In this section, I mostly focused on the written part of the course, but I did make some adjustments to the illustrations from the previous assignments. I have also posted the drawings I made for the dissertation. There’s also the matter of the Project Presentation, which I have been a little stuck on (beyond making the portfolio illustrations) because I have been going back and forth with the story structure itself.

I’ve taken this opportunity to simplify and make decisions on some of the more important aspects of the story which have been holding me back from experimenting with visual material. Theoretically, it would be a bit useless to make elaborate illustrations of places and characters I may never use if the story ends up taking a totally different form. But I now realize that this is false, and it would have been much better if I had not hesitated to make work for Verner’s Tale in whatever form it may have had at that moment, even if it would have been tossed aside or reused. Making visuals would have helped me move things forward, even if the idea was awful.

I made a note in one of the previous parts about wanting to adjust the illustrations below, so I have. Ida’s illustration has more defined characters in the far background and the woodsman has a more decorative vest as well as a notebook and a pen to show his more poetic inclinations. The logs are also less lumpy.

I continued the Dwarf-lady’s design. While drawing her, I thought about her backstory a little more and tried to include hints of it in the design. She hasn’t got a name yet, but I know she’s Runa’s adoptive mother, a dwarf, and goldsmith by craft. Because of conflict in her own country, she lost much, was forced to move away and fell in with a group of outlaws. She found baby Runa on the way, and the outlaws do look out for each other after a fashion, so she isn’t without friends, or a semblance of family and she is even recently able to practice her craft again.

So even if her circumstances are not great, she’s able to dress respectably and even wear evidence of her mastery (hair jewelry and earrings). Her clothes aren’t rich, but her head and facial hair (because lady dwarves take pride in maintaining it when they can grow it) are well groomed and her boots are in good condition, though too loose to be fashionable. Her apron is also a mark of status as a mother and a master craftsman.

On the left are more sketches of her, with slightly altered proportions in the clothes. I think I like the larger apron, as the narrow one looked a bit too much like the bottom of a knight’s surcoat. I then drew her at work, using photo inspiration for her desk and tools.

Alfons Mart ‘Splendid Goldsmith’s Workshop’, The Grohmann Museum, ‘Man at Work’ collection, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Some very helpful reference photos of workshops, though all of them have modern lighting. Including the painting!

1871 Wood Engraving Art James Lobley Pillow Lace Maker

This is a fascinating device used by lacemakers. The bowl looks like a lamp or a lightbulb, but it’s used to hold water to amplify the light from the candle.

Here, I framed the composition properly and got started on defining the character a little more. I worked in Clip Studio Paint, which I have recently upgraded to after working in Photoshop for years. The learning curve was nearly nonexistent, as most of the setup is exactly the same, at least in the ways I used Photoshop to paint. I’m still experimenting with the tools in terms of mark making, though. The way it uses blending can be incredibly naturalistic, and I rather like the textures one can achieve with it.

Colors. Still need to add more definition and details. Definitely more tools. The sheer number of files and nibs in the reference photos is staggering. Though when one does such fine work, I suppose the exact size of the tool is of vital importance, which leads one to need so many. And each size in a variety of shapes, probably.

The ibex-mountain-lion-goat thing has evolved into something closer to a lynx-ibex-wildcat thing. I fleshed the design out a little bit more, explored some expressions.

And I finally started working on the curse, or how the curse affects the things it touches. The decay idea is the most obvious one. Skeletons, rotting flesh, wilting plants and such. But I also wanted to try out some more colorful magical-looking options. A tar-like black substance looks bold on the page, and it looks a lot like fouled water or blood without actually looking like blood. I suppose that’s why a lot of evil magical creatures in fantasy media have black blood. I also tried something a little more striking and colorful. I like this because it emphasizes that the curse is absolutely not natural in any way. I also wanted to explore the idea of mirrors, because the curse was basically distilled from the shards of an evil mirror.

Since I was mostly focused on completing the dissertation, I might as well show part of that work here.

I adjusted the comic page to experiment with a “parallel” style of word-image combination. They are parallel because the words and images aren’t related at first blush. My approach was to draws word boxes that look like strips of paper ripped from a book. The book is a grimoire where the role and origins of Ida’s position as Winter Guardian are detailed. They are relevant to the scene because they are what is standing between her and having a meaningful relationship with another person, but the reader wouldn’t know that until later, when she opens the book and reads the words, this time in order. I’m not sure whether I’ll include this or not in the final, but it was a good exercise.

The images below are some examples I drew to exemplify some principles of visual counterpoint in relation to word-image combinations.

Excerpt:

The tension between words and images is crucial to the telling of the story. An image can tell what words cannot, and words can deliver what images are incapable of interpreting. But more importantly, because they are seen as a whole rather than separate elements, words and images change each other. Music is often used to describe this relationship (Xiaofei Shi), the “counterpoint” or “duet” of words and images creates interest both through harmony and contrast.

If the words “Caroline thrives on a relaxing lifestyle.” are accompanied by a picture of a woman lounging on a beach, we are informed by both words and image on Caroline’s preferences. Without the words, we would not know who the woman in the image is and why her lounging on a beach would be relevant, and without the picture we would not know what “relaxing lifestyle” means for Caroline or what she looks like. However, if one replaces the image of a woman lounging on a beach with an image of a woman in tactical gear running away from an explosion, there are several new layers of meaning to be drawn.

Perhaps Caroline’s idea of relaxation is different from most people’s, perhaps the “speaker” is not Caroline herself and is grossly uniformed about her day job, or perhaps Caroline is inclined to sarcasm. In any case, there is an additional layer of humor and intrigue derived from the contrast between the words and the image.

Lastly, I also sat and completed a workable synopsis for the entirety of Verner’s Tale. This was the big thing that held me back from moving forward because I could not be decisive about which way I wanted the story to go. Having a clear direction is not only good for the sake of the Project Presentation, which would work better with a clear synopsis, but also for the visual development. I now have clearer list of locations, I know who my villains are and what their ultimate fate is and can plan the visuals accordingly.

The story follows Verner as he goes on a quest to save a kingdom he doesn’t particularly like from a drought-curse of mysterious origin. There are no more magic users in Cederbjerg (or so they think) so at his sister’s request, he reluctantly departs from their dying island for the mainland. On the way, he allies with other familiar characters like Thumbelina (known as Maia, the Queen of Flowers) and the Brave Tin Soldier (known as Morten, recently turned human). But he also encounters new and old enemies like the monsters who seem to have followed him from Cederbjerg, Morten’s archenemy (a strange wizard, who has no intention of releasing Morten’s lady love, also turned human), and even Verner’s stepmother.

A journey to the Flower Kingdom turns into a journey to the Frozen North, where they somehow have to convince an irate Snow Queen to aid them, which in turn becomes a rescue mission. Just when it feels like they will never return to Cederbjerg to break the curse on his sister’s kingdom, old wounds are reopened and the dormant evil in the kingdom’s own walls is revealed. Will Verner’s and his new friends’ effort be in vain? Breaking a curse is no simple business, and despite all of his effort and grueling training, what can a minor disowned Princeling with a single swan wing do?

Part I: How and Why a One-Winged Prince Came to Venture to the Continent in Search of a Magic Gate to a Magic Kingdom Ruled by a Fairy Queen

1. Cederbjergs’ Curse and the Dead Court Sorceress (Inciting Incident)
   • Verner fights an infected creature and brings it to the palace. (Introduction to Verner, action scene, introduction to Cederbjerg and its frightened people, and how they are prejudiced against him and his sister because of their contact with magic. How he resents them in return because of how they treated his sister when she first married the King. This is in the original “The Wild Swans” story, but only a few details are told here. More of his origin comes up when he meets Runa.)
   • On his way to the Cederbjerg Palace, he meets with a member of the Patrol Guards, Eva, and her niece Oline. He meets them often when he goes out to hunt down the infected monsters and are the only people other than her sister who treat him with something other than distant politeness or outright dislike.
   • The Court Sorceress, who had been investigating the Curse, is found dead. Killed by one of the infected creatures. She did leave her some of research behind, however. Her notes conclude they need outside help. (Short investigation at the Royal Sorcerer’s chambers, Meeting Eliza, his sister the Queen, and the King. Hinting at backstory and the recent deaths/disappearances of their brothers.)
2. Setting Out, Sea Serpents, and the Sometime Tin Soldier (First Ally, Morten)
   • Verner is tasked by the King and Queen to sail off the island and find the Gate to Blomsted. They hope Maia, the Fairy Queen (whom we know as Thumbelina) famous for her skill with magical flora and fauna, would find a solution to their problem. (Preparations, scene with Verner and Eliza arguing whether the Kingdom is worth saving at all, Verner and soldiers boarding ship.)
   • Just before he boards, Oline gives him her little rag doll named Alf to “keep him safe”. She and Eva wave at his ship as they sail away from familiar shores.
   • On the voyage, Verner is nearly killed by one of the soldiers who believed the rumors that he and his sister are responsible for the Curse. He’s saved by Morten, who had evidently expected the assassin to be someone else and is disappointed. Curious, Verner asks why.
   • Morten tells his story. (How he used to be a child’s toy before he, along with his beloved Salome, were thrown into the fire. From their ashes, which had contained enough innate magic to make life, a wizard made them new, human, bodies. Their new forms were more easily spelled into Thralls than regular human bodies are, and they were forced to obey his every order. The wizard, Azdar Windkip, was a former mercenary and trained them both as soldiers and assassins for several years. But one day Morten escaped. Because Windkip had not had enough raw materials for Morten’s Thrall when he originally bult his body, Morten managed to overcome the Thrall on his own. But Salome could not and was still forced to obey Windkip. Morten searches for ways to break the Thrall and meets with her when he can when she’s far enough away from Winkip’s watchful eye.)
   • Verner invites Morten into his party since their goals somewhat align. But before they reach the shore, a storm breaks out and their ship is attacked by sea creatures. The ship sinks so Verner and Morten are alone when they reach the shore of the continent. They decide it would be better to press on instead of waiting around for another escort to sail across the Strait. When they reach a port-town, Verner sends a note to his sister, but the courier is intercepted.
3. The Countless Woes of Queen Liselotte of Stenbak, Stepmother (Villain POV)
   • Introduction at the Stenbak Court, where Queen Liselotte (aka Verner’s Stepmother, Witch, transformed him and his brothers into swans, banished his sister Eliza) who is navigating a tricky political situation. People do not dare accuse her directly of having eliminated almost all the heirs from her husband’s previous marriage in order to ensure her own child would eventually take the throne, but they do give her pointed condolences. Most of the nobility was willing to ignore the rumors because she made them rich, but there were a few powerful ones who don’t. The princes had support as legitimate heirs, even though most of them had been absent from court for some time. (Ballroom with dancing and conversations behind fans and wine glasses.)
   • When her swan spell had been broken a few years before and the eldest three of the princes returned to the Stenbak court, her cover story had held up, but she was back to square one. Worse, her oh-so-dear-husband, the King, was becoming more ill by the day and seemed determined to drink himself to death rather than wait for the illness to take him by itself.  If he died and his sons were still around, she and her own son would be out in the cold. (Scene with her, stressed, forcing her husband to sober up and screaming about irresponsibility.)
   • Cue her conspirator, Azdar Windkip, who made a very interesting proposal. He reveals his experiments in making completely biddable soldiers and tells her he would be willing to make her the most loyal Royal Guard in the world in exchange for a landed title, a position as Court Sorcerer, and the necessary resources to make more Thralls. This is a tall order, but she is desperate and accepts on the condition that he demonstrates his Thrall’s abilities by sending her out to kill all of the king’s sons. So Windkip sends Salome away. Over a period of five years, reports of the Princes’ deaths and disappearances trickle in. One died of an illness, three in a rockslide, two died fighting a dragon, one was robbed and killed, and most recently three disappeared in the canyons of Sølv Høj, though most say that they died during a skirmish of the ongoing civil war waged among the dwarves there.

Part II: The Many Challenges on the Way to Acquiring a Grimoire Including, but not Limited to, Freeing an Assassin Thrall

1. The Duchy of the Thieving Mountains and the Predictable Perils Within (Second Ally, Runa)
   • Upon entering the Thieving Mountains, they both resolve to keep careful watch. But the forest is more tricksy than anticipated and upon an encounter with a very fragrant plant, they both fall asleep. Morten and Verner wake tied up, pockets empty, and cold on the stone floor of the Robber’s Castle.
   • Because it is the day of the Thieving Duchy’s Biannual Late Autumn Festival Party, Runa the Raven Robber, says they would be allowed to leave with their weapons (but not their money) if they manage to tell a really good story. Verner tells the story of how he came to have one wing instead of a left arm. This does not turn out to be a good enough story. But upon learning of the curse on Cederbjerg, which has so far only affected animals and plants, Runa is outraged as an animal lover. She invites herself over on their journey, citing also that she already has more experience than they do in magical adventures and they could use someone competent in their quest.
   • When Runa returns Verner’s things she teases him for carrying a rag doll along with him.
   • But while her love for animals is great, Runa is mostly restless. She tells her mother (adoptive, her mother is a dwarf and Runa is human) that she’s restless. That everyone seems to be moving on while they remain stuck in the same place. The Robber’s Castle is an in-between place for most people. A short-term solution. But they have been stuck for several years and Runa thinks that if she leaves, she might find some other place for them. Some better place, where her mom will be able to practice her craft (goldsmithing) without worry. While she is loath to let her go, her mother relents that Runa would be no less safe out there than at the Robber Castle, and Runa leaves to brave the world with her new friends the next morning.
2. Assassin in the Night… and Day…but also at Twilight…and even at Sunrise
   • Salome, Windkip’s Thrall and Morten’s love, keeps trying to kill them. Morten keeps telling them that these attempts are all halfhearted, because Salome is doing her best to fight Windkip’s influence. Both Morten and Runa doubt his judgement, if not his sincerity, after the third time she nearly manages to do them in.
   • Verner drops Alf the Protector doll at some point during one of these attacks, and is a little embarrassed at how sad he is that it’s gone, and more than a little ashamed he won’t be able to return it to Oline. Salome picks Alf up and takes him to Windkip, who senses that this particular doll would make and interesting Thrall.
   • The company narrowly escapes Salome and arrive in the general area where the Blomsted Gate was last seen. They encounter a friendly but irritatingly unhelpful Woodsman who only shows them the secret gate after they’ve entertained him with a new poem, a spar, and a riddle. Runa readily rattles a riddle. Morten provides the spar. And Verner is thus left to recite poetry, which he does terribly, but the Woodsman is amused and lets them through. The tiny gate opens, shrinks them to fairy-size (or thumb-size, depending how you measure) and they finally arrive at their destination.
3. Scholar Queen of the Fairy Court (Third Ally, Maia)
   • Since the Woodsman let them through without issue, the people of Blomsted receive the group joyfully and they’re treated with friendly hospitality. The only problem is, it seems impossible to actually get an audience with the Queen, who they do not see even after a week of staying in her palace.
   • Impatient and bored, Runa and Verner go searching where they’re not allowed and run into the Princess, whom they make friends with. After a few games of slightly deadly and magical hide-and-go-seek (there’s an especially harrowing incident with a giant rodent who guards the royal orchard), she happily takes them to her mother’s study.
   • There they find a woman absolutely buried in books and papers, who has clearly not seen the light of day since before they arrived. She is delirious and possibly mad but very enthusiastic about finding out more about Verner’s Curse Problem.
   • After several more days of questioning and research, as well as deciphering the journal written by Cederbjerg’s Court Sorceress, Queen Maia sadly concludes that she does not have a solution to their problem. However, she is certain the book with answers would be in the Winter Guardian’s (aka the Snow Queen) collection, and she will gladly help them get there.
   • Maia and Morten have a conversation about Thralls and how to break them, and she promises him she will be able to do it once they leave Blomsted and Salome attacks them again.
   • Maia also offers to shift Verner’s wing back into an arm, but he categorically refuses, to everyone’s confusion. (Verner doesn’t like to admit it, but the swan-wing feels like the last connection to his brothers he has, now that they all gone to the Land of Dreams.)
4. Lisolette and Windkip Send Reinforcements – And How Cures Sometimes Need 3-5 Working Days (Villain POV)
   • Verner, Morten, Runa, Queen Maia and her Royal Guard all step out of the Blomsted Gate and are attacked by a brand-new band of Windkip’s Thralls.
   • In Stenbak, Queen Liselotte is agitated. Salome’s repeated failures have reached her ears and her husband has had an exponential decline. Her attempts to patch his health with magic quick fixes over the last five years have taken their toll on his body. Windkip sees she’s about to renegue on their deal, so he suggests they make five new Thralls to aid Salome in her mission. She accepts and gives him access to the resources he had been missing.
   • Because he has no time to train them as he did Morten and Salome, Windkip must select only toys which have seen a form of combat. (Even if it was make-believe combat.) Luckily, Queen Lisolette’s son loves playing Armies. Even if the toys he uses aren’t always toy soldiers. But he is deeply imaginative so his toys do, in fact have a little bit in magic in them. Enough to animate and transform them. That is how a former Jack-in-the-box, a porcelain doll, a stuffed bear, a rocking horse and a Alf the Protector find themselves (very confused) in the human world. Windkip makes them Thralls and the Queen orders them to go kill Prince Verner of Cederbjerg.
   • The do so, with great speed. But it turns out that making thralls of creatures which have not had the time to adapt to a world much less reliant on imagination comes with… drawbacks. On the one hand, they are capable of incredible feats. On the other hand, they are unaware of the concept of death (in the permanent sense) and keep expecting the physical world around them to change according to their needs. They’re also still very much carrying the identities the little prince had given them in his play. And while this meant they didn’t falter at the idea of being sent to kill someone (because the little prince’s play had involved a lot of play murder) they were also chalk full of idiosyncrasies. Alf the Protector in particular.
   • Salome meets up with the other thralls, and has orders to lead them in a fight against Verner and his allies. She has a terrible time of it, as the new Thralls are as chaotic as anyone would be if they’re used to the reality of a child’s imagination.
   • When Verner, his friends, and the Maia with her Royal Guard are a day away from the Blomsted Gate, Salome and the Thralls attack. The battle is bizarre mixture of child-like play (on the part of the new Thralls) and violence. What’s more, Verner recognizes Alf and fights him in what is possibly the strangest swordfight of his life.
   • Maia tries to set Salome free with her adapted spell, but she seemingly fails. The Queen’s Guard keep the thralls back while the rest escape.
   • Salome collapses in the forest and sleeps inside a tree for three days while Maia’s magic unknots the binds on her mind. She resolves to follow the group of adventurers and share with them their enemies’ identities and plans.
5. The So-Called Snow Queen and the Downsides of Immortality (Fourth Ally, Ida)
   • Tired, discouraged and without retinue, they make their way to Frost-Peak in hopes the Winter Guardian will grant them audience. The weather becomes unnaturally cold as they travel north, but they stop to get new coats and press on. When they pass the border, the ground is white and they feel eyes on them constantly.
   • Once they’re camped well into the Winter Guardian’s territory, her image made out of snowflakes tells them to leave in the morning. It’s a one-way message, so Verner cannot tell her they came to see her. So, they do not leave. The company is then attacked by giant snow creatures. They are nearly defeated, but an explosion from a mysterious source saves them last-minute. They still press on. At last, the Snow Queen herself and tells them to leave in person, but Verner does his best to present their case. She refuses to help them. They fight, but then Verner says something cutting and she seems to do a complete 180 out of nowhere. She lets them into her palace, tells them not to touch anything, takes a bottle of something and then slams the door behind her.
   • The next morning, Ida and Maia discuss the technicalities of the curse. Once they read journals written by Cederbjerg’s Sorceress and run some experiments on the affected plants pressed between the pages, it becomes obvious to Ida that it’s a mutation of an affliction she’s seen before. Though only in humans. The boy whom she had adopted, Kay had had something similar, though he left her care before he told her how his friend had cured him of it.
   • As it happens, Runa is still friends with Gerta and Kay so she can lead them all to them and ask. Ida initially refuses to join them, despite their invitation. But when they exit her realm, she is already waiting for them at the end of the snow-covered road.

Part III: In Which a Queen is Deposed, a Wizard is Thwarted, and a Curse is Broken

1. The Dubious Trustworthiness of Formerly Thralled Lovers and Pathologically Cold Adoptive Mothers
   • They’re attacked by the new Thralls on the road to Gerta and Kay. (During the fight with the Thralls Alf has small moments where he seems strangely reluctant to hurt Verner,) But this time Salome reveals herself and joins to fight alongside them against Windkip’s new minions, to Morten’s joy. Though things are more awkward between them than he would have expected. She is finally able to tell them about Azdar Windkip and Queen Liselotte’s alliance (and her suspicions that the Curse itself had been Queen Liselotte’s doing). And she tells Verner what she did to secure that alliance. Verner is furious, grief-stricken anew and unforgiving, but doesn’t take up Salome on the offer of her own life in exchange for the brothers she killed.
   • Using Ida’s magic sled, they make good time to Gerta and Kay’s town, where there are yet more awkward encounters. Despite Kay’s reluctance to see Ida again, he and Gerta are perfectly willing to tell their story. They relate how Gerta’s tears and song somehow triggered an empathetic response out of Kay which drew the cursed mirror shards out of him. Ida and Maia speculate that a tear shed wholeheartedly for the sake of Cederbjerg’s land, animals and people would be appropriate as part of a cure even if the curse has been artificially modified.
   • Glad to finally have a solution and get all of this business over with, Verner prepares to travel back to Cederbjerg. He is convinced his sister Eliza will be all too capable of providing a tear to make a cure out of. And that she would know what on earth to do about their dear murderous Stepmother. Her actions are no less than acts of war, but he has no authority to make decisions for Cederbjerg in this instance. So his grief is left to stew.
2. (Un)familiar Faces 
   • On the way to Cederbjerg, they meet up with three of Verner’s brothers who are making their way back to Stenbak in disguise. They are the ones who were lost in Sølv Høj. There’s a short skirmish, as upon meeting with cloaked strangers who refuse to show their faces Verner and friends naturally assume they were sent by Queen Liselotte to kill them. And the three Princes see Salome, their assassin, among the group and assume their brother was somehow manipulated by the Queen. But after some the confusion is cleared up the three brothers join their group, still in disguise in case the whole thing is a ploy.
   • The much diminished in number, bedraggled in body, and existentially challenged in soul, Thralls attack them again. They are easily defeated this time. Maia sets the unbinding spell on them and leaves them in a cave with her seal on it (and a note), so that her guards could pick them up once they catch up. But one of them wakes early. Alf the Protector is on their trail.
   • In Stenbak, the Queen and Windkip have an argument which destroys a significant section of the Royal Gardens with their magic. After all the previously enumerated failures, Azdar Widkip is now forced to solve the problem with his own two hands.
3. Technical Difficulties with Respect to Weeping
   • Verner and co. sail across the Strait and are only attacked by mermaids once, but thankfully their ship crawls back to shore eventually. Even if it’s in the wrong part of the island. (Windkip used a more rudimentary sort of spell than the Thrall one to persuade them into doing it. It only offers short-term control, but it is enough for his purposes.)
   • Forced to dock in one of Cederberg’s wild shores instead of making the longer journey to the Port, they clamber up the cliffs with a combination of magic rope, flight (on Maia’s part) and determination. Only to be attacked by Cursed animals, which have taken over that section of the island.
   • Ida brings premature winter to the area in an attempt to slow the creatures down, but this does not prove to be a hindrance, and so the group is forced to make their way back to Cederberg in the snow, whilst being hunted by enchanted monsters. Also, the three strangers have been trying to tell Verner something ever since before they were attacked by mermaids, but there always seems to be something to interrupt them.
   • They finally make it to a nearby village, where they mean to send a note for the Verner’s sister (Queen Eliza). But it turns out she’s already close by, helping with relief efforts for the most affected areas in the Kingdom.
   • She arrives and leads them to the source of their trouble, an old spring which has evidently been carrying the infection all throughout the area, even though some beavers had attempted to make a dam to stop up the flow of the water. The dam was the only reason why it took an entire five years for the forest to be infected instead of just a one. Maia and Ida explain the situation, and Eliza happily consents to the operation, but as Maia mixes up the tear with the water… nothing happens.
4. The Only Somewhat Glorious Battle at the Spring
   • It appears Eliza had used up all of the magic she had had inside her when she turned her brothers back into humans all those years ago. There’s not much time for all of them to despair, because Eliza brings up something Verner has absolutely no memory of. His memories of his time as a part-time swan are patchy at best. Apparently, when she had first been tasked with making magic nettle shirts for them (which eventually turned the brothers back into humans) her hands had been torn up and bleeding, and little Verner had cried on them and healed them much in the way Gerta had healed Kay. And Verner had definitely not used all of his magic yet, because of the obvious presence of his left wing.
   • Verner now frustrated in addition to being furious with grief, storms off. He has no way of sincerely weeping for Cederberg’s sake. He did not even weep for his brothers. He felt he had no more tears in him. So how could he possible shed tears for the place which did his sister so much harm and hates him for being unnatural in their eyes?
   • Meanwhile, Windkip and a handful of new Thralls (all former tin soldiers this time) alight on the same shores and follow the company’s trail up to the spring. There, Morten and Salome finally sever any sort of power he may have had over them while Maia and Ida defeat him with their magic.
   • Verner is attacked by a different group of thralls, one of which is possessed by his Stepmother. (He finally gets to confront the person behind most of his suffering and his brother’s deaths. Even if she’s only there by way of possessed Thrall.) Verner attempts to fight all of them, but is overwhelmed until Eva, the border patrol guard from the beginning, hears the commotion and steps in. Using the element of surprise, she’s able to stun the Queen’s Thrall and hide Verner away until they can regroup. Her little niece (Oline, who should have been at home) tries to help too. But then one of the thralls who got infected with the curse bites her. Verner fights the thing off, but the damage is done.
   • Just as the Queen’s Thrall nearly overpowers him, an enormous shield blocks her magical blast and Alf the Protector himself takes his place at Verner’s side.
   • Verner’s brothers come to their aid and finally reveal their identities. Together, they subdue their enemies and although Queen Lisolette had only been present through one of the Thralls, her actions have sealed her fate. But Oline is still dying, and all Verner can do is sit at her side and for the first time in many years, he cries. He cries for the only bit of true goodness he had ever seen come from the Kingdom of Cederbjerg. The only person who had never treated him with suspicion or contempt. And as the tear lands in her wounds, the curse recedes and the wound heals.
   • Maia collects another tear, remakes the cure and drops it in the stream. They watch as the forest heals, very slowly, starting with the plants at the banks.
5. Endings

• • Verner finally gets to reunite with his brothers properly, and he’s only a little bit angry at them for their deception. He will probably never fully forgive Cederbjerg for their mistreatment of him and Eliza when they first arrived. But slowly, he might allow himself to look for other people like Eva and Oline. He already has far more friends who respect him for far more than his title and do not care a whit for his strange appearance and origin. Later, much later, he relents and allows Maia to straighten the magic which keeps his arm a wing. It turns out that keeping himself in a half-state for so long means he is now able to transform in either a swan or a human at will. He is very disgruntled that this potential advantage had not been in his toolkit when they were travelling all over the continent, trying to evade an assassin.
  • Morten and Salome aid Verner’s brothers in their work of putting together a coherent summary of events and bringing it to Stenbak’s King and Court. Adrian, the eldest brother, finally takes the throne after their father the King finally passes away. Morten and Salome eventually return to Cederbjerg and become part of the Royal Guards.
  • Maia’s own escort finally catches up to them after all is said and done, and she remains in Cederbjerg to oversee the health of the forest for a short while. She and Eliza get on splendidly and forge a fruitful alliance for both their kingdoms.
  • Ida doesn’t remain for very long at all, but does give some cryptic, somewhat warm goodbyes which betray her affection. She makes a detour on the road to home and stops by Kay’s place. Although he might be mortal forever now, she finds that she would still like to know him. Even if his inevitable loss will pain her.
  • Runa has finally found a place. Cederbjerg might not be perfect, but it has Verner, Morten and Salome in it. And a King and Queen who won’t run them off. So she eventually brings her mother out of the Thieving Mountains, and they settle there, finally able to make beautiful things together in peace.
  • Alf the Protector protects Oline and her family for the rest of his days and leads a very happy life doing it.
  • Happily Ever After and all that, I suppose.

The narrative will obviously be different once I start doing things scene-by-scene. But this is good enough for now. It definitely offers a structure to the unconnected images that only made sense in my own mind. It’s definitely good to have it all on paper and not in my head. I also have a much more concrete direction for the villains, who were the most changeable throughout the writing process. I also have some certainty around locations, which is good because my next illustrations for the portfolio project were going to be landscapes.

In the next section, I will be focusing on finishing up the illustrations above (Dwarf Goldsmith and Cursed Creature) and make a couple of environments from the story above.