The Abyssal Dunes: Title
Following Jerome’s incredible work on Song of the Eastern Sands (which wrapped in October of 2016), we didn’t really have an idea of where we wanted to go next. There were a few ideas here and there, the odd idea thrown out once in a while, but Jerome was focused much more on self-improvement and learning to hone his artistic techniques than wanting to immediately dive right into another chapter.
As I mentioned last week, I’d written a little birthday gift story for Jerome in early 2016, before Song of the Eastern Sands was finished. But that idea clearly was percolating in both our heads for quite a few years. When we decided it was time to create a new Western Deep tale together, that story seemed to fit the bill for what we both wanted to do.
I wanted to, similarly to Song of the Eastern Sands, tell a story with a much different tone than the main chapters. I wanted to split off from the main plot and build out the world a little bit more.
Jerome wanted to illustrate environments–and not just any environments: moody, beautiful, and bleak environments.
The Abyssal Dunes is a story of adventure, mystery, and even a little horror (as the header image hopefully conveys)! This is still an all-ages story of course, but one of monsters and creepy locales. It’s an exploration of some of the “lost history” of the Western Deep world, and while the locations may be grim, our main cast is anything but.
So let’s all toast the beginning of this new chapter, along with its protagonists…
Cain and Yurk :)
See you next week for page one!
I’m hyped!!!!
When I saw the new header, I was tempted to make a joke about how it’s way too early for Halloween. Nice to see the joke would’ve been apt.
Looks like this particular story is going to be, as the kids would say, “my jam”. Looking forward to it!
Cain and Yurk are the main characters of this new dark and eerie story? Quite a departure from the brief comedic episode they both were originally part of. Maybe the dissonance between grim setting and funny characters is deliberate…
I am very excited!
Now this looks dark. I like it!
Yay! I love Cain and yurk!
That skull is beautiful, and the cobwebs are an excellent touch.
I wonder what Cain and yurk want with such a creepy place???
Oh right, yurk LIKES climbing sketchy structures. I hope nobody breaks their necks.
Oops, I forgot to mention the gaping hole in the braincase of the skull. Yeesh, wonder what did that.
I had a glimmer of hope that this would be Cain-and-Yurk-related but I didn’t think it would actually happen. I am very much on board. Glad to see them as more than just cameos/comedy interludes.
Looks like this will be all kinds of fun! At least for us anyways, and hopefully for Cain and Yurk too.
Looks really interesting. I can’t wait for the first page.
Hey Alex, just wondering if You and Jerome are planning to post the work in progress pages underneath the finished pages. I love Jerome’s work, and I think WIP artwork is fascinating. I’ve learned a lot from Rachel and I really enjoyed watching the world expand and unfold. I Can’t wait for Saturday!
May the Wyld be kind. ;)