Today we get a bit of background on the dwarves of Karthun.

Short version: They’re tyrants

You did read it correctly though, halflings existed but were driven to extinction by the dwarves. When they drove the last halfling into the ground, they turned their eyes toward the elves (but more on that later).

I could probably do comics on the lore of Karthun for the rest of my life but on Monday we’ll get to the meat of this adventure. I promise.

Update: Since the debut of Brett’s character in this arc (Jeda), I’ve received a few comments and emails on how he looks similar to Varric from the Dragon Age franchise. I’ll be honest, I’ve played all of the Dragon Age games and I love them. This may be a case of subconscious creep as I never ever intended to be a bottom-feeding hack but this hit home and I am going to take action. Some of the comments have been passing observations noting his lack of beard, being a rogue/thief, etc. while some of the comments have been horrible and deliberately hurtful. Such is the internet. I’m not going to ban or delete comments or post snarky emails. I opened up comments on this site and dammit, people speak their minds. What I AM going to do is make some changes to Jeda’s design during the arc (which will happen in continuity) to distance him from the Varric comparisons and get the focus back to where I would like for it to be: the story, the group, and Karthun.

I’m not changing the lore. Karthun is my world and trolls will pry it from my cold dead hands. However, a characters hairstyle or clothing? Well, I can change that (and if you’ve read for a while you know I tend to do that anyway).

I haven’t had many hiccups with public opinion on a character or arc since beginning d20Monkey (for which I am grateful) as 99% you who read this comic are genuinely awesome folks who articulate their points and speak their minds in the best ways possible. I hope this realization and minor shift in Brett’s character does not come across as shitty and sour you on me or this comic. I’d hate for that to happen.