Of the two mountains that make up the heart of the city, the innermost and outermost layers are the most heavily calcified by the unidentified species of giant rockworm that altered them for its own purposes (theorized to have been some form of chrysalis and/or breeding chambers). The smooth but extremely sturdy nature of the calcified strata makes for sturdy balconies, which are common on the upper floors.
Out-of-Placers
A story of inconvenient changes
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Lopin used Cute! It was super effective!
Seriously, I want to hug that ratbird. I hope his shelltooth grows back, too.
It will eventually, but the old one’s gotta fall out first!
I am glad Lopin got a new hat. I actually felt sorry for the little guy, because I knew that was a prized possession and couldn’t be something he just “found” or made himself.
By the way, Valsalia… curse you! One of my friends started a Pathfinder RPG game, and I discovered that instead of “Sneak Attack”, I wrote down “Smek Attack”. He’s familiar with your webcomic (adding insult to injury, I was the one that introduced him to it!) and wouldn’t let me change it. He says he’s trying to think of custom rules for the Smek Attack.
For now, it works like a Sneak Attack, but can only do subdual damage. It’s rather amusing when you sneak up on a sentry, and Smek him on the back of the head so hard, it knocks him unconscious. My friend had better be careful, though. Depending on what he comes up with, I may have to take the dreaded “Power Smek” feat, or “Improved Critical (Smek)”. (He encourages us to come up with our own feats, in addition to the ones in the books.)
Never underestimate the power of cute :).
It is one of the most effective ways to defuse any undesirable situation.
Why do yinglets say z/zh for th instead of t or d (d replacing th in thing is almost identical, as is t in place of th in nothing, only creating a slightly sharper sound)? Just wondering after testing the sounds trying to pronounce th without using teeth and t/d feels more natural than creating a new sound (z/zh) to represent it. It also creates less of a feedback sound than z and zh, which you’d think would hurt someone with such large ears.
Also, I remember you answering something about the shell tooth having a small nerve or something. How deep is it, since Lopin’s tooth is cracked almost into the root it seems?
I forget where it was mentioned (I’m sure Van can fill this in) but there’s a big Yinglet debate on whether to use “Z” or “D”. The ones who use “Z” say the other sound uncultured and the ones who use “D” say the others sound pretentious. As of right now the “Z” users are the majority.
Maybe a majority in Val Salia, but not necessarily in yinglet culture overall.
The way it was described, “ze” is used by more cosmopolitan/”refined” yinglets, while “de” is used by more isolationist/traditionalist ones. Social pressure might also be a factor.
Sorry to disappoint, but I didn’t feel like searching through the archives for this. Val’s already confirmed you anyways.
I would like to make a somewhat meta point though. Saying something like “dat ting” is pretty much common slang in the real world already. Meanwhile, saying something like “zat zhing” is much less common, it gives the yinglet accent a more unique feeling. This in turn helps make them and the comic all the more endearing.
I would suspect that at the very least, yinglets like the extra buzz of z/zh.
It’s because of how their front tooth is if memory serves.
Yeah, what the others said! It could be substituted with ‘D’ or ‘T’, but a lot of them decided a while back that “z” made them sound all classy, and that was that.
Aww, Lopin seems to be pleased with his new hat. This even made me feel cheerful.
ZE HAT LIIIIIIIIVES!
#hatlivesmatter
The last one he had to buy from his own meager salary of scrap selling; a human giving a yinglet a gift is a rare and special thing indeed!
The different eye colours are neat! I can only imagine the effect this has on them with the different mutations.
Yeah, that’s produced a lotta weird colors and patterns over the years.
Lopin should probably get some help treating that pinkeye.
Does it make me a bad person that I keep thinking Lopin is stoned? >.>
So Lopin is keeping his hat and his look. Eventually Kass has to get him in some demeaning or obvious servant outfit. I vote French Maid.
Yeah, you seem to get how things work around here
Don’t forget the appropriate maid’s cap. In fact…I think various hats/caps should be a somewhat prominent Lopin character trait.
Sky-blue top hat and cane, gigantic sky-blue sombrero, how about a sky-blue whatever Ran’s hat is called.
Oh great, now I’m searching the internet for “silly hats” to picture Lopin wearing. Valsaliaaaaaa! What have you done to me!?”
4 times. 4 times i have reread zhis comic in zhe past week. Valsalia, you have ruined my life! I hate you sooooo much!
But seriously, great comic. Keep it up.
Or there will be hell to pay…
Wonderful! Every time someone reads it, it gives me power.
“I will Destroy you!” *smek*
Also, i noticed Kass lost his/her hair bands. And they looked so good on her/him.
probably took them off to sleep. I can NOT imagine those hairknobs would be at all pleasant to roll over onto.
I honestly can’t tell whether or not Lopin is being intentionally manipulative or just innately understands the power of cute.
Oh and Val well done on your efforts to move away from the always 3/4 faces.
That’s just Lopin bein’ Lopin! He has no idea.
The giant worms will return to take back their home. Careful!
I loved this one so much! Even the gigantic eyelash hairs are expressive.
Lopin… I can’t figure him out yet! Sooo cute tho, sad yinglet eyes.
And dammit Valsalia, I start reading the description and it’s about mountains, minerals… and apparently sandworms?! Well, that’s cool. Here’s hoping they are better behaved than the ones in the Tremors series. 😉
*rockworms.
Big difference between sandworms and rockworms, or so I have heard.
Yeah, the sandy ones are more swimmy, the rocky ones are more burrow-y.
Also only one produces THE SPICE
I’ve never seen or read Dune, but now it is on my list because of you and Wikipedia… 😀
Yeah, Lopin is totally destroyed! Katt has already shown his skills in the ancient arts of Smek-fu !
Everybody was Smek Fu Fighting
Those yings were fast as lightning
Lopin better realize he now serves a harsh and unforgiving mistress!
Mistress Kass!
Has a nice ring to it.
did they also fixed his clothes? Seeing Lopin with tears in his eyes made me feel a bit sorry for him
I love it when Kass goes all “superior officer” on Lopin.
Gotta get the terminology drilled into these recruits early on, lest the habit of calling superior officers “pretty ladies” sinks in!
Drill seargent Kassie. Lopin’s going to get yelled at for letting his soap get too dirty.
I say that as though I have any experience in the military. I don’t. XD But I’ve heard stories…
Moreover, Kass will probably yell at him if there’s any excuse to, because the reason Kass is yelling so much lately has a lot to do with the little guy.
Is this a mistake or no? What happened to the gold nail paint/polish stuff? I thought it couldn’t come off
Could be chalked up to Kass’ inexperience and lack of proper chemicals. Nail polish can be removed using vinegar or alcohol, something Isher would most definitely know. Some off-panel coaching (and torture) later and bam, no polish.
Ooooooorrrr its just a mistake and/or aristic license.
Naw, he’s just had a bit of time to scrape it off.
Both an amazing world and an amazing read this web comic is basically on the top of my read list and will continue to be their keep up the amazing work Valsalia
Ey, thanks a lot! I can tell you’re probably enjoying it from the custom yinglet avatar alone.
Did he write that down first, or was it off the top of his head?
hehe Captain America reference
“And ze nice ladies… zhey made me
a new hat!”
What happened to Kess’ shelltooth? I thought Viz didn’t have enough time to file it down, so how did it become so tiny all of a sudden?
I going to guess that Kass had an active cycle during the night where she scrounged up a file to get that nail polish off her claws, then proceeded to get to work on the shelltooth. Or the trademaster remembered Vizlet’s remark and sent someone to do it–Ivenmoth’s ambassador can’t be looking unkempt, after all.
I went back and did some re-observing of past chapters, and the smaller shell-tooth actually began in chapter OoP 29. At first I thought this was because Kess might have filed the tooth himself when he ate a clam in Oop 28, but the size of his shell-tooth in that chapter compared to Viz’s is still noticeable, and since chapter 29 is Viz calming Kess down, she wouldn’t have filed the tooth then.
So I think we’re left with two theories. Theory A is, as you said, Kess’ tooth was filed down by Ivanmoth staff. This theory seems likely, however, it also seems like something the author would show us, because there’s a lot of comedic possibilities with Kess being forced into a pedicure for his tooth.
Or there’s Theory B, the artist changed the style ever so slightly and nothing actually happened to Kess’ shell tooth in universe.
Yup! Style change, yinglet shell-teeth got shorter overall.
So far we’ve had the giant spear-limbed creatures being adorable. Isher is precious as can be. Yannit is a weirdly endearing if unusual bug. The yinglets, well, almsot all the ratbirds are adorable. Even the tiplod way back had rather endearing if simple mannerisms. I’m even cheering over the revival of FANCY HATS now.
To quote Yannit: they are
SO
CUTE
No they aren’t, this is a dark and serious story about gritty, dangerous characters!
I thought I’ve made that perfectly obvious!!
Lopin totally pinged Kass’ Matriarch instinct there, didn’t he? He even tied it to Kass’ house instead of the enclave that Kass doesn’t feel a part of. Annnnd then he said something that made Kass feel weird about it and ruined it.
Lopin has returned … hat in hand.
I wonder if we could get a “Val Salian Regional Field Guide” of Lopin’s hat for April Fool’s day. 😆
oh no! kas seem to have lost her hair dangles between pages!
They were forced on in the first place; he would suffer the embarrassment no longer!
you know when you read kass’ lines as a yinglet they really loose their commanding edge and it becomes quite comical. Sortof like making fun of nepoleons height in this specific case.
And where did kass stick her hair bead / tie / ornament / things? I would guess s-he doesn’t have a jewelry box soooo…
Considering how thin yinglet extremities are, hair ties can easily double as anklets.
Yup, it’s important to remember how ridiculous they sound!
And he took ’em off shortly after waking up. He’s thinking about getting something to keep those things restrained and out of his now-much-larger-eyes though, after giving those things a try.
I’ve been loving this comic thus far, which surprises me a great since I’ve never been one for visual novels and such.
I’m still waiting for a yinglet to jump a human bone, though.
I’M WATCHING YOU, LOPIN AND KASS!
Well all right! One difference from most visual novel-type comics here is that I try to make each page an entertaining mini-story on itself, so that there’s a little bit to look forward to each time there’s a new release; that seems to appeal to some readers.
And yes, being bigger, stronger, more graceful, intelligent, cultured and longer-lived, it’s not uncommon at all for yinglets to become infatuated with humans.
Absolutely love this comic! Such a fun and clever setting with some amusing races. Will have to try writing up a Yinglet at some point just to enjoy for a good pathfinder campaign…
Glad you’re enjoying it! And you’re far from the first to wonder about putting these little nuisances in a tabletop campaign; I should probably work together an official race sheet at some point, but so far I’d say this is pretty accurate and complete: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/22368562/
Hmm, not bad.
I’m not sure about that charisma bonus, I suppose that is supposed to represent cuteness, but sorcerers don’t cast spells with cuteness, charisma is more force of personality, and the majority of yinglets are weak on that front. The comic features many yinglets with domineering wills, but thats because we’ve mostly been exposed to yinglet leadership and other exceptional individuals. These stats should be for a generic common yinglet, not only for the yinglet elite (good stat rolls and hero class levels are what make player characters elite).
I’d also remove the weapon finesse bonus feat, weapon finesse requires finely honed training, and most yinglets are rather poorly trained. Plus as nimble as yinglets can be they are also fairly clumsy.
The frenzy ability is also unesscessary, I’ve seen no indication that yinglet males gain incredible strength when defending a female. This behavior seems better to be implemented through roleplay rather than mechanics.
I fully support mutations and, although Pathfinder already has a mutation table, making a yinglet specific one is great. I’d say rolling a mutation should be optional upon character creation since not all yinglets have mutations.
how often are these updated?
It’s random as the cretor can’t devote consistant time to it. Currently I’d say it ranges between 1.5 to 3 weeks. We can pretty reliably expect two updates a month, with the occasional third update.
The artist often also posts extra artwork on his deviantart page between updates.
About every 1-4 weeks or months. 😛 The artist is very busy, assures us even during a months-long ‘not a hiatus’ that the story will continue. *smek*
If you have an RSS reader you can use this link:
http://www.valsalia.com/feed/
There is also an RSS feed for the comments, way up at the top-right, next to the “Vote on TWCs” and the donate to Lopin links.
Hello, another new reader here.
I find this webcomic great despite its humble origins since it is a great example of worldbuilding and storytelling rarely found in webcomics in general, so keep up the good work so we can see some more yinglet action soon, friend.
Also, I would like to point out a bit of inconsistency on your yinglet drawings, you mentioned in the beginning that females are distinguished by having short snout but lately Kass and other females have shown a long snout so I’m wondering if its a mistake or not. It’s not a troublesome detail but I thought you might want to know.
Heyyy, thanks a lot! Half the reason I started this comic was to get better at drawing, so I wanted to make sure it had good storytelling and setting design during the rougher art towards the beginning.
And yes, you’re right! Most females have shorter/rounder snouts than males, but both Viz and Kass have a bit of a yinglet version of “man face” going on, making them look more intimidating, which Vizlet is a bit sore about but makes good use of it to get her flock to follow instructions.
First of all, thank you for answering. I like that you have decided to give the females a bit of “tomboyish” features with this design choice, compliments the fact that males can be “girlish” due to the species’ diversity. Keep working hard to improve your craft, you have a bright future ahead of you.
Also, since I like re-reading the new pages every now and again just to see if I missed anything, I have to say I really like how well you’re communicating body language with the eyebrow whiskers.
Thanks! I do try and put a lot of expression in those things.
Oh man, I can hardly wait ’til Lopin figures out why Kass is pissed at him.
Did Lopin know what zat zing would do? I’m guessing not, he doesn’t seem sneaky. Which means he’s in for a hell of a shock. Which means more fantastic facial expressions and/or fainting.
This comic is awesome.
Hey, I don’t know any of that either! We just gotta wait and see what Lopin says, I guess.
Dammit, after I read this I realized that I work with Lopin! Sniveling, passive aggressive, and a fancy dresser. You need another Yinglet for your cast?
No! There’s way too many of the things around here already, don’t add to the problem!
Lop’s eye color makes it so he always looks like he just finished crying. Not to say he hasn’t been doing a lot of that lately.
Awww, your comment made me sad. Lopin did have a crap day!
Almost killed, smashed face and hat, busted tooth, knocked down a few pegs and almost beaten by Kass.
What do you give a Yinglet for Valentine’s Day? (Besides oysters…)
I have a feeling that a Yinglet that becomes a Monk would be a horrifying thing to behold. Especially should the mastery of Snake Style be given.
I hope the name sopretty lady kass sticks for a while. It’s adorable.
I’ve read this entire comic in several hours and now I feel a cuteness overload.
This is addicting!