Page 306 (8-14-2013)

[Kris@WLP]

Hope to see a lot of you this weekend at San Japan... or next weekend at MechaCon... or the following weekend at AnimeFEST.

IndieGoGo project will happen as soon as I get private time to record audio and learn how to edit video and stills.

And pages after this one... will depend on BAR-1's access to working computers. His old one died.

[bar1scorpio]

Given I managed thid one in the comp's at Palladium Books, and my computers are with the imcredibly capable Tech crew at YoumaCon, I've high hopes of at least recovering all my g
files. That said, time to puzzle Kris again in the What If? thread.

[Ganthan]

"One town, one hunter, one target."

Well apparently you're allowed to switch your targets whenever you want, since I have to assume that Lee originally came for Sarah and probably didn't know about Peter until he went 'Fwoomp' right in plain sight. In that case, I see no harm in sending in Con to gut the guy in Peter's stead. That probably won't happen though because the story looks like it's leading inevitably towards a 'Peter Finally Comes of Age' moment.

In any event, while we haven't heard them all yet, these 'rules' are sounding more like guidelines than actual rules.

[Kaeto]

I have a feeling one of the next rules revealed is that the hunter only gets so many tries and if he fails he has to leave.

[Kris@WLP]

[Henpecked]

It's interesting how weres and hunters managed to hammer out a Geneva Convention for both sides, and yet nobody thought to add a "don't hurt us and we won't hurt you" clause. Naive, I know, but if Mr. Hunt really had the hunters over a barrel, he could've just told them to knock it off for their own health and safety.

[Kris@WLP]

[Ganthan]

[Kris@WLP]

[bar1scorpio]

Think- going from the Range Wars to "Duelling"

This was a two-way street as well. Any wolf surviving an assault on their pack would easily use their enhanced senses to track down surviving hunters, and gather up supporters on the way. A revengeful wolf could just follow a hunter back to their home, and start infecting thralls out a hunter's friends & family. Or upon discovering someone who's a werewolf hunter (some would be feel out more than others) make a preemptive attack in that manner.

[Aticston]

Wait, if everyone knows who is on both sides, whats the point of hunting?

If the were's know who the hunters are, and the hunters know who the were's are, why are were's not in the public eye?

You said Were's numbered like 1 in 100-1000, this is the first time in X years a werewolf hunter has been around?

This all seems contradictory, UNLESS were hunters are now exceedingly rare because they are all new agers like Juniper who are aware of were's but just don't hunt them. This would fall into the logic of the were's have themselves of them trying to be new age were's and get away from the "Traditions" like Stubs/Old Lady Garrity believe in, basically "Throwbacks"

This just calls into question though if were hunters now by and large know better, why do they still allow the ones that do believe were's are monsters still be allowed to hunt?

Also, how is this legal? If a were hunter kills a werewolf, then what? You now have at best case a were corpse, or worst case a human corpse on the ground to explain away. What authorities are just "Oh that's ok"?.

If its 1 were in 100 people, don't you think 99 of the humans would be like "Hey! Why is there dead human bodies! Arrest him!" etc etc.

If this stays as it is, this is going to seem completely contradictory to actual social logic, unless the next few pages have were hunters as "Outlaws", which gives some sort of grey area to them somewhat, police could still just pull them off the street and lock them up for carrying weapons, but current were hunters being outlaws to public norms would at least make some sense to them still existing. It wouldn't get rid of the consequences of killing people and leaving bodies, but it would at least let them "Function" running around modern society.

[Kris@WLP]

[Aticston]

[Kris@WLP]

[bar1scorpio]

And like I pointed out, the old code of Duelling. Something of a gentleman's agreement, and it keeps large scale blood feuds from developing. (no space in script, but a Picture of Lee & Peter staring each other down like Aaron & Burr, seconds, attending physicians, billowy white linen undershirts, tight britches & all, could be drawn.)

[Kaeto]

I'd love to see that!

[Happygun]

Like many things in Lycanthrope society, it's stupid, but it works.

[Black_Mantha]

Didn't Becca break rule 2 when she helped Peter, then? That going to have consequences?

[Kris@WLP]

[ThomasNewton12]

So Kris, what's it like to be completely bombarded with questions every time there's a story explanation page?

Ben's chibi style artwork is really good for situations like this, where otherwise it could devolve into talking heads. Though I hope now that those rules have been addressed this bit will wrap up - I feel like it's probably good to avoid too much explanation. There should still be some mystery for the future! Also because now everyone's going to pounce on you about exact details.

[patton]

[quote="Kris@WLP"][quote="Black_Mantha"]Didn't Becca break rule 2 when she helped Peter, then? That going

not every one like to play bye the rules and sence their no one to enforce them , their no consequences for any one who breaks them.

[heykat]

I like the little pictures of a jet and shark in the last panel. Made me chuckle

[rdfox]

As for whether or not Lee threw out the accords when he attacked Peter, all he knew for certain was that there was A werewolf in town, not what it looked like or who it was. Butch's little plan revealed Peter to him, and he therefore assumed that Peter was the one he was targeting. If he now finds out about Sarah, Jean, and the rest, he can't target them because Peter is his target.

and Ben, I'd love to see that as a promotional image for this book! (Maybe with Sarah, Jean, and Butch looking on, nervously, while Juniper is looking at all four with blatant lust in her eyes?)

[ClockTickRobot]

Not to be the pessimistic guy at a party, but does anyone else feel like there's an edge of utter horror to this whole system?

The way the characters talk about it, its billed as a kind of system of chivalry where hunters can go one on one with their ancient enemies. Or something. Its not entirely clear. In reality, the whole thing seems like a massive delusion that both the werewolves and the hunters a buying into.

Hear me out for a minute here.

Kris explained that most hunters or at least the ones we're seeing are religiously motivated. Particularly Lee's family. But when we see how Lee is dressed, he's not wearing any religious symbols. Infact, he's not even wearing a cross, the bare minimum you'd expect from somebody fanatical enough to go up against a massive regenerating beast made of claws and teeth with nothing but some knives. Hell, I've known people who aren't religious at all who still wear damn crosses because they find the symbol comforting. Lee is a good example here because he's clearly been raised and indoctrinated into the family business. I can't help but wonder how much of his Dad's lectures were about faith versus how many were actually about getting back at the things that took his leg. Is it even about religion anymore for these people?

The werewolves have the same problem in a different way. Their society, from what we've seen of it, is made up of primarily two ideas. The first is that werewolves should never be revealed, or else everybody dies horribly. Regardless of what the modern world might say otherwise. The second is based on competition, the pack structure, the hierarchy, the violence in the past that's been alluded to. Its never really spelled out for us, but its easy to imagine deep cultural fractures in werewolf society based on race, nationality and probably even regionalism (especially for a country like the US). Just like the old clan ideology. These two ideas make the whole One-On-One system appealing to them, because the hunters are willing to play by their rules (no revealing) and it gives them an outlet to "fight back" against humanity. The hunters are the ultimate challenge, humans that think they can beat werewolves at their own game. For a mentality like that of werewolf society, how could they ever back down to that?

Its a contest perpetuated by the older, established members of both sects. They pretend its for other reasons, but really they just want to fight with each other. And since they themselves are too old/busy/maimed to participate, they make their kids fight it for them. Its actually sort of the opposite of Taste of Armageddon, though I appreciated the reference.

[Kris@WLP]