More about S&C

This is a continuation of what was written here. If you would like to read everything story-related, go up to the The Story so Far tab and you can read from the beginning.


And just so you know, I have art to post, it's just a matter of getting it scanned in and editing it.

Once Marcus has Cate and her team signed up, he runs into a little bit of a problem.  The military transport he had lined up is going to be delayed for a month or more.  With the fall storms building, a months delay could make traveling north completely impossible.  Fortunately, Cate has a solution.  A friend of hers owns an airship, and she and the crew have been in town for the past few weeks on the off chance that Cate’s funding would come through and she could hire them to do the tracking, reconnaissance and general shipping and traveling of her and her team.  They’ve been pulling the small odd job here and there to make ends meet while Cate waited and have found themselves with time on their hands and not enough of anything to rub together in their pockets.  

Marcus jumps at the chance, only to discover that the “friend” is actually his sister - or sisters as the case may be.  Sisters who are kind of ticked that he and Matthias missed the last few (or six) family get-togethers.  But he turns on the charm and manages to squeeze himself (tentatively) back in to Elle and Sun’s good graces at least.  Sydra is another matter altogether, but he figures two out of three sisters on his side is better than none.

Besides, it’s Elle’s ship.  And it’s the ship that he needs.  

So despite Sydra’s protestations at the vague and undefined ulterior motives of the expedition, Elle prepares her crew for the trip.  

The trip north is as uneventful as might be expected; they weather a few early storms but arrive at their first destination in one piece.  While Cate and her team do some initial research forays, Sydra reaches out to her northern contacts to get a lay of the land.  Strange rumors abound.  Outlying shepherds and farmers and farmers have been steadily retreating back to the safety of towns and villages along the coast, chased away by some unknown creature that killed their flocks and destroyed their storehouses.  

Merry Christmas!

I've been having a crappy kinda week so far - I know it's only Tuesday, so I guess it's been a lousy couple of weeks, but anyway.

To cheer myself up and try and banish this overly dreary mood I've been in, I decided to have some fun and threw together this little piece.  

My little gift to all you who have been keeping an eye on my progress over the past few months.  I love you guys!

These were done in Illustrator - I've been working on a Christmas card with a similar "cartoony" theme and started messing around until I had all of these.  Anyway, I hope they make you smile.  I did when I was making them.

Happy Hols!  

The Beginnings of an Airship Crew

Goal 1 of 3 - DONE!

What's steampunk without an airship and it's crew of fan-freaking-tastic characters?

• Elle - The owner of a small, varied fleet of airships.  She performs a hodge-podge of services like shipping and delivery, long distance message running, sight-seeing, etc.  She's slightly spastic and usually stressed about something or other, but with her driven work ethic and the help of her crew she's developed a reputation for excellence and getting the job done - no matter the circumstance.  
• BT - Elle's engineer.  She's competent, capable and she can build or fix anything - out of anything - before you can spit.  All without chipping a nail.  She's kept Elle's ships flying through circumstances that would have crippled bigger and newer ships.  Her inventive offensive security measures have made many a merchant glad that Elle and her crew haven't turned to piracy, and many an air-pirate wish they hadn't.  
• Sun - an accomplished medic and Elle's younger sister.  She's a little spitfire - and her mouth is sharper than the needle she'll use to sew you up.  She's amazingly shrewd and she can ferret a secret out of anyone - if she has to.  If it's advice you need, she's the one to ask, because ten to one, Sun's already thought of it. 
• James - a kind of Jack-of-All-Trades, he's Elle's primary helmsman.  A fantastic pilot as long as you're not wanting to, well, dock or maybe land.  But you know what they say about any landing you can walk away from.  An eternal optimist, he can see the humor in anything and he's always ready with a joke.  He's one-half of a rather dynamic and fantastic duo with his friend Shep. Nothing is impossible with the two of them on the job.  
• Shepherd (Shep) - very much a renaissance man, Shep knows a little of everything and a lot of other things.  He works the communications systems for Elle, and he'd like to see anyone do it better.  He's a visionary with grand dreams.  If you have a moment to give an ear, you might find yourself caught up in his ideas, too.  Just don't get sucked into one of his and James grand and intricate schemes to track down the fabled and elusive Granny Mede's Shack of Snacks . . .