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Wayward Page 5
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Wayward Page 5

on May 18, 2013
Chapter: Book 5: Wayward
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Discussion ¬

  1. CptNerd
    CptNerd
    May 18, 2013, 2:38 am | # | Reply

    Um. “Imperial”? “Engineering”?

    Methinks the world just got a little skew.

    • Messenger
      Messenger
      May 18, 2013, 7:39 am | # | Reply

      I was wondering about that.

    • ⁣
      ⁣
      July 20, 2015, 9:12 am | # | Reply

      possible undead steampunker and fire bullshit wizard didn’t hint at that?

  2. Bismarck
    Bismarck
    May 18, 2013, 4:57 am | # | Reply

    I think it was said “This world is LIKE ours”

    I think Ms Black was killed by the fever, and Mr hunter brought her back the only way he knows how. And she is a little pissed. I am willing to bet it was Black’s town that put the bounty on Hunter.

    • Forry
      Forry
      May 18, 2013, 6:18 am | # | Reply

      *applauds* I support this theory.

      • Nick Manly
        Nick Manly
        May 18, 2013, 10:40 am | # | Reply

        I’m also on board with this theory. It seems that our favorite Pyromancer may have truly given up everything and looks like he regrets it too.

    • My_Little_Annie
      My_Little_Annie
      May 18, 2013, 12:43 pm | # | Reply

      Why would bringing Vane Black back to life piss her off? Wouldn’t she be sort of happy you’re “alive” again? Or at least pretty understanding? She seems to be a techie, and so I don’t think she’d be religious enough to hate anyone for messing up her shot at Heaven. And Vane clearly HATES Hunter with powerful, unremitting, intelligent force. Merely being raised from the dead shouldn’t inspire an obsessive vendetta.

      Also, I doubt Hunter would have gotten a bounty on his head for bringing somebody back to life. Both Vane and Hunter have been both witnessing and wielding magical and mechanical devices (the necklace, the field of flowers, fireballs, Vane’s horse and guns, etc), but none of our bit players has been utterly shocked or yelled anything about sorcery and evil. In fact the cyborg horse seems to be treated with acceptance. Awed acceptance, yes, but clearly this is a world where stuff like this happens. I’d be willing to bet that magic and mechanics are much more common in the civilized “East” or whatever the equivalent is here. Remember, we are currently in the “wild west,” and these frontier towns may be aware of technology that we as readers haven’t seen, because the towns are too small and too new to have it yet.

      It’s a mistake to try to rope this story together so quickly, fellow readers. It’s clear that this is a big world, with wars and plagues and cultures we’ve only glimpsed. Read. Wait. Watch.

      • CptNerd
        CptNerd
        May 19, 2013, 8:12 pm | # | Reply

        Well, if you had died and gone to Heaven/Paradise/ReallyGoodAfterDeathPlace and someone brought you back to life, you might be a tad miffed, or even might riled…

        • CptNerd
          CptNerd
          May 19, 2013, 8:13 pm | # | Reply

          “mite” not “might”.

    • dragon
      dragon
      May 19, 2013, 9:18 am | # | Reply

      her appearance, nature, and personality suggest she is a revanant (the deeply wronged risen from the grave for the sole purpose of revenge.

  3. the other ghost girl
    the other ghost girl
    May 18, 2013, 7:25 am | # | Reply

    maybe they’re referring to Japanese/Chinese people

    • Jubilare
      Jubilare
      May 21, 2013, 6:26 am | # | Reply

      If this world shares a similar historic pattern to ours, it’s more likely something like the British Empire, or perhaps one of the Native American empires.

  4. Messenger
    Messenger
    May 18, 2013, 7:38 am | # | Reply

    The plot thickens.

    If that’s Miss Black, then I’m guessin’ she died from said fever.

  5. sgl
    sgl
    May 18, 2013, 9:44 am | # | Reply

    So the violet fever is bioengineered — nasty.

  6. My_Little_Annie
    My_Little_Annie
    May 18, 2013, 1:19 pm | # | Reply

    Questions, questions! The appearance of the wedding ring is yet another clue that just leads to more questions than answers.

    1) Is that Hunter calling Vane “darlin’?” If it IS him, he’s since removed his wedding ring. Why? If he had married Vane, he would still wear it– she’s clearly still around– unless some sort of betrayal had been involved later. If Hunter had been married to someone else, how did that marriage end?

    2) In the scenes where Vane and Hunter are together, they are away from others, i.e. riding in the countryside, not dancing or holding hands in public.

    4) Does all this add up to an extramarital affair? Something like that could trigger the passion/hate we’ve seen so far.

    5) Branding someone or something effectively says “MINE.” Does Hunter branding Vane have more significance than a magic ritual, and is it related to claiming or even re-claiming Vane after this affair?

    6) Vane can cure paralysis?? So she’s a chemist, an artificer and a doctor too. What the Hell is she doing out West, fifty miles from the outskirts of Bumfuck, Nowhere?

    7) The “official” end of the war? I take it hostilities are still prevalent. If Imperials = Asians, was Hunter having a bath in the house of someone that would normally be considered his enemy?

    Now I’m stretching too far. I give up. NEED MORE STORY RRAAWWR

    • Okwari
      Okwari
      May 18, 2013, 6:05 pm | # | Reply

      Actually, Hunter didn’t remove his ‘weddin’ ring’, as he wore gloves in Wayward, which hid the ring.

      • My_Little_Annie
        My_Little_Annie
        May 18, 2013, 7:22 pm | # | Reply

        You’re right. I went back and looked 🙂

        • Alverd
          Alverd
          May 18, 2013, 8:59 pm | # | Reply

          Seems to be still wearing a ring here:

          https://www.nexttownover.net/?p=699

    • the other ghost girl
      the other ghost girl
      May 18, 2013, 9:11 pm | # | Reply

      I’m starting to think that maybe branding her was just a way of bringing her back. Now hear me out, what if Vane was dying of scarlet fever, and couldn’t (or refused to) figure out how to cure it, and Hunter branded her so that she’d com back to life afterwards. It’s also quite possible that Vane didn’t want to be brought back and wants to get revenge on him for doing so

  7. Ben
    Ben
    May 18, 2013, 3:59 pm | # | Reply

    Looking at all this assumption & speculation about NTO’s larger world has me wondering if maybe I should start an almanac like Snow By Night’s.

    … but then, what would I fill the backmatter of the books with to con you guys into paying for otherwise free material? 🙂

    • My_Little_Annie
      My_Little_Annie
      May 19, 2013, 10:38 am | # | Reply

      Nooo, use any spare time for more story pllleeeaaase!

  8. CoolHandNuke
    CoolHandNuke
    May 18, 2013, 8:06 pm | # | Reply

    Personally I like the way you only give us vague hints about the past, trying to guess it is more fun than knowing 🙂

    • Sulucamas
      Sulucamas
      May 21, 2013, 4:56 pm | # | Reply

      Seconded! 😮

  9. Drakkanis
    Drakkanis
    May 19, 2013, 5:58 am | # | Reply

    I would be willing to pay any and all story material. D&D stories are hard to come by these days 😀

  10. My_Little_Annie
    My_Little_Annie
    May 19, 2013, 10:36 am | # | Reply

    WAIT. I think I’ve got it. Hunter was the one paralyzed? Vane made him better but left him with the spine-length scar?

    • Jubilare
      Jubilare
      May 21, 2013, 6:28 am | # | Reply

      Oo… that would make sense!

    • Occam
      Occam
      May 21, 2013, 9:59 am | # | Reply

      I like how you think 🙂

  11. Sy
    Sy
    August 19, 2021, 10:16 am | # | Reply

    I am reading this in 2021 and I have to say it’s striking a particular note…

    I’m really enjoying this comic. Beautiful artwork, an immensely satisfying amount of internally consistent research clear in the design and dialogue, great pacing, and a clearly well-thought-out setting and world-building effort.

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