Dan Dare Never Flew a Macross

Update and Things

2011-12-24T06:22:00.001-08:00

I know probably nobody visits this blog, but on the off chance you've stumbled across here I thought I'd do a small update for the year ahead.

Currently planning on doing a Jenny Nowhere comic stip in the new year. THE FIRST OF ITS KIND, as far as I know. Dnd should be starting again soon, so expect recaps. Also working on writing a novel at the moment, and It is going quite well. If that goes anywhere I will update its progress here. Guitar on the other hand, I'm struggling with. Finaly Hospital Radio Haven is still off air for the upgrades, but we should be back soon.

Finally a small christmas comic for you all. You can see a bigger verions on my Deviantart page http://elpresedente.deviantart.com/

Down the Water Spout: The Sand and the Dead it Left in its Wake - Part 2

2011-11-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

Chapter Four
What're You Farrowing Looking At?

“And lo, let there come a time after one thousand sunsets, when nothing exists but the dust and the sand. When all is gone but the primitives who know not the legacy they breed. Let the faithful be fallen, and let the unfaithful be cursed, and let the blood of both be spread about the land.
And lo, after ten thousand sunsets let the prophecy be fulfilled. Let grief break the soul of a man of steel, and in his grief may he seek solace with the queen. May the man of steel exile those faithful to him, and corrupt those who doubt, and may the dark magics infect the land to bring together the blood of the faithful and unfaithful alike.
And lo, the blood shall turn back time, and all will blossom again.”
- Partial, possibly bastardized translation of ancient Caeorian texts.

Ok, so this session the group set about trying to find a way to foil the King's plan. We unanimously agree that we have to make sure that the descendants of the drow generals are secure, despite the DM trying to imply that we should we doing something else. However, every time we attempted to contact one of the descendants there would be a strange throbbing sound, followed by the appearance of the reincarnated Farrow, with all his deadly powers.

Farrow forces us to do battle with duplicates of our characters, which proves rather challenging as each battle was a one on one. Intermittent with these encounters, its finally revealed that Nero is actually the Kings brother, explaining why everyone was always acting shifty around him. As the DM later pointed out, this was meant to be a massive WHAM moment that we were supposed to uncover ourselves, but either through our fault or the DM's, it never worked out that way. Something I'll have to take note of for when I do my next campaign. We also find out that the whole affair appears to be a scheme to fulfill the ritual to incarnate Lolth.

After several encounters the group decides to commender an airship to attempt to gain the high ground advantage. Rather than attempt to persuade the aviators, Megi and Azreal decide the best bet is just to murder people for it. It's all for naught though, as once again Farrow shows up to burst our proverbial bubble and send us crashing back to the ground.

Chapter Five
Chasing Shadows with Light

“The al'Kah citadel had numerous defenses. The standard unclimbable walls, towers, battlements, portcullises, boiling oil. During the King's madness however, it had become increasingly difficult to find many soldiers willing to take guard duty. Most had fled to join the various opportunistic city states, or become mercenaries. The King had to come up with a new solution. Fortunately his recent pact with the dark arts meant that he could summon a shield capable of holding back all those who were not of his blood.
Blood though, as we know, liked to make its own rules in Caeoria.”
- James Mycroft – Magic fortifications I have had the pleasure of Adapting.

Enough was enough. Word had just come in that the plan had pretty much failed and Cardia, Jingo and the rest had all fallen prey to Farrow and had been captured. It was decided an all or nothing assault on the keep was required. The gates were sealed by a magical shield, but our wilely ways allowed us to scale the wall, impossible though it may seem. Zantir used her magic pipes again to dominate the guards, but it wasn't long before more arrived. Nero gets taken prisoner and the rest of the group get thrown over the wall, back into the sand.
A new approach was needed. Cardia may have been captured, but her mask was likely still free. Knowing that combining the two could unleash great power, Zantir, Azreal and Megi all head to the swamps, and are greeted once again by Cardia's former aide. Without Cardia the undead had now all gone nuts, but were no match for the now seasoned fighters.

The swamp folk reveal that Nero has power over his brothers magics, and if invited into the keep verbally, the group will be able to walk right in. Farrow had to be dealt with first though, and had once again hunted them down. Combining the masks creates three magic rings from the jewels in the eyes, as well as grants the wearers unique items. Zantir gets armour, Megi a staff, and Azreal a... *sigh*... new 'smashy board'. This gives them the edge over Farrow, who draws his power from a giant crystal. One combat encounter later and the dieing Farrow regains his humanity, leaving a final message for Nero.

Chapter Six
Scene Missing

“Why didn't you tell me earlier? It now all makes perfect sense!”

Chapter Seven
The Amazing Journey of Thomas Armstrong

“Incident Report 15-05-2011. T. Armstrong. Haz. Lab 74. Fallowfields Site. Strange occurrence in the lab today. One of the cultures quarantine had been breached, or so it seemed. While the integrity was at one hundred percent, somehow a sandy or dusty substance had appeared within. No conclusion as to how it got there, but the entire lab had to be purged just in case.

Incident Report 20-05-2011. T. Armstrong. Haz. Lab 77. Fallowfields Site. Another occurrence today, now more serious, one of the technicians reported hearing voices in a totally quarantined lab. Checked comms and they all checked out. Coincides with reports from other labs too, but they were dismissed. Winters swears blind that the voices were not on the comms and came from outside his suit. Comms pick up the voices too, but the dialect is indistinguishable. Possible Terrorist threat. Report Filed. Lethal defenses requested.

Incident Report 24-05-2011. F. Gordon. Haz. Lab 77. Fallowfields Site. Serious security breach. Strange environmental occurrence in one of the labs while technician Armstrong was present and armed. Strange light based anomalies and wind/rain like anomalies. Armstrong was engulfed but no remains suggest he was removed somehow. Armstrong possibly linked with Terrorist threat. Report Filed.”

It was time to assault the keep proper this time. Megi had managed to sneak her familiar into the keep to get an invitation from Nero to allow the defenses to be breached. Inside, Raz al'Kah looms sinisterly from balconies, awaiting the group's approach. Checking the dungeons, they manage to find Nero who'd been pacified by the King through large quantities of opium. Consequently Nero was of little use beyond incredibly stoned stuttering. Further investigation leads to the discovery of a guy in a hazmat suit.

This is where it all starts to get a little hazey, and science fictioney. We're told that Tom was a lab technician working in a microbiotics lab somewhere near Manchester. Its unclear if this was supposed to be linked to the story, the main explanation behind it, or just an excuse for the DM to get some use out of his Mr Freeze model. Regardless, Tom is freed and grants Zantir the use of the gun, to which I decide to have her shoot Tom on the basis that Zantir judged him clearly out of his mind. The DM decided to give him story based invulnerability however, and my attempt to cauterize the non fantasy elements failed. Moving on though, Raz still awaited.
Encountering him naturally consisted of Diplomacy-Mad Ramblings-Combat Encounter. And this time the combat encounter was to consist of a goddess herself.

Great.

Chapter Seven
Habeus Scorpus

“Through the winds of the asteral planes! To the edge of the immaterial! A call went out. Was it conscious? Was it unconscious? Who can say? But it summoned our hero from his eternal slumber, to hark the call. The call of Ioun! He was needed, Oh brave and fearless Damon. Justice needed to be served one more time. How better to serve eternity than to return to his friends to grant them the power. His power. Ioun's searing light would purge the shadows all across the lands of Caeoria.
While the company of heroes battled the great spider queen's avatar, their plight almost helpless. Damon returned, for a fleeting moment, and gave them the power of the light. It is said that all across the land, sleeping children heard his battle cry:
'Cascade of Light Bitches!'”
- 'Tripshot' Murphy – The New Adventures of Damon: The Adventures of Damon Volume 3

Lolth rises, a big spider woman thing you'd exactly expect her to be. Rather fittingly the DM decided to represent her as one of the Transformers range, not sure which one, but it was female and a spider so actually worked really well as a visualization.

The battle took a lot of hard graft. First the group had to face Raz and Lolth's avatar. In true RPG style the battle is always more than it initially looks, and upon defeat the avatar transformed into a vision of Jingo, and upon his defeat into a vision of Cardia, and so forth. Since this was the final battle we threw everything we had at her, and for balance as usual the DM would come up with a few things to even the playing field. Restoring some of our powers and having a visitation of the recently deceased Damon pop by to grant us all the use of his overkill power, Cascade of Light.

Finally the evil was put to rest, the land restored and the day saved. Jingo, Cardia and the others arrive to polish off any final plot holes, conveniently sweeping Tom down a portal shaped one. Through rules of regicide Jingo claims the crown, avoiding any Scorpion King comparisons. Megi, Zantir and Azreal are rewarded with wealth, and Jingo commands Nero to go and travel and have other adventures, with Cardia deciding to tag along as well.

Unsure as to how long this session was going to take I'd planned a 'done in one' Campaign which we never got time to do. May turn it into a short story, so watch this space and you might soon see 'A funny thing happened on the way to Andavia'.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I enjoyed the campaign. Could have been more consistent.

“Regicide. Seen as a dirty word by some, but still a legitimate method of securing the throne. Not many were happy with Jingo's ascension, not least the neighboring nations that had to cope with the unreasonable fact that they had to become diplomatically involved with a centuries old Elf/Scorpion hybrid. Things calmed down in Ceaoria itself, but as always, its future was as certain as its own shifting sands.”
Zantir Xanderfell – Caeoria: The Land the Gods Forgot

“Azreal returned to Andavia with the wealth rewarded to him for his deeds in Caeoria, which was almost immediately reclaimed by his order. Shortly after, his affairs would mostly involve menial tasks at the chapter house. Things would begin to escalate however. In need of action that would put him back in good graces with the order, Azreal soon found himself wound up in politics, a messy and dangerous world for a paladin.”
- Tomas of the order of Bahamut – Oh Shining Day!: The Exalted of Bahamut

“Megi's standing in court was almost insufferable for her contemporaries. Farrel had never made any excursions into Caeorian territory and now a this young upstart mage had walked right into a regime change, singlehandedly increasing the nations standing to an otherwise unknown state. With the political climate in flux Megi had achieved the image of a major player within the space of a couple of months. Her success was to be a double edged sword though, as the cutthroat environment of Farrel's society would have a way of turning back on her.”
- Crispin Lennon – I Don't Want to Spoil the Party: Famous Farrelites

“'Caeoria: The Land the Gods Forgot' became a small time literary sensation amongst the realms of man. Zantir, despite her beginnings, had become the talk of many a nobles court, and was soon in demand as a biographer. Zantir wanted nothing to do with these people, and hated that fact that these people, who she was attempting to be in contempt of, became her biggest fans. She withdrew from the limelight for a while, until former soldier Jocasta Lacroix began pestering her to investigate corruption within the Knightly orders. Events would soon show there was more to this suspicion than simple corruption.”
- Rupert Brooks – Voices in the Darkness: The early realms Chroniclers

“As for Nero Celesious Kah. Well... the man had seen more than a man had any right to see. His nation torn apart, his family destroyed. Jingo never intended him to be outright exiled, but Nero took it as such, ultimately seeing it for his own good. Stories of the exiled prince soon began to circulate. Some said he would travel the land doing good deeds, while others claimed he would simply be found drowning his sorrows in intermittent inns. Whatever the truth, Nero still had a full life ahead of him, and a warrior of his skills would find it difficult to stay away from destiny for too long.”
- Bostock Conroy – Family Histories

So that was that. Next stop my campaign, which has multiple player characters, dozens of NPC's, meandering quests and a globe trotting story. Its either going to be brilliant or crash and burn horribly. Can't wait, see you then!

Too Damn Hot Today: The Sand and the Dead It Left in its Wake - Part One

2011-11-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

“When the offer came to investigate strange goings on in Caeoria It seemed as though providence was smiling on me. There was little reported on the collection of city states stranded in the middle of a harsh desert, so any information I could obtain to put to paper would be of great interest to scholars and librarians the realms over. It would also make me a lot of money. The reality of the experience however... well, lets just say that had I known what these 'strange goings on' would escalate to, I'd have probably stayed in Andavia.
What we did discover in Caeoria though, I can safely say, was widespread systematic corruption running all the way to the top. Backwards through time.”
- Zantir Xanderfell – Caeoria: The Land the Gods Forgot

Here we are again. Another new campaign, another opportunity for a well made plan to go out of the window, for both the characters and the DM. This would now be our forth campaign, my third playing a character, and like the others it was dogged with the problem (which Penny Arcade readers will be abundantly aware) of trying to get four men in their twenties together for one night a week which doesn't involve a pub. The DM's own planning for the campaign was pretty tight, but we would go weeks and sometimes nearly a month between sessions, making it hard to remember what the plan was. We all tried our best though. The roots for this campaign began at the end of the last, with two new characters arriving at Damon's funeral. The first, and arguably most important was the DM's guest NPC, Nero.

“Ask anyone about Nero and they'll tell you there just wasn't something quite right about him. For an adventurer I mean. He certainly had the skills, the smarts for the job. As a ranger he was as good as I've seen. But his attitude, he had this sort of... too perfect a hero sort of aura. I mean most adventurers have a part of them that want to do the right thing, or at least work for someone who wants to do the right thing, but by and large its a full time job for them. The average adventurer is in it for the money and the treasure and the respect. They won't go out there and rescue some princess without the expectation that they're going to get some nookie at the end of it.
But Nero he was different, like the money and the respect and all that didn't mean a thing to him, he was out to do the right thing. Which meant that he was either part of that rare breed that are genuinely honest or stupid and out there to do good deeds for the sake of doing them, or he had some serious funding coming from somewhere.”
- Unknown – From an interview in Who's Who of the Realms

Nero was a human ranger hailing from Caeoria, a far away desert land occupied by an apparently Scottish accented culture. Nero was styled to be similar in looks and mannerisms to David Tennant, hence the Scottish accent. The DM dropped the accent about half way into the first session, which I thought was a shame, but he was the boss. Like Megi in the last campaign, Nero being a DM character meant that he didn't get much room to express his personality, and we'll touch upon this later because Nero had a BIG SECRET that we were supposed to uncover gradually, but ended up not coming out as planned.

“ Zantir Xanderfell. Cultist. Militant. Politician.. Journalist. As far as careers go she's had a rather varied one. Part of a minor race of green skinned 'dark elves' who lost their souls due to a centuries old elven curse. Like most of her contemporaries, the fact that her soul had now passed on to the astral plane for judgment meant that any actions they now took within life had no bearing on what fate awaited their souls. She fell in with the usual group of raiders and deviants, with the usual 'fallen elf' fair of spikes, straps, whips, clips, zips and chains. This went on for a couple of centuries.
Eventually though Zantir would become one of the few to turn to good rather than evil, since extremes of either would have no bearing on whatever treatment her soul would be getting from the divine. She turned to politics, and was an instigator of the Reunification Wars, which in the end achieved very little beside even more strained relations between the elves. She was finally double crossed and deposed by a goblin general. Disgusted by how the political system had let her down, Zantir left to chronicle and publicize examples of corruption throughout the realms. Prior to Ceaoria, she had already exposed illegal peddling of opiates by those high in Andavain society, overcoming the prejudice that the human city had originally shown her.”
- Rupert Brooks – Voices in the Darkness: The early realms Chroniclers

Never being one to sit on a character for more than one campaign, I switched again to a new one. Zantir came from a wide range of influences. I'm ever nostalgic for the old Baldurs Gate/Icewind Dale games, especially that you could choose outlandish skin colors regardless of the race you picked. I'd wanted to create a green skinned elf lady since playing Age of Wonders years ago, but never got the opportunity.
I'd started playing Age of Wonders again on a nostalgia trip, and created Zantir as a player character. When our campaign began I wanted to have a try with bard, but she didn't seem to be the lute playing type. So I made Zantir essentially a female, green , elf version of Christopher Ecclestone's character from Our Friends in the North. A disillusioned individual that turned to journalism to expose the failings of the system that let them down. Also, I have just realised that we're two characters in and both are based on ex Doctor Who actors!

“Megi was now well respected in Farrelite society. If she wished she likely could have lived off her status, comfortable and content. She knew better though, since on Farrel, if your not constantly out finding ways to keep above your rivals, you'll end up with a knife in your back. Having been recently associated with Damon of Ioun, she had met with the mysterious Nero who offered a grand adventure in the faraway land of Caeoria.. Looking into the records of the Farrel grand library, Megi found that Caeoria was practically untapped for its arcane mysteries.
In the interim before the expedition, Megi cavorted around court, partaking in the usual mental and social shadow boxing that Farrel was notorious for. Her rank and status meant that she could obtain many diplomatic documents that meant traversing the nations would not be a problem, and that she would be shown the due respect, or so she expected. On a foggy Farrel morning she set sail to rendezvous with Nero, palms tingling with the anticipation of what power would be up for grabs.”
- Crispin Lennon – I Don't Want to Spoil the Party: Famous Farrelites

Now no longer a DM character Megi was on top form, and by top form I mean doing everything she could to get first dibs on loot. Unsurprisingly her player was the same who had Trust in the earlier campaigns. Megi did fortunately have her diplomatic status to get us out of (or in to) a few problems, but by and large most of the time the other characters couldn't shake the feeling she was trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else. Despite the fact that it was Zantir who was the 'dark' one and supposed to essentially have a sadistic streak, in the face of Megi she was positively the grounded one. As with Trust before her, torture and murder was the order of the day, and it still didn't get us any further in the long run.

“Azreal of the Order of Bahamut. You are accused of the following sins against the Church of Bahamut: Gambling. Gambling with estates and property bestowed upon you by the church. Gambling and losing estates and property bestowed upon you by the church. Sentence: Demotion to Paladin Errant. You will not be granted replacement lands proportioned to those lost lost. Recommended penance: Follow the orders creed of performing good deeds of valor and charity, and if possible obtain funds with which the church estates can be repurchased. You're current judgment is pending. For the great Blue Dragon God, go in glory.”
- Holy Order Decree sealed by Chief Justicar McNulty

Our final player decided to switch back to Azreal this chaplain after finding Lerissa the warlock a little difficult, however he soon met with more frustration as Megi, despite being a mage, seemed to be able to take more damage than Azreal could, and he was supposed to be the tank. Personality wise, this was the same old Azreal, saying very little and voting for the most direct, violent course of action possible. Hitting things with his “smashy board” as he would put it.

So thats our line up, and the campaign begins proper at Nero's behest.

Chapter One
Baby It Could Be Worse

“The land of Ceaoria was not a nation as such but more of a collection of states. While ruled by a king, the prime responsibility of administration was left to rulers of the separate cities. It was fortunate then that when madness gripped King Raz al'Kah after the death of his wife that the cities could continue to function independently without his guidance.
Not so fortunate however was that in his grief and dabbling with ancient magic, the King had cursed the nation with a plague of undead wanderers, mindless and deadly. To compound matters, several of the independent rulers jumped at the opportunity to expand their own mini empires.”
Zantir Xanderfell – Caeoria: The Land the Gods Forgot

Our session begins with Nero regrouping with his former mentor Farrow, who is suffering from a deadly poison. A solution is proposed by obtaining the antidote from local cleverman Viqtor Zheng, who resides in the cities library. Despite the obvious signposting, Megi is convinced that it can be circumnavigated by simply killing Farrow then bring him back using a raise dead ritual. After some heated debate, Nero states that the death magic within the poison would negate such a ritual. Megi eventually drops the idea, but this would not be the last time she'd try and get round a problem by suggesting this solution.
Once the group arrive at the library, they find Zheng wrapped in grief. It turns out that his baby son had been kidnapped by local despot and nutter Marix. Megi once again suggests offing Zheng and looking for the antidote themselves, and while supposed paragon of justice Azreal sees no problem with this, Nero is starting to think that recruiting Megi was not such a good idea after all. During this sequence, our DM full on dramatised Zheng's tearful state, to such a point that we were all unsure what was in game and what wasn't. Brilliant.
The son had to be obtained from Marix, so the group then head to his city, Marix, which does not fill you with confidence in a mans sanity. Through the desert a few of the dead need to be contended with, and upon arrival at the city fail to convince the guards to let them in. Megi tries to flaunt her diplomatic papers, but in the end it falls to Zantir to use her magic pipes to dominate the guards and let them pass. When they meet Marix, they find he'd covered the baby with tattoos, and babbles nonsense about dark prophesies, as these types of people do, and is suspiciously mistrustful of Nero.
The session finishes with Marix eventually agreeing to part with, but would only do so if someone would stay with him. Zantir agrees to stay, on the grounds that she seems to be the only one to take his stories seriously.

Chapter Two
I'm sorry but I haven't got a Clue

“The swamp people are an affront to civilized society. They have no concept of trade or economy, and no practice at all regarding hygiene. They do not recognise their betters and have still not submitted to leadership of an organized government. They call themselves Caeorians but they have no right to use this name. Living side by side with those 'frog people' they contribute nothing but the spread of superstition and paganism. Worse of them all is this so called 'Queen of the Zombies', who says that the walking dead can be tempered and put to good use. It is the work of devils, and they are a hellish people.”
Lester Gryphon – An open letter to the people of Ceaoria regarding the occupation of the marshlands.

Zheng grants the antidote in return for his son, and Farrow is cured. Fortunes turn however when Farrow falls foul of the Kings curse, and instead of rising to life, he returns to undeath, as a deadly wraith like being. The group are forced to do battle with the now unreasonably powerful Farrow, who even has the power to summon Zantir to the location in an attempt to destroy her too. The group manage to force him back, and he fades into the mists, promising to return.
This leaves Nero as now sole leader of the resistance. In an attempt to combat the undead hoards, the group travel from city to city in search of allies, only to mainly find opportunistic bureaucrats with ambitions of turning on each other. Zantir contributes blueprints of Katie's airship from my last campaign, in the hopes that the nations air force can be bolstered, but again this just results in the leaders seeing a more effective way to double cross each other.
After a few close shaves while traveling, word is finally heard of a strange people living in the swamplands, who apparently have the knowledge to control the undead. Heading to the marshlands, they are contested by a few of the regions strange creatures before they meet the populace proper. Cardia, the so called queen, reveals she has a magic mask that can control the living dead, but she is not willing to give it up. Fortunately she gives them the location of another such mask, in the caves on the far side of the desert.
Within the caves though, awaits something not quite human. Something in the darkness, large, and pinchey.

Chapter Three
The Benedicuts Tedium

“To look at them would reveal no unusual qualities, they would be indistinguishable from the average human, but the Caeorian nobility concealed a secret and deadly bloodline. Centuries ago the drow elves lived on the surface of Caeoria, within the center of an endless jungle. During their time of dominance they conducted spectacular and profane rituals to their god Lolth. All things must come to an end however, and a brutal feud with followers of the Raven Queen resulted in the extermination of most of the areas plant life and the majority of the drow themselves. They persisted however, one way or another, turning their back on their dark god or interbreeding with the human populace. By the current era most of the drow are all but gone, but their legacy continues, one way or another.”
- Gabriella Burke – Mapping the Realms Underdark: Appendix A

The scorpion creature is revealed to be Jingo, a remnant of the drow empire and once one of its foremost lieutenants. He has since mutated into essentially a scorpion version of a drider, but retains his mind, and more importantly his humanity. Jingo fills in some of the blanks, revealing centuries ago he and his fellow generals were working on a ritual to incarnate Lolth in the physical realm. He agrees to part with the mask, which Zantir feels is in her best interests to keep hold of rather than Mrs Evil Plan and Captain Indifferent. The masks power is put to the test, allowing control of the undead it looks upon, and could be further enhanced when fire is used to create a spotlight of sorts.
Further investigation of the plagues source leads to a hive of blind monks hiding in catacombs below a ruined church. These as it is revealed are what are left of the followers of the Raven Queen, and the only one to retain some of his mind, Benedict, relates more of the tale. Took us a while though, since I feel the DM really hadn't planned exactly how he wanted us to uncover the plot, he didn't want to hand it to us outright. Turns out the blood of the drow scattered throughout the populace has a desire to reunite itself, which would complete the incarnation ritual, it was this reason that the king unleashed the curse, in an attempt to capture those of the blood.

Jenny Everywhere: Betrayal of Brothers

2011-10-10T10:46:00.001-07:00

I'm back with a new Jenny comic, thats right! Betrayal of Brothers began life as a Future Shocks submisstion for 2000ad. The script was never picked up, so I decided to re work it into a Jenny Everywhere strip.

Originally had a bit of trouble with the thumbnails, Linky links are now working.

Art Trades Round Up: Stuff Folk have done for Me

2011-08-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

As Promised, here are the completed trades I got in return. I'm still awaiting drawings of Damon, Nero and Carnack, hopefully I will be able to update this with them fairly soon. Artists pages are linked, and Images link to full work on deviantart unless otherwise stated.

Jocasta by Jackcrowder and Chibi-con

Trust by Neko1098

Azreal by General-ebonrose

Kara by Saone

Sakari by Deliawliet

Original is now in storage, so unable to link direct.

Katie by Klerric

A bit of a deviation from the original design, but I quite like it. I've also now taken the striped top for Katie's current design.

Lerissa by Something-Dead and Kilala909

Sofia by KungfooKelly

KungfooKelly is sadly no longer on deviantart, so I no longer have any contact details for her, or a link the original image. Shame.

Megi by Cipire

Zantir by Ladybugxlove

A big thank you to all the artists involved, and especially for getting back to me when others didn't. It seems likely I'll be going back to doing trades at some point in the future after looking at the quality of the work on display here.

Right then, off to America for two and a half weeks. See You!

Art Trades Round Up: The Highs and Lows of 2011 Thus Far

2011-08-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, its a real downer to say this but I've been doing these trades for quite a while, and while its up's were great its downs have made me say I'm through with it.

It was with an eager heart and a prepared mind that I set forth earlier this year to have a crack at doing art trades. I had a great time doing requests last year, and decided that this year I'd be able to create some exciting new work, learn a few things and get a few interesting takes on me and my friends own characters. I wanted to give the trades some purpose, so I had the idea to ask the other artists contributions to be used as profile pictures of each of our Dnd characters and NPC's.

Unfortunately my experience doing these art trades wasn't entirely the experience I'd hoped it would be. What I thought would take two to three months ended up taking more like six, and the entire project was marred with difficulties getting people interested, hearing back from others, and particularly painful was completing my end of the agreement only to never hear back from the other artist again.

I'm not suggesting that said individuals didn't have a good reason, but by and large I was never given an explanation. I'd be perfectly fine with just a quick messages saying 'sorry I've been too busy' or something, and if anyone out there wants to get in touch to let me know, well and good.

It wasn't all bad though, it was an absolute thrill seeing these characters brought to life by other talents, and I loved every minute of having a bash at their requests. We'll be taking a look at the great stuff the other artists came up with next week, but right now I'm going to showcase what I'd done for my half of the trades. You can really see how I picked things up along the way.

For full, high res images, as well as links to the creators pages, visit the Requests and Trades part of my gallery. All characters belong to the requester, unless otherwise stated.

General-EbonRose, Devil and Sark

Kicking things off, I decided to advertise my trades on the Deviantart Dnd group. General-EbonRose was the only one to take up the offer. In gratitude I did not one, but two of her dnd characters. It was early days yet, so I was content to wait for a few more responses.

deliawliet, Trouble

After a while of no interest, the mountain was going to have to come to Mohammed, as the proverb goes. Scanning the projects section of the forum, I found others interested in doing trades and requests. Some responded, others didn't, some would abandon the discussion with little to no explanation. Deliawliet wasn't one of those though, and in return I did one of her characters from her 'Trouble' piece. I was watching a lot of Trailer Park Boys at the time, hence the rum and coke.

Saone, Allicra

It was about this point that the high point of the trades kicked off. I'd picked up a lot of interest and was working with a lot of great artists. I wanted to do something different for Saone, who gave a choice of several of her characters. It'd been a while since I'd done some sci-fi, so Allicra was the perfect antidote. I really like how this one came out.

ButteredEggs, Wolves Flying Spitfires

ButteredEggs requested something involving Wolves, so I came up with this bonkers idea. I really loved doing this and got a great response, so its a shame I didn't hear back from ButteredEggs, other than an early mention that her tablet got eaten by a friends dog. When querying this later I got no response.

Klerrik, Kloe

Klerrik was a great artist to work with, thats all you need to know. In return I chose to have a go at his characer Kloe.

something-dead, Dezonia

something-dead's request of her character Dezonia really drove me to work hard on drawing wings, and ever since I've been glad of the practice it gave me.

KungFooKelly, 100 Acre Militia

The ever patient KungFooKelly asked only for something involving Winnie the Pooh. After knocking about a few attempts, she gave me this idea of a fantasy version of Piglet. Piglet and Winnie the Pooh were created by A A Milne and the version I based it on, from Disney, of course.

neko1098, Hetalia Japan America

America and Japan from Hidekaz Himaruya's Axis Powers Hetalia. Neko1098 was great to work with, so again, I was feeling generous and did both of them.

jackcrowder, Cool Spot

Jackcrowder wasn't sure of exactly what he wanted in return, so just asked me to do something of the video game character that taxed my time as a kid. Step in Cool Spot of 7-Up fame, who's game by Virgin interactive had me chewing walls for years.

Chibi-Con, Mr Jenkins

Casual super powers this time, as well as a bash at doing an older character, of Chibi-Con's Mr Jenkins.

ladybugxlove, Magic

Unnamed character from a piece by ladybugxlove called Magic. I had free reign on the colours, and was chuffed that she liked how it came out.

DhamaNow, Rorschach

This piece for DhamaNow really got me thinking about light and shadow, and changed the way I now colour and shade artwork. It was a really progressive piece for me. DhamaNow, sadly, I never heard back from.

monstermo44, Nadine

Nadine, monstermo44's character, who was still only in the concept phase. I wasn't sure if I got the hair colours right as a result. Monstermo44 said he'd be out of town for a while, and I never heard back.

Cipire, Link

Cipire wasn't sure what he wanted for a trade either, but eventually decided he wanted me to have a go at Link from Nintendo's Legend of Zelda. I had a bit of fun messing with the Trifoce iconography.

Saone, Zen

Another one for Saone this time, and looking at Zen, you can really see how far I'd come. Saone didn't finish her side of this one, but has mentioned this, so I'll let her off with if because I liked doing this one so much.

el-guero, Lina

Lina, el-guero's character. He's still working on his side of the trade.

kilala909, Syrina

It seems I have to do at least one catgirl during my request period, here's kilala909's character Syrina in human(ish) form.

General-EbonRose, The Inevitable

And finally, going full circle, we have another trade with General-EbonRose. This time its of her prominent Dnd NPC The Inevitable. She's still working on her side of this trade. I have every confidence she'll come through with it.

One final note goes to lespapillions, who's doing a request for me but wasn't sure what she wanted in return. I'll maybe come up with something for her when she's done, so watch this space.

Next week we run through the trades I got back, which are a real treat, just you wait and see.

An Unofficial Soundtrack to Ian Flemming's James Bond

2011-08-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

You know, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think its time I told you that I do have other semi-professional interests other than writing and drawing guff about Dungeons and Dragons, which I have been doing a hell of a lot recently. Writing and drawing are good, but I also have profound interest in music, be it its history or theory. I sort-of-used-to-be-able-to play the piano, currently teaching myself the guitar, and I've been a DJ on hospital radio for probably more than three years now.

The thing I like most about music though, it applying it to non musical mediums. In most cases, books and comics. Today I am going to write about applying music to a series of books you may have heard of. This series is the 'James Bond' series by Sir Ian Fleming. To complement this, I have attempted to produce a poster that combines many of the elements of the series. Click the image to see a description of what you're looking at if you can't guess.

The interesting thing about the series was how massively different they were to their (arguably) more popular cinematic counterparts. I remember reading Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, which featured a character based on Bond (but never mentioned by name). This character 'Jimmy' was an antagonist. He was misogynist to the point of sexual aggression, he was bloodthirsty, overconfident, sociopathic and borderline psychopathic at times. Having only the experience of the film Bonds at the time, I didn't see the connection. Having now read Flemings series I now see that this is almost exactly what the original character was like. On that note I'll mention I deliberately read the books visualizing the charters differently than who portrayed them in the films (most were described differently anyway) and pictured Bond himself as the original illustration from the Daily Express.

The series itself has some highs and lows. My particular favorites would be From Russia with Love, Dr. No, Thunderball and On Her Majesties Secret Service. Downers in particular would be Goldfinger, which I found pretty boring in places and leaves a pretty bad taste in the mouth after some pointless commentary on homosexuality, and then theres The Spy Who Loved Me, which is so bad it doesn't bare mentioning. Other than that, the series overall was a pleasurable experience, though much of the social commentary is dated, or just plain wrong, by modern standards, but Bond grows on you to the point where you love him and hate him in equal measure. He'd probably beat all the other Bonds hands down, but only by fighting dirty.

And so enough waffle, I give you my own personal soundtrack to Ian Flemming's James Bond series. I tired to keep music 'of the era' but did cheat a bit in places.

Casino Royale: Luck Be a Lady – Frank Sinatra

Bond plays cards, has a bad experience in the bedroom department. Twice.

Live and Let Die: I Put a Spell on You – Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Bond proves he is not quite racist, Felix gets disfigured by sharks.

Moonraker: Sky Pilot – Eric Burden and The Animals

Bond Plays cards, eats food and trips out on Benzedrine. Also something about a rocket and mustaches being evil.

Diamonds are Forever: It's a Man's Man's Man's World – James Brown

Bond fights gangsters, homosexuals, and homosexual gangsters.

From Russia With Love: Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley

"What do you propose?" "It's simple: We, uh, kill James Bond."

Dr. No: Cold Cold Heart – Hank Williams

Bond fights a tractor, a giant squid and a metal clawed Chinaman. Also we find out what 'chigros' are.

Goldfinger: A Satisfied Mind – Johnny Cash

Bond plays golf for a bit. Then manages to put an end to the robbery of Fort Knox and Lesbianism in one foul swoop.

For You're Eyes Only: Let's Hang On (To What We've Got) – Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

Bond find communists and villains hiding everywhere. He also finds out that marriage isn't all its cracked up to be.

Thunderball: I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire – The Ink Spots

Jimmy and Felix's grand day out.

The Spy Who Loved Me: Two Sleepy People – Hoagy Carmichael

The sexual adventures of an English socialite. Also James Bond is in there somewhere I think.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Riding Along In my Automobile – Chuck Berry

Oh man where to begin? It's literally the best week of you're life. A day at the beach, followed by The Don telling you he's now you're best friend. Then you get pissed with this guy who's just like you. Then you get sent to a ski resort full of undersexed young women. Then you get more pissed, have a go with the bob sled, meet the girl of you're dreams, take a helicopter ride and battle you're way through a mountain complex, stop the bad guys and get married. Ruined forever when you're new wife gets shot.

You Only Live Twice: I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive – Hank Williams

Jimmy and Tiger's night on the town. Ruined by a clingy Japanese Girl (understatement).

The Man With the Golden Gun: Anything Goes – Cole Porter/Frank Sinatra

Brainwashed Bond tries to kill M. M sends back to Jamaica to get drunk and kill Scaramanga. A woman has sex with a giant hand. Bond turns down a knighthood.

Octopussy and The Living Daylights: In My Life – The Beatles

Bond's swan song. He ties up some loose ends, and teaches you, the reader, how to make the perfect breakfast.

All music © they're respective owners. James Bond is © Fleming and EON, whichever applicable.

It's been nice knowing you Jimmy. You fucking lunatic.

Divine Intention: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gods - Part 4

2011-06-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

Chapter 9 Part 2
Cool for Cats

“What attracted Lerissa to Carnack is mostly unknown. If there was a sexual or emotional element to it this was almost certainly unseen. There have been many debates over Carnack Cousland's sexuality and lack thereof, but there is not a single documented case that indicates he was ever interested in any sexual fulfillment. As a result then we can say with good confidence that the two's relationship was platonic at best. A practical man like Carnack found Lerissa's abilities to be of great use, and likewise Lerissa found Carnack's stone free lifestyle to be a more desirable future than the stuffy politics of Farrelite society she was intended for.”
- Simon Niel – Strange Acquaintances

Meanwhile, Carnack and Lerissa decide to leave Megi and Damon to their own plan and to take care of the other Generals themselves. Naturally without the DM's character around to shoehorn (or indeed abuse) us into following a specific route, Carnack and Lerissa were free to deal with the situation in their favorite manner. By setting things on fire. It wasn't all easy though, the DM decided that we weren't going to get away with it, and had the camp attacked by driders, giving us the choice of either aiding the soldiers or using the attack to finish them off. The general took a fireball to the face, and Lerissa used her teleportation to get her and Carnack out of there before they got a nommed' by spiders.

The group finally reunites with a frosty atmosphere between them. One of the targets remained before the Varassian forces could be united. This last general was specifically an extremist when it came to the Varassian fear of magic, which made it really easy to capitalise upon. The plan this time was unanimously agreed. Damon would use his divine costume changing powers to make himself a high priest and the general a secret member of the Black Hand. The rest of our characters would create the desired illusion that he was casting magic. Damon's player, who himself was very adept in dramatics, relished this part, verbally crucifying the general in front of the Varssian troops, who was executed shortly afterwards.

Chapter 10
Diplomatic Inconsistencies

“So then, came the siege of Memmnon City. Defending were the conspiring Black Hand, the bulk of who's force was made up of the members of the populace that had bought into the preachings of their puppet dictator, Revenant. On the attacking side were the united forces of the Farrelite invaders and the remaining free forces of Varassia not under Black Hand rule. The battle was almost certainly one sided, and once the walls were breeched, the defending forces were almost instantaneously routed. Many fought on however, to what would be the bitterest of ends.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

The endgame was finally in sight. I confess that the first half of this session was all a little bit of a muddle to me. Deciding to be a bit of an arsehole (as Carnack would be anyway) my character found himself excluded from most of the diplomatic talks between the two sides. From what I do remember though, is that Damon did most of the talking, and the best he got from the xenophobic commander of the loyalists was that as soon as the city was taken they would turn against the Farrelites. This didn't really sit well with Megi but beggars can't be choosers eh?
The next half of the session involved breaching the city gates to allow the army to enter. This involved using Megi and Lerissa's teleportation abilities to bypass the walls. Lerissa and Carnack decided to sit out Damon's confrontation with the guards by climbing a drainpipe and hiding on a roof. Finally though the group split up to secure the area, and Carnack was the one nominated to tackle the gatehouse. Fortunately he passed his stealth check, sneaked in, dispatched the guards and allowed the army to enter the city.

Chapter 11
And May Your God Go With You

“What remained of the cleric known as Tom was a creature of high emotion and lack of empathy. Revenant was known to sway between theatrical feats of benevolence and fits of pure rage. The power he had been granted was far beyond his control, and the more he tried to harness it the more it railed against him. By the time of his final battle he was nothing more than a shell holding back divine and infernal fire and fury. A force nothing in the realms could reasonably harness. Those who choose to remember Tom, do so only thinking of the simple man that wanted to change the world”
Denton Romulus - Bound for Glory: Those who dared to change the Realms

And finally, the payoff. The group of four practically ran into battle against Revenant's divine forces, eager for combat. There had been enough talk and negotiation, now was the time for action. Revenant was almost unstoppable, and a helluva lot of healing surges had to be used to keep our guys on their feet. I'm pretty sure that Damon was knocked down at least once, Carnack and Lerissa came close. Fortunately with each drop in Revenant's health, he would harness more of his power from within, showing cracks in his visage and lowering his AC, Reflex and Fortitude, as well as the power of his attacks.
After steamrolling the divine lord it all became too much for him, and trying to harness the last of his reserves he ended up almost imploding and melting himself. Leaving nothing but a charred corpse welded in his final stance. The city was now liberated, but it wasn't over yet, there was one more score to settle...

“Unbeknown to many, the former head mage of Farrel had been scheming for longer than many had anticipated. He had attained litchood many centuries ago, and used his guile and cunning to draw attention away from his agelessness and dabbling in the infernal powers. He had planned to use the chaos in Verassia to help himself to divine magesty. The mage had planned to use these powers to further harness the Palantír, one of the legendary spherical artifacts that contain vast arcania and knowledge. With the death of Revenant, and the fall of the Black Hand, he had nothing left but to try and consolidate it now, his last chance being the power held within the cleric Damon.
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

The head mage symbolized that last and most important goal for our characters. To Carnack it was through the mage's death that he might finally obtain the ancient texts that would give further clues involving the ancient map. To Megi, he was the key to her finally graduating to rank within Farrellite society. To Damon, he was an affront to everything he stood for, he had been the cause of Damon losing the grace of Ioun. To Lerissa, who knows.

The battle was equally as hard at Revenant, if not more so, but being the final battle it gave our characters the chance to roll out everything they had. In desperation, the mage harnessed the power of his magic orb, which would obliterate everything. Damon finally grasped the abilities of his divine power he had obtained from the sleeper, and thew himself at the orb in order to contain it. This led to a battle of wills between Damon and the mage, as the two fought against each other in fierce mental combat.

Damon won out, just. It had been agreed between his player and the DM, that Damon would be given a heroic sacrifice to bridge this campaign for to the next. The session ended with Damon's funeral. What a downer.

Conclusion

“...and so the period of malcontent had begun. With Revenant's death, Memmon city had returned to the crippled visage caused by the great fire, and the lycantrhopic plague returned to the fringes. The driders were still pressing the mountainous regions, seeking resources and slaves. Farrel now controlled the country, though loosely at that, as after the siege many of the loyalists broke lose again to continue a war of attrition against the invaders. Revenant's charred remains persisted, forever a reminder of how they got there.
To the bordering nations, Farrel was now looked upon with suspicion. Once a trusted trade ally, kingdoms like Wardovia, Andavia and Florantine begun to ask themselves if they would soon become the next target of Farrelite ambitions. Diplomatic relations between the states, soon became strained.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

“Despite being awarded respectable titles and land, Lerissa had no interest in returning to Farrel. Instead, she and Carnack disappeared for a time, likely involved somehow in Carnack's continuing quest into the mystery of the Bahamut shield he encountered in Wardovia. The question remains if this was still a mystery to Carnack, as since obtaining the Farrelite texts, he seemed to have a smug air of knowing exactly what he was doing from this point on.”
- Ella Howe – Not Now, Not Ever: Existences most Wanted

“Megi was granted a more than modest reward for her services. She was given substantial land within Farrel and a position of Mage Minister within the governmental organisation. She chose to defer her seat however, instead to see more of the realms. As to whether there were noble or devious intentions to this choice, remains to be seen.”
- Crispin Lennon – I Don't Want to Spoil the Party: Famous Farrelites

“On the day of his remembrance, Damon's values shone through. It was presided by a prestigious high priest of Ioun. It was attended by many who had fought alongside him, those from the Wardovia Job, the affairs in Verassia, and even old ship hands from his sailing days. Nothing would show his importance more, however, than the arrival of an old acquaintance, seeking the Cleric's aid in a time of dire need. Without Damon, he would have to rely on those who knew him best, and hope his values would shine through them also...”
- 'Tripshot' Murphy - Anthem: The Adventures of Damon Volume 2

Divine Intention: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gods - Part 3

2011-06-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Chapter 6
Not That Type of Fencing

“The hidden city was an unusual blind spot in Varassian society. Its inhabitants lived relatively normal lives despite living in an underground city guarded by a secret entrance. The cities inhabitants were mostly miners who made their fortunes by selling their boons to the rest of the kingdom. To other Varassians, the city was a complete unknown. Few questioned where the minerals came from, and even the cities leaders were in blissful ignorance. This made the city the perfect headquarters for the cult of the sleepers, but unfortunately backfired when the Drider Queen led her invasion force into the city. When the city asked for aid by anyone and everyone, they were simply wrote off as being mad or delusional. Not that it would have made much of a difference, as what was left of Varassian society at this point had bigger problems.”
- Gabriella Burke – Mapping the Realms Underdark

Using the information gleaned by the groups less than scrupulous methods, they headed north to find and unusual cave system with what seemed like some kind of magic puzzle lock. A pressure plate opened a hidden door, which meant somebody would have to stay behind. This was averted though as Lerissa could merely teleport through. This was double averted when we found a switch on the inside that could open and close the door at will anyway.

Carrying on we were presented with a fabulous underground city. The city was not, as I anticipated it would be, populated by drow. It did however house the members of the secret cult, which meant Megi could not be far. After a bit of sneaking it turns out that the city is under siege by the driders. The group steals some uniforms to try and fit in, but get caught off guard, and get roped in to building some barricades. At this point myself and Damon's player decided to play it cool, setting up the barricades and waiting for the opportunity to slip away. Lerissa's player got impatient though, and wandered off. Said opportunity never came either, as the driders set upon the barricade and Carnack and Damon had to dispose of both the defenders and the attackers.

Chapter 7
Harder, Faster, Better, Madder

“Spiders man. They freak me out.”
- Popular Saying

“Boobs”
- Azreal of the order of Bahamut, on driders.

Reuniting with Lerissa, the group sneak around behind the drider lines to locate the prison that Megi had been taken to. Fortunately they locate it without any major difficulty. Once inside however, things end up a bit chaotic, especially when the accidentally explode a group of fleeing convicts. Megi is located, being not much the wiser of what the hell is going on. Everything seems hunky dory though. Until we arrive at the prison courtyard.

Its only the bloody Drider queen isn't it? She's none to happy about the group not taking her up on the offer of capturing her some slaves, and decides it would be better just to off us all. Carnack gets webbed right at the start, leaving me rolling for saves for most of the battle. Damon goes to town with everything in his arsenal, with little effect, ditto for Lerissa, who's player at this point has a bit of a crisis feeling redundant. Megi dishes out the damage, but given that she's the DM's character its hard to tell how much of this was automatic.

Finally I roll a save, Carnack frees himself to make up for lost time, and the whole group rallies and manages to pull the battle back into favor. The Queen goes down unexpectedly easily. The remainder of the session revolves around us locating another one of the sleepers. This involves us finding a teleportation room, then taking the characters each to an individual white room. Carnack's helm of true site comes in handy here, locating the method of exiting the room. Damon just batters everything till he can escape. This seems to work equally as well. With the final sleepers located, the DM has us roll a will check, and its Damon that wins out to get his hands on the divine power.

Chapter 8
Pure Gibbing Clensa

“The Farrelite invasion was not only unexpected by Varassia itself but also the many factions who where capitalising on the chaos created by the great fire. With the ascension of Revenant, many of the Variassian forces seceded from the governing body, preferring to side with the invaders than defend a regime that they hardly knew. Not all felt this way however. In particular the aggressive and devoutly patriotic Lord “General Scream” Scrathe and his associates preferred to fight outnumbered and under supplied against all comers, even their fellow Varassians, than side with the invaders.
Scrathe was a problem that prevented the Farrelites from attempting a peaceful transition of power, as well as directing an overwhelming force against Memmnon City. It is widely believed that they chose to employ some independent assassins to take care of Scrathe's vocal supporters in order to force him to rejoin the remaining free forces.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Damon's god-like powers had yet to manifest fully, only currently giving him the ability to change peoples clothes in an instant. Not very useful but he did like putting Carnack into a dress. Hooking up with the invading forces they are told that they're best course of action would be to try and create an alliance with forces not affiliated with Revenant. In return Megi and Lerissa were offered their final graduation, Damon himself had an oath to Ioun to free the country from false godhood, and Carnack just wanted the arcane texts from Farrel's former head mage.
The group head off to seal an alliance. The first Varassian rebels seem quite enthusiastic about the idea, but advise that the other rebels would not be so agreeable. In that case the lieutenants of the others would have to be silenced in order to make the general even consider the idea. The first lieutenant to be eliminated didn't exactly go according to plan. Damon had used his powers to conjure disguises for the group, giving them perfect cover. The idea was to have Megi and Carnack wait just outside the camp, while Damon and Lerissa would signal when the target was alone using Megi's familiar. When this happened, Megi would open an arcane gate and Carnack would silently dispose of him. Instead Damon decided to let the rebel encampment and rather randy leader know that Lerissa was female, to which he decided he would take some liberties with her.

Suffice to say the plan went quite tits up, Lerissa tried to fight off the target, Carnacks shot went wide and instead Lerissa ended up burning the entire camp down before escaping with her dignity, just. Carnack displayed uncharacteristic chivalry after seeing what Damon had intended to do (or maybe it was just that he was pissed off that his well laid plan didn't work out) and the two ended up in a fight.

The second lieutenant was easier to dispose of. He was taking on challengers in a fighting ring, and if bested would pass on command of the camp. Carnack put on his best mock noble appearance and fought for the title. He won, thankfully, and ordered the camp to join up with the free Varassian forces.

Chapter 9 Part 1
Two's Company

“Despite the fact that the invasion force had the distinct advantage of employing magic on the field of battle, something the Varassian armies would never dare, they were still only backed by a small island nation. The Varrassian forces however, clearly had the numbers, though now fractured and disorganized. The deciding factor would always depend on leadership, and what held the Farrelite line back time and time again was always down to the fear that radiated from the loyalist generals. Without these generals, the command structure would all come crashing down.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Three generals remained and this session began with the group making its way towards an impending clash of armies. There was a big disagreement in the group on how to deal with this general, but the consensus was that the best way would be to off him during battle. Damon had used his newfound powers to disguise everyone as soldiers. However Carnack had disagreed with Damon and Megi on how to deal with this, and Lerissa had decided to sit this one out in a tree after being nagged one too many times. Carnack ended up being restrained by Damon and kicked about by Megi after trying to convince the generals that Megi was pregnant as cover, culminating with him being tied up and dumped in the medical tent to calm down. No word of a lie, at this point I was ready to walk out, since the DM had given us no indication of the best way to complete this task, and then having my player character humiliated for trying to find a solution.

I calmed down however. Lerissa had arrived and decided that if Megi and Damon wanted to handle the situation on its own, then they were welcome to, and untied Carnack. The two then left to deal with the remaining generals. As for Megi and Damon, they rather ham fistedly awaited the battle and tampered with the siege engines to fire on their own ranks. In the chaos, they managed to locate the general and do away with him before escaping into the woods. Damon's player was worried that there were driders in the woods, but the DM stated that there were not. There were however, driads in the wood, and that they particularly wanted to sleep with Damon.

This also turned out to be unture.

Divine Intention: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gods - Part 2

2011-05-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2
Out of the Frying Pan

“The holy fire of Memmnon city was one of the great disasters to the nation of Varassia prior to its time of turmoil. How the fire came about few people know, though many theorize that it was an act of sabotage or arson by the thieves guild against one of their supposed enemies. What few people were told however, is that the investigation shortly after discovered that the fire itself had a magical origin. This was of great concern to the city officials, who had kept the nation free of the blasphemous magic for decades. Ironic then, that it was the cities inexperience of magic that prevented them from combating it with any great effectiveness.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Damon's player couldn't make this session so we had his character take the long way round to meet us next time. Starting off, our characters are summoned by the head mage of Farrel and offered a job to steal a holy book from the vault of a rival city, Memmnon, in the anti-magical nation of Varassia. Arriving in the city, our characters poke around a bit till they are contacted by members of the local thieves guild who have an offer of mutual gain. Also rearing her head however, is Trust, the DM's original character, who has ambitions of her own.

“Taking what she had learned from her earlier adventures, Trust had worked up the ranks of the Varassian thieves guild astoundingly quickly. The top position was tantalizingly out of her reach though, as the magic fearing Varassians dared not consider leadership by a planes touched tiefling. It was providence then, it seemed, that sent Carnack Cousland to her, seeking favor to enter the Varassian vault. A seemingly unsolvable situation, coupled with a man with no morals, could tip the balance of the Varassian underworld in her favor.”
Ezio de Sirenze – Here We Stand: The Teifling Peoples Road to Acceptance

So, Trust offers our group a different option: Assassinate the leader of the thieves guild. The DM had set this up so that, upon investigation we would find that there was tension between the guild leader and his house servant, allowing our characters to redirect suspicion. This didn't work too well though, as for the first of many times Carnack and Lerissa agreed that a house fire gone out of control would work much better.
The DM made sure this wasn't without consequence however. The group get spotted, to which Carnack jumps on Lerissa's back as she teleports away, landing them in a noble's garden. As the fire rages, it takes a quarter of the city with it. Killing thousands, ruining trusts plans, and leaving the city on alert from suspicious foreigners. Only Trust and Megi were bothered by this , mirroring the DM's disdain for us bypassing his setup, Lerissa was as indifferent as her players predecessor character Azreal. Carnack himself doesn't care how many die as long as it gets the job done.

“The cleric known only as Tom, from parts unknown, was a gentle soul. He had not a bad bone in his body, and was willing to do what it would take to set right the world's wrongs. In his travels, he had heard the legends of the sleepers, and saw a way to use these legends to re-shape the injustices of our world”
Denton Romulus - Bound for Glory: Those who dared to change the Realms

Busting into the vault was easy money, nabbing Carnack a Helmet of True Sight and the others a few other magical items. Things were soon to go downhill though, as the aforementioned magical tome was nabbed by an enigmatic and seemingly indestructible cleric called Tom. This put the group in an uncomfortable position, leaving us to pander to the cleric to try and obtain the tome.

Chapter 3
That Old Corker about Stepping into my Parlor

“The drider infestation of northern Varassia is not nearly as old as people think. The nations ancient stories of horrific monsters stealing people away at night are often attributed to actual encounters with the driders, but this actually comes from good old fashioned Varassian paranoia.. The driders arrival in the region only occurred not fifteen years ago.
Running out of resources in what was the great mines of Lolth's providence, many groups splintered from the Drow empire in search of carving out their own fortune. The crust under Varassia was a natural target, since the nations aversion to magic meant that is was practically untapped for resources that would have normally been taken for rituals. Digging their way north, the drow failed to anticipate that they would garner the attention of the driders, and upon arrival were set upon. Without the protection from the empire, it was the Drider Queen who exerted command over this new settlement, but her ambitions would soon lead her beyond the cavernous depths.”
- Gabriella Burke – Mapping the Realms Underdark

Damon rejoins us this session, oblivious to the chaos that Carnack had unleashed on the unsuspecting city dwellers. Taking shelter at a convenient inn, the group is then faced by a bunch of mysterious cultists, who take a particular interest in the cleric Tom. Carnack and Damon play dumb, but this backfires when the cultists decide to take the others hostage. Carnack and Damon continue to play dumb, and the others are taken away. Begrudgingly, the two decide a rescue is in order, as Tom still has the items they require.
Damon and Carnack track the cultists to a nearby village, and discover a secret hide out under a temple. Much to the surprise of the priest. Unfortunately, only Megi and Lerissa are within, and Tom has mysteriously vanished. Great. Ancient stone murals direct the group to the mountains in the north, which they head to, being their only lead at the moment.
When they get to the mountains they discover them to be inhabited by the spider-like Driders. Carnack surmises that they might be reasonable and for once takes the diplomatic option. They are not reasonable, and the group suffers another tough beat down before finally overcoming them.

It's about this point that my comic Nobody's Heroes takes place.

Chapter 4
Running on Empty

“Our Goal – To never allow the tyranny of divinity and magic sully this nation again. To never allow those to posses the power of Gods. To never allow the breaking of the ancient codes. The sleepers must not awaken. To this we will give our lives, and take the lives of others if necessary. We choose to discard our morality to this end. Choose the possibility of damnation. Choose to make choices that others would not make. For the good of our country. The sleepers must not awaken.
- Creed of the Cult

After battling through the caves against driders and a particularly nasty Beholder, the Drider Queen decides to give our characters the grace of an audience. She happens to know where Tom may be heading, and offers part of the solution in return for raiding a nearby village for slaves. Normally not fazed by such actions, Carnack does reason that potentially an escaped slave could make the entire group a target for the authorities, but on the other hand the usually pious Damon has no problem with this plan. They agree temporarily, then decide they may have a better option.
Heading north they investigate the spreading plague of werewolves. In what ultimately turns into a confused muddle, Damon and Carnack contract the curse, but find that Tom has been somewhere near and conveyed the cure to the locals. Along the way they discover that the cult has been spreading out and streaking its muscles. In turn, so have returning conspirators the Black Hand.
It gets worse, they then find a mystical grove, shielded against all but Carnack, who's atheism is not affected by it. In the grove an ancient tomb houses two mysterious angels and an empty container that appears to have been tampered with. By Tom. With recent lycanthropy resolved, Megi, the only character that seems to have been dishing out any damage in combat encounters, is then kidnapped. Great.

Chapter 5
You should have Specified

“Discredited and exposed in Wardovia, the Black Hand needed to consolidate their efforts in order to make up for the loss of their stomping ground. Varassia was a natural choice, since their rampant anti-magic paranoia was an ideal environment to manipulate. Fortuitous it was then, or so it seemed at the time, that the emergence of Revenant, a seemingly benign messiah, occurred almost immediately. For all his miraculous power, Revenant was exceedingly trusting of anyone he came into contact with, making him the perfect puppet dictator.
One small problem still remained however, the power that Revenant has obtained had come from an ancient sleeping God.. Should another individual access similar power, they would be able to rival Revenant. Fortunately for them, their newest member, former Head of the Farrelite Mages Academy, had advised them of all this. He also brought news of another issue. Invasion.
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Returning to the magically restored city, our group are granted an audience with Tom. It doesn't go well. Tom is now the god-dictator of the nation, a puppet of the Black Hand and as mild mannered as usual. He doesn't take well to intimidation either, and throws Carnack out on his ass. Trouble finds the group wherever they go, and Damon's player decides its all too much and voluntarily dies. I'm having none of this silliness though, and Carnack passes a skill check to pull Damon back out of the afterlife.
As it turns out Farrel have decided to be a bit ambitious and take advantage of the chaos by invading. The group have a word with their original quest giver, who it turns out has the book, won't pay them and is now working for the Black Hand. Bugger. With no other option then, the group offers its services to the invading forces, who help them out a bit in locating Megi. Heading back to the secret hideout under the temple. Carnack and Lerissa do a spot of torture. Carnack's choice of putting one poor individual out of his misery involves him sticking his thumbs through his eye sockets into his brain. Horrible, but damn it was fitting for the character.

Divine Intention: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gods - Part 1

2011-05-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

“The period of malcontent is often cited to have begun with the resolution of the Wandering War, or in some circles a direct consequence of the events of the Wardovia Job. Undeniably the first true acts of the period of malcontent are the events that took place in Varassia during this time. The kingdoms east of the Wardovia/Andavia channel had long existed in a steady peace, surviving with their strange and radical customs. The island nation of Farrel however had grown ambitious over time, and decided that now was the moment to expand its sphere of influence.
Mercenaries coming in from the east would often find interesting work there. Work that was not in the strictest sense, diplomatically sound.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Clunk. The group rotates once again to change roles, moving me back to a player character and a new DM stepping in. I must admit that I'd enjoyed my period as DM, so it was a bit odd going back to a situation so out of my hands. The character of Carnack had really grown on me and its not often I play evil characters, so statting him up to a Fighter/Wizard, he set sail to the island nation of Farrel. Unbeknown to him however, plucky cleric Damon was also on his way there, and the two end up reluctantly teaming up. Finally joining them are two new characters, Azreal had been swapped out for tiefling warlock Lerissa and the DM had his own guest PC, Half-Elf Wizard Megi.

“After his rather enigmatic actions during the Wardovia Job, Carnack Cousland headed east, via sea, following the route engraved on the back of the shield of Bahamut he spirited from the Wardovian relicry. To what this route was leading to, is still a point of contention, as is whether or not Cousland knew what was awaiting him. All we can speculate is that he knew to some degree that arcane powers would somehow be involved.”
- Roma Drangasti – Beyond the Wandering War

So, Carnack returns as a full blown character this time round. I wanted him to essentially be a bruiser with a few tricks up his sleeve, so I multi-classed him with some wizard powers, and this worked out quite well. Character wise, Carnack got several moments to capitalize on his self serving nature, and his reputation of being somewhat like a walking atomic bomb sometimes was backed up in one particular occurrence. More on that later though.

“And so our hero headed east, knowing not what adventure and peril would await him. Damon had defeated the dread Black Hand and the vile conspirators in Wardovia. What other evils would he banish in the name of Ioun? Standing aboard the rocking ship, striding over the waves, Damon stroked his beard in contemplation, thinking back to his days as a ship hand. Had this proud man of faith known the chaos that was to come, he may well have returned to this simple lifestyle. Free from the burden of responsibility. Life, however, rarely allows such simple choices.”
- 'Tripshot' Murphy - Anthem: The Adventures of Damon Volume 2

Cleric of Ioun Damon returns also, ready to overkill with white searing light all over again. As you will see later, Damon worked as a brilliant foil for Carnack, often seeking the diplomatic (though not always ethically sound) solution over the violent. The two would bang heads on several occasions and infighting between them was rife, this however, just made the campaign all the more interesting.

“Like many young Farrelite women of her age, Megi had been inducted into the Arcane academy to be trained in the mystical arts and eventually rise to a position within the island's government. Megi was as ambitious as her calling suggested, and when her graduation grew close, sought after a far reaching assignment for her final initiation. It was this assignment that she was paired together with the warlock Lerissa and two mercenaries from west of the continent. It is unknown how much of what was to transpire was part of Megi's schemes, blind luck, or a combination of the two.”
- Crispin Lennon – I Don't Want to Spoil the Party: Famous Farrelites

Guest character from the DM, Megi was an enigmatic half-elf that the DM had acting constantly suspicious. How much of what she was up to within the plot we still don't know, but she was often used as a driving force to keep the group moving along when we ran out of ideas, which happened quite frequently. Not a lot of her character was brought out due to the DM constantly juggling between her and the game, however she did seem to favor Damon over Carnack, possibly due to her and Carnack both being equals in ambition.

“Nothing much was expected of Lerissa. While demon blood was not looked down on in Farrel in the way it was in the western kingdoms, her rather comical feline features had few people taking her seriously. As most tieflings drew demonic features from whatever demon sired their bloodline, Lerissa had her features drew from some of the less aggressive forms of demon that drifted on the edge of the nine hells, leaving her with feline ears and tail.
Like most young Farrelites of an arcane nature, Lerissa was inducted into the academy to train as a warlock and later inherit a position of government. Lerissa wasn't really interested in politics, had no particular love for her profession or homeland and longed for escape. When her final initiation came calling, an opportunity finally presented itself.”
Ezio de Sirenze – Here We Stand: The Teifling Peoples Road to Acceptance

Cat girl Lerissa was the final member of our fab four. Her player, a pretty big fan of anime, wanted to feature a catgirl as his next character. Initially I was a bit skeptical, but we allowed it by invoking the original explanation of Tieflings having different demonic features depending on what demon they descended from and how strong the bloodline. I have to say Lerissa really grew on both me and, weirdly enough, Carnack too, and somehow a catgirl wandering around out psudo-medieval inspired land worked just fine.

Chapter 1
To the Manor Born

“First of the modern mageocracies, the small island nation of Farrel was never seen as much of a prominent force in the realms. After all it was practically just one city on a small island without even much fertile farmland or room for expansion. However, the populace had gradually built themselves a prominent trade empire, and was seen by many as an accessible trade associate. Safe ground in seas swarming with pirate brigands such as the notorious Clodhopper”
- Deltiod Brennan – The Early Realms Renaissance

And so our campaign kicks off . Carnack and Damon both run into each other by the docks and begrudgingly decide to stick together, which would be the beginning of a not very peaceful partnership. The two wander the city looking for information and checking out shops for magical items. Differing from my way of doing things, our new DM was a lot more sparing of environments, and I confess found it a bit difficult to navigate the city without a more detailed map.

Not that this mattered too much, this campaign was in many ways a lot more focused than mine was, so exploration wasn't exactly on top priority. Carrying on, Carnack insists on heading to the library to find out as much information as he can about the island, but finds it hiding many possible deadly secrets. As the campaign went along, we never found out what these deadly secrets were. Oh well.

“After Farrel's legendary uprising of days gone by, much knowledge of the previous regime was lost... or destroyed. Very little is known of life on Farrel prior to the uprising, even down to bare details like whether it had previously been a mageocracy or the mages had only come to power afterwards. What is known however is that after the uprising the island was, and still is, scattered with artifacts of arcane power left over from previous ages. It is therefore common practice in Farrel to find mercenaries hired to locate such artifacts in the darker corners of the city.”
- Deltiod Brennan – The Early Realms Renaissance

It isn't long before the two fellas find adventure. Carnack and Damon find themselves hired by a wealthy noble to locate an artifact in a derelict and monster infested manor home. The catch however, is they have to take two magic apprentices with them, peeving Carnack off even more. So that introduced Megi and Lerissa. Heading to the manor house, our DM decided that since we were of a higher lever now, it'd be a good idea to level up the monsters as a matter of course. This led to us getting an almighty beat down from the first group of humble kobolts we ran into.
The rest of the session continued in similar fashion. Lerissa had to fight through a trap of whirling blades till she was on her last legs, and Megi would constantly go around acting like she knew more than the rest of us (given the fact that she was the DM's character, this isn't exactly unexpected). Finally the game finishes with a battle with a cave troll, whose miniature unfortunately ended up getting decapitated just like its counterpart in game.

Eh?

2011-04-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

Updates on this blog have been a bit inconsistant. Let me use this one to tell you about Repaneled and Covered, which you probably already know anyway. They're all about redesigning comic book covers and panels. I had a crack myself, having a bit of a nostalga trip redesigning Ghost in the Shell from back in the day.

I'm still looking for people interested in doing art trades with me, full details here.

Nobody's Heroes

2011-01-30T06:04:00.000-08:00

What have I been building in there do you ask? No you probably don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Its a comic called Nobody's Heroes and Its an attempt to push my artwork in as many different directions as possible.

Its a sequel of sorts to No Regrets, but I wrote it so you don't need to know any of the background. Its also slightly not work safe, so there's alt links for those who can't see it on deviantart.

Page 7 Alt Link Page 8 Alt Link

Peace During Wartime: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards - Part 4

2010-11-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

Chapter Nine
All Dressed up and Nowhere to Go

“With the loss of the Romanov estates, the conspirators were now on the back peddle. They needed something to turn their plans around. The troublesome band of adventurers had already eliminated a few of their brothers, and Lord Shiabow knew that it would not be long til they would come for the rest of them. Upon that, he and Chapter Master Wallace devised their next move.
The adventurer's investment in stopping the conspiracy was purely mercenary, and the conspirators had already a tried and tested method for turning people over to their side. In the noble district of Wardovia, that very night there was already a planned party to sway the interests of the rich and influential. Lord Shiabow planned to use Chapter Master Wallace as a lure, and then invite the group, via planer portal, to the party, and offer them a share of the wealth upon victory.
- Silvio de Blum - The Ragnar Conspiritors: The Wardovia Coup

In this session the group arrives at Tarp, to see it dominated by the large cathedral like chapter house. As expected, Kara, Azreal and Damon play the parts of travelling pilgrims, while Trust climbs the rafters above. Unfortunately after a quick scan of the area, the group needs to contact Trust, so Damon blinds everyone in the room with cascade of light as a message via arrow gets to Trust. Further infiltration gets them to the Chapter Master's private quarters, but upon entering, the Chapter Master and the mercenary recruiter were already expecting them.
They make the group an offer, a night sampling the delights of what they could have by siding with the conspirators, and in the morning automatically returned to the town. Of course, less of an offer, they don't really have a choice. Arriving there, dressed to the nines, Kara runs into Sakari, who updates them on goings on in the city. Also in attendance is Sofia, who provided the alcohol for the party.
After a bit of perusing and making small talk, Trust sneaks into the back rooms, and eliminates the two conspirators, mainly down to the fact that they could not provide the money up front. With the bodies concealed but brains removed, The group head to the confines of their rooms, except for Azreal, who instead accepts an invitation from Sofia to spend the night at hers. He has now took a level in being a ladies man. The card!
True to the conspirators words, our heroes are returned to Tarp in the morning, with a bonus bag of holding, and on the way back to Skull cove, run foul of a band of demons, evidence suggesting that there is yet another player in the struggle for Wardovia.

Chapter Ten
The Terror of the Gelatinous Cube

“The Aasimar? Yes I remember him. Kept me as his possession for three years, I wouldn't likely forget that in a hurry. Yes, he had this big plan to run a mercenary company of deamons and creatures he'd summoned, of which I was one of them. Started making a good name for himself too, hiring them out to idealists and revolutionaries.
Of course, hell hath no fury like a Succubus scorned. Well actually thats not true. Hell hath no fury like a Succubus full stop. So when this bunch of adventurer types turn up, I bedazzle the big one and use my wiles to force my captor into fighting against them. Even with his summoning powers he was no match for them in the conditions I'd set up. Clever man, but I was cleverer”
- Unnamed succubus from Stories on the Road

With Clodhopper now dedicating his forces to the resistance, all that is required is a seige weapon to breach the walls. At Evergreen, a map suggests that there is a Black Hand seige works near the docks. On the way, our heroes encounter bigger problems. A massed army of demons ready to mobilise. Sneaking past, they face a few foes by a recently sacked caravan. The trader tries to give them some useful information, but Trust decides to “put him out of his misery” before he can reveal anything. They store his corpse in the bag of holding and continue on their merry way.
Trust notices an unusual amount of Teiflings at the docks, and upon questioning a drunk one, finds out they are summoning a demonic army in a secret base under the boardwalk. Investigating, they meet the summoner in charge, who agrees to have the demonic army work for the resistance, in return for Azreal as a mesmerized bodyguard. His succubus concubine has other ideas however, and as the undead servant Mr Bones heads off to take over the Black Hand's siege works, the summoner turns against them.
A botched summoning results in the creation of a gelatinous cube, that attacks everyone indiscriminately. After the ensuing battle, Mr Bones returns, but now has no master. With this taxing the groups attention, the succubus steps into the summoning circle and escapes without punishment. All is not lost however, Mr Bones agrees to turn over the siege weapons to the resistance, and Damon receives a fancy new summoning tome.

Chapter Eleven
Absolutely Everything

“Making up the bulk of the attacking force was a motley selection of brigands and outcasts. The pirates of the saw coast, united under the banner of the Illithid Captain Clodhopper served as hit and run raiders. The force of elves under the command of King Tim would serve as archers and healers, with some mounted cavalry protecting the flanks. The dwarfs would man the siege weapons and serve as hard hitting formation of troops. Finally the backbone of the army was the free city guard of Wardovia, who had to most to gain from the attack. The liberation of the city.
The attack was to go as follows: the walls were to be brought down by trebuchets. Any battlements that could be valuable for counterattack were taken by men in siege towers. A small force was sent through a tunnel excavated by the dwarfs, to within the city where they could raise the gate to the inner wall. Then nothing could prevent the attacking force from entering the palace and put King Calidan back in place.”
- Christoper Iax – The Siege of Wardovia

And so everything was prepared. Kara and the resistance would attack the city, giving the group enough of a distraction to sneak in and snatch the Black Hand mage. Then, they'd make good their escape. Sneaking into the city via the dwarfs tunnels, they come across a secret dragon holding area, and come face to face with what had now come to be known as 'the fail dragon'. Being non too bright, the dragon agrees to ride the group to the surface, but gets his head stuck in the exit. Azreal does him a favor by kicking him in the face to get him out. The heroes then get cornered by a snake and a hound, Trust and Damon pass their agility checks to run past them, leaving Azreal to waddle along in his heavy armour.
Exiting in the mages district, this commotion draws the attention of the city guard. Despite Azreal throwing the corpse of the dead trader at them, they manage to get away thanks to Carnack turning up as a disguised commander. Resurecting the trader witht the skull lords magical helm, he revives to tell them about the secret base under the boardwalk. This info being useless to them, they bung him back into the bag of holding, only to take him back out again to thow at a unit of orcs working for the conspirators.
After dispatching the orcs, and sticking the trader back in the bag, the group gets to the gatehouse of the palace, being hassled by Clodhopper and his men, and open the gate to reunite with Kara and Sakari. Now for the final part of the plan. Taking the back door into the palace, they fight past members of the Black Hand. Then they all jump into the bag of holding bar Trust, who sneaks past the guards. Faced with an officer of the Black Hand, the group puts on rings with their insignia they looted from the members they've slain over the course of the campaign. The officer belives them, but goes to check with the chief mage. Bypassing a dense ogre, the group head on to stop the officer before he gives the game away.

“The Holy Shield of Bernard was a highly sought after relic for the Knights of Bahamut. For years it resided in the Imperial Tower of Wardovia, out of reach. At odds with his original mission, Azreal had been tasked to retrieve the shield in the confusion, unfortunately, he wasn't the only one after it”
- Tomas of the order of Bahamut – Oh Shining Day!: The Exalted of Bahamut

While the rest of the team head on to silence the officer. Azreal spies the shield he had been ordered to recover. Slipping away from the team, he bypasses any traps and alarms, and the shield is his. Turning around, he comes face to face with Carnack. The two spar, but Carnack hands Azreal a severe beating. When it looks as though Azreal is done for, a stray round from a trebuchet crashes through the wall. When the dust settles, Carnack is gone, and so is the shield.

“Lady Illiarna was one of the finest minds of the Black Hand. It was her own idea to pose as the Kings closest advisor to secretly influence the path Wardovia took. Despite her cunning however, the Coup took her completely by surprise. All she could do was put the King under a state of magical sleep, and keep the palace under lockdown, until aid came from her superiors. None were to come however, and during the battle for the capital, Illiarna prepared for her last stand”
- Simon Deangelo – Peace During Wartime: The Wardovia Job

Trust successfully silences the officer, and is shortly rejoined by a beaten looking Azreal. Entering the Kings chambers, it was time do do the job they came here to do. Facing off against the mage, she summons a scaled down beholder, this proves useless however as her own fireball manages to destroy the creature before it can act. Damon makes use of the summoning book, but fails a will check to see if he can maintain control of the elemental he summoned. Regardless, the team manages to knock the mage out, and tie her up. Time to escape.
Moments later, Lord Khan of the conspirators enters the room from the stairs above, thanking the group for taking care of the mage, now he can make short work of the King. A sword then thrusts out of Khan's chest, and he drops to the floor. Its Jocasta, arriving to help the group get the hell out of there, and she beckons them to follow her to the roof of the tower.

“After the signing of the alliance Katie (no confirmed second name, though believed to be ûnus nulla ûnus or some derivative therov) could be found side by side with Jocasta, sometimes closer than lovers, sometimes fiercely independent. Upon arrival in Andavia she quickly got the attention of the military with her fantastic talent for mechanics and engineering. Jocasta, being a former guard of the city had been invited to take part in the final phase of the operation in Wardovia, and she requested work for Katie in this also. As it would turn out, Katie's talents would prove crucial, and with a bit of research and a little magic from a down on his luck water genasi, Katie had revolutionized the escape plan.
Five months after the signing of the alliance, the airborne ship Shandra, took to the skies.”
- Alysoun Mifflinburg – No Dykes to Watch Out For: Mercenaries on the Road Less Traveled

Up on the roof of the tower, the group watches as a great ship, suspended by a large air balloon, descends to take them away. Jumping on board, they all pass their agility checks and the ship picks up speed. However, the conspirators have released the dragons seen earlier, and the heroes run to the ballisters mounted on the side of the ship to defend themselves. Damon summons a powerful deva, which makes short work of the dragons, and Sofia also turns up in the iron maiden to provide support, much to the annoyance of Katie, who'd spent months working on a flying ship only to be faced with a far superior one.
Job well done. The group once again are granted an audience with King Richard, paying them their reward and additional bonus for what they had to deal with. King Callidan they are told, is back on his feet, and about to clean house with his government. Leaving the castle, Azreal once again faces Carnack, this time however, Carnack hands over the shield. He reveals he went after it for its arcane power, but this has long been stripped from the relic, and is useless to him. With this, Azreal returns the relic to his order, and is rewarded with the title of Knight Commander, and significant lands and estates. By the docks, the group concludes their business, and Sofia offers to keep Azreal company when he goes to look after his lands. With that, Jocasta insists that the celebrate, and that the first rounds on her.

Conclusion

Playing dungeon master in this campaign I enjoyed immensely, and really felt the storyteller come out in me. There was still pleanty I would have liked to have included: A bigger dwarvern city, a longer finale, a murder mystery, and the magical seeds that Trust looted were never revealed to be poisonous as originally planned. But what I do know is the players really enjoyed the campaign, and thats the important thing. Now its time for some other poor sod to take over.

“And so, the Wardovia-Andavian alliance was now secure. King Richard had clear evidence of the Black Hands involvement, and over the coming years he and Callidan cleared both their kingdoms of corruption with ruthless efficiency. By the end of the century, the two kingdoms were as close as one, and Richard's and Callidan's families eventually married into each other, officially forming one nation.

Azreal took control of a significant portion of the country, and made a large amount of money out of it. Sofia stayed with him for a short while, but it wasn't long until her wandering spirit drew her back to traveling the plains, though she would still visit from time to time. Azreal got used to the quiet life however, and was content enough as he still had Lady Alriaanna of Helm to call on if needs be. Quite the rogue, young Azreal had turned out to be.

Kara and Sakari stayed in Andavia, going back to their positions they formally held, guardswoman and librarian respectfully. They reminisced with Jocasta for a bit, and were held in high respect amongst the military leaders of the city, but they never forgot their comrades, and vowed that they would drop everything and help their old friends if ever the need arose.

Jocasta and Katie continued with the mercenary life, leaving Andavia shortly after and traveling south to the Florentine lands. Katie continued to garner fame as an inventive prodigal, to rival even the most ancient of dwarven smiths. Jocasta continued to be a skilled and valuable ranger. Both continued to be the talk of the town wherever they went.

Trust, unsurprisingly, would return to a life of petty crime, despite the big payout. She would continue to drift from city to city, picking pockets and raiding homes, biding her time as she waited for the next big score to come along.

As for Carnack and Damon, they would soon find their fates unexpectedly entwined. Both having heard legends of the arcane history of the island nation of Farrel. Making their separate ways there, they soon found that there was more to their arrival than a simple treasure hunt.

But as always, that is another story...
- Simon Deangelo – Peace During Wartime: The Wardovia Job

Peace During Wartime: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards - Part 3

2010-11-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

During this campaign, I produced a small interlude to show what Jocasta was up to during all this. You can read it Here.

Chapter Five
Bastard Sword Overkill

“With the death of Kryptmn, and reports of a loose lipped racketeer in the city slums the conspirtors decided that it would be the best course of action to accelerate their coup.
Part one consisted of bringing forth their most loyal soldiers, and using those in authority to exile those loyal to the king. Part two would be to secure all viable assets in the kingdom, most notably the power that the Romanov estates would bring. Part three would then be a simple matter of bringing in Skelliath's undead army if required, and imposing martial law while a new government was established.
Of course, they still had to contend with the Black Hand, who held the King in a state of 'sickness', while they planned on their counter-coup."
- Silvio de Blum - The Ragnar Conspiritors: The Wardovia Coup

After a short break due to Damon's player being unavailable, I decided to push forward and compromise by joining the campaign as a third character to back up the team. This ultimately ended with me changing the whole route of the campaign. The Ragnar Conspiracy, originally planned as a small side quest, was now brought to the forefront. This resulted in Kara being exiled from the city, allowing me to use her as a guest member of the team if only two were available. In this case Damon had been concussed into unconsciousness by a magic missile.

“Look at you, great men of Wardovia, driven away like rats from a sinking ship. Well look at me! An Andavian, and woman at that. I'm not afraid to fight on. Fight to protect everything we fought for in the war. Did brother fight brother so that a handful of sons of whores can walk into the city and take it? Did they?”
Kara Regnetris – Speech during the routing of the Wardovian loyalists

After clearing out the caves in evergreen our heroes exit to find that Kara and the loyalists have fled there. Running into the violent locals, the village is cleared out, and the men set it up as a resistance headquaters. The undead army to the east now becomes a pressing concern, so Kara, Trust and Azreal head east to investigate reports of something interfering with the undead, originating from the shipwreck, the Iron Maiden.

“Captain Sofia Sloan. The name would bring thoughts of many things to many different people. Mead. Ale. Whiskey. Wine. Sofia was the best bootlegger from Neverwinter to Sigil and back.. Be it the lowliest slum spree to the most prestigious noble banquet, Sofia was in high demand.
Always with an eye for a quick buck and gentlemen who would at the very least pretend they were on some noble quest, Sofia traveled the planes far and wide in her Spelljammer, the Iron Maiden. With only one goal, keep the party going.”
Dara Murry - A rough tavern guide: Heros and Villains

Heading into pirate territory, our heroes discover that the pirates to the east are much more passive. Taking them to their captain, our heroes meet Sofia, aping a cod west country accent. In private she reveals that her Spelljammer crash landed, with its busted capacitors creating a field that negates any necromantic incantations. Sofia tasks the group with locating her some new engine parts, as the booze will only keep the pirates pacified for so long. In return she offers the busted capacitors to use against the undead to the east.
And so, with a wink from Sofia to Azreal, the group sets off back to the Dwarfen city, this time with whiskey to bribe their way in.

“My name is Tim. Son of a murdered farther. Husband to a murdered theory. Farther of a murdered potted plant. And I will have my vengeance”
- “King” Tim of the Westwood Elves

Traveling the countryside, the group comes face to face with the rather theatrical and unhinged 'King' Tim of the elves, who is convinced that the group are machinations of his “nemifis”(sic). Trusts quick tong manages to convince Tim that the identity of his nemesis is the Lord Treasurer, who Kara reveals will be heading to Collat'oral within a few days to make a bid for the Romanov estates. With this our heroes carry on. Eventually stopping off at the Byzannium ruins in an attempt to eliminate Skelliath

Chapter Six
Coup de Whoop

“The two dwarvern families of the Ragnar mountains, House Brut and House Brot, had been feuding for generations. The popular opinion of the gentry of Wardovia on 'lesser' races, had left the Dwarfs struggling to justify their position in the mainly human hierarchy. To maintain their hold, they became weapons manufacturers, for the Wardovian millitary, and off the record work for the Black Hand and the Ragnar Conspiritors.”
- Jack Capricorn - Where there's a mine or a hole in the ground

This session began with a thrilling battle against the skull lord and his undead minions. Using a regular undead model, the group was unaware that a skull lord had to be killed three times to finaly vanquish him, leading to two occurrences of manic laughter when they though the battle was over.
After finally finishing him off, they are granted a powerful helmet, that works as a sort of magical defibrillator, which once a day can be used to resurrect someone. When they arrive at the mountains, their alcoholic bribe works getting them a job offer by the head of house Brot, to do away with his rival and steal the blueprints for an automatic crossbow. While trying to infiltrate the back enterance to the house of Brot, Kara and Azreal have to pull off the oldest trick in the book, to pretend to be lovers passionately kissing while Trust picks the lock.
Finally they manage to sneak in, ham-fistedly do the dirty deed, and be away with the plans. In return the Dwarfs grant them fresh capacitors for Sofia and an agreement to help the group infiltrate the city by digging a tunnel under the wall when the time comes.

Chapter Seven
The Hanged Man

“Collat'oral was the financial capital of the continent. Here whole estates and armies were bought and sold. Standard practice was to open the ceremony first with the hanging of a notorious criminal. Then bids would begin for a variety of items, both valuable and mundane, to get the attendees into the spirit of things. Then there would be a short recess and the starting bids for the main prize would begin. There was then a break in the bids overnight, and the final auction would take place the following morning. In practice through, many events were the setting for crafty plots and dangerous gambits”
- James Khamrah – Mad Money

In this session our heroes head to Collat'oral in order to throw a spanner in the conspiritor's works by sabotaging the Lord Treasurer's plans to claim the Romanov estates in the name of the coup. The opening ceremony involves Carnack being brought up for execution, who breathes his final breath on the noose as the group debates the merits of an attempted rescue. In the end, they decided, It just wasn't worth the risk.
During the opening bids Trust and Azreal get into the spirit of things, bidding for a few bits and bobs. Kara notes the unusual amount of elves for the city, including the mayor of the town. After observing the Lord Treasurer for the day, the group plans to sneak into the town hall at night to steal the deeds to the estate. While preparing in her room, Trust is visited by the not so dead Carnack, who, admiring her ruthlessness, confides his secret of not death to her in return for assistance when assaulting the palace tower.
Trust infiltrates the town hall with ease, but comes face to face with a Black Hand agent, also after the deeds. Trust dispatches him, then leaves with the deeds, and all seems rosy. However the following morning it is revealed that the deeds were simply a decoy, the originals still safely up for auction. As the Lord Treasurer rises to claim his price, and all seems lost, he his killed by an elven uprising led by 'King' Tim. The elves wrest control of the city away from the lord's men, and agree to stand with the group against the conspirators as a reward for their assistance against Tim's 'nemifis'(sic).
After this, the group quickly travel back to the Iron Maiden, to pass the new capacitors to Sofia. As a last request, Sofia orders the pirates to now follow the free city guard and to rendezvous at Evergreen. With a wink to Azreal, Sofia's spelljammer raises into the air and vanishes to traverse the plains once more.

Chapter Eight
Twist ah Luck

“Tristan's troupe, as they were commonly known, were a band of adventurers of average reputation. Tristan, the devious Teifling rogue was the mastermind behind most of their schemes. Alriaanna was the strong silent paladin of Helm, the muscle of the group. Finally there was Duncan, the wild card. Duncan was a cleric of Bane, and shared his gods perchance for violence. Many theorize Duncan's somewhat camp mannerisms were a mask for his more manipulative nature, and that Tristan was just a patsy, being led to exactly where Duncan wanted him to go. Suffice to say, Tristan's schemes did not always go according to plan”
- Roma Drangasti – On the Road Again

Now to deal with Clodhopper. The resistance needed still more backbone before it would attempt to re-take the city, so a deal must be brokered with the scourge of the seven seas. Arriving at Skull Cove, Damon re-unites with the group, and they infiltrate the carvers, to attempt to have an advantage over the illithid Captain. Trust and Azreal however, get a bit greedy looking at some minerals in the cavern wall, attempting to pry them lose several times only yeilds attention from some Sllaad and a snake, so eventually they give in.
Discovering a small camp on the coastal cliffs, the group take cover for the night, but their checks fail to detect approaching pirates. Knocked out, they are captured, and awaken in a cell with a group of a adventurers who I made, to be honest, as thinly veiled parodies of the group itself. Tristan, the tiefling rogue, had landed them there with a scheme similar to Trust's, of pretending to be city guards and attacking the pirates. Duncan was an overly camp cleric, and Alriaanna said nothing, much like Azreal. After devising a plan, the group escape, and come face to face with Clodhopper.
Damon's diplomatic solution proves effective, Clodhopper agrees to help, but only if one of two conditions are filled. Either face him in battle or get him a brain to consume of better qualitiy than the usual he feasts on. The group chooses the latter, and plan to head to the town of Tarp, where a conspirator resides with the knights there. A perfectly suitable brain!
During all this, Azreals player was placing his model on top of Alriaanna. I decided this signified they had been uncontrollably making out. ITS CANON NOW.

Peace During Wartime: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards - Part 2

2010-11-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

Click for Full Image

Chapter One

Stand in the Fire

“The newly ascended King Calidan was unusual for his leniency in the otherwise brutal kingdom of Wardovia. This boded well for King Richard and his proposed alliance, but was never one for leaving things to chance. Years earlier Richard had set up a vast intelligence network to keep tabs on his rivals. Along the way he had discovered that the secret society of the Black Hand had long been the power behind the throne of Wardovia, unbenknownst to its nobles and monarchs. An alliance with Wardovia was too lucrative to turn down, but came with significant risk.
To ensure success Richard had to expose the Black Hand, but without significant evidence would never be able to convince Calidan. Richard needed the truth from the horses mouth, and he knew how to get it. Calidan's chief mage and advisor Lady Illiarna, had long been a high standing member of the Hand, if Richard could get a confession out of her it would be indisputable.
The plan Richard formulated was this, to hire some freelance mercenaries and send them, along with a couple of low standing subjects of Anvavia to ensure loyalty, to Wardovia to 'retrieve' Lady Illiarna. Pirates had long stalked the coasts of Wardovia and were getting more and more ambitious. A raid against the capital would be a prefect distraction to allow the agents to infiltrate the city and extract the target. If the plan failed, the agents would have no real connection leading back to Richard, who could dismiss them as bandits.
If sucessful, Illiarna would be taken to Andavia to be 'questioned' and the truth would out.
- Simon Deangelo – Peace During Wartime: The Wardovia Job

Our first session opened with Trust and Azreal traveling to Andavia with Kara and Sakari on the promise of a new job. Arriving amongst festivities in aid of the signing of the alliance, our heroes sign up for the job with Damon and Bigg. Carnack himself appears to have his own mission.
Shortly after, the group is taken to the throne room to be briefed on the mission by King Richard himself, who gives the characters some funds up for equipment. Azreal is given a counter offer in secret by the grand master of his order, to retrieve a holy relic from Wardovia, in return for land and fortune should he succeed, disgrace if he fails. Trust overhears this however, and then goes about her usual business stealing coin and equipment from citizens who had enjoyed the festivities too much. After the alliance is signed, Bigg tries his hand in the fighting circle, brushing off all comers, including a confident Carnack.

Chapter Two
No Room on Board for the Insincere

“Captain Clodhopper, scourge of the Saw Coast, was by far the most feared Pirate warlord to operate in the realms. His past before piracy is all but unknown. How a mind flayer of the underdark would leave his societies master brain alone is unheard of, let alone to work ones way up the pirate hierarchy as he did. Clodhopper was as ingenious as he was ruthless, he recruited men regardless of race, often employing skilled elf archers during raids, and dwarfs manning his ships weapons. Failure would be punishable by having Clodhopper personally consume the brain of the transgressor. Under Clodhoppers guidance, a large portion of the Saw Coast had been taken almost totally under pirate control”
- Christoper Kalgasi – A history of Piracy in the Realms

This session Azreals player was unavailable. Fortunately I'd designed this campaign to allow players to jump in and out of it at any time. Azreal, it was explained, would meet up in Wardovia later, for now he was to undergo additional training with his order. Bigg, Trust and Damon on the other hand were to set sail.
Within the ship our group questions some of the crew, as well as Kara and Sakari, before taking to their hammocks to wait out the journey.
Rather unsurprisingly, the ship is raided by Clodhoppers pirates, and while Kara and Sakari stay down below to try and plug the leak, the group take to the deck to try and gain control over the ship. Battling pirates, they fight towards the wheel of the ship. Clodhopper flees and Bigg charges to the bridge. I ask his player to roll a strength check when he goes to grab the wheel. He passes, of course. But by passing this shows that Bigg's strength is too significant. He pulls the wheel from the ship, and it cascades into jagged rocks.
With a few possible places on the map where they can wash up, I roll to see where they awake. Coming to, they find the wrecked ship, no survivors to be seen, and quickly deduce they are deep in pirate territory. Making they're way to civilization, they are faced by a band of pirates. Bigg and Damon have a disagreement about how to handle the situation while Trust hides. Damon attempts a diplomatic approach, Bigg favors violence. Trust ambushes one of the pirates and thus makes matters worse, the violent approach being the only option.
After defeating the pirates, the group makes its way to the cover of the Romanov estates.

Chapter Three
Long Distance Runaround

“The importance of the Romanov estates to the kingdom of Wardovia can in no way be overstated. In its hayday the estates controlled five hundred acres of fertile farmland. Fuel for a growing empire, and all under the control of one family. For decades many noble families plotted to usurp the Romanovs, and take the land for themselves. Ironic, then, that ultimately the estates would be run into the ground by Treveli Romanov, last of the line, who squandered the land, spending his fortunes on every vice imaginable.
Still, the estates were highly sought after. In the right hands they could be the fortune maker they were so many years ago. Unfortunately, Wardovian law prevented the lands to be simply commandeered by the state, and should Treveli die without kin, the land would be auctioned away to the highest bidder. No surprise then that Treveli died an old drunk, murdered in his home, and the land opened up to every ruthless noble and ambitious lord who needed decent collateral to fund more nefarious plots”
- Doncostoni Hanlet – Murdernomics: How a dagger in the heart changes everything

Our next session, things start to come to ahead. Arriving at the manor house of the Romanov estates, its previous occupant lying dead in a chair next to Carnack, tucking into the contents of the larder. Despite this, Carnack insists he had nothing to do with it, and an investigation shows the Black Hand to be the more likely culprits. Exploring the house, the group discover a secret cellar, housing some valuables (which trust takes naturally) as well as some seemingly magic seeds. After spending the night, Carnack has disappeared rather unsurprisingly, and we continue on to the city itself.
This session marked a new set of models for Trust, Azreal and Damon, putting away the Necromunda Ganger, Creed and Sailor models, respectively, for proper full blown character representations. The group hooks up with Azreal in the city, along with Kara and Sakari, explaining their survival of the shipwreck. Asking around, Trust hatches a plan to fake an attack by the city guard on the pirates, and hears that there have been suspicious goings on in the town of Evergreen.
After exiting the tavern, our heroes recognize a character from the previous campaign. The conspiring bartender behind the scorpion egg murders. Attempting to confront him only forces him into battle, and while trying to subdue him, Damon does a bit of overkill with cascade of light.

“Searing while light shot out of the lads hand, its beautiful rays cradled Damons almost tear filled eyes. The beauty, however was soon to be replaced, by the gut wrenching image of the human circulatory system being flotted towards our young hero and his pals.”
- 'Tripshot' Murphy - A Rush of Blood to the Head: The Adventures of Damon Volume 1

After gibbing the conspirator all over our heroes new outfits, they come across an unusual note, which Damon manages to decipher, arranging a meeting of villainous intent, in the Ragnar mountains. Curiously, it seems to be connected to neither the Black Hand, nor the pirates.
Shortly after Trust and co question a trader about the Black Hand, giving themselves away too much, and indicating the Lord Treasurer of the city might be allied to the Hand. That night, the merchants try to silence trust, but fortunately are stopped by Bigg, much to the frustration of Damon, trying for the Diplomatic solution yet again.

Chapter Four
Its a wonder that we still know how to Breathe

“Lythander Kryptmn's scheme during the wandering war, was only the first part of a grander plan. Kryptmn had no intenetion of assisting the Yuan-ti enclaves, instead using their resources in order to get away with an army of scorpions to add backbone to the forces of the Ragnar conspiritors.
The rest of the conspirators were ready to move, the Skull Lord, Skelliath had an army of the undead awaiting east. War criminal lord Khan was 'imprisoned' in the palace tower, being able to eavesdrop on the plans of the Kings inner circle and the workings of Lady Illarana of the Black Hand. Other notable members were Lord Shiabow, King Richards minister of foreign affairs and a key member organizing the Wardovia job, and Chapter Master Wallace of the knights of Helm."
- Silvio de Blum - The Ragnar Conspiritors: The Wardovia Coup

Our team get up to a lot this session. Bigg had disappeared, and as it was to turn out, never to return. Our heroes instead travel to the Ragnar mountains, to seek aid from the dwarfs and investigate the mysterious message. Arriving there, they eavesdrop on a meeting of conspirators, planning to stage a coup funded by the Romanov estates, to claim the kingdom and then go to war on Andavia. The undead army in the east, being stopped by a strange presence in the shipwreck of the Iron Maiden. The dwarfs prove to be unforthcoming, refusing to let the group enter their city without official papers. The group heads back to the city, stopping off at the village of noone for some rest and to rob a magic meat plant and special soil.
In the city they meet a morally scrupulous contact who agrees to get entrance papers for the dwarvern city in return for information on the pirates movements. The group then travels to the town of evergreen to investigate claims that there may be a Black Hand influence there. This turns out to be dead on the mark, and Damon takes numerous magic missiles to the face while fighting towards the towns mysterious caves...

Peace during Wartime: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards - Part 1

2010-11-10T03:07:00.000-08:00

'The Wardovia Job, as it was to be known as, was a revolutionary operation for its time given the realms more common disposition for honour and chivalry. The cunning King Richard of Andava is still one of the most disputed characters of his time, described by many as having a ruthless and cowardly disposition in contrast to his more popular image of a generous and thoughtful monarch.
With the conclusion of the 'Wandering War' between the Yuan-ti enclaves and the Roc descendants, Richard found himself in the unique position of having no pressing threats against his Kingdom. Only three years ago was the kingdom split in a bloody civil war with Wardovia, its sister kingdom across the channel. The newly elected King Calidan of Wardovia had agreed to an alliance with Andavia, but this was not a popular decision amongst its people, particularly not with the secret society known as the Black Hand, who had many influencial individuals withing Wardovia.
If a true alliance was to last King Richard understood that he must take care of such discontent, without appearing to take offensive action against his new ally. As we now know, The Black Hand were only the tip of the iceberg'
- Simon Deangelo – Peace During Wartime: The Wardovia Job

Click for Bigger

Taking the rains of dungeon master, It was time to up the ante with my first crack at a campaign. Being the kind of person who likes, nay, relishes the chance to improvise, this campaign I would not put too much fore planning towards. Our heroes would be tasked on a mission to the late medieval celtic themed Wardovia under orders from King Richard. While there, they would work towards they're ultimate goal by traveling the surrounding kingdom undertaking tasks that would aid them in the final battle, but they would not have enough time to achieve all these tasks, making the final battle have a variety of factors influencing it. With white board, marker pen and generic mooks in hand. Our story began...

“After the successful assassination of the Yuan-ti high command, Jocasta was to part ways, for a time, from her companions, where she was to go, nobody knew, other than she tasked them to meet with two old acquaintances of hers on the outskirts of Andavia.
The Paladin Azreal of the order of Bahamut had clearly been affected by his actions on the previous adventure, no longer a stoic man concerned with delivering divine justice on behalf of his God above all else, Azreal was now a more foreboding man, a heavy heart, throwing himself into violent conflict, seemingly to take him away from the responsibility of moral deeds.
No such drastic changes however for the tiefling Trust. As before, her current priorities were simply to make money, through legitimate means or no, and she would walk the long early spring roads even for the mere suggestion of a big payoff.”
- Roma Drangasti – Beyond the Wandering War

Returning from our previous campaign is Trust the kleptomanical Teifling and our Paladin of few words, Azreal, now downgraded to Lawful neutral by request. Trust was to remain her self centered self, maybe even developing more of a sadistic streak. Azreal went through a significant character evolution throughout the campaign, though not necessarily in a way you'd expect. They're first task, before the introduction of our other player characters, was to meet up with two old associates of Jocasta's, who were the first of many influential characters I had decided to include to create a backbone and identity to the campaign.

“Sakari Gempeitōkitsu was an orphaned immigrant from the east who grew up tending to the once great library of a small village known as Fostaf. Often neglected by members of the village, Sakari ultimately led a very empty life, enriched only by the worlds the books could provide stories of. Her means of escape was to come about when, during the Andovian-Wardovian civil war, when agents Loggo Logmond, “Chrissy” Dean and Jocasta Laxcroix, took refuge in the village. While information is hard to come by it is believed that Lacriox attempted, or was successful at taking Sakari as a lover, resulting in much stigma from the inward inhabitants of the village, and there are a few accounts of a violent incident between Logmond and Dean. Irrespective of this, Sakari and Jocasta were often close after the conclusion of the war, but as with many individuals involved with Miss Lacroix, were to part ways not long after...

...Captain (Later Commander) Karatrana “Kara” Luxor Regnetris, was a well respected member of the Anavian city guard, who first came to prominance when training under Jocasta Lacroix shortly after the conclusion of the Andovian-Wardovian civil war. The two were often seen as a professional partnership, and Kara's ability soon exceeded her Captain's, earning her own position under that rank. After a fine start to a career, Jocasta was to leave the guard once more, Kara being the only true remnant of her time there. Kara became known as a level headed and forward thinking commander, marred only by a few eccentricities, such as her modified armor and relationship with a certain city librarian”
- Alysoun Mifflinburg – No Dykes to Watch Out For: Mercenaries on the Road Less Traveled

Kara and Sakari were both created when I was trying to come up with a ideal partner for the otherwise material Jocasta. Sakari was a meek somewhat oriental inspired book worm, Kara the exact opposite, A muscular straight to the point warrior woman. In both cases for a time they seemed to work for Jocasta, bringing out the best of her and filling in the holes in her character. Jocasta is as Jocasta does however, and the relationships never worked for long, though as it turns out Kara and Sakari were a perfect match for each other.
In game, the two were to work as important NPC's, Kara would keep the character informed of all things combat related, occasionally providing support to the team as a guest character. Sakari on the other hand would provide the group with background and information, often giving hints regarding quests and jobs, both a good compass to keep the character moving in the right direction.

Click for Bigger

After almost walking in on a compromising situation, Trust and Azreal delver a letter from Jocasta to Kara and Sakari, and they mention that the King is recruiting mercenaries for work in the city of Andavia. So to the city our characters head, and upon arrival are met by a few more interesting characters.

“Having a duel upbringing studying as a cleric of Ioun and working the docks of the channel coasts, Damon was a boisterous and headstrong individual, motivated by nothing more than to get out and see the realms, as was the creed of his religion, in the service of the goddess of knowledge. Having heard of mercenaries being recruited in the cultural of Andavia, Damon drew up his pay and jumped on the first boat to the city, with only his sailors skivvies and the knowledge of a few spells to his name. Damon's introduction to the world, through his involvement in the Wardovian Job, was to be a rough ride”
- 'Tripshot' Murphy - A Rush of Blood to the Head: The Adventures of Damon Volume 1

Our previous DM leaped into this campaign with the Cleric Damon, whom he played as a rather self confident knowledgeable chap, sometimes perhaps a bit too self-confident, and on occasionally rather misogynist too. Damon's stock in trade was to be ham fisted diplomacy checks and obliterating everything in sight with Cascade of Light. Damon didn't pay too much heed to possessions, with his player losing his character sheet several times, his inventory log with it.

“Striking an imposing figure in the predominantly human settlements of Andavia, the goliath known as Bigg could have been the biggest asset in the Wardovian job. His martial prowess had few equals, honed living a harsh lifestyle in the outdoors, reflected by often 'tent pegging' people he would have little patience for. However, pay particular note of the the use of the word 'could'. While showing a fair amount of loyalty to his fellow mercenaries, and showing thorough dedication to the mission, Bigg suffered from a particularly bad case of what is now known as Attention Deficit Disorder. What could have been the killing fist, risks being little more than a footnote.”
- David Davidon - Sticks and Stones: Respect and Dismissal of Goliaths

Our very first, one hit wonder DM also joined us, trying out his new character book by giving a goliath a spin. Bigg Fuckar (ho ho play on words!) was a rather aggressive character with a big emphasis on using camping equipment in combat. In particular, tent pegs. Bigg had a lot of potential as a character, but made it difficult as DM, because he was just so hard to challenge in comparison to the other characters. In time I'm sure I'd have found a way to give Bigg a less easy ride in regards to combat, but unfortunately, was unable to have that opportunity, but we'll get to that in time...

“Carnack Cousland wants only one thing, to be the most powerful individual in known existence. He cares only for this, he lives only for this, he will pay any price for this. I tell you now his history that you may use it as best you can.
Carnack grew up as the second son of Teyrn Bryce Cousland, who brought his sons up as a wealthy noble should. To use they're status for the good of the lands they own, and the people they serve. Teyrn wanted Carnack to train as a fine warrior, to be a fine example of nobility, and to be married off to another noble family to secure political stability, or become head of the family after his fathers death should anything happen to his brother.
Carnack had no interest in any of these things, not money, not women, not land. It is unknown when his disregard for anything but his own absolute dominance came about, but he has often related tales of his jealousy of an unpopular child bullied by his contemporaries. Carnack envied the outcast status of this child, nothing expected of him and free to be his own man. In his twenties Carnack was relived to find his hair had fallen out, making him less of a target for the affections of young noble women. He was to follow this up with fierce warrior tattoos covering his face, which he would later repeat on all portions of his body.
So its was to be, on one faithful day, the Cousland house was attacked by a political rival, wiped out to a man. If he can now be called a man. Carnack. As it turned out, the killing of his family was to be part of a larger conspiracy involving dark arcane powers. Carnack shed not one tear for his family, his lifeline, his legacy. He did not seek vengeance or the possibility of survivors. He coveted only the arcane power, and thanked the day he was given to seek it out.
Since then Carnack has worked as a freelance mercenary, fuel only for he quest for more power, be it martial or arcane. He has been touched not by religion, or patriotism, touched by no woman or the material vices. He has worked to put tyrants in power, then worked with rebels to overthrow them, all so long as Carnack can one day find himself in a position safe from that that struck down his familiy. To never be a victim of fate or chance.”
- Ella Howe – Not Now, Not Ever: Existences most Wanted

Last of the campaigns major NPC characters, Carnack was the second character I created for Dragon Age: Origins. I wanted to do a playthough were I was a complete evil bastard for once, but Carnack took selfishness to the absolute extreme. Carnack wanted extreme power, not monetary wealth or political standing, though if that was to get him closer to his goal then he would persue it. Carnack wanted nothing short to be a god, despite the fact he didn't believe in them. I liked the way Carnack worked so much that I decided to stick him in the campaign, as a sometime ally, sometime antagonist. Carnack could be at odds with the character, but would aid them it they could help him get closer to his undisclosed goals.

So thats the cast, who find themselves in the service of King Richard of Andavia for a special mission to the kingdom of Wardovia, which turned out to have more going on than anyone could possibly imagine, but we'll get to that, next time...

STOP PRESS! REQUESTS NOW CLOSED!

2010-08-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, a few days before jetting off on holiday, I dust off the last of the requests. I must say I have really enjoyed the challange of taking someone elses ideas and putting my own spin on it, and I did learn a thing or two along the way.

The pressure was a bit serious at times though, so I'll probably be giving myself more time in future. Requests will probably be popping up again in october time.

And last but not least, the round up.

My friend dan requested a tattoo design of The Crow, had a few headbanging moments with this one but I'm happy with the final result.

2nd Part of desklifes characters, Sally, full details in the first weeks roundup.

A hybrid of Link from the legend of Zelda and Jason from Friday the 13th, from an idea by BrianTheMute.

And keebablue's character Valac.

And thats It, what a ride, Time to kick back on some beach somewhere with a beer and an overactive imagination.

Request Weeks 3 & 4 Roundup

2010-08-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

Due to attendance at a wedding and the subsequent hangover therov, Output has been reduced over the last couple of weeks. But lets take a look at what I've been doing anyway.

For my good friend Denwood we have Santa fighting a shark in the middle of a victorian dinner party. Yet it is still August.

Next we have Danny the cat as the Pyro from Team Fortress 2, in both blu and red flavors.

After that we have dredlok52's Chronicles of Mirra characters. I really like how this one came out.

Possibly the most complex of my requests so far is stardom123's storyboard.

Request of Huoeme's original character, Ning, He likes strawberries so I'm told.

Another one I'm rather proud of, Reldin-pq's Champions Online character.

And last but not least the 2nd of sunnyszelda's Character concepts.

And on a final note I must regrettably announce that I have no more room for requests at this time, but shall be taking more in the future. Cheerio.

No Regrets: An Interlude

2010-08-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

Having missed out a few campaign sessions over the recent weeks, I've decided to bridge the gap with a small interlude.

Its equal parts Dungeons and Dragons, Fallout, Dragon Age and some stuff from an old nonsense novel I wrote for laughs when I was 16.

Normal, Unemotional service will be resumed shortly

Requests: Week 2 Roundup

2010-08-01T03:55:00.000-07:00

Oki32 Asks me to do a picture of Zangief. Being one of my favorite street fighter characters, I rise to the challenge.

Up next if the first of some concepts for sunnyszelda. This is Lawrence, a hansome young man.

ellenm asks me to do a small diddy of The Fitcilitator.

And finally h3artbr0ken's character Johnson.

Requests: Week 1 Roundup

2010-07-25T04:25:00.000-07:00

One week in on taking requests, lets have a look at what I've come up with so far.

First up, I get a request from Benson, He wants a catgirl, Alright I say:

Further afield on the internet, Shottis requests a comic book styley cover featuring himself and his two characters Kara Walker and Kaitlyn. This is what I came up with:

Up next web series Sally Carter's writer Desklife requested a couple of things of the series characters. I had a crack at Hood, and plan on doing more in the future. More of her stuff Here: http://sallycarter.blogspot.com/ .The requests are coming in hard and fast now though.

Finally Bowser81889 requested something of his original Sonic character, Reign. I've not done anything like this before, so there you go. Came out quite well though all told.

Coming soon: Denwoods request Involving Santa and a bear, The Facilitator, some more original characters, and Zangief. See you in a week.

That Means You, Request Details

2010-07-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

The time has come. The time has come to start acting like a semi professional. The time has come to start taking free requestes.

Merrick: “distributed gratis.”

Al Swearengen: Free gratis.

Merrick: Free gratis is a redundancy.

EB: does that mean ‘repeats itself?’

Al Swearengen: Then leave gratis out.

Merrick: What luck for me Al, that you have such a keen editorial sense. Free. Distributed Free. Period.”

Al Swearengen: Fucking free gratis!

SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

What it means is, that if you want any kind of illustration work done, want it free, want it fast, and want to help me improve, then tell me what you want, and I'll do my best to pull it off.

WHAT CAN YOU ACTUALLY DO?

Examples of some of my stuff here: http://elpresedente.deviantart.com/ it gets better as it goes along.

Whatever I can to get to be a better artist, but just in case, here's a few Ideas:

Working on a novel or a play, short film even? I can do concepts for you're characters, costume designs, even crack out some storyboards if I can find the time.

Original character designs, same as above really.

Illustrations for promotional work, home grown album covers etc. If its for something like this it'd get priority too, just as long as I got full credit for my work.

Tattoo designs, didn't really think of this till somebody mentioned it at work, but I'd be happy to have a crack.

Comics, if you've got a script, bear in mind though I'd only be able to do a page or two, not a full on 24 page issue. I've got my own stuff to work on too you know!

Some funky fresh fan art, as long as you provide the references if its something I'm not familiar with.

And I don't mind doing stuff of a semi erotic nature, just bear In mind that I haven't been down that route yet so I'd be going in green.

Just remember though I'll try and fit as much in as possible, don't know how well this'll take off yet, but rarely some stuff has the potential to turn me off, so if I don't like you're request, lump it.

TIMESCALES

Depending on my work hours and what I've got on between now and the end of august, this is a rough Idea of how long stuff should take. It'll also be based on how many requests I have to get through.

A quick sketch: About an hour or so, it'll be pretty rough though.

Lineart: About an afternoon to a day

Black and White Inks: About a day or two, maybe more depending on how complex it is.

Colour: About 2 - 3 - 4 days again maybe more depending how complex it is.

Comic Strips: About a week

REQUESTING

Either send the request in an email to el_presedente_nr@hotmail.co.uk with Request as the subject title, or leave the request in the comments section of this blog post, the facebook group page or the DA forum thread, and I'll see what I can do.

Ok then chaps hope you can all help me out, and In the end we'll all be big shots earning megabucks, right?

Jenny Everywhere's Rules of the Multiverse

2010-07-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

I knew this theme was too good to pass up on.

Jenny Everywhere's Rules of the Multiverse #36

2010-06-23T04:17:00.001-07:00

Holy Smokes! A Jenny Everywhre Comic!

Its been a while, and the whole community itself seems to have hit a sleeper at the moment, so I thought I'd bring up some new material. I like the idea of doing some more strips being about different rules, so we'll see what the future brings.

Tail and Talon: The Whole Sorry Affair (Part 3)

2010-06-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

Finally. An ending. AND A BEGINNING! (I object to the excessive use of exclamaion marks however)

Click for Full Image

Chapter 5

Trumpton

“Germ warfare isn't something familiar to the realms. Outside the dabbling of alchemists and mages spells, the use of chemical or biological warfare wasn't very widespread. However the concept behind it was the inspiration behind the Yuan-ti's greatest plots during the Wandering War. Part one was simple, hire some morally dubious traders to smuggle away some of the Rog eggs, then have a different network of conspirators smuggle the eggs back, albiet with some significant alterations.
The eggs were carefully implanted in turn with scorpion eggs. To the naked eye the eggs would appear to be untampered with, until the time came when the scorpions would hatch, eat they're way out of the eggs, and fatally poison the Roc descendants right under they're noses”
- Roma Drangasti – Tail and Talon: Non Territorial Conflict and Mercenary Warfare during the Wandering War

So in this session we finally finished off those zombies, and the characters traversed further into the cave complex. Upon reaching the egg nest, the protective ward is set, to which we're greeted with the eggs opening up to reveal scorpions. Great. I theorized that the whole affair with the stealing of the eggs, and the ice prostitutes, and that, were all part of a grand conspiracy to smuggle the scorpions into enemy territory. To which our DM shrugged his shoulders.
After a bit of trouble with the scorpions a giant Roc flies down to our rescue. Previously our characters were rewarded with a golden leaf that would allow them to summon a grand Roc at a time of need. After this little incident it turned out that this was its one use only, which the DM gave us when we didn't even ask for it. I felt cheated, as I was going to save it for the end of the campaign when we'd likely need it.
Upon returning to the ice palace we collect our usual reward and are tasked with traveling to the Yuan-ti citadel and putting a stop to the war once and for all. Along the way our characters meet a traveling trader who looks suspiciously like every barman they've met so far. The trader offers us a stone golem called Chunga for fairly generous price, to which Trust buys the control rod and orders the golem to knock out the trader so she can steal all his stuff. The DM and indeed the trader are not amused, and deny Trust the ability to make any future commands of the golem. We laugh. Then off they trot.

Click for Full Image

Chapter 6

If Axes could Melt

“So anyway, I was In these caves this one time. Home to a spider queen or some such nonsense. Anyway, I'd had a few ales at this point so I wasn't really paying attention. I get kidnapped, and turned into a giant diamond. I have no idea how it happened but there I was, A giant diamond, chained up in some temple room or something. So these adventurers come along, I try to talk to them but without a tongue its not that easy. Somehow though, I can communicate with them, I can project feelings or something like that.
So they cut me down, and just as I think the worst is over, I'm turned into a giant scorpion or something and have to fight them. Fortunately for me, killing the scorpion released the spell and I got to go home. Thank god for happy endings eh? And the moral of the story is: governing bodies should put more thought into where they build they're tunnel complexes”
- Thora Muttonbone – during a conversation in a tavern about bad experiences

“Get out! Get out! Get ouuuuuuuuttttt”
- Inscription on cave wall

Trotting steadily along, our characters pass through a network of caves en route to the Yuan-ti fortress. Despite the fact that our DM's theatrical premiere was fast approaching, this session had the least attachment to progressing the story or any real semblance of plot. In order to retain my own sanity, and yours, dear reader, I'm going to go through this... what can only be described as a bad acid trip... one step at a time.
Upon entering the caves the characters are forced to give up the usefulness of Chunga, who becomes magnetized to the walls. Further along a lone dwarf tells us how his family have been lost in the caves and that he will reward us if we find them. Further along we find a giant diamond chained up in a room, which we eventually deduce is the dwarfs daughter after some kind of transformation. The DM fails entirely in giving us any clue how to set her free. Instead we cut the chains, and the diamond transforms into a giant scorpion, with the daughter somehow fused to its stomach. One combat encounter later and we've freed the daughter and she runs back to her dad.
Moving swiftly along we go through the same rigmarole to free the son and the mother and in all honesty can't remember what reward we got. Carrying on into the complex the party runs into a benevolent phantom, who tells them that if they defeat the spider queen it will set him free, and we can have all the unbreakable spidersilk we want. He then proceeds to talk and talk. And Talk. When we get to the middle of the complex, it turns out it was all a trap and that the phantom was working for the spider queen all along. Were it not for Chunga's timely intervention it would have been one combat encounter we weren't walking out on. Shortly after, the party leaves the cave complex and is back on the road.
All in all I was a little confused after this session. Were we in the middle of a longer, more concise and regular campaign, it may have had a place, but as mentioned before, we were scraping for time as it was, and It just felt like the DM was stalling us until he could come up with an idea of how to end the campaign.

Click for Full Image

Chapter 7

Can we just end it now Please?

“Thus the intrepid assassins gained the confidence of the Yuan-ti garrison, giving them free reign of the fortress. What method was it they were to use to dispatch the high command? There was a readily available supply of scorpions, waiting to tamper Roc eggs? Sabotage then? Poison? Perhaps taming the Chiefs pet drake to turn on its master? All these options lay open to them, but disaster would strike at every turn! The kitchens locked tight! The drake, unresponsive! And of the vast conspiracy involving the scorpions, there was nothing to be seen! (might want to re-write this part Roma, its a little dramatic – ed)”
- Roma Drangasti – Tail and Talon: Non Territorial Conflict and Mercenary Warfare during the Wandering War – First Draft

So finally our characters have an objective in sight, arriving at the keep, Trust manages to slip into the usual routine of bluffing her way into the enemies confidence. All that remained was to take care of the high command and make our escape. However, the DM didn't seem to want to help us much in this regard.

Or indeed at all.

While at the keep, there were plentiful method to aid our heroes in carrying out the assassination. The characters were offered to meet the high command, but never in the same room at the same time, so no chance of Azreal just bludgeoning them to death. Access to the kitchens was never allowed, guarded by day and locked and alarmed at night, so no chance of Trust picking the lock and poisoning the food. Then there was the pet drake that was always with the commander, Jocasta attempted to charm it, but when the chance came the DM revealed the commander had a special jewel in its forehead that kept it under total control. Oh, and no Chunga allowed, apparently.
Finally, we discovered a pit under a large statue that contained the notorious scorpions. At this point we planned on cutting our losses and at least manage to take out the main commander by shoving him down the hole. However at this point the DM decided to retcon any existence of said hole being there in the first place, leaving us with a grand total of zero options.
In the end we were so frustrated that we started a fight with a bunch of kobolts and it ended there.

Click for Full Image

Conclusion

“What occurred next is lost to the history books, and eye witnesses are few. Despite the fact that the mercenary band were completely compromised, they managed to not only escape with they're lives, but also follow out they're contract to the letter, ending the war, and stabilizing the political climate of the realm. We can only speculate on how this was achieved, but evidence seems to suggest that the Yuan-ti high command were actually suffering from a very slow acting form of heart failure. They're resulting deaths being ultimately an act of the gods.
Whether this is true or not there is still not enough solid proof, and many other theories have just as much backing. When pressed on the subject, the three involved had only the following to say:

“Assassination? Me? Surely you mean Arse-assination! Hahahaha! Oh I'm awful. Seriously though, speaking of arses, how is Trust these days? I 'trust' she's well. Hahahahahaha, oh thank you, thank you, I'm on all night.”
- Jocasta Lacroix

“Well, what happened was, we were surrounded by kobolts, and then Azreal shouts, “For great justice!” and then... what?... No I wasn't trying to reach for you're purse strings, how dare you! This is the kind of prejudice Tiefling like myslef have to... No... No I still wasn't trying to reach for you're purse strings you must have been ima- Oh bugger!”
- Trust

“...” “erm...”
- Azreal of the Order of Bahamut

And so our final session never came. Our DM had a date with destiny on stage in front of a thousand screaming middle aged women. What would have happened can only be speculated upon. Once we started to get some free time back, attempts were made to fit in a final session, but we never managed to get it together, and I was edging to jump into the DM's seat myself, to get my own grand campaign in order.
Hopefully such a sour end note won't reflect the future of what Dnd and indeed any tabletop games have in store for us, and all in all I don't regret the time we spent on it. We had some good laughs and insane stories to take home with us, and a bunch of character to build on if we so wished. So I suppose I can end this review with the corny line that the campaigns fate was ultimately dedicated by a roll of the dice. I'll get my coat.

But its not over yet... Not by a long chalk.

“Kara

How goes it my golden haired guardswoman? If Trust lives up to her name (Thats the deceptive Tiefling you're either pointing a crossbow at or have a sword to the neck of) she'll have got this note to you and Sakari safe and sound. I'm already regretting that I'm not there in person, I'd like nothing more than to re-live the old days with you and the little bookworm with eyes of deep azure. But enough with sentimentality.

I may have been out of touch with the politics of the realm for quite some time, but even I know the departure of the snakes and the big birds is going to cause a bit of an upheaval. I have loyalties elsewhere, and alas cannot continue on the road with my friends. With regards to all this, somebody is going to have to keep these two out of trouble. No doubt there'll be plenty of jobs going for adventurer types, or otherwise you could always conscript them into the city guard or have Sakari hire them as cleaners for the library.
I've already mentioned Trust, she's okay as long as you keep an eye on your gold at all times and don't give her the opportunity to torture people. The Paladin is Azreal, he's fun to be around in a dopey shy kind of way, if you can get him out of his shell, no pun intended.
You know I trust you're judgment, and I know you've always been more of an idealist than me. If they're going to throw they're lives away, at least let it be for a good cause.

Thats how I'd want to be remembered, but you know that already, don't you?

Till the eternal sleep takes us Kara and Sakari
Yours always, and never
Jocasta Lacroix

P.S On the off chance you run into a bunch of Yuan-ti traders, get some of they're advocaat, its to die for!

Tail and Talon: The Whole Sorry Affair (Part 2)

2010-05-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

Fate didn't quite didn't deal us the hand (or roll us the crit as it were) we wanted as it went. In the wake of our first successful session we found it difficult to find the time to get together to follow it up. Getting hold of the DM was particularly difficult (Would've been easer if the bugger bothered to switch on his damn phone) so in the end we had to do something drastic to keep the momentum going. We recruited a new DM. This new DM had a flair for creativity and the theatrical, which was great, but he had even less experience with Dnd than we did. Worst of all was the fact that he's notorious for never finishing what he starts. But more on that later.

Click for Full Image

Chapter 2

Jobs for the Boys

“Despite being mortal foes, the Yuan-ti enclaves and the Roc descendants were nothing but civil at times. Both were splinter groups of they're larger races and therefore neither had the backing from they're respective empires or families. Ultimately this led to them recruiting swords for hire and cutthroats, as well as offering deals to the local merchants that didn't ask too many questions.
With this in mind, it was not uncommon to see members of both factions frequenting the same inns and taverns on the lookout for such takers. Winterhaven was one such place that was solid gold for adventurers with more bravado than sense, and they were easily lured into such contracts. A month prior to the assassination, the Roc's managed to hire a trio of adventurers to take out a small Yuan-ti settlement. At the same time the Yuan-ti had decided to start playing dirty, hiring a local trader to start smuggling Roc eggs for the snakes to do with as they pleased, as opposed to the more 'honorable' method of winning them as spoils in open combat.
Unfortunately for the trader, he wasn't to know he was part of a larger plan, had he known this, he might not have met the fate he did”
- Roma Drangasti – Tail and Talon: Non Territorial Conflict and Mercenary Warfare during the Wandering War

So the second session kicks off with our new DM. Right away we're thrown head first into a whole new story. Our characters wake up in the morning to be greeted with a choice between two rival factions. The DM wasn't too familiar with the world of Dnd and wanted snake people versus bird men, which we got in the form of the Yuan-ti and consolidated with the creation of Roc descendants. We were allowed to choose which faction to side with, naturally given our characters predispositions we chose the slightly more justified side. Sometimes I wonder how it would have played out it we'd sided with the Yuan-ti. Though judging by the route the campaign took with the Roc's, there's no real way we can accurately estimate that notion.

“As cold as winters night. As cold as cold as a frosty morn. As cold as a penguins tip. But none as cold as Billy, he's dead, the poor fucker, he's dead”
- Proverb

So after a bit of of banter with each factions representative and a bar man that would show up far too often during the campaign, our characters were tasked with taking out a Yuan-ti settlement. En-rout our DM had us meet a suicidal woman on a bridge and then fight her zombified husband, which apparently made her less suicidal. With the settlement in sight, Trust preceded to bluff the Yuan-ti into believing that we were working for them, which she would attempt to do many many times during the campaign. Within the camp, Jocasta hits the bar for some Advocaat made from Roc eggs, Azreal questions a trader conspiring with the Yuan-ti and managed to extract nothing but a bunch of cigars from him, (actually to be fair, we did manage to figure out that he was smuggling said Roc eggs) and Trust skulked about a bit.
In the end, time was getting on and the DM tired a bit, having us take out the camp by throwing a cigar into what was either highly combustible manure or gunpowder, blowing the place up and having us ride off on stolen horses. Despite that fact that this was a bit of a cop out and thoroughly ridiculous, it felt fucking amazing! The whole session left us with a great feeling of satisfaction and optimism. A final message was sent to the previous DM. “You're Fired”

Click for Full Image

Chapter 3

Those Meddling Kids

“Scargrill wasn't just any Yuan-ti officer of course. Like many people in power of his time, he could only be described as 'financially incontinent' in terms of stratagem and fortification. If anything could be bought and implemented, it was, no matter how counter-productive. Some of Scargrill's purchases included: An underground bunker. A river of acid to protect said bunkers entrance. An acid neutralization spell to allow safe passage through the river of acid. A wall of water to disguise said bunkers inner sanctum. A necromantic ward to protect recreational substances via undead warriors. Artificial sensory organs for said undead to be able to experience said substances. Kobolt warriors disguised as Yuan-it officers posted around the land. Solid gold shield. Vast Quantities of Manure.
Despite all this, his killers managed to not only demolish most of his camp one night, then return to waltz right in to his bunker and finish him off the next. Remember kids: A cheap arse may embarrass himself for a moment, but a big spender can embarrass himself for the rest of his life”
- Mr Bronson - Speech to Year 7 on the values of saving money

Next session its back to town to claim our reward. Unfortunately, the Roc representative has been murdered. No prizes for guessing it was his opposite number on the Yuan-ti's side, who Jocasta, Trust and Azreal quickly chase down. But Behold! It is revealed that the Yuan-ti was actually a Kobolt in disguise! For no apparent reason!
From the corpse our heroes loot various bits and bobs, as usual Trust is quick to claim the massive diamond that was promised as reward, but Jocasta is savvy enough to see greater value in a smaller diamond. A diamond with a map engraved in it, illuminated around a room when shone over candlelight. The map leads to the mountains. Along the way our characters give the grieving wife a wave and stop off at the ruins of the Yuan-it camp for salvage. Where we get to experience the joys of the commanders bunker. After being stalked by an undead warrior that eventually got tired and wandered off, they cross a river of acid that has no effect on anyone living. Or dead for that matter.
Once we reach the center our characters battle the wounded commander, and as before, Trust is the first to the loot. Oh well. Heading to the mountains, we are greeted with a glorious palace of ice. And its guards. Though greeted may have been the wrong word. More, told to bugger off.

Click for Full Image

Chapter 4

Up the Junction

“For his part in the conspiracy, barman Lythander Kryptmn was offered the usual reward. His weight in gold and jewels. The Yuan-ti weren't the most inventive when it came to coaxing people over to they're own side, but they did make up for it in the sheer magnitude of precious mineral they offered.
Kryptmn was the second part of the grand conspiracy. The first, as we know, was the part played by the Mynderbynder & Mynderbynder trading syndicate, who's agents were responsible for the acquisition and smuggling of Roc eggs. For they're part Mynderbynder & Mynderbynder played for both sides of the conflict, being hired by one side to ensure the safety of a certain cargo and then selling it to the other. They're fickleness however, only aided the spreading of misinformation, which Kryptmn was hired to deal in.
At first glance the Roc egg theft seemed purely to be a dishonorable means of the Yuan-ti getting they're food. Kryptmn was hired to get the eggs back to the Roc nests, no questions asked, and ensure they're safety. Kryptmn's solution was nothing short of masterful, despite his claims that he was “making it up a he went along”.
Kryptmn was working undercover within the Roc palace in a tavern-cum-bordello. His courtesans were emotionless ice golems, sculpted into features of feminine beauty. Within however, were trained fire bats, who would melt out of the courtesans and murder wayward adventurers.
The Roc descendants had no interest in figures of human form, and after Mynderbynder & Mynderbynder's recent performance, didn't think much of they're hired swords going missing in the morning. Kryptmn was then free to use his necromancy on the corpses, sending them off as zombies, to protect the eggs deadly cargo...”
- Silvio de Blum - The Ragnar Conspiritors: The Beginning

The forth session was laugh a minute as the characters bummed around the Ice palace. Keeping the averages up, Trust managed to bluff our hosts into giving them an extremely large reward, only for this to backfire when the DM decided to give Jocasta and Azreal larger rewards because the Roc's 'didn't like her'. We're then give us a quest to go and put a protective ward over some Roc eggs that are endangered by zombies or something.
Funtimes for all. Trust tortures a captive Yuan-it held partially in a block of ice while the other two turn a blind eye. Absolutely nothing is learned. Jocasta hits the bar, again. This time though she's intrigued by the ice maidens, so hires one out for the night, if anything to see if there was anything behind the emotionless facade. I was fully expecting them to be not nearly as emotionless as they appeared, but got more than I bargained for when It melted and a flaming bat exploded out of its torso, Right in the middle of Trust giving Jocasta a 'responsibility' speech (Ironic, coming from a torturer). Shortly after Azreal arrives and the battle begins.
Unfortunately our DM got the hit points and the experience points mixed up, so it took a tad longer than it should have done. Later the dogey bar man who keeps showing up at every bar is perused into caves under the palace, which lead to the nest that contains the Roc eggs. Dun Dun Dunnnnn!
The session ends mid battle against a hoard of zombies. We take a picture of the battle so we can remember the positions, and then lose said picture before the next session. Doh!

Concludes Shortly...

Tail and Talon: The Whole Sorry Affair (Part 1)

2010-05-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

“The almost nonevent that was the Wandering War of is perhaps one of the finest examples of a conflict fought without any desire for territory. The conflict between the Roc Descendants and the Yuan-ti Enclaves was brought about purely by natural selection alone, the Lizards fed on the eggs of young birds, the Birds fed on the dyeing old lizards. Depending on you're point of view, both sides were either entirely justified In they're aggression or not at all.
Irrespective of the causes and effects of the conflict, and indeed the rather unique qualities of a war fought purely with the intent of exterminating the other side, that is not what I am writing to discuss today. The wars effect on military dogma and social community at the time will (and has) be discussed by many better social thinkers than myself. Rather, today I am writing about one particular event in the wars era, the assassination of the Yuan-ti high command, an event brought about only by the wars rather unique circumstances”
- Roma Drangasti – Tail and Talon: Non Territorial Conflict and Mercenary Warfare during the Wandering War

Being the first in hopefully many Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, the now named Tail and Talon was the first blooding of me and my friends at Dnd and indeed role playing in general. Getting the whole thing going was hard enough, and was brought to a sadly abrupt end. The First session was made up of three players (one being myself) and one DM, being the only one with experience in dnd, we thought him best for the role. Funny how things would turn out.

“Jocasta Lacroix had already quite a reputation before her part in the Wandering War. Born a half-elf orphan in a small rural village, she left early in life due to the locals misgivings towards her promiscuity and rather aggressive attraction to members of her own gender. Shortly after she would join the Andovian city guard. Her career was reasonable enough, but eventually she found herself cast out after an incident involving a succubus and and erinyes infiltrating the city. Jocasta successfully managed to save the city by keeping the creatures occupied, but her methods used were considered high risk and as such her employment was terminated.
Shortly after, Jocasta entered mercenary work, where she honed most of her ranger skills (and a few other talents). Her employment mostly consisted of body guard work for princesses and priestesses, though her interest in said clients often earned her declined pay and a slap in the face (unless it was a good day), which soon led to her taking more colourful contracts, which would eventually lead her to fighting in the Andovian-Wardovian civil war. Shortly after the wars conclusion she disappeared for a time, only to show up a year later with tales of 'other worlds' (most likely she had been planewalking, but there are no known sources to confirm this), and soon returned to private military contracting.”
- Alysoun Mifflinburg – No Dykes to Watch Out For: Mercenaries on the Road Less Traveled

Jocasta started life as a wet dream with a sword and a shield, I won't deny that, but the fact that she became something far more interesting says more about role playing than it does about me. Jocasta was the first character I created for a computer RPG which wasn't just a representation of myself, and in a sense was my first real crack of playing a role rather than doing what I'd do if I were there. I made her an aggressive lesbian because I couldn't think of anything more strange than that in a tolken-esque fantasy world, and by and large, Neverwinter Nights 2 pretty much gave me the freedom to do just that. By the end of NWN2 and its expansion , which resulted in a heart wrenching conclusion, Jocasta had grown on me like an extra tooth. She was soon added to the crossover cosmology of fictional worlds within my own head, and ultimately not bringing her back for a full blown dnd campaign would have been both an injustice to her, and myself.

Click for Full Image

“Of Trust (Surname: Unknown) little is concrete knowledge. Like most Tieflings she was an unregistered birth, and her sociopathic tendencies would indicate either the lack of known siblings or a bad experience with one in the past. Trust made her trade through pickpocketing and confidence trickery. Had she stuck in one place for long she may have found herself scouted for membership into a resident thieves guild, but as it was, her loner lifestyle led her from one city to another. Her streetwise knowledge and survival instincts would keep Trust alive long enough to leave the shadows and inadvertently enter the limelight. After a brief stint in Andavia prison Trust would be approached by notorious bedwrecker Jocasta Lacroix.
Jocasta no doubt as unofficial hearsay has taught us, had only one thing on her mind, but Trust stonewalled the half-elf's advances, instead negotiating a cut in Jocasta's mercenary work, and the two of them became partners of moderate success. When word came of the local lords of Winterhaven paying good rates for the return of salvaged artifacts, it was time for fate to come knocking on Trusts door, to prove that even demon blood can play a part in the preservation of international peace.”
- Ezio de Sirenze – Here We Stand: The Teifling Peoples Road to Acceptance

Trust was the second female in the group, created by my friend who has a rather twisted sense of wit. Trust would certainly come in useful in game terms, and my friend chose to play her as vindictively as possible, resorting to pickpocketing and stealing at every available opportunity, especially from his own group members, and many a game would dissolve into a mad dash for loot as Trust would always attempt to get the most valuable items available, then bluff that there was none, which led to the rest of us pouring skill points into countering bluff.
Naturally the way Jocasta was played made Trust an obvious target for her affections (nee: randyness), and every attempt to seduce her was made, but unfortunately to no avail. This was all made even funnier by the fact that Trust would often attempt to seduce various male characters to coax more money or information out of them, and as with Jocasta's attempts, this fell flat every time.

“A Stoic, quite sole, the inner mind of Azreal of the Order of Bahamut was a closely kept secret, even to himself. Living the holy life in the chapter house at Kamalot, his masters eagerly awaited the day Azrael would leave the confines of the quiet stone walls to seek glory in his gods name, proving his worth to the order. This would be a long time coming however, as Azreal's dedication to occupying the chapter house, was almost indomitable.
Eventually his masters chose to favor Azreal with a most sacred mission, to travel to the small town of Winterhaven to secure its holy relics and prevent them from falling into the hands of the unworthy. Azreal was sent on his way with only a great axe, longcoat and everburning cigar to his name. He was soon joined by two serfs, who aided him on his journey, but the gods smiled on Azreal, for they knew he was destined for greater things. History would follow its course, and Azreal would successfully lead the assassination that would end the Wandering War. Weather Azreal subtly manipulated events to lead to this most glorious act, or merely followed the hand of his god unquestionably, is an enigma that haunts many historians to this day.”
- Tomas of the order of Bahamut – Oh Shining Day!: The Exalted of Bahamut

Finally we were joined by Azreal, my friends paladin who was occupied by a model of Ursarkar Creed from Warhammer 40'000, which led to many running jokes involving his longcoat and cigars, which despite being a lawful good paladin, would turn out to be the characters only motivation. My friend was probably the least into role playing and the most into skull smashing, and thus there were few dimensions to Azrael. As such my friend also found the lawful good alignment somewhat restrictive when he always wanted to go for the violent option.
Despite all this, Azreal remains probably the most well rounded character between Jocasta and Trusts extreme personalities. Given time and perhaps a retool of the character, Azreal could have developed into a more complex soul, so future campaigns may see him continue the fight for the glory of tobacco

Click for Full Image

Chapter 1

Livin' Lovin' Losin'

“Day 1143768 – As per usual the kobolts are causing trouble on the roads, being a mixed blessing as they're presence here helps convey the illusion that Winterhaven is the capital city of adventure. As per usual a bunch of adventurers stumbled into town with said illusion. Logged In: One Human Paladin, One Half-Elf Ranger, One Tiefling Rogue (John, these Tieflings are becoming more and more common, I'm not a judgmental man, but I swear if I see any more I'm going to have to start a toll gate). Upon entering the village the adventurers followed the usual routine, talk a bit about the keep, ask for some help etc. Half-Elf Ranger was incapacitated for the rest of the day from consuming dwarfish spirits. Logged Out: Half a Liter of Dwarvern Tallisker. The other two went around town trying to scrounge some info, usual scratch-my-back-scratch yours follows. That Elvish womans being stupidly cryptic again, I wish she'd stick to the program and not act like Lord bloody Soze. Also, what the hell is that Dwarf Bard doing here? Logged Out: Two Rooms, Standard Candles and Cleaning Costs
Day 1143769 – Tiefling tried to woo the Lord, Hilarious. Logged Out: 3 Standard Meals. Adventurers split off for more info. Locals feed them the usual kobolt problem line. Trio are particularly troublesome when it comes to this errand, demanding money up front, horses etc. Tiefling tries to woo stablemaster, hits her in the tail with a horse shoe, Hilarious. Logged Out: 3 Horses.”
- Winterhaven Logbook – Exhibit B in the People of Winterhaven vs The Freedom of Information Act, AKA The 'Chosen Ones Join Queue Here' Case

Our First session got to a decent enough start, with the DM using the stock campaign that came with the Dnd 4th ed starter set. I was the only one with a properly painted model, but we had plenty of old Warhammer models and online floorplans to keep us going. Also me and the DM were the only ones with dice, go figure. The DM was chosen as previously mentioned, because he was the most familiar with the game, and because he'd announced that his character would be represented by a pound coin otherwise. The first battle was a toughie, mainly because the DM misinterpreted the rules, making our rolls against the kobolts much less effective (If you think this is bad though, wait till you see what our other DM does later).
Shortly after in the tavern Jocasta fails a test to see if her boasting about being able to stomach alcohol was true or not. It wasn't. All in all I thought the DM was a bit harsh on me, especially since it was my first ever game, and rendered Jocasta unconscious for a full game day. Later on he also introduced us to both his own character and a female elf, both of which were wayyyy too cryptic, earning him a bit of a reputation by making every character sound like they have a hidden agenda. Also, Trust spent ages trying to coax the reward out of a side quest without doing it. In the end, Jocasta and Azreal voted to do the quest anyway, which is where our second session would start.

Continues Shortly...

Warhammer 40'000: Realization

2010-03-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

The topic of this weeks sketch group over at the Illuminatus forums is a moment of realization. I thought I'd have fun with the idea, hence this comic.

See how the others get along, here

Warhammer 40000 and Dark Eldar are (c) Games Workshop

Lets talk game development. Mass Effect 2's Suicide Mission

2010-03-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Spoilers Ahoy, though not too many.

Lets clear the air and let me just say that I thought Mass Effect 2 was a fantastic game, and easily comes close to being what I consider one of the best Sci-Fi games of all time. To a degree I feel that Mass Effect was better in terms of storyline and pacing but Mass Effect 2 makes up for this by having some of the best characterization ever seen in a game.

So what's todays entry about? Well I had also played the equally fantastic Dragon Age: Origins and when comparing the romance options between the two games It seemed to me that Mass Effect manages to pull it off better because there's far less number crunching, In Mass Effect forming a romance Is simply down to saying the right thing at the right time and Its fairly obvious when it is, and If you want to call it off at any time, you can, then In due course sexytime is offered up at a set point.

Dragon Age's romances however depends on an approval system and bringing up the right topic of conversation. In my first playthrough one character was deeply in love with mine but couldn't “seal the deal” because I didn't unlock the right side quest by picking a conversation option I wasn't really Interested in. In my second playthrough my character was a complete sociopathic bastard who hated everyone, yet somehow unbeknown to me had initiated a romance with the same character from my first playthough.

So what's this got to do with ME2's suicide mission then? Well, while I feel it does the romance well, I think its 'anyone can die' system had the number crunching problem from Dragon Age, but rather than make it too hard, it made it too easy, my main gripes were:

That if characters were not loyal they'd still throw they're lives away to save you at some points. why?

That it was far too easy to save most of the characters anyway, it was simply down to doing side quests and buying the right upgrade, and picking you're specialists was as easy as pie.

That when a character did die it was all like 'oh and he's dead' and then you move on, and finish the game, and they appear in some coffins for about two seconds, most of these characters are much loved by the time you finish the game, they deserve better.

The “No One Left Behind” achievement made it feel like you're a looser for not saving everyone

Now I'm no game designer but Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dragon Age both did the same thing with the 'anyone can die' by and large, so going by my experience of RPG's here's how I would have liked to have seen it done:

Part 1: Early Game

The way I see it, choices made early in the game should have a great impact on the outcome. A good example of this is how early on I did Zaeed's loyalty mission, chose to save some innocents rather than help him get his revenge and as a result didn't gain his loyalty, however if my Paragon stats were higher I could have talked him round anyway, which annoyed me, had I done the mission later, he would have survived. Also I fully expected him to betray me at some point, Instead he threw his life away to save the Normandy crew... wat?

Instead:

Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dragon Age did this better but still with the number crunching approval system. At points in both games if you'd not done enough to get reasonable approval off the characters, they'd turn against you. In Mass Effect 2 there should be no going back once you've made you're decision, there shouldn't be the option to talk them round (not based on stats at least) instead it should be harder to gain they're loyalty, but there should be more options to do so.

Same goes for upgrades etc, In Planescape: Torment you could talk the last boss down and save all you're mates but only if you completed a fairly well hidden side quest. Also, character loyalty should dictate they're actions wholesale, not simply weather or not they live or die.

Part 2: Preparing for the suicide mission

Lets face facts, the final mission wasn't all it was built up to be, it should have been longer, harder and cleverer (no innuendo intend). Personally I would have dropped a few of the recruitment missions and spent more time on the suicide mission.

First and foremost it could have been made more epic and emotional if it was split up into a series of “Island hops”. The Normandy lands on the collector ship to steal something to gain access to the base or whatever, strategy is required and not all of them may make it back, then back to the Normandy to grieve if they don't and plan the next excursion, rinse and repeat over varied environments, you could hop between the derelict ships towards the collector base for example.

Strategy should be the key to survival, as well as picking a leader to lead the 2nd fireteam, you should also have to give orders at various points, order them to push forward too early and they may be cut down by too fierce a resistance, order them to stay put for too long and they may be overwhelmed. Disloyal characters would flee back to the Normandy, Loyal ones may throw they're lives away to save others, and various other choices earlier in the game could impact this.

There could also be a point where, say, the reapers use indoctrination against you're team, anyone not loyal turns against you and you're forced to kill them.

Part 3: A heroic Sacrifice

So you finally fight you're way to the center of the collector base, maybe you lost a few men, maybe they all made it, but now you've got a choice to make, and no its not weather or not to blow up the collector base or keep it, its how you're going to detonate that bomb.

In the previews for Mass Effect 2 we were told that Shepard could very well die, and that If he did you'd say 'fair enough' because the choices you made led him to his fate. This didn't quite happen as well as I expected, Shepard dies only if by the off chance you miss most of the loyalty missions don't upgrade anything and make a pigs ear of you're specialists, only an idiot Shepard would die, but he's given a heroic death anyway.

Instead we should have a scenario combining elements of Dragon Age and Planescape. In DA you're given the choice, sacrifice yourself, sacrifice you're companion or take a morally questionable 3rd route. In Mass Effect 2 the loyalty system would have been a good impacter on this. Lets say the bomb at the end can only be detonated directly, so somebody has to stay behind, the truly heroic Shepard can detonate it himself, but lets say Thane (cause he's dieing) Samara (cause she's old) Legion (cause he's a hive mind anyway) and Garrus (cause he's like that) also volunteer to detonate it, but ONLY if they're loyal and survived. No loyalty or an all dead team means Shepard has to detonate the bomb after all.

But I did mention a third option, one that can get you're whole team home provided they've survived thus far. A la Planescape's Blade of the Immortal, there would be a fairly obscure side quest where you get the Cain nuke launcher at the end rather than researching it, completing this quest means that rather than having to detonate the bomb manually, you can launch it from the Normandy and everyone gets home safe and sound.

There you go, third option, but only for those curious enough to find it.

Achievements for the various different outcomes like in Dragon Age, rather than just one for saving everyone.

Also if Shep dies in ME2 you should still be able to carry the game across, but play ME3 as a whole new character.

Just a few thoughts on how I think an already near perfect game could have been even better. My standards are way too high.

In other news, Call of Pripyat was awesome.

Warhammer 40'000: Surgical Instrument

2010-01-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a short comic about an Eversor Assassin. Alot of people have pointed out that Eversors come from stasis pods and are always off they're noggins. I already knew this and made a few changes for artisic licence which I feel makes the story more interesting. Not a good enough excuse for some people, oh well.

Warhammer 40000, Eversor Assassin and Chaos Cultists (c) Games Workshop

Dark Entries, A John Constantine Novel Review

2010-01-04T04:40:00.000-08:00

Me and writer Ian Rankin have a funny little relationship, well not really but one of the reasons I've steered clear of him is a rather disturbing experience I had when I was younger when I was doing work experience for a man under the same name, only to walk into a bookshop to find that a writer of the same name had been using a pseudonym the same as MY NAME!?

This and having court a few episodes of Rebus are my only experiences of the man, until now.

Dark Entries as a product could be blasted for a lot of reasons, namely because its headlining the vertigo crime range and isn't even a crime story in any shape of the word. It could also be blasted because at the end of the day its a bog standard Hellblazer story that could have easily been inserted into the standard run, but instead the publishers jumped on a big name to get them to look like they're doing something different. And then theres the format where its made to look like a novel, with IAN RANKIN in big letters like its any other piece of 'serious' literature and not a comic book.

It could be blasted for these reasons, it could be, but I'm going to applaud it instead, because for all Dark Entries sneaky marketing tactics it might actually bring some new readers to the world of comic books, ones that are out to spend they're money on mature interesting storylines instead of the next big crisis crossover thats not worth tuppence but everyone swarms for.

So yeah, if at least one person mistakes it for an Ian Rankin novel, buys it for they're uncle who likes Rebus, who reads it, wants to read more John Constantine stories, reads some Sandman, then decides to see where all the DC universe references come from and then actually starts getting into comics, thats good enough for me.

Oh right, the book itself? Well as I said its a bog standard Hellblazer story, Dell'edera's art is nice and Rankin writes as only a British fella can. His interpretation of hell is disturbingly brilliant, and despite a few niggles here and there its an original premise well done. But the best part of Dark Entries has to come with a spoiler warning before I praise it, so stop reading now if you're planning on getting it.

Spoilers.

One of the recurring problems of poor old John Constantine's life is that we know he's pretty much destined for hell. Even with all his schemes and scams he's probably never going to get to the great pub in the sky, but Rankin gives us a silver lining to this cloud in the form of a love interest for John who gets trapped in hell, at the end, John notes that at least she'll be waiting for him. By Hellblazers standards, thats good enough.

Spoilers end.

If you like Hellblazer buy it, If you like Ian Rankin I can't really comment because the guy stole my name.

Jenny Everywhere: Merry Christmas Everywhere

2009-12-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

It would be poor form for me not to come out with anything this festive season, so here's a Jenny Everywhere comic for your time.

Warhammer 40'000: Deadly Preconception

2009-12-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

A little fan comic I wrote for a project last year that just seemed to burn out. Credit where its due to Shinmusashi44 who came up with the initial idea and provided the character concepts. A real learing experience (again) this one, and I plan to follow it up with a few other unused scrips from the project.

A great example of 'once you have the characters the story writes itself', I like the characters from this one so much that I might have to cop out and have them saved in the nick of time in a future strip, I'd love to do a 40k space opera with them.

And finally.

This work is intended as a tribute to Games Workshops IP. Warhammer 40k, Tyranids, Zoats and Imperial Guard and all related to it is (c) Games Workshop.

Canon Fodder Dark Matter Review

2009-11-29T06:49:00.000-08:00

Since Dark Matter was bagged with this months Judge Dredd Megazine and Canon Fodder is one of those characters I love that you can't find anything of anywhere, lets do a quick review of this tale of gun toting holy men shall we.

Dark Matter is the second and sadly final Canon Fodder tale, lovely art drawn by Chris Weston who was also one of the artists on Indigo Prime below. Weston's is great at even just drawing mediocre stuff which is why he's often he's included on tales with fantastical monsters and landscapes, which is put to good use in Dark Matter.

The premise is a bonkers one, Judgment Day comes and God's a no show so its left to the Priest Patrol to enforce the law on the 'sinners', Fodder may be close to a two dimensional character, rather like a holy Duke Nukem, but its rare to see a protagonist who's not only religious, but militantly so. In many other sci-fi and fantasy worlds Fodder would be portrayed as a villain, but here we are rooting him on, kicking “heathen butt”. Also Fodder bizarrely mirrors Philip Glenster's portrayal as Gene Hunt from Life on Mars, despite being published nearly a decade before.

All in all the story takes to its settings strengths and weaves a rather unorthodox tale that doesn't outstay its welcome, even Fodders 'love interest' goes against what we usually have for stock characters in comic books.

The worst part about the book? Its the fact that due to the ownership issue between Mark Millar and 2000ad, we probably won't be seeing any more from the character. Rest in Peace Canon Fodder. Amen.

The Legend of Jenny Everywhere Part 3

2009-10-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the third and final part, hope you enjoy it

Ten Points for every reference you spot, also the pub at the end is based on a real pub in Edinburgh, nice place, look it up if you ever visit.

The Complete Indigo Prime Review

2009-08-22T04:39:00.000-07:00

I'd known about Indigo Prime for quite a while after the trade was first released, and characters Winwood and Cord made an appearance at the end of John Smiths so-so recent 2000ad strip Dead Eyes, but despite being about one of my favorite subjects, parallel universes, I'd not had the chance to pick it up. Until now.

The title 'The Complete Indigo Prime' is a bit of a misnomer, its still missing the text stories and the Future Shock strip that it first appeared in, but we still get the crux of the series, starting with Freelance agents Fervent and Lobe. Be advised, Indigo Prime isn't about parallel universes in the traditional sense that things like Luthor Arkwrite were, Its less about Alternative Realities and more about different planes of existence. In this sense its quite similar to Planescape. The book contains several stories, so we'll look at them one at a time, to examine the whole.

Fervent & Lobe kicks us off, and immediately is a bit difficult to follow to begin with, being mixed with a post adventure stage play taking place in flash forward. While a bit over the place, F&L has an interesting trip to hell and is a humorous story that doesn't outstay its welcome.

Next up we have a one off intro to Indigo Prime proper, not much to say about this story really, other than it helps us understand the characters world a bit better.

The we have Winwood and Cords first outing., another small one with not much to talk about. It is a nice surreal time travel yarn, with Chris Heston's art bringing out the strangeness of the characters.

Following on we have Ferdigo & Brecht's one and only outing. The story is too short to get a feel of the characters, so I can't honestly say weather or not I'd like to see more of them. It is a nice little fable about commercialism however.

Spinning off from F&L we have Almaranda's solo strip. Again, not much to say about this one, the arts nice but it merely feels like an extended Future Shock.

Holiday on Ice brings us Fervent & Lobe's second outing, which is really when the book starts to kick in. The story is a nice grisly and surreal tail, with humour and mystery abound. Quite a few British cultural references pop up, with a deformed and mutilated Alan Bennett being the most disturbing one.

Last but not least is Killing Time, the story that makes the whole book worth it. Killing Time is a nice supernatural time travel mystery thriller. Winwood and Cord get put to good use and we really get a feel for the characters. The story is paced well enough so we get some brooding menace throughout, and wraps it up in a thrilling finale. While the ending might be a bit confusing, everything else in the story is top dollar. The best part is the art, with the Indigo agents being colored differently to everything else as a subtle reminder that they are not quite a normal part of they're environment.

So there you go, while some of the stories are lacking the books worth buying just for Holiday on Ice and Killing Time, and I hope Indigo Prime's recent cameo in 2000ad means we'll be getting more in the future.

The Legend of Jenny Everywhere Part 2

2009-08-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is, Part 2 of my full colour Jenny Everywhere comic, seems like I've been working on it for ages. I'm more satisfied with the artwork this time round, it feels alot more polished and consistent.

Stick around and hopefully part 3 will be done in a couple of months, and swoop by the shifer archive because we're still looking for people to contribute to the colaberative project we're working on.

Review: Queen and Country Definitive Edition Vol 1

2009-08-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

I came across Queen and Country in the 500 Essential Novels and seeing it on the shelf in Traveling Man I was astounded to see how thick the volume was. Underneath was a recommendation from one of the staff members so I decided to pick it up during my grueling selection process I go through when it comes to buying comics.

Queen and Country is written by Greg Rucka, unbeknown to me, not a fellow countryman, which comes as the first highpoint for the comic. The story follows government operative Tara Chase and her colleagues and overvrlings on various missions of international security. Right away the series reminds me of TV series Spooks and was apparently inspired by old ITV series The Sandbaggers, it does have a low budget TV feel to it, and this is no bad thing.

To its credit the series is interesting and varied, its not over the top and a lot of the storyline is clever and sometimes quite deep, Tara's character is interesting and is layered enough to keep her interesting through the missions. The art is unconventional, this is good though, it makes the series stand out from something like 2000ad's recent Graysuit, and it doesn't hurt the tone at all, the shift in artist however does do a little bit of damage however.

The first arc drawn by Steve Rolston sees Tara as, while not unattractive, a bit of a plain Jane, she's not some buxom heroin but more of a regular girl in less than regular circumstances, which is a nice change to the usual action girl stereotype. By the second arc Brian Hurtt draws Tara as being slightly more attractive, but she don't lose any of her previous aesthetics, visually you can see she is still the same character. Unfortunately, by the third arc Leandro Fernández draws Tara as a buxom action girl, always wearing tight revealing clothing. 'Oh dear' my mind thinks, the other characters stay pretty much the same, but the visual change of Tara is so jarring that it practically ruins the third arc, which is up to standard in all other respects.

Other than that Queen and Country is certainly worth it, and I didn't even know that Rucka was American till I'd finished the story. Its interesting comparing it to Hellsing, which is also a story about British intelligence (Though more unconventional) because Queen and Country has exactly what Hellsing lacks in being convincingly British, and thats where it scores points in my book.

The Legend of Jenny Everywhere Part 1

2009-06-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Jenny's been previously mentioned here before, but if you want a quick catch up you can always visit here

First original Comic, by me, posted here, Which will do for now until a proper website comes around. Make sure you click on the images to enlarge them.

Ok Storytimes over, Tune in soon for more reviews and Part 2.

500 Essential Graphic Novels Review and Free Comic Book Day

2009-05-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

500 Essential Graphic Novels – Gene Kannenberg Jnr

Doing a review of a book of reviews is a bit curious to say the least, but 500' was a far too interesting collection to miss. To be fair, the title's a bit of a misnomer, the book covers 100 graphic novels (which includes Collected editions too) with each having about four other 'Further Reading' attached, but thats OK, because what we do get is well worth the cover price.

The best part about the book is the fact that it covers the broad range of the comic book spectrum, giving us the top ten of Adventure, Non-Fiction, Crime, Fantasy, General, Horror, Humour, Sci-Fi, Superheros and War, nice because we get a look outside of the Cape and tights world, but also get to look at the best of that too. The book also is indiscriminate, putting Manga and European comics side by side by Genre, when it could have easily cop'd out and given Manga its own section.

The book is an excellent cataloger of comics to keep an eye out for, and each review is good enough to let you know weather it'll be for you or not. As its primary purpose 500' completes its objective flawlessly. However, as a bit of criticism there are some curious omissions and placements which stands out a bit. Hellsing is missing, and while I've pointed out that me myself am not entirely set on it just yet, it feels a bit wrong that its not there to make up the whole “Hell” triumvirate with Hellboy and Hellblazer. Also, Heart of Empire is included, but Luther Arkwright is relegated to the 'further reading' where in my opinion it is the better of the two books. Also, things like XIII are nowhere to be seen.

Then there's classification. Sandman is in Fantasy, yet the similar Hellblazer is in horror, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is in sci-fi, yet I would more likely put it under Adventure or Fantasy, The Pro, a superhero comedy, goes in Humour, yet Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, a war comedy, goes in War. Other similar examples are abound, but don't worry, It doesn't detract from the collection, and you could put it down to the wonderful broadness of the medium. All in all its worth buying if your a big fan of comic and want to find out what you haven't read yet.

Bonus Free Comic Book Day Review

In a move unusual to me, I decided to buy a few issues of this and that, just to see what the crack is, and pick up a few issues along the way. Here's what I found:

Battle For the Cowl: The Underground

Nice to see Batman's most famous foes pottering about as usual, The Riddler's a particularly likable protagonist in this, and puts him in good graces to be a potential foe in the next film.

Deadpool #9

After the slightly disappointing turn of events that was the Wolverine film, its nice to see that Deadpool's still on top form, him and Taskmaster lusting after Black Widow like nothing else matters is particularly hilarious.

Marvel Spectacular #2

Collection of three shorts, Citizen Cage was a pretty run of the mill “superhero on his day off” story, Galacta was a curious piece and the manga style art was an odd choice that really worked int the story's favour, Bloodstone was your standard monster killing action story but its nice to see that Elza hasn't been forgotten about since Nextwave.

Savage Dragon # 148

Good old fashioned ass kicking super heroics, reminds me of Jack Staff a bit, didn't sell the character to me so much that I'd want to go out and read the collections, but it's definitely got me keeping my eye on it.

Resurrection #0

Pretty much something that looks like a future shock out of 2000ad, to hard to call on what little we're given, also the bonus Tek Jansen strip was funny, but not that funny.

OK Until next time, set Phazers to FUN!

Quick Fire Recap: August 08 - April 09

2009-04-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, So its been a while, I ain't done anything since summer, so to make up for it, here's quick fire reviews of all the comics I've read since Summer, which I was supposed to give you a rundown of back then, also stick around at the end for some special stuff.
Heart of Empire:

Sequel to The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, its a far more mainstream affair this time round, but the artwork is fantastic as usual, especially in vivid colour this time. Read it on an airplane making me feel slightly awkward when reading to sex scenes when there's a kid in the aisle next to you.

Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness:

Pretty good all round crossover, funny and frightening, Ash is far more likable than half the Marvel characters in the story, serves as a nice apocalyptic prequel to the first Marvel Zombies.

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol 1 – 7:

Probably the best manga I've ever read, still ongoing. All the characters a likable, stand out and drive the plot, each of which is usually a clever unconventional murder mystery. The Jokes are actually funny, the art is great and not irritating or unsuited. Only one criticism and thats that the character development is rather slow, everything else is fantastic.

Batman: The Killing Joke:

Good but Short stuff from Alan Moore, nice little extra mini story by Brian Bolland in the back, worth every penny.

Marvel Zombies 2:

Far more sympathetic and whimsical than the first, still a great and interesting take on Marvel heroes, a worthy sequel.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier:

More of a “Fun Fax” than anything. Alan Moore has a great time messing around with literary characters, making it a little self indulgent. Storyline gets a bit derailed but its worth it for the 3D section at the end. Read it on an airplane making me feel slightly awkward when reading to sex scenes when there's a kid in the aisle next to you.

X-Men: Die by the Sword:

Quick story tying up all the loose ends from New Excalibur and Exiles, feels premature, characters aren't given enough room to breath, feels like your cheated out of a proper ending. Would have been greatly improved by just having the characters sitting in a pub talking about stuff. Not a great ending to Cap and Co's recent outings.

Alice in Sunderland:

Absolutely fantastic twist on the genre by Bryan Talbot. The graphic novel goes through Lewis Carol, British History and Comics in general. To say any more would be to do the work an injustice. Just get a copy and read it right away.

Hellblazer: The Laughing Magician:

Usual high standard of storytelling of Hellblazer, nice hark back to days like The Books of Magic and setting up of things to come.

Hellboy Vol 1 – 6:

Finally got round to picking up the much revered comic. Interesting, Unconventional and not what I thought it would be. Very, very clever and appeals to the part of me that likes learning things. Mignola always gives you as little more than what you usually do too.

XIII vol 1:

Finally tracked down the European comic after so long. Great old skool storytelling, a damn shame there's no plans to translate any further installments, I want to know what happens dammit!!

The Boys: Good For the Soul:

More great stuff from Ennis' Superhero satire. Keeps the high standard of dirty laughs from the previous volumes wile moving the story along nicely. More please.

Jenny Everywhere:

Open source comic book character, really fascinating idea, and real dedication from the community keeps her rolling along. Naturally some strips are lacking more than others, but its standout strips like “When Casting Calls” that really give the character a story worth telling. Contributed a story myself to the cannon, details below.

Nextwave:

Crazy awesome stuff from Warren Ellis, similar in vein to Transmetropolitan. A brilliant take on Marvels less known characters, I hope in the future there will be more to come.

Invincible: Ultimate Collection vol 1:

Fantastic postmodern take on the superhero genre. The twist on the superman origin is particularly brutal and it certainly leaves you wanting more. Nice cameos from a few characters, Ultimate Collection has a good load of extras in it too.

The Invisibles:

Grant Morrison's bizarre follow up to his surrealist take on Doom Patrol doesn't disappoint, and it certainly takes you to places no other comic series does. Brilliant characters, imaginative storytelling, mindfuck ending.

Warhammer 40'000: Fire and Honor:

Finally Boom Studios come out with an Imperial Guard story, and apart from being a little on the short side, It doesn't disappoint. The characters all act like its another day on the job, and theres some nice visual references to the 40k universe. The Tau are portrayed as being a tad unsympathetic however.

Captain Britain and MI:13: Secret Invasion:

Paul Cornell makes up for all of Clairmont's letdowns from Die By the Sword. MI:13 is a great follow up to Cornell's earlier Wisdom series and really stands out from the crowd and takes advantage of the British setting. Nice ensemble cast, has the potential to be really special in the future.

Hellsing vol 1:

Still on the fence with this English set manga, while its not stereotypically British like I expected, its certainly missing that British humor of things like Dog Soldiers and The Boys to make it stand out as convincing. Willing to give it time to breath however, Vol 1 was a little too action orientated, we'll see how it pans out in future volumes.

Sinister Dexter: Eurocrash:

Great collection of SinDex stories, Eurocrash is a fantastic crime tragedy story, a rare feat given that it originally ran in five page chapters. Mission to Mangapore lacks some of the drama but is certainly a fun ride.

Other Stuff.

Saw the Watchmen film, really enjoyed it yet can understand how its not for everyone. Half looking forward to the Wolverine film but not sure on the direction they're taking Deadpool. Been doing a lot of artwork myself, which can be found here: http://elpresedente.deviantart.com/ and contributed a Jenny Everywhere story which can be found at the bottom of the stories section here: http://theshifterarchive.com/ . Series I plan to read in the future are: Fables, Sandman, Strangers in Paradise, Strangehaven, Cable and Deadpool and Metabarons if I could find it anywhere, also exited about the new Phonogram series, which I am eagerly awaiting a collected edition of.

And I'm out, hopefully the gap between the next entry will not be as long. Cheerio!

Review: The Adventures of Luther Arkwright

2008-08-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the main review, may I just say that the binding of the collected edition of Luther Arkwright is absolutely fantastic. You know how you often get graphic novel covers printed on a special kind of textured card (actually its probably some form of lamination) that feels nice and smooth and looks good, but after a while it gets scratched really easily and creases really badly? Well Luther Arkwright's backing has a similar texture, but is a lot more resilient, doesn't get scratched at all and you cant get mucky fingerprints all over it either. Why more Trade Paperbacks arn't printed like this, I don't know.

Anyway, onto the actual story. I'd been trying to get hold of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot for some time now, not least because I'm a completest when it comes to British comics, but also because it includes one of my favorite subject matters, Parallel Universes. As far as this subject goes, the set up is superbly explained on the opening page, and we don't get too bogged down in a load of different universes. Most of the action takes place in a world where Oliver Cromwell's family line kept hold of the throne after his death, and hold control of the British Isles well into the 1980's.

The story switches narrative between flashbacks, and at times, at the start at least, it becomes a little hard to follow, also, Luther ends up on some kind of Doctor Manhattan type trans-humanist trip, and we get a lot of psychedelic scenes. Bear in mind this is not for the casual reader, You'll probably have to have some foreknowledge on myths and legends and a bit of history to be able to follow the meandering parts, but the good side is that Bryan Talbot rewards the well studied reader, not dumbing down anything for the idiots. The story is a bit of a slow burner, but we are eventually rewarded with some brilliantly drawn battle scenes and a genuinely heart pounding climax. Most importantly of all, Luther remains a likable protagonist, despite his whole 'chosen one' epiphany.

All in all, Talbot's done his research, apart from being a bit too wordy at times, his only real flaw comes from the fact that he is genuinely harsh on the Puritan regime and the Parliamentarians. Obviously the whole story is an analogue for the state of Thatcher's Britain at the time, but there seems to be some schizophrenia in popular culture over weather Cromwell was a good guy or a bad guy (Making his way into the top ten of 'Greatest Britons' to being represented as a villain in everything else), regardless, you'll get some people genuinely miffed to see Puritan England represented as a dictatorship.

Of course the big question I'm asking myself is 'is The Adventures of Luther Arkwright better than Watchmen?'. Because yes it is that good, and its climax manages to out-tense that of Watchmen. Its a difficult question to answer, both stories reward the keen eye and feature millions of clues and hidden extras. Both are well researched and enjoyable. Hell, the back of the book has a quote from Alan Moore himself, so it must be good! It is an unanswerable question, but I can say that if Talbot and Moore were both chefs, Watchmen would be a well prepared succulent Steak cooked to perfection with just the right amount of sides and vegetables, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright would be something more adventurous, like Lamb or something, with Quail eggs and all sorts of other things going on, It would not only be delicious but also keep you interested, but you wouldn't quite know what to think of it.

Best Panel: Tanks! Explosions! Holy War! Awesome!
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w251/el_presedente_nr/lutherscan.jpg

Review: Y: The Last Man

2008-08-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

So one day, a friend of mine who was known and respected for his high standards when it comes to films and books, and refers to Star Wars as 'fucking shite', one day is quizzing me on comics, a medium he had little experience of, and mentions in passing that he'd heard of a series called Y: The Last Man and expressed an interest to read it. Well I thought if someone with such sophistication when it comes to films is interested then it must be good. So I went off and began reading one of the best comic book series ever.

Y: The Last Man tells the story of the last two males left on the planet, a lad and his monkey and has constantly battled with other series to what my favorite comic series of all time is. The characters are well rounded, realistic, flawed and likable, the atmosphere is flexible making room for tragedy, suspense and black comedy and the story takes us on a globe trotting adventure to rival both Indiana Jones and James Bond put together (A sort of Frankenstein's monster, Jamesdiana Bones). But it wasn't till I got the final volume and read the whole series in its entirety that I realized just how good Y: The Last Man was.

Writer Brian K. Vaughan takes no sides in the story, presenting how the world would be a better and worse place without men around, and how women are both two faced beasts and grounded emotional rocks (an interesting comparison, I watched the end of Alan Bleasdale's G.B.H last night and he said something similar in the interview afterwards). The series covers a lot of ground, and I like to think I've matured a lot because of it over the last three years, I guarantee that no matter who you are there'll be some part of Y: The Last Man that really means something to you. Vaughan writes the series like a well written classic, having done a Degree in English Literature, I'm well versed in spotting all the set ups that Vaughan seeds in early volumes that lead to connotation a long time later in the series. He also throws us lost of lovely comic book and pop culture references, the best being the Preacher references and slight Manga deconstruction in a later volume.

Of course, the whole series is not without a few minor shortcomings, the glaringly obvious one for me is that the series fall foul of the 'all women are hot' syndrome. This happens all too frequently in comics and in Y: The Last Man's defense its not the worst offender, not by a long chalk, but this kind of thing almost breaks the reality bubble. Are we supposed to believe that practically every woman Yorick comes into contact with would be a stunner? Really? All his female companions, from Scientist, to Secret Agent to Russian soldier, I would not say no to. By and Large all his antagonists and even Yorick's mother aren't half bad looking. Taking into account that there's a fair few lesbian scenes the whole things starts to sound a bit like a soft porn movie, but seriously, I can't help but feel Vaughan missed a trick where he could have included a far from good looking character who could have worked as a commentary on men's idolization of perfect women. I mean really, Post Apocalyptic, All Men Dead, would you really find that many hot women in that kind of society?

Another minor niggle is that, great piece of literature the end of the series was, we seem to have been left with no real moral of what the story represents. Be it Garth Ennis' Preacher's promotion of cowboy values, or Grant Morrison's The Invisibles celebration of individuality, most comic books by and large have some kind of message to bring across. Y: The Last Man is cryptic when it comes to such a message, what it it? Women are better off without men? Women aren't better off without men? Given my previous point on the seres eye candy, is this series doing females any favors or not? At the end of the day Y: The Last Man is a great piece of entertainment, but surely all stories should strive to be more than that, to educate, pass down our values to our descendants?

Despite all that Y: The Last Man is still one of the best comics ever, and its far and away better than most of the other things on the shelf or any piece of knickers galore Manga Japan can throw at us. Whoever you are, whatever you do, go out and buy Y: The Last Man now. Right Now.

Best Panel: Too Many to choose... I'll go for....... This One:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w251/el_presedente_nr/yscan.jpg

...What are you still doing here? Get buying

Review: Deadpool Classic: Volume 1

2008-07-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

I've always liked the character of Deadpool, If you know even the slightest about the character then you probably know the reason why. Just the idea of a character who knows that he is within a comic book is interesting in itself, but the fact that it is within the marvel universe, with its convoluted continuity and inconstant sense of tone, is it an ultra realistic mirror view of the world with realistic guns and real life prejudices or is is it a colorful word full of quirky characters and pew pew laser guns? Deadpool tends to capitalize upon this loophole, being the absurdity to point out the absurdity, and while we don't get much of his notorious forth wall breakery in this volume, being from his early days, we still get more sarcastic nonsense than is good for us, but we lap it up anyway.

Deapool Classic Volume 1 kicks off with his first appearance in New Mutants #98. Apart from novelty value of seeing his first appearance this inclusion in the volume adds practically nothing, being a chunk out of a story arc which we never get to see the real beginning or end of. The issue sort of sets us up for The Circle Chase, but to be honest, a simple written introduction would have sufficed, or might even been an improvement.

The first proper story in the volume, The Circle Chase is a fun little romp around the lesser trodden parts of the X-Men parts of the Marvel universe. Being from the mid nineties we are constantly beset on all sides by asterisk boxes telling us that the characters are talking about something that happened in a previous issue of some series we probably don't have, and the sheer number of them is unintentionally hilarious and ironically Deapool esque, as well as being kind of nostalgic. The Circle Chase is a competent enough story giving Deapool room to motor mouth everyone he meets but the story suffers slightly from the sheer amount of references to stuff that happens in other series, 'last time we me...' 'You ruined my career...' 'didn't I kill you...', etc etc. As I said before could have been solved by some kind of written recap so we know what the characters are on about.

Next up, Sins of the Past, is a lot less bogged down, and Is genuinely entertaining as Deapool spends the entire story trying to avoid being dragged into the adventure. The inclusion of Banshee and Siryn also pleases me as I like to see my fellow countrymen get represented in the Marvel universe (Ok I'm English and their Irish, but I still consider them my countrymen) and the whole Black Tom arc came in handy because it recently came to a close in New Excalibur. As said, Deadpool's at his finest here, I can't really say anything more without spoilers.

Finally we have Issue #1 of Deadpools monthly series, this is more like it. Deadpool's at his silliest best at this point giving us action and comedy in equal measure and the issue leaves us on the brink of an ongoing arc assuring my purchase of volume 2 whenever its released. The overarching theme of this volume seems to be the whole question of what is the measure of a hero and how Deadpool isn't it, a bit like Wanted in that regard, but poor old 'pool don't get any of the good stuff.

It may not be deep, but hey, if I want deep I'll read Watchmen.

Best Panel: Its so easy even Deadpool can do it:
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w251/el_presedente_nr/?action=view&current=deadscan.jpg

Review: Virgin Comics Dan Dare

2008-07-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

And So for my first review, my blog's namesake, Garth Ennis' new Dan Dare series.

For any Briton who reads comics, Dan Dare's name should resonate, Its a sad fact that in most cases he probably doesn't, but he should because Dan Dare was Britain's Superman, in fact Ennis says as much in his introduction which shows that he understands the weight of his writing responsibilities on this one (I say this 'one' because Ennis had been working on so many series I've lost count, but more on that later).

I must confess that I myself haven't had that much experience of Dan Dare, connaisseur of all things comic that I am. Apart for a brief tango with the 2000ad era Dan from my Annual collection, and an on off dislike for the CGI tv series, I can honestly say that I've logged in more times with 'Supes' than I have with poor old Dan. Ennis' writing compensates for all this however, and as soon as we meet Dan he is instantly recognisable and easy to connect with, he's the mild mannered heroic Englishman we all secretly wish we were. Dan Dare is Blake, Ace Rimmer, James Bond, Doctor Who and even deep down John Constantine.

So, What of the story then? Dan's settling into his retirement when old enemy The Mekon steps out of the shadows and Dan has to return to action once more. So far, nothing we haven't seen before (Cough *Die Hard 4* Cough *Indiana Jones 4*), but Ennis handles the set up so well that we're left constantly on the edges of our seats, never quite sure under what conditions Dan will return to the action. Ennis spin on Dans world is subtly satirical with post apocalyptic undertones and the type of backlash against the image of 'Harmless old Britain' that was so common in post colonial literature. The exiled Mekon's situation also draws parallels to Osama Bin Laden and 'On the Run' Saddam and the like, and the contemporary design of the 'future' soldiers fighting is a desert environment is a nod current affairs I have admiration for.

And having said that, the stories a great nostalgic action packed romp, with far and away great artwork from Gary Erskine, who seems to nail Dan Dare without the exaggerated grin, but keeping those iconic eyebrows (Just how does he get them like that, I want lightning bolt brows). Considering the collection is only three issues long I extracted a lot of enjoyment from it without feeling as though I've seen it all before (Hello Heros!).

And now onto the criticisms, because no review is complete without small quantities of hate being excreted. Dan Dare seems to be aimed at a broad audience, with Ennis' characteristic language and violence absent but not conspicuously absent, however there is rather a lot of talk and while I appreciate and enjoy the scene setting and construction of the stories background I know I would have hated Issue #1 if I was 14, wanting more action of the kind found in issue #3. Also, despite how much I like the slightly political undertones of the series, some of them fall into being a little bit too overt, the Prime Minister in the story is clearly supposed to be an analogue of Tony Blair and a badly represented one at that, and therefore its criticisms on old Tony's policies are rendered null and void anyway when the plot twist comes along.

The Mekon also seems to have a lot in common with the Daleks in the new series of Doctor Who in the sense that everyone is brown pants scared of even the name being mentioned despite the fact that their plots and schemes were foiled on a weekly basis.

But really I'm just knit picking now, Ennis' Dan Dare was great fun and I'd recommend it to anyone, even the international market, and despite it only being three issues long it is well worth the entry price, and I look forward to the continuation of the plot, Keep rocking Dan.

Best Panel: Dan makes sure you all know your history
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w251/el_presedente_nr/danscan.jpg

Welcome to my Blog, Please Flame Carefully

2008-07-03T04:03:00.000-07:00

Oh hello there, come in, sit down, do have a cup of tea. I started this blog because I believe that I have a fairly good taste in comic books, I also like the sound of my own voice, If you think thats wrong, tell me you don't like the sound of your own voice. Yeah I though so.

But seriously, I'm fairly well read in the world of comics, comic books, comic strips, graphic novels or however which you want to put it, and since I'm out of work I feel I should probably contribute something to the world.

So here I am, Reviewing various graphic works and occasionally musing on some news or having a rant about one thing or the other. Feel free to drop by and disagree with my opinion, and please show me some support on the road to legitimate journalism, It keeps me sane.