Cerebus #19: Trouble in Togith

This issue opens with Cerebus and Graus in the city of Togith as they try to dispose of the jewels and other goods Cerebus obtained from the merchant in Fluroc. Well, Cerebus is trying sell them. Graus has grown more interested in the temptations of the big city, particularly that of Perce, a woman offering fortune-telling among other…um…services.

In the meantime, Lord Gorce is busy raising his army by promising alliances and offering tributes that he has no intention of keeping. Though he appeared quite fearful when Lord Julius gave him this mission — and Julius, himself, expected the commander of his new army to be killed — Gorce certainly shows no fear as he goes about raising the army. I guess the lure of power is even greater than the fear of death.

Cerebus is eventually able to meet with the Duke of Agerden and quickly learns that the only thing of real value in the collection is the owl statue that was part of the treasure. Or more precisely, the statue is valuable when it’s paired with it’s twin. The Duke offers Cerebus the mercenaries he seeks to enhance his T’Giptan warriors if he can “acquire” the owl’s twin. Cerebus arrives at the tavern that’s home to the second owl’s owner only to discover that he lives in the basement and that for the past three weeks no one who’s gone down has come back up.

Entering the basement, Cerebus is confronted by a woman who looks like Red Sophia. He quickly realizes his mistake when the woman proves to be far more skilled with a sword than Sophia — skillful enough that Cerebus is barely able to escape her attacks by diving through a door into another part of the basement. Locking the door, he is quite surprised to hear his name called.

As Cerebus is making his escape, Lord Julius is deftly escaping trouble of his own as he’s confronted by a representative of the “Palnu Crisis Board of Impeachment Inquiry.” Not only is Julius able to convince this representative that there is another group out to stop Julius, he convinces the man that this “other group” has infiltrated the Crisis Board and that he needs to thoroughly examine his group for traitors. The representative quickly leaves with much gratitude for the service Lord Julius has done for him.

As surprised as he was upon hearing his name called in the basement, Cerebus is even more surprised to find Red Sophia’s father, the wizard Henrot. Henrot, it turns out, created the woman, Geet-a, as a substitute and improvement on Red Sophia. Turns out she wasn’t such an improvement after all, so he chained her down in the basement. Though he doesn’t mind the privacy this affords him, Henrot informs Cerebus that he’s now trapped in the basement. Cerebus, though, has a plan. But first he needs the owl statue.

Though Henrot had melted the original owl statue for the gold, the wizard is easily able to create a forgery — one that will last six months, which is long enough for Cerebus’ purposes. I only mention this because it occurred to me that this might be important later.

Henrot had created several pet “Gerbies”, magical creatures that feed on violent emotion, and Cerebus uses these to escape. He taunts Geet-a and when she gets mad — it really doesn’t take a whole lot — he sets the Gerbies on her and is easily able to walk out of the basement. I’m surprised that Henrot didn’t think of this first — though he does seem content to live in the basement, so perhaps he simply never wanted to leave.

As he’s preparing to leave town, Cerebus is unable to resist Perce’s offer of a glass of wine and is knocked out after only one sip. While Cerebus lies unconscious, Perce gives Graus a letter, telling him that Cerebus wants him to take it to Gudre. As Graus walks off Perce promises to take good care of Cerebus. “Very good car…”

There certainly was a lot happening in this issue and, to be honest, I felt it was a little disjointed. I know there’s a lot of plot that needs to be taken care of and I don’t really have a suggestion for doing it another way, but that’s how it felt.

There were a lot of little things I liked about this issue, such as the Gerbies. Rather trippy looking, they’re basically flying snake-like creatures with very animated faces. Very amusing.

My favorite part, though, was the sequence with Lord Julius. I really enjoyed the way he maneuvered his way out of the situation with, I’m guessing, no warning at all. I’m just more and more impressed with him every time he appears.