Sarnothi have a saying for when someone passes away unexpectedly or otherwise “before their time”: they are said to have “repaid the debt of the eels”.
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For Springfield, IL readers, I am going to be showing a couple illustrations at Springfield Renaissance III tomorrow night. The event is at Donnie’s Homespun inside Vinegar Hill Mall from 8:00-11:30 pm. Should be a fun time!
In my very early iterations of Sarnoth they were a more directly high-fantasy magic-using people, and a very common multi-purpose cantrip that would have been used regularly in the comic was "Han Shin Jian Tho". Eventually I moved towards a more magitech-y theme for Sarnoth, but Han Shin Jian Tho was still something bouncing around my mental notes. So when I needed a name for the Eel Spirit, I jumped right away to repurpose the former "magic phrase" into his name. Back when I teased an early drawing of "The Maiden and the Eel Spirit" I had not yet worked out the Eel Spirit's proper name. Which is why it wasn't mentioned back then. XD
O.O
Shiney…
Oh my god dave that top panel is just beautiful. Do you have it without the words? Like in a desktop or panel format? Omgomgomg I love it so much
That art is beyond belief.
I dunno if it’ll fit a desktop without stretching or bunching or distorting, but you’re welcome to the hi-res textless version if you want it.
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay thank youuu!!!<3
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*gasp*EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
In all seriousness, I loveloveLOVE what you’ve done here. The fuzzy art effects, the mythology, the parallels to Plains Indian culture (eels=buffalo), the little Sarnothi cultural tidbits … It reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki despite being very different from his work, and I’d like you to know that being compared to Miyazaki is among the highest praise you can get out of me.
Also, I just noticed the little sad emoticon the Maiden is giving off in the last panel. Way to juxtapose silly with dramatic!
wait, “in the forest”? Was this on land?
She’s in a kelp forest. And I love the mythology and cultural references, it makes the Sarnothi very real!
A kelp forest in fresh water?
What, plants can’t grow in fresh water?
Kelp can’t grow in fresh water; it’s an ocean plant.
It’s some kind of water weed forest, to be sure, but it’s not actually kelp.
Well it’s a fairy tale. For all we know to the sarnothi the sea is some kind of magical fairy tale land like asia and north america used to be to the europeans. Which is why there can be a kelp forest.
…or it could just be another type of plant.
Well, at least it wasn’t the Mother of All Alewives…
Isn’t this another planet? Perhaps there isn’t any seawater- or at least no salt water, the planet being young enough for the seas to still be fresh. One can imagine some bed-rooted plant tall enough to reach the surface and photosynthesise.
I believe that it has been pretty well established that the Sarnothi are native to Earth, so your theory, despite being well-reasoned, is invalid.
That so? I sit corrected, Mort the Ghost!
As to the plants, then, dunno. Is there limnologist in the house?
my guess is Milfoil …
Does milfoil grow large enough to rate as a “forest?”
I am seriously loving the mythos of Selkie’s people. It’s so amazing! Thank you for putting such thought into something as simple as that saying in the paragraph under the comic.
Repaid the debt of the eels? Now I’m imagining a Sarnothi mafioso saying “What happened to Vinny? Well, let’s just say the eels came to collect…”
Or, “Vinny’s paid his dues to the eels.”
Or, “Vinny’s all squared away with the eels.”
Or, “Keep being a wiseguy and I’ll throw you to the eels!”
I googled “Han Shin Jian Tho” and found it means “Chinese Poetry is very good.” Oh well.