The Amber Sword Volume 3 Chapter 29
TL important stuff you should take note:
tl;dr I’m probably going to TL only 6 TAS chapters for October and postpone patreon again. You guys won’t be charged. Details on patreon and danganronpa v3 after chapter.
Environmental concept to be put in my portfolio, also for next patreon. This is unrelated to TAS.
Chapter 29 – Expansion (10)
The Subterrane Dwellers were not unintelligent creatures and stopped their aggressive actions because they detected a change in their leader’s attitude. Even though Tagiv had not ordered them to cease talking, they understood their rash actions might cause them to lose their chieftain. The two angels were also a factor, of course.
The more time Tagiv took to think, the more satisfied Brendel was.
He wanted to shock the Witch Doctor to make sure it was not conceited. The cities Toland and Dragontongue were common areas that led to the surface near Trentheim. Thus he guessed the Subterrane Dwellers came from this two places. While this knowledge came naturally to him, the people in this world would probably view it as a secret.
After breaking down Tagiv’s pride, he continued to threaten it with a harsh tone: “The humans do not welcome you Underworld creatures!”
“I did not wish….. to intervene, in your world.” Tagiv had to temper his tone.
It was not exactly a lie. Even though it once had the ambitious plan to take advantage of the weak humans, it canceled it because of their numbers. Aouine had a population of millions, and this information was beyond its imagination.
The fact that the weak leader named Graudin actually governed hundred of thousands of citizens and still considered as a small lord made Tagiv greatly surprised. In its homeworld, only a mighty leader like a Slavelord which had a powerful military might would be able to hold that many citizens. The Toland and Dragontongue cities were also examples.
“Is that true?” Brendel refused to acknowledge his words: “But it seems like you, great chieftain, are acting differently from your words. The woods that you occupy are lands that the humans have occupied since the Age of Divinity—”
He said it as though it was fact but quickly realized there were issues with his statements. He corrected himself:
“No, I’ll change my wording. These four lumber mills are part of my wealth, and I don’t intend to even lend it to you for one minute, let alone accepting your occupying of them.”
“Your wealth?” Tagiv repeated the words blankly. It had met Graudin a few times, and it did not believe that the youth was the actual owner of Trentheim, Count Randner.
“Yes, they are mine…… for now,” Brendel nodded.
“Then, what exactly, is it you want?” Tagiv’s head moved towards the angel’s sword and Scarlett’s halberd, seeing them through echolocation.
“I’ll give you two choices. One, go back where you come from.”
Tagiv shook its head, the feathers all over his body shaking. A branch tribe which lost a battle would mean certain death for the chieftain…… Unless it was willing to surrender to its sworn rival. It rejected this possibility a long time ago.
“The second choice?” It asked.
“It seems like you and your tribe members have lost a battle in the Underworld if you’re unwilling to go back….. Even if you go back and become successful in the future, you would be working for others. If that is the case, why not switch over to a new point of view? How about this; why not become my citizens? I know your rules, and you pledge loyalty to me, I can promise to let your tribe continue to go about without my interference.”
Tagiv had guessed what the youth was thinking but refused to believe that it would happen. He actually wanted it to become subordinates and sell out its entire tribe to him. Even though the youth truly understood how the Underworld function, getting the Subterrane Dwellers to surrender was remarkably hilarious.
What exactly did he have in him to demand its whole tribe to swear loyalty to him?
Both options were just as bad as each other. Tagiv looked down on humans, but surrendering to a rival tribe was beyond frustrating.
[But it’s possible that this human doesn’t really intend to let us go back. If I say no, these blades might end up cutting me to pieces.]
The Witch Doctor hesitated for a long time, and Brendel continued to wait. Scarlett was silent and her expression was even gloomier compared to the two people in front of her. She was worried. If this damned creature said no, then what would her lord do?
He had no other way to stop the battle at the lumber mill, and the Subterrane Dwellers would continue attacking Amandina and the others. Even if they killed every single one of them, it would be too late to save the others. She exhaled lightly and had sweat on her palms when she realized this fact.
Brendel’s hand had never left his sword’s hilt. Tagiv’s guess was not wrong. If it said no, then it would go through an unthinkable fate.
He was not as worried as Scarlett, because he intended to force or trick Tagiv into accepting a new proposal if it refused. The hundred Wealth in his mind was already set and ready to be used. Tagiv would become a card if it rejected him.
Even though it was a different way of solving things, the tribe would still submit under him. He needed this force as a secretive backup. Regardless of Lord Macsen or Lord Palas, they would not be of any threat to him if he had the Subterrane Dwellers.
(TL: Both are Count Randner’s men in Trentheim possessing an army each.)
The strength of three thousand Iron-ranked fighters would leave Trentheim with a voice in the political arena, and Count Randner would never be able to predict this outcome.
His heart started beating faster. The thorny road extended in front of him had become crystal clear for the first time. It was the first time he felt such a strong ability to change the future ever since he arrived in this world.
After a few more minutes, the chieftain finally lifted its head up shakily. The feathers around its body trembled as though they had made a huge decision and it opened its mouth.
A chilly wind blew across the entire forest, causing the pine trees to rustle loudly, overpowering the words that would change Trentheim and Aouine’s history.
The youth’s expression became softer, and he nodded.
“It’s good that you decided—”
And his second sentence was: “Because you would find that you have gained much more than what you have lost.”
The mercenaries who participated in the lumber mill’s battles did not understand how they won the night.
Days soon passed, and Firburh gradually went back to a certain hushed and stable state like before. A week-long battle was finished in a dramatic single day.
The Subterrane Dwellers had the complete advantage in terms of numbers and geography, yet not only did they retreat, they even gave up their occupied lumber mills and surrendered their territory.
At such a near-miraculous result, the mercenaries had completely changed their view on Brendel. In their hearts, he had become a mysterious figure who could achieve anything. Even though the mercenaries’ commanders had their questions, they ultimately chose to submit to him without any conditions.
Brendel did not immediately rearrange their armies. The first thing he did was to have the Viridien village stay in the lumber mills, and produce timber for Firburh, and hasten the date to repair the walls.
The next thing he did was to enforce the tax exemption and create new ways to revitalize Firburh’s destitute farms. The citizens could not believe what they were seeing. Instead of acquiring taxes, the lord was actually spending money on the lands.
He smirked when he thought that the citizens were probably betting on how long he would stay as the city’s lord. The table he was sitting in was filled with papers containing reports on Graudin’s wealth. Perhaps only the gods would know how much time the former lord spent on Trentheim’s affairs.
He continued to work on the paperwork before him with a smile.
September 25, 2017 @ 5:18 pm
First!
September 25, 2017 @ 5:24 pm
Thanks mate for your hard work and you did well with that image
September 25, 2017 @ 5:43 pm
I am sure we can tide over with six chapters sir.
September 25, 2017 @ 5:53 pm
thank you for all your efforts.
side thought: i had gastric issues recently because i thought it was ‘safe’ to drink bottled prune juice for digestion regularity…that was a BAD idea. I was cramping, bloating, pain because my body could not handle the Sorbitol in it. (Natural is not good if your body can’t tolerate certain foods) I hope you’re not drinking Prune juice…cuz if you are…cut that out!
be safe and be good!
September 25, 2017 @ 6:19 pm
Thanks for the chapter!
September 25, 2017 @ 6:54 pm
Hey, I was looking at your drawing, its quite nice. My question was what is that thing on the I guess right side of the castle/palace?
September 25, 2017 @ 7:11 pm
Thanks!
September 25, 2017 @ 7:23 pm
Yea, you’re better at environmental images. I don’t have any criticism for that image at all.
September 25, 2017 @ 7:25 pm
Thanks for the chapter. Nice artwork by the way. Good luck with Danganronpa. I suck at playing it, but I do love watching it when someone else is playing XD
September 25, 2017 @ 7:26 pm
So, finally, the true war begins against the true enemy: Paper work! XD
Good luck Brendel! This time, no matter your status, skills or experience, there is no easy cheat to win! XD
Thanks for the translation!
September 25, 2017 @ 8:02 pm
still w8ing for my copy of danganronpa 3 to come in grrr. That castle town you drew didn’t look realistic cause of that huge cathedral/castle you drew on teh third step of land with the town built on the second. I would suggest walls there cause that adds to the defense of the castle. Castle are basically forts except nobles live in castles where in a fort would have military personal. Usually there are other facilities near the castle like stables and guard houses and stuff. ya should look at old blueprints of castles.
September 26, 2017 @ 12:03 am
It’s not supposed to be a castle haha… Hmm, maybe I should change the architecture feel to something else.
September 25, 2017 @ 8:05 pm
Yay, another chapter! Thanks!!
Don’t sweat it. We (at least I) can work with 6 chapters!
As for your picture, stunning atmosphere!
Still I do feel that the proportions of the castle are too big in comparison to the other buildings. (The door is almost as high as a 2 story building in front of it. Although a castle door should be big, may be reduce its size to a 1 story building?)
Another thing that bugs me is the hight – depth / lenghth proportion. The castle is reeaaally high, but seems to only be similar a tower not a long castle – thanks to how strong the bouldings and the village curve around it and especially how close the village wall is.
September 25, 2017 @ 11:04 pm
Thanks for the chapters!
And take care of your body. You might have intolerance with something? Milk perhaps?
As for the environment… I actually see a lot of issues especially with the scale and perspective, something which is really difficult to do in these kind of images. The town itself doesn’t look right with too few houses and absence of population. The castle/temple has too little space around itself and lacks necessary elements like defense.
I kinda advice that you get more references. Most issues seems to come up because this is created without a clear idea what a town like this should look like.
September 25, 2017 @ 11:57 pm
Actually it’s a lack of technical skills rather than a lack of references. In my mind I already know a normal town holds a lot things, but I’m not quite sure how to “scale endlessly” at it (probably needs years of focused work). It’s why I dislike environmental concepts, you really need a ridiculous amount of skill, knowledge, and design to make it as an artist in that area.
As for my health, I think it might be ulcers or something because it’s pain, but I have no idea. I’m going to see what the doctor says.
September 26, 2017 @ 12:19 pm
yeap, exactly, I often wonder how other artist manage to create stunningly beautiful yet realistic environmental concept, they must be a wizard!
and you might want to try playing or maybe just walking around in Dark Souls, especially DS III, it got amazing castle and city, or just google them image, although they aren’t that realistic but boy oh boy they do look so awesome and wondrous
September 26, 2017 @ 12:52 am
— Thanks for the chapter~ ^^
September 26, 2017 @ 2:34 am
That town lacks serious defense tho
that mountain on the left is not steep enough to protect it from a Rohirrim charge
September 26, 2017 @ 5:05 am
Well, you don’t actually need to be very detailed with such things. You just need to get the impression. For example this painting:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/glen-beach-cape-town-roelof-rossouw.html
or this one:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/quiet-town-leonid-afremov.html
You just need to paint the closer ones in any detail and the farther ones can be just hints of structures. The viewer’s mind will fill in the details.
As for technical skill, it is in the scale and perspective where things go wrong. Though, many artist deliberately manipulate scale and perspective so this can also be intentional. Especially folksy style art like this:
https://uploads4.wikiart.org/images/grandma-moses/not_detected_251622.jpg!Large.jpg
Hope your stomach pains aren’t serious.
September 26, 2017 @ 6:43 am
Watch Bob Ross finish his paintings in 30 minutes by dabbing his brushes onto the canvas. Those are the kind of technical skills which I’m referring to that I’m lacking in.
I think that scale and perspective comes fairly quickly for technical aspects (because they are only a few sets of rules and you just need to work on it for a while), but the hardest thing is to paint the “impressions”. The digital brush strokes and texture-like feel are still unfamiliar to me, which is why I say I’m lacking.
September 26, 2017 @ 12:35 pm
Dabbing your brushes doesn’t really need much technical skill. However to make those dabs looks the way you want it to is a skill that most would say as artistic skill.
And… Eh? I always thought scale and perspective (and proportion) is something that is really difficult. Yes there are rules as it is deeply studied and had been turn into science, but I always see people making basic scale and perspective errors with their works. Scale for example: most people draw anything they put more attention on (like people, flowers and animals) larger than those they don’t put much attention to, the “background” stuff (like mountains, doors or chairs). With perspective, it is often done inconsistently making things look like they are tilting weirdly or scaled wrong. Also, there is the atmospheric perspective which is often ignored like in your case.
And I think those impressions are the easiest. They are just impressions. Like… Those distant houses looks like a dab of white paint (dabs on white paint)… those flowers just looks like a dot of red (dab on a dot of red paint). When these dabs are paired with detailed painting of houses and flowers in the foreground, the dabs turns into houses and flowers… Like magic.
Well, my suggestion is that you stop yourself from adding too much detail.
September 26, 2017 @ 10:29 am
Nice picture like everyone the building seem bigger than they should from the distance the view is from.
As to you health issues I have heard that Cherry or Cherry concentrate is good for Gout.
September 26, 2017 @ 11:07 am
interesting turn of event π , now he have a new powerful and secret army ahahaha π
thx for the chapter ^^
September 26, 2017 @ 12:24 pm
btw Wolfie, although the castle/city looks rather odd, the mountain and the sky looks gorgeous, I don’t think I could draw anything close to that, I’m pretty confident with my skill on drawing a character, building seems to be much easier because they are a logical structure, while nature seems too random and I cant get my head around it xD
you might want to focus on that more maybe? as it seems to be your strong point, with building and stuff as the complement
September 26, 2017 @ 5:31 pm
One part which you could improve for the composition is the lighting.
At the moment the characters have the same brightness as the background around them. So they have only a color contrast.
If you make them a bit brighter they pop out more and the viewer gets a better focus on them.
Same with the castle. There you could darken the sky to get a better contrast. Also the right side & tower are a bit too bright.
https://ibb.co/mNNweQ
September 30, 2017 @ 4:12 am
The lighting is really strange in that environmental drawing. Where is the sun exactly? The two mens shadows are twords us the viewer but the castle has no shadow? The shadows are really strange and it’s kind of distracting how large the middle structure is without those little details.
December 31, 2017 @ 2:53 am
> came from this two places
these two
> Even though the youth truly understood how the Underworld function
functioned