Smokeless Fire - Medieval Fantasy

[SubLimePie]

Welcome! Expect intrigue, political plots, character development, and adventure as we follow the story behind Eisenland's civil turmoil and what lies beneath.

Mainly started as a project to make me competent at Inkscape, the story developed a mind of its own, and it bothers me to not give it tangible form. So out of guilt/irritation I'll be updating steadily, but maybe not frequently.

Thought I received enough critiques from the Arts and Crafts thread (they're always welcome though) and created enough pages to put it here now.

Archive:

Spoiler

Show

1 - Off on the wrong foot
2 - Well that was easy
3 - Finally, some names~ Map of Elysium
4 - The City of Magic~City without text
5 - Unapologetic Heavy Handed Exposition
6 - Draconian values~Throne room
7 - Private consultation~Panorama exit

[super dark33]

Nice art!
this looks like it would intrest me.

[Drakeburn]

That is a pretty good looking and interesting comic you have there.

Keep up the good work!

[Teutonic Knight]

You remind me of me, haha, what with the world map and city splash page, but while I did it for consistency of game mechanics, it was a natural part of your comic.

Very nice art and keep up the good work.

[SubLimePie]

Delays imminent, art evolution in progress .

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

Subbed! I look forward to this development in both plot and art, especially after seeing what Inkscape is capable of (city splash).

[Sabeki]

I like! Subbed.

[OverdrivePrime]

Good stuff! There are some really fun details in your work. "Sopo Rifik Inn" ^___^

[Doorhandle]

Watching this!

...Watching like a hawk. TWO hawks. With smaller keener-eyed hawks where their eyes should be.

[SubLimePie]

Update (#6)!

Say hello to new cast member, Prince Paris (name not explicitly mentioned yet)


Experimented with lighting effects and the "Difference" tool under Inkscape - so useful for windows and frames!

[Doorhandle]

...Pretty sure this prince is evil.

Unless he's actually a good guy with an unusual life philosophy. Could happen.

[t209]

The Prince kinda remind me of the recent blue haired lord from a nintendo strategy game.

[OhMyGodImOnFire]

The Prince kinda remind me of the recent blue haired lord from a nintendo strategy game.

Chrom, from Fire Emblem: Awakening? It does, doesn't it?

[SubLimePie]

Hehehe, this world has more of a grey and gray morality, everyone has their own reasons for whatever they do...

And yup, a theme of this webcomic is that some characters' designs are based on a popular figure, but their personalities may or may not be totally different from the origin character.
Part of the fun is figuring out which character is which, and I promise you they'll get harder :P.

P.S. He's not "evil"

(of course they could just change their clothes)

[Sabeki]

yay for uncertain morality! I like the act the ambitious fuy isn't evil for once.

[t209]

Hehehe, this world has more of a grey and gray morality, everyone has their own reasons for whatever they do...

And yup, a theme of this webcomic is that some characters' designs are based on a popular figure, but their personalities may or may not be totally different from the origin character.
Part of the fun is figuring out which character is which, and I promise you they'll get harder :P.

P.S. He's not "evil"

(of course they could just change their clothes)

Hope that he's same as the guy who ruled a city with Egyptian Name.
I am the Man, I have the Vote.

[Prince Zahn]

I like the art (like just about everyone else here), I'll stick around, likely in the shadows.

keep going!

[SubLimePie]

Redone lore on pages 4 and 6!
Page 7 coming soon, so watch out for these new characters:
Trajan the Consul

Sir Jack the Turnip Knight

[t209]

Redone lore on pages 4 and 6!
Page 7 coming soon, so watch out for these new characters:

Spoiler

Show

Trajan the Consul

Sir Jack the Turnip Knight

Trajan as in the Roman Emperor during Five Good (in Roman sense) Emperors?
edit: Note that I put spoilers to keep the image contained, as told in the rules of this forum.

[SubLimePie]

New page (#7) is up!
@t209 Yes the consul was named after him , with Draconia adopting a likeness to our Byzantine and Roman empire.
The huge marble columns and the simple yet grand architecture reminds me of our classical era.
I hope the images I'm posting are small enough to be excused without spoilers :0 (I thought images are allowed raw as long as they're not too large)?

I redid the exposition on the city scene (#4) to give a little history of the Elysian nations.
0AC Eisenland was like our Roman empire, which fell to internal strife and barbarians - enter the "dark age".
That's 600AC (after conquest) Eisenland: barbaric and crude, with technology having regressed to remove highways, sewage systems (gross), and other public works that allow for urbanization.
The empire's been splintered into warring houses, each led by a warlord vying for power over the remnant territory.

[Doorhandle]

So that's why Hefistaestus* was holding up random nobles...
Plot is thickening.


*Nicknames will continue until I can remember his name. Also, this may be helpful for his dialog.

[gurgleflep]

It's been a while since an update, I hope everything's alright.

[Cuthalion]

It's been a while since an update, I hope everything's alright.

She said she wouldn't be doing much of any art until next summer, as I recall.

[gurgleflep]

Dang :/ I've got 3/4ths of a year or so wait then.

[Solse]

Your art -- it's amazing!!!!
My attempts at art look like Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. I do not kid.

[SubLimePie]

Yup, sorry about this x__x,
Engineering science is quite intense (~40h/week of instruction)
And then there's robotics and aeronautics club...

[MethosH]

Hopefully you will get back to this. It was quite interesting.

[Doorhandle]

Dang :/ I've got 3/4ths of a year or so wait then.

Wait, which hemisphere? Summer has almost started over here!

[gurgleflep]

Wait, which hemisphere? Summer has almost started over here!

Northern hemisphere. I live in the United States (Missouri to be specific) and she lives in Canada, our neighbors to the north
And I see you're from Australia. I have a couple friends from there