There probably is going to be a final boss, but I'm not sure if it will be the Dungarde or not. Like it's been pointed out, we already have one Dungarde as a CS challenger. And we already fought an evil version of Jaxon during the last plot, so I think we can rule something like that out as well.

I have a feeling this plot may end up being about more than just trying to free Jaxon. The crystals in the forest and crypt being similar to the ones in the Sacred Lands and Omen Islands makes it seem like this will be something bigger that we don't completely understand yet. Or at least this plot could be another stepping stone into a larger story that we'll get eventually, connecting all the dots.

Not going to happen, but had a shower thought.

What if Ian's injury works like a zombie bite and something happens to him. Instead of a Twisted Jaxon, we get a Twisted Ian as a final boss.

I'm thinking Skedhu will end up meaning something entirely different then what we thought it did. Whatever it is may end up being the challenger.

Greg, I'm also thinking Ian's cut is significant. It wouldn't have been mentioned so prominently in different instances if it wasn't....

I was thinking the same thing. It's making me both scared and excited. I just hope it ends well...

he has "a line of stitches and some bruising"... i dunno if the gut wound is really that deep (heh). it's only been two days, the guy might just be super sore and need a lot of rest. i had a lumpectomy that was basically the same thing (like, a small but relatively deep cut with some stitches), and i was next to useless for the next week. if ian needs to stay on the couch with snowflaik and have some nice pumpkin soup or whatever, then them's the breaks ;p

vvvvery curious to know what skedhu is supposed to mean in context, though. also not looking forward to hearing about what happened to jaxon, since apparently his father was pretty garbo.

[sup]really feeling like jaxon died in the forest because his old man used him as a sacrifice for something and i don't liiiike it[/sup]

From the Subetapedia:

What do you think, folks?

Speculation:

I'm just thinking, if Jaxon was sacrificed for some purpose, then his family must have been pretty desperate. He said he was the only one of his generation to survive to adulthood, so his family members should have known that the Skelly name would die out with him. Considering how much of the dialogue was about the families fighting for power among each other as well, it seems that a sacrifice like that would be something of a last resort, being willing to risk having their family name not exist anymore.

Of course, there's also the possibility that he was killed because they felt like he betrayed them or something. Jaxon says he most likely would have done as he was asked, but we don't know for sure if that actually happened because he doesn't remember. What if he was brave in his final moments and defied his father's orders, and that played a part in his death?

Very interested in seeing what happens next and learning more about the past. Also curious about what that word means in context, because the Dungarde definitely made it sound important for something.

I thought I recognized the word 'skedhu' when the Dungarde and Jaxon mentioned it, so I went trolling through SubetaPedia.

Someone brought up Quentin and the fact that we don't know their last name. I would like to point out that SubetaPedia names Elwood as a notable Tehb and we don't know his last name either...

I'm curious as to what exactly it was that triggered Connor's interest in reconnecting with his culture.

We know from the previous plot that Elwood and Jaxon are distant cousins. I'm guessing his name isn't Skelly since Jaxon was the last to officially have that name, but he would likely be part of one of the other 3 houses. Jaxon did say they all kind of inter-married, so they were basically all related anyway even if the names were different.

And that is an interesting find regarding "skedhu" so thanks for that!

[edit]Also never mind about Quentin, they are Ji-Meneb from Darkside, not Tehb. Although Subetapedia says the Tehb are an off-shoot of the Ji-Meneb, so I guess they were somewhat related at one point but not really anymore since it's been so long.

I would also like to know just how far back in time are we talking about here? I'm guessing at least a couple hundred years or so maybe, but I'm not sure. We don't have any specific dates to go off of.

Thinking the same thing about Jaxon's backstory. This little tidbit today implied some awful things about Jaxon's life and death.

On the upside, I find Jaxon immensely more sympathetic than I used to.

His coldness definitely makes a lot more sense, growing up trying to fit in with people like that. He's actually a kind person once you get to know him, but he definitely didn't have the best role models for sure.

This is all so INTERESTING I love lore so much, bring it on.

Also from the Subetapedia, Quentin can't stand Elwood. We don't know why, do we?

(Quentin doesn't like Elwood) + (Elwood + Jaxon are distant cousins) + four fighting families = what?

It could just be because Elwood is annoying. :P

The Subetapeida mentions Quentin being Ji-Meneb and not Tehb, so I don't think they're related to any of the other characters being mentioned as Tehb people from Shadowglen.

his father might've been hedging his bets a little -- i was thinking either his father was planning on having more children and jaxon was a liability (because he wasn't useful for increasing their social standing), or jaxon was never supposed to be in danger because he's full-blooded tehb and whatever-it-was would be a problem for just the humans :?

yeah, i really feel for the guy :c i hope this ends well.

Yeah, that's a good thought too. Maybe something went wrong with whatever he was supposed to be doing. I'm loving all of the new lore we're getting though ~

Oh right, I had forgotten that! Jaxon is his 'second cousin 4th removed.' Which is... something. A second cousin is 'a child of one's parent's first cousin' and I think '4th removed' means there's a difference of 4 generations between them? Ugh. Family trees are complicated. I bet he is from one of the Big Four, though. Especially since Jaxon mentioned they were very inbred insular.

Quentin on the other hand... Who knows. They truly are mysterious.

Speaking of Fort Shadowglen, the SubetaPedia article on Morostide might be of interest as well!

Hmm, interesting. The Morostide page mentions that "for close to 100 years, the peoples grew closely together", so I guess Jaxon must be at least a bit older than that. I'm wondering if he died before or after the fort was built. I'm guessing before, since it seems like during his life the natives and the humans were still hostile towards each other. Maybe there was something else referred to as "skedhu" that existed in the area where the fort was built, and that's what they derived the name from later on.

We are really getting a lot of new information all at once.

all this lore is like the best thing ever. now i just want jaxon to get his own 'pedia entry, and i'll be set 8) (at least, i... don't think he has one? i don't see one, anyway)

--

a slight tangent -- anyone else want a family tree? we've got six skellys, now, but i'm not sure how everyone's related.

grandma thomasin - married into the rainsong fam for $$$ ambrose - created the dungarde, older brother to ambrose godfrey - built the tomb, younger brother to ambrose frideswithe - gave us the pumpkin patch. best skelly ever justinian - rude old man, father of jaxon jaxon - son of justinian, a good cat dad to snowflaik

i want to assume it goes

thomasin

ambrose, godfrey

frideswithe, justinian*

jaxon

but that's all speculation p;

• given the info we have now, justinian totally seems like the kind of guy who'd murder his sister for being a hippie who was handing out free pumpkins and paying people fair wages