Alwen - Anger

Medium: SketchBook App

The Anger Task for - a short and somewhat cryptic comic page that takes place after a sparring session gone wrong.

Rather than depicting Alwen during his youth, I decided to depict an actual scene from the story he features in itself; at this point in time, Alwen is 29, got promoted to captain, and then got demoted due to running into unforeseen trouble. His superior, general Avadir (the lady with the scar), takes over for a while. During Avadir's period of leadership, Alwen finds himself as part of her personal staff. Alwen, over the course of weeks, grows from frustrated with himself to bored with the menial paperwork to angry with his superior for expecting him to be able to do tasks without explaining them. This comic page depicts the moment he snaps. When Alwen gets the feeling he's losing control, he'll try to get it back in any way he can - and in this case, it's by getting a rise out of the Iron General. 

It is a known fact general Avadir lost her wife in a battle she led. It also is known that you're not supposed to talk about it when she's anywhere in your vicinity. Alwen knows his jab is low. But when Al gets angry, he gets vicious. Too bad Avadir is absolutely ruthless and not above whacking her apprentices over the head.

And that's the story of how general Avadir of Filian Port broke Alwen's jaw. Alwen ended up being out of commission for several days, and if you think he learnt anything from this experience, the answer would be: no. Arguably, it made him worse.

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In short: Alwen gets himself into a Mentorship of Doom. Without his friends to protect or enable him, Alwen works hard to make himself a nuisance at first. Though the apprenticeship makes him act up worse than usual, Avadir eventually helps him manage his vicious side better. Through discipline and her iron example, Alwen learns to redirect his anger into actions he controls better than his tongue.