The Reingard Runes

The Reingard Runes is the third issue of the Valewood Tales webcomic. The first page was released on the 12th of August, 2018.

Synopsis
May gains surprising abilities when mysterious runes appear all over town.

Plot
On the floor of the Valewood Museum of Art and History, May is surrounded by mysterious runes and close to death as she recounts the circumstances which led up to her situation. emphasising that it isn't over yet.

Earlier that day, at the Glass Cottage, Elizabeth and her father Bernard Glass try in vain to remove similar runes which have mysteriously appeared all over their house and the surrounding area. In the Valewood Town Square, the townsfolk are irate and upset about the inexplicable appearance of the runes all over the place. Heading into town to investigate, Elizabeth runs into May at the crowd gathering, where a strange man named Jean Reingard tries to warn them that the runes are part of a powerful force searching for a sorceress.

Uninterested, May and Liz leave the man alone as the former explains that she has been having trouble with her electronics all morning, and is planning to get Darwin to help her replace them. Elsewhere, Andrew and Darwin argue over the correct way to categorise the runes, as Moe tries to convince local police inspector DI Perkins that the Agency should be allowed to take the case. With little success, Andrew wonders if somebody else can hire them.

A short while later, as Darwin hands out flyers for the Agency and accidentally insults a passing man, he is interrupted by a woman named Jen Holders who introduces herself as a curator at the Valewood Museum of Art and History. She explains that the runes have caught her attention also, which Darwin interprets as a desire to hire the Agency for their first case. Jen isn't entirely sure what to think, but Andrew seizes the opportunity and calls an emergency company meeting.

In Andrew's office, he explains to the detectives the nature of their client and case. Intrigued, Elizabeth mentions her encounter with Reingard earlier. Moe decides that he and Andrew will track him down while the others search for the source of the runes. Outside, in Pines Close, Andrew and Moe are sinisterly approached by Reingard. Meanwhile, Darwin takes May and Liz to his room in the attic, where he searches for a powerful weapon he claims may come in handy if the runes prove to be dangerous - the Toaster Gun.

Meanwhile, Andrew and Moe bring Reingard indoors, where they interview him about the runes - he claims that they are the result of a witch preparing to release a huge amount of magical energy across the town. Andrew contacts Darwin about the prophecy, as Reingard overhears them discussing how to try and contain the magical energy. In a whirl of orange light, the old man transforms into a powerful wizard as Moe and Andrew watch.

He reveals himself to be Jean Reingard Astragon Elementhor III, the so-called greatest wizard of this dimension. Attempting to defend themselves with an umbrella and a lamp respectively, Andrew and Moe are magically thrown into a sinister grey hole by Reingard with a simple clench of his fist. Elsewhere, Darwin, Elizabeth and May are searching for the source of the runes, using a strange helmet hooked up to May that Darwin has invented. As they draw nearer, Darwin suddenly and painfully discovers that they are closer to the source than he expected - the Valewood Museum of Art and History, where Elizabeth tries to work out how the runes are connected as a figure invites them inside.

In Reingard's Realm, the wizard prepares to dispose of Andrew and Moe but is temporarily thwarted as they run away - though he quickly catches up to them, summoning sinister apparitions of the future. Andrew and Moe are confused, and Reingard takes advantage of this to incapacitate them. Back at the museum, Jen attacks May with a vase, but is stopped by Elizabeth. The curator explains that she and another created the runes as a way to activate the powers of a sorceress and lure her to the museum - which seems to have worked, as May is the great-great granddaughter of a powerful sorceress.

Reingard arrives through a window with Andrew and Moe captive, revealing himself to be Jen's co-conspirator, and attacks May with a magical blast of energy. Jen uses this opportunity to charge her own magical attack. As May recovers on the floor, echoing the opening page, she regains some strength and returns an attack against Reingard, who is knocked to the floor along with his captives Andrew and Moe.

Elizabeth rushes to check on her friends, who are alive if a little confused - but Reingard attacks them with his Artrakanian staff. May intercepts the attack, much to the bewilderment of Andrew, and retaliates by creating a powerful electrical shockwave which incapacitates Reingard and destroys Darwin's backpack. Exhausted by the might of her magical attack, May collapses. Andrew and Darwin watch as Jen rushes to Reingard's aid, though the wizard is less than interested in her company as he threatens the detectives with a warning about their future. Abandoning Jen, he teleports back to something he calls the Magicplane. Elizabeth makes sure that everyone is still alive as May begins to recover from her exhaustion.

Furious, Jen attacks them, but the Valewood police arrive just in time to arrest her. Andrew checks up on May as the situation winds down and she smugly reminds Jen that she still owes them the money for the case - and decides to head home to finish fixing her appliances with her newfound electrical powers.

In the epilogue, Andrew and Elizabeth discuss the events of the day atop the roof of the Agency, and Andrew decides that he doesn't like the business name given that he contributed very little to the case. Elizabeth decides on a new name, and agrees to pay for the sign.

Appearances

 * May Winter
 * Elizabeth Glass
 * Bernard Glass
 * Jean Reingard
 * Andrew Wheatley
 * Darwin Archimedes
 * Moe Frankfort
 * DI Perkins
 * Jen Holders
 * Man in tweed jacket and cap
 * Woman in red hoodie
 * Woman in green jacket ("Alice")
 * Woman in purple cardigan
 * Elderly man with brown jacket ("Tom")
 * Man with blue shirt
 * Woman with lilac top
 * Woman with blue headscarf ("Deborah")
 * Girl with butterfly shirt
 * Man with brown cardigan ("Mark")
 * Teenager with alien hoodie

Credits
Written by: Drawn by:
 * Francesco Romano
 * (Epilogue) Alex Donald
 * Dawn Cooper

Trivia

 * Writer Alex Donald confirmed on his Twitter that the speaking characters on Page 3 are named, from left to right, Alice, Tom, Deborah and Mark.
 * Mark himself also bears more than a passing resemblance to Alex Donald.