unsounded

12_41

Kinda rude, Duane. They'd called dibs on those corpses.

12_40(NSFW)

I saw some interesting speculation that Sette might flip out at the waterwomen since she's said they drowned her mother when she was an infant, but she doesn't have any memories of that, nor any drive to seek revenge. Her hometown is filthy with these critters. They're not much more special than water rats to her or Jivi.

Kickstarter 3 is Live!

Guys. Guys, here is the thing.  You get first crack at the limited stuff, I won't do a wide announcement until tonight's comic update.

Thanks for all your support! I have such nerves o_o

12_39

My favourite thing on this page is the tiny water child gnawing the dead soldier's shoe.  It rides a creepy/cute line that invigorates my soul.

Volume 1 Copies

I stumbled upon exactly four copies of the first print volume that I didn't know I had, so if you've been waiting for one, snatch it up now in the shop.  After these four are gone there won't be any more until Autumn. 

edit: And they're gone. Thanks, guy...

12_38

I enjoy how Aldish Duane is on the left, the neutral Quigleys and Uaid are in the middle, Crescian Jivi is on the far right, and indifferent Sette is not on the page at all.  Subtextual layouts are my jam, baby.

12_37

Some of the word balloons are definitely of uncertain origins in the upper half of this page but I was having so much fun drawing the carnage I couldn't make myself zoom in, ahaha, I have problems.

Thanks for all the feedback on the volume 3 cover! I have the video finished as well and the KS should go live next weekend. Nervous o_o

We're gettin' there!

Volume 3 cover. I left the sigil off Lady's bill but I might go back and add it. She's probably large enough to need at least the hint of it on the shadowed side.

I went and reread the three pertinent chapters today. 8 and 9 are largely fine as they are but there's a lot in 7 I want to punch up. I think the interiors of the Temple of Song should ...

12_36

Jivi's none too subtle here, but Sette hasn't given him many reasons to be kind. Luckily karma repays him with bloated corpses.

12_35

JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!

I think I'm going to have to only post one page next week, on Monday. There's no way in the world I'll make my self-imposed Kickstarter deadline if I don't dedicate a few days to it. Stay tuned.

12_34

Uaid and Matty are so happy on this page I don't even have words.

12_33(nsfw)

Meet Minnow: a waterwoman , a senet beast, an admirer of giant green feet. She hadn't seen a mountain ogre in centuries and, for a moment, thought Uaid was some kind of impossible survivor of the great sadness that made all the hillfolk lay down and die. Alas, she soon realises he's just a husk the spiderpaws have desecrated with their construction...

12_32

There's something so profane and wrong about Karl putting that barrette in her hair, but it popped up in my head years ago and wouldn't leave.  Cloying acts like that are so gross, so fake, and we know where that barrette came from, so it's even worse.

Karl diiiiie.

12_31

There are a few details on this page that you may one day look back on and moan, "Ohhhh," at. I can't imagine they'd stir too much suspicion at the moment though.

At least Karl's having a good time.

12_30

Bell's obviously a man with very traditional and somewhat understandable Crescian biases against Alderode but he doesn't seem like a megalomaniac or a strictly evil, insane person. When you learn that the memories of the dead are driving the weapon you want to use against your enemies, I think it makes sense to attribute that to your gods.

Bell d...

12_29

I kind of love and hate Emne's home. I don't think I could sleep there, too pink. Can you imagine Captain Toma perched on that couch though? Trying to read a book in that sitting room? Entertaining guests there? Nothing about his home life was ever in any way welcoming or explicable to him - except his daughter.

12_28

This'll be a pretty brief scene so we don't have to spend too long away from our main cast, but I had a lot of fun showing Cresce proper. Ethelmik was such a dinky bordertown, far away from the heart of Crescian elegance, but now we've gotten to see the Palace and here, still in the capital, is the Toma residence, a tacky explosion of colour and sh...

12_27

I almost don't think Quigley's Tainish requires a translation.

12_26

In the original script, Jivi was so startled by Duane's hand on his shoulder that he instinctively punched him in the face. I decided to shorten this scene way up - next page ends it - and so it was removed. A moment of silence for lost violence.

12_25

I gave myself a lot of challenging angles  on this page. It's always fun to think up strategies for laying out conversations that keep your eye moving around in interesting ways. It's fun to let the kids' personalities come out too, as they talk. Sette authoritatively kicking her way through the water. Matty very carefully climbing down the la...

12_24

It's fun to draw Uaid's interior all slovenly and kinda trashed. There are definitely a bunch of slobs squatting in there. Jivi is probably the tidiest of the bunch - he nagged Matty about cleaning up their breakfast mess - but he must have mostly given up early on trying to play den mother. At least the corpse stays down in the bilge.

12_22 & 23

I thought this was a pretty fun way to segue from the khert back to reality - and apt commentary about how positively powerless and played Duane may be feeling at the moment - but I am convinced people are going to read too deeply into it and theorize that Matty has reality-busting superpowers.

How is everyone? Did you have a good week?

12_21

With this page I have to go on haitus until March 10! Sorry, guys. I'm headed out of town and won't have access to my work computer. I WILL be taking drawing materials and my laptop however, so I can do some scriptwork and location design. I think Seattle might have some interesting scenery for the port town we'll inevitably wind up in.

But I do ...

12_20

Wandering Roots! Old friends! The fluffy cloud whales also bring me joy. I just all around like that middle shot of Olde Kasslyne.

12_19

I find this sort of musing very enjoyable to write, but I always worry that it makes readers restless. I think it's important to witness Duane reflecting on what he's seen and applying the philosophy of his religion to it. All these rotten events he's seen are affirmations that the Twin gods' world should not be allowed to continue. Mankind - and D...

12_18

It had been a while since I'd gotten to paint the khert, so I luxuriated in it for a while in that third panel.

Just a head's up but I'll be out of town for a week starting next Wednesday, so I won't be able to work on or post comic pages. I'll have my laptop though and should have plenty of travel time to wrangle Duane and Sette as they answer y...

12_17

Gratuitous grossness! You get to really see the yech.

12_16

That last panel was a lot of fun to do but if you didn't know the bits poking out of his top were thorny silver vines you might think they were assymmetrical and very prominent nipples. I noticed that as early as the sketch and refused to change it because I hate Duane Adelier!

Additionally, I forgot his Lions of Mercy emblem on the previous page...

12_15

Lemuel doesn't look terribly convinced of what he's saying. Our new Black Tongue friend's pretty passionate though!

12_14

I rather like that Hero Shot of Duane in the fifth panel. He's very much the haughty warrior of God on this page, a role I imagine he quite misses.