Tandra Page 1078, February 7, 2010

Created on 02/08/2010

by Hanther

I like Shaikha. I like her a lot. She may be my very favourite Tandra character.

I once knew a child who had a gentle touch. When she placed her hands on you, it was always lightly. Her touch reminded me of a kitten. But, when this child became angry, which was not often, she was vicious and best appreciated from a safe distance. Like the kitten, she had sharp claws!

When writing Shaikha, I generally keep this soft and gentle child in mind. I always remember she has sharp claws.

With this Tandra Page, I displayed Shaikha’s anger in a more subtle manner than I normally choose for a character. I first had planned that Jacob should slice open the Sage’s throat and he and Shaikha walk away. But it didn’t seem right for the character that he should just murder a man, even one as repulsive as the Sage. I had no concern for the Sage, as we shall see next week, but I was put off by having Jacob willing to execute a fallen foe so easily. Galon would execute an enemy in such a manner and never give it second thought. So would Kenia, but not Jacob. On the other hand, I was not going to allow the Sage to escape.

The simple solution is the one displayed on this page. Shaikha has the same concern for Jacob as do I, but she has utter hatred and contempt for the man who had her eyes burned from her head and then raped her. Her solution, to have him left in a position from which there is no escape so that he dies of thirst, or is possibly slain by predators, is more extreme than simply murdering him. Shaikha knows also, having intimate knowledge of the ideology of which the Sage is an extension, the consequences to the Sage of having his body left to the mercies of nature.

Shaikha’s judgment, “Carrion eaters need food!” also shows her admiration for the Dragon Queen who had said the same thing in the first panel.

Shaikha is most certainly a gentle soul but, like a kitten, she has sharp claws.

Incidentally, I mentioned this back when I first introduced Shaikha, but I’ll repeat it for those who came in late. Shaikha’s name was inspired by a news item of an Arabian girl whose father had promised her in marriage to one of his friends. The only escape this girl could imagine to avoid this repulsive marriage was drinking a bottle of bleach in an attempt to escape by death. The implication of the news item was not in the disgusting nature of the arranged marriage but, rather, that the girl should have tried to avoid the marriage her father had chosen for her.

The girl’s name was Shaikha.

May the sun always shine on your parade!

Next Week; “High Level Conspiracy”

Tandra...more than escapist fantasy, it’s a revolution!

Hanther

[ Go Back ]