Stopping by Onu is one of those things that almost didn’t happen – it didn’t strike me as an essential stop, and I’ve felt a tad anxious to finally get this ponderous story arc moving towards its inevitable conclusion. That said, a friend of mine convinced me that Onu isn’t only Awesome, but also held a great deal of potential both for Areen’s continous culture shock and a few other elements, so he ended up getting a visit anyway. It does mean he’ll end up eating a few more pages than I might like, but it should be largely an improvement regardless.
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Beyond the Tree, the Misadventures of Hani and Tiny 
Her reaction, priceless :)
You did a fantastic job. It the little side trips like this week’s comic which make this such an enjoyable read.
I love watching Areen’s culture shock. Just a little gnome in a big, new land.
The foreshadowing in the conversation happening in the final three panels is interesting. It’s implied someday Hani’s exile will be over and that there will be a trip to Teldrassil with a certain gnome in tow.
I’ve got to agree – it’s the side trips that make the journey more enjoyable.
This one is wonderful in so many ways!
I had to do a double-take on the second panel, though. Hani’s hand pulling back her hood and the placement of her ear made it look like Onu pondering some deep, hidden meaning :-)
And right now, I think a stiff breeze would just blow Areen right on over and she wouldn’t notice!
Areen is just great! I might be biased, seeing that Gnomies are my favs… But she makes me smile.
Nothing wrong with Areen that a good stiff shot of whiskey wouldn’t fix :)!
Honestly I find her culture shock hilarious.
Oh I definitely agree with that friend of yours that visiting Onu was a good idea.
“Tel me of your progress” So Onu is in on it with Hani??
Great as always ;D!
As funny as it was with the Bears and all, I personally feel like you’ve overplayed Areen’s culture shock a bit too much. Rather than seeming like a Gnomish Paladin in a new land, she seems like that brainless, cartoon sidekick who loses track of all important things when they see something shiny.
As a race, gnomes have a typically high intellect level. This, coupled with her doing her work and training in Stormwind City, the capital of the alliance (and thus the central hub for facts and “facts” from all the lands), it seems a bit… unlikely that she would have said anything other than “Oh, right” with the whole wolf thing. Imagine all the alliance forces coming back from the battle of Mount Hyjal for example, talking about all the giant, living trees and other marvels of nature. They fought alongside the Night Elves after all, and many will have travelled to Stormwind themselves during the few years between this storyline and Warcraft 3.
“Imagine all the alliance forces coming back from the battle of Mount Hyjal for example, talking about all the giant, living trees and other marvels of nature.”
You have to remember, though, that with this being set in Vanilla, it does make any such encounters less likely than today in Cata, especially if she has been in training all that time (she *is* the only gnome paladin, after all).
For me, I think the culture shock is being played up well enough without being over-the-top, but each to their own.
I’m not sure many Alliance troops went back to Stormwind. All the forces there were with Jaina, and they probably stayed behind to help build Theramoore. I’m sure stories made their way back, but hearing ‘they have giant walking talking trees’ and seeing giant walking talking trees are different things.
especially since word of mouth could very well of turned “they have giant talking trees” to “they are giant elves who talk to trees” both are true…but one preps areen for giant talking tress…one does not.
There is a difference between hearing about something in a distant land and seeing it for the first time.
The culture shock Areen is experiencing, is probably normal since the Kaldorei culture is a lot different from the ones in the Eastern Kingdoms.
Ah, reminds me of the first time I saw an Ancient! My little night elf druid just about turned around and ran the other way, my husband had to reassure me I wasn’t about to get squashed.
Areen’s reaction reminds me 7 years ago, when I started to play WoW, and everything was new, huge and amazing. Since then, the world has shrunk even though they added new landmass, and the wonders of discovery and exploration have gone. Flying mounts only made things worse.
^
This.
Heh… It’s quite true, what Areen reaction is… I also remember playing myself few years ago… And hell when i first entered Darkshore, the atmosphere of that place was great… A bit of mystery, a bit of danger, that foggy weather… :) Many places were like that thoes days… Western and Eastern Plaguelands… Duskwood… And Tirisfal & Silverpine… Now Blizzard just destroyed it all… Everywhere big battles, no atmosphere of mystery and lonelyness… I kinda miss it all now…
Lately, when I have nothing better to do (or don’t feel like working on what I should be…), I’ve been going on long rides through the world on my ground mount.
When I do so, I get back to that old feeling I had way back when I first started playing. There are still many, many dark corners of the world to find and explore. It may feel like the world has gotten smaller, but if you leave your flying mount at home and head out into the world at ground level, you’ll find that Azeroth is just as big a place as it used to be. If you want that old feeling of immersion and exploration, you can get it back if you make the effort to slow down and get lost for a while.
It’s almost been a month and no new comic, poor Nhani must be really busy. I do hope he managed to finish the arc though, having been watching these almost from start I can see how his interest even in this is fading, before you, Nhani, tried to push a comic when you had time, now it’s like the fun and joy of making them starts to fade as your interest for WoW fades, doesn’t it?
I’ve been following from the start, and yeah, im guessing Nhani is busy IRL.
We miss you Nhani! but for gods sake, do what you need to do :)
I was already thinking about asking here if s/he was okay.
I’m really hoping Nhani is doing fine and indeed just busy with things.
If there hasn’t been a post re: ME3 within 4 days, it will be safe to assume that Nhani was eaten by a grue. :(
Then we all gather around the torpedo tube, someone will play Amazing Grace on the bagpipes, and we launch the internet out into space.
I’m not dead, not yet anyway; whether I’m actually doing well is another question and I’m not sure how well I can answer it.
In part I’ve been rather busy – I was hired over a short term period to help a company out with something over a week which got extended into two weeks which got extended into a month and may or may not get extended again. Don’t get me wrong – it’s good to actually do something and get money for it, but with the transit distances added it’s meant I’ve only had so much spare time during week days.
That’s not the whole story though; the bigger problem is that I have a few other issues weighing – people might remember my having periodic issues with insomnia for the latest… uh, quite long time? It’s part of a greater issue – I’m not going to get into too great detail over it so suffice to say that I’m sort of stuck not really knowing what I want to do with myself, how I’m supposed to get there and how to even begin unraveling the mess I’m currently stuck with. It’s gotten to the point where this has begin eating into my ability to focus properly so it’s proven quite crippling when it comes to writing actual scripts to build pages around.
I’ve started looking into ways to get it all sorted out, but in the meantime the best answer I can give on an update is that the next page will happen whenever I manage to figure out the last bit of missing dialogue that keeps eluding me.
So yeah, I’m fine but I’m not fine, sort of. I’ll work on that.
Well, I hope the personal problems sort out for you, I’m just glad to hear that you are alive and at least relatively okay! We’ll be here when you’re ready. Thanks for letting us know!
Work out what you need Nhani. Sounds like you need it.
If you decide to go on, thats good, if not, then thats good too. Main focus for you
should be yourself :)
*hugs*
Good to hear you’re at least ok. Hope you get the insomnia problem fixed.
Insomnia is awful – I’m sincerely sorry for you, and I hope you’ll be better very soon.
I heard insomnia is common amongst geniuses… must be why they are geniuses…or is it the other way around?
Take care!
I currently manage 6-7 hours a night – used to be 5 at one point. So much going through my brain I couldn’t find the off switch. I found swimming and listening to this helped (not at the same time, obviously!)
(Marconi Union “Weightless” – there is a downloadable version of the sound file somewhere on the sponsor’s Facebook page)
@Nhani: I’ve gotten the feeling that you made comics about Hani and Tiny before these. Is it true? And if that is the case, how can I read them?
Nhani, you are concerning yourself with too much all at the same time, While I and several others here would like to see you continue with Hani & Tiny and their merry band of eccentric members, it is not to be at the expense of your health and well being. Take a breather and get yourself help and well before returning to this world. I for one as well as many others will still be here faithfully waiting for your return. All I ask is if it is possible, once a month say at the beginning of the month, drop a note here and let us your faithful fans know your still alive and how your doing. I think while we do get caught up in the great story line, we often forget that there is a real person on the other side of the pen and neg late that fact in how we act when there is a pause in the time that the story is released. I will be looking forward to your possible return, if that is not possible then thank you for all you have given us in the past, it was wonderful and may your future endeavors be as fruitful as your work here. I think I have said my piece now and will sign off, sitting in wait. Good luck and fair well my friend, “May the winds blow your way and the seas grant you passage on your course ahead.”
Brian Wall
(Sewolf)