Last Wednesday, another story came to a close. Readers were shown the early days of not only Brynne and Lisaara but their indomitable Papa as well, the older dwarf who adopted and loved them like his own. We got to see the heartbreaking story of Komlir Stonestrike, who even after answering the Alliance's call lost everything he held dear. Finally, we got to see how our dear Horde grunts fit into the whole time line.

The writer, Jeff, and I felt it was important for the readers to have a sense of what their adoptive father was like. We felt that it not only fleshed out the girls' history much better, but you would also get a much greater sense of loss, knowing what a great man (dwarf?) Stonestrike really was. Yes, he was a workaholic (can you be a workaholic in the military?), but he ended up paying the ultimate price for it. While it's short, Papa had a story of redemption and acted on his new-found desire to make up for unwittingly abandoning his family.

As with all projects I undertake, I always hope to come out learning something new. I felt that as a whole, this little morsel of a story turned out quite nicely, although drawing dwarves is hard; I won't lie. There's the "Samwise look" I had to study for the first few pages ...




Brynne and Lisaara didn't have much to do in this chapter. At that point in time, they were too young to really have any impact other than being rascally and adorable. If anything, they ended up being the catalyst for their adoptive father's leaving.

Finally, the question lies with you, dear readers: do you want to see the continuation of the original Safe Passage storyline, or would you like a whole new story with fresh, new characters? I've been jotting down a few pitches, but Jeff suggested a great new addition to the story proper. I would like to work with you all, but at the end of the day, I want to make a comic that you enjoy reading and I enjoy making. That being said, we'll be taking the next two or so weeks off to refresh, regroup, write some pitches, and deal with the unavoidable holidays. If you have any suggestions, comments, questions, or criticisms, we'd love to hear from you! Feedback is the best way to make something better, after all.

Lastly, if you would like to peruse through this prologue and the original Safe Passage, you can find the galleries above.

Thank you all again for making this a true pleasure to work on. I'm already excited to get the next story up and running!

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