Notes, comments, and thoughts about the issue. Additional comments are welcome.

Issue #1 (Chapter 1 in the Red Book)

• Exactly what does the contraption on the cover do? Well, I can guess that. More importantly, how does it do it? I'll put up (and of course properly credit) the first clear answer that a brave soul supplies me.
  
  From Scott Caspar:
  
  Varkias the Imp is pulling the ropes to a strange mechanical device which includes a steering wheel and a hammer, and would apparently be meant to ring the bell at the bottom. As esoteric as the mechanical device appears, it is in fact appropos for this series -- bizarrely complex, yet as pleasing as a bell chime.
  
  Behind Rubel, on the ground, are two helmets like those the Iron Guard wear; foreshadowing their appearance in issue 3. The sword is unlike any weapon Rubel has used. It is similar in shape to Soracia's swords, but is much gaudier in color. The King's guard use broad swords, so this cannot be one of their's either.
• Page 1 -- The crown is magical. In what way?
• Page 1 -- "Only one person in the whole city could have warned the king . . ." Presumably this is Quinton. Who sent the letter that made him leave? What did the letter say?
• Page 1 -- is that Kangar holding the rabbit over the castle parapet, as the King ponders what to do? And if the older girl kneeling behind the hutch is Katara, who are the other three children?
• Page 3 -- Exactly how does succession work? It sounds like the king can choose the heir, but the people are astonished when he announces that his son, Kangar, will not be the automatic heir.
• Page 3 -- Katara is eleven years old.
• Page 3 -- first appearance of Varkias, up on the branch, or is that another imp?
• Page 4 -- "Thieves, however, do not have to worry about things like that." The first of many times a specialized meaning for the word 'thief' is mentioned.
• Page 5 -- Rubel swears that "no king would ever make him wear a crown or sit on any throne . . ." Note this doesn't prevent a non-king from persuading him to do so.
• Page 5 - To date, neither of the sides appears to know that Rubel is, technically, the new king.
• Page 6 -- Four years have gone by. Katara is presumably fifteen.
• Page 6 -- Who is the "good master" Soracia mentions? And what part of Rubel's journey was on "horses' backs"? Moreover, why did Rubel leave Oceansend in the first place?
• Page 8 - None of the other guards in the city have the horse emblem on their tabards. Is this just a private soldier, or some sort of dock warden, perhaps?
• Page 9 -- What are these papers that Rubel's so concerned about getting from the nefarious captain? From the conversation with the captain, it sounds like Rubel is an indentured servant. Why would he (or his grandfather) ever agree to such a contract?
• Page 12 -- Gondor is one of the "nations" in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
• Page 12 -- Was Rubel's grandfather actually on the Gondor when it went down? (UPDATE: Soracia was responsible for the Gondor's sinking, and Rubel's grandfather's death.)
• Page 14 -- Why did Rubel's grandfather forbid Rubel to enter the forest, and why did he do it more frequently as Rubel grew older?
• Page 15 -- The device Quinton makes for talking to birds works for everyone except Rubel, even Baily the dog. Why? Was Rubel the one who destroyed the device?
• Page 15 -- The note on the door is probably the one referred to on page 1. Where has Quinton been all this time?
• Page 15 -- Neat smallish things on the walls in Quinton's tower include a tennis racket and a bugle.
• Page 17 -- The sentence about a proper thief certainly doesn't seem to sound like the actions of a common miscreant.
• Page 19 -- What exactly were the properties of the Wishing Key? (UPDATE: It opens Chead's cell.) From whom did the Monster Hunters win it from?
• Page 27 -- What causes the flower to grow?
• Page 28 -- Soracia fought and killed the Angel when trying to steal Rubel when he was born. And the tree is the Angel tree. Coincidence?
• Page 27, 29 -- On page 27, Soracia says, "I am evil." Page 29 she says, "The only evil that there is happens when you are untrue to your nature." Is this the Cliff's Notes version of Soracia? Perhaps she is of a dual nature, half vicious, half compassionate, and can never be true to her split nature. The Queen of Halves indeed.
• Page 30 -- Soracia is not a witch. What is the difference between a witch and a . . . whatever Soracia is? Competence? Methodology?
• Page 31 -- Who is Leandra? An incarnation of Soracia's sister, maybe?
• Page 32 -- Soracia attacks the Angel tree with a black sword, just as she attacked the Angel when Rubel was born.
• Page 32 -- Soracia implies the lock of hair makes the tree return to life.
• Page 33 -- Why does Soracia come after Rubel in this issue? What is it about him that she wishes to have?

Contributors
Sol Foster (colomon@ralf.org) - many many many comments and questions.
Eric McKee (mckee@io.com) - updates
Scott Caspar (scvolstagg@visto.com) - Cover explanation, note on neither side seeming to know that Rubel has won the right to the throne, and the soldier with the horse emblem.

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