Quest for the Silver Tiger

Vermonia: Quest for the Silver Tiger is the first installment in the Vermonia manga series. Is is created by YoYo with the characters Doug and Raitetsu featuring on the cover of this issue.

The publishers for this novel is Candlewick Press (United States), Walker (United Kingdom) and Mondadori (Italy). There is also an iTunes e-Book version.

This issue leads onto the second installment, Call of the Winged Panther.

Announcement and Release
The volume was released around August 2009, with the Amazon copy being released on the 11th. Articles regarding the new series was relased around this time including one from Publishers Weekly.

The installment was later released for iTunes e-Books in April of 2014.

Characters
(Listed by order of appearance)

Queen Frasinella, Uro, Boros, Suzaku, Suiran, Raitetsu, Ruka, Zanni, Gazso, Naomi, Doug, Jim, Mel, Captain Acidulous, Slime Monster, Satorin, Rainbow, Azstar, Grinda, Sassella.

Plot
 At the center of the universe, at the beginning and end of all creation, sits the planet of Vermonia, ruled by  Queen Frasinella.

''All worlds, including the fragile Blue Star, orbit around her, following the pathways of the net between galaxies, wherein the Turtle Realm also lies. ''

''Queen Frasinella ’s reign of harmony is ending in civil war due to the betrayal of the commander of her army, General Uro. Hungry for personal power, he seeks the queen’s sacred Bolirium, fighting his own twin brother, the loyal Lord Boros, to obtain it.''

''As the final battle rages, and Lord Boros suffers defeat at the hands of his brother, Queen Frasinella gathers her four most trusted ministers. She uses her magic to transform them, then bids them to flee in order to safeguard the wisdom of her world and to work for its rebirth.''

''As her final sovereign act, Queen Frasinella summons from deep within her the four Veras of her spirit. These four will be reborn on a distant planet as four warriors who will one day restore her reign of harmony.''



The story begins with the defeat of Boros, as the Queen and her ministers watch within the palace and plan for the future. General Uro is known to breach defences by the hour so they know to make haste. The safety of the Bolirium as the priority, Frasinella asks her ministers for loyalty in this dark hour and commands Boros to appear before her. He kneels to the Queen, badly injured. Knowing his defeat, he asks her if he could die on the battlefield with honor. Frasinella denies his request and with a heavy heart, she transforms him into a Squelp egg as he will play an important role in the future of the war effort. Her final command is for her minsters to take on their first form and travel to the Turtle Realm as Vermonia is on the verdge of destruction. They do so and and once the queen is alone, she calls for Zanni. Frasinella gives her the squelp egg and with a final strike of her ancestral scepter, Queen Frasinella disappears.

Zanni leaves Vermonia with the egg and is confronted by Gazso, who tries to make him give her the egg. She immediantly declines and Gazso leaves, still highly confident in the power of Uro. The veras of Vermonia, shown as shooting stars are seen by Zanni which are heading to Blue Star.

Years pass and Naomi is skateboarding to the Lot to meet her friends. Doug and Jim, cut her short saying that Mel has locked them out of the Lot, their makeshift skate park. Mel begins arguing with Naomi who just wants to skateboard, but Mel insists that it is her father's doing and she had nothing to do with it. Naomi persuades Jim and Doug to head over the fence anyway and they all climb over to Mel's protest.

Some other children in the Lot are skateboarding. One wipes out, but Naomi stops them from crying by giving him a scarf that she had tied to her wrist and placing it on the cut. Naomi, Jim and Doug begin talking about their band, Veracity and the Unionfest: Battle of the Bands they hope to win. With the first prize as $5,000, they hope that it could contribute to building an actual skate park for the area. Their plan seems solid until they realize that Mel left the band not too long ago and she isn't interested in joining again.

They get interrupted by Mel while she attempts to do a double kickflip. Jim is sure that she will fall on her face, but she makes it to Jim's embarassment. Naomi skateboards up behind Mel and they begin to argue once again.

In a flashback it is revealed for why Mel left the band. It was not her intention, and she actually defended the band. But as her father was elected as mayor, she needed to be a good role model and keep her grades up, which were potentially being hindered by the band. She leaves the band giving no intention of this, leaving the others in the dark and damaging their friendships with her.

Naomi and the others leave the Lot and much later, Naomi goes to sleep. She seems to awaken in the Lot surrounded by a dark smoke underwater. She is grabbed by the dark force and is taken to a cave where she sees a boy being held in the air and being strangled by snakes. A large rock-like creature, General Uro appears and commands for the boy to accept his fate. He dubs the boy Captain Acidulous making him serve for his army. Uro gives the boy the mask of obedience which wraps around the boys face to his horror and screaming.

Naomi suddenly awakens lying on the floor. She tries to discard the nightmare by going out to skate, but meets with Doug who had the same dream. Confused, they head to the Lot to see Jim at the gate, who also had the same enounter. He also spots a strange light glowing from the inside of the Lot. They head over to see Mel waiting there. She tries to apologise but is interrupted by the odd light. Suddenly it becomes very windy and the light becomes very bright. A shadow appears behind Mel which forms into a tall monster which grabs Mel and renders her unconscious. Gazso appears alongside the monster clapping and commands for the monster to try and take the other teenagers also. His attack is blocked by Zanni's appearance and Gazso leaves, with the monster and Mel as his captive.

Zanni gives Naomi, Doug and Jim the egg which hatches into a Squelp. She gives little information, except for that he will be their guide and that he will help, but they must help him too. Zanni leaves to the teenagers' confusion and they begin talking to Satorin.

Satorin takes Jim, Doug and Naomi to the Turtle realm, to Naomi's protest and they arrive on a cliff edge overseeing mountains floating in the sky. Their realisation is interrupted by the monster from the Lot reapearring. Satorin summons the skateboards from Blue Star and they begin a chase. The monster catches up to them and in a panic, Satorin makes a mountain of rock appear which blocks the monster's attack. A forest appears behind them, which was also Satorin's doing, and they pass through it to escape the monster.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">They discover a clearing showing a village. Doug suddenly becomes faint and passes out. Satorin says that it must be the call of his spirit while Naomi and Jim are concerned for him. A girl suddenly appears from behind the forest. She introduces herself as Princess Rainbow of the Potonawi. Her village is the one they saw and she lets them take Doug there to recover.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">Doug dreams of walking in a cave with silver pillars surrounding him. He hears Raitetsu who calls to him and they meet. Raitetsu asks for Doug to free him and gives him a pledge to do so. Doug is confused and scared, he reawakens in a Potonawi tent, suddenly sitting up and hitting Jim squarely in the jaw.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">Rainbow appears with some food for Doug, who gladly accepts and suddenly is put off his appetite as he sees that the fish he was given, has legs. Jim and Doug begin to argue in the background while Naomi asks for where Satorin is. Rainbow tells her that he is with the Elder. Jim interrupts their conversation while lovestruck and Naomi hits him on the head telling him to stop being a jerk. Rainbow tells of how the place around them used to be full of life and spirits, but once the war came, they either had to flee or perish. Elder Grinda, Rainbow's grandmothers' magic is what kept Uro's soldiers away from the village up to now.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">They leave to meet Grinda, but as Doug stands, he sees that he is still wearing the Pledge of Raitetsu, which he was given to in the dream. He quickly tucks it away and leaves with his friends.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">While heading to the tent of meetings, a young Potonawi child, Azstar, confronts Naomi asking her whether they are they ones who will save them. Naomi is a little unsure on how to reply so Rainbow steps in reassuring Azstar that they are the ones from the prophecy. Azstar gives Naomi a bunch of flowers and runs away happily. Naomi is not sure on how to react and begins to question whether they are in fact the ones who these people are wanting in their time of need.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">They meet with Grinda and Doug immediantly recognises the Silver Tiger painting behind her. Grinda sees this and says that Doug and Raitetsu are in fact destined to meet to complete the circle of power. Each of the four teenagers will do so, as foretold in prophecy. Doug reveals his pledge. Grinda states that the guardian powers of the great mother, Frasinella, will summon each of the four and will be called to fight once they complete the circle. She shows them of the connected planets, Vermonia, Blue Star and the Turtle Realm along with war between Uro and Boros. Uro rebelled against the queen for her power and the Bolirium - of one who holds this will control the ebb and flow of all things. The war raged on for years and many lives were lost. Slowly, Uro's forces began to dominate and it became too much for the planet of Vermonia to handle, and it was engulfed by darkness and destroyed. Raitetsu is one of the four guardians who served the queen and that if all four guardians and veras worked as one, it would be the only hope of preventing the Bolirium from falling into Uro's hands.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">She shows the teenager's the sacred place of the Potonawi, the cave of the Queen where the prophecies have been written. They see that it all links together and they are in fact the four warriors chosen to save the planets. Their meeting is interrupted by an attack on the village. Rainbow leaves to protect the village and Jim follows.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">The attacker is the monster from before, once again trying to kidnap Naomi, Jim and Doug. Rainbow protects one of her injured villagers with a shield but Azstar gets caught in the conflict and is taken by the monster. Rainbow's shields weaken and she is nearly hit, until Jim tackles her and takes the blow. He is injured and Doug decides to step in. He yells "Back off!" and when he does so, a bolt of lightning hits the monster. The monster directs his attention to Doug and nearly hits him and Naomi. Doug attacks the monster again with a blast of thunder and lightning from the power of Raitetsu.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">Meanwhile, Mel is watching the fight from ber bubble prison in Uro's castle. She acknowledges her friends bravery and Gazso is watching the fight contently. He jokes with her saying that he could let her down for a closer look but he is cut short to Captain Acidulous entering the room. Gazso disappears quickly and as the momster is destroyed, the Captain falls to the ground in pain. Mel can only watch as he struggles. A woman enters seeing the Captain on the floor and tries to help but he quickly refuses, knowing that her touch would turn him to stone. He gets up and commands that she goes to meet the teenagers at the Mirror Shrine, where she will capture them with her power and bring them to Uro.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">The dust clears after the monsters defeat, Doug lies down, exhausted. Jim is injured, but is sitting up with Rainbow. Ginda leaves the tent and meets with them saying that they will now have to free Raitetsu from his hidden prison. Doug's pledge is pointing to the valley of Nagoub which is where they must follow.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">Doug, Naomi and Jim change their clothes into some enchanted Potonawi attire made by Grinda herself and recieve weapons from the tribe. They let Rainbow come with them and begin to set off.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">Captain Acidulous is still recovering from his ordeal. It is revealed that the creature that Doug destroyed was created from his blood and be pays the price every time that one is defeated. He knows that his life is in danger, but be cannot control it. He puts his thoughts at rest by pressing the eye of his mask, forcing him to obey. Mel watches this and sees that the Captain is getting weaker, Gazso begins talking to her and brings out a few puppets. He tells the story of Sassella, the stone monster. Everything she touched turned to stone, even her love is now a statue. She was despised and feared my many until General Uro took her in to serve him. The promise for her was that if she served, her curse would be lifted and she is now going to meet Mel's friends at the Mirror Shrine.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75em;line-height:20px;">Doug, Jim and Naomi arrive in the valley of Nagoub, following the direction of the pledge of Raitetsu. They spot Sassella in the mountains and she begins to attack. Naomi gets struck by her magic.

Reception
Quest for the Silver Tiger has an adverage of four out of five stars on Amazon and a 3.82 out of 5 on GoodReads

On Google Books, this installment has an adverage of 3.5 out of 5.

Quotes
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;">''"Though it is the end of our world, you must live. Know that there is a kind of sleep foretold. But there is also a new music of awakening for all of us." ''- Queen Frasinella

<p class="MsoNormal"> "Until we meet again, wise Suzaku. You will rise and view what the future holds.  My blessings upon you loyal Ruka. Go where the two rivers meet.  To our ultimate victory, my subtle Suiran. Protect them with your guile and speed.   Godspeed, brave Raitetsu. You will be first and will struggle most." - Queen Frasinella

''"Speed to Blue Star, my four veras of Vermonia. May you grow strong and brave." ''- Queen Frasinella

"Let the Mayor do what he wants. He can’t keep us out. Come on! No one can stop Veracity! We’re the best skaters and rockers on the planet." - Naomi

"Do you really think that we are the ones they’ve been waiting for? ‘cause the last time I looked, we were just three skaters with a band from Union City." -  Naomi

"We’ve been together since kindergarten. Skated together, hung out together, made music together. Now we’ve also fought together. We can do this. I know we can." - Naomi

"Every step we make toward unleashing the power of Raitetsu, will bring us one step closer to Mel." - Doug

"Power of the Silver Thunderbolt! Force of Raitetsu! Throw the thunder!" - Doug

"I’m not wasting my time with you losers anymore. I’ve got better things to do. I’m outta here. I quit!" - Mel

"They’re monsters, and they’re even monstrous to each other. I’m frightened… and sad for them too." - Mel

"Warriors of Blue Star: battle stations. It’s time to bring this war to Uro!" - Jim

''"There is no doubt of the truth of those words. You must avoid falling into Uro's hands. Each of you has only imperfect knowledge of the Boliruim's location. But as when the pieces of a torn map are put together, so will your combined knowledge reveal the secret." ''- Grinda

''"Fear me not, for I am your guardian, your power and your guide. I am the Silver Tiger, master of the silver thunderbolt and the iron will. You are the shooting star of my homeland. You must help me." ''- Raitetsu

Trivia
The characters written next to the page numbers in this issue relate to a puzzle in The Vault

The hidden numbers inside the dustjacket of the same issue also relates to another puzzle in The Vault