Page 1, Panel 1: The Long Walk to Mysterious Mountain

Welcome to the very beginning of our adventure! This is Page 1, Panel 1 of Episode 1: The Strange Metal Cave. If you’ve ever had to travel with someone who treats a simple walk like a high-stakes race, or someone who treats a high-stakes race like a casual stroll through a candy store, you already understand the relationship between Troll and Unicorn.

Here we see them on “Tera,” which we know as prehistoric Earth. The sun is shining, the jungle is teeming with life—including a curious giant dragonfly and a pair of tiny, wide-eyed dinosaurs—and a very active volcano looms in the distance. To Troll (real name Thagius Spoozicm Gumwillows, though he strictly prefers “Troll”), that smoking peak is Mysterious Mountain, their ultimate destination. To Unicorn (our relentlessly cheerful, lisping friend Sparkles), it’s just another scenic backdrop in a world full of wonderful distractions.

What makes this opening image so special is how perfectly it sets up their dynamic. Troll is practical, gruff, and perpetually exasperated. He’s got his eyes on the horizon, checking the position of the sun and calculating exactly how many miles they need to cover before dark. He knows they are in exile, banished from their celestial home by King Angus, and he wants to get this escort mission over with as quickly as possible.

Unicorn, on the other hand, is living entirely in the moment. Why worry about a smoky mountain on the horizon when there are friendly little reptiles to wave at and beautiful dragonflies to inspect? He isn’t worried about the exile or the mysterious destination; he’s just happy to be on a journey with his grumpy best friend.

Little do they know, their peaceful hike is about to take a massive turn. Just beyond the ridge lies a crashed Eldaryn zoo ship, a metallic anomaly that will throw them headfirst into a sci-fi conspiracy involving high-tech corporations, space-faring dinosaurs, and a pair of lost human kids named Susie and Timmy. But for now, under the warm prehistoric sun, it’s just a grumpy troll, a happy unicorn, and the long road ahead.