Alright, Folks, I've been getting a lot of comments on the latest pages of "Bare Necessities" suggesting that as soon as Jervil's Witchwax and Runemotes went after her, Callista would be tearing into the Rat-man with hell-born fury. People think she'd be reaching immediately for that charmed knife on her leg sheath and giving Jervil a "very close shave."

Now hold on just a minute. I know it's been a while (two years, actually), but if you go back to "Fair Harvest" and last year's "Vision Impaired," you'll notice that Callista is not prone to jumping right into violent combat at first opportunity. The first time we meet her is actually on the last page of "Twisted Plot" (shown below), where she arrives at Maladyne's bidding to pick up the already-defeated and helpless Avora. She's got her weapons out, but that's out of caution, not because she's expecting a fight. Currently, my intention is to say that one of those weapons in that picture (the dagger) is, in fact, the charmed knife given to her by Maladyne (who is also pictured in the clouds on that page). SPOILER AHEAD: The dagger allows Callista to bypass the sorceries and guardians of Mitesceru Manor and thereby not fall prey to the monstrosities and spells that took down Avora. END SPOILER.

The next time we see Callista (the first page of "Fair Harvest," shown above), she's spying on the Magistrate through the Inn's window. If she's a trigger-happy, cold-blooded killer, why not stalk the Magistrate through the night and take her down right there? Whether or not she could do it, Callista is cautious. That was not the time nor the place for her to take on one of the bigger players like Drea, even if the Magistrate was without her magical spear and powered armor. No, instead, Callista sneaks in and pulls her blade for a surprise "attack" on someone else--the only time we've ever seen her do such a thing, and it's more-or-less as a joke on her "buddy," big Albert Fiskerne (shown below). Every other time we see Callista in action, she's either prudently spying, sneaking, stealing, watching, or fleeing, and letting others do the dirty business (evidenced by all the skulking pictures below).

Even in "Vision Impaired," Callista slips out through the window when Luther shows up (which is part of their ruse to throw him off the trail), and she lets Annalae and the Cat-shade rough him up instead of going at him herself. In the chapter's end, Callista merely ties up the entranced Madame Zirena, while it is Annalae the Cat Witch who burns the Seeress' wagon to hell.

And now, as to Callista's rather "hands-on" brawl with Deirdre, you'll note that Callista doesn't attack the Fox-girl the first time nor the second. Callista's first order of business upon reaching the Undercellar is to check on the fallen Albert and try to figure out what is going on down there. Then Bear-Deirdre rushes at her and Callista is doing what she can to stay out of the way. This move actually works in her favor, as the Deirdre-Monster slashes the bag of figurines, spilling them out onto the floor and leaving her in Fox-girl form. Callista still doesn't attack her, but reacts defensively--she's thinking that Jervil and his gremlins will be in to deal with the menace. But Deirdre again attacks Callista, tripping the charmed knife out of the blonde woman's hand. The two then end up in somewhat of a clinch, and because of her strength and training, Callista emerges the victor.

So, as I see it--and, while I could be wrong, I think the story supports this--Callista's skills as an assassin are displayed more in careful, stealthy observation, and in patiently looking for weaknesses that can be exploited, rather than in taking an immediate dagger and strangle-hold to anyone who opposes and threatens her. This is especially true regarding someone who has the obvious ability to kill her. She's not a coward, but she knows from experience that once violent means are engaged, neither side will likely abandon them until one emerges the victor and the other lies defeated. (In my view, that kind of character would be more like a "Conan the Barbarian" than an assassin, anyway.) Considering that Callista has worked with Jervil for some time, she has few delusions about how a contest between the two of them would almost certainly end up. More on Jervil's strengths and abilities will show up later, but as Callista has observed him at work, she knows that the Rat-man has long had it in his power to "take her down" if he so desired. He has never acted against her until this point at the end of "Bare Necessities," although he has given her and Annalae plenty of evidence (as shown below) that if he could "take down" the Cat Witch, he would do so very, very quickly. Thus, Callista has viewed herself as somewhat of a cool-headed mediator between the Rat-man and the Cat Witch, which only makes it less plausible in her eyes that either of the two of them would take action against the blonde.

In the end, I think there's plenty of thought and reasoning there to give Callista a moment's pause and careful negotiation before unleashing her attacks against Jervil. Instead, she tries to intimidate and reason with him, reminding him of her relationship/bargain with Maladyne. She pulls on his beard, trying to back up her words with a show of fearlessness and menace. But she knows that in a world of black magic and sorcery, she's a minnow in a pond of very big fish, while Jervil is a large-mouthed bass and Maladyne is a giant pike. Her best bet is to not get in a fight with the larger fish if at all possible. If not, she's going to be extremely fortunate to come out of it on top or even get out of it alive.

I hope that helps explain things a little. I honestly think the accompanying narrative will ultimately add quite a dimension to the story, but I can't really share all those details in my artist's comments. Nor would I want to, actually--the write-ups that are thus far complete ("Rats in the Cellar" and "Twisted Plot") are enjoyable in their own right, and I couldn't do them justice if I tried to write them myself and post them in bits accompanying each image.

With all of that said, however, I don't want anyone thinking that I mind these critical observations or am offended by others sharing their different opinions. Hell, no, I don't mind it at all. In fact, I've had some really cool ideas pop into my head thanks to the critical suggestions many folks here have made, and so I hope you guys will go right on as you have. When I see enough of the same questions/complaints, as has been the case with Callista's reaction to Jervil, I'll post something like this to explain things, but usually it's something I can handle in a few individual comments and responses.

Again, thanks to all for the comments, compliments, praise, questions, suggestions, and humor. That's why I'm here, posting my work on DA, and that's why I'll continue to do so for as long as I can.

Lastly, I'll probably keep this journal entry up until the end of "Bare Necessities" and then somehow append it to the "'Demon's Due' Defined" journal entry. So, I'm more than happy to entertain your thoughts and reactions to it here or on the individual pages if you have any.