26 Responses to Chapter 3 | Page 99

  1. M
    Marc E Luzietti says:

    1st!

    They’ve been Roderickized!

    • mvandinter says:

      Does “Roderickized” mean you’ve been blinded by the explosion of color on the page? (Red and Blue too!)

  2. Y
    Yakumo says:

    See now, he is talking like the Chief. If this the crew turning into lizard people, instead of lizard people taking their places, we’re getting an INTERESTING mix of The Time Traveler with Hollow Earth stories.

    Short version. I am intrigued at this turn of events.

    • mvandinter says:

      Yakumo, I wonder if you might be reading a different version of Unearth that exists only in your head 😉

      • Y
        Yakumo says:

        Not at all. My intelligence is simply not as high as others want the characters’ to be because I entertained the possibility that the crew had somehow transformed (devolved if we go with time traveler parallel). It was the squire that got me, but I recall now that the trolls call thenpoachers English, so I guess that would be a natural form of address for poachers who try to impersonate the crew. *shrug* This will be a long month.

      • mvandinter says:

        Sorry about the “long month”. If I win the lottery and become spectacularly wealthy, I promise to crank out Unearth pages at a lightning pace… and wear a tuxedo while doing it!

        • Y
          Yakumo says:

          If that happens, I will still expect a long month. It is expected on such occasion to go on some sort of binge- be it actual drugs, ridiculous shopping sprees, just some long extravagant vacation. In short, some lag from the initial receipt until sitting down with a work of love again is understandable.

  3. J
    JJ says:

    The first thing that I thought of on reading this was Men In Black and the “Edgar Suit” … Godfrey looks appropriately skeptical, though. Or is that just how all British butlers look? Inquiring minds wish to know…

    • mvandinter says:

      I think the Edgar Suit is the best thing in MiB… So it’s possible I subconsciously stole the idea!

    • j
      jsfury says:

      Appropriately skeptical yes, and guns at the ready. Even the cave dwellers have their fry pans ready.

      • J
        JJ says:

        Ahh, but the cave dwellere have seen this before! Philo and Godfrey are at an experiential disadvantage 😉

      • mvandinter says:

        Experiential disadvantage, yes, but Philo is wearing his glasses.

        • J
          JJ says:

          Do his glasses have special features we mere readers are at present unaware of? That opens a whole new realm of possibility!

      • Thorin Schmidt says:

        Although the older one has a restraining hand on the kid’s pan. Maybe even though they seem stupid, the lizard men are still dangerous?

  4. j
    jsfury says:

    Okay, that doesn’t look good. Philo, you and Godfrey and the rest of the gang? RUN!

    • mvandinter says:

      Good advice. I’ll see what I can do.

    • Y
      Yakumo says:

      I don’t know. I think this might be another situation where Philo may surprise Charlie and Alice (if she sees any of it), both in having backbone and in some amazing alacrity in retaking the vessel.

      Because it may be that it’s tipped over and extremely broken, but, by all the philosophers and great men of science, this invention is HIS.

      But I do mean action with alacrity, and I envision surprising moves using the environment that others don’t notice and he is particularly aware- either because of his design or quick observation of the moment. It could even involve hit and dash guerrilla style maneuvering in the vessel. But if none of that has a chance, yeah, I don’t see him trying.

  5. W
    Wyvern says:

    My estimation of Philo’s intelligence will drop sharply if he’s taken in by such a transparent disguise.

    • mvandinter says:

      The intelligence of any one of the characters is limited by the intelligence of the author. So, they’re all in danger of running into that brick wall.

  6. w
    wintermute says:

    Don’t come aboard, Squire! DON’T COME ABOARD!!

  7. H
    HumalaDuck says:

    I’ve had a busy month which left me with enough time to think of a tie of this page to slavery, but not enough time to make it controversial enough to spark a debate. I have failed in the challenge that the author was in no way trying to issue last month.

    In any case, what we’re witnessing here is an example of the type of “white slavery” practice referred to as “crimping,” but we all better know as Shanghaiing. People these days probably envision it being a practice solely of drugging the unwary before they were delivered to a ship, but guile and force were common ways to crimp sailors as well. In England it was probably more likely to come about via sanctioned coercion, known as “pressing,” so in the case of what we’re seeing on the page it’s uncommonly gentle…possibly the French influence at work?

    I’m no expert in the subject, but I’ve never heard of anyone being crimped onto *their own vessel* vessel before, so we’re breaking new ground.

    Another unusual aspect of this is that the thing that really brought about the end of Shanghaiing was the switch from sailing to mechanized ships, which required a far smaller and much more knowledgeable crew to operate. This may be another first, getting crimped onto a mechanical vessel.

    That’s alls I gots, folks!

    • mvandinter says:

      Thanks, HumalaDuck. I can always tell when I’ve learned something by the sensation of my brain hurting 😉

  8. F
    Frank says:

    The CoB looks different. Has he been sleeping enough?

  9. e
    eekee says:

    Reading the comments on this page has left me feeling privileged to have been able to read the prologue for free. Thanks Mr. vanDinter!

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