Caves and Critters
is a furry webcomic set in your typical Standard Fantasy Setting, complete with swords, sorcery, monsters, and the occasional graphic smut... Wait. The brainchild of furry artist Reyn Goldfur, the story follows the adventures of several groups of adventurers, as they find people to help, evil to vanquish, and increasingly find themselves drawn into a conspiracy of world-spanning proportions. Frequently NSFW due to violence, nudity, and sex scenes.
The protagonists thus far are:
- Theran, the lion. A fighter of unparalleled combat prowess, Theran is a Resistant, immune to all Arcane (non-divine/spiritual) magic.
- Kharma, the cat. A powerful Sourcerer, who has been fitted with a pair of dampening gloves. Though deprived of most of his power, he's resourceful and clever with what he has.
- Jax, the fox. An archer and tracker, Jax is a scout for the Theocracy and is trained to hunt his queries wherever they go.
- Kaeden, the gecko. Far larger than most of other kin, Kaeden has no formal martial training, but makes up for it with brute strength and ferocity.
- Ghargash, the human. Born to a primitive island tribe, Ghargash wields the power of several elemental spirits in his quest to slay the demon that slaughtered his people.
- Duk, the jerboa. A skilled monk of great skill, Duk accompanies Ghargash on his quest, in part to help his friend learn to control his emotions.
- Arcturius, the bear. Arc is both dead and not dead. Though he was at ground zero when a magical catastrophe struck his home, his soul remained in his body, even as his flesh decayed away.
- Satoya, the lynx. A summoner like Ghargash, "she" bonded very quickly with the human, and the two have a budding romance. Though she's not as powerful as Ghargash, she's just as willing to fight for what's right. She's also a crossdresser - biologically male and happy with that fact, but presenting as female.
- Red, the red panda. A thief and a scoundrel, Red is skilled at all things larcenous. He is playful and suave, but he hides a great pain that he is loathe to share.
- Karine, the lioness. Noblewoman by day, vigilante by night, Karine takes after her adventurous grandfather, helping rid her hometown of criminals and thugs.
- The Great Raziq, the tiger. Raziq was once on the receiving end of one of Red's thefts. Now, he is part of an archaeological dig, looking to uncover lost artifacts.
- Lida, the lion. Undefeated champion of the Judgement Ring, Lida is a druid and a shapeshifter.
This Webcomic contains examples of:
- Adventure Guild: The Mercenaries and Freelancers Association.
- Animal Stereotypes: Smithing appears to be a popular choice for badgers.
- Arrows on Fire: In one story arc, the party takes a job to fight Living Shadows at a trading post. This is accomplished by Kharma magicking some lamp oil so it can't be extinguished (well, until it burns away, that is), then dipping everyone's weapons in it. Jax mounts a torch on his bow to act as a pilot light for the arrows.
- Attack the Tail: During the raid on the bandit camp near Lakeside, Jax manages to get part of his tail chopped off by one of the bandits.
- Bad "Bad Acting": When Raziq "reveals" that Red is a thief, Karine and Red launch into an over the top Ham-fest.
- Beastly Bloodsports: Gladiator matches are a popular spectator sport in the Empire, though they stopped throwing condemned criminals to the beasts a while ago in favor of paid gladiators.
- Cast Full of Gay: The vast majority of the main cast is something other than straight.
- Crossdresser: Satoya, the Lynx Summoner, is a biological man dressing and presenting as a woman.
- Demonic Possession: A coyote possessed by a demon called "The Beast" slaughtered Ghargash’s entire village. It seems to be in Theran now, but only occasionally able to take control of him.
- Dream Stealer: An intellect devourer chose the wrong room, when it tried to feast upon someone possessed by a demon, a powerful sourceror, and a clergyman touched by his Goddess. It did not end well for the little demon.
- Dungeon Crawling: Done at least once, when Red, Theran, and Kharma were searching for an amulet.
- Domed Hometown: The village that Kharma controlled had a magical dome overtop of it. It also had magical drones that teleported any villagers trying to escape back to the village.
- Eldritch Location: The desert of N’Duti, that surrounds Bah’Rith. It juts up right next to a set of snow-capped mountains.
- Everyone Can See It: Theran and Kharma, and Jax (unfortunately) can smell it too.
"Like a fucking haze of boners that surrounds both of them every time they're within fifteen feet of each other."
- False Flag Operation: The Federation set one up in the town of Stoneport, with a dummy Empire ship firing on the town. The intent was to get the town to voluntarily become part of the Federation.
- Fighter, Mage, Thief: Theran, Kharma, and Red resp., team up to tackle the Golden Hills dungeon.
- And later, when Jax joins up with Theran and Kharma.
- Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: After the harrowing encounter in the Golden Hills Dungeon, Red puts the moves on Theran, saying he’s got a thing for buff guys.
- Good All Along: The ogre who attacks the village in chapter 3 is actually under Mind Control, and once the magicked shank making him hurt people and break things is removed, he becomes a Gentle Giant.
- Good Republic, Evil Empire: The Federation and the Empire. Played with, as the main villains appear to run the Federation. To say nothing of the False Flag Op in chapter 9.
- Gorn: "The Beast" loves tearing people to shreds.
- Idea Bulb: Or in this case, a candle.
- Key Under the Doormat: Red finds the key to a Molen safe in a water feature. After a team of archaeologists had spent months trying to figure out if it even was a door.
- Living Shadow: Theran and Kharma head out to deal with some, after Kharma gets some of his magic back.
- Love Confession: Red tells Karine he loves her in passing, and she almost missing him saying it. She can’t get him to say it again, though.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Ivan the blacksmith. More than willing to trade a good shag for a set of armor. It also helps that he knows tantric magic, which turns sexual energy into magical energy.
- McGuffin: The amulets Red has been hired to steal. No one seems to know what they do.
- Mind Control: The first monster we see Ghargash and Duk fight is an ogre, controlled by a magically infused stone stabbed into its neck.
- Mooning: The first time we meet Red, he steals an amulet and moons the guard on the way out.
- Mysterious Stranger: The mouse who appeared in full-body garb, somehow reached back in time to steal Lephar’s journal, and then left it on the floor. They were never mentioned before and have yet to be explained since.
- There’s also the mysterious fighter who saved Duk, knocked him out with a magic word, and vanished.
- Ninja Log: Red appears to be shot, only for the guard to find a stuffed toy in his place.
- No Ontological Inertia: Kharma’s tower and magic wall were held up only by his force of will. They collapse when he gets knocked out.
- The dungeon in the Golden Hills faded away when its amulet was removed.
- Out of Character Is Serious Business: For the author. Reyn loves creative onomatopoeia, so for him to leave a page "silent," and allow his characters' emotions to shine front and center, it makes the page that much more impactful.
- Phantasy Spelling: Sourceror. They are a Source of magic.
- Precursors: The Molen are an extinct race who used magic in ways incomprehensible to modern scholars. They left behind plenty of ruins and artifacts.
- Shout-Out: Sourcerors, who are wellsprings of magic, rather than simple users of it, lifted from Discworld, spelling and all. No word on if they're an eighth child's eighth child's eighth child, though.
- Silence Is Golden: When Red is crying his heart out in Karine’s lap, the lack of dialogue or any onomatopoeia makes the raw emotion in his face that much more impactful.
- Snake People: Selana, a sourceress who used to know Kharma
- Speech Bubbles: If a character not in panel is speaking, their speech bubbles will have the character’s ears sticking out of it.
- Or in the case of Ghargash, pre-reskinning Arc and Kaeden, their dreadlocks, cheekbones and forehead, respectively.
- Sometimes, the character’s tail (where applicable) instead.
- Supernatural Phone: Seers can use crystal balls to contact people at long range. They charge for their services.
- Stupid Sexy Flanders: Theran’s good looks really throw Kharma for a loop as he’s trying to figure out how to deal with the interloping hero.
- Theran finds Kharma pretty attractive as well.
- Unequal Rites: The Theocracy holds non-spiritual mages in suspicion because their mana is said to have negative effects on the channeler's mental state. The Federation bans worship of spirits other than the Theocracy's goddess so shamans are killed on sight. And everybody hates sourcerors because they're constantly channeling huge amounts of mana and thus both very powerful and likely insane.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Ghargash is initially a bit disturbed to find that Satoya is a crossdressing guy, but quickly decides to go ahead with it anyways.
- Voice of the Legion: The shattered fire spirit, Yfrit, speaks like this
- Written Sound Effect: Reyn really likes descriptive onomatopoeia.
- Unsound Effect: He’s also fond of these.
