Tag: drawing

Day# 26, The Swarm From Space

| November 27, 2010 | 0 Comments
#26 The Swarm from Space, by Jande Rowe

#26 The Swarm from Space, by Jande Rowe

They Came From Outer Space

Day #26 –The Swarm

No one knows their origin, most don’t even know they exist. The first indication of that comes when one looks up at the sky, alerted by some kind of strange vibration and a sound of wind.

At first you think they are a cloud of little pink angels, like out of one of your kid’s video games, and you drop to your knees in awe. Then as they come closer, you see the odd, almost shapeless shape of them, each apparently the size of an old water barrel, and you slowly get off your knees, unable yet to grasp the totality of the situation. The strange vibration presses against your ears, and the old, old instinct for survival rises in you. The dog is barking, tail between its legs, backing away from the oncoming swarm. You command the dog to follow, and he scampers to your side still barking. He’s shaking all over.

At long last your legs find themselves running, running. You try to direct that motion, calm the primitive panic. But if you don’t get behind closed doors very soon…

There! No, not the barn! The House! Quickly!

Over your shoulder you see the first wave land, though they never really touch the ground. There must be millions of them! You twist the door handle and it sticks. A scream in your throat, you try again, hitting your hip against the stubborn thing. It bursts open and you flail through, the dog right behind you, and slam it behind you, saying a prayer of thanks, while still wondering why you you are panicking. But still the rational part of you takes a few deep breaths and hurries around the house making sure all windows are closed and locked. You even check the fireplace flue.

You think of your wife and the kids who must be on their way home by now. You should call her, but just then you see through the picture window a scene that chills you to your heart: The verdant field and the trees in full leaf, the herds of goats and sheep have been replaced by a moving blanket of fluttering pink winged blobs. And even as you watch, every living thing is stripped from the land and grey devastation left in its wake.  A shudder goes through you.

The dog has stopped barking. But now it is pressing its shaking body against your leg,  uttering quiet whines. A ringing starts in your ears. You realise it’s your phone. You answer it, numbly. It’s Annya, hysterical, crying..  You cut through her sobs and yell. “Are you in the car? Annya! Answer me! Are the kids with you?”

Her answer is muffled, but affirmative. “Whatever you do –Don’t leave the car! Lock it!  Have you locked it?”

Another affirmitive. “Try and drive home once they’ve passed.” Having to keep her sane and help her get home is helping to steel your own nerves.

In less than a few minutes the world has changed. Every living thing on the surface of the earth has been stripped bare. What will happen now. Will they just leave? Or will they try to pry the rest of us out of our hiding spots? That many of them could break apart a house like this in minutes. Nothing, nowhere, is safe..

And what will happen next, with no harvest, no meat animals except those that were kept inside.

You pull the curtains closed, sickened by the sight of that moving pink carpet of devastation. And you wait. And wait.

Day#25 Rok’sla (with Author, James S. Allen)

| November 26, 2010 | 1 Comment
#25 Rok'sla, by Jande Rowe for Alien Artifacts written by James.S. Allen

#25 Rok'sla, by Jande Rowe for Alien Artifacts written by James.S. Allen

“I have been specially trained.”

Note: James S. Allen has written a delightful space adventure novel, “Alien Artifacts”, about a pair of  Xenoarchaeologists from the Institute of Ancient Studies, Rowan and Stephen, embarking on their first dig on an unknown planet dubbed “Dekkar V”. They are both very excited about  this, but sooner than you would expect things go wrong and they are plunged into a fascinating world of  beauty, intrigue and living alien artifacts. James has kindly given me the excerpt from Alien Artifacts below as an introduction to his character, Rok’sla, of the Calurrian race:

~~~~~

They moved off to follow the well worn path that was indicated by the marker beacons.  It was pleasant to stretch their legs beneath the open sky, even if it was purplish black, after several weeks shipboard.  In the light gravity, they made short work of the journey.  As they approached the camp, they were greeted by a brief burst of static in their suit comms, and then an unfamiliar guttural voice.

“Welcome colleagues.  Please proceed to the airlock on the largest dome.  I’ll be waiting there to greet you.”

They cycled through the designated airlock and emerged into a large, brightly lit room that was obviously a laboratory.  The room was strewn with sealed boxes, equipment, instruments and ancient alien artifacts in many shapes and sizes.  There were also three persons in the room.  The smallest of these, an orange-skinned gnomish looking individual, moved forward to greet them.  He waited while Stephen and Rowan removed their helmets, and then addressed them in the same guttural voice that had come across the suit comm units.

“Greetings.  I am Dr. Rok’sla.  I lead the UU expedition.  These are my associates,  Assistant Researchers Kloskan and Durnel.”  He indicated the two figures that towered behind him to the left and right.

Stephen looked at them and did a double take.  The seven foot tall reptilian forms were familiar to him, and he was quite taken aback to see them standing here in lab coats.

“Yes,” continued Dr. Rok’sla drily, “they are indeed Gorth.  There is a great deal of…misinformation that circulates about the Gorth race.  Contrary to popular opinion, they are not all pirates.  Many of them choose to pursue careers in the arts and sciences.  As have these two, my able colleagues here on Dekkar V.”

The two Gorth smiled hugely at Stephen and Rowan, revealing a startling array of jagged razor sharp teeth.

“Unfortunately, however, one piece of common knowledge about the Gorth is true.  They are quite unable to master Galcom, and hence will be unable to converse with you directly.  If there is anything you wish to ask of them or convey to them, I fear I will have to translate for you.”

This piqued Rowan’s curiosity.  “That’s quite fascinating Dr. Rok’sla.  I understood the Gorth to communicate by extremely low frequency sound waves, produced and received by specially evolved organs in their tails.  Those frequencies are far below the threshold that can be created by the vocal apparatus of most species.  Are you saying the calurrian race have some sort of similar capability?”

An unreadable expression appeared briefly on the bulbous features of the rotund little being and he answered tersely.

“I have been specially trained.”  His face smoothed again into its former blandness.  “And now, perhaps, you would extend the courtesy of introducing yourselves?”

~~~~~~~

Afternote: The next Character will also be from the novel Alien Artifacts. James has definitely created some memorable ones. It has been interesting finding a balance between the ones I saw in my own minds eye when I read the novel and the ones I shape from my discourse with the author. Another completely new and satisfying process –a path to agreement– must be forged in order for the author to be happy with what emerges from my pen.

Enjoy!

Day#24 Baron Bleebharan, Rebel Artist

| November 25, 2010 | 0 Comments
#24 Baron Bleebharan for Wheeler's Orbits by Jande Rowe

#24 Baron Bleebharan for Wheeler's Orbits by Jande Rowe

“Self-Portrait of a Failed Abstract Artist”

by Baron Bleebharan of  the Outer Rim Artists Colony, circa 2420(GR)

Day # 24: A Balthrazhod: Baron Bleebharan.

The above self portrait of Baron Bleebharan, a Balthrazhod artist and framing specialist from  the Outer Rim Artists Colony is said to be the only surviving work of his abstractionist art, though numerous of his maverick landscape works exist even today in the Bleebharan Museum of Natural Art. Below is an excerpt from the BalthrazWiki, sans citations:

“Semi-sentient beings settled a minor planet in the Outer Rim of the Galaxy millennia before the Earth was even a mote in Sol’s Corona. The original settlers were looking for a world of natural beauty so that they might have a bountiful place to begin their artists colony far from the censure of their fellow Balthrazhods. They settled in quite well as a matter of fact, painting up the local fauna and flora and displacing some thirty one thousand indigenous species not to mention enslaving two humanoid species ( the prongles and the fitchrils, both races that would have hunted each other to extinction had the Balthrazhods not taken a shine to their dexterity and  their sensitivity to colour. The dexterity allowed them to do all the kinds of work the Balthrazhods eschewed, leaving the masters to devote all their time to their art; the colour sensitivity allowing even greater range and depth in each piece as the closer to perfection became the work, the more easily the fitchrils would succumb and faint away –rather like Earth canaries who, exposed to the gases emitted in coal mines would falter in their joyous singing and fall from their caged roosts for the betterment of coal miners everywhere).

As the eons of devotion to art progressed, so too did the Balthrazhods, both spiritually and artistically, however they tended to neglect their physical selves and over those same eons became somewhat turgid and slug-like. Those of the Balthrazhods who were able to harness their creativity tended to become more and more abstractionists in temperament, not to mention personally abstracted, to the point of changing their own forms to match their gastropod-like temperaments.

Those who failed artistically tended to become merchants. Of what, you ask? Oh, art supplies and framing, of course.  But those of us here on Terra Firma would not recognize the difference between a Balthrazhod Art Supply Shop and a Balthrazhod Museum of Fine Art.

Baron Bleebharan was one of those failed Balthrazhod artists. Other Balthrazhods had passed judgement upon his works and would have, every one of them, given him the thumbs down if in fact they had anything resembling thumbs by this time. Still, a tentacle curled in contempt had the same effect on a fellow Balthrazhod as the leering thumbs down of an Earth man, secure in his beliefs in The Way Things Worked, had on artists of his own kind.

Baron Bleebharan’s own preference, nay passion, was landscape painting. He abhorred the traditional abstractions (they made him suffer from a vertigo similar to the effect they had on the fitchril slaves), preferring, himself, to capture nature in the raw. The Frilcar of the mountain sunsets, the verlact of the still abundant flora, the streevit sparkle of a marshland spring. These were the colours that moved his turgid juices until he could almost feel it within himself to actually move an inch or two under his own power.

He was filthy rich as most failed artists on the Rim world  were, but he longed for the recognition of his more abstractionist peers. Since he couldn’t help himself, he continued to paint his little landscapes in the face of certain disdain all while he built up his framing business. His reputation as a kooky maverick  brought the curious to his shop (where he even braved the inevitable censure by framing and hanging some of his own curiosities), who then were dazzled by his brilliance in his capacity as an expert and creative framer and when they left his shop they did so after giving the Baron their framing order.

At one point the King and Queen Balthrazhod visited his little shop and came away not only deeply moved (not by his landscapes, of course but by his framing techniques) but determined to provide him with some small reward of stature in the eyes of the world. They gave him a Franglaaesk of his own, a rich reward something along the lines of a Barony in our world. He was told it was a verdant land, filled with all the fauna and flora he could ever want to paint. But he never quite got moving enough to go and visit it. He did send his prongle slaves and they reported in the abstract as they had been trained, that it was a very nice piece of land, complete with an artist’s loft castle and a crystal falls.

As time moved inexorably on, Bleebharan’s yearning for the approbation of his peers finally turned sour. So sour in fact that he decided he’d had enough of the colony world and struck off into space to find perhaps some entities out there if not his own kind, at least maybe of kindred spirit.  And so he had his slaves prepare his last will and testament, leaving all his worldly goods (those left behind) to a Museum of Natural Art, for which he also supplied the funds and the slaves. Then he had them build a ship and fill it with supplies and his favourites of his landscapes, as well as the tools of both his trades, and off he shot into space where he soon ran into a spot of trouble involving a pair of humanoid trade runners who refused to be slaves or artists, but were willing to trade goods and barter services on a fairly equal basis. At least he thought it was fairly equal. These “humans” intrigued the Baron Bleebharan and he found their energetic to-ings and fro-ings entertaining to say the least.

Meanwhile back on his home colony planet, his Museum of Natural Art became a huge success with the younger generations of Balthrazhods, starting a whole new movement in the colony much to the shock and disgust of the diehard older generations. The Baron had left his home to wander the wide universe looking for artists made in his own image (so to speak), and in his rush to start over left behind him the very ones he sought. There is a lesson in this tale, but I’d rather not bore you with proverbs –especially since the Baron Bleebharan got to meet and spend some time with Wheeler and Ikey of Wheeler’s Orbits. And that, of course, made the whole thing worth it after all.”

Enjoy!

#12 – Searcher

| November 24, 2010 | 0 Comments

These strange floating steel globes seem to always be around, watching the survivors of the Solar Labs accident. It’s uncertain what they are doing, but they seem to be searching for something (hence the name), always looking, moving things and inspecting. No one is sure what it inside the domes, which have a diameter of about a foot, but through their small port holes crackling energy distorts what vaguely look like a pair of eyes.

They move around by releasing some sort of energy from the underside of the globe. There are two metal tentacle like appendages on either side. The ends of the tentacles have the ability to unravel into several prehensile strands which, when divided down to a single strand, is thinner than a human hair and yet still strong enough to lift and manipulate objects.  Searchers have also been known to emit a blast of energy from it’s view port, though this seems to weaken them.

#11 – Flick

| November 24, 2010 | 3 Comments

When Billy Franks first came to live with The Hannes, Rebecca and Hennric thought it might be nice to get a pet for the boy. Someone to be Billy’s pal for those long nights when all the adults were busy in the Lab.  They picked up a mischievous kitten from a local animal shelter that Billy named Flick.  A cute short haired, silver tabby cat, Flick was a typical, playful kitten. On the day of the accident that blasted the Solar Building (and the surrounding block) into the strange new world Flick was sleeping in the window in the Hannes’ apartment.  During the transport a bolt of energy burst through the window and passed straight through the napping cat.  At first there didn’t seem to be any ill effect from the incident but slowly…Billy began to notice that Flick was beginning to be more attentive to people. Within a couple weeks Flick began shadowing Billy. Then one day, when the boy was in mortal peril…Flick blasted a Searcher away from Billy.  Still a fun loving, mischievous cat Flick has now taken his place as Billy’s full time companion and protector.

Flick has shown incredible powers that apparently derive from his contact with the strange solar energy. He has become incredibly intelligent, can run at extremely high speeds , can jump huge distances and shoot powerful laser beams from his eyes.

#22 Angela

| November 24, 2010 | 1 Comment

#21 Captain Z’Artist

| November 23, 2010 | 0 Comments

#10 Gigantopus

| November 23, 2010 | 2 Comments

Just days after mysteriously being transported from Portsburg to a strange new world…the survivors realize they’re going to need to find food to survive. They begin striking out on short exploration excursions and soon one group finds a tree that closely resembles an evergreen tree…but grows a juicy round fruit that sort of tastes like a mix between bacon and a banana.

One early morning Fin and Billy struck out to bring back a basket of the odd fruit but when they reached the patch of forest where it is found…they encountered an enormous octopus who was gorging itself on the fruit.  Noting that the monster, which on earth is obviously lives only in water, seemed quite comfortable and happy to be walking and eating on land, Fin and Billy quickly high-tailed it back to the lab to report on their findings. Gigantopus, as Billy called it, did not seem aggressive or violent but upon that first encounter there wasn’t much intensive to stick around and make friends.

Day# 23 Gobbler, Spirit of Thanksgiving

| November 22, 2010 | 1 Comment

#23 Gobbler, Spirit of Thanksgiving, by Jande Rowe

#23 Gobbler, Spirit of Thanksgiving, by Jande Rowe

Pass The Turkey! (And Don’t forget the Stuffing!)

#23 Gobbler, the Spirit of Thanksgiving came to consciousness sometime around the end of the Twentieth Century as mankind measures things. It was a slow awakening, born out of the human need to give thanks for blessings received, and the growing awareness that the entity to whom these thanks had hitherto flowed may or may not actually exist, and if he did exist was kind of demanding and two-faced anyway. Gradually the idea of a venerable old gobbler who, in the past two hundred years or so always showed up at the dinner table around thanksgiving time, sacrificing himself so that others may feed bountifully, and therefore have something to be thankful for, took hold on the imaginations of the western nations. And in doing so freed the Spirit of Thanksgiving to emerge as a conscious being to join the ranks of the modern day spirits along with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

Gobbler, the Spirit of Thanksgiving is a crossover character who will be in many of my comics from now on, blessing those who are grateful for what they have even as they strive for more.

Enjoy!

Day# 22 Roadkill, Carrion Crow

| November 22, 2010 | 3 Comments
#22 Roadkill, Carrion Crow for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

#22 Roadkill, Carrion Crow for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

Not the Eyes! No! Not the Eyes!

#22 Roadkill the Carrion Crow, aka RK, funny little sentient bird that he is, often finds himself disgusted with his own natural appetites. He really has spent too much time roosting outside of that therapists upstairs office. He often wishes he was human so it would be easier to find something else to eat, but heck, on the other hand he is doing a service to the world, cleaning up the reckless by products of human excess, especially the by products of excessive speed in machines of immense mass.

So RK is in two minds about his place in the world. Either he is a disgusting inhumane pecker of mangled dead bodies, or he is a humane creature nobly going around cleaning up the messes that others leave behind. The one place where he draws the line, though is with the eyes. He can’t even bear to look at a dead creature’s eyes, and shudders with disgust bordering on illness at the very thought of eating them, as he knows his fellow carrion brothers do. This of course sets him up for a certain amount of teasing from his fellows. They will even jokingly set an eyeball or two right in front of him from time to time to see if he’ll throw up some sauce to go with the meal.

But, struggling with his dual view of his place in the universe, he has become somewhat philosophical. To the point where, if it is someone else who is having problems adjusting to the world, he will forget his own struggle while he offers sage advice that if he could hear himself, he might consider taking to his own heart.

Strange things happen when he and Aedre cross paths. By this time Aedre is getting used to the occasional talking animal, but RK is as individual as a snowflake. He has a somewhat changeable nature, sometimes easy going on himself and the world; sometimes belligerent and bellicose. He can be startling in his actions and words, but rarely violent, unless provoked or threatened. On the other hand he can also provide some comic relief. When one is on an epic journey every bit of comic relief is appreciated.

Day# 21 Sporkasaurus

| November 21, 2010 | 3 Comments
#21 Sporkasuarus by Jande Rowe

#21 Sporkasuarus by Jande Rowe

Sporkasaurus

‘Nuff  said.

;`)

Day# 20 Flykk, Dragon Hatchling

| November 21, 2010 | 0 Comments
#20 Flykk, Dragon Hatchling by Jande Rowe

#20 Flykk, Dragon Hatchling by Jande Rowe

Hunter or  Prey?

#20 Flykk, Dragon Hatchling: Due to the unfortunate accident of a premature hatching while the Dame Dragon was away on an emergency, Flykk found himself alone, exhausted and very, very hungry when he had finally burst himself through the leathery hide of his containing egg. If there had been any others there they would have remarked on his very large size, and the sharpness of his hatching horn.

There were many other eggs in the lair, and the place was warmer than an oven, so it didn’t take Flykk long to recover a bit of strength and pull himself along in search of food. He opened his eyes but the world was a fog of colour to him, in which he could discern only vague shapes that as yet held for him no meaning.  He found a few bits and pieces of meat near the lair entrance, that the Dame had dropped when she flew off. But his hunger was gargantuan

There are few predators that will attempt violence against a full grown dragon, but will try to feed on the eggs or any unattended hatchlings if they can get away with it.  Gnarwolves for instance, much prefer a hearty meal of hatchling to its usual sparse pickings of hares and other small fast animals. Hatchlings instinctively hunker down and hold perfectly still so that their protective colouring blends them into the landscape around them. But Flykk’s battle with his shell and the absence of the Dame’s restraining hands and wings made his hunger so acute he had to move.

So it was that Flykk found his first meal and his first enemy simultaneously. Making plaintive cries he dragged himself, staggering toward the hot smell of blood and flesh somewhere before him. Though he felt weak with hunger, he was actually gaining in strength as he moved. His wings drying and filling out, began almost to lift him as he gained ground toward that maddening odour. He scrabbled out of the lair and across the rocky terrain, his nose leading the way, his eyes barely opening, mewling for the food he so badly needed.

It was close by now, and there was another smell near it, one that would have spelled instant danger to any animal other than a dragon, hatchling or not. This smell was also food, though less compelling. Flykk was becoming angry now, his frustrated animal need forced him to flap his wings and claw at the ground with his hind claws while he roared his disgust  with the world as best he could.

Unfortunately, that was the moment the Gnarwolf chose to attack. –unfortunately for the wolf, that is. For Flykk was larger that he expected, and heavier, and was in the middle of the instinctive dragon dance of bloodrage, clawing with hands and feet, and buffeting with wings, and striking his blind head back and forth jerking upward the gleaming horn on his nose. By the time the Gnarwolf realised his mistake, it was too late. Flykk gored him with his horn, knocked him senseless with his wings and brought down his sharp teeth and claws in a frenzy spurred by the sweet acrid smell of fresh blood.

The hatchling Flykk fed well that first day on Gnarwolf and it’s half-eaten hare. Then he crawled father into the thicket in search of more.

Day# 18 Agnes McBeale

| November 19, 2010 | 2 Comments
#18 Agnes McBeale for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

#18 Agnes McBeale for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

The Bitchy Sister

#18 – Agnes McBeale is one year younger than her sister, (#17)Paula but seems so much older–not to mention more irritable and just plain bitchy. With sparse red hair curly hair and being scrawny and tall she is the polar opposite of Paula. Compared to Paula’s flawless skin, Agnes is covered from head to toe in a mass of freckles that she loathes. She confides in no one, keeping herself to herself as much as possible. She has no real friends either, but doesn’t want them, clearing them off with her acid tongue.

The whole of Agnes’ energies is focused entirely on getting through school and away from that cramped, crowded, nasty house, and her so-called “family”. She practically spits when she uses that word. Her grades are very high, but no-one where she lives cares. Except Paula who is jealous of them.

Sometimes, when she deigns to walk to school with Paula and Paula’s dogsbody, Aedre, she spends the whole trip saying cutting things to both girls.
She confides in no one, keeping herself to herself as much as possible. So know one knows what causes her to lash out at everyone around her. One day people will know. But not for awhile yet.

Day# 17 Paula McBeale

| November 19, 2010 | 1 Comment
#17 Paula McBeale for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

#17 Paula McBeale for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

Daddy’s Little Princess

Paula McBeale and her sister (#18)Agnes live across the road from Aedre’s new house on Hook Rd. They live in a tiny one-bedroom house that is far too small for four people. To Aedre’s view, they are disgorged from the house every school morning, and swallowed up again right after school as if they don’t exist at any other time.

Paula is secretive and constantly feels deprived, since she get no allowance and has to beg for everything she feels she needs. She finds an outlet for her feelings of resentment about this by stealing small things from school, from stores, from her friends, though in the latter case she calls it “borrowing”. Her favourite thing to steal when she can get it, however, is money. No one finds out about this habit of hers for many years.

She is an excellent actress. After all she’s been acting for Daddy since she was a baby. Sometimes the things he makes her act for him make her uncomfortable but at least she has his undivided attention for periods of time. Daddy is an avid photographer, but he never shows his photos to anyone but Paula, keeping them locked away in a box under her bed, and he says its “our secret game, Princess”. So she is cautioned never to tell anyone about the secret game or Daddy won’t be able to play with her anymore.

She takes to hanging out with Aedre on the way to and from school because she feels that Aedre is so pathetic it makes her look good, and besides, sometimes she can steal stuff from her and she never seems to realise the only person who could have stolen it was Paula. Paula holds Aedre in contempt while pretending to be her friend.

But then, Aedre is conditioned to think that everything bad that happens is her fault, and so if something goes missing then she must have lost it somehow. This suits Paula just fine. Daddy’s little Princess knows how to get on in the world.

Day# 16 Thomas “Weeks” Kelsey

| November 19, 2010 | 0 Comments
#16 Thomas "Weeks" Kelsey, for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

#16 Thomas "Weeks" Kelsey, for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

Thomas J. Kelsey, dubbed “Weeks”, short for “Wee Kelsey”, which was what most of the other kids called him from the first day he attended Maple Public School. Snarky remarks during his first recess period about his diminutive size –about two thirds the height of the shortest of his peers– soon gave way to awe when he aptly demonstrated not only his aptitude and skill at most sports, but his well honed sportsmanship as well. He could take joke and a pounding on the sports field better than most boys twice his physical stature. He was built heavy for his height, yet he was agile, too.

He did well in his academic studies, got along well with other boys, and excelled on the sportsfield. The one thing he’s have no truck with was girls, and he held strong opinions as to their place in sports, mostly negative. Where girls were concerned he was implacable. If a girl wanted to play on his team, he would stare at them without a sound until they fled. Unless of course they fled to a teacher who forced him to comply, which he did readily, but gave no quarter to the girl, so that finally she had to give up in defeat.

Aedre, of course, didn’t know this until she smashed into his prejudice head-on. She had asked the recess teacher if she could play soccer, and he had agreed she could. Fully confident of himself and his view of the world, Weeks bested her simply by being himself. No hard feelings on his part. That’s just the way the world works. She never had a chance to even see the ball. She may as well have been invisible. For Aedre, who had hopes and dreams of a different world than the lost and lonely one in which she found herself, it was just another entry carved into her psyche on the very long list of grievances that would push her to the very edge of either going mad, or giving up completely.

Weeks didn’t know anything about Aedre of course, except what the other boys told him, that she was a cootie-bag and a witch besides, but whether or not he believed them didn’t matter. She was a girl and girls had no value in Week’s world.

Day# 15 ReldoRurr

| November 19, 2010 | 1 Comment
#15 ReldoRurr for Wheeler's Orbits by Jande Rowe

#15 ReldoRurr for Wheeler's Orbits by Jande Rowe

It Ain’t Easy Being Tween

ReldoRurr is an Adnirovjyna youngling, eldest offspring of (#12)Thaddeursus, and therefore a source of great embarrassment to his parent. At the age of dissent, rebellion, and world-weary long-suffering of elders, his passionate nature has more than once brought him before the council whom he refers to as those old fligmarrons* (*a grumpy indecisive animal so set in its ways that it will often run right into an obvious trap rather than deviate from its normal routine–needless to say, they are now a protected species on the planet Adnirovjyn).

Although his father has more sympathy for the age ReldoRurr is going through than the cub may realise, he is still an Adnirovjyna, and therefore feels the censure of his kind deeply. Thus it is his way of trying to keep ReldoRurr out of the way of others that he often gives him the task of collecting (far afield) the small tubers that sprout from the (#14)Sqorthk animal variants.

These can be plucked from the Sqorthk just after the rainy season as they pull themselves ponderously along but this has proven to have a traumatic effect on them, and so usually the younglings are sent to gather the ones that have matured and fallen off to the  ground where, if they are not scooped up will root there and grow into the Sqorthk plants far from the villages. Much more convenient to have them growing under controlled conditions in pots within the villages proper. And much better for all concerned if the wilder younglings are kept busy at a useful  tiring task far from the village.

Unfortunately, ReldoRurr finds this kind of work beneath him, even though he enjoys it, sensing that no matter how useful it is to his people, they really are trying to get rid of him, because in his own mind, he is right about them when he keeps calling them on their “Griiftakk’s Invisible Sceptre” policies** (** a fairy tale told to Adnirovjyni children about a ruler of their people who was sold by a pair of scoundrels from the south, a non-existant magical sceptre that only the most wisest rulers could see). His resentment came to fruition when he reported the existence of an alien invasion from outer space and was given extra duties as a “curb to youthful imaginings”.

Fortunately for ReldoRurr, his pater did accept his story, mostly from the excitement and passion with which it was delivered ((shudder)), and after the fiasco with the council, went with his cub to see with his own eyes those very strange beings, whom he later learned called themselves Wee’hlir and Hie-ke, and hailed from the stars themselves, although actually from an earth-like planet in Andromeda. It was inevitable perhaps that ReldoRurr developed a strong case of hero-worship for the hairless ones, well one of them, for the consequences of that were long remembered.

And so it was that ReldoRurr was the first person ever to lay eyes upon the magnificence that was the space entrepreneurial partnership known as Wheeler’s Orbits and the beginning of a tale so strange it is told to the children of Adnirovjyn to this very day.

~~~

Well I’ve finally reached the half-way point and what a fun ride it’s been so far! Meeting some wonderful artists and storytellers, as well as challenging myself to keep innovating and trying different styles of art, have been the highlights for me during this Challenge. I’m psyched to get the next fifteen Characters out there, as each one contributes much more than one can imagine to the ongoing stories for both Wheeler’s Orbits and Aedre’s Firefly, not to mention a few new story ideas as well.

I hope everyone else is enjoying this Challenge and the fruits of all our labours as much as I am.

#9 Ann Abbott

| November 16, 2010 | 0 Comments

19 year old Ann Abbott is a second year student at uPAST majoring in Biology.  Last semester she applied for the covet position as the Assistant to Rebecca Hannes in the Solar Lab. Thanks to her abounding enthusiasm and a 55 page paper on the effects of the Solar Cycle on the life span of the Amazonian Bot Fly she got the position.  She’s a great student, a dedicated scientist and energetic presence in the lab.

Ann hopes to one day obtain her PhD and be hired on as a staff scientist in the Solar Labs at uPAST researching how the Sun helped shape the building blocks of life on Earth.

Day# 12 – Thaddeursus

| November 16, 2010 | 1 Comment
#12 Thaddeursus, for Wheeler'e Orbits by Jande Rowe

#12 Thaddeursus, for Wheeler'e Orbits by Jande Rowe

Ah, Thaddeursus! Do bears walk in the woods? He doesn’t know because he really isn’t a bear, you see. He’s an Adnirovjyna from one of the Inner Galaxies, known on Terra One as Cassiopeia, but by the indigenous sentients, as Adnirovjyn. One would normally expect to see fulsome Greek goddesses and other females cavorting on the planet Adnirovjyn in the constellation of Cassiopeia, but no. Perversely, peaceful squat furry bear-like humanoids evolved there instead.

Peaceful being the key description of these beings, they will do almost anything to keep things tranquil, and therefore are high strung and nervous most of the time, worrying about whether their actions or the actions of others are going to disturb anyone’s peace.

Thaddeursus, who prefers to be called Thadd, in case it upsets anyone to have to pronounce his full name, is typical of his species with one exception: he was the unfortunate victim of an accident that changed not only his own life and lifestyle, but those of many of his acquaintances in the small village of Cleoptas Woods, as well. This of course does nothing to reduce the agitation he normally feels. In fact it somewhat increases it. But the whole thing is so inherently fascinating that he can’t help himself.

Of course, since all Adnirovjyna have to restrain their overweening curiosity in order to maintain a civilized society, he grew up knowing that it is very wrong to spy on others even if they have very little fur, are tall and thin and strangely coloured. After all, they have two arms, two legs, walk upright and use tools and language (if mostly unintelligible), as well as drink frothy amber liquids and eat highly spiced foods like any normal sentient being. One of them is almost the same shape as an Adnirovjyna, though the other’s shape resembles the more vine-like Sqorthk (a food animal that spends part of its life cycle as a vegetable, during which it is harvested by the Adnirovjyna, who are predominantly vegetarian, but, you know, accidents happen!)

Adnirovjyna tend to be modest, retiring people to whom privacy is paramount, which also increases the tensions caused by their native curiosity. So when Thadd suddenly became somewhat famous by being the first to contact an alien race (though truth be told, they had contacted him by landing their rustbucket of a ship-shuttle in his dreak-pond!) he was since embarrased constantly by the recurrence of the breaking of the twin taboos of notoriety and overzealous curiosity. It was enough to give him  a slight twitch.

But to his shame, his own curiosity was in full roar. These beings did the strangest things, drawing the eyes and ears of all to them, almost as if they relished the attention. But they did have interesting items to trade and that was what had given Thadd all this uncomfortable fame. Oh well, he thought, I guess I shall simply have to grin and bear it until they leave again and things can go back to normal.

But, will they? One whirlwind visit from Wheeler and Ikey could change a whole stable sentient species forever, doncha think?

#8 Rebecca Hannes, PhD

| November 16, 2010 | 0 Comments
Rebecca Hannes, PhD, a tenured professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Portsburg Academy of Science and Technology (known as uPAST) is known for her research into the effects of different types of astral and solar radiations on the cellular and molecular structures. Mrs. Hannes and her husband, Dr. Henric Hannes, PhD, run the Solar Lab and plan to have the first working prototype of their energy converter ready to debut within the year.  Hopes are high that a fully functional machine can be in place before the decade is out which could potentially provide an endless amount of free energy to the entire United States.  It’s Rebecca’s job to ensure that the energy and radiation collected by the conversion machine will now do any harm to anyone.

About a year ago the Hannes adopted a young, adventurous boy named Billy Franks who had been orphaned during the Portsburg blizzard of 1984. Rebecca and Billy have become very close with and, while she allows him plenty of room to explore and learn…she’s highly projective of the boy.

#15 Girl In Leather Jacket

| November 15, 2010 | 4 Comments

Girl In Leather Jacket

#14 The Kid

| November 14, 2010 | 0 Comments

Meet The Kid
Don’t get on his bad side. He packs a punch… POW! POW!

#7 The Sun

| November 8, 2010 | 4 Comments

Designation: Yellow Star
Stellar Classification: G2V
Distance from Earth: 1.496×10^8 km (8 minutes, 19 seconds at light speed)
Equatorial Circumference: 6.955×10^5 km
Surface Area: 6.087 7×10^12 km^2
Volume: 1.412×10^18 km^3
Mass: 1.989 1×10^30 kg

Core Density: 1.5×10^5 kg/m^3

Core Temperature: ~15.7×10^6 K
Surface Temperature: 5,778 K (5500° F)
Corona Temperature: ~5×106 K
Luminosity: 3.846 x 10^26 Watt

Coronal Mass Ejection Average Mass: 1.6 x 10^12 kg
Coronal Mass Ejection Average Velocity: 20km/s – 3200km/s
Current Coronal Cycle as of today’s date (05/05/1987): Low, trending upward

Hydrogen: 73.45%
Helium: 24.85%
Oxygen: 0.77%
Carbon: 0.29%
Iron: 0.16%
Sulfur: 0.12%
Neon: 0.11%
Nitrogen: 0.08%
Silicon: 0.07%
Magnesium: 0.05%
Unknown Elements: 0.03%

The Sun. Our Sun. The largest, heaviest, hottest and brightest natural object in our solar system. It has been Dr. Henric Hannes PhD’s obsession since he was a young boy in Portsburg. Our Sun propels approximately 389 billion million gigawatts of energy into space. Comparatively, the earth’s total global energy consumption is just a few thousand gigawatts. The majority of that is highly polluting fossil fuels.  Dr. Hannes theorizes that if we could capture even a fraction of that power and convert it to usable energy here on the ground…we would never have to worry about power again (or…at least for the next 4 billion years or so).

#6 – L.U.N.A.R. Computer

| November 7, 2010 | 0 Comments

The original Solar lab computers, much like most other computers in the world in the early 80s, were nothing more than room sized calculators.  Using the standard Vector Processing (that is a central CPU that delegated processing tasks to multiple processors then later organizing the resulting data) the computers built for Dr. Hannes were running at a basic (for it’s time) processing speed of of 1.1 GigaFLOPS (or 1.1 billion calculations per second). When the U.S. Government was brought in to fund and secure Dr. Hannes’ work, a team of scientists and engineers was also brought in to assist in the research.  Within this group was a team led by Irish computer engineer Jonathan O’Colvin, PhD.  O’Colvin began right away rebuilding the entire computer system.  Six months later, the LUNAR Computer was complete.

The LUNAR Computer is a self aware, highly adaptive Multi-Quantum processor SuperComputer capable of speeds theoretically up to 1.5 zettaFLOPS (that is 1.5 octillion calculations per second).  That speed is stated as theoretical because the only way to provide enough power to operate the computer at full will be when the solar energy converter is actually activated. Operated on the Portsburg power grid, LUNAR can only function at approximately 50% of its full capacity.  The computer has a single core which resides at the center of the SOLAR Lab and is networked to most of the compatible computers in the Solar Lab building as well as the entire uPAST campus via a small wireless chip that is attached to each CPU.

O’Colvin has programmed the one of a kind system with an adaptive form of artificial intelligence.  Upon it’s initial boot the system was nothing more than a very large, very fast computer. As time has progressed, LUNAR has become self aware and is learning more and more each day.

When fully functional LUNAR will also operate and maintain the connection between all three SECT (Solar Ejection Collection and Transmission) satellites that are in a geosynchronous orbit above the SOLAR Lab.

Star Burn

| November 6, 2010 | 2 Comments

Star Burn

Story to come soon….

#5 Jonathan O’Colvin , PhD

| November 5, 2010 | 0 Comments

A brilliant scientist in the field of computer engineering, Jon O’Colvin comes to the uPAST and the Solar Lab by way his home country of Ireland.  When the United States Government inked the deal with uPAST to help fund and protect Dr. Hennric’s solar energy conversion research, Jon was one of the first new scientists to be brought in.  Dr. Hennric already had one of the most advanced super computers in existence. However, within a six months, O’Colvin and his team had rebuilt the entire system and integrated the new self aware L.U.N.A.R. [Localized University Networked Autonomous Research] computer system into the entire uPAST computer network (which itself was and is technology far advanced beyond any other computer system in the world).  With this new powerful computer system the research has advanced forward at a light speed pace (excuse the pun).  O’Colvin now maintains the  L.U.N.A.R. Computer as well as writes and applies daily upgrades and improvments to ensure that when the energy conversion system comes online the computers will be able to handle all the data that it is sure to encounter.

Jon O’Colvin himself is a quiet man who tends to keep to himself as much as possible.  He works long hours every day, typically never less than 12 hours, and never overlooks even the smallest detail. He is liked by everyone in the lab even though he rarely socializes with anyone, with the exception of the L.U.N.A.R. computer who he has an obvious strong connection with.

#4 Fin Halloway

| November 4, 2010 | 0 Comments

In 1968, at the age of 18 years and 1 day old, Finlay Halloway, known to everyone as Fin, enlisted in the United States Marines.  The son and grandson of Marines and veterans of war there was nothing that could stop Fin from following in those footsteps.  In no time he was through basic and tromping through the jungles of Vietnam fighting for his country.  Just five years later, then a decorated NCO, he was out of Vietnam and into a top secret special forces team known only by the code name Taipan. By 1980 he had been promoted to a Warrant Officer and was in charge of his entire company.

While on a top secret assignment with a detachment to Beirut in October of 1983, Fin was caught in the heart of a massive explosion. The official story was that it was a dual car bombing, which killed nearly 500. The truth is that the explosion was directly related to a Taipan mission and more than 2000 people, including civilians and service members, were killed including many of the men under Fin’s command.  Fully physically recovered, though still dealing with the emotional fall out of that tragic even, after over a year of recuperation and rehabilitation, Fin was reassigned within Taipan.

The US Government took interest early in the research of Dr. Henric Hannes, PhD.  It was apparent early that his solar energy conversion technology, far beyond simple solar panels installed on a roof, had the potential to change the world.  In order to ensure that Dr. Hannes’ research did not end up in the hands of an enemy nation of regime a security detail from special forces Taipan team was assigned.  That force is headed by Fin Halloway.  It is his duty to protect the uPAST campus as well as all the technology and the science team.

Before the incident in Beirut, Fin was a fun loving, energetic man who was dedicated to his friends, his job and his country.  Since his recovery he is no less dedicated to his job and country, however, he has become a much more serious and intense individual.

(side note: I’m still in the planning phase of Solar: Maximum and have, as of yet, not decided if the comic will appear in black and white or full color.  IF I decide to go full color…I think this is the style that I’ll be going with. Or…at least something similar)  (thoughts??)

#3 Marna Valasquez, PhD

| November 3, 2010 | 0 Comments

Marna Valasquez is one of the staff scientists in the Solar Lab at the University of Portsburg Academy of Science and Technology.  A native of Cuba, she immigrated to this country with her family in her early teens.  Her father found work first as a day laborer, then in construction and later he opened a diner called “El Cubano” in the trendy waterfront precinct of Portsburg.  Marna’s parents instilled an almost robot-like work ethic in her but it has all, so far, payed off. Through years of incredibly hard work she earned herself a scholarship to college, then graduate school.  She attained her PhD from uPAST in 1985 and went straight to work for Dr. Hannes in the Solar Lab.  Marna wrote her thesis on the effect of quantum particles on light rays and now continues to study that in the lab.

Marna projects a very rigid external image. Most people in the lab would rather spend time with one of the hideous biological experiments in the uPAST “Earths” labs then try to have a conversation with Marna.  She’s known, to some, as the hottest Cuban ice queen ever born.  But she’s makes no apologies and pulls no punches…with anyone or any thing.

#2 Billy Frakes

| November 2, 2010 | 2 Comments

Billy’s parents were killed during Portsburg’s great blizzard of 1984 when Billy was just 6 years old. With no other family, he was placed in an orphanage. A couple years later during a school field trip to the Solar Lab at the University of Portsburg Academy of Science and Technology, young Billy became separated from his class and wandered into a closed robotics lab.  For nearly an hour the uPAST security searched the campus for the boy. Eventually, Fin Halloway, head of security at the Solar Lab, found Billy.  The young boy had completely disassembled three housekeeping robots because he said he wanted to know how they worked.  Impressed by Billy’s intelligence and curiosity Rebecca and Henric quickly fell in love with the boy and adopted him. Now, one year later, Billy is happier then ever living with the Hannes family.  When not studying or taking apart and reassembling various machines around the lab he acts as Dr. Hannes’ lab assistant.

Sunday Jones

| November 1, 2010 | 0 Comments

Sunday Jones, in the guise of 'Knockout'
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Sunday Jones. Yes, that’s her real name. Parents can be cruel sometimes. Sunday was mugged on the way to university one morning and woke to find herself in a world she could alter seemingly on a whim. All she has to do to make changes to the fundamental structures of reality is draw the effect she wants to have as a comic and upload it to the Internet. The effects are mostly permanent; only thing she can’t change for good is herself.

You see her here in the guise of ‘Knockout’, the superhero persona she often dons in order to fight crime. She has other guises, but this is the most common.

In terms of the art for this one, I’m mostly pleased with the overall look and the colour scheme. My major issue is with the general proportions, the legs and the feet. I’m going to have to really work hard at improving my ability to draw legs, that’s for certain. Still, with 29 more characters to go perhaps the last one will look vaguely like a human? Providing the last one is supposed to look like a human, that is.

#1 Dr. Henric Hannes, PhD

| November 1, 2010 | 3 Comments

Dr. Henric Hannes, PhD

Dr. Henric Hannes, PhD, a tenured professor of astral physics at the University of Portsburg Academy of Science and Technology (affectionately known on campus as uPAST), is the world’s leading astral and solar physicist.  Known for his research into the conversion of energy from the sun into usable energy on Earth, he is also an accomplished inventor and leader in the Portsburg community. Dr. Hannes and his wife, Rebecca Hannes, PhD, run the Solar Lab and plan to have the first working prototype of their energy converter ready to debut within the year.  Hopes are high that a fully functional machine can be in place before the decade is out which could potentially provide an endless amount of free energy to the entire United States.

#1 Samurai-Girl

| November 1, 2010 | 3 Comments

Day #1
My first upload of the 30 characters for the month of November 2010. My intention is to create a new character on the daily basis. Always coming up with something new and keeping it in a tight pencil drawing format. I feel very comfortable with the pencil and maybe develop a character in the future in color for a story.
These illustrations are my creative ideas on the spot, without any planning of what I will draw tomorrow. I’m trying to keep it fresh and innovative.

Free the mind and let the pencil do all the work without any limitations. Kinda like jack Kerouac’s “On The Road”