Holy crap, definitely not good. Alice for the sake of her sanity please don't lead sweet Maeve there, it's bad enough this is gonna traumatize the poor girl for who knows how long. Take her home with you, please just don't leave her there.

Asap Alice talk to your captain, I forget his name, and do something for the other kids there.

And now to compare the colored page to the sketch page. Maeve's expression actually looks 10 times worse in the sketch page then in the colored page and I'm not talking about her expression being drawn badly.

Well Fuck Me! Jesus!
Well I guess this serves as a good reminder, that if you exclude the humorous sketches, the world of twokinds is quite a screwed up place in general. Especially if you're a Keidran.
Then again, you have to remember this literally all started because of what a Keidran did.
I hope Reed goes against duty and says fuck that, she ain't staying here.

Lt. Reed needs to get Maeve out of there ASAP

About what I expected.

Called it

Based on Reed's reaction in the last comic, I knew it would be bad, but I didn't think it would reach this level. Please, PLEASE let Reed take Maeve with her.

OH HELL TO THE NO! NO, NO, AND HELL NO! YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND IF YOU THINK WE'RE LEAVING THE SWEET LEOPARD GIRL IN A FUCKING SHITHOLE LIKE THIS!

I'm surprised no one uploaded the joke page.

What the fuck, lady?!

No fuck, this all started because some guy's wife got killed and instead of just taking a revenge on the guy who killed her he made it everyone's problem and murdered random villages with children

bucklemeario said:
Well Fuck Me! Jesus!
Well I guess this serves as a good reminder, that if you exclude the humorous sketches, the world of twokinds is quite a screwed up place in general. Especially if you're a Keidran.
Then again, you have to remember this literally all started because of what a Keidran did.
I hope Reed goes against duty and says fuck that, she ain't staying here.

Except not really. Old Trace was already a bigoted, mostly awful PoS before Saria died. The only thing that happened is that he no longer had his morality pet to tell him to quit being evil when he was around non-humans (and in fact gave him a reason to be even worse)

Everyone hates on Trace and the templar, but Keidran aren't really much better. Just look at how dog economy is based on their monopoly of fox slaves. Pretty much all enslaved Keidran were sold by other Keidran.

The conditions there are horrifying everyone's malnourished and needing medical attention plus the fact the place is less of an orphanage and more of a place of slavery the obedience collars are a dead giveaway

So best to get out of there before Maeve winds up missing and possibly Reed as well

welp, the snow bean is tramatized

honestly at point i don't see Reed letting Meave being left here, i'm more worried about the other kids that have been here, is anyone gonna help them? or are we just gonna move on?

While I don't think she should be there, where else would she go? At the barracks where Reed probably lives is certainly not ideal, and from the dialogue there's apparently a rather severe lack of welcoming homes open to Keidrans, individuals or groups.

Nonononono get her out of there

I cant tell who is more traumatized. Reed or Meave.

Fucking hell, literal blood splatters? It's even worse than I thought it would be!

banisheddragon said:
Except not really. Old Trace was already a bigoted, mostly awful PoS before Saria died. The only thing that happened is that he no longer had his morality pet to tell him to quit being evil when he was around non-humans (and in fact gave him a reason to be even worse)

Except Trace wasn't like that at all. Several characters who actually knew who Trace was before his wife died, made it very clear that he was simply just a guy content with being able to live his life, and wanting the opportunity to use his talents without them been wasted on simple Templar duties, with an air of indifference to Keidran, but with no hatred toward them. He wasn't evil in the slightest. Before he met Saria, he was simply going about his life, and spending his time with Nora, who was always keeping him company.
In fact the Keidran who harmed his wife, was actually apprehended at first, it's only when his wife and unborn child died due to the actions of the Keidran that Trace went on a revenge rampage, and due to his grief go of the deep end. Before that happened he was pretty much just living his life, and happy with what he had when he married Saria.

Jesus H Fucking Christ! That's fucking dark as fuck!

taranuka said:
Jesus H Fucking Christ! That's fucking dark as fuck!

I think most people forget that this story, despite it's colorful and silly arcs and characters, is very dark overall and that Keidrans are often treated like third class citizens by humans.

don't like it, but does make for a nice gut punch reminder that Twokinds takes place in a world of war, slavery, and intense species bigotry. It is not a good place to live in.

cumcover said:
I cant tell who is more traumatized. Reed or Meave.

I think judging by the look in her eyes, it's Maeve.

abylai said:
No fuck, this all started because some guy's wife got killed and instead of just taking a revenge on the guy who killed her he made it everyone's problem and murdered random villages with children

Sounds accurate. I'd like to refer you to WW1 where one guy died and next thing we know we have trench warfare.

There's no beds left, there's your excuse Alice. Grab Maeve and run.

Not even blaming Edith here, mind you, she seems to be overexerting herself already trying to maintain at least this abysmal state of affairs, assuming the things said about the orphanage and the legal need for collars are true. Things would suck even more if not for her at least keeping them alive, as depressing and cruel as the place may seem. Still, I couldn't leave a child there with a good conscious about it.

Gathering Keidran en masse with control collars... This can only end well.

dark_wind said:
Just look at how dog economy is based on their monopoly of fox slaves. Pretty much all enslaved Keidran were sold by other Keidran.

Dude seriously? Writing this "colonizator logic" right under the page that includes children, enslaved by humans? Wtf is wrong with you?

bucklemeario said:
Except Trace wasn't like that at all. Several characters who actually knew who Trace was before his wife died, made it very clear that he was simply just a guy content with being able live his life, and wanting the opportunity to use his talents without them been wasted on simple Templar duties, with an air of indifference to Keidren, but with no hatred toward them. He wasn't evil in the slightest. Before he met Saria, he was simply to going about his life, and spending his time Nora, who was always keeping him company.
In fact the Keidren who harmed his wife, was actually apprehended at first, it's only when his wife and unborn child died due to the actions of the Keidren that Trace went on a revenge rampage, and due to his grief go of the deep end. Before that happened he was pretty just living his life, and happy with what he had when he married Saria.

One. Fucking. Keidran. He could take revenge on one fucking keidran, but instead of it he turned it out on everyone, including children. It's like Hitler doing Holocaust because one jew killed his wife

imagoober said:
While I don't think she should be there, where else would she go? At the barracks where Reed probably lives is certainly not ideal, and from the dialogue there's apparently a rather severe lack of welcoming homes open to Keidrans, individuals or groups.

Barracks are not ideal, but at least there's no maniacs that want to enslave her

fuzzygears said:
There's no beds left, there's your excuse Alice. Grab Maeve and run.

Not even blaming Edith here, mind you, she seems to be overexerting herself already trying to maintain at least this abysmal state of affairs, assuming the things said about the orphanage and the legal need for collars are true. Things would suck even more if not for her at least keeping them alive, as depressing and cruel as the place may seem. Still, I couldn't leave a child there with a good conscious about it.

No, no we have all rights to blame Edith. What the actual fuck. I don't care about is it legal or about how she feels about them, she putted slave collars on children. That's already evil without any excuse

OH HELL NO!
https://youtu.be/9o19CaOSuD8

dark_wind said:
Everyone hates on Trace and the templar, but Keidran aren't really much better. Just look at how dog economy is based on their monopoly of fox slaves. Pretty much all enslaved Keidran were sold by other Keidran.

I really wanna give my two cents on this comment but I’m not looking to get a warning or ban.

After seeing the color page, that "orphanage" is no different for the Keidrans from a fucking concentration camp.

abylai said:
Barracks are not ideal, but at least there's no maniacs that want to enslave her

Enslave? Probably not. But it's possible that someone thinks it's worth the wrath of the captain to kill her (or not even knowing she's under the captain's protection in the first place) for being somewhere she isn't supposed to be. Keidrans in general are not considered "people" by a lot of humans in the setting, and that's without the whole "war" issue.

Daaaaang, Tom showing he can still write some dark plots. Detainment, malnourishment, the slave collars that suppress your mind. Even the shadow of the Templar insignia on her cloak.

sir-dct said:
I think most people forget that this story, despite it's colorful and silly arcs and characters, is very dark overall and that Keidrans are often treated like third class citizens by humans.

The Keidran aren't even Citizens, most within the Human territories are Slaves or Servants.

abylai said:
One. Fucking. Keidran. He could take revenge on one fucking keidran, but instead of it he turned it out on everyone, including children. It's like Hitler doing Holocaust because one jew killed his wife

Didn't Trace only go full genocide after the first attempt to resurrect his dead wife resulted in severe magical backlash and caused serious brain damage? Plus some implication some malevolent god had some hand in the whole situation, if I remember correctly...

abylai said:
No, no we have all rights to blame Edith. What the actual fuck. I don't care about is it legal or about how she feels about them, she putted slave collars on children. That's already evil without any excuse

And take the risk that she gets replaced by someone who won't even attempt to feed or care for them? Or that they'll just get rounded up and sold off? Edith wants to care for them, and knows that defying the law will almost certainly deprive them of the minimum she can legally provide. Yes, the 'best' she can provide is nowhere near enough, but she's just one woman, a civilian, with no magical or combat training, what do you expect of her?

abylai said:
One. Fucking. Keidran. He could take revenge on one fucking keidran, but instead of it he turned it out on everyone, including children. It's like Hitler doing Holocaust because one jew killed his wife

He could have just did that, but his mind completely shattered and his goal was to protect and revive Saria. What if Saria became a target again? What if that wolf's family seeks revenge and he loses Saria, he already knew and probably never came to terms with the fact he'd never meet his child.

Just look at the lengths he went to to protect Saria in death. Removing / subjugating an entire culture from existence to some people can be a small price to pay for the safety of their loved ones. Do i think he is in the wrong, yes. Do I understand his viewpoint, to a degree yes. Killing that wolf and only that wolf would have solved nothing. He was planning ahead. Peace through death, or peace through subjugation.

zakfett92 said:
OH HELL TO THE NO! NO, NO, AND HELL NO! YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND IF YOU THINK WE'RE LEAVING THE SWEET LEOPARD GIRL IN A FUCKING SHITHOLE LIKE THIS!

REED GET MAEVE AND THE REST OF THOSE KIDS OUT OF THERE NOW!!!!!!!

Reed seems like good enough people that she will likely try to get out of there. SO weither leave with her and the drama of that, or the kid is gonna take off and there will be a lot of searching. Also screwed up for a society at least pretending to not be like that now

My money is still on Reed taking her home with her.

aztekeyesforlife said:
REED GET MAEVE AND THE REST OF THOSE KIDS OUT OF THERE NOW!!!!!!!

Those kids literally have nowhere else to go. It's a literal orphanage dude.

abylai said:
No, no we have all rights to blame Edith. What the actual fuck. I don't care about is it legal or about how she feels about them, she putted slave collars on children. That's already evil without any excuse

It's *literally* the law, and these children have nowhere else to go. It's evil, but you can't put that on her. Eric can get away with it, most other people can't.

I'm reserving judgement but it's clear there's some high tier neglect going on here, that you *can* put on her if she's really the one in charge.

Blood, one kid is missing a solid chunk of his tail, You can see another's rib cage. Something isn't right here. And... judging by the expression on Edith's face, she doesnt want to put Maeve through this. It could be as simple as a lack of resources going around.

... Is it just me, or in the colored page does it look like there's a shadow of a dragon on reed's back?

Grab Maeve and GET THE F****** HELL OUT OF THERE!!!

A holding or slavery collar. Alice take her out of there, NOW!

sekriess said:
It's *literally* the law, and these children have nowhere else to go. It's evil, but you can't put that on her. Eric can get away with it, most other people can't.

I'm reserving judgement but it's clear there's some high tier neglect going on here, that you *can* put on her if she's really the one in charge.

Blood, one kid is missing a solid chunk of his tail, You can see another's rib cage. Something isn't right here. And... judging by the expression on Edith's face, she doesnt want to put Maeve through this. It could be as simple as a lack of resources going around.

I'd also maybe chalk it up to something with the Templars. They seem to generally have a hand around situations like this more or less FWIR.

They also mentioned ferals. So it's possible children are going feral which... if that's the case is quite horrid.

I kinda suspected that Edith was offering her a hospital bed among sick and/or wounded kids, which shocked Reed since she realised how many of these kids were the the only survivors from a big family, some of which will now have to learn to eat with one arm, or balance without a tail

But these conditions are actually much, much worse!
No medical equipment, no assistant(s), no proper beds from what I can see, pretty much just a dark room with too many people in it, and the only thing that prevents in-fighting is the slave collars

Now, for my guesses on future options:

0:Continue as is: I don't think Tom would leave this type of plot open without coming back to it in one way or another

1: Flora, Trace and their fellowship seem to be on their way to Lyn'knoll, leaving Roselyn and the estate behind, while Trace could keep it, or sell it to Eric or another rich person, Trace also has the option of turning it into a temporary (or permanent) orphanage/medical assistance centre as an apology for what he started

2: (unlikely) Speaking of Eric, A very last, very bad option could be to trick him with "keidrans, F/M mix, need medical supplies and assistance to bring them back to health", deliberately NOT telling him that they're just children, then have Kat guilt-trip him into not selling them as slaves, nor use them as models for his (horny) paintings (perhaps financially recover from selling cute paintings? charity auction of young victims of war?)