Plotting and scheming and general foreboding! Also, check out the Character Design Special on Saralactra over on Queen Gwenevere’s Ramblings! (BONUS: Includes a glimpse of really early Erroneous!) Saralactra is another one of those characters who goes way back, the current incarnation is version three…
Yes, Saralactra likes to boss, could you tell? Aaaaand introducing character number… uh, eleven, I think? Out of I don’t know how many. Yep, cast of Thousands, that’s my style! Speaking of which, I’ll try to get character development on Saralactra and Schwartz posted soon… (And why yes, I am having fun with all that paraphernalia in the background.)
(Aaaand yeah, late as usual. It’s been a long day.)
The plot thickens! With an “unbelievable” up-skirt shot on candid camera! And yes, Saralactra takes herself way too seriously. And tends to be overdramatic.
(Yeah, I know, I need to get a better grip on my update schedule… I think it’s the cold weather. All I want to do is hibernate right now.)
No, that is not Erroneous, though I admit there’s some similarity from the back… That’s Saralactra, occult engineer extraordinaire, designer of all that gadgetry in the background and probably of the “evil chair” she’s sitting in as well. When in doubt, remember both Sara and her hair are shorter than Erro and his hair. (And this is one page where I really find myself wishing I was up to page eighty… That’s the point where I stopped drawing the word balloons as part of the artwork. Retrofitting necessary dialogue edits into un-editable balloons is awkward as heck.)
Those are two-way magic mirrors the girls are using, by the way. A specialty of Saralactra’s. We’ll be seeing a lot of those.
Plots! Conspiracies! Extremely classy spies! FISHY GOINGS ONS. Meet the Three Red Witches, Athena, Minerva and Bellona! Three sisters, all witches, all redheads. (There are an awful lot of redheads in Chapter One, I don’t know how that happened.) Athena’s the smart one, Minerva’s the snooty one, and Bellona’s the ho. And they are up to something. And by the way, yes, that is a compact Minerva is holding. (If you look closely at the crowd in the Queen’s Council a few pages back, you might spot these ladies lurking…)
You can also check out the character development process for these girls on Queen Gwenevere’s Ramblings!
Yes, the Queen is vanishing. Yes, she does that. Yes, there are reasons. ALL WILL EVENTUALLY MAKE SENSE. I think… (Actually, that might be the fastest way outta the Palace… Have I mentioned the place is HUGE?) And is this a sneaky new character we see? What is she up to? Stay tuned to find out!
(If you’re curious, sneak preview sketches of this character can be seen on my Tumblr here…)
The Queen and Slope: TEAM OF DOOM. Nothing like cheesy fonts and an impromptu quest to liven up a dull afternoon! Megra is unofficially in charge of persuading the Queen to stay home and keeping her out of trouble. It obviously does not work.
And as promised, I’ve posted a little promo comic to mark the passing of page twenty and the beginning of the real action… You can see it on my Tumblr, or on my DeviantArt, or on my Sketch Blog – pick your poison! (If nothing else, you can get a sneak peak at what the artwork in this comic eventually develops into… The promo was drawn waaaay later than the current batch of pages!) Or of course you can go to the link on the Miscellany Page above, which is where I link all such miscellaneous extra comics and silliness…
It seems the Queen’s plans shan’t go according to plan… Well, back to the old drawing board! At least Vitalia has a friendly(?) travelling companion for her journey down the rabbit hole. Also yay, page twenty! This is where the adventures really begin!
Okay, so updates are a leeeetle bit tardy and not always exactly on Monday or Thursday, but I’ve kept to two pages a week this far, not bad! To celebrate getting to page twenty, I’ll be posting a special short promo comic on my Tumblr and DA. Probably tomorrow, if all goes well.
And yes, I am tinkering with the archives, so if they sometimes go into conniptions, that’s why. (I’m trying to get the archives to show a thumbnail grid, if possible. Or at least a more condensed page of thumbnails than what I have now. Whatever works.)
Oh, you just know Vitalia’s lucky streak ain’t gonna last… Will she claim her prize and live a life of luxury in an alternate dimension? Is the position of “Princess Imperial” all that it’s cracked up to be? Will there in fact be cupcakes? Stay tuned!
(Okay, yeah, page is up super late, had to do a bit of emergency scanning at the last minute there… It probably didn’t help that I got distracted catching up with work stuff and kinda forgot it was Thursday for a while. Whoops.)