What will yours be?
One Question
is a full page color fantasy Web Comic written and drawn by Meg "Cheeko" Sveryud. The story revolves around Ranu, a strange grey-skinned elf-like boy living on the streets of a large port city. The title refers to Crysthel, the Crystal Dragon of All Knowledge, who will answer a single question put forth by any person, from how to fall in love to how to kill a god.The comic was apparently abandoned in 2013, in favor of Sveryud starting a new different comic, Daughter of the Lilies, and the original website went down in 2016.
This comic provides examples of:
- All There in the Manual: The Character page provides a lot of extra details that clear up some questions about the characters. Unfortunately, this also has the tendency to end up providing more questions.
- Art Evolution: As with most webcomics, the art starts off a little shaky and very reliant on its text. It gets better, especially the coloring.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Narini abandoned Ranu in an orphanage to spare him the pain that being around her would cause, and possibly in an attempt to avert the future she saw in the cards. She did this even knowing a child that looked like he did would probably never get adopted. Orson rightly calls her out on this and says she did it because she was afraid, leading her into a Heroic BSoD when she realizes he's right.
- Dark Is Not Evil: One would expect The Demon Lord, with a name like that and an appearance to match would be the villain. Instead, he's a tortured, imprisoned soul who spends his appearance in the comic angsting about the role he played in Crysthel's imprisonment.
- Disappeared Dad: It's unknown just who Ranu's father is. Cheeko mentioned that this picture◊ was a character not introduced or even mentioned yet, so it's possible that this is one relative, father, uncle, or brother, who made hold a clue...
- Four Lines, All Waiting: There's the main plot with Ranu. Then there's the part taking place in the past with Narini and Orson. Then there's Kavin and Marie's quest to get the book. Then there's Mask and his team of baddies, including the Captain, working towards their goals.
- Expecting Someone Taller: One of the orphans, Shroom, expects Ranu to be a lot more badass.
- Hero of Another Story: Kavin, based off the narrator's mentions and this picture.
- Light Is Not Good: The main villain, Mask, wears a white cloak and mask.
- Missing Mom: Ranu's mom, Narini, abandoned Ranu when she was frightened by the future she saw in her cards.
- Older Than They Look:
- Ranu looks like he's eight but is really twelve. The book ages him up to about eighteen.
- Narini, his mother, is eighty-four and says she feels like she's twenty.
- Dart is five, yet looks and acts like child around eight or nine.
- It might be easier to list those in the cast who actually look their age.
- Our Elves Are Different: There's three races. Two of them are elves, sun and lun, and can control magic. The third are the Marsincol. They tend not to get along.
- There's also the possibility Ranu and Narini are some form of elfin creature too.
- Overnight Age-Up: Ranu gets aged from ten to about eighteen after touching The Book.
- Psycho for Hire: A minor character, a lizard assassin named Kal'ihm, actually wishes he could take joy in killing.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The Captain is a harsh man, but he's not evil. His actions all revolve around catching the protagonists, but only because he thinks they are thieves. He even tries to save Ranu when he thinks he's going to fall off the roof, and shows great discomfort when Mask tortures Marie with his magic.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: A counter-example is found in Ranu. Despite the bright crimson he sports, he's the hero of the comic.
- Roma: Narini is a gypsy Fortune Teller, cursed with a lot of Tarot Troubles.
- Roof Hopping: Ranu engages in a chase that ends up with everyone scrambling over the roofs while trying to escape the Captain and his guards.
- Shout-Out: One page has Kal'ihm using the same insults the old woman in Buttercup's dream shouted at her.
- Spoiler Cover: The reveal that Ranu has wings is shown on the page of the very first chapter.
- The Man Behind the Man: A goddess known only as The Mother is the one behind Mask's actions.
- Time Skip: Two. The first is after the prologue, which was 800 years ago. Then comes the one in between the action with Narini & Orson in the prison, and the current plot with Ranu, which picks up ten years later.
