Is Harkovast too nice?, This is me thinking out loud...

[Renard]

Damn, now I'm almost tempted to rewrite the entire backstory of Harkovast that Hark gave us, make it mean and brutal, and have half of the characters written as (objectively) evil twats.

[Frostwolf18]

so.....you want to make it dark....like batman

good god i could state how that would be a bad idea

basically i am going to say this, when one thing becomes good, it is good, whenever everyone copies it, it loses it's flare

alot of people say that about harkovast but in all honesty i have to say
"What other fantasy comics are out there that follow the same formula, if you ask me, the generic fantasy formula is used the least because whenever someone uses it they automatically become shunned for lack of creativity, maybe i want to go see anthropomorphic animals in a fantasy setting, what do you say to that"

[StyxD]

Heh, I considered making a parody by replacing speech text on Harkovast pages with characters having "appropriate for their times" personalities, but this joke could only get so far without modifying the actual story.

Plus, I still haven't figured out a reasonable way in which the Eldex keep their allies helots in line.

[Renard]

A bit like the way the Spartans did, but with more flare?

Every year the Eldex spend the week of [INSERT RITUAL] stalking Ano-Chee at night and killing them in the wilderness, sneaking into villages to cut the throats of first-born sons, beheading unruly chiefs and shamans as they sleep, kidnapping wayward souls and carrying them off to be ritually bled and sacrificed to the spirits.

That's bit better than randomly snapping necks and kicking people in the guts, it creates a sense of fear and awe.

[Harkovast]

StykD have 100 harko points for being generally amusing and awesome.

[StyxD]

Yes, something like the Spartans, though I'd rather have it with more ultima than flare (get the reference? get it? :P).

But I thought it would be demeaning for a wizard to hide in bushes like some barbarian (besides, Spartans were warriors besetting farmers, here we'd have wizards besetting forest-dwellers in their native environment - less sweet deal). Some magic should do the work.

Maybe like this:
Every year, the Eldex announce the High Energy Magic Experimentation (NeedsABetterName) event. The whole Ano-Chee territory becomes their training ground and the wizards are not responsible for the safety of anyone that remains in the designated area despite the clear warning.

For the next week spontaneous combustions, demon outbreaks, mysterious diseases, meteor rains and the like, plague the Ano-Chee tribes. The more powerful shamans are especially in danger of turning to stone, exploding in millions of pieces or being dragged to outer dimensions.