Heidelberg UniversityLightning and Köhler have a similar problem to Cybele and Bennett, in that I designed the characters separately, and when I decided to make them a Being-Master pair, the Being’s name was…incongruous.

IIRC, I don’t even try to justify why the serious, straight-laced, white-haired, native-German-speaking, history professor Dr. Köhler gave his Being a name like “Lightning.”

Unrelated: I’m genuinely surprised we’re all the way into chapter 16 and this is the first mention of the Wolf. (She won’t even appear in-person until chapter 21. More than two-thirds of the way through the comic!)


Lightning: Of course I can’t s-say his name, b-but I’m sure you can find him . . . He teaches Near Eastern history and archaeology. At the university in Heidelberg.

He consults with museums, too . . . if you call the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, I bet they can put you in contact . . . And he’s written books! I helped! I fact-check and remember things about that time period. As much as I can. I’m very important to him!

Just be careful . . . Don’t let the Leopard or its Master know you’re trying to help me. And they had help! Don’t trust the —