matt_doyle

... two unlettered panels from the first page of Madcap Archaeology.  Questionably worksafe?  Depends on where you work, I guess.

And heck, why not:  my own terrible concept art for one of these panels.

My conviction that this will be the prettiest damn webcomic ever remains strong.  Check out the pictures and tell me what you think!

So, as I've been coyly hinting/loudly shouting in various corners of the Internet over the last few days, my webcomic project Madcap Archaeology has been, well, frantically unburied from where past societies left it and is now being prepared and written at a breakneck pace.  The origin of the project is discussed here, and the worldbuilding here,  It's a character-driven MacGuffin-hunt romp through a weird and fantastic world, the sex and the violence are in more equal proportions than is usual.  It will definitely be going live on both tumblr and deviantart; and possibly on its own website as well, if the artist and I can find a) hosting space; and b) a webmonkey willing to help with the webmonkeying.  Launch date is somewhere between May 11th and August 24th, depending on scheduling and how long it takes to build up a backlog of pages.  The full story arc is some 280 pages, which will take between 3 and 6 years to unfold, depending on our update schedule (yet to be determined).

Anyway, all that is boring stuff.  I want to talk to you about the characters!

Indir is a storyteller, a scholar, a musician, a master of prestidigitation, and a sorceror whose magic is mostly useless.  He can craft illusions or briefly conjure unreal-looking solid geometrical shapes, but that's about it.  Terminally cheerful, enthusiastic, curious, excitable, flamboyant, and dramatic, Indir is smarter than he seems but not much wiser.  Of the four, he's most attuned to the emotional states of others and is very much the peacemaker in the group.

Vessa is the de facto leader and organizer of the group.  Geometer, engineer, spell-binder, alchemist, and most shockingly of all a cartographer, Vessa is geeky, lazy, practical, boisterous, nervy, and impatient.  She's very protective and possessive of the team she put together, and generally the one who takes the most initiative in both business and romance.  What magic she has is completely centered around tools and magical objects.

Jonathy is a warrior.  Trained in the religious martial arts and mystical traditions of Nautilus Cloister, she has very tight control over herself, body and mind, and a small degree of both psionic and divine power.  Jonathy is emotional, nostalgic, intuitive, irascible, and flat-out indestructible. The most withdrawn and isolated of the group, she has come through a lot of trust issues and heartbreak.  She's the devoted one, at least when it comes to Vessa and Indir.

Naurian is the group's wilderness guide.  An expert in reconnaissance, survival, tracking, and archery, Naurian speaks of a long and experienced history as a traveler, but he's thin on providing details.  Awkward but outgoing, driven, pragmatic, often quiet but frequently amused, Naurian often finds himself taking care of the details of everyday life that the others neglect. He's the one who barters for food in the market and goes looking for jobs when they run low on goods to exchange.  Unlike the others, Naurian has absolutely no magic.  The most recent addition to the group, he works best with Vessa, gets along best with Indir, and maintains an uneasy tension with Jonathy.

Together, the four of them work as a retrieval service.  In a world which is constantly changing scale, direction, and content due to Flux storms, talented scavengers are always in demand, especially when powerful people have some specific rare commodity in mind.  When someone comes to them with a commission, Indir's heard all about what they want, Vessa knows how and where to locate it, Naurian knows how to get them there quickly and quietly, and Jonathy keeps them safe from any threat along the way.

It's going to be a blast.