Subject 2: The Reappearing Shopkeeper
Throughout the comic there is a reappearing someone who seems to follow Trace and Flora along their journey and sometimes interferes with them. This is supposed because of his very distinct appearance. We don't know for sure what he is, or even if it's only one person, or what he's trying to do. I'm putting up comics that deal with him and the effects he has on Trace and Flora.
01/02/2004: His first appearance as a shopkeeper. Later his hair style changes a bit, but his eyes stay the same color.
01/05/2004: Here he gives Trace the necklace that stays with Flora and seems to bond Trace and Flora together. Later she gives him a flower with similar properties. We assume he bound the shopkeeper up and really wants Trace to give Flora the necklace.
01/19/2004: Flora is shocked by the necklace when Trace tries to give it to her; she recognizes what it's used for, which she thinks in later comics. When he does, it
causes some kind of reaction. In the
next comic, via Flora, we learn what the necklace is and what it does. If we can trust her, Trace and Flora are bound, so we know that the mysterious man wanted them to be bound and took steps to make it so.
02/16/2004: In this comic the necklace reacts to Flora's emotions in some way. Betrayal, perhaps, or maybe she feels torn, or maybe it's reacting to hatred towards Trace. It
continues to change, turning red as Flora plans on killing Trace, again presumably reacting to her emotions or actions.
03/10/2004: Okay, this one is up to some debate, but in the background of the the third panel you can see a wanted poster for someone who could resemble the man who gave Trace the necklace. If you read it, he's wanted for "[posing] as a shopkeeper." This happened before the first time we met him, of course, so it seems he's been doing this for a while.
04/21/2004: The second appearance of our mysterious man. Note the cross necklace, the eye and hair color. His thoughts in the last panel suggest that he's not naive to the entire situation, though he plays that part when speaking.
04/28/2004: Here the man brings "refreshments" to Trace and Flora (also note, his bandaged hand changes sides in this comic...I'm not sure if that's significant or a mistake). The milk for Flora has
obvious consequences in the next comic. The man seems to be trying to push them together, because we see what the ale for Trace does when
Keith has some. The next morning, Flora apparently
remembers nothing about the milk.
10/22/2004: Just a filler, but you see him there in the background watching the goings-on.
10/29/2004: This may or may not be our man. He has the same color coat and hair, but the hat is different from his normal design and the hand we can see has normally been bandaged, though it's switched sides before (04/28/2004). Suspicious conversation in the woods with Euchre, who needs his own theory post.
12/10/2004: And here's a similar looking guy, color-wise, though without the necklace. Here he's some kind of dockmaster or captain. He causes them to remain in the city for at least another day, whether purposeful or not, which is when all the business with Ephemural goes down.
01/28/2004: He appears here on the chapter cover, opposite of Euchre, and presumably a key player.
03/23/2005: Here we learn that whatever he is, he's powerful enough to interfere. With what? Not sure exactly, though probably something like the natural order of things. This is the first time we see the hair-over-one-eye design that he appears by in later comics. He
talks with Euchre and persuades him to interfere some more, which ends up helping to save Trace and Flora.
He then informs Ephemural of what he's done with the necklace (
"one of his own design"), so we know for sure he's the same person, and he's a huge part of the reason Trace and Flora escape all this. He's in the background, then, of
two more comics.
05/08/2006: We get a name here (and two bandaged hands) though there's no way to be sure it's really his. And of course, he shows up right as Trace and Flora do in place of someone who has suddenly and mysteriously "fallen....ill." We learn
via Natani that this festival he's instigating hasn't taken place in four years, so we can presume that he has plans with it.
03/07/2007: This is a very significant comic for this character and it is also under debate as to whether it's the same character or not. The eye color and hair style are the same as previous comics and once again, he shows up as an innkeeper right when Trace and Flora arrive. The same hand is bandaged, though the earring seems to be new. If it is the same character, we know that he has the ability to change appearances. (Side note: There has been discussion about whether or not he purposefully puts Keith and Natani in the same room, based off of
this comic, which would broaden his interests from just Trace and Flora to Keith and Natani as well...both of which are inter-species relationships.)
03/23/2007: He's in the first panel of this comic with a meeting of a lot of very significant characters. Euchre shows up here in human form, so the idea of our "innkeeper" being able to shapeshift becomes more plausible.
09/20/2007: In this comic, our man appears in a flashback as told by Lady Nora. Here he is a young human. Both hands are bandaged this time and the hairstyle is the same, though the necklace is missing. He seems to be a sort of "professor" of Templars and it is possible he's had an influence on Trace since he was very young. There could be theories as to whether or not he met Trace here by chance or placed himself there in order to play a role in his life (which would suggest a precognitive ability).
Yeah, it's really long and in-depth, but I was really, really bored. ^_^ Someone should take up a Euchre thread, I saw a lot of stuff with him after reading the comic straight through.
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