Ah yes, the great logic of the destitute. You have nothing but you can still make babies. Dont worries, famine, diseases, violence, accident, war and the random monsters will keep the number down if you are lucky.
Colleen mom look realy pretty and her dad is a bear.
It's different in our time than it would be in a medieval time. Nowadays children are optional. Back then, children were a necessity to survive.
They were the ones who helped you with all the back-breaking work you needed to do to make enough to live, they were the ones that inherited your household, and there was no pension or retirement plans, so they were the ones who took care of you when you were too old to take care of yourself.
That's right. And additionally, before access to modern medicine, having a good number of children was sadly the only way to ensure any of them lived to adulthood.
Ain't that just the truth, and in spades. I didn't grow up poor, it never even occurred to me that we might be, but many years later, after all us kids were grown up, my mom said that there were times when she was down to the last fifty cents in the checkbook. I believe it's a sign of good parenting when you have the strength of will/character to give your kids a good life, regardless of the circumstances, and to put financial troubles in a perspective they can understand or appreciate. Instead of telling them they can't have that toy they want because your poor or don't have enough money, tell them they need to save up their money if they want it. Worked for me and my sisters, not getting everything that caught our eye, and it was a good lesson in managing our money wisely. We may not have had the "benefit" of being poor (there's a certain wisdom in that statement - being poor teaches you what's really important), but we did learn some valuable life skills early on.
It's great seeing Colleen's family and getting her inner monologue on her early life. You can tell why she loves her family (even her brothers) and why they love her. She's a great kid. :)
Yeah, medieval peasants didn't have to worry about silly stuff like education for their kids. As soon as those piglets were good to carry their weight, they were put to work.
It’s only in the past few generations in the First World that children have been viewed as somehow unnecessary or a curse, and even then the attitude is far from universal. . My father was one of six and my mother one of seven and nobody thought of them as throwaways.
Oh hey, I remember that thought. You dont really understand what poor is, when everyone in your town has it the same way, and anyone with a better start than you must be rich. And then you grow up and realize, they were poor, just not as poor.
Poverty would explain why she went to adventure in the Marblegate. If she returned home with a large amount of money it could greatly improve her family's situation.
Not really a spoiler, Colleen was trained to fight by an order of warrior nuns. That's all I'm saying. It's probably something I would include in a character description if I were to make one.
She had to have been trained to fight by someone, after all :]
Nitpick: newborns generally aren't capable of grabbing things in sight -- they don't have conscious control of their limbs yet, esp. the fingers -- though they do have the grasping reflex: they will grasp if you touch their palm. But their grasp generally doesn't become strong enough to hurt until months later (the "pincer grip" develops around 8-12 months old). So Colleen must have brushed her braids against the palm of her little brother for him to grasp it like that, and must have been really sensitive to feel pain at the gentle tug. :D
(OK, now you learned probably more about parenting than you intended to here. :D)
either that or in the frame they're a lot older than the previous one...that hand looks far too large and stretched up far too much for a newborn...and they don't have to be a year old to be able to grab hard enough for it to hurt, both of mine were fully capable of bringing tears to your eyes at six months (or less)...fully...capable...I still have the scar
Yeah it's entirely possible the next panel was several months later, though the brown swaddling wrap in the background seems to imply it's right after the previous panel.
And yes, once they acquire that pincer grip, it's ... hard to imagine how much pain can be inflicted with such tiny fingers!
You know, when I looked at the previous page I was thinking how well off they were. Timber-framed, stone built houses with chimneys (rather than a black house), well-fed, well-clothed, solid wooden furniture, good pasture and arable (in modern efficient fields, not inefficient ridge-and-furrow), fat sheep, even their own mill (although I bet the miller rips them off). Colleen's Dad even has spectacles! I guess its all relative and I shouldn't make the mistake of assuming a fantasy world follows historical reality.
There’s poor and there’s poor. Colleen would probably go white with shock if you showed her Irish sod-hut peasants or Germany during the shank end of the 30 Years War, but no peasant that works his own land can really be described as well-off. Her clothes may be patched, but village looks peaceful (no walls) and safe, nobody looks like they’re missing many meals, and old and injured members of the community are still around.
It's not clear yet how rare it is for someone to be able to cast clerical magic, but I'm guessing pretty rare. I wonder if Colleen is the "sports star" of her village... followed not just by her parents but by everyone with hometown pride that their tiny town produced a genuine adventuring cleric.
P.S. I figured the green blob was an undetailed caterpillar or cocoon or something.
given the choice, I'll skip the poor part...been there, done it, didn't like it...prefer 'able to go to a movie if I want to' undestitute status..I can afford internet, all's good"
Oh, wee Colleen is so adorable! I understand her feelings about poverty, though—if your parents can provide, and manage your expectations, you can still have a happy childhood. I look forward to seeing more of the incidents that made her the Ginger Firecracker that we’ve all come to know and love.
Colleen mom look realy pretty and her dad is a bear.
They were the ones who helped you with all the back-breaking work you needed to do to make enough to live, they were the ones that inherited your household, and there was no pension or retirement plans, so they were the ones who took care of you when you were too old to take care of yourself.
even a lowish level druid in the village would be enough to remove any chance of famine, diseases, birth problems etc.
It's great seeing Colleen's family and getting her inner monologue on her early life. You can tell why she loves her family (even her brothers) and why they love her. She's a great kid. :)
He came from a farm.
This is an adorable page.
Thanks!
She had to have been trained to fight by someone, after all :]
(OK, now you learned probably more about parenting than you intended to here. :D)
And yes, once they acquire that pincer grip, it's ... hard to imagine how much pain can be inflicted with such tiny fingers!
(those glasses are handed down from his family, not bought specifically for him, I like to imagine)
And, those "Battle Nuns" look seriously bad-ass.
P.S. I figured the green blob was an undetailed caterpillar or cocoon or something.
Nope, the green blob is a little mini gelatinous ooze mentioned here: http://marblegate.thecomicseries.com/comics/123/
...hmmm...perhaps bad karma...? ;-)