Rune

The “Lesser Challenge” is how a noble in Valheigh claims the throne when there isn’t a clear line of succession. The “Greater Challenge” is when a noble tries to take the throne from the current king. The consequences for failure in that case are high, which is why the Greater Challenge is rarely invoked.

There are seven noble Houses in Valheigh, and all except House Dawson have held the throne at some point in Valheigh’s history.

Rune drops a hint that there is some kind of family relationship between Justin and Lord Redley, and that it’s currently not in a good state. I wanted him to start to say “father” and stop mid-word, but I couldn’t find a way to make the lettering “read well” for that. The back story for what exactly Justin did to get disowned is in The Hidden Academy of Tangene.

Rune casually notices something in his environment and ponders it. This is a key attribute of his character; he does this all the time. Justin doesn’t ponder deeply; for him, things are the way they are. The moon and sun discussion sets up for a scene with Zara much later in the book. It was helpful having the whole story written before starting the comic so that I could do “long stitches” like this.