Sverd Shelgr is an Inheritance cycle webcomic created by SM Turton in the style of popular D&D comic Order of the Stick. The webcomic focuses on the adventures of a motley group of adventurers and their journey through Alagaësia. Their group's name, "Sverd Shelgr", means "Hallowed Sword" in the Ancient Language.
Sverd Shelgr has celebrated its two-year anniversary since the first comic was created (the website was launched in September, but the comic was created on the 11th of June).
Protagonists[]
From left to right: Geuloth, Volheim, Zhada and Drajl
Geuloth, an elven magician, is often sarcastic and impolite, as well as being relatively sadistic, reveling in the destruction of things. He broke the Elf Queen's scrying orb and was sent to retrieve a new one. He dresses in purple, and sports violet hair. (In the new story arc, it is due to a dragon who turned his hair purple.) His title, the Jurgenhiem, is a reference to this. Along with the hair, the dragon and its Rider made him the subject of a prophecy stating that he would lead an army against the Fallen Ones, which he does. He succeeds in defeating them by unintentionally discovering the leader's true name in the afterlife. "Geuloth" means "dull" in the Ancient Language. This refers to his skepticism, which often makes things seem duller.
Volheim is a dwarven warrior from the North. He is usually the voice of reason in Sverd Shelgr as he is perceptive, level-headed, and agreeable. He tends to be quiet, and when he does speak, it's usually to urge the group to move along. He also has a Sean Connery accent. Volheim was sent by the Dwarf King to retrieve Urunien, a magical staff stolen from the dwarves by an enemy unknown to them (Aruna).
Zhada is an Urgal warrior, who joined up with Sverd Shelgr after its previous third member, Thargen, was thought to be killed by a falling copy of the book Eldest in the same battle where Thargen killed her husband. She originally joined as part of a plan to kill them in revenge, but later decided she liked them more than her fellow Urgals. Unlike most of her kind, she is relatively gentle and good-natured. Compared to her companions, she seems to be dull-witted, thoughtful, and gluttonous. Her romantic name is Lola D'mor. Zhada means either "rebel" or "doom" in the Urgal language.
Drajl is a sarcastic werecat, who has taken to following Sverd Shelgr around, at first working against Sverd Shelgr for Pudaree. He later came back when he had no friends to torment. He first came into contact with them in the lair of two giants, who planned to cook them all and serve them up as dinner for their girlfriends. He has a personality that is remarkably similar to Geuloth's--they both consistently behave skeptically, selfishly, arrogantly, and, to an extent, indifferently toward their companions. The fact that these two are so alike is probably the reason that they are rivals. They constantly bicker, though Drajl, at least, has shown some fondness for Geuloth, along with the others. This may or may not be reciprocated. "Drajl" is an Urgal insult meaning "spawn of maggots".
Thargen is a dwarven priest who was originally part of Sverd Shelgr until he was hit by the Eldest book after killing Zhada's husband, romantic name Pierre L'Stallion, true name Mil-Y'phs-ux. After a long time he managed to get out, saying that "there's a lot of boring chapters in the elven forests". He lost his arm in the prologue. He was hit by a flood when he questioned the faith of the Goddess of Rivers and thought he saw a shark. The shark ended up as a talking fish that gives wishes and also happens to have a sharklike fin. His name means "flesh".
Antagonists[]
Aruna is an evil sorceress. It is implied that she somehow arranged for Ted and Bob to capture Sverd Shelgr. It is revealed that she is the one who stole Urunien and is responsible for the disappearance of most scrying orbs. She could use Urunien to free a spirit from its scrying orb. This appears to place the spirit's power under her control. Geuloth later destroyed all of the scrying orbs and Drajl stole Urunien. She has a collection of zombie servants whom she often kills; apparently most of her wardrobe and furniture is made from them. After her first defeat at the hands of Sverd Shelgr, the castle collapsed and they escaped. Aruna contacted Belard and used a capsule to create another castle, which was soon captured by the Fallen Ones. They were imprisoned in the dungeon, and when this castle began to fall apart, she hoped for the explosion to blow them out. They may or may not have succeeded.
Trazhid is Aruna's familiar. He is a client of the Supernatural Entity Agency, and has been contracted to work for Aruna. He is the fifth known familiar to be in Aruna's service; she killed the previous four for various petty and cruel reasons. He appears to be clever, and not at all attached to his mistress.
Belard is Aruna's great-grandfather, and a Shade. Different spirits gain dominance over him at different times, so he has a wide variety of personalities, which are each signified by a different eye color. He created the scrying orbs and sent them to the heads of the races, plotting to release the spirit inside each and kill them, allowing Belard to take over. This plan was unsuccessful. He got a job at McDonald's, but later left to assist his great-granddaughter.
Menthiv is an environmentalist human wizard who lives in the Pinewood Forest, who captured Sverd Shelgr and attempted to execute them (except for Drajl) for harming the plants and animals of his domain. He had a pet werecat named Whiskers, though she seemed to have her own motives for serving him; she helped Sverd Shelgr escape him, and eventually left for a job with a dental plan, which turned out to be an accountant for the Fallen Ones. Menthiv has since sworn revenge on Sverd Shelgr, and bought a flying wolf mount to use for that task.
Pierre L'Stallion is Zhada's deceased husband, and the leader of the Fallen Ones, a band of spirits inhabiting Urgals. He was furious with Zhada for not avenging him and killing Sverd Shelgr, but he still seems to harbor feelings for her. He took over Aruna's castle and killed Geuloth, but Geuloth unintentionally discovered Pierre's true name, Mil-Y'phs-ux, which destroyed him.
Ted and Bob are two giants who capture Sverd Shelgr early in the series, hoping to cook them for their girlfriends as a romantic dinner. Their girlfriends broke up with them, and the group escaped.
Plot[]
The comics start with the original members of Sverd Shelgr (Geuloth, Volheim and Thargen) doing battle with a group of Urgals. Suddenly, the word "BOOK!" is heard and they stop fighting. Volheim realizes that Eldest must have been published, and because the particular tribe of Urgals they're fighting allied themselves with the Varden and dwarves, Sverd Shelgr and the Urgals can't do battle without violating canon. Thargen refuses to give up the fight and kills an Urgal (who is later revealed to be Zhada's husband). A giant copy of Eldest promptly falls from the sky and crushes him. Zhada asks if she can join Sverd Shelgr as their new third member seeing as the old one is dead, and Volheim agrees.
It is learned that Volheim (with the seemingly late Thargen) and Geuloth are on separate quests, but are traveling together because their destinations are both in the Southeast. Volheim has been sent by the Dwarf King to recover Urunien, a magical staff made by the dwarves that gives the wielder power over all nearby spirits without being bent to their will, and, according to Geuloth, also acts as a bug zapper by shooting small bolts of lightning at any insect that gets too close to it. Volheim is traveling to the Southeastern City because he has a contact there who can tell him the last known location of Urunien.
Geuloth, meanwhile, is on a quest to a swamp in the Southeast to retrieve the only scrying orb still known to exist. He accidentally broke the Elf Queen's own orb when, as a practical joke, he hid 20 pounds of gunpowder in the Queen's fireplace and set fire to it. In the ensuing explosion her scrying orb was broken, and all the animals in a 2-mile radius were killed. It quickly changes as the plot reveals that Geuloth is the Jurgenhiem, an elf who a Rider and his dragon made a prophecy upon, which stated that he would 'lead an army against the Fallen Ones', who later turn out to be a band of spirits who have taken over the bodies of Urgals.
All the scrying orbs are destroyed in the conflict with Aruna. Aruna and Trazhid escape, and so does Sverd Shelgr. Sverd Shelgr returns to the Southeastern city for a night, and Drajl goes to the king, Pudaree, and has the group apprehended. He reveals that he had been a spy for King Pudaree. Sverd Shelgr is taken to the dungeons, but soon Drajl begins to miss tormenting his friends, so he frees them. The protagonists are later joined by two dwarves, Wildeor and Katka, who are old friends of Volheim's. Zhada's deceased husband takes over the body of an Urgal, along with many other spirits, and form the Fallen Ones.
This group is captured by nomads, and before being symbolically roasted over a fire, a group of Fallen Ones attacks. The Archchieftainess is killed in the battle, and Katka, who single-handedly defeated the ambush group, is named the new Archchieftainess. Aruna sets up a new castle, but it is seized by the Fallen Ones, and the previous owners are locked up.
With the help of the nomads, Sverd Shelgr infiltrates the Fallen Ones' castle. Wildeor kills Katka at this time, revealing that he was a spy for the Fallen Ones, but he is shortly killed by a Fallen One that was unaware of this. Sverd Shelgr, meanwhile, finds its way into the bedroom of Pierre, the leader of the Fallen Ones and Zhada's deceased husband, killed by Thargen at the beginning of the comic. He shows up and, after Urunien fails to harm him, throws an axe, which kills Geuloth. In the afterlife, the Grim Reaper informs Geuloth that, due to all of the people he has killed, he will be spared, but will stay until he can find Pierre's essence and defeat him. Geuloth unintentionally discovers Pierre's true name, Mil-Y'phs-ux, which kills him. Geuloth returns to life and Sverd Shelgr escapes the castle before it explodes. Meanwhile, Aruna and Trazhid, who are still captured, await the explosion, hoping to use it to escape. It is unclear if they succeeded or were killed.
Deities[]
There are five known pantheons in Sverd Shelgr, the only canonical one being the Dwarven Pantheon.
Urgal Pantheon[]
The God of Bunnies, Flowers and Miscellaneous Soft Pillows (GBFMSP or Mr. Bunnies by The Goddess of Rivers) is a deity who was kicked out of the Urgal pantheon (which is mostly made up of gods of death, bloodshed and the like), presumably for being too soft and weak, though after training his bunny minions to kill non-believers he has been let back in.He changes his name from GBFMSP to DUMB (Deity of Undines,Mattresses, and Blossoms). Aside from the Urgals, his known worshipers include some of the Southeasterners.After drinking too much Diet Coke,his allergic reaction was a big,swelled up head.As he went to his Southeasterner worshippers, he became a popular Goddess of Radishes. As the swelling went down,an unpopular Death God, Mr. Sombre, took over because he was a red faced Urgal. He has appeared in several comics but has not as of yet interacted with Sverd Shelgr.
The God of War (GOW) is the only other Urgal god to have actually appeared in the comics. He is covered in red tattoos and carries a shield and ax.
A number of Urgal deities have been mentioned aside from these two - the Gods of Death and Bloodshed, the Goddesses of Wrath, Destruction and Pain, the Gremlins of Disorder and the Spirit of Ultimate Chaos.
Southeastern Pantheon[]
Gods worshiped in the "Southeast," i.e. Surda:
The God of Mildly Stormy Weather appears as a dark-skinned man dressed in purple, with a small rain cloud floating just above his head.
The Goddess of Goats is a bronze-colored goat with a collection of tattoos. She is the only known deity with an animal's body. [1]
Familiar Pantheon[]
Gods worshipped by "familiars," spirits like Trazhid conjured by sorcerers:
The God of Turtles is the only known member of the Familiar Pantheon. Unlike the Goddess of Goats, he is not actually physically the animal of his domain - he has a familiar's body, although with green skin and a shell on his back. The Urgal God of War mentioned once that he had some sort of bad experience with a group of travelers; on another occasion Geuloth and Volheim discuss events that happened to them before the comic strip began, and Geuloth mentions that he is "still afraid of turtles," with Volheim hinting there may be a prequel comic one day to explain this connection. Trazhid also mentions the God of Turtles has power over lightning for some reason.
Fowl Pantheon[]
Various unusual bird deities with illogical and pointless powers. There are only four deities in the pantheon - the God of Effervescent Puddles (green duck), the Goddess of Noxious Slippers (red hen), the God of Misplaced Aglets (blue rooster) and the God of Questionable Aspirin (purple goose). The Fowl Pantheon is worshiped by wizards; each wizard is dedicated to one of the four deities, depending on which element he has magical control over.[2]
Renovations[]
As part of the changes made to the comic and website over the new year, the style and storyline of Sverd Shelgr was totally redone. The old comics are still available for viewing on the website, but they are no longer considered canon, and their story arc does not feature in the new storyline. The author has cited numerous reasons for all of the changes.[3]
Deviations from accepted canon[]
An Urgal from Sverd Shelgr
Although Sverd Shelgr usually sticks to the canon of the Inheritance Cycle, it does deviate on several points:
- Early on, the group comes across some giants who plan on eating them, even though the books state that giants have been extinct for many, many years. The giants respond to this by saying that "just because something isn’t exactly canon doesn’t mean we can’t get away with it," to which Geuloth humorously replies, "I’ll say. Look what they did with the movie."
- The concept of a "scrying orb" does not exist in the books like it does in the comics, although the mechanics behind the orb (using a spirit to observe things one has never seen) may be possible within the magic of Inheritance.
- The portrayal of Urgals is also somewhat different in the comic -the books describe Urgals as being man-like in appearance, with gray skin, bowed legs and horns. Although the Sverd Shelgr Urgals also have horns, they are tall and green-skinned. Most of the Urgals featured are bald, the exception being Zhada, who ties her black hair up in pigtails. Zhada is the only female Urgal who has been seen in the comic so far.
- When Sverd Shelgr goes to the "Southeast" (apparently Surda), the culture is similar to traditional India, while no real indication of that is given in the novels.
- Gods are very real in Sverd Shelgr, and are shown interacting with characters all the time, while it is likely that the gods mentioned in Inheritance are not even supposed to really exist. Also, of the gods shown, only the "Goddess of Rivers"/Kílf is at all canonical.
- The familiars in Sverd Shelgr differ from those in Inheritance. In the books, Trianna's familiar appears as a golden snake bracelet that can come to life, whereas in the comic, familiars are short, red-skinned creatures with pointed horns, and only one of them has been seen in a lifeless form; namely, a stone statue. The familiars, spirits and gods in Sverd Shelgr also have their own world that sorcerers can travel to by magic, while this is never mentioned in the books.
- Sverd Shelgr once encounters a green, female dragon, which does not exist in the canonical series. When Volheim points out that creating an unknown dragon for Inheritance would be "horribly redundant," however, she vanishes in a puff of logic.
- When Aruna is standing at the eastern edge of the "Great Desert" (The Hadarac Desert), there are mountains behind her. In the book, there are no mountains here.
Copyright[]
So as not to violate any copyright laws, Sverd Shelgr tends to steer away from properly referencing people and places from the Inheritance cycle. Thus, Queen Islanzadí is recorded in the comic only as the Elf Queen, Hrothgar is the Dwarf King, and Du Weldenvarden as the northern forests. Gûntera was once mentioned in the third comic, but this was later altered so as to read "KODG" ("King of Dwarven Gods"); the goddess Kílf, one of the few canonical characters to appear in the comic, likewise goes unnamed. Referring to Zhada as an Urgal is one of the few direct reference to the canon of the books, although because Sverd Shelgr is a work of parody, it is allowed to make some references to the copyrighted material of the books.