Errant Story

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Errant Story is the latest webcomic by writer and artist Michael Poe. Notable for the complexity of its characters, its complicated and often unexpected story-lines and continually improving art style, Errant Story has been running for several years and thirty one chapters. Errant Story is best classified as fantasy. Two books have been published to date, chapters 1-4 under "Volume One" (ISBN 1-932775-07-2), and chapters 5-10 under "Volume Two" (ISBN 0-9770696-0-5).

World

Set in a world somewhat similar to Earth, albeit in a fantastical setting. Having been devastated by the errant war of ages past, most of the world is recovering from a dark age of sorts. Thriving human cities have been erected on elven ruins and both technology and magic are rediscovered and reinvented.

Races

Dwarves: Extinct. Dwarves were strong, frighteningly intelligent, and immortal (unless killed by injury or mishap); but they could not procreate, so when the gods stopped creating them, they eventually died out. Despite a complete and utter lack of magic, they were still a power to be reckoned with. They have not appeared in the comic as of yet, though the ruins of their cities impress humans and elves alike. Farrelian theocrats claim that these are the ruins of ancient human civilizations that predate and surpass that of the elves.

Elves: The elves are immortal in that they do not die of old age, but can be killed. They are skilled in magic. Following the Errant war, they sealed themselves away in their sole remaining city for centuries. There are four races of Elves: the Rinkai Erufu, the Keiren, the Sanguen, and the Cimerii.

Humans: Humans are mortal. When the elves first found them, the humans were primitive and barbaric. The Elves taught the humans much, but this was not totally out of benevolence. Many human settlements, particularly Tsuiraku, still show strong holdovers from elven culture.

Half-elves: The offspring of a human and an elf or of two half-elves. Though mortal, they live much longer than humans and mature more slowly. Common among half-elves is an immunity to transformative magic; while it can protect them from some magical attacks, it also prevents them from benefiting from healing magic. At some time in the past, it was discovered that half-elves can have a high rate of birth defects, including psychological problems that may not manifest themselves until adulthood. Half-elves with these defects and problems are called "Errants," though the word is sometimes used pejoratively to refer to all half-elves.

Trolls: GeneRally perceived as ugly and bloodthirsty brutes by both humans and elves. It has since been revealed by the author (outside of the webcomic itself) that they are not the monsters that they appear to be.

Paedogogusi: The five teacher-nurturers of the Elven civilization, long since vanished. Recently, two have appeared in the comic (Nookie and Kawaii), but are for the most part a complete and utter disappointment to the characters who had heard of them.

Characters

Meji Hinadori: A half-elf with a short temper. Her father was an elven ambassador who doesn't even know she exists. She has done poorly in school due to lack of interest rather than lack of talent. Her grandfather has threatened to disown her if she fails to graduate, which is a likely outcome. She has therefore decided to "become an insane, all powerful demigod and enslave all reality" for her senior project. She has a talking, flying cat as a familiar which she tends to blast at regular intervals (its survival and sardonic wit are its most impressive traits). Her magical specialty is blowing things up. She has inherited the trait for resistance to magic, although it seems less severe than most. She is without a doubt the most seriously unbalanced character, not because she is an Errant, but because of her upbringing and being the only half elf in her nation of origin.

Ellis: The aforementioned winged cat. He is Meji Hinadori's familiar, and only constant companion, despite his frequent sarcastic remarks. It is unknown whether his familiar status grants him any abilities or skills at all, but he does seem to be fairly indestructible, often being on the receiving end of Meji's wrath, and even being used as a bludgeoning weapon at one point in time. He can regrow after being blown up or torn apart, but he claims that this ability does not make him usable as a never-ending food source. 1 Wings or no wings, he seems to have the libido of your garden-variety tomcat.

Ian Samael: A half-elf, he's calmer than Meji but still formidable in a magical fight. He is very close to his sister, also a half-elf, who suffers from a congenital heart problem and the trait for resistance to magical healing, making it untreatable. He met Meji when they both tried to steal the same banned book on elven history (Meji for her senior project, he for information on elven origin seeking the cause of the resistance trait). He has the magical resistance trait. Disappeared after the events in Saus, and has been a popular target for blame ever since. He has recently reappeared, possessing the demi-god powers Meji sought, given to him by the elven goddess Anilis.

Jon Amraphel: A human and a member of the Gewehr Wraiths, a guild of mercenaries. He has a kind nature but prefers to hide it since it doesn't fit his reputation as a hired killer. His skills with handguns are such that he can shoot a tiny fairy-like being in the head at 40 feet when it is hovering inches from Meji's chest, and he is also ProFicient in hand-to-hand combat. Has a younger sister, Sara, who was put up for adoption when their mother died (their father was killed by assassins some years previously). His guilt over this may explain why he is helping Meji.

Sara Amraphel: The younger sister of Jon, she was brought up by the Ensigerum, an order of time monks, after he left her in an orphanage. The Ensigerum sent her to kill Jon, knowing he was her brother, as a test of her loyalty to the order. She was captured when the attempt failed and is now traveling with Jon and Sarine.

Sarine Elle: An almost 3000 year old elven ranger, paid to hunt errants. She should be hunting Meji and Ian but is instead willing to help, possibly to learn why the elves banned a particular book on elven history that was written while they were in self-imposed isolation. She also has unresolved 2000 year old emotional issues concerning her apparently stillborn half-elf daughter, and her presumably dead human husband. At some point in her past, she was one of the Viradior, the elven "special forces" cadre. She is a powerful mage who can control people, cause small localised earthquakes and heal. She slept with Jon, then wiped his memory of that night. Carries two swords and wears a human-made set of metal and leather armour.

Plot

The plot involves several groups who often intersect and overlap, but are often explored in separate chapters. Meji Hinadori originally set out with the goal of finding immense magical power so she could pass her final project and graduate, the only way she can, using a loophole that if she can defeat the entire faculty, she would automatically graduate. Graduating would also keep her from being disowned by her wealthy maternal grandfather. Ian wants to find similar immense power so he can heal his half-elf sister who as an errant is immune to all normal forms of healing magic. Sarine is an Elvish ranger, whose job is to exterminate any remaining Errants she can. (Whether every half elf is an Errant is one of the key questions in the plot.) She is also motivated by curiosity and a certain distrust of her superiors to investigate as well as a need to escape the elvish city. Jon questions his own motive for joining but finds the search interesting.

Meanwhile, an order of time-monks, the Ensingerum, are currently trying to destroy the Gewehr Wraiths to which Jon belongs. The Veracian church is allied with the time monks.

In recent chapters, Ian has come to be possessed by what appears to be a powerful entity of some kind, assumed to be an Elvish god. He's used his powers to kidnap Meji and fly to his hometown. When he found out both his sister and mother have died in his absence, he instead heals half the town before trying to resurrect his dead sister, which didn't work.

Now the story focuses on the repercussions of Jon and Sarine's fight with the time-monks. The time-monks, having found out only a partial story about what happened thanks to an onlooker are now convinced that some combination of the Elves, Wraiths and Veracian Church members is trying to wipe them out.