Shahidah is granted entrance to the Barrow of Annwn where, she is told, she will be judged by the dead. What does this mean? And who guards the Cauldron? Find out in Compass: The Cauldron of Eternal Life #2 from Image Comics!
COMPASS: THE CAULDRON OF ETERNAL LIFE #3
Writer: Robert Mackenzie and David Walker
Artist: Justin Greenwood
Colorist: Daniela Miwa
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Editor: Alejandro Arbona
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 18, 2021
Previously in Compass: The Cauldron of Eternal Life: Shahidah El-Amin, a scholar from Baghdad, has come to Wales to find the Cauldron and see how it works. She is not alone; Margul Shadgur has come with an army, assassins, and Shahi’s old friend Hua Ling to find it himself. At the church where she met the Abbott, she and Lord Ednyfed are attacked by one of the assassins, who is also a leper. Ednyfed orders everything in the church to be burned; Shahi begs permission to go through his papers to find out more about the Cauldron. In the little time she has, she realizes the pictures contain a coded message. Following this slender clue, she is caught by the local Druids. She admits that she seeks the Cauldron, but warns them about the Khan and Hua Ling. But for some reason, the Druids seem to believe their Cauldron is safe.
FACING JUDGMENT
Compass: The Cauldron of Eternal Life #3 opens at the top of a sea cliff which is also the secret gateway to the Barrow of Annwn. The Druids give Shahi a goblet of something to drink. She refuses, but they assure her it is not wine. Where she is going, the dead meet with the living and judge them. As they tie her securely in a web of ropes, they ask if she knows why they are called the People of the Dragon. She is having some trouble thinking clearly, and they push her over the edge.
On a nearby mountaintop, at a mine entrance that presumably links to the same location, Margul Shadgur grows impatient with Ling, accusing her of being weak by not taking more aggressive action. She claims that, as a scholar, she is more useful to him alive. He feels he has too little time remaining, and shoves her into the dark, flinging a torch in after her.
On her rope, Shahi comes to a stop hanging upside down at a ledge. She is met by the skeleton of a Christian king. In an interesting bit of discourse, he confesses that he cannot haunt the pagan rites. He also recognizes her for having her own beliefs and traditions. She must get past him, but he is only here to witness her arrival. It is the dead who will judge her, and he tells her that she carries her dead with her.
In short order she comes face to face with several ghosts, among which are represented some of the Khan’s men that she has killed. These are the judging dead. And judgey they are. Her bravery does not matter, nor does the fact that she killed them in self-defense. They find her unworthy to see the dragon and take away her sight.
Ling makes her way through darkened tunnels littered with the corpses of adventurers who have come before, suffering falls, losing her torch. Her way is no easier than Shahi’s.
Shahi attempts to climb up a cavern wall, slips, and is caught by a ghost she recognizes as Master Abdullah, from back home. She did not think he was dead. They have a discussion in which he confirms that Ling is also here and searching. He also talks about how Shahi has always forged her own path, and then she can see the ley lines running through the caverns, just in time to catch up with Ling.
THE LAND OF THE DEAD
The Barrow of Annwn takes the center stage of Compass: The Cauldron of Eternal Life #3. From Shahi’s perspective, it is presented as a place that is not part of the real world. From Ling’s perspective, it is all part of a huge series of caverns. Either way, the inner geography defies mapping. I like the guardian at the gate, a skeleton in armor and a crown, but one who is erudite.
But while Shahi can walk in, Ling gets sucked into the ground. When she claws her way out, she is in a different location. She comes face to face with an enormous spider, which turns out to be merely a husk. Past that, she finds herself falling among giant, thorny vines upon which are impaled the corpses of those who have come in here before her. It is fascinating and surreal and adds to the sense that the Barrow is a place or even an idea beyond the natural world.
BOTTOM LINE: THE BIGGEST MYSTER OF ALL IS DEATH
Compass: The Cauldron of Eternal Life #3 takes the adventure story and turns it inward. We know Shahi can face outside challenges, but this challenge turns inward, asking her the question of why she seeks the Cauldron. What are her intentions?
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Compass #3
Shahi is taken to the entrance to the Barrow of Annwn, but from there she is on her own!
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By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.