I would read a series of just these guys

Well you're partly in luck, this is a series with SOME of these guys!

Poor Kalgkur.

Koor Palgkur

Pool Pargkul

Poor prgkl

And it seems the court has ran through its investigation

They already know what's important to them

Poor kalgkur. Its not their fault they have bone scythes for arms and human bodies are so squishy.

If the thief worked out more, he would have been slightly less squishy

Oh boy, what a fun thing

T H E J U D G E M E N T

must be. Finally having caught up to this series, I'm quite eager now to see how

T H E J U D G E M E N T

plays out. Here's hoping

T H E J U D G E M E N T

will be a relatively easy instance of

T H E J U D G E M E N T

and Kally dally won't suffer much under

T H E J U D G E M E N T

y'know?

"Nah, s'just a little kick in the bum."

You understand its essence well

.........



























T H E J U D G E M E N T

dramatic pause

Minos prime, is that you??

It remains to be seen what happens. This all happened so fast

Idk man, feels like its been taking weeks

In the sense of release schedule? Yea I suppose so. I don't really think of it like that tho lol

Yea in sense of release schedule, remember, this comic that has been ongoing for years.. has only taken course over a week or two, month at best

The law is either really fast or really slow

I think I'm picking up what you're putting down

Fascinating turn of development. I wonder how it all turns out.

How do you know it won't turn IN???

LoL

I'd like to imagine a baxxid getting annoyed at someone for not saying 'The Judgement' with adequate capitalization or prefixing it appropriately with a sufficiently ominous 'The'

They totally would

Such rationality and clear-thinking.

I can only hear this when talking about the Judgement.
https://youtube.com/shorts/vWR0Q84u.....qTSdq4kEQ3tAeu

not sure every baxxid cares for humans that much

If some of the Baxxid serve as City Guards and such, wouldn't this same situation have already come up at least several times before?

I get the feeling that they're *usually* trained, but Kalgkur got a special dispensation.

This is my understanding, as well. The other Baxxid guards are specifically trained for the purpose of safely working with and around humans, almost certainly including training to stop Baxxid guards from, well...doing exactly what Kalgkur did on accident. I think he was even told by an overseeing guard that if shit went down, Kalgkur was to either get the real guards involved or wait for help. He's supposed to just be doing community service.

But then the incident occurred, and he made a decision to try to apprehend the thief. Then he screwed up, and now some guy got publicly cut in half. Whoops.

I really like your synopsis of the event

As the famous movie villain said. Dick Jones: Every policeman knows when he joins the force that there are certain inherent risks that come with the territory. Ask any cop, he'll tell ya, "If you can't stand the heat, you better stay out of the kitchen."

This give some new recruit who just zeroed their gun on guard duty of an military base.
He see someone sneaking into the base, it was some other soldier after timeout but it an convenient hole in the fence, guard call him out and soldier run away.
Emptying the magazine is on solution, its not an good one.

It was basically a glorified "take your son to work day," he wasn't supposed to actually have to do anything!!

Oh come on, surely they have a punch card system. "You have three soul snuffings left on your card."

You start to get a little weird after the first two

So the question that remains to be asked is. What is the standard judgement?

It's basically a weird game of dodgeball

Yo this has like, some Bene Gesserit vibes or have I watched Dune pt2 like one too many times (four times in theater so far)?

The Baxxid are much more like a Mentat race. They think with great precision and probably would do a fair job as mathematicians and other such logical-thinking jobs. The Judgement may well turn out to be a logical, impartial analysis of the situation, and logical consequences for it. It will be interesting to see.

Big Worms are all the rage right now!

Gad, the soul vs. the life. That's truly and utterly terrifying. Human law would allow for manslaughter.

That's just mans laughter

Somebody's...

Very interesting. I'm not sure if we've had real backstory on them to this point, but finding out about them like this definitely sheds some light on them. I just hope something positive can come from this.

Well based in the clues here, the outcome seems tied to Kalgkurs reaction to this judgement.

Is it some kind of secret trial known only to the elders and leaders and those who pass through it?

Perhaps his own fate is left in his claws. Where he can choose life or death if he CAN forgive himself for the act.

Or is the Judgement to test for true repentance, and therefore a favorable, less punishing pennance, would be given to him? And if he tried to beg for life, or showed little remorse for the killing they would instead execute him for not being 'Civilized' enough?

I think Kalgur's evaluation by his authorities would be based on how calmly and rationally he receives his judgement. Also how clearly he can explain the situation to his authorities. I do believe they will allow him to speak on his own behalf.

Kalgur seems like the type to be so wracked with shame and guilt that he'll need to be pressed to speak in his own defense.

Punitive guard duty is the crime here and it seems like it'll take an outside perspective to point that out.

I feel bad for the poor guy on this one

I love that to human ears, this entire conversation sounds like a bunch of bagpipes inside one of those shredding machines

Oh not even that, it's basically inaudible microvibrations; you feel it like a buzzing in the eardrums rather than "hear" it!

I absolutely love that the "high and mighty" leadership council are so out of touch that they really don't comprehend the simple concept of "Kal underestimated his strength and speed."

They are so focused on the bigger picture they are totally missing the need to look at normal and simple interactions.

And that's a level of story-telling depth you don't see much in stories like this.

Mad props to you, Valsalia.

Though it is a notable bit of insight that at least one of this council understands that the humans don't take their pact as seriously as they do.

That's a double-edged sword, though. The baxxids see the pact as nothing short of salvation from their base nature, their bridge to culture and civilization. The benefit the humans draw from the pact is of economic and cultural convenience, and that's a lot more fragile. So while the humans will forgive more quickly, their dedication to the pact will never be as all-consuming.

They know what they know that actually matters to them in this situation!

Looks like he-who-knows-what-he-did will get a roommate

"He-Who-Rooms-With-He-Who-Knows-What-He-Did"

"The soul being snuffed out" sounds sinister, but it could be anything from a religious belief, to the soul being the same as his life, to a ritual of some kind. I see the whole thing as less sinister than just alien, and writing believable aliens that the human viewer can empathize with is a hella big challenge to write. Great job, Val!

Veneration of elders is important to them. Perhaps they believe that's part of what sustains the soul, and it's a punishment where you'll never be acknowledged to have existed by any of them?

Most people don't know the soul is a reddish bean-shaped organ next to the pancreas

Considering you're talking about the Baxxid, it would not be surprising in the least if that turned out to be canon. 🤣

We of the council have decided to not decide.

We will let you decide if you want to be snuffed out but you also probably feel way to guilty not to. It's rough when you are taught not to do violence and end up killing someone. Honestly this judgement thing could even be a personal shame/depression thing that he has to get over himself. Maybe he will need to see a therapist? Do they have those? Hm...mutch to think about. Looking forward to more world building.

Here's hoping poor Kalkgur's intent - that he only meant to put a barrier in the thief's way, not to strike - and the fact that he was put on the job with no training in applying his strength so suddenly will actually have some relevance in the face of this "Judgement," because I doubt it's doing much before his own guilty conscience right now...

"When the Baxxid lawyer shouted 'Objection!' and jabbed one arm dramatically, he impaled three more people."

This is the reason they don't allow video recording in courtrooms

Got a feeling kalgkur is due a visit to a certain grumpy uinglet officer who knows a thing or two about killing and suddenly having their life turned upside down.

I feel like uinglet would be pronounced "winglet"

Kalgkur Was Innocent

No, but seriously... How has this literally NEVER happened before? Like.. accidents happen in every single profession, especially swinging around those massive Mortal Kombat spikes everywhere.

It -does- happen!

Which is why there's a process >: D

And yet, Tesshk'Gn was willing to throw away the process in favour of a more expedite punishment. This is worrisome. Maybe their civility is just chitin deep if people of the high council think seriously to push away tradition and the due process of law.

Neat stuff.

I actually kinda hope Kalgkur's lady friend comes to his aid/defense, he was only trying to protect her lively-hood D:

I hope so too, but she did seem incredibly stunned after what happened, and even then I don't think any non-baxxid would even be allowed in, with something like this.

Soon as she gets that bloodsplash cleaned up

it seems that these creatures cannot hide their emotions, so the judgement seems to be what the induvidual thinks of themselves and other's read their emotions

I can taste the tension. TASTE.

Kinda tangy, right?

only if it was an indrel communication scuffle heh

Be truthful, be strong, Kalgkur.

But what if The Judgement is based on how well they can lie!!

Then the baxxid need some law re-evaluating. xD

Well, all of this seems rather ominous.

Always a good sign when something warrants capitalization as The Judgement.

So the big question for The Judgement for Kalgkur is do you feel bad for what happen it seems. Also the real politic of the city relations.

Word about Kalgkur's Crush goes around fast It seems

His crush, and his crushing

Interesting, so the Judgement is not passed by the Elders but the offender instead. I wonder if its a test to figure out if Kalgkur's species buried predator instincts would have awakened as a result of killing, in which case he would need to be put down to avoid more bloodshed.

You never cease to amaze and draw the readers in. Wonderful story telling and artwork!

Thanks! Can't go wrong with BONEWORMS

Soul snuffed out, as opposed to the fate of He-Who-Knows-What-He-Did?

He got a "special" treatment

Kalgkur goes into a room and Judge Dredd is sitting in a chair.

Hello, OOPs peoples! I'm here to remind you yet again that there's a place called "Top Web Comics" https://www.topwebcomics.com/?home=3 that compiles comics from various places. There's a bunch of cool stuff there. They have monthly votes, so you can support OOPs there. You can vote once a day per device, so your PC, laptop, tablet, phone, etc.

I've noticed that you can sometimes even get in extra votes from different IP addresses, or if you're disconnected from your IP and open up again later.
It closed out last month at 956 votes and 82nd place. It's currently at 717 votes and 42nd place. The highest it's reached is 36th place, and the top vote getters seem to end up with something close to 20,000 votes.

Vote early, vote often! Help OOPs get noticed!

TY

Of course!

Oh dang, gettin' high this month!

It's definitely picked up from the last few months.

At least it's back under 50 again. It's currently ranked 41.

Poor boi…

I hope they’re fair with him! This violent act is already super hard on him I’m sure

I am taken by this page!

This shows a insight into a workings of the baxxids and that quote by itself moved me:
"And of the lamentable Truth for however much we dedicate ourselves to the purity of civilty, we will forever wear the flesh of predators."

Mwah, powerquote about the body one inhibits!

Having Giant Knife Hands gets you thinking

And thinking they do good

This went about as well as could be hoped for Kalgkur.
Perhaps with some agreement he can be put under House Ivenmoth supervision and get a snazzy red uniform and be supremely awkward around Kass.

Maan... I hope nothing too bad happens to Kalgkur

"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow...."

The writing on this is so good I just had to fave it

Just wormtalk thangs

that last line calls to mind the baxxids with hollow lightless eyes, and if they're connected the way I think they are then it makes me both very curious and terrified to learn what "the judgement" is

I'm only tiny critter, but I will throw myself in-between anyone attempting to harm little baby worm Kalgkur!

I'm waiting to see how this plays out.

Exactly how old are these creatures? What is their typical lifespan? I don't recall that this was ever mentioned in this comic.

A lot of people wonder about that! (They don't talk about it much)

Judging by that last panel, The Judgement is Giygas from Earthbound.

"Ah, Grrr, Ohhh…
Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur,
Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur,
Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur,
Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur, Kalgkur... ..
Argh… Yaaagh!…
I feel… g… o… o… d…"

"Acknowledgement, The Judgement. That indicates that the defendant is... not... guilty? Hopefully?"

Purple guy looks so dark and brooding with his headdress covering his face. I think he’s the same baxxid Viracroix talked to before, but I’m too lazy right now to go back and double check.

That's him!

= D

A fascinating look at how the Baxxid view themselves, their perceptions of themselves in the eyes of others, and of how they mete out justice to their own kind.

They care more of how others see them, than of truly finding out why the incident occurred, and although they relatively readily accept to have some of their number serve as guards in the greater society, it seems as though they generally cannot fathom just WHAT the taking of of that role means and that they may be forced to take a life, or of fathoming that accidents such as these happen as a matter of the due course of the job.

For a species that is so long lived. they seem incredibly naive about the nature of the world, wanting to keep the appearance of being eternally noble and above primitive savagery, with lilly white claws, while not knowing the full implications of just what a peacekeeper does, who those they come across in their duties are and what they do. If they truly understood what they were getting into, it seems doubtful that they would allow any of their kind to take on this job and probably would limit their interactions with the public at large to just the sporadic and exceedingly rare sighting only spoken of just a few times in a generation.

But they chose to be members of this society, nonetheless and they have to come to terms with the very nature of their physicality, rather than shun it and shy away with it. They have to accept that yes, they are bigger and stronger than other intelligent species and can accidentally kill them with the slightest miscalculation or effort, just as easily as we can crush an egg with our bare hands if we handle it too roughly.

As the famous movie villain said.

Dick Jones: Every policeman knows when he joins the force that there are certain inherent risks that come with the territory. Ask any cop, he'll tell ya, "If you can't stand the heat, you better stay out of the kitchen."

Some of them are comfortable enough with using their bodies to keep the peace, though they tend to be the weirdos of baxxid society!

Ah, the timeless dilemma of whether you should offer
the important group you have wronged the head
of the person responsible as a peace offering.

The killing of the dire wolf to appease the Lannisters.
The nuclear strike on New-York in 1964's Fail Safe.
That time Lenny the Loon was made the fall guy
at the 420 party when the fuzz raided the place.

But it is highly heartening to see a proper breadth
of interpretative justice being on display here,
especially with Kuldra's individualistically
context-sensitive and narrativizing view!

It is uncanny how the different placement of eye-obscuring
fabrics and wigs change the perception of a given baxxid.

As always, you weave tragedy, humor and insightful observations
about the human, indrel, baxxid and yinglet conditions
ever so craftily into one whole tapestry,
with such strange patterns.

i write

about worms

So did Frank Herbert!

Kuldra the Attorney:

***OBJECTION!!!!***

Kuldra is the type to binge soap operas; she'd probably totally be into courtroom drama shows

I'm suspecting that they are actually local to the planet and were either uplifted or educated by ancient humans, mind this is mostly hanging on the head cannon I have that this setting is a world of fallen space age humans who regressed due to some disaster as their tech level seems oddly advanced in some places. That and the fact having 4+ wildly different sapient species spring up on a planet at roughly the same time in a very low magic setting seems highly suspect without outside forces doing some fiddling.

Meanwhile humans already frogot about the whole thing.
For you my baxid friend it was most horrific experience in life, for city guards it whas thursday.

Their society is so intriguing
This development is most pecular :D

love the series... always have

Self Judgement Day.

Wait hang on. The way they talk about wearing the bodies. Are the baxxids parasites puppeteering non-sapient animals?

I had suspicions about that from the earlier chapter that had them turn into fungal trees, but wasn't sure.

I can picture a demographic shift when Kuldra succumbs to the gorge reflex but refuses to "volunteer" for hiding because she loves the human's world too much.