Soup the Comic Strip by Alun Clewe
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Comic strip for October 15 2023.
PANEL ONE: Followed by his daughter, a lord faces someone offpanel. LORD: Jarum! How goes your research on the Amulet of Ygraine? PANEL TWO: We see Jarum, the bearded man he was facing. Jarum is hiding a paddleball paddle behind his back. JARUM: Very well, milord. PANEL THREE: Close on Jarum. JARUM: As you know, the Amulet of Ygraine allows potent control of natural phenomena. PANEL FOUR: Even closer on Jarum's mouth. JARUM: Its powers are many and varied, especially since it has a powerful elemental spirit trapped within it. PANEL FOUR: As Jarum continues to talk, the lord surreptitiously does something with a nearby potted plant. JARUM: I have learned that many of its powers may be unlocked by putting a daub of mud on the amulet, holding it near a flame, and chanting the words "Bhuvas Bhur Apas Anala", but I— PANEL FIVE: The lord holds up the amulet over a flaming torch, while Jarum looks on aghast. LORD: _Bhuvas Bhur Apas Anala!_ PANEL SIX: The lord and Jarum both look on agape as the amulet glows. PANEL SEVEN: An elemental being flies out of the amulet. ELEMENTAL: Ah ha ha ha ha ha! PANEL EIGHT: The elemental grows, breaking through the stone ceiling of the room. ELEMENTAL: Freedom! After so many years! Freedom! PANEL NINE: The elemental still larger, flies away from the castle. PANEL TEN: Jarum faces the lord and his daughter. JARUM: ...But I fear that if this is done without the proper precautions, the malevolent spirit trapped in the amulet may be released. LORD: I really ought to let you finish your sentences. JARUM: Yes. Yes you should.
October 15 2023

So I said back in the commentary for the September 2 strip that there was one more character showing up in mid-October who has her own font? That would be the elemental in this strip. I didn't redo the font this time (yet), though, because it's actually more legible than I remembered, and because when and if I find the original Illustrator files for the October strips, I'll have to redo them anyway, so I may as well wait until then.

This strip had its origin in a question in the original comic forum. Someone asked what the powers the Amulet of Ygraine had. Honestly, that's not something I'd given any thought to; the Amulet of Ygraine was kind of a MacGuffin for the champion's mission in the first few weeks, but I hadn't planned for it to come up again. But there was a character I'd intended to introduce at some point anyway, and it occurred to me that this could be a way I could do it.

Jarum had, of course, been mentioned by name in several previous strips, but I don't think before writing this strip I'd really decided (or planned to decide) on who he actually was, or what he looked like. I'm not 100% sure of that, though; it was more than twenty years ago, after all.