Page 5 has Hanna scared and alone in the forest doing the only thing she can think of, Calling the Thornwatch. We've spoken of them before on the site and even did a little three part comic based on them. The comic was from the point of view of the Lookouts though and they see the Thornwatch as oath breakers and criminals. Boys are warned to never call the Thornwatch no matter how dire their situation is.
In reality the Thornwatch is probably not nearly as bad as the boys think. They are men and women who have left their duties true but they have found new purpose helping those in need. I like to think of them as the A-Team of the Eyrewood. They are summoned by tying a wreath of thorns around a birch tree. The knot you tie (and the blood you shed) finishes the spell that summons the Thornwatch and also informs them of your particular problem.
All of this was cooked up for the card game I created awhile back. It’s a tabletop RPG that has each character represented by a deck of cards. You play as members of the Thornwatch and in fact all three of the characters in today’s comic are playable in the game. From left to right you have the Blade, the Warrior, and the Greenheart. As far as the game goes I’ve decided to re-dedicate myself to getting this thing out so that you can play it. We’re currently exploring a few different options but ideally I’d like to see it available next year.
This page was a lot of fun to draw. I struggled at first getting the right pose for Hanna. I’ve never been a scared little girl and so I was having a really hard time. I asked Katie for some advice (it's so rad that she is in the office now!) and she came in and took a look at the page. I told her what I was going for and she sat down on the floor and pulled her knees up to her chin. “don’t move!” I said and frantically started sketching. Later I had Jamie come in and help me with the hands. She’s been by go to hand model for this entire project so if they look good you can thank her.
Here’s what the original sketch looked like
and here is a nice high res version.
So Hanna has summoned the Thornwatch. Will they help her? Can they help her? Tune in Wednesday!
-Gabe out
