Vote to see the next page! I spent a shit-ton of time on the first pages of this chapter, since I had all of winter break to do them. And since there's so much WATER. I hate drawing water. It looks like it should be so easy, but it is very difficult, for me at least.

Final 3 days to enter a raffle to win a $50 commission or What it Takes books from me!

Back to your regularly scheduled news...

This final segment of Chapter 9, Still Alive, features a return of a character who is (yes, you guessed it) still alive. The character in the foreground you haven't met yet--her name is U'hano (Yu-HAH-no) Anena. She is what's called a Stormrunner, or Nininalakana, "Those who run with storms." Guess what they do? Hahaha. U'hano is also the main character of From Earth to Heaven, the origin story I haven't quite gotten off the ground yet. Of course, I already built the site. Hah!

The character in the background may be unrecognizable, since the last time I drew him in the comic was a very long time ago. Props if you can name him!

This arc takes place in Shi'li, the peninsula to the west of Ci'Endis. The peninsula has regions of jungle adjacent to semi-arid plains. Inland is swamp. Enjoy the map if you haven't seen it before, there are some teasers there.

From Chapter 9 onward, all the chapters are split into different segments revolving around a central theme. Each chapter has 2-4 parts, generally 3. Until the different groups meet up and then the chapters can condense a bit. There's only one group left to meet after this one, and that's Relan and Fen Aya Zen, from Not Alone! All growed up. Eh, mostly. :D

For those readers who don't remember, this comic is based on a novel that is already written! So it's complicated. I of course chose it to by my first work because...I am dumb. Readers, oh dear readers, if you ever jump into comics, START WITH SOMETHING SIMPLE AND FUN. Not epic. Bad move. But I'm still going! It'll be 8 years this April. Wow.

Speaking of that upcoming comic birthday! I've decided on this year's fan art contest. The Dreaded Gender Bender! It'll be set up like those devART memes where you fill in the boxes. Whoever can embarrass my characters the most WHILE STILL REMAINING TRUE TO THE CHARACTER wins. Prizes will be original art, 3 prizes total. Consider it...Make Kez Laugh III.

So get out your nasty thinking caps, because the contest will open at the beginning of March.

Vote to see the cover of the next chapter! This is the last page of Chapter 9 Part II. Part III starts next Monday! And it has some of my favorite characters! Eh, who am I kidding? They're all my favorite characters!

I've said it before, and likely I will end up saying it again, but the goal of this story is not to create an entirely new fantasy world--my goal is to more to add to our own reality. I enjoy "what ifs" more than "never could happen but this sure is fun!"

Another of the goals for this story arc (the earth crossover) in particular is the deconstruction of the Wind myth. Many readers still refer to them as gods, even though on page one it says they're not. They're creations. But the thing about myths and legends is that they are 99% exaggeration, and 1% factual kernel. All the story arcs involving the North Wind on Earth (seriously, if you haven't caught on to who this guy is yet...) will be to change your conception of them, and the Nashrri. It will be fun! If you can sit back and enjoy the ride (and not drive your car into a hole.)

In other news, TOMORROW is the final day to apply to join SpiderForest! SF is the place that hosts all my comics, and it's a wonderful community for anyone looking to find something of much higher quality than Smackjeeves or Drunkduck. Self-hosted members are welcome! Info for applications is here.

Thanks everyone who donated to the Comic Creators For Freedom fund! We raised $7500 this year in only 2 weeks! That is so amazing. You guys all rock.

Regarding the drawing for the original art, I'm ashamed to admit I haven't done it yet. I helped my mom move 16 years worth of HOME to a new house and had in total, 25 minutes worth of internet time. I am exhausting. Will do the drawing and announce the winner tonight!

Toodles, thanks for reading! <3

Vote to see the next page a week early yet again! (Which is to say, sometime on Monday night, because I forgot to upload it before I went on vacation earlier this weekend.)

Are they...magic bangles (as someone in the forum snerked)?? Mersnai taught us over 100 pages ago that Njinn were never meant to be knives, and Ravar told you that blue steel is alive. However, so far I guess it hasn't been stated that both the Key and Njinn are made of blue steel. I've really only drawn it. Ravar's katana is also blue steel, but the method of forging the blade or item will determine the extent of the steel's...character. Anyway, those pages were literally years ago, so I don't really expect anyone to remember. The important details here are that a non-Ayenroki can manipulate the steel, that the steel can take on different shapes without forging, and that the steel can, well, die.

Just one more page left in this chapter! And then on to Caspian and U'hano in tropical Shi'li. Switching gears. Fun times!

Hey, does anyone need a site designed or built? My buddy Trevor is looking for work. He's stellar with comicpress but can work with anything. Check out his site for examples and to contact him.

This is the last week for the Comic Creators for Freedom donation drive! If you haven't heard of that yet, it's a drive put on by webcomickers to collect proceeds to help victims of human trafficking--slavery. Colbey from What it Takes is participating again. Check out the news post here TO WIN SOME ORIGINAL ART. There are only 15 tickets in the raffle so far!

Do you have a webcomic? Would you be interested in joining up with an awesome group of webcomic creators very serious about their work? Check out SpiderForest! We are accepting applications until January 24th.

Thanks for reading, see you next week!

Vote to see the next page a week early yet again! There are 2 more pages left in this chapter and then we get to Chapter 9 part III, starring another familiar face from way-back-when.

As for today's page, I keep hoping I've finally reached that sought-after artistic ability of showing, not telling, but I'm never really sure. Shadows, single touch equals death. Death did not happen. Freak out time. Bigtime freak out followed by running away. Something is very wrong. Or right? Perhaps evening the field. We'll see. And Tam is running away too, not running toward. The shadows in that panel aren't as good as I'd like. Too busy to fix.

Break is now officially over for me (whimper) and it's back to the grind! But, I now officially have 5 weeks of buffer for this comic and 3 weeks of buffer for What it Takes. And what that means is I REALLY REALLY want to just post all the pages now so everyone can see them and the story can progress faster. BUT I CAN'T. I won't have the time to work on comics at ALL for the next 2 weeks, and likely not at all for the next month. This is my first time in, uh, 7 years with a buffer, and I'm not ruining it! You can however continue to see previews at both the forum and my tumblr.

Hey, does anyone need a site designed or built? My buddy Trevor is looking for work. He's stellar with comicpress but can work with anything. Check out his site for examples and to contact him.

Today is the start of the Comic Creators for Freedom donation drive! If you haven't heard of that yet, it's a drive put on by webcomickers to collect proceeds to help victims of human trafficking--slavery. Colbey from What it Takes is participating again. Check out the news post here.

Thanks for reading, see you next week!