Chapter Five: Comic 292

Howdy, fellow Draconiacs! RazorFox here.

It is great to be back! While I did enjoy my four weeks off, I can’t begin to tell you how much I missed doing the comic and sharing this fun little story with you all. I’m strapping myself in for the ride once again, and I hope you all will continue to join me as we commence Chapter Five of my humble little webcomic, The Draconia Chronicles.

When we last saw Her Majesty’s Royal Palace Guard, they had an almost-fatal situation on their hands, thanks to an overzealous attack from new recruit Xhianil. What’s behind this near-lethal outburst? Stay tuned…

I want to thank all the contributors of the 2012 Draconia Chronicles Annual for their awesome submissions, and for allowing me to take almost a month off! Big thanks go to WryterGirl, MrAMP, Ethan Qix, Rukaisho, JazzFox, Cr0, Kompy, ChaosCroc, Lonnie Gaylor and Fred Perry. You’ll all be receiving complimentary copies of the 2013 Draconia Chronicles Calendar as my way of saying thanks, and in case you missed any of this year’s guest comics, you can start here.

The next big news item is that, effective immediately, The Draconia Chronicles is moving to a new update schedule. Since the comic’s launch in January 2005, Mondays have meant new pages from The Draconia Chronicles. It started as a bi-weekly endeavor for the duration of Chapter One before going weekly with Chapter Two. Throughout this time, the work schedule was largely manageable for me, as the writing was handled by a friend of mine, and the comic was done in grayscale. For Chapter Three, however, I added the role of writer to my artistic duties, and the series went color, adding a whole new thrust of work. A lot of late nights, sleepless weekend, and sacrificed side projects and social events were the price I paid to get the comic out on time each week, never missing a single update. I love what I do and I love your enthusiastic reactions to my material, but burnout sets in and the related stress can take its toll.

Thus, starting here with Chapter Five, I’m embarking on a little experiment, and that is that I’m no longer tying the comic to any specific day of the week for updates. Rather, like many other webcomics, big and small, I will simply put up pages whenever they’re ready to go up. Some will come out a little sooner, and others might come out a bit later. This will allow me to take on side projects, such as creating additional Draconia Chronicles swag, like wallpapers, Katbox Bazaar sketches, merchandise, and even perhaps bonus pages and story arcs. This will also allow me to once again accept commissions in the near future.

“So, RazorFox, how the heck will we know when our very favorite webcomic–that being The Draconia Chronicles, of course–updates?” you ask.

Well, taking a cue from other webcomics, the answer is social media. If you haven’t already done so, follow my Twitter feed, join the Draconia Chronicles Facebook group, watch my FurAffinity and DeviantArt accounts, or visit the Draconia Chronicles section of the Katbox Community Forums. The Draconia Chronicles also has an RSS feed, for those that are so inclined. I’m also looking to add a Tumblr account down the road.

Or, if you insist on being a luddite, you can just check back here at the site periodically–if not daily–to check to see if there’s an update.

That’s the idea, and I’m sticking to it… for now. We’ll see how it works. If it does, then great! And if it doesn’t, then I’ll make changes. Let’s see what comes of this.

And that’s it for my blathering this week. Another page is on its way, so hang tight! Until then, take care, my fellow Draconiacs, and thanks for reading!

=RazorFox.

Kobra

Hat to admit it but I agree with Cinder Xhianil is just not ready for combat. Though that doesn't mean that I wasn't ready to put five flaming fingers across Kighan's eyes for her interruptions and flagrant brown nosing(Still a little wound up after seeing Black Dynamite. Sorry if that was a little extreme.)!
Still cant help but notice that Briella isn't the only one that might be questioning Red's leadership after seeing the look on those two's faces. Wonder how close Red and Xhianil are since some may see this a special treatment.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  You bring up some interesting observations. The answers, my friend, are waiting in the wings. ^__^
  - Kobra
    
    Was that suppose to be a pun? Dragons, wings…
  - m
    
    I think it's an adaptation of "the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind," but adapted for this specific use.
WizzardRabbit

This storyline seems like it's going to be mindwrenching. I love those kinds of storylines. XD
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Yay! I hope I can deliver on that. I've got some cool stuff lined up in the next few pages that I think you and your fellow Draconiacs will dig. Stay tuned… ~__^
Zoie falcona

I ponder how the new girl will take the news…
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Well, just like Fuegana, Lady Red has a neck. I hope she breaks the news as gently as possible. ^__^
MrAMP

Dang! I imagined that the “aggressive” practice was bad, but I had no idea it would be coma-induced bad. With this in mind, I wonder if Lady Red’s knowledge of Xhianil’s past (based on that one calendar page) will have any effect on her decision despite Cinder’s logical reasons.

Panel three was hilarious with Kighan’s sarcastic tiger remark, but it does bring an interesting question up for discussion. Do all dragons have this view?
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Glad you liked Kighan's little quip. I admit, it even makes ME chuckle. As for how widespread her view is, Kighan may be playing it to a sarcastic comical extreme, but I would suspect that the view that a Tiger is less than a person is quite common among Dragons. The feeling is entirely mutual from the Tigers, though, as I hope to demonstrate in the future.
- Kobra
  
  Xhianil’s past? This is why I don't like the calender past. So much I don't know. and have no way of finding out. And don't start about seeing it in the gallery because the text is so hard to read.
  - Sojourner
    
    There is a wiki, though I think I might be the only one that still knows about it. There used to be a button, but I think that got lost in the mood.
  - Sojourner
    
    forgot the link: http://2wconline.wikia.com
Draven

At least they cauterized the wound right away.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  If you're a Dragon and you've gotta bleed, bleed around your own kind. Any other kind of Dragon would've had a really hard time stopping the bleeding, if at all.
  - Draven
    
    How do you treat a neck wound other than cauterization anyway? It's not like you can apply pressure or tie it off…
  - http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
    
    Yeah, really good point, actually. The only way you could stop the bleeding would be to strangle the individual. o_O
  - Draven
    
    Exactly! This is why I'm a warrior, not a medic.
Hawker

A couple comments…
1) I wish there was a short, text summary of "the story thus far". Even reading it in a single sitting there are too many characters shooting back and forth, and as much as I love the art style, it doesn't lend itself to easy character differentiation the way that others do (Las Lindas, for instance, gets away with nearly everyone being a completely different species!). So some sort of background reference that doesn't require re-reading everything would be very helpful.
2) Dropping the schedule worries me. I'd rather see it move to a slower schedule than no schedule. No schedule tends to turn comics into "MegaTokyo" land, where you get a comic every few weeks and have a plot measured in glacial speeds. Not saying it's inevitable, but I don't know of any comics lacking a schedule that manage to avoid it.
3) "the answer is social media". Hell no, it's not. If you want to know when something updates, the answer is syndication. Social media may be more rich, but if you want to know "there's something new", that's what RSS feeds are for. I know you provide one (thank you!), but you may want to point people there rather than other sources that are either more complex to watch or full or other comments and brouhaha.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Let's see what I can do here…
  
  1. Sorry about the lack of a text summary, but that's what I was intending to do within this comic page. I wanted Cinder to go over the high points of this for the audience's benefit.
  
  2. Thanks for your concern, but I'm not planning to let the updates get too far out of control. I do still maintain internal timetables for page production. All I'm allowing is some wiggle room that I simply had absolutely none of while I was on the weekly schedule. I'm planning to continue to have pages come out several times per month, but just not always necessarily on the same day of the week.
  
  3. Thanks for the reminder of the RSS feed. I admit that I don't personally use RSS for anything, myself, so it's not always top of mind. I'll go back and edit the commentary to include that.
CrazyMerchant

Ouch, Nasty bite there.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Sure ain't a nibble!
Kobra

Surprised that they were able to do anything for her. Usually when the jugular's been damaged that's a fatal wound for the unlucky recipient. Must have lost allot of blood to be comatose.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Fuegana can thank the quick action from her fellow Palace Guards. She gets by with a little help from her friends.
  - Kobra
    
    So I'm guessing it isn't just one person in the group that knows first aid.
http://www.gravatar.com slayer

Wooo normal comic begone guest strip and my little pony(not dissing just saying)
Ouch that is a nasty bite good thing they were quick a open jugular is a lot of blood loss
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  She was surrounded by Dragons who knew what to do, thankfully, and thus her bleeding was stopped in a matter of seconds. Not enough to kill her, but certainly enough to make her pass out. The Palace Guard really deserves that commendation from Lady Red.
Explosion Zuruck

Well… Thats an unfortunate situation, our dragon friend has gotten into…..
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Which one? Xhianil or Fuegana?
  - shadowfire
    
    maybe both >^^<
Explosion Zuruck

And Razor…. I have a confession to make….. I have become……. a brony…. [15 episodes of My Little Pony from season 1 nonstop. Still got ways to go, before I'm ready for season 3] You lucky little shit…. [But hell. I still love you. And yer work] And it all started from the FANFICTION! Plus crossovers of Call of Duty, and Halo… Heh.

*Posted from his 3DS*
[Heres a site name you might like]

mlponline.net [I go there for the chatroom. And hopefully the gameplay]
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  See? Millions of bronies can't all be wrong. Welcome to the herd! *brohoof* ^3^
- Darkguyver2020
  
  *Drags Zuruck behind the shed and shoots a shotgun shell into their poor deranged head*.
  Damn Ponies… =_=
  - Kobra
    
    You killed Zuruck! You bastard!
  - Darkguyver2020
    
    Trust me, it's the only way to save them once they turn into a Brony. it was for his own good.
  - shadowfire
    
    we're not rabid dogs, you know -_-'
zanzellian

it's a good thing you decided to release the update pressure you get from monday~monday updates, razor. but even so, please do take care, it can easily get far more tiresome when you go from schedule to no schedule, if one isnt careful. the mind is an odd thing and lastly,
WELCOME BACK!
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Thanks! I'm really glad to be back in the saddle. While the comic is a lot of hard work for me, being that I'm not the world's fastest artist, I do really, really enjoy telling this story, working with the characters, and getting to explore the comic's universe. Between that, and the great reaction and feedback I get from you and your fellow Draconiacs, I think I'm pretty well set on the motivation front. ^o^
mewr13

owie, right in the jugular >_> if Fuegana gets out of this for the most part unscathed, please give her this -gives RazorFox a my little dracony lunchbox complete with delicious sammich, drink of some kind (don't know exactly, but it's yummy), cookies, and some pony jerky (no it is not leftover pony jerky from a couple christmases ago…)-
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  I'll see what I can do. She never did get to finish her "sammich," after all. ^__^;
Lux

Kinda shows you just how badly some dragons hate the tigers (and vice versa). To attack your own kind so viciously in a training excercise, when you KNOW it's just training and the tiger isn't REALLY a tiger… that takes some deep seeded hatred.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  If Xhianil could get that under control and harness it, she might be perfectly viable. Until then, however…
Uhl

Two words for Xhianil. "Loose Cannon."

One more that might fit,

"Berzerker."

Keep the girl away from combat, or get the hell away yourself. That is all.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Actually, in keeping with their element, Cinder already introduced the term "loose torch." ^__^
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/maverikat/ MaveriKat

Welcome back!

Oh dear… poor, poor Feugana… she never did anything to deserve this ass-kicking induced coma. She just wanted to ear her sandwich!

Think of the sandwich, RazorFox! THINK OF THE SANDWICH!
- jmcallaway
  
  Make her favorite and put it nearby. That should get her out of her coma.
  - http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
    
    I'll see if Xhianil can cook something up. ~__^
  - http://www.furaffinity.net/user/maverikat/ MaveriKat
    
    @RazorFox Nice!
AACMIV/ac2

"They think they have names"
bitch
- hariman
  
  I now have the desire to punch Kighan repeated while berating her for the asinine level of racism she's got going for her.
  
  It's actually creepy and aggravating that the upper echelon dragons seem to share the view that tigers are beasts not people.
  - http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
    
    Yay! Her snarky remark got the perfect reaction from you! ^__^
  - Tiron
    
    It's actually quite realistic… For most people, it's hard to kill someone that you think of as a 'Person'. If you look at history, you'll find quite frequently that during wars, great efforts will be made to dehumanize the 'other side'. During WWII for example, the US government put out just an absurd amount of propaganda with the express purpose of dehumanizing the Japanese in particular.
    
    For another example, you've got the sheer fury the commanders on both sides had about the Christmas truce during WWI as well. They were worried that their men would start to see the other side as being 'just like us' and hesitating to kill them.
    
    You'll also find that most of the major atrocities throughout history have had a period beforehand where the side that committed it was dehumanizing the victims. So much so that it's frequently considered one of the key precursors to Genocide.
m

Aww, the dragons are demeaning and dehumanizing? It's almost like they think they're not in a fictional webcomic!
- m
  
  Yeah, you may spread the flames, but right now it's YOU getting burned.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  You mean… they're NOT in a webcomic? Maybe WE'RE the webcomic, and they're looking in on US! *puts on a better-looking shirt*
  - http://faultylogic.comicgenesis.com/20090131warp.html m
    
    http://faultylogic.comicgenesis.com/d/20090131.html
  - m
    
    I wasn't sure which URL to give you, so I put one in the comment and linked my username to the other. …I'm so indecisive.
  - thetroll
    
    pull it together man
  - m
    
    *sniff* Sorry.
    I think it's more fun to go to the link in the comment and click on the vortex, but if you're lazy just click the username link.
http://hamstap85-studios.webs.com/ hamstap85

Speaking of your endeavors of writing DC, what ever happened to Don? or is his name not to be mentioned and you will send the cyberpolice after me?
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  No, he and his name are still cool. He decided to focus on his blogging career (at sites like Chud [link]) and his acting career in locally-produced independent films. He wanted to take on new challenges. I can only hope my writing turns out as good as his.
astersa

a vampire dragon?
- m
  
  Somebody get Buffy the DRAGON vampire slayer.
  - http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
    
    Will that let me meet Seth Green? I want to do a guest voice on "Robot Chicken."
  - m
    
    No, sorry. Willow already chose Tara over Oz. But you can meet Alyson Hannigan and go on How I Met Your Mother!
http://bradster4000.deviantart.com/ brad bates

P.S. to show some honesty, I think many Dragon and Tiger Characters such Kess and Oscura and many others both got some Serious Hostility, Emotional, Psychological, and Influential ISSUES!!!. That because That's what Hatred and Resentment creates, it does nothing good but Self- Destruction!!. sorry, but this is my Personal view of Wars such as this and because its very True and it happens in Reality.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  And it happens in the Draconiaverse, too. I like to try to make things relatable. Strip away the anthro stuff and the magic, and you'd have something that you could see yourself fitting into. Or, at least, that's the goal.
Deadmen008

Good to see you back man! Looks like I'll have to watch you on DA now.
Hmm, idk, raw angry can have it's advantages.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  You might be right. If the Palace Guard can harness that intensity, she might have a shot as a fighter.
thetroll

i know put Xhianil in the vanguard.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  I don't know if they HAVE a vanguard. ^__^;;
m

EZ's pretty annoying.
- m
  
  But kill him because of that, not because he's a brony.
  Oh, and sorry for the reply fail.
  - http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
    
    All are welcome here. I'm not killing anyone. Now, if he happens to trip and fall back-first onto an axe in the forest, then that's on him. ^__^
zanzellian

huh… i still wonder WHAT acctualy started this war, and this hatred…. can't wait till the day that comes to light! i crave reasoning!
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  One day, I might reveal that. Or not. I'm still deciding, but I might drop a hint or two here and there. Keep your peepers peeled for clues. ~__^
Surun, the Scroll-writer

And here we have another fine example of a loose torch as so elegantly put by Cinder leaves a poor Fuegana in a coma, indeed there is something left unsaid; it will make a very interesting thing to explore. Xhianil must have some reason to react so recklessly and soon we will see.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  And hopefully, you shall. Next page… ^__^
Alex Warlorn

Just when you start to think there MIGHT be hope for the two sides to realize the REASON for their war is long forgotten, you get whammed with a reminder of how hopeless the situation is and can only in the annihilation of one side.
The dragon is SURPRISED the tigers have names, find it entertaining, and "it's almost like they think they're people."
Those words, and being said so casually, more chilling than a dozen hate fill speeches.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  I'm surprised by how much of a reaction Kighan's little quip has gotten. I meant it as a little joke, but people are taking it as a reason to throttle her. I might have to explore this further…
Sara

It's so interesting to see the evolution of the comic ….
Keep it up =)
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Thanks! The evolution is evident, especially when you go all the way back to the early days, but it's purely unintentional. One thing I've always loved is watching how a particular cartoonist's style evolves over time. Names such as Jim Davis and Charles Schulz come to mind. This is why I refuse to redraw or recolor the old pages. I believe each one is a snapshot of what my artistic abilities were at the time. It's my own little legacy. Glad you like it! ^__^
argodeath

Poor Fuegana . hope she come's out ok.

Btw welcome back Razor hope you time off was a good one.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  It was, indeed. Gotta get back to work, though. My ladies need me! ^__^
Ionjam

Give her a samich, that should bring her out of da coma.

Welcome back Razor. I prefer content to artists forcing deadlines. You are an amazing artist and writer. I will take what you can give, when you can give it. The important thing is that you take care of yourself first, and produce comics that meet your standards second. You are on my list and I will check daily to see if you have updated, and reread if you have not. I mind not the delays that are necessary. People forget that most online comic artist/writers don't make their living from their comics and thus must make a living from other ventures. While the world revolves around no one, the Draconian world is yours'. Thus it does revolve around you and the necessities of your life. We have been fortunate that you have made sacrifices to keep up with it to this point. However, artists do not 'have' to suffer for their art, so do what is best for you, and your true fans will be grateful for anything that you can give us on your schedule. I appreciate what you have shared with us, and look forward to what you will continue to produce. Thank you for sharing your talents with us.
- http://draconia.katbox.net RazorFox
  
  Amen! Thank you so much for the kind words! It's my pleasure to produce this comic and to tell its story. I do have a day job, however, and I'm a pathetically slow artist, so between the job and comic, I had literally no free time anymore. The new schedule will give me a bit of breathing room in between pages, and I hope it shows with more refined artwork. I hope it'll be worth the wait. I can't thank you enough for the praise, Ionjam, and I hope to do you proud with this chapter! ^o^
AnaBia99

As previously mentioned, the comic has undergone huge advances! I started reading a few days and had never seen a story like that ^ ^
Good job = D
disqus_9KN92VuBmV

so this what it feel like to be first yea!!!!!!!!!