I may be in the minority here, but I think Jhalm and Boneclaw Mother are both smart enough to realize that a battle here and now is not in their best interests. That’s not to say they aren’t ready and willing if need be, but if they can avoid one that would be costly on both sides, I think they will.
A battle is all maneuver until there’s no other choice but the kill the other guy.
Well, intelligent battles anyway. Both Jhalm and Boneclaw Mother aren’t about to waste the blood of their people unless there is no other way for them to get what they want.
Although it’s not really clear what Jhalm wants, everyone is assuming he wants to kill Digger. By everyone I mean Murai, the statue, and of course the hyena tribe.
I’m not saying they don’t have reasons for thinking that; Jhalm has pretty much f*d up interspecies relations all over the place in this region. He doesn’t appear to be serving the gods so much as his own ego at this time.
As a note: I love the way Boneclaw Mother growls that last bit. So menacing! I am imagining this slightly-daffy old lady voice for her. Not a weak voice, but that slightly high pitched, almost sing-song quality…then into the deep, bone chilling growl that reminds you this is still a liver eating carnivorous mean bitch. And I mean that as the highest of compliments!
Of course; after all, Boneclaw Mother is an honorable sort; which means that even though she adopted Digger as a sham, she’ll not let anyone go about hurting her daughter. (Not to mention letting that happen would be bad for her reputation.)
On the bright side for Jhalm, at least Boneclaw Mother didn’t say she has a bone to pick with him.
Yet.
Oh, it is so on! It’s not the physical battle, if that even happens, that matters. It’s the battle of wills and wits between Jhalm and Boneclaw Mother. I do believe the captain has bit off far more than he can chew this time.
If a member of the tribe is slain, and you eat his liver in tribute to his honor, what part of an honored enemy do you eat? More importantly, does Jhalm know which part, and is he starting to feel a certain quivering awareness of this?
“An hour of woes and shattered spears, when the age of Hyena comes crashing down! But it is not this day! By all that you hold dear on this good earth. I bid you stand, Hyenas of the West! ” And for my money, Go get ’em Bone Claw!
Jhalm is in for it now! Now, all we need is one of those horrible, “I’m so disappointed in you” lectures that only those who have been parents can pull off with any great effect.
@ Duck Whiperer: any more awesome lord of the rings quotes from you and Iām going to have to aggressively quote Henry the fifth at people, the court order be damned. Oops, to late…
“From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of sisters.
Knock it off back there, Iām talking! Yes YOU Blood-tail!
For she to-day that sheds her blood with me
Shall be my sister; be she ne’er so vile, yes YOU,
This day shall gentle her condition;
And members of The People, in Cerulean now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, unless we all die,
And hold their womanhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Lung’s day.
What? Not ONE unicorn? Really? That sucks.”
Boneclaw Mother: “Daughters of She Who is Fiercer, I see a whole army of my clan here in defense of Murai. You’ve come to support the Wombat, and that you have. Will you fight???!… And dying in your beds many years from now would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for just one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they will never stop our Wombat!!!!. Remember tunnel 17!!!”
The beauty of this is that Jhalm might think badly of himself for attacking a broken-armed newbie with occasional possession attacks, but he’d think really badly of himself for attacking a blind little old lady hyena. He might even listen.
And if he does, and decides to go help the wombat… they’ll think he’s after them! Aaaa!
Oh, Judy Dench! Definitely Judy Dench for BoneClaw Mother. *completely fails to find typescript representation of currentl level of enthusiasm–!!!*
Not sure Jahlm would hesitate to attack litlte-old-lady hyena, considering how very competent she and hers have already been shown to be…. but I think he might think twice about the possible embarrassment of *losing.*
Plus, BoneClaw Mother should be quite clear that what they need to do here is provide *time* for Digger — and a fight really can only go on for so long, whereas talking… ! (Plus, you can always fight after.)
Somehow, I don’t think anyone would ever take Boneclaw Mother for a helpless little old lady, blind or not.
Yeah, Jhalm is definitely going to have to put off hauling Murai off anywhere. But I don’t see how Boneclaw Mother would know Digger needs more time – Grim Eyes went to check on the tribe before Digger et al. got to the temple, so she doesn’t know Digger has set off underground again.
No, I think the hyenas just got fed up with Jhalm trying to confine them to their village….hence the “worrrrrd” they all are about to have.
Attic Rat:
Actually, the one in silhouette is probably Shadebones from http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=426 and thereabouts… she seems to be naturally mostly black-furred. As well as being Boneclaw Mother’s favoured heir to the position of running the tribe, mostly because she seems to be one of the most practical of the lot. The comments from the fourth book indicate she joined the tribe from a different one.
Hyenas of The West on St Lungs Day, with blue arses. Good Grief. Now I can’t stop seeing this weird Viggo-Mel-Larry Olly hybrid with pebbles on his eyes.
Woohoo, first!
Boneclaw Mother has never looked more badass, and that’s saying a lot!
Don’t forget to VOTE! http://topwebcomics.com/vote/10180/default.aspx
:MRGREEN:
Boneclaw Mother! Now I’m glad we got this today instead of last Thursday. Less time until the next one.
Boneclaw Mother! Yess! :3
Walk softly, and carry a lot of pointy sticks?
YESSSSSSSS i’m excited for what’s about to go down š
Now, is it going to be a rather long word, or short and to the (sharp) point?
I may be in the minority here, but I think Jhalm and Boneclaw Mother are both smart enough to realize that a battle here and now is not in their best interests. That’s not to say they aren’t ready and willing if need be, but if they can avoid one that would be costly on both sides, I think they will.
Ho-ho-ho… this will be good.
Ehehehehehehe, called it.
But really, I’d like to hear what Boneclaw Mother has to say.
Suddenly, hyena-babes…thousands of them! WOOT!
A battle is all maneuver until there’s no other choice but the kill the other guy.
Well, intelligent battles anyway. Both Jhalm and Boneclaw Mother aren’t about to waste the blood of their people unless there is no other way for them to get what they want.
Although it’s not really clear what Jhalm wants, everyone is assuming he wants to kill Digger. By everyone I mean Murai, the statue, and of course the hyena tribe.
I’m not saying they don’t have reasons for thinking that; Jhalm has pretty much f*d up interspecies relations all over the place in this region. He doesn’t appear to be serving the gods so much as his own ego at this time.
As a note: I love the way Boneclaw Mother growls that last bit. So menacing! I am imagining this slightly-daffy old lady voice for her. Not a weak voice, but that slightly high pitched, almost sing-song quality…then into the deep, bone chilling growl that reminds you this is still a liver eating carnivorous mean bitch. And I mean that as the highest of compliments!
Hmmmm….maybe Betty White? (voice for Boneclaw Mother)
What can I say that hasn’t already been said? This is BADASS!
@ Gwennan: Geraldine McEwan, she has that sweet little old lady voice that can, in an instant, become a wonderfully menacing growl.
Beware of people who would like to have a WORRRRD with you. ^_^
Of course; after all, Boneclaw Mother is an honorable sort; which means that even though she adopted Digger as a sham, she’ll not let anyone go about hurting her daughter. (Not to mention letting that happen would be bad for her reputation.)
On the bright side for Jhalm, at least Boneclaw Mother didn’t say she has a bone to pick with him.
Yet.
OH! It just hit me! She sounds like every principal right after you did something bad.
Ooh!
This, minus the speech bubble, as a poster? Please?
Oh, it is so on! It’s not the physical battle, if that even happens, that matters. It’s the battle of wills and wits between Jhalm and Boneclaw Mother. I do believe the captain has bit off far more than he can chew this time.
Me and THIS army!
If a member of the tribe is slain, and you eat his liver in tribute to his honor, what part of an honored enemy do you eat? More importantly, does Jhalm know which part, and is he starting to feel a certain quivering awareness of this?
Yay! This is gonna be so awesome!
@JR I’m more excited about a war of words between Jhalm and Boneclaw Mother. This is going to be awesome š
Oh, my. We haven’t heard that growled “rrrrr” in the Hyena dialogue since we first met Grim Eyes.
And Betty White as Boneclaw Mother is too, too perfect.
“An hour of woes and shattered spears, when the age of Hyena comes crashing down! But it is not this day! By all that you hold dear on this good earth. I bid you stand, Hyenas of the West! ” And for my money, Go get ’em Bone Claw!
Hoo boy. That’s a lot of spears…..
YES RETURN OF BOWNCLAW MOTHER! š Best character ever.
*dies with laughter*
Jhalm is in for it now! Now, all we need is one of those horrible, “I’m so disappointed in you” lectures that only those who have been parents can pull off with any great effect.
<3
Oh, myyyyy goodness. This ought to be good!
@ Duck Whiperer: any more awesome lord of the rings quotes from you and Iām going to have to aggressively quote Henry the fifth at people, the court order be damned. Oops, to late…
“From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of sisters.
Knock it off back there, Iām talking! Yes YOU Blood-tail!
For she to-day that sheds her blood with me
Shall be my sister; be she ne’er so vile, yes YOU,
This day shall gentle her condition;
And members of The People, in Cerulean now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, unless we all die,
And hold their womanhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Lung’s day.
What? Not ONE unicorn? Really? That sucks.”
Oh and sorry for the double post chaps and chapesses, but @Gwennan, her or Judi Dench!
My goodness. That line in the prior strip would have been awesome enough with any of the hyenas saying it, or Surka.
That it should be *Boneclaw Mother*…
Words fail me. So I will only repeat: Wow.
Boneclaw Mother: “Daughters of She Who is Fiercer, I see a whole army of my clan here in defense of Murai. You’ve come to support the Wombat, and that you have. Will you fight???!… And dying in your beds many years from now would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for just one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they will never stop our Wombat!!!!. Remember tunnel 17!!!”
I see that Jhalm is going to have *ample* opportunity to re-examine his motives for action……. 7@=e
Called it!
As a friend of mine used to say:
I had WORDS with him. Short, sharp, Anglo-Saxon words.
The beauty of this is that Jhalm might think badly of himself for attacking a broken-armed newbie with occasional possession attacks, but he’d think really badly of himself for attacking a blind little old lady hyena. He might even listen.
And if he does, and decides to go help the wombat… they’ll think he’s after them! Aaaa!
Jhalm: Our arrows shall blott out the sun.
Boneclaw: Then we shall fight with the Shadowchild!
Oh, Judy Dench! Definitely Judy Dench for BoneClaw Mother. *completely fails to find typescript representation of currentl level of enthusiasm–!!!*
Not sure Jahlm would hesitate to attack litlte-old-lady hyena, considering how very competent she and hers have already been shown to be…. but I think he might think twice about the possible embarrassment of *losing.*
Plus, BoneClaw Mother should be quite clear that what they need to do here is provide *time* for Digger — and a fight really can only go on for so long, whereas talking… ! (Plus, you can always fight after.)
Somehow, I don’t think anyone would ever take Boneclaw Mother for a helpless little old lady, blind or not.
Yeah, Jhalm is definitely going to have to put off hauling Murai off anywhere. But I don’t see how Boneclaw Mother would know Digger needs more time – Grim Eyes went to check on the tribe before Digger et al. got to the temple, so she doesn’t know Digger has set off underground again.
No, I think the hyenas just got fed up with Jhalm trying to confine them to their village….hence the “worrrrrd” they all are about to have.
Mouse: Well, Digger did send Surka to fetch them. Just because she hasn’t said anything yet doesn’t mean she isn’t there.
I count seven Hyenas with seven spears. I hope there are more…
A Hyena with a mohawk, in silhouette – Nice. It looks like a stylized Roman helmet.
Attic Rat:
Actually, the one in silhouette is probably Shadebones from http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=426 and thereabouts… she seems to be naturally mostly black-furred. As well as being Boneclaw Mother’s favoured heir to the position of running the tribe, mostly because she seems to be one of the most practical of the lot. The comments from the fourth book indicate she joined the tribe from a different one.
Boneclaw Mother and Grim Eyes are my two favorite characters, they’re both just badass.
Hyenas of The West on St Lungs Day, with blue arses. Good Grief. Now I can’t stop seeing this weird Viggo-Mel-Larry Olly hybrid with pebbles on his eyes.