….so much this. Dan was told he was the first king, but that doesn’t mean he was told the truth. And while there is the hiccup of his search engine naming Gilgamesh as “first king” in their advanced search, I’d be willing to let it slide given the cross-reference of the plant. (For the record, searching “sibu issahir amelu” actually pulls the Epic of Gilgamesh without cross-referencing anything…and cross-referencing the two data points they suggest pulls nothing 😛 ).
The art hiatus wasn’t just an art hiatus. It was also a “Scott’s working on a movie” hiatus, so it makes perfect sense that he’d not have had loads of time to continue working on the final chapter. 🙂
Yowzers!! What a great page to end a chapter on! 🙂 I’m sure I won’t be the only one on pins and needles waiting for the final chapter to start. Well done Scott! And well done Tracey for jumping in and filling the art void left by old and busted software/computer stuffs!
Gilgamesh has been informed that there was a joke missed here for gilgamashed potatoes.
I just had a thought!
I was reviewing the Epic of Gilgamesh and took note of how Gilgamesh lost the second test for immortality.
After he brings the plant out the water and takes his nap, it is a SNAKE that steals and eats the plant.
I hereby theorize that the Sibu Issahir Amelu will end up being eaten, not by Alex or Felicity who kind of need it right now, but by Nicodemus the Dragon (Snake) bringing the story full circle to the legend.
While all of you are stuck on “first king in recorded history”, I’m noting that Nicodemus and Abaddon said he was the first king who came to Dreamland, seeking immortality. He may not have been THE first king ever, but Gilgamesh easily fits the bill for being the first king to enter Dreamland. The fables surrounding him lend a bit of realism to that idea.
Kira at Bashi.
Sokath, his eyes uncovered.