Princess Quest Chronicles: The Dark War

[Sandy]

Greetings!

You may remember my LEGO comic series Princess Quest from last year. Now it will continue with two prequel chapters and a whole new sequel series called Queens' Quest. This is the first of the two "chronicles" taking place before the events depicted in Princess Quest.

You can read all about the adventures of Beatrix, the would-be queen of Brickland, and her companions by clicking the links indexed in my signature. If this is your first foray into the series, I strongly recommend reading those beforehand, or at least looking through the "Who's Who" -topic.

But now you will learn about the events leading to Princess Quest. Enjoy, and be sure to leave a comment after you're done!

The second Chronicle, Brothers in Charms, will be out later this fall, and it will take place one hundred years before Princess Quest. What happened then? Find out by reading the next chapter!

[Etzel]

Great to see you're back in business again, Sandy!

It was really fun to read about the things that happened before Princess Quest even though we already knew how it would end I'm very curious about those clues you left in the 11th and 32nd picture. I have an idea but I'm not sure yet...

I really like your characters, they are easily recognized and all have different personalities that makes it really fun to watch and read. Great job!

Looking forward to the next episode.

[Commander Flash]

I loved Princess Quest (Wasn't here for the beginning, so I had a PQ Marathon one day ) and this was of the same good quality. Now I'm here, and excited for next episode

[Sandy]

Thanks for the nice comments, guys!

I'm very curious about those clues you left in the 11th and 32nd picture. I have an idea but I'm not sure yet...

Those clues merely referred to the events of Princess Quest (how Beatrix had to go through a trial only to prematurely rising to the throne, and how Sir Brickhart eventually did sacrifice his life in order to save Beatrix).

But there are some clues trickled for the sequel, Queens' Quest, in there. For example, the red-haired female knight wasn't even mentioned by name even though she survived the war, but she is actually a prominent character in the sequel. You'll learn more about her and where she was during PQ then. I can say that she's probably the toughest female character in the story yet.

I loved Princess Quest (Wasn't here for the beginning, so I had a PQ Marathon one day ) and this was of the same good quality.

Heh, great to hear someone has marathoned through my comics!

But I'm interested to know how I can make the "good quality" into even better quality? I tried to do the "comic page" layout, but then I realized I would not have been able to deeplink the pictures to this topic, since they would've been too large for the size limit (and I didn't want to use mere links to another site).

I used a lot more Photoshop-effects in this comic, too, but should I stick to pure LEGO more? Or is tweaking the pictures considered okay?

I also tried to put more focus on the battle scenes, and not just pass them by with a single screen. I hope it showed, too.

So yeah, feedback is always highly appreciated.

[Commander Flash]

The current layout is fine. I would stay away from too much effects though. The current amount is fine, but too much would make it look cheesy

[Etzel]

Those clues merely referred to the events of Princess Quest (how Beatrix had to go through a trial only to prematurely rising to the throne, and how Sir Brickhart eventually did sacrifice his life in order to save Beatrix).

Maybe we aren't talking about the same clues. I meant the "-I can't stand the thought of losing you. Not after losing... -Hush Brigit! Beatrix is listening" and "No, go away, brat! I'm not your mother, I don't even know you." The first one I guess, aims at the Beatrix's sister. The second might just be an effect of Brigit's grief but maybe more...

But there are some clues trickled for the sequel, Queens' Quest, in there. For example, the red-haired female knight wasn't even mentioned by name even though she survived the war, but she is actually a prominent character in the sequel. You'll learn more about her and where she was during PQ then. I can say that she's probably the toughest female character in the story yet.

Hmm, red hair... Related to Count Bley's wife maybe...

And it seems like Noland's beard was bleached during his years underground

[Eskallon]

I like how this is going and I read part of princess quest so Im gonna need to do a PQ marathon too. So glad I created this index here. I will make a better comment once I know fully whats going on.

[Sandy]

Maybe we aren't talking about the same clues. I meant the "-I can't stand the thought of losing you. Not after losing... -Hush Brigit! Beatrix is listening" and "No, go away, brat! I'm not your mother, I don't even know you." The first one I guess, aims at the Beatrix's sister. The second might just be an effect of Brigit's grief but maybe more...

Ah yes, I didn't count the title screen. Silly me.

You are absolutely right about the first one (it was the "big reveal" near the end of PQ, after all), and the second one is indeed the first sign of Brigit's grief-induced amnesia/madness, which caused her to be locked up in a tower for the next ten years.

Well spotted!

Hmm, red hair... Related to Count Bley's wife maybe...

And it seems like Noland's beard was bleached during his years underground

The female knight is not related to Bley in any way (good guess, though), but there is another new character in QQ that is.

And yes, Noland did get a bleach for his beard, but years of torture can do that to you.

[Professor Flitwick]

Great to see the Comic Queen is back in business after a long hiatus! I loved it all, espeacially Tristains memorial and the village of Lurphill!

A quick question; I thought in the Princess quest universe women were forrbidon from fighting, or was the princess just a speacial case? I only ask because of the red-head that survived tha battle.

[Sandy]

A quick question; I thought in the Princess quest universe women were forrbidon from fighting, or was the princess just a speacial case? I only ask because of the red-head that survived tha battle.

Well, I've figured it's the same as in the real Medieval times, when battlefield was not considered as a place for women, but there were some rare exceptions, like Joan of Arc.

Beatrix fought mostly because she had to, but I wanted to make the red-headed female knight as a different type of woman - a very masculine and physically strong. She eventually left knighthood, but I'll delve more into her motives in Queens' Quest.

I already have way too many characters planned for the sequel, by the way, so let's hope I can keep track of them all. The main focus will be on Beatrix and her twin sister, though.

But I'll make the second Chronicle first, just to give you guys a bit more information about the world and the background of the story.

[Zepher]

I love the effects first of all ,they are very well done.

Also the sets have improved from Princess Quest.

Actually, just about everything has improved, great job Sandy! You know I'm a fan no matter what sort of comic you do (though I still want to see the end of Time Crash sometime).

It's always good as a writer to develop the world that your character's live in, and that's one of the things I really admired abour Princess Quest, it was a full world filled with tons of different faction sowrking for different things. It's interresting to see the Prequel!

[Jlblue]

I didn't read Princess Quest, and I did not realize how very connected this prequel was to it. I sort of just figured it would be loosely related, and not actually be that closely tied to all of the events in that comic. Oh well. Silly me.

Nice job though, I enjoyed it. Chances are I might plow through the Princess Quest stuff at some point or another.

[Jebediahs]

I didn't read Princess Quest, and I did not realize how very connected this prequel was to it. I sort of just figured it would be loosely related, and not actually be that closely tied to all of the events in that comic. Oh well. Silly me.

Nice job though, I enjoyed it. Chances are I might plow through the Princess Quest stuff at some point or another.

I'm in the same boat here. This prequel ties-in very nicely. I haven't read any Princess Quest yet but I did read the bios on your character list first then I read this prequel. Awesome stuff. I actually just finished texting my brother about your work. He's not into LEGO but loves a good fantasy story.

Again, good work. I'm going to have to start my PQ marathon soon ;-)

[LegoMyMamma]

Sandy:

Dare I weep for Prince Tristan? What a lovely story. Great scenery, and I do love all your special effects! I especially like the Wizard "zap" scene.

I've figured out to subscribe so I can find my way back here

Thanks again!

[Sandy]

Thanks for your nice words, everyone!

I've got some good news: the second Chronicle will be up later this week. I've already shot the frames, now I just have to make them into a comic.

And the first chapters of Queens' Quest will be served to you as an early Christmas present later this year.

[Eskallon]

If you don't mind me asking, what program do you use to make these fabulous comics.

[Sandy]

If you don't mind me asking, what program do you use to make these fabulous comics.

Not at all. I use Photoshop for the speech bubbles and effects.