Inktober 2020
2020 was my fourth year participating in Inktober through Instagram. In previous years I had just drawn whatever came to mind each day with no real direction. In 2020, I decided to try and write and illustrate a full story. I ran out of steam towards the end, but it was a good effort and I was able to develop some ideas and techniques.
Haida was not always known as the Curse Hunter. There was a time when she was the mage of her village, powerful but kept secret from the king in the valley. The King’s fear and lust for Magic was so great, he had arranged for mages, wizards, witches and sorcerers to be brought before him, and they were forced to serve him until their powers were dried up, or until he grew suspicious of them. So Haida was hidden, both for her own sake and that of her community, who depended on her magic to help survive the harsh and unpredictable climate of their mountain home.
Haida knew it was only a matter of time before the king sent someone to summon her to court, so she was suspicious of Ingriss despite their previous friendship. As a Royal Mage, he could have only one reason for approaching her mountain. He came as a friend, he assured her, and with the best intentions for her community. If she would only go with him, he assured, the king would not have to send a more forceful request. A request that could have consequences for those she protected
Haida knew that although his message was officially on behalf of the king, her friend had really come to ask for her help for himself. Mages were prideful, and rarely asked for help. That he was here in person told her a great deal. That night, she spoke to her apprentice and prepared her to take over as guardian of their mountain community. With her new duties in the mountains, her apprentice became a mage in her own right. In the morning, Haida left through the mist, looking back only to see her former apprentice seal the fog behind her. Haida lifted her staff in acknowledgement, and the mage Yuna lifted hers in return..
The king was a man with a deep hunger. Unsatisfied with his imagined stature in the eyes of his neighbors, he turned his sword to the borders. The result was disastrous. His knights were arrogant in their belief of their own superiority, and overconfident that their swords were a match for the well trained magics of other lands. They were not. The mages he sent in support were poorly trained and fearful of the king’s wrath. They were easily swept aside. The Kong’s main fighting force was quickly defeated. But instead of giving up this folly, the king had a plan. A spell to create unstoppable soldiers out of even the meekest peasant, and a curtain of mist to hide them as they crossed the border. All he needed was the two mages who had just walked into his palace.
Ingriss waited until they were within the palace walls to tell Haida why the king had summoned her. He told her the kings plan to try once again to take neighboring territory for his own, and to use untrained soldiers for it. Ingriss knew of a spell, one that would give anyone the chance to win regardless of their level of training. Haida knew of the spell Ingriss intended to use, and more importantly knew of the dangers. Someone affected by that spell would attack anyone, friend or foe, and even after the spell wore off they might never return to themselves. Haida refused to be a part of the plan, but she had been so distracted by what Ingriss was telling her that she didn’t realize where she was standing until it was too late. A sacred well had been built into the palace floor by a long dead monarch, a well meant to keep a mage from using magic to escape. Ingriss pushes her in, and she fell into the depths.
When Haida reached the waters at the bottom of the well, she was alarmed to discover she was not alone. Worse still, she was unable to use her magic, the power inside her oddly silent.
