Fatebound

Fatebound is a weekly anthology fantasy webcomic, following a common thread through a series of otherwise unrelated stories spanning the history of the world of Khadaka. The series began with a lore chapter, *The First Fatebinder*, which introduced the primary focus of the comic and first published on 23 June 2015. It is currently still running and pages publish at 10 am Monday mornings, eastern time.

## Story

The primary focus of the story is a gamble between a human able to manipulate fate and a being who is viewed as a trickster god by, apparently, everyone except himself. They have an arrangement where the human, Herot, works through history by way of an extended lifespan to try and use Fate to bind all things, including the gods, under his own will; the god, Ngv, will be working against him to free the gods from the power of fate.

Each chapter in the series is largely self-contained, though each has so far ended on a note that suggested that it would come up again in the future. As such, the plot for each must be described separately.

### The First Fatebinder

A lore chapter which opens the series, introduces Herot and Ngv, describes the concept of Fatebinding, and details the wager that sets the series in motion.
It is done in the style of ancient legend and ran for 11 pages from 23 June through 20 July, 2015. During this period, the comic was updating three days a week.

### Epic of Hadral

When a group of gods known as the Firmament attempts to kill a young mage named Elyse, she and her assumed boyfriend, Hadral, go on a quest to find a way to stop these attacks from continuing. It is done in the style of an epic poem, including the interactions of gods and a journey to the underworld.

It was published in two uneven sections spanning 60 pages from 22 July, 2015 through 27 June, 2016, with a break from 28 December, 2015, to 18 January, 2016 in which a lore chapter ran as a flashback within the story. The update schedule was changed to once a week early in this story.

### Excerpts from the Book of Lophael

Lophael, an ancient mage apparently working in some connection with Herot, wrote a book detailing his life and dealings with the gods. It has appeared as excerpts in two lore chapters so far, for a total of six pages. The first explained the birth of the god of vengeance, Kelcid, and the origin and location of a powerful artifact. The second focused on Lophael encountering the god of time and being told how the world was made. It also includes Lophael asking how the world will end, but does not include the answer.

The first section was published in three pages from 28 December, 2015 through 11 January, 2016, while the second was published in three pages from 4-18 July, 2016.

### By Light of Tattered Moon

This story begins with the death of the Oolbat and is told from the perspective of an as-yet unnamed character. It began publication on 25 July, 2016, and is currently running.

## Characters

While each story has its own cast of characters, there has been some overlap. These are the major characters introduced so far.

### Major Characters

#### Herot

The first character introduced, Herot is also the first human to master direct control over the forces of fate. He is functionally immortal, though this has not been tested on screen as yet except by the passage of time.

He appeared in a primary role in *The First Fatebinder* and as a minor character in the *Epic of Hadral*.

#### Ngv

Also called the Nameless God and the Trickster. A god whose exact role in the pantheon is not yet fully explored, though he was born of the god of chaos and is opposed to the general workings of the other gods. He initiated the wager with Herot for control of creation, and made a deal with Hadral concerning the Book of Lophael.

He appeared in a major role in *The First Fatebinder*, was an important supporting character in the *Epic of Hadral*, and has had a brief mention in the *Book of Lophael*.

#### Lophael

A mage who made his name hunting undead, witnessed the birth of a god, was taken to meet other gods where he sought the stories for how the world was formed and how it will end, and then retired to Vortex to write his memories down for mankind under the watchful eye of Herot.

He is the author, primary focus, and narrator of the *Book of Lophael* and has appeared as a supporting character in the *Epic of Hadral*.

#### Hadral

Born under a baleful omen, Hadral and his mother were cast out of their village and forced to survive in the wilds. He became an expert hunter and ranger under these conditions, and was recruited to serve the city guard of Jekland, where he met and fell in love with Elyse. He then journeyed with her to protect her from the gods, interacting with Phala, Ngv, Lophael, Kelcid, and Raeshi along the way. He is the only member of the pair to enter both the Underworld and the Higher Realms.

While Elyse is the focus of the *Epic of Hadral*, the story begins and ends with Hadral and largely follows his perspective throughout. He has no other appearances to date.

#### Elyse

A mage and the daughter of the chief of the Jekland city guard who was targeted by the gods and set out with Hadral to find a way to stop them. While journeying, she encountered Trilon, Ngv, Lophael, and Kelcid.

Elyse is arguably the main character of the *Epic of Hadral*, and has had no other appearances to date.

### Minor Characters

#### The Ancient

The creator-god and a being of pure order. Appears in the *Epic of Hadral* and the *Book of Lophael*.

#### The Forsaken

An incorporeal undead man who wielded the Firmament Nexus. Appears in the *Epic of Hadral* and the *Book of Lophael*.

#### Raeshi

Goddess of death and ruler of the underworld. Appears in the *Epic of Hadral* and the *Book of Lophael*.

#### Kelcid

God of vengeance. Appears in the *Epic of Hadral* and the *Book of Lophael*.

#### Gareth

The father of Elyse and captain of the city guard of Jekland. Appears only in the *Epic of Hadral*.

#### Phala

Goddess of justice, she informs Hadral of the gods' plan to kill Elyse and sets them on their journey to save the mage. Appears only in the *Epic of Hadral*.

#### Trilon

The messenger of the gods, he appears as a bald humanoid with bright feathers. Appears only in the *Epic of Hadral*.

#### The Mountain King

A god who ruled the mountain range north of Jekland and served as a danger to the people living there. Appears only in the *Epic of Hadral*.

#### Other Gods

While there have been other gods mentioned or seen, those named have not appeared and those seen have not been named. Clues on who they may be are available on Fatebound's own wiki.

## Content Warnings

Fatebound includes few instances of suggested violence and a possible reference to sex. While the goddess Raeshi appears to be nude, her body has no visible sexual organs or details on the breasts. Blood is used in one ritual, but not graphically displayed.

The comic also has a page on TV Tropes which details tropes that appear in the story.

## Crossovers

Fatebound has had a few crossovers with other comics, but none have been treated as canon for the characters of Fatebound.

* Hadral and Elyse attended a surprise double date with two characters from CurseQuest in a Valentine's crossover event.
* Hadral and Elyse appear on a date on a boat driven by a character created by user Shastab24 in the same Valentine's crossover event.
* Lophael briefly appears in a crowd shot in Consolers.

## Trivia

Khadaka, the world in which Fatebound is set, is intended to be an open-source world available to other creators to craft stories within.

The comic has its own wiki, which is largely written from the perspective of in-world authors sometime far in the future relative to current story arcs.

Fatebound was featured on Best WebComics with a creator interview on 26 May, 2016.

## References

1. ↑ Fatebound Codex, Fatebinding.
2. ↑ Fatebound comic. *The First Fatebinder*, The First Fatebinder
3. ↑ Fatebound comic. *The First Fatebinder*, The Game Begins
4. ↑ Fatebound comic. *Epic of Hadral* Part One, The Epic of Hadral.
5. ↑ Fatebound comic. *Epic of Hadral* Part Two, Epilogue
6. ↑ Fatebound comic. Excerpts from the *Book of Lophael*, War.
7. ↑ Fatebound comic. Excerpts from the *Book of Lophael*, The Forsaken.
8. ↑ Fatebound comic. Excerpts from the *Book of Lophael*, Raeshnacht.
9. ↑ Fatebound comic. Excerpts from the *Book of Lophael*, Beginning.
10. ↑ Fatebound comic. *By Light of Tattered Moon*, Cover.
11. ↑ Fatebound Codex, Herot.
12. ↑ Fatebound comic. *The First Fatebinder*, The Wager.
13. ↑ Fatebound comic. *The First Fatebinder*, Illusions and Reflections.
14. ↑ Fatebound comic. Excerpts from the *Book of Lophael*, War.
15. ↑ Fatebound comic. *The First Fatebinder*, The Wager.
16. ↑ Fatebound comic. *Epic of Hadral* Part One, The Offer.
17. ↑ Fatebound Codex, Lophael.
18. ↑ Fatebound comic. *Epic of Hadral* Part One, Preparation.
19. ↑ Fatebound comic. *Epic of Hadral* Part One, The Mourning Moon.
20. ↑ Fatebound comic. *Epic of Hadral* Part One, Beyond the Wall.
21. ↑ Fatebound comic. *Epic of Hadral* Part One, Shadows, Part One.
22. ↑ Fatebound Codex, Pantheon of Phaelism
23. ↑ Fatebound (Webcomic) on tvtropes.org
24. ↑ Crossover Exchange comic. *In Love! 2016*, Curse Quest by temclaughlin.
25. ↑ Crossover Exchange comic. *In Love! 2016*, Fatebound by Shastab24.
26. ↑ Consolers comic. Unchaptered, XBox Launch.
27. ↑ Fatebound Codex, Home: How to Use this Site.
28. ↑ Best WebComics, Fatebound.