The Val Salian Regional Field Guide, Entry 7
Feb21
He Who Knows-What-He-Did is routinely fed and hydrated so that he can continue living as an example to all others what the price is for endangering the baxxid’s peaceful coexistence with the city’s humans.
Also, a bit of news! I’ve just opened a Patreon for the Out-of-Placers, as even a few extra dollars a month will make a big difference in the amount of time I can spend drawing. Just $1 per comic will get you access to all the Patreon-only sketches and pics that the other tiers vote on, in fact! So if you’d like to see these pages come out more often, and/or see some crowd-voted sketches and pics, then by all means check it out!
Every so often, I read this and end up horrified. In this case, the Baxxid’s willing subjugation to humans, not in concept (I do understand the rational behind it), but to the point where they would allow horrific experiments on one imprisoned in place underground for years.
TL;DR: Punishment of violent dissenter: Sure! But I think this is a little disproportionate.
They just take their societal rules reeeeeally seriously, especially the big central “we don’t eat the humans” part!
My my my. I really feel for the poor guy. I heard humans are tasty, along with Yinglets…
What is their stance on eating yinglets? Do they get along with indrel?
In other words… Be nice, we leave you be. Put even your breath out of line, we pull out automatic shotguns and dump fifty shells into you.
Criminals/prisoners having rights and protections is a modern concept. This isn’t really all that extreme for medieval times.
As for “horrific experiments” there isn’t any indication here of such a thing happening, just casual scientific observation. It’s not the humans that imprisoned this baxxid, it was the baxxids. It doesn’t take much for the baxxids to allow humans to check in on him from time to time.
Besides, if they charge the humans a fair amount for this permission to observe him it would help with covering the expenses in retaining such a long-term prisoner (food, water, sanitation, maintenance, guard, property leasing). This is why in olden times execution and corporal punishment was the way to go, imprisonment costs a lot of money.
I also don’t see this as “willing subjugation” it’s just “willing peaceful cohabitation and coexistence.” Agreeing not to eat each other is generally a common expectation among people living together. The baxxid, as far as I know, are not enslaved by the humans and share their own slice of power in Val Salia.
This punishment seems harsh but is rather minor for crimes such as murder, treason, and attempting to incite a race war.
Eagle – Check your human privilege at the Baxxid door.
(Sometimes being a Social Justice Warrior is hilarious, in addition to just sad.)
Ok…..I just blew ice tea up my nose reading this.
Its not extreme at all. Humanity’s use of stockades were far, far worse and stockades were considered to be a “minor” punishment. (Tired of standing hunched over the whole time, hypothermia getting to you or your jailers decided to just screw you over for the night? Go ahead, go limp. When you suffocate cause your throat is crushed by your own body weight, problem solved!)
Pillory, not stockades. Derp.
Wow! Did you actually read the comic? Humans had nothing to do with this creature’s punishment, they simply looked in from time to time and took measurements. Get down off your soapbox, ya git.
It’s a shame you didn’t really read it, but that’s what Social Justice is all about, isn’t it. This baxxid was imprisoned by other baxxids, not humans. The only thing humans did was passively observe. At no time did a human touch this poor creature. Pay attention please.
Congrats on the Patreon! About frikking time, btw!
I’m 200% sure that The Eye of the Terrible Celestial Horror etc,etc,etc is not as bad a guy as they make it looks like :V
I had juuuuust enough prodding to convince me it was a good idea.
I must say that by the looks of it, you made Kass in that Patreon pic A CUP SIZE SMALLER….
…..STOP IT.
It’s a tight little top!
(Although yes I probably could’ve been a bit more gratuitous here)
hay, every girl need’s a tight top to reign in the shirt puppies for working out and such!
Well, those of us who arnt too tiny to need it anyway.
LOL, consistency is important!
I would like to know more about He Who Knows-What-He-Did. Both about his background and crimes as well as about how he’s dealing with his punishment, what kind of mental state is he in now?
Bored out of his absolute gourd! (I would wager)
Probably has an advanced state of atrophy, and mites throughout his carapice (so itchy!)
After 43 years of extreme restraint, and presumed heavy isolation, I expect he’s probably completely insane. If he isn’t then, regardless of his history, I can’t help but respect his perseverance.
He’s gotten *really* good at target spitting. Sometimes the kids give him fancy cups to spit into, and he nails them all.
Going to use the epithet He Who Knows-What-He-Did in my D&D campaign.
There’s Lopin, happy to do whatever he’s told, and then there’s Kass, who is going to murder you
*Le GASP* A new page?! Mere 20 days after the last one?! The world must be ending!
Lopin is so cute, with that blue bow on his tail! I would say that Kass is cute too, but I think she might rip out my throat with her tooth.
Also, these backstory panels are great!
Wow, I always knew the background on this page would end up being something important.
Wow, good eye! Dor anyone curious, this has been the background if this site for a year now: http://www.valsalia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/PageBGblackout.jpg Talk about long-term planning Valsalia!
Bleh, wish I could edit. “For* anyone curious…”
He who KNOWS-WHAT-HE-DID to join the main party.
I want this to be a thing. I want them to meet him, set it all up, then decide they like their fleshy bits un-eaten and go about their business, but the comic randomly cuts over to a panel of He who KNOWS-WHAT-HE-DID chained to his rock every now and then.
Alternatively, they go through with it, release him, get him a haircut ala one of those ‘grizzled old psycho released from prison/the dungeon and turns out to be surprisingly dapper’ sequences and the cast gets it’s first serious hardcore badass.
He-Who-Knows-What-He-Did is lookin’ more like a rock than a Baxxid. I admit i’m mildly curious what a Baxxid courtroom show would look [maybe even sound] like.
Probably like this: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/22508097/
Ohh I love that really old school bikini. Kass should be forced to dress like that more often. And congratulations you are making me consider getting an account there and patronizing you.
I was just about to say to maybe get a Patreon because this is the quality comic content I’ll pay for anytime, but since you just made one, here it goes!
Wow, in less than a day the comic has already become better paying than Val’s day job.
Who came up with the last name for the nebula?
I feel that’s something a yinglet would come up with, but it is probably another species that uses that one. Possibly some of the humans.
By the way, I keep getting a Mod_Security error when I try to post a comment.
By any chance are you using a proxy to post or an IP address that could be changing in between page-loads? I get errors sometimes when posting with a poor connection.
Have you tried deleting the cache? Could be bad cookies.
I’m using Tor Browser (if you know what that is). I have cookies enabled, and the cache and cookies are deleted each time I close the browser by default.
Everything was working fine a month ago, and I haven’t made any changes on my end.
Huh, seems to be working now. No error message this time.
Is V.S.’s web hosting service blocking some Tor nodes, perhaps?
… just realized … This means there are Baxxid Barbers
By Baldr, Behold! Baxxid Barbers!
Behear! Beings Bending, Bracing, Balancing, Breaking, Boring, Bevelling, and Barbing Bone!
Baxxid Brothers (and sisters) Beseach Benevolent Bladed Barbers; Beings Best, By Baldr, to Blade a Baxxid’s Beast-Bisecting-Bone-Bereavers!
Bold and Brave, Beneficently, Beteach Brother Beings Baxxid Biology, Banishing Baxxids Beset … Bah! Baned! By Burgeoning Bone Biomass!
Beware! Baxxid Barbarous Behavior Begets Banishment! Becoming Bound Behemoths, Bones Burdended By Bereft of a Barber!
But Benevolent and Behaved Baxxids, Beholden Bones Benefitted By Bespoke Benefacors, Boldly Boast, “Blessed Be Baxxid Barbers!”
P.S. How about a photobof a Baxxid in a Bycoket!
P.S.S. Other words I wanted to use but could not :b
Barterers (Beneficiently Broma or Begifted Boon)
Bride and Benedict (or Bride-groom)
Bemusing babble by a brazen bolt binder.
Van’s Beguiling Brilliance Blossoms! …. Bringing Bees (Bs)!
OwO
The brazen and bohemian bard breaks and befuddles the best of brains! By Baldr, boys!
Yinglet bikini sign spinners! Now I can die happy.
I imagine that ran sounds like The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager. (Robert Picardo)
Especially the paragraph next to “The Icon of Din”
“This, clearly, did not happen” is something he would definitely put in a log.
Ha! I can definitely hear that now that you mention it!
Hey, guys, while we wait for the next page why don’t we play a game to break the comments record? I’m thinking of doing a succession story based on the whole transformation mystery but without touching anything canon. Here, I’ll set up the first part:
Mistakes
The first mistake was thinking someone of great prestige such as his master wouldn’t accept an outrageous dare from some shady government goon at a bar.
-Please, sir, don’t do it. Reconsider the proper procedure…-
-Screw that, my boy. We are this close to succeed, don’t you see? Just take it! Everything will be fine.-
*Crash* A bottle smashed against a broken chair.
The second mistake was doing nothing about his increasing erratic behaviour once he managed some degree of success out of the ridiculous ordeal.
-No, no, no. Just calm down, sir. There are better ways to prove…-
*Crash* Another bottle smashed against the wall missing its target.
-Stop moving and take it already!-
-Sir, this is not how you do things! STOP THROWING THAT.-
The final mistake was trying to convince him to stop now that everything had gone haywire, when it was definitely easier to run away and never look back. But the young assistant still had a bit of respect for his master and refused to believe there was nothing left of the famous scholar Sir Rook Boult, who pioneered on the field of bio-chemistry by reproducing the most impossible of substances only found ”naturally” in non-human species. The image of that sleak, impeccable man of reddish hair and noble robes -who despite his age seemed full of vigor and had an insatiable thirst for knowledge- now seemed out of a fairytale compared to the balding man of trembling bones and tattered robes that struggled to hold up a bunch of glass bottles containing some strange glowing liquid.
-Sir, please, you need to get some rest. -Said the assistant trying to ignore the unnerving glare his master was directing at him like a hungry animal. The old scholar didn’t answer, moving slowly without losing sight of his target, calculating the trajectory of his next bottle as he and the assistant circled the room from opposite ends. By chance the old man had the advantage of being close to the only exit from the half destroyed laboratory, but the assistant had managed to pick up a piece of a broken chair that now acted as a shield against his projectiles, which had saved him from at least two previous assaults.
*Crash* Once again the bottle missed its target.
-T-th-this is my last warning, sir.- Said the assistant out of feigned courage behind his improvised shield. -If you don’t stop I will fight back. I swear!-
-Come now, child. You wouldn’t hit an old man, would you?-
*Crash* Yet another wasted bottle.
But there were still two more bottles left in the scholar’s power, and the assistant dreaded their existence with all his soul despite being the fruit of their hard work. He knew what they were meant to do and why his master was so obsessed with them: transmutation. It was an impossible feat but those bottles contained a chemical compound capable of transforming flesh and blood from a given source into another. Trees into carrots, tarantulas into butterflies, a shark into a shrimp. Madness! That’s what it was! And that’s what consumed Sir Rook, he knew, that’s why he was trying to transform him into another being no matter what it took. And all because some unknown man handed him a sample of a mysterious substance and dared him to reproduce its allegedly miraculous effects, saying that some silly creature of limited intelligence was able to do it before any of the best human scholars could, and promising never-ending wealth if he succeeded.
*Crash* The assistant successfully shielded himself against the menacing bottle.
-Damn it, boy! What’s so bad about becoming a tiny, defenseless yinglet?- Said the deranged scholar as he clutched his last bottle of transmutation.
-Sir, cease this at once, you only have one left.- The assistant said thinking his master would prefer to save his last sample instead of wasting it on another miss.
-Meh, I can make more.-
That was it, the assistant couldn’t take it anymore. With a sudden cry of rage he threw himself over his master to wrestle the bottle away from him, thinking he could easily overpower the old fool. But the scholar was far from being defeated and struggled back with the strength of a beast, forcing both into a chaotic twirl that traveled all around the room, crashing and smashing every piece of equipment in its path. A bunch of chemicals spilled over and were caught by a nearby candlelight setting everything ablaze, building up a dense smoke that brought both men into their senses.
-Oh no. NO.- The mad scholar said realizing the danger looming over his sacred work. -Anything but this! *cough*-
-*cough* We have to get out of here!- The assistant said trying to drag his master toward the exit.
-*cough* No, I have to save it!- He said trying to release himself from his assistant’s grip.
This time they only struggled briefly, because without knowing it the scholar finally managed to pour the transmutation liquid onto his assistant, who freaked out as soon as he realized and let go of his master to run out in search of the nearest water source, intent on cleaning himself before it was too late. For a moment the old fool smiled victorious as he saw his assistant slowly yet visibly begin to transform into something else, his body and limbs minimizing in size as he staggered to exit the building…before noticing the flames reaching a bunch of explosive chemicals.
-Sir Rook!- The assistant screamed looking back at the explosion that escaped from the lab just seconds behind him. But his worry couldn’t last long as the surge of the transformation took over his senses, clouding his consciousness under pain and confusion as his body broke down from inside-out. He howled to the clear sky of day as his bones cracked under his own weight, bringing him down to earth clutching his chest in desperation. His robes began to feel heavy and bulky as his skin and muscles seemed to consume themselves in order to grow things that were never a part of him. His vision was blurred and his voice was crackling as he flailed within robes that now seemed like the clothes of giants. His neck and limbs stretched thin and long, with sharp claws ending short paws colored a dark gray, silvery fur growing and covering every inch of his new bird-like yet mammalian body. Big yellow eyes with whiskers growing out of the eyebrows, long pointy ears, a sleak short snout armed with a sharp tooth in front, and a blueish mane covering his head down to the middle of his new long neck. A tail, long as his new body, grew from the end of his spine and finished in a bushy blueish mane much like his “hair”. Then the transformation stopped.
-Seerr Rhoock…- He tried to say before falling unconscious within his robes, unaware of the fire consuming the laboratory or the fate of his late master. Or his own fate.
(Would anybody want to continue it?)
Great Scotts!
I can’t think of anything to folow, so I shall concede my turn back to you. Go for it!
Thank you, I guess. Though I’m not sure if you guys would like me to follow through now that Val submitted a new page. I will continue this if at least someone is interested enough to come back here once in a while.
Weird timing! When I had commented, there was no new comic. Yet when you did, there was!
Weird. But hey, new page, eh? 😀
I am certain my skills are lacking, but I will attempt a short continuation.
Mutation
Thunderous drums were all he heard. Small and weak was all he felt. Smoke and fire was all he could see.
-GASP- He snapped awake, only to find himself suffocating in total darkness. He scrambled to escape his confines and break out of the void. It felt as if hours had passed, but he finally broke out of the dark and into the blinding light of day.
-Where am I?! What the hell happened?!- the assistant tried to scream, only for it to come out garbled and distorted by an unfamiliar mouth. Confused, he tried again, only slower and more careful.
-What happened?- This time was far clearer, as he could even hear his new and squeaky voice, which resembled a little girl’s. Terrified, he looks down at himself, only to immediately wish he hadn’t, for he found a small, frail form with backwards knees, stick-like forearms and forelegs, hair upon almost every inch of him, and…
-Breasts?! WHAT?!?!- His mind felt as if it was going into overdrive while trying to come up with an answer for this… this…
(Mutation) he thinks. And right after the thought was completed, his mind is flooded with the images and sounds of the night beforehand. The bottles being thrown towards the worried assistant, the struggle to escape his master’s lunacy, the fire that…
-Ser Rook!!- he gasped. As he swirled around to look for the old man, he quickly found his way to the earth below him, embracing it with arms open wide. His head throbbing with pain, the assistant attempted to push himself up onto his alien arms and look around for a second time. As he did, he found that the world around him appeared to have grown twice as big.
-Ser Rook?- His request seemed to have been answered by fate, for the assistant turned his head to the left and was overcome with dread.
-No…- was all he could say to the smoldering remains of Sir Rook’s laboratory. Soon after, he was digging through the wreckage, desperate to find his master’s body. After a half hour of searching through the decimated ruins and fumbling to grab anything with his insignificant hands, he found the old man’s body- at least, what was left of it. Shortly after, he was puking up the dinner from the night before, only to find out that he was incredibly hungry and could not afford to lose his stomach’s contents. Finally exhausted, he sat down to collect his thoughts and process what had happened over the last 12 hours.
-His potion worked… It actually worked.- he said glumly. His thought was immediately interrupted by the sound of hooves rapidly approaching his position. Forgetting his thoughts and switching into survival mode, he prepared himself for the worst possible scenario he could imagine. Even so, he never imagined what happened next…
That’s all the time I had to make this, so if anyone thinks this is good enough to continue on from, go on ahead. If not, just do a “Part Two” sort of thing with the original ‘Mistakes’ bit.
You thought you were safe? The darkness has cometh, and thus thou souls has been tainted by thus eldritch spawn. The shrieking, madness inducing ‘Yinglet’ monstrosity, or, Scav, as the popular slang for the cannibalistic, murderous abominations. Hell itself shudders at what sadistic thoughts lay inside the soul, the cogs of its horrendous being…time will tell, whether our own kind shall know the true horror of our ways, and learn us this…
Despite their bloody hyperactivity and know sod all about politics, I bet you two slav-pounds…yes pounds, that they would make faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar
better world rulers, who’ll probably end up with a much shrtr term than they could EVER achieve
Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
And the words of the prophets are witten on the subway walls
And tenement halls
Whithin the sounds of silence.
Should I get to a point in my own Patreon where I am making enough to live comfortably I would most certainly donate to this comic!
I can’t help but feel like He-Who-Knows-What-He-Did is gonna play a role later in the story, likely as an antagonist. I mean, the guy sounds like trouble already.
Damn, Baxxid don’t screw around.
Not nearly as bad as Prometheus.. but 43 years chained down?
Daaaaaayyyyyyuuuuummmmmm.
Nice Greek reference, dude.
Don’t start fights over your beliefs, or you get sent to the mines!
…honestly we could use a rule like that in today’s society.