Comic: Think of the Savings

The Scene

Session 18 — Welcome to Faerun

Hill giants raided the settlement at dawn. Sledgie — two to three times taller than Reaghl — smashed through a fence, grabbed a child from a house, and threw the kid through the air. A boulder hit a tree that fell on villagers. Another giant collapsed on top of a screaming girl. Guts beheaded Sledgie. Arawn tried to catch the thrown child and missed. There was a thud.

Lyra poked her head out of a haystack she’d been hiding in and sneezed — allergies. As a boulder flew at the group she yelled “Four!”

The fight ended with Kaial on one knee, battered by rocks, calling out wearily: “Good job, everyone. Good job.” Dawn light crept across the wreckage. Broken houses. Dead giants. Crying children. Parents screaming for their babies.

Reaghl shrugged.

“Think of the savings.”

From somewhere in the crowd: “Fuck you, Reaghl.”

They had a short rest.

Image Prompt

Four-panel comic strip. Dawn aftermath of a giant attack on a small settlement — smashed houses, dead hill giants, rubble, crying villagers.

PANEL 1: Wide shot. The battle is over. Two enormous hill giants lie dead in the wreckage of a small settlement. Broken fences, crushed houses, a tree fallen across the road. Dawn light creeps across the scene. The party stands scattered and bloodied — a paladin (Kaial) on one knee, dented armour, exhausted, calling out: “Good job, everyone. Good job.” Guts stands over a beheaded giant, sword dripping. In the background, Lyra pokes her head out of a haystack, covered in hay, sneezing.

PANEL 2: The emotional beat. The aftermath is brutal. A small child lies motionless in the rubble, clearly dead — thrown by a giant mid-battle. Another body, tiny, half-buried under a collapsed wall. A father kneels in the dirt screaming “My babies! My babies!” over a limp form. A mother clutches a bloodied blanket to her chest. Villagers are wailing, broken. Alora is trying to heal the wounded but some are beyond saving. It’s raw and devastating. The cost of the fight laid bare.

PANEL 3: Close-up of Reaghl. Standing apart from the group, arms folded, completely untouched by the emotional devastation around him. He looks at the crying parents, the wrecked houses, the dead giants, the whole scene — and shrugs. One shoulder. Casual. His expression is flat, unbothered. Speech bubble, matter-of-fact: “Think of the savings.”

PANEL 4: Beat panel. Total silence. Every single person — party members, villagers, grieving parents — has turned to stare at Reaghl. Absolute disbelief. A long pause. Then from deep in the crowd of villagers, a speech bubble rises from an anonymous face, no one person identifiable as the speaker — just the crowd itself: “FUCK YOU, REAGHL.” Reaghl’s expression has not changed. He does not care.