Archive for November 8th, 2010

#7 Ephton Valley

| November 8, 2010 | 0 Comments

From Lilly’s Blog

Founded in 1830, Ephton Valley (population 4,984) lies deep in the Berkshires. For the first hundred or so years of its existence, Ephton’s main industry was agriculture: dairy farms, sawmills, that kind of stuff. It was never a particularly wealthy town but the people lived well and build a community that included schools, churches and even a well known theater.

In the early 1900’s things began to change. One town over, a college opened and their population exploded. Well, exploded relatively speaking for the Berkshires. As a result, Ephton Valley became home to the spill over. As word got out about how beautiful the land out here was, with its lush forests and rolling mountains, tourism suddenly became its own business. Inns and restaurants started popping up. Artisans opened shops to sell their wares to tourists. In 1953 the Kent Art Museum opened, becoming the town’s new crown jewel and cementing Ephton Valley as a cultural hub to visit in New England.

Of course, to those of us who were raised here see it far differently. The art stuff is nice and all but in reality it’s just another small town. The commerce part of town is just a few bocks long, dotted with mom & pop shops. Frankly, there’s not much to do.

The locals tend to vote democrat and pontificate on social issues but underneath it all it’s truly a conservative town (in the literal not political definition of the word). There is a very strict, albeit it unwritten code: how to dress (preppy), how to behave (reserved), what to talk about in public (the latest book you read), what to keep private (your real opinions on the neighbors), and so on. Growing up this was not really an issue for me. I was already pretty quiet and never prone to dressing outrageously. Mostly I just grew bored with this town, as I have discussed before.

Things really took a turn for the worst with the arrival of Blake Lewis in recent years, although most people will tell you he’s been this town’s savior. All he has really done is inspire greed in people’s hearts. No longer content being a small, self sustaining cultural hub, the locals have begun to see dollar signs. And if that means embracing the philosophy of a man like Lewis and sacrificing any last scrap of individuality that may be left, so be it.

Too bad they have never stopped to think about what selling your soul to Lewis could really mean. Why? Well, I’ll tell you tomorrow when I finally profile him.

[Note: The town in the picture is Williamstown, MA. Ephton Valley is fictional, of course.]

Copyright © 2010, Rolando Garcia.
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#8 – Brannock Stonnspar and Company

| November 8, 2010 | 3 Comments

The Dwarves that employ my earlier post; “Zebra” to help them exterminate the great white wyrms of their northern territories. The middle Dwarf is the field leader; Brannock Stonnspar.  He is a gruff but fair individual who will go to great lengths to ensure the safety of his people. His men are fiercely loyal and heed his every word as gospel.  Brannock has lost many men, friends and even family to the harsh tundra in recent years. He knows something has disturbed the land and he hopes employing the rogue sell-sword, Zebra, will not be a mistake.

#7 Monica the Faux Witch

| November 8, 2010 | 2 Comments


Con-artist pretending to be a witch in a magic filled world.

#7 – Mudbone Fiend

| November 8, 2010 | 4 Comments

Mudbone Fiends rise from the ground, covered in oozing earth and decrepit material. They haunt the places of dark spirit in Hako Valley. Not normally sentient, the Mudbone Fiends are comprised of bones of fallen creatures unfortunate enough to set foot too near their cursed ground.

The Valley dwelling Hakos are all to familiar with battling the Mudbones. The Hakos teach that the best way to defeat a Mudbone is to crack the tether bone that binds their angry spirit into their ghastly form.

The Hakos suspect that encounters where the Mudbones seem organized and exceptionally formidable are due to the presence of strong spirits commanding the Mudbones.

Day# 08 the POISON PENN

| November 8, 2010 | 0 Comments
#08 the Poison Penn by Jande Rowe

#08 the Poison Penn by Jande Rowe

My first ever Super-hero-type Villain. :`)

Jhorn’l Ag’Penn hails from a religious colony of Grythf’ah‘s (Worshippers of Agh) on a nondescript planet circling a small red giant in the sparser areas near the Rim of the Galaxy.

Like most religious fanatics, the beliefs of the Grythf’ah brook no quarter with any other religious practices. Sure in their divine arrogance, they send out their most devout acolytes to bring word to the heathens (that’s the rest of us).

Jhorn’l is no slouch when it comes to converting the unenlightened. At some point he became convinced that he was doing Agh’s work; he was Agh’s Right Hand in this world to help others to the next. And of course what better way than to first test them, then when, er… if they fail, show them the error of their ways with a little  fear of Agh, and a little Holy Poison to help them on their way into the Light of Agh’s Truth.

When did that happen? Oh, perhaps around the time Jhorn’l found a derelict ship full of humanity’s bones, and many useful artifacts, including some Golden Age comics from DC and Marvel. Of course he couldn’t read them, but being the vain and contemptuous being he was, he delighted in the idea of Spandex to match his particularly bright and beautiful green skin.

‘Twas then that he hit upon his Master Plan to weed out the Unworthy, and deliver the Holy Message of his Holyness, Agh! At this point he underwent Grimstolaet, changing himself from the inside out and donning his new Spandex, took upon himself the Holy Name of Poison Penn, the Right Hand of Agh.

All over the Galactic Rim he sped enticing the weak to evil, putting the fear of Agh into all those who succumbed with poison pen letters, then blackmailing them in the name of the Holy Church of Agh, (in order to defray costs), and finally when they refuse to repent, descending on them in a poisonous cloud and stabbing them to death with his poison-tipped spear-pen, while chanting the one thousand four hundred and fifty-three names of Agh.

Of course sooner or later he would run into our Dysfunctional Duo, Wheeler and Ikey. And so its possible that even Prima will have her hands full  trying to rescue Wheeler and Co in order to bring them to Justice, while the Poison Penn is trying his best to bring them to Agh.

Enjoy!

Jhorn’l Ag’Penn hails from a religious colony of Grythf’ah’s (Worshippers of Agh)

on a nondescript planet circling a small red giant in the sparser areas near the Rim

of the Galaxy.

Like most religious fanatics, the beliefs of the Grythf’ah brook no quarter with any

other religious practices. Sure in their divine arrogance, they send out their most

devout acolytes to bring word to the heathens (that’s the rest of us).

Jhorn’l is no slouch when it comes to converting the unenlightened. At some

point he became convinced that he was doing Agh’s work; he was Agh’s Right

Hand in this world to help others to the next. And of course what better way than

to first test them, then when, er… if they fail, show them the error of their ways with

a little  fear of Agh, and a little Holy Poison to help them on their way into the Light

of Agh’s Truth.

When did that happen? Oh, perhaps around the time Jhorn’l found a derelict ship

full of humanity’s bones, and many useful artifacts, including some Golden Age

comics from DC and Marvel. Of course he couldn’t read them, but being the vain

and contemptuous being he was, he delighted in the idea of Spandex to match his

particularly bright and beautiful green skin.

‘Twas then that he hit upon his Master Plan to weed out the Unworthy, and deliver

the Holy Message of his Holyness, Agh! At this point he underwent Grimstolaet,

changing himself from the inside out and donning his new Spandex, took upon

himself the Holy Name of Poison Penn, the Right Hand of Agh.

All over the Galactic Rim he sped enticing the weak to evil, putting the fear of Agh

into all those who succumbed with poison pen letters, then blackmailing them in

the name of the Holy Church of Agh, (in order to defray costs), and finally when

they refuse to repent, descending on them in a poisonous cloud and stabbing

them to death with his poison-tipped spear-pen, while chanting the one thousand

four hundred and fifty-three names of Agh.

Of course sooner or later he would run into our Dysfunctional Duo, Wheeler and

Ikey. And so its possible that even Prima will have her hands full  trying to rescue

Wheeler and Co in order to bring them to Justice, while the Poison Penn is trying

his best to bring them to Agh.

#8 Brother Bong

| November 8, 2010 | 0 Comments

Brother bong promotes peace and understanding through herbal remidies, part of the MONKies

#6 – Caliburnus, the Once and Future Robot

| November 8, 2010 | 7 Comments

Caliburnus, The Once and Future Robot

I know I’m a day behind; I’m hoping that I’ll be able to finish up tomorrow’s entry and maybe get a bit of a buffer going on. We shall see what time allows!

Today, I’m doing a bit of wish fulfillment for Gary Lister, one of my fav artists and a fellow participant in the 30 Characters Challenge. Check out his stuff here and here! Gary politely requested the following: “DRAW MORE FRIGGIN ROBOTS!” I think that robots and tech are one of my weaknesses, so I’m happy to take another crack at it.

My favorite book of all time is The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Its the definitive whimsical retelling of the Arthurian Legends, and hooked me early on; to the point that in my adult years, Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake are now tattooed on both of my forearms. That in mind, I like to throw a twist in with everything I create, even if its just a small one to sprinkle in some cool factor. Thus, I give you Caliburnus.

Caliburnus is a perfect blending of state of the art technology and sophisticated arcane sorcery; he was envisioned and built by a descendant of one of Merlin’s apprentices, and uses a most interesting power source: the one and only EXCALIBUR!

I got some process screenshots of this one, I’d be happy to add those if anyone is interested. Enjoy!