In search of the bird of the time
In Search of the Bird of Time ( La Quête de l'oiseau du temps ) is a fantasy comic series by Serge Le Tendre and Régis Loisel . In the French album version, it appeared in four volumes from 1983 until 1987, and then again from 1998.
First cycle
action
The Akbar kingdom is facing the return of the vengeful god Ramor. He was banished to a snail shell after an attempted coup against the other gods. However, this curse has to be repeated in order to keep him there. The sorceress Mara can no longer finish the incantation in time. So she sends the aged knight Bragon together with her (common?) Daughter Pelissa on a search for the snail shell and the bird of time, which is supposed to stop the passage of time and enable Mara to complete the formula on time. They have nine days to save their empire.
Volume 1: Shadows over Akbar
Mara entrusts Bragon with his task. He is supposed to wrest the snail shell from the magic prince Shan-Tung. Together with Pelissa and her companion Pelzchen, they set off on their way. In a sacred grotto they meet Shan-Tung, who is waiting for Ramor to return to take action against Mara. One of his mercenaries is Bulrog, a former student of Bragon. Bragon succeeds in taking the snail shell and killing Shan-Tung, for which Bulrog swears revenge. In the chaos of their escape, a prisoner from Bulrog joins them, and the four of them sail to Mara.
Volume 2: The Temple of Oblivion
While Mara travels to meet them, their city is attacked by Jasiren, the guardians of the Temple of Oblivion. They were supposed to steal the Old Gods Spellbook on the orders of their master Fjel Mara's, which failed. Now Bragon himself should travel to the Temple of the Forgotten and decipher the runes there. They reveal where the bird of time is. Not only has no one alive left the temple, but the group's leader is said to be Prince Bodias, Bragon's former rival for Mara's favor. They also meet Bulrog, who embroils them in an intrigue. Bodias finally finds out that the bird can be found at Heaven's Finger, a rock at the mouth of the Dol River. When the group leaves the temple after a confrontation with the inhabitants of the temple, Bodias is accidentally killed by the stranger in a skirmish with the Yasirs, whereby his kingdom is doomed.
Volume 3: Grauwolf's Last Fight
On the way to the sky finger, the group travels through the realm of the legendary warrior and hunter gray wolf. He begins a relentless hunt for Bragon, in which both prove to be equal. Eventually, Bragon manages to kill his former teacher, Gray Wolf. While Mara maintains control of the search from afar, the wise men of her city doubt whether she is up to the task.
Volume 4: The Egg of Darkness
The companions reach the sky finger, where the “stranger” finds a companion in the guardian of the birds. The keeper of the nest tells them about the birds of time and their power. The four of them take the egg of darkness, which gives them control of the night, and make their way to Mara, who rushes to meet them. On the way, they lose their windstorms, which they use as a means of transport, and get caught by the Jivran, who suffer from blood fever and attack the group. The magical prince Tharmin granted them shelter. Eventually the group escapes, but has to leave behind the infected Bulrog, who found his peace of mind. Pelissa, who is becoming increasingly aggressive, finally finds Mara, who finally reveals the secret of her origins. She created Pelissa to manipulate Bragon and control the travelers. Pelissa is just a soulless shell, which is guided by furs in the sense of Mara. This completes the curse, but not in order to defeat Ramor forever, but in order to acquire his power. Only the nest keeper can stop Mara. With her death, Pelissa, whom Bragon has long adopted as a father and whose loss makes him crazy, also dies.
Second cycle
Since 1998 , a new series about the adventures of young Bragon has been created with the participation of Dominique Lidwine .
Volume 5: Javin
Bragon leaves the farm that he is supposed to run after the death of his father to travel with the fun-loving adventurer Javin to the realms of the fog, where they arrive after many experiences - among other things they get caught in the clutches of the Order of the Males. During a ritual, the day of the Ch'Tinen, they save the princess of the land, Mara, whose bodyguard they become. To impress Mara, Bragon and her uncle go hunting for a Borak. Javin, who initially refuses because of the danger, follows his friend and finds death. Bragon kills the Borak, avenging Javin's killing, but remains lonely and guilty.
Volume 6: The Book of Gods
Disappointed in the unrequited love and after the loss of his best friend, young Bragon decides to leave the City of Misty Veils. He knows that there is only one fighter who can turn him into a real knight: the gray wolf! But this fabled warrior has long since withdrawn and only takes the best fighters from all over Akbar to train them. So, in order to get his attention, Bragon must work as a gladiator for the amusement of the crowd. It comes to a fight with the reigning master, which among others a little boy named Bulrog is watching ... In the meantime, Mara has been sent by her father to search for the book of the gods so that the god Ramor can one day be destroyed. Suddenly the paths of the two cross again and the adventure continues.
Volume 7: Gray Wolf
In France, another volume was published by Dargaud under the title La voie du Rige 2010, which is the third volume of the new cycle. The German translation was published in November 2011. This flashback describes how Bragon met the master gray wolf.
Volume 8: Knight Bragon
The eighth volume was published in France in November 2013 under the title Le Chevalier Bragon by Dargaud. In Germany, the volume was published by Carlsen at the end of 2014. The action begins at the end of Bragon's training. A final duel between him and Grauwolf marks the end of his apprenticeship: At the end of the fight, Grauwolf bequeathed his pupil a valuable battle ax, and Bragon is now on his own.
Volume 9: Under the spell of evil
The ninth volume of the second cycle was published in French in 2017 under the title L'Emprise and in German in 2018: Since Knight Bragon was ambushed, he has been missing and everyone thinks him dead. He is actually alive, but has lost his memory . When a fighter of the Order of the Mark recognizes him by chance, he forges a plan to use Bragon as a weapon against his own people.
Creation and publication
Of In Search of Lost Time appeared in 1975 already two shorter episodes in a French Genre magazine, but that went down soon. The final colored version was not produced until 1982.
computer game
In 1989, The Quest for the Time-Bird, a computer game of the same name by the French company Infogrames for Amiga , Atari ST and IBM PC-compatible computers, was released .