Prequel - or - Making a Cat Cry: The Adventure [Archive]

Winterwind

2014-03-04, 09:31 AM

So I've always wondered why there wasn't a thread for Prequel around these parts. Given that it finally updated after a three months hiatus, I figured this is as good an opportunity as any to start one myself.

For those who don't know, Prequel - or - Making a Cat Cry: The Adventure (http://www.prequeladventure.com/) is a semi-interactive webcomic (that is, the readers can submit suggestions for what the protagonist should do, though at times she rather follows her own will) set in the Elder Scrolls world, just prior to Oblivion (hence the name), following the (mis)adventures of a female Khajiit who, basically, sucks at life, yet keeps on trying to create an existence that she could respect for herself. The comic also frequently includes flash sequences and even minigames (that also keep telling the story).

And it's my #1 most favourite webcomic at the moment, and by a rather large margin, too. It manages to weave really funny humour with really serious drama rather well, I feel, and does not shy from tackling serious matters (for what it's worth - as someone who suffers from depression himself - I don't recall any piece of work that, I felt, had a better understanding of what depression actually feels like). I wouldn't call it a cheerful story by any stretch (though, as said, when it chooses to go for humour, it is hilarious), as it depicts a character who has pretty much hit rock bottom, but there is a constant glimmer of hope, however faint.

(I guess I should also issue the warning that, early on, there is a single somewhat NSFW scene, so, if you are the kind of person who gets offended by pixelated nudity, you should probably skip either the scene or the comic - though, I would argue, you would be doing yourself a rather big disfavour with the latter. :smallwink:)

__

So with the introductory thingy out of the way, to the actual update.

I'll have to admit, without that aid that pops up at later tries, I don't know how long this would have taken me. On the plus side, there are like four or five different endings, depending on when you finish it, so, given the multitude of dialogue, I don't even mind. :smallcool:

I keep being amazed at how Aggy is completely, absolutely, stark raving insane, yet (almost) everything he says actually makes absolute, perfect sense, when you think about it.

Squark

2014-03-04, 09:53 AM

Another fan here. Definitely a fun update. 'specially the bit with Katya's ears in the "Witch Hunter Robe"

SlyGuyMcFly

2014-03-04, 11:11 AM

Prequel updated!?

GottagoberightbackIloveitbytheway

*rushes off*

Squark

2014-03-04, 03:59 PM

Keris

2014-03-04, 04:02 PM

[...] that is, the readers can submit suggestions for what the protagonist should do, though at times she rather follows her own will [...] And sometimes Kazerad seems to delight in plucking the one suggestion that sets Katia back to square one... But then it wouldn't really be called 'Making a Cat Cry' if we could do whatever we wanted.

I'll have to admit, without that aid that pops up at later tries, I don't know how long this would have taken me. Personally I tried it once, then wasted (http://xkcd.com/1319/)spent several hours hammering together a script that'd solve it for me. Though I was able to adapt the script to find failures of various lengths so I could farm as many dialog variations as I could find, so... yeah.

On the plus side, there are like four or five different endings, depending on when you finish it, so, given the multitude of dialogue, I don't even mind. :smallcool: I make it...
4 possible win endings ('first!', 'Katia the cunning linguist', 'thinking with your mouth', 'telekinesis time!'), 7 sets of loss dialogue (with the 7th repeating if you keep failing), and then a 'you managed to do even worse this time' that can sub in for about half of the regular losses. This is not counting minor variations where it just changes the references to how many goes it's taken you.

I keep being amazed at how Aggy is completely, absolutely, stark raving insane, yet (almost) everything he says actually makes absolute, perfect sense, when you think about it. He's shaping up to be a fan-favourite side character all right. Which probably means Kaz will find some way for him to double-die soon. Be interesting to see how that turns out.

'specially the bit with Katya's ears in the "Witch Hunter Robe"
http://i.imgur.com/mXmnYvS.gif
? :smalltongue:

Might sort-a count as a call-back to when Katia met Stephane... (http://www.prequeladventure.com/this/story816.gif)

Winterwind

2014-03-04, 06:29 PM

Finally got the puzzle done on my second try. I'd definitely recommend trying to get it done in two tries and even on the first try- You get a lot of info from Aggie you wouldn't get if you did it on the Mouth part or later.In case anyone's interested, here's the solution (as I wrote it down for myself in order to get all of the various endings):
If you name the spots as follows:
....A
...BC
..DEF
.GHIJ
KLMNO

then the sequence goes:
N->E
L->N
D->M
C->H
N->L
K->D
J->C
B->G
A->F
G->I
F->M
L->N
O->M

Of course, if you wish, you can mirror it.

And sometimes Kazerad seems to delight in plucking the one suggestion that sets Katia back to square one... But then it wouldn't really be called 'Making a Cat Cry' if we could do whatever we wanted.If thoughts could kill, I imagine the guy who wrote "drop and break everything." at the end of the sequence in the ancient ruins would be like the god of death at this point. :smalltongue:

I make it...
4 possible win endings ('first!', 'Katia the cunning linguist', 'thinking with your mouth', 'telekinesis time!'), 7 sets of loss dialogue (with the 7th repeating if you keep failing), and then a 'you managed to do even worse this time' that can sub in for about half of the regular losses. This is not counting minor variations where it just changes the references to how many goes it's taken you.Yeah, sounds about right.

He's shaping up to be a fan-favourite side character all right. Which probably means Kaz will find some way for him to double-die soon. Be interesting to see how that turns out.Well, I don't think he will be sticking around forever, in any case; it wouldn't seem fitting with the tone the story usually adopts otherwise.

Perhaps he will be
perma-killed or abducted or such by "the King"?
Not having playing the TES games (much) myself, what would be capable of ending a ghost therein?

Loreweaver15

2014-03-04, 06:58 PM

Has the author gone back on their statement that they're really just yanking people's chains and are never actually going to let our protagonist succeed at anything and/or find happiness?

Winterwind

2014-03-04, 07:19 PM

Has the author gone back on their statement that they're really just yanking people's chains and are never actually going to let our protagonist succeed at anything and/or find happiness?Source for that statement?

Though, actually, nevermind - even if Kaz said that, I'd consider it almost certain that he was joking. Yanking people's chains is something he would do, yes, but I think the way he would do that would be by making a statement such as this. :smalltongue:

Loreweaver15

2014-03-04, 07:20 PM

Source for that statement?

Though, actually, nevermind - even if Kaz said that, I'd consider it almost certain that he was joking. Yanking people's chains is something he would do, yes, but I think the way he would do that would be by making a statement such as this. :smalltongue:

I'll go digging for the original quote. It was a good ways ago, and I dropped the series because of it; I had enough of that from Brian Clevinger.

Winterwind

2014-03-04, 07:35 PM

I'll go digging for the original quote. It was a good ways ago, and I dropped the series because of it; I had enough of that from Brian Clevinger.The characters staying the same all the time was kind of the point of 8bit Theatre though (I'd argue there were some subtle developments - like Red Mage going from plans that fail 100% of the time to plans that, against all probability, actually succeed sometimes (and fail spectacularly the rest of the time) - but overall, they never changed). It was pretty much the central motif of the whole story.

Prequel, on the other hand, has major character development all the time. And Katia doesn't always fail - and while her successes, all too often, serve just to make her next fall all the harder, it keeps making her stronger, both in terms of her abilities and (or so I would argue) in terms of her character.

Almost as if all of the setbacks are supposed to forge her into some kind of hero, in case something like, oh, let's say a Daedra-caused crisis should come around. :smallwink:

Loreweaver15

2014-03-04, 07:38 PM

Pseudo_Nym

2014-03-04, 11:43 PM

Has the author gone back on their statement that they're really just yanking people's chains and are never actually going to let our protagonist succeed at anything and/or find happiness?

Having just read the entire comic in the last few hours, that's definitely less of an issue as time goes on. Katia still thinks of herself as a failure, but she hasn't been for quite some time. Her lowest point was back HERE (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2011/04/304/). It bothered me for the same reasons you mention, and almost made me stop reading, but I'm glad I didn't.

Winterwind

2014-03-05, 07:41 AM

Oh, no, I was talking about how Clevinger deliberately gutted his (genuinely interesting and engaging!) story of payoffs or depth because he wanted to prank the readers. It's what put me off his body of work entirely; no amount of assurances that Atomic Robo is good can get me to trust him again :POh, I see. My apologies for misunderstanding. :smallredface:

Hmmm... I very much doubt Kaz would tell anything less than the best story he could, just so that he could troll people. This said, it is probably not unlikely that Katia will still be poor and homeless when that story is said and told, simply because
there is a good chance she will end up without possessions in the dungeons of the Imperial City, because that is the situation in which the Oblivion protagonist starts.
I don't think it matters though. Prequel is, at its core, a story about personal development, and it has that in spades. Whether Katia ends up with money, a home to call her own, etc., is secondary to her change from a nigh complete failure to a person that is, frankly, quite formidable - and I would say there is plenty of evidence for precisely that happening.

Having just read the entire comic in the last few hours, that's definitely less of an issue as time goes on. Katia still thinks of herself as a failure, but she hasn't been for quite some time. Her lowest point was back HERE (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2011/04/304/). It bothered me for the same reasons you mention, and almost made me stop reading, but I'm glad I didn't.In terms of being a failure, yeah, I fully agree, that would have to be it. In terms of what happens to her, the nadir of her fortunes is probably more like here (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2012/07/2107/) - but that's kind of my point: While in this scene, she is completely down on her luck, it is the very same scene in which she demonstrates just how much she has grown as a person (when she shatters that bottle, instead of drinking it).

Winterwind

2014-03-31, 10:09 AM

While I imagine most people are aware by now (given that it happened a week ago, just as the GitP forums went down), there's a new update (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2014/03/3344/)!

So, for working telekinesis, one needs to

"reverse engineer bird puns into a logical argument for why inanimate objects should move by their own accord, which I then use to tame a metaphorical unicorn into affecting the world around me"
I feel like that's a riddle intended for us to solve! Anybody got any ideas? :smallbiggrin:

SlyGuyMcFly

2014-03-31, 01:20 PM

Winterwind

2014-03-31, 02:23 PM

Our ghostly mentor continues to be bat-**** insane and spew seemingly random ideas from his mouth. And yet everything he says makes an odd, twisted sort of sense. So yeah, reverse-engineering bird puns is totally a thing we should be trying to decipher. I'm not feeling all too inspired though... something something running afowl of the laws of physics?Heh. :smallbiggrin:

I'm thinking along the lines of, just like a word is sometimes something that it is not, the same applies to the laws of nature. Like, usually a word is what it actually means. But sometimes, it's actually a bird. And just the same, usually inanimate objects stay that. Except sometimes, they don't? Am I making some amount of nonsensical sense here?

CRtwenty

2014-04-01, 11:21 AM

Not having playing the TES games (much) myself, what would be capable of ending a ghost therein?

Magical weapons, destruction spells, and certain restoration spells.

sihnfahl

2014-04-01, 08:30 PM

Our ghostly mentor continues to be bat-**** insane and spew seemingly random ideas from his mouth.
Go back and read some of the books in the TES games (text available online). Yeah, casters can read as really insane, but when you figure what they're doing, it makes sense. They're getting the world to do things that normally it wouldn't. So you have to think in a way that the world doesn't operate, then apply magic and will to make the world operate the way you want it to for a short time.

Eventually the world wins out, but for a short time...

Winterwind

2014-04-02, 04:51 AM

Magical weapons, destruction spells, and certain restoration spells.Ah. Thanks.

So, at the moment, it would seem that barring a cat-pun-induced accident, Aggy should be reasonably safe for now.

Lord Raziere

2014-04-02, 05:06 AM

huh.

read the entire thing.

and so I want to give Katia a hug. :smallfrown: its really a different kind of story than one I'm used to, and just makes me wish I could help her somehow.

though the way things are going, it does seem she will someday get better....

Edit: hey I think I know the reason why the bad dreams about kings and cultists...

In Oblivion's opening, in jail you meet Uriel Septim, the king. what does Katia fear? kings. so what I'm thinking, the bad dreams are designed to try and make her unable to cooperate with Uriel Septim at the beginning, this is important: its only because the protagonist cooperates with Uriel to bring a certain pendant to other people that the plot kicks off and the protagonist saves Cyrodil from the Daedra. therefore, the dreams are designed to prevent her from doing that.

as for the cultists- the guys a guard in Kvatch. whats the first city that gets invaded by the Daedra/Oblivion or whatever? Kvatch. what things do you face in Kvatch? cultists. these dreams are designed to alter the outcome of the events of Oblivion, meaning whatever entity that is sending them these dreams can see the future, but I don't know enough about Elder Scrolls to know which one- I played both Morrowind and Oblivion, but never got all that far on either, but its probably being sent by the guy who is leading the Oblivion invasion thing, whoever they are.

Winterwind

2014-04-02, 06:01 AM

huh.

read the entire thing.

and so I want to give Katia a hug. :smallfrown: its really a different kind of story than one I'm used to, and just makes me wish I could help her somehow.We all do. Oh, believe me, we all do. :smallfrown:

though the way things are going, it does seem she will someday get better....True, though I guess just before she got out of the ancient ruins and broke everything, or right before she got robbed by Sigrid, it likewise seemed she would get better, and then, well.

But she keeps on getting stronger with each such ordeal, so, who knows.

Edit: hey I think I know the reason why the bad dreams about kings and cultists...Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm thinking as well. We got a nice preview of what those dreams did to Katia with regards to the main Oblivion storyline in the Excelsior! (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2011/10/1015/) update, when
she spoke, if you can even call it that, with Brother Martin Who is Emperor Uriel Septim's bastard son. and was terrified out of her wits.

sihnfahl

2014-04-02, 07:15 AM

these dreams can see the future, but I don't know enough about Elder Scrolls to know which one-

The Elder Scrolls allow the reader to glimpse possible futures as well as other things. Comes with a bit of a cost unless you're a Moth Priest - you can go blind. Even Moth Priests aren't immune - their continued reading of the Scrolls slowly robs them of their sight.

Lord Raziere

2014-04-02, 12:28 PM

True, though I guess just before she got out of the ancient ruins and broke everything, or right before she got robbed by Sigrid, it likewise seemed she would get better, and then, well.

But she keeps on getting stronger with each such ordeal, so, who knows.

well, the theme of the story seems to be much like something my brother once told me: Success is built upon a thousand failures. You fail over and over again- until you succeed.

yes, every failure seems to strengthen her, every step back seems to teach her something, harden her so that she might rise again.

consider in contrast the lucky orc- he is lucky and therefore is not changing, he remains the same in his good fortune. he may look like he has it better now, but I think at the end of the story we will see how luck vs hard work plays out and who wins. :smallwink:

Scowling Dragon

2014-04-14, 12:41 AM

I enjoy it but I'm seeing an inherent problem:

The story hinges around Katia's life sucking, and so she can never really develop. I quit when the witch stole all her stuff and months worth of updates were made pointless.....Again. For the third time.

Also the grey robed dudes reasoning for the witch getting away for being a horrible monster of a person is stupid and insane. Katia stealing her stuff wouldn't teach her responsibility. It would teach her to up her security. Thats it. Its immensely contrived.

The input system is really irrelevant as the author will do whatever with the character so its a distracting gimmick at best. Its more akin to us being on a railroad and the author just picks what s/he wants to add some set-dressin to the story.

Its a good story struggling for direction with inherent flaws in its premise that just hurt it in so many ways.

CRtwenty

2014-04-14, 02:22 AM

I enjoy it but I'm seeing an inherent problem:

The story hinges around Katia's life sucking, and so she can never really develop. I quit when the witch stole all her stuff and months worth of updates were made pointless.....Again. For the third time.

What do you mean that Katia can never really develop? Each of those instances eventually made her stronger, once she started moving again. She's also gained new skills each time, making her (slightly) more competent for the next run. Do you think the Katia we saw at the beginning of the strip would have been willing to run down somebody in a rooftop chase in an attempt to reclaim some stolen property? No way, she would have just gotten drunk and wound up in somebody's bed again.

Yeah terrible things happen to her, but she's getting better and better each time.

Also the cloaked priest's excuse is pretty heavily tied into the lore of the Elder Scrolls universe. He believes Sigrid is a Hero, which is a very specific term used to refer to people who fulfill the prophecies of the Elder Scrolls themselves and exist outside of the usual will of Fate. If he was correct (which he isn't) than attempting to assist Sigrid towards more noble purposes would be about the best thing he could do, since as a Hero she's destined to mess around with the Fate of everybody she encounters anyway. Katia stealing from her is just him attempting to remind her that she's not invincible, and that not everybody is under her control. He knows it's probably a long shot, but as he said he views Katia as "expendable" so it really doesn't matter if she succeeds or not.

Winterwind

2014-04-14, 03:00 AM

What do you mean that Katia can never really develop? Each of those instances eventually made her stronger, once she started moving again. She's also gained new skills each time, making her (slightly) more competent for the next run. Do you think the Katia we saw at the beginning of the strip would have been willing to run down somebody in a rooftop chase in an attempt to reclaim some stolen property? No way, she would have just gotten drunk and wound up in somebody's bed again.

Yeah terrible things happen to her, but she's getting better and better each time.Yeah, precisely that.

Anyone who claims she doesn't develop did not think about the significance of this update (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2012/06/2058/) very much. The first three panels in particular.

CRtwenty

2014-04-14, 03:04 AM

Magical weapons, destruction spells, and certain restoration spells.

I feel odd quoting myself, but I figured I should add something I forgot.
Silver also hurts ghosts, and can do so without needing any form of enchantment.

Winterwind

2014-04-14, 06:37 AM

New update! (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2014/04/katia-tame-metaphorical-equine/)

Yeah, if telekinesis was powered by confusion, then I'm pretty sure this whole conversation with Aggy would have enabled Katia to lift the whole tavern by now, nevermind the table, nevernevermind the puzzle pegs.

Favourite quote: "If unicorns and wheels are that different to you, then you might be looking at Mysticism wrong." :smallbiggrin:

Scowling Dragon

2014-04-14, 05:21 PM

Your right to say I'm wrong about development. Katia could develop as a character. What I should have said was that I was annoyed by the writers contrived writing.

I phrased what I meant improperly and Im sorry for that.

I felt like if the writer was willing to strip the Katia of everything but her fur whenever she felt like it, I didn't feel like reading.

Katia's string of bad luck did not feel natural to me. It didn't feel like really bad luck. It felt like bad writing.

There.

Winterwind

2014-04-15, 06:31 AM

CRtwenty

2014-04-17, 11:01 PM

Ah. Yeah, that's much more understandable. :smallsmile:

I don't agree, but I do see how one would arrive at that conclusion. I think that's probably a rather subjective matter though, difficult to objectively prove one way or the other, so I fear we'll just have to agree to disagree on that part.

Even if that is the case I'd still find the story enjoyable. But I also loved Nana's everyday life so I'm not the best judge for these kinds of things.

Lord Raziere

2014-04-19, 02:45 PM

Winterwind

2014-04-19, 07:05 PM

hey guys, I think I know what activates Katia's telekinesis:

its either fear or happiness. she first discovered it in the well, when she was afraid and fighting the fish, y'know? but she also felt happy when demonstrating it to the vampire, and she had been feeling very happy throughout her stay in Kvatch because of her hope of joining the mages guil, so I think happiness is the more likely emotion of the two to activate her telekinesis...I was thinking hope ("flight of imagination", that sort of thing, you know), so, yeah, similar idea here.

The only problem I have with this idea is that she also tried to use her telekinesis when she was in the temple, setting everything on fire, and trying to drain her magicka; she said that it wasn't working, but it's not entirely clear whether this referred to her attempt to run out of magicka or the telekinesis itself (but given that it was followed by "WHY AREN'T YOU RUNNING DRY?!" I always thought it was the former). In which case, that's kind of weird, since that was pretty much the low point of everything ever.

...perhaps it is imagination itself? Be it imagining a super-bright future or her own imminent demise. And it seems just like the sort of thing that would fit in with the flexible, kind-of-insane image that Aggy presents of mysticism...

Sartharina

2014-04-22, 12:31 PM

Aggy seems insane, but has so far proven to back his words with actions. He's a dead ghost who doesn't give a crap about summon durations or anything else that would kick him back to Aetherius, who has single-handedly moved heavy tables despite lacking a body and even changed the weather. I really loved him pointing out how illogical it was for Katia to assume she was vulnerable to the cold :smallbiggrin: (Partially because my Skyrim characters all run around naked)

A lot of people think Magic is Physics/science. It's not. It's the exact opposite of physics and science. In fact, I'd venture to guess that the reason spells have been ditched in every game (Not only because of development decisions) is also because as the Mages Guilds try harder to quantify, contain, control, and understand magic, the more the magic decides to say "Screw this, I'm out of here" and slip out of Possibility. Magic requires faith and insanity, not rigor and skepticism.

Right now, Katia's trying to hard. It's clear she's trying to focus and think through the situation, instead of let her mind wander and explore the paths and possibilities. Let the magical unicorn/wheel/cart run free!

Loreweaver15

2014-04-28, 02:32 PM

Having finally given in and caught up on the last three years' worth of updates--I gave up sometime in 2011--I have to say, you guys are right, she HAS been on an upward swing, and the puzzle-solving flash has some of the most uplifting tone I've seen in ages. It seems we're at Katia's motive fulcrum, her launching point, and from here her momentum will only increase.

Also, meeting that vampire was hilarious and it's interesting to see a Chaotic Neutral vampire instead of the more common Good rebels or Evil addicts.

EDIT: Gotta say, Aggy may be a bit off-putting, but good lord is he great at the whole Ancestor Guardian thing.

Sartharina

2014-05-04, 09:22 PM

He's also right... but I think Kitty's going to get hit hard by something bad soon. Probably not too bad, though. Not like losing absolutely everything to a powerful enchantress who abuses potions. But... something to completely undermine her current boons.

Fralex

2014-05-05, 05:26 PM

It seems to be powered by not confusion, but by a disjunction between expectations and reality where your expectations win. Like Aggy said, you're embracing insanity just long enough to use it. When Katia used nonsensical insults on herself, she did so with the "reasonable" expectation that it would have some sort of magical effect, like the ones that actually hurt her did. She was confused as to what she was doing, but she wasn't using willpower like before. She was just semi-convinced, for no particularly good reason, that weird bird puns would cause magic. Her partial conviction manifested as a partial telekinesis spell. Now she just needs to be totally convinced that she's doing something right, regardless of it's apparent impossibility.

It occurs to me that these lessons in magic are in a way teaching her to be a better person( if a Khajiit were a person :smallwink:).
Consider her first spell: A kindly soldier shows her that to succeed in life, she needs the will to not give up despite it seeming hopeless. By the end of the lesson, she believed in herself a little bit more, and had mastered the basics of fire magic, which is powered by willpower. Later on, she achieves feats of will she probably couldn't have done otherwise-- throwing off a super-charm minutes after being put under it, and then when all had failed, finally thowing down the bottle. When people had information that she wanted, she wasn't afraid to grab them by the beard and demand to know everything, or chase them all over town.
Now she's getting another magic lesson, this time about telekinesis. What will this teach her? I think it's going to be something about having faith in her own intelligence. Thinking outside the box, even when you seem to be stuck inside it. She's a lot smarter than she thinks she is, and that's inhibiting her. Hopefully she can think of some alternative solution to a situation with no good choices: playing into a scheming priest's hands or starting all over again with no money. Is there another option? Can she outwit Stephan?

Winterwind

2014-05-16, 03:12 AM

Loreweaver15

2014-05-16, 12:50 PM

Good lord Aggy is good at this stuff.

So glad you guys talked me into getting back into this.

Winterwind

2014-05-17, 02:04 AM

Good lord Aggy is good at this stuff.When he said it was customary for Dark Elves to demonstrate their superiority, he apparently wasn't kidding. :smalltongue:

I'm really impressed with how patient with Katia he is through all of this. And his analogies, even though he rarely ever finishes them before losing track where he was going with them, are really great, too.

So glad you guys talked me into getting back into this.The more, the merrier! :smallbiggrin:

Lord Raziere

2014-05-17, 11:40 AM

New update! (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2014/05/3391/)

Katia does make the most adorable faces. :smallbiggrin:

And that last line? That's why I love Prequel in a nutshell. Only Prequel has lines that are so sad and so funny at the same time.

It sounds like he is trying to teach her how to do science, honestly. just...in this backwards, weird medieval version way filtered through ghost-insanity and elven arrogance. like, she has to learn how to see the world as something you don't completely understand and be skeptical about everything around her and such, and how to use that to figure things out and solve her problems....

ThirdEmperor

2014-05-17, 02:42 PM

Actually, it looks to me like the secret to mysticism is the crazy metaphors he's been making. As in, Katia needs to re-contextualize the situation from trying to lift a peg with her mind (impossible) to something that is possible.

Fralex

2014-06-16, 02:51 AM

Hey! Guess what? (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2014/06/3418/) :D :D :D

Winterwind

2014-06-16, 08:03 AM

Woo! :smallbiggrin:

Oh gods, trying to right an item that has fallen sideways in Oblivion. That might... take a while.

So, what are all of the other little symbols within her body for?

sihnfahl

2014-06-16, 08:41 AM

So, what are all of the other little symbols within her body for?

I don't think they're in her body. I think the perspective is kind of like a transparent display. She's 'looking' at the connections and rules of Tamriel; a sort of 'context menu' around the peg.

Fralex

2014-06-16, 01:00 PM

Now that she sees that not even the basic laws of nature are the only option, does she still really believe her only choices are playing into a creepy priest's hands or coming home a failure? Let's see Katia apply what she's learned!

So, what are all of the other little symbols within her body for?

Around her eye we've got what looks like her nightvision( the moon) and possibly her Eye of Fear( the heart that's beating really fast).
Around her heart we see a constellation( Katia's sign, the Atronach), a daedric letter( possibly a K or J), a scroll(?), and a book(?).
Around the peg are symbols refrencing various physical properties of the object, including line of sight( the eye), what looks like solidity( the rectangle with two lines bordering two of its sides), gravitational pull( the arrow), maybe flammability( the flame on a stick), a... butterfly... or something(?), temporal continuity I'm guessing( the clock), and possibly friction( the rectangle with the rough ground underlining it).

At least that's my interpretation.

sihnfahl

2014-06-16, 03:16 PM

I thought the eye replacing the down arrow symbol was symbolic of her changing the peg's tether from gravity (down arrow) to her line of sight (eye).

She's kind of lucky; if she had tethered it wrong, it would have ended up IN her eye...

Yuki Akuma

2014-06-27, 08:00 AM

You know what the worst part of finding an awesome new webcomic is?

Finding out it only updates once a month.

SlyGuyMcFly

2014-06-27, 08:10 AM

You know what the worst part of finding an awesome new webcomic is?

Finding out it only updates once a month.

Yeah, it really bites. But you know what's almost as bad? Seeing the thread for it has new responses after weeks of inactivity and thinking it has updated. :smallfrown: :smalltongue:

/partoftheproblem

Yuki Akuma

2014-06-27, 08:17 AM

So. Now that I've complained...

I love all the little hints that Katia is going to end up as the Hero of Cyrodil. Like how her first spell ever is a novice-level firebolt, which all Oblivion characters start with. Or her quick-change abilities.

Or the fact that now she seems to have mastered the Z key.

Spojaz

2014-07-28, 10:11 AM

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
In an update more than worth the wait, Katia begins to use the best skill, one that cannot be taken away!

Winterwind

2014-07-28, 01:44 PM

Oh, that was great. :smallamused:

"I have a witch to hunt".

Pure epic.

Also, I'm glad to hear Hope For You Yet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpArShC7RXk) finally actually getting used in the comic itself. Love that song.

Lord Raziere

2014-07-28, 01:58 PM

Winterwind

2014-07-29, 08:53 AM

LEVEL UP! Katia learned block! also, nice funny sequence where she goes a little crazy with magic power, even apparently putting a snowy beard on herself.

hopefully she'll learn more than telekinesis from this lesson....

I think the part where she accepts that Aggy is leaving and makes the decision to go after Sigrid shows that, yes, she very clearly has learnt a far more important lesson than just telekinesis here.

I just hope that this does not get taken away by things going terribly south yet again.

Spojaz

2014-09-19, 10:16 AM

Another Update! Always makes my day, especially when my input is used.
Do you think this new kajiit will be a friend or obstacle for Katia?

Winterwind

2014-09-20, 02:53 AM

...huh. Did not see that one coming.

[...], especially when my input is used.Congratulations! :smallsmile:

Do you think this new kajiit will be a friend or obstacle for Katia?Hmm. She doesn't look too happy, which might either be non-specific wariness towards strangers (or perhaps the irritation of having a stick full of slaughterfish) - or a very specific anger towards the person that went around tarnishing her reputation (because it's been pretty well established that nobody can tell Khajiit apart).

Still, given that I can't really think of how she could be an obstacle to Katia regardless of whether she's angry at her or not at this point - other than maybe saying something to undermine Katia's newly found confidence - I'd probably guess "friend".

Let's just hope Katia doesn't try to be all Khajiity at this new person. She's not good at that. I'm not sure she realizes that.

Winterwind

2014-09-30, 02:35 AM

And new updata again! Woo, that was rather swift! :smallsmile:

I have to admit, while I remembered there were two Khajiit (besides Katia) back in the Excelsior! episode, I completely missed that this was one of them.

This Khajiit's occupation description might as well read "Getting all the stuff done that you were trying to do to earn some money". I wonder if this is going to become a running gag - Katia goes to get rid of the imps in the shopkeeper's house, this Khajiit is there already, just having scared them away. Etc. This might explain a little why Katia has such a hard time in Kwatch (besides the obvious, I mean).

I wonder. This episode ending on this question makes it sound like this Khajiit is supposed to help Katia break into Sigrid's house - but on the other hand, we just learnt that she, too, belongs to that vast majority of people who think Sigrid can do no wrong, and is explicitly law-abiding (arguably moreso than most of the characters we've seen in the comic thus far). It might be a trap on Kazerad's part, laid for uncautious suggestion-makers?

Spojaz

2014-09-30, 01:17 PM

Competent, sane, wary and helpful, it is NA NA NA NA... NEGA KATIA :smalltongue:
Clearly this khajiit is one of the many people who don't care about her at all at all and should be left alone before they start caring detrimentally about our protagonist.

Winterwind

2014-11-10, 04:27 PM

New update! (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2014/11/3578/)

I have to admit, while Katia has indeed been (inadvertently) racist towards other Khajiit - and yes, "unerringly and without respite" - I fail to see the racism in the specific remark that ended up killing that conversation. Katia was just pointing out that Rajirra did end up working as an acrobat, after all, which is pretty much what people assumed she would do.

Good thing there may be one last chance for, maybe, bonding with her after all; Katia could really, really use some Khajiit friend just so she can learn how not to infuriate every other Khajiit whenever she opens her mouth. :smalltongue:

Squark

2014-11-11, 11:08 AM

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...

*whew* Okay, I'm done.

Not sure how I feel about this, though. I'm not sure where Katia is going at this point, so I don't have anything to anticipate beyond Katia sticking her foot in her mouth again.

Winterwind

2014-11-11, 02:05 PM

Not sure how I feel about this, though. I'm not sure where Katia is going at this point, so I don't have anything to anticipate beyond Katia sticking her foot in her mouth again.Well, she's made her decision to try to break into Sigrid's house after all, so that's where it's going long-term. Short-term, she's decided that for that break-in she is going to need "supplies" (I'm not entirely sure why or what might constitute those, either, though), so she is trying to make enough money to buy those. Slaughterfish-removal was her first attempt at that, but failed due to Rajirra heading her off, so now imp-removal seems the next best option. Except she doesn't really know how to go about that, so here we are.

guttering flame

2014-11-11, 05:30 PM

Squark

2014-11-11, 06:26 PM

I like this comic. Katya is a great character, very sympathetic and her faith in optimism is quite uplifting.

Will the story continue into the ElderScrolls Oblivion storyline or will it end at that point? We're pretty close to that point by now, right? (not really familiar with Elder Scrolls)

I don't think there's a concrete timeline. At some point, Katia will end up in a cell in the capital city with nothing but rags (and her lockpick, assuming it doesn't make a triumphant sacrifice) with a jerk Dunmer in the cell across from her. How close are we to that? Hard to say. Katia's probably still got some growing to do, at least.

Winterwind

2014-11-11, 08:08 PM

I don't think there's a concrete timeline.Not exactly, I think... however, in the beginning of the Excelsior! episode, there is this one robed elf waiting for his friends outside of Kvatch, who thinks he is there one week (could be more, but that seems unlikely) early. Given that
that's presumably a member of the Mythic Dawn
and this having happened yesterday, that would give us a timeframe of another six days before stuff begins to happen.

At some point, Katia will end up in a cell in the capital city with nothing but rags (and her lockpick, assuming it doesn't make a triumphant sacrifice) with a jerk Dunmer in the cell across from her. How close are we to that? Hard to say. Katia's probably still got some growing to do, at least.True. Though on the other hand, given how much she's changed over the course of the mere five days (http://www.prequeladventure.com/visual-archive/) this story has being going on thus far, she probably doesn't need all that much more, timewise...

Winterwind

2014-11-27, 05:55 AM

New update (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2014/11/acquire-follower/)! That was a fairly short wait between updates, as far as Prequel goes.

Also, awww. That was adorable. All of it. :smallbiggrin:

Except the "Me too", in response to Rajirra saying she dislikes everything about Katia. That was just sad. Pretty much exactly the thing I like so much about Prequel - right in the midst of being funny, it manages to, suddenly, out of the blue, throw in a really touching line like that, that's all the more emotionally powerful for the contrast, yet without seeming out of place at all.

Illogictree

2014-12-04, 03:28 AM

I only just discovered this comic over the weekend and I've read the entire thing up to this point. I have to agree, Katia gets all my d'awwws. :smallsmile:

I don't think there's a concrete timeline. At some point, Katia will end up in a cell in the capital city with nothing but rags (and her lockpick, assuming it doesn't make a triumphant sacrifice) with a jerk Dunmer in the cell across from her. How close are we to that? Hard to say. Katia's probably still got some growing to do, at least.

I'm... not entirely sure I like the idea of Katia becoming the Champion of Cyrodiil. Sure, yeah, goes from as close to zero as possible to a huge hero, helps kill a Daedric Prince, saves world from destruction, etc. However...
...the fact that the Champion takes on the identity of Sheogorath and has their own personality and identity eventually subsumed by ...his? (how would you call a constructed personality that doesn't seem to have an independent existence?)
...doesn't strike me as a GOOD ENDING, and I wouldn't want her to end up like that.

Seeing as how Skyrim showed what happened to the Champion in the interim between the games, and Prequel actually started before Skyrim was released, I'm wondering if Kazerad's plans changed once that tidbit was revealed, or if he's sticking with it - or if the whole "Katia is the Player Character!" thing has actually been a huge red herring all along.

Winterwind

2014-12-04, 05:27 AM

I only just discovered this comic over the weekend and I've read the entire thing up to this point. I have to agree, Katia gets all my d'awwws. :smallsmile:Welcome! :smallsmile:

I'm... not entirely sure I like the idea of Katia becoming the Champion of Cyrodiil. Sure, yeah, goes from as close to zero as possible to a huge hero, helps kill a Daedric Prince, saves world from destruction, etc. However...
...the fact that the Champion takes on the identity of Sheogorath and has their own personality and identity eventually subsumed by ...his? (how would you call a constructed personality that doesn't seem to have an independent existence?)
...doesn't strike me as a GOOD ENDING, and I wouldn't want her to end up like that.

Seeing as how Skyrim showed what happened to the Champion in the interim between the games, and Prequel actually started before Skyrim was released, I'm wondering if Kazerad's plans changed once that tidbit was revealed, or if he's sticking with it - If she became the Champion, we probably wouldn't be shown all that one way or the other (since I doubt Prequel is going to extend beyond being, well, a prequel); however, in that case, I'd personally cling to the thought that the official canon and the way it turns out in Prequel do not necessarily need to be the same. (And, agreed, wouldn't want that for her, no way, no how. :smalleek:)

Though one does have to wonder how her dreams fit into this - whether they are indeed just an attempt to make her stay as far away from the Septim-family as possible to sabotage her becoming the Champion, or if it is actually somehow connected to the Mad God.

or if the whole "Katia is the Player Character!" thing has actually been a huge red herring all along.Yeah... at this point, I see absolutely no way to tell whether all of the pieces hinting at her being the Player Character are precisely that, or just the set-up for a giant joke. As far as I can tell, it could just as easily go either way.

guttering flame

2014-12-04, 05:55 AM

There was a side-plot a while back. We saw the necromancer boyfriend write a letter to our heroine and that get killed buy Mr. Lucky Robber. I suspect it was not totally irrelevant to the main plot. Katia's friend, The Imperial Guard, will stumble upen the necromancer den and find the incriminating letter and that would be the reason Katia will get thrown into jail.

I'm not sure how well they can keep her with her new powers.

Illogictree

2014-12-04, 02:27 PM

I haven't actually played any of the Elder Scrolls games, so I've basically been going off what's on TVTropes and the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, and of course Youtube videos. The possibility of this happening is one of two things that almost sort-of ruin it for me (the other being the "whenever I can" update schedule :smallbiggrin:)

I'm sort of imagining the ending of Prequel going something like this... (better written, though, I hope!)

You have just had your greatest success of your life. You are flushed with the thrill of victory and are flying high on the wings of not ****ing things up. Everyone is congratulating you and cheering you on. You are absolutely certain that nothing can possibly go wrong.

>Katia: take a victory drink.

Wait, this isn't water. You think it might be clear ru-

(black panel)

(panel of Katia sitting up on a bed of straw in prison, blinking in confusion. She is wearing nothing but rags again.)

Well, you ****ed up.

>Katia: assess situation

Looks like you're in some prison or something. There's some ******* dunmer across the corridor shouting insults at you or something.

Sounds like there's guards on their way.

(Three figures appear and enter Katia's cell)
(At first, framed by the torchlight, the third figure looks exactly like the king from Katia's nightmares...)
(...but then resolves into Uriel Septim.)
(He and Katia's eyes meet.)
(A look of confused maybe-recognition passes over his face...)
(Mirrored by a similar look on hers. She fails to curl up into a little ball in the corner and cry.)
(beat)
(Uriel looks like he's about to speak...)

Male guard: "Oh, wait, sorry, this is the wrong cell. We want the one next to this one. Excuse us, miss."

(The other three depart, locking the prison door behind them and leaving Katia in confusion.)

You have a sneaking suspicion that something important almost happened here.

>==>

(Panel is a visual callback to the very first panel of the comic.)

Well, here you are, stuck in a cell. You're pretty sure this is it for you. Your friends probably have no idea where you are, you've got nothing except the clothes on your back, and...

(Panel is a visual callback to the first appearance of the lockpick)

...that lockpick that has inexplicably followed you ever since landing in Cyrodiil.

(Katia suddenly looks determined and confident.)

<Insert paragraph about how far Katia has come, interspersed with a montage of panels from the comic, and how this whole last week-and-a-bit has been the prequel to something better, but now that prequel is over and the real story can begin.>

>Katia: take control of the situation.

You are Katia Managan.

You've been in worse. You know how to handle this. It's cool, you know you've got this.

(Final panel - the prison door is wide open, framing Katia as she steps out.)

THE BEGINNING

Illogictree

2014-12-09, 03:00 PM

Well, I hate to double-post, but I figure it's been nearly a week so I'm feeling a little less guilty. (Partially reposted from the comments section on the comic)

I started with absolutely no knowledge of the Elder Scrolls setting; reading the comic prompted a bout of lore-diving and it seems like a really interesting setting. I love how everything important seems to be "shrouded in myth". I'm not sure I'd have the inclination to play any of the video games, however. Is there a good tabletop RPG system for it?

Current thoughts: (I imagine at least some of these have been discussed previously...)

-Whoever the Dream-Thief is, they don't seem to be experienced with creating or controlling dreams, since they seem to have lost control of the Nightmare King. I think that rules Sheogorath out as a suspect, since he's teamed up with Vaermina to create nightmares in the past. I also thought initially that the text in the last nightmare sequence was a hint that the Dream-thief is a Daedra due to the similarities to Vaermina's text, but I re-watched it and realized that it isn't really similar. Unless, of course, the Daedra all get unique text tricks. I suppose we'll find out later. But for now I'm not going to rule out one of the Divines. Note how she was in the chapel when she first heard the voice in her dreams? (It might even be Akatosh Himself. You know, giant flaming letters from a giant flaming Time Dragon?)

-Whose cult was Katia involved in? That might be relevant to the identity of the Dream-thief. Or it might not. I note how she's never really mentioned which one, though the fact she mentioned a while back "bad experiences with Daedra" makes me suspect it was a Daedric cult. For now I'm going with Molag Bal, the Prince of Bad Experiences. XD Again, though, it could be that she was in an Aedric cult.

-Tin-foil-hat watched-too-much-Dr.-Who theory: The Dream-thief is actually Katia herself, from some point in the future post-Shivering Isles. She's decided that becoming Sheogorath was perhaps not a smart move and is using her acquired powers to Bad Wolf herself into not going with Uriel when she meets him at the Imperial prison. Also she's trying to warn Gaius of what's going to happen with the Mythic Dawn. And, as typical of her BEST IDEAS EVER, she's still managing to screw it up even as a Daedric Prince. (Also: Why do I think TIME TRAVEL is part of Sheogorath's sphere? Because trying to make sense of TIME TRAVEL always leads to MADNESS!)

Winterwind

2014-12-10, 05:05 AM

I'm sort of imagining the ending of Prequel going something like this... (better written, though, I hope!)For what it's worth, I actually like it quite a bit. :smallsmile:

I started with absolutely no knowledge of the Elder Scrolls setting; reading the comic prompted a bout of lore-diving and it seems like a really interesting setting. I love how everything important seems to be "shrouded in myth". I'm not sure I'd have the inclination to play any of the video games, however. Is there a good tabletop RPG system for it?Not one made and published by an actual company in any sort of official capacity, to the best of my knowledge; a brief Google search tells me there appear to be a few fan-made attempts at that, however. No idea how good they might be, but I can't imagine it would be all that difficult to adapt any of the many RPGs out there to model TES pretty well. Heck, D&D without any modifications beyond limiting magic casting to warlocks would already be a pretty good fit (that being edition 3.5; I haven't gotten to play 5th yet).

-Whoever the Dream-Thief is, they don't seem to be experienced with creating or controlling dreams, since they seem to have lost control of the Nightmare King. I think that rules Sheogorath out as a suspect, since he's teamed up with Vaermina to create nightmares in the past. I also thought initially that the text in the last nightmare sequence was a hint that the Dream-thief is a Daedra due to the similarities to Vaermina's text, but I re-watched it and realized that it isn't really similar. Unless, of course, the Daedra all get unique text tricks. I suppose we'll find out later. But for now I'm not going to rule out one of the Divines. Note how she was in the chapel when she first heard the voice in her dreams? (It might even be Akatosh Himself. You know, giant flaming letters from a giant flaming Time Dragon?)I always interpreted it more as, the Dream Thief is the King, so the sudden change in behaviour is not due to any loss of control, but because acting this way now serves to further the Dream Thief's plans. As to who that might be, I'm at a complete loss, however.

-Whose cult was Katia involved in? That might be relevant to the identity of the Dream-thief. Or it might not. I note how she's never really mentioned which one, though the fact she mentioned a while back "bad experiences with Daedra" makes me suspect it was a Daedric cult. For now I'm going with Molag Bal, the Prince of Bad Experiences. XD Again, though, it could be that she was in an Aedric cult.Hmmm. I kind of assumed Katia having been in some cult was just a joke (and set-up to make Gaius ill-disposed towards her); it didn't actually occur to me the cult itself might have been important. It's certainly a possibility; however, given that Katia's dreams started when she was a small child, almost certainly before any involvement with any cults on her part, I'm more inclined to think it really was just a joke nonetheless.

-Tin-foil-hat watched-too-much-Dr.-Who theory: The Dream-thief is actually Katia herself, from some point in the future post-Shivering Isles. She's decided that becoming Sheogorath was perhaps not a smart move and is using her acquired powers to Bad Wolf herself into not going with Uriel when she meets him at the Imperial prison. Also she's trying to warn Gaius of what's going to happen with the Mythic Dawn. And, as typical of her BEST IDEAS EVER, she's still managing to screw it up even as a Daedric Prince. (Also: Why do I think TIME TRAVEL is part of Sheogorath's sphere? Because trying to make sense of TIME TRAVEL always leads to MADNESS!)Heh. She would screw up this bad, wouldn't she. :smallbiggrin:

Illogictree

2014-12-11, 05:35 PM

For what it's worth, I actually like it quite a bit. :smallsmile:

Thanks! I'm always more of an ideas person; when it comes to writing I always seem to fall a bit short IMO.

Not one made and published by an actual company in any sort of official capacity, to the best of my knowledge; a brief Google search tells me there appear to be a few fan-made attempts at that, however. No idea how good they might be, but I can't imagine it would be all that difficult to adapt any of the many RPGs out there to model TES pretty well. Heck, D&D without any modifications beyond limiting magic casting to warlocks would already be a pretty good fit (that being edition 3.5; I haven't gotten to play 5th yet).

Hm, maybe I should search the board, see if there's any opinions on this. What about the warlock in particular matches TES' spellcasting, or is that just so we don't have T1 classes running around and mucking things up?

I always interpreted it more as, the Dream Thief is the King, so the sudden change in behaviour is not due to any loss of control, but because acting this way now serves to further the Dream Thief's plans. As to who that might be, I'm at a complete loss, however.

Hm, I dunno, re-reading the nightmare sequence in question (and looting it for Jquery wizardry :smallbiggrin:) I don't see anything that indicates the Dream Thief is the same being as the Nightmare King. In fact, the Thief seems just as surprised at the King's action as Katia (and doubtless the reader).

Odd point of fact, might not be relevant, but on this page (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2012/09/2226/), the Nightmare King emerges from Li'l Katia's shadow. For the rest of the sequence she no longer has a shadow.

There's a thing in psychology called the Jungian Archetypes; one of the Archetypes is called the 'shadow', and it represents everything about oneself that one doesn't like. Related?

Hmmm. I kind of assumed Katia having been in some cult was just a joke (and set-up to make Gaius ill-disposed towards her); it didn't actually occur to me the cult itself might have been important. It's certainly a possibility; however, given that Katia's dreams started when she was a small child, almost certainly before any involvement with any cults on her part, I'm more inclined to think it really was just a joke nonetheless.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about the whole "nightmares started before she was a cultist" thing. It's a long time to set up for a joke, though; her having been involved with a cult is mentioned on the very first page. (OK, exact quote is "trouble with cults", but still...) Then again, it could both be a joke and be relevant at the same time - the nightmare king was introduced as a joke to blow off a silly name suggestion, after all. (when it first comes up, it seems to indicate that the nightmares are CAUSED by her phobia, not the other way around. Oh how things change.)

Heh. She would screw up this bad, wouldn't she. :smallbiggrin:

Yeah, I can imagine it all too easily. XD Unfortunately I don't think this idea holds any water, since Vaermina at least has some suspicions on who/what it is, and interference from the future would probably require knowledge of future events to unravel. I'm not saying that Daedra can't have metatemporal awareness of some kind (after all, we probably don't know everything... or even much at all... about them), it's just unlikely. Also the idea that Kazerad would tie the game's storyline in with the with the comic's like that feels like a bit of a stretch when he's been keeping them separate so far (and doing a good job too - like I said, I fully enjoyed the comic without knowing a thing about the games beforehand).

Still, the Elder Scrolls themselves are made of TIME HAX and MINDSCREW, so anything is possible at this point. If someone namedrops the Scrolls, it'll start looking more likely.

More random thoughts:

-At first I thought that Katia's telekinesis ruled her out as the PC. I even discussed it with one of my friends who HAS played Oblivion and he confirmed you can't start with TK spells. HOWEVER, watching gameplay videos I realized that, since the PC lacks any sort of complicated pick-up-and-manipulate-object animations, it looks like they're using close range, non-spell telekinesis.

-All she needs now is to learn a healing spell and some stealthy skills, and she will basically have the PC's base set of skills. (aside from Save & Load, perhaps?) edit: The coming infiltration of the Mages' Guild should give her time to practice those stealth / thief skills. Maybe the lockpick will finally be of some use?

-Katia may be a Hero herself. We know that there can be more than one Hero around at once; after all, the heroes of Daggerfall and Morrowind are probably still around when the Champion gets started, so again it's not a lock that she's the Champion but it's more likely. Also, it would explain why she's had such a terrible life, and why it's turning around now: the gods can't interfere in her fate, and up until a few days ago she refused to take her fate into her own hands. Also, any measure of control in a Hero's fate would be a prize worth risking a Daedric Prince's wrath. edit:She may be a pawn in a game that she doesn't understand now, but remember: a pawn can easily become a queen. :smallbiggrin:

-My guess for what the next major thing will be? After trying to slay the imps, that is? 30-plot-thread pileup. Gaius will head to talk with Sigrid about contacting Vaermina again with the new info that some other cultist is having similar dreams. Katia will attempt the plan to break into the Mages' Guild while he's there. Gharag, on an even bigger lucky streak than ever, will finally let it go to his head and decide to steal back the huge diamond that Sigrid conned him out of, and whatever treasure she might have besides. ASOTIL will discover the letter Dmitri was sending her and jump to the conclusion that she is guilty of "consorting with necromancers" and, since he knows she is in Kvatch, will head there himself. What follows is everyone running into everyone else at once, catching Katia in the act, probably while confronting Gharag, everyone coming to the wrong conclusions at once, and then a huge Flash chase scene / minigame. At some point, Katia's learning TK will actually turn out to be lucky for Gharag after all; Kvatch will narrowly avoid being burned down (possibly several times); and our hapless heroine will end up in some ways better, in some ways worse off. For extra right-in-the-feels, Sigrid will have read Katia's defacements to the book and will, before this whole thing goes down, be feeling genuine remorse at her actions and will be planning on trying to make it up to her. Following this, she's no longer so kindly disposed to her, and tells her so. edit: Alternately it will be Sigrid who will sort the whole mess out (with a copious helping of her bug juice perfume) so that Katia doesn't have to go to jail. Also, narrow possibility that Gharag will kill ASOTIL during the fracas, and Katia will be blaming herself for it.

-edit: Katia's insistence that her parents don't love her kind of feels a bit hollow. They did give up their jobs and relocate for her sake, and they did spend a huge amount of money on that fake cure for her not-having-magic-ness.

-edit: She mentioned on the first page about 'withdrawing the rest of her inheritance' to fund her trip. Are Katia's parents deceased, or is this from a different relative? Or is this a situation like in the Prodigal Son, where the son demands his share of the inheritance from his father before moving away himself?

Winterwind

2014-12-13, 07:15 AM

Thanks! I'm always more of an ideas person; when it comes to writing I always seem to fall a bit short IMO.I think you're being overly modest. Or harsh with yourself. :smalltongue:

Hm, maybe I should search the board, see if there's any opinions on this. What about the warlock in particular matches TES' spellcasting, or is that just so we don't have T1 classes running around and mucking things up?Partially that, yes; I figured a T1 class would be able to do too many things that go beyond what TES' spellcasting (as performed by the respective games' protagonists in the actual games, anyway) is capable of. The other thing is that I think the at-will, cast-as-often-per-day-as-you-like nature of warlock invocations is a better way to emulate the way magicka works (since magicka regenerates really fast, allowing for orders of magnitude more spells per day than what other D&D caster classes might accomplish).

Hm, I dunno, re-reading the nightmare sequence in question (and looting it for Jquery wizardry :smallbiggrin:) I don't see anything that indicates the Dream Thief is the same being as the Nightmare King. In fact, the Thief seems just as surprised at the King's action as Katia (and doubtless the reader).How do you figure that/what do get the Dream Thief's reaction from? As far as I can tell, we only ever see one entity throughout the nightmare (even though it grows to monstrous proportions in the end), which then tries to communicate with her, but is interrupted by the fire (which I assumed was her real-life situation intruding into the dream).

Odd point of fact, might not be relevant, but on this page (http://www.prequeladventure.com/2012/09/2226/), the Nightmare King emerges from Li'l Katia's shadow. For the rest of the sequence she no longer has a shadow.Don't know if it's of consequence, but definitely a neat detail. :smallsmile:

There's a thing in psychology called the Jungian Archetypes; one of the Archetypes is called the 'shadow', and it represents everything about oneself that one doesn't like. Related?Hmmm. On one hand, there is a lot that Katia doesn't like about herself, and it's definitely a major part of the story. On the other, I don't see how the King being representative of that would make any sense, nor what that meaning that might have.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about the whole "nightmares started before she was a cultist" thing. It's a long time to set up for a joke, though; her having been involved with a cult is mentioned on the very first page. (OK, exact quote is "trouble with cults", but still...) Then again, it could both be a joke and be relevant at the same time - the nightmare king was introduced as a joke to blow off a silly name suggestion, after all. (when it first comes up, it seems to indicate that the nightmares are CAUSED by her phobia, not the other way around. Oh how things change.)Indeed. :smallbiggrin:

-At first I thought that Katia's telekinesis ruled her out as the PC. I even discussed it with one of my friends who HAS played Oblivion and he confirmed you can't start with TK spells. HOWEVER, watching gameplay videos I realized that, since the PC lacks any sort of complicated pick-up-and-manipulate-object animations, it looks like they're using close range, non-spell telekinesis.Yeah, pretty sure that's supposed to be her learning how to use the E-key. :smallbiggrin:

-All she needs now is to learn a healing spell and some stealthy skills, and she will basically have the PC's base set of skills. (aside from Save & Load, perhaps?) edit: The coming infiltration of the Mages' Guild should give her time to practice those stealth / thief skills. Maybe the lockpick will finally be of some use?

-Katia may be a Hero herself. We know that there can be more than one Hero around at once; after all, the heroes of Daggerfall and Morrowind are probably still around when the Champion gets started, so again it's not a lock that she's the Champion but it's more likely. Also, it would explain why she's had such a terrible life, and why it's turning around now: the gods can't interfere in her fate, and up until a few days ago she refused to take her fate into her own hands. Also, any measure of control in a Hero's fate would be a prize worth risking a Daedric Prince's wrath. edit:She may be a pawn in a game that she doesn't understand now, but remember: a pawn can easily become a queen. :smallbiggrin:Agreed on both points; I've been thinking the same. :smallsmile:

One common theory is that the nightmares were supposed to sabotage her from becoming the Champion - given how important the Septim family is and is going to be in the Oblivion crisis, making her ill-disposed towards the Septims seems like a good way to go about this (and considering her reaction when she meets Martin during the Excelsior! episode, it seems to have been quite effective, too).

-My guess for what the next major thing will be? [guess]I've pretty much stopped trying to speculate :smallbiggrin:. However, I suspect that, since it's been brought up a few times, this dance tournament thing at the arena is going to be relevant - and for it to be relevant, I'd also think something would have to go quite thoroughly wrong for Katia (since otherwise she aught to end up with enough money not to need to participate), hence I suspect something will go quite thoroughly wrong, soon.

-edit: Katia's insistence that her parents don't love her kind of feels a bit hollow. They did give up their jobs and relocate for her sake, and they did spend a huge amount of money on that fake cure for her not-having-magic-ness.I've been thinking the same thing. Though I guess it is possible that their attitude towards her changed over the years, especially after her alcoholism, affairs and other problems.

-edit: She mentioned on the first page about 'withdrawing the rest of her inheritance' to fund her trip. Are Katia's parents deceased, or is this from a different relative? Or is this a situation like in the Prodigal Son, where the son demands his share of the inheritance from his father before moving away himself?I always assumed it was that last one.

Illogictree

2014-12-13, 05:41 PM

I think you're being overly modest. Or harsh with yourself. :smalltongue:
Eh, artist's curse or something. You're never 100% happy with whatever you've done; you always see the flaws and think "I could have done that better." Even being aware of this doesn't help. :smalltongue:

I have done a little writing that I've put up on the 'net, if you're interested. http://illogictree.deviantart.com/art/The-Runaway-Bride-part-1-143543210

Partially that, yes; I figured a T1 class would be able to do too many things that go beyond what TES' spellcasting (as performed by the respective games' protagonists in the actual games, anyway) is capable of. The other thing is that I think the at-will, cast-as-often-per-day-as-you-like nature of warlock invocations is a better way to emulate the way magicka works (since magicka regenerates really fast, allowing for orders of magnitude more spells per day than what other D&D caster classes might accomplish).
Unless your spellcaster is an Atronach. :smallbiggrin: Psionics might be a slightly better model, though you would probably have to jigger costs a bit to compensate for magicka / pp regeneration.

How do you figure that/what do get the Dream Thief's reaction from? As far as I can tell, we only ever see one entity throughout the nightmare (even though it grows to monstrous proportions in the end), which then tries to communicate with her, but is interrupted by the fire (which I assumed was her real-life situation intruding into the dream).
Difference of interpretation, possibly, but being forced to scroll up until the King is nearly off the screen in order to read the gold text sort of indicates to me that it's not the King speaking, it's someone else. Plus the contrast between what the text says and the actions of the King; they don't jibe together. The "WHOA HEY WAIT THAT IS LIKE THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I ASKED YOU TO DO" line coming immediately after the King attacks Li'l Katia is what really convinces me the dream is out of control.

Yeah, pretty sure that's supposed to be her learning how to use the E-key. :smallbiggrin:
Putting it that way kind of deflates how awesome those pages were in the comic. :smalltongue:

One common theory is that the nightmares were supposed to sabotage her from becoming the Champion - given how important the Septim family is and is going to be in the Oblivion crisis, making her ill-disposed towards the Septims seems like a good way to go about this (and considering her reaction when she meets Martin during the Excelsior! episode, it seems to have been quite effective, too).
I figured I would cover ground other people have at some point. And that makes sense, though if the Thief was trying to prevent her from being the Champion, they've sort of hoisted themselves by their own petard. Without the dreams driving her to ultimately immigrate to Cyrodiil to start afresh, she likely wouldn't have had any reason to be anywhere near there in time for the Oblivion Crisis to start.

Also, totally guessed that Martin was secretly royalty before I read any spoilers for Oblivion. :smallbiggrin: Clearly she has a constant detect royalty effect active.

I've pretty much stopped trying to speculate :smallbiggrin:. However, I suspect that, since it's been brought up a few times, this dance tournament thing at the arena is going to be relevant - and for it to be relevant, I'd also think something would have to go quite thoroughly wrong for Katia (since otherwise she aught to end up with enough money not to need to participate), hence I suspect something will go quite thoroughly wrong, soon.
That's a good point. It'll require Katia screwing things up enough that she doesn't get the money, but also not screw things up enough that she gets thrown in the slammer or banished from Kvatch. On the other hand, she did promise that nice depressed orc that she wouldn't run off with her outfit, and if you do well enough at the dancing minigame in Katia: Excelsior! she admits that it's kind of fun. So even if things do turn out well during the upcoming Mission: Impawsible, she might enter the dancing competition anyway. I'm not saying they WILL turn out well, but there IS a backup option to get her in there.

Didn't someone in the Flash say Sigrid likes to watch the competitions?