Printable View
A thought occurs. Just because I don't have access to my current templates at the moment, it doesn't mean I can't "draw" anything.
To that end, here's another part of the story. If all goes to plan, I should be able to work on both parts at the same time, given that the two are set quite some time apart.
-Act VI -- The Second Rift-
Comic #0000 -- Cover
Comic #0001 -- Jailbreak
Big comics. Maybe try resizing them in the future?
I would, but I prefer working in B4 over A4 -- A4 just feels more cramped. Are they stretching screens at that size, though?
While I can view the whole comic if I move the page over, I had meant resizing the image after you were done making it. Might not be possible i guess; I just remembered that resizing images like that doesn't always turn out nice.
Well, I've got my template file back so Act III can continue, but this comic practically wrote itself at work so I had to comply with its desire.
Act VI
Comic #0002 -- Starfleet Reject
Edit: Forgot spoiler tags.
Also, light sources!
Remember when I said I was saving the rest of the Prologue for later?
This is why.
-Act VI-
Comic #0003 -- Our Elves are Better
O noes! A naked elf! :smalleek:
uhh.... seems feral.
That's Elves for you. They're "creatures of the forest" taken to the nth degree. Elves are literally animals in humanoid form. Humans often try to enslave them -- sometimes attempting to take them as sexual slaves -- but an Elf can never be tamed or broken. All it takes is a single moment of laxity and the Elf will break free from their chains and descend upon their former owner and everyone in the area with their characteristic frenzy, sating whatever urges they have at the time -- usually involving tearing out the throats of the living with their teeth.
That one -- the one in the comic at the moment -- can only speak due to the effects of magic. After all, it's easier to terrify your enemies if your pet monsters can articulate their desires when you unleash them.
On another note, it appears the Calligraphy tool lags Inkscape.
A bit of a quick one, but meh -- Ahma gets to destroy something and that's fine by me. :P
-Act VI-
Comic #0004 -- Insurance Policies
Awesome. :smallbiggrin:
Back to Act III for now. If all goes well for him, Luja might finally be on his way out of Lorrel without incident.
But then again, Salamanders and Goblins can both smell magic... and even if they don't discover him, the path that leads him home has one last trick to play regardless.
-Act III-
Comic #0020 -- Trousers are Difficult Sometimes
-Salamanders-
Spoiler
Their bodies infused with raw Fire magic, Salamanders are Humans whose bodies were altered by the power that overwhelmed them. Just like Orcs, Dwarves and Goblins, they are not welcome on Mancurian soil and often treated as test subjects in Krenya.
A common stereotype of a Salamander is of an emotionally-charged, angry thug brimming with hate. A recent scientific study on the subject has put forth a number of potential answers -- first, that there are certain qualities and traits innate to each type of magic, and overexposure brings out those same traits in the living.
Second, that the presence of such stereotypes regarding each type of magic in the first place is what causes individuals to believe they are being mentally altered as such, thus they come to embody those traits simply because they think they are.
Third, that it's all a load of Troglodyte dung.
Not quite the clean getaway he hoped for then. :smalltongue:
One thing about Luja -- bad things seem to happen when he's around, whether to himself or to others. One might even suspect there to be a reason behind it all...
Edit: And no, that's not anything to do with the Fourth Wall. Estra's Fourth Wall is perfectly, completely intact. No, this is an entirely in-universe hint... and it has something to do with the nature of the Creator.
You'll be seeing a lot more of the Kill Counter in the future. It will rarely have a question mark.
-Act VI-
Comic #0005 -- Critical Failure
You know. Filling up your entire comic with the color red is cheating.
I prefer to refer to it as "creative use of opacity, gradients and blur". :P
Alright, analyzing this comic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blayze
The death toll counter. From the events of the comic itself, one would have no reason to doubt the deaths of the two crewmembers. The device has been stated to be dangerous, and it's killbeams were filling up the hallway.
But by placing the question mark there, you imply that one or more of the crewmembers still lives. Nobody would have wondered had you not placed the question mark, or had you left the counter off entierly.
Unless, of course, you are just screwing with us, and they are both dead.
What an idiot. I mean, sure, it was a powerful weapon and whatnot, but it lacks the "Oomph" of dying by explosive. :smalltongue:
One word: Boolean.Quote:
Unless, of course, you are just screwing with us, and they are both dead.
Just wait until you see what it does to the rest of the ship. Prototypes are dangerous for a reason, especially ones invented by Gretchi. There's a reason the threat of it being used was enough to get Rugar out of bed to help.Quote:
What an idiot. I mean, sure, it was a powerful weapon and whatnot, but it lacks the "Oomph" of dying by explosive.
A thought occurred to me the other day: I believe my characters are too large, and of slightly improper proportions to suit OotS-style effectively. After all, I seem to be getting fewer and fewer panels these days and they seem to be getting larger and larger. Let's see if I can fix that.
Also, I've altered the page size to what I assume is roughly a Rich standard -- 700px x 937px. Even with the white space Rich fits around his comics, it should still be plenty of space for me.
Let's do this.
-Act VI: The Second Rift-
Comic #0006 -- Operation Pyrrhus
Slightly confused as to what happened the last couple of panels.
Looks like I'll need to add a "Three years previously..." box somewhere in the second-to-last panel, and make it more obvious that she's in jail.
Operation Phyruss dosn't sound like it will end well. My guess is that it will succeed, but at too great a cost.
It's just a fancy name for a Scorched Earth policy -- but since this is the future, it involves more explosions and lasers.
Anyway, I've replaced 2_6 with the new version. Does it make more sense now, Memnarch? :)
Yep! Much more sense more. :smallsmile:
-Act VI-
Comic #0007 -- Divide and Conquer
Experimented with the "Negative" option in Inkscape. I think it turned out rather well. Also, more naked Elves. And feel free to hate me on the Death Counter. :D
Where did the knife come from?
From an invisible assassin. On the ceiling. :)
Edit: Worked him into the comic. Also, removed Ayanna's "glowy arm" magic effect as it looked stupid and added the assassin's death into the Counter. :)
Time for a minor infodump, methinks.
---
-Elemental Overlap-
Scrayal is the Elemental of Fire. As a result, he can cast spells of Fire, Magma and Temperature.
Ayanna was the Elemental of Air. As a result, she could cast spells of Air, Weather and Druidism.
Jozam is the Elemental of Earth. As a result, he can cast spells of Earth, Druidism and Magma.
Vae is the Elemental of Water. As a result, she can cast spells of Water, Temperature and Weather.
Despite their very natures locking them out of casting spells from other Elements, the Elementals do enjoy some overlap with each other. For example, Scrayal is the Elemental of Fire. As a result, he can cast Fire spells. However, he can *also* manipulate temperature -- a feat Vae, as the Elemental of Water, can also replicate. Though the majority of her known spells are used to make things colder and his make things warmer, all it takes is a few alterations to the structure of a spell and they can do the exact opposite roughly as well as their counterpart can.
Just as the results can vary depending on which Elemental attempts a particular spell, the methods they use to create the same effects differ as well. For example, both Jozam and Scrayal can manipulate magma. In Jozam's case, he drags the magma up from underground. Scrayal, however, must superheat available ground and stone and hope it moves where he wants it to. Vae and Ayanna each manipulate weather patterns in their own way. For example, Ayanna could cause torrential rain by manipulating rainclouds, whereas Vae can replicate a hurricane or cause thunder and lightning by dragging those same clouds around by the water they contain.
Finally, although Druidic magic is an offshoot of Earth magic, Ayanna proved capable of replicating roughly half of its spells using her own methods. Quite how she did it is unclear, and when asked she would always reply that she was "under an NDA".
-Spell Spotlight-
Name: Light of a Thousand Stars
Nicknames: Corona, Sunspot, Starflare, over a thousand other unimaginative other nicknames using words such as "sun", "star", "flare", "shine", "glow", "moon", "glory" and "light".
Element: Earth/Druidic
Description: An extreme variation of a classic Earth spell used to enhance photosynthesis, this spell is used primarily to blind opponents. However, certain casters -- those with access to incredible stockpiles of mana -- can use it to incinerate enemies outright, burning and searing every cell and atom of their bodies into oblivion.
Origin: When the Earth Aspect's home of Earthhenge was razed to the ground by Krenyan forces during the Mage War, Belderoc and Arianna deVan found themselves trapped in the lower levels of the burning fortress. They survived and escaped thanks to their own ingenuity, especially when it came to alternate applications for many of their non-combat spells. This is one of the spells they "discovered".
-Act VI-
Comic #0008 -- Scrayal's Betrayal
Trousers just seem to get more and more difficult to draw. :P