Inverloch

2006-03-05T21:40:31Z

68.229.222.5:

'''Inverloch''' is a [[web comic]] drawn in [[manga]] style and authored by [[Sarah Ellerton]]. The story of Inverloch was written in script form during Christmas holidays [[2003]], although it is constantly being edited and refined. New pages are added late Wednesday night/Thursday morning and, recently, on Monday morning as well.

''Inverloch'' is also soon to be published by [[Seven Seas Entertainment]] with the first volume to be released on May 1, 2006.
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The story of Inverloch centers around a young man named Acheron, from a horned wolf-like race called the da'kor. After a chance encounter with an elf, he finds himself setting out on a seemingly innocent mission - that of trying to locate Kayn'dar, another elf who has been missing for the past twelve years. Meeting up with new friends and companions along the way, he quickly begins to learn that the world is not quite the peaceful place he believed it to be - embroiled with prejudice, racial segregation, and hidden danger. And the truth behind Kayn'dar's disappearance is something none of the party would ever expect...

==Awards==
In [[2005]] Inverloch was nominated on [[Cartoonist's Choice Award]] in the categories of ''Outstanding Art'', ''Outstanding Environment Design'', ''Outstanding Website Design'' and''Outstanding Fantasy Comic''.
It won in the ''Outstanding Fantasy Comic'' category.

==Characters==
===Acheron===
''ASH-er-on : 20 year old da'kor''

Acheron comes from a race known as the da'kor, a short, beastial creature resembling a combination of a goat, a wolf, and a puma. Although traditionally a noble, peaceful race, the current young generation has become angry and violent due to constant attacks from ignorant humans who see them as nothing but inferior monsters. In the last 100 years, their numbers have been reduced from thousands to a few scattered settlements, trying yet unable to preserve their simple way of life.

Acheron was kept fairly sheltered during his childhood by his mother, who desperately wanted to prevent him from falling into the same dangerous behavior pattern adopted by other young da'kor, including his older brother. As a result, he is rather innocent and acts very young for his age, which, at twenty, makes him almost middle-aged for his species.

Unable to see the outside world for himself, he instead became very interested in stories and tales in books written hundreds of years ago. He was especially fascinated with the elves, with words of their beauty and magic capturing his imagination.

His dream of seeing an elf finally comes true, and - although not at all like he imagined - he quickly becomes so entranced that he finds himself making a crazy promise and leaving the only place he has ever known.

====Current relationships with other characters====

*'''Lei'ella''': Acheron looks up to Lei'ella like a sister, and isn't afraid to tell her what to do. He respects her skills and values the help she provides.

*'''Varden''': Unlike Lei'ella, he thinks that Varden is more than just a simple thief, and believes that Lei'ella should attempt to make him give up his less than noble profession.

*'''Berard''': Probably the first person that Acheron has ever come to hate. He fails to see anything redeeming about the man, and dislikes the way he treats everyone.

*'''Neirenn''': Although initially letting her join his group because of her insistence and the Archmage's cryptic words, he's now quite impressed by her magic and is certain she'll be quite useful.

*'''Shiara''': Acheron thinks he could quite possibly be in love with Shiara, though he isn't certain, since he's never been in love before. He would do anything to make her happy, even if it means giving her up to another man.

===Lei'ella===
''Lay-ELL-ah : 22 year old thief-catcher''

Although appearing human at a glance, Lei'ella is in fact an elf who was banished from her people some years ago. Featuring a rare combination of silver-white hair and golden eyes, she is unable to use magic, although she still possesses some control over her enhanced senses.

Leaving when she was twelve, she first spent two years with a small community of other elves similar to her. However, she began to dislike their desperate attempts to hold onto the elven way of life that had been taken from them, and instead decided to try and blend in with humans and forget about the past, feeling that it was lost to her.

She quickly realised her senses allowed her to find people, and managed to get employed in law enforcement. Waving around a pair of daggers and speaking coldly towards others generally prevented any questions about her cloak and curious eye colour.

Such behaviour meant she never really got close to anybody, and had no one she considered a friend. Not truly feeling satisfied with what she was doing, she found herself thinking of the elves more and more. Dealing only with criminals resulted in a hatred of humans and their behaviour. Meeting Acheron was a chance to finally get away from it all, so she quickly agreed to help him.

====Current relationships with other characters====

*'''Acheron''': Lei'ella quickly becomes friends with Acheron, and generally respects his advice. She has tried to be friendlier and more tolerant of others after he disapproved of her previous behavior.

*'''Varden''': Although initially extremely distrustful of him purely because of his occupation, she is beginning to think there might be more to him than meets the eye - and that he may just be cabable of redeeming himself after all.

*'''Berard''': She has a love-hate relationship with Berard; he loves her, she hates him. She tends to go easy on him however, and lets him get away with more criminal activities than she should.

*'''Neirenn''': Lei'ella holds little faith in Neirenn's boasted abilities, seeing her as only a child.

===Varden===
''VAR-din : 23 year old thief''

Varden is one of the many thieves and criminals that live in the outer parts of Rhyll. Central Rhyll is inhabited by some of the wealthiest citizens and nobles in the known world, which makes it the ideal place for thieves - in fact, the outer city has become so overrun that the only policing takes place at the gates, and the outer city works as one large jail. Simply put, nobody gets out if they're on the wanted list.

Varden ran away from home at a young age for a number of reasons, and has spent the better half of his 23 years working as a 'thief for hire'. As the top thief in Rhyll, his services are highly desired for those wanting some of the more priceless and highly protected artifacts in the inner city.

However, there are those who envy his talents and the amount of business he attracts, and he was enlisted in a heist which turned out to be nothing but a set up. Although he was able to escape, his identity was revealed to the law and he was added to the wanted list. Unable to leave the city by conventional means, he saw the suspiciously hooded Lei'ella and Acheron as the perfect opportunity to make an escape.

====Current relationships with other characters====

*'''Acheron''': Varden's past experience with da'kor has been of them being very capable fighters; thus he accidentally misjudges Acheron's skills. He helps Acheron out, but doesn't really want to be friends.

*'''Lei'ella''': He finds her speech curious and her cloak more so. Although he has his suspicions about the reason why, he doesn't say anything. He tends to be a bit more relaxed, open, and joking around her.

*'''Berard''': Varden did a job for Berard once in the past, but was never paid. He dislikes Berard, mostly from reputation more than personal experience, but eventually killed him for his involvement in kidnapping Acheron for da'kor fighting.

*'''Neirenn''': Neirenn is an annoying mage. For the most part, Varden pretends she isn't there, mostly because he's terrified of magic and hopes she won't use it.

===Neirenn===
''Nay-REN : 15 year old mage''

Neirenn is part of a population of humans with small amounts of elven genes. This inheritance gives them the ability to use magic, although they are not as strong as elves. They are not immortal, but live up to three times as long as an average human, sometimes even longer depending on how much percentage of elven blood they have.

While most mages have only about 5% elven genes, Neirenn has closer to 20%; she has the potential to become very powerful, although she is constantly held back by her instructors who refuse to teach her any more than other students her age. The most likely reason for this is because she's impulsive, and tends to use her magic recklessly at times.

She lives with her mother and father in Aydensfell, and has two older brothers. She's closest to her father though, and he tends to disagree with the fact that the academy refuses to teach her higher level spells.

====Current relationships with other characters====

*'''Acheron''': Neirenn tends to look at Acheron as though he's some sort of cute and cuddly pet. She likes him because he's the first person to look visibly impressed by her magic.

*'''Lei'ella & Varden''': Neirenn hasn't had time to form much of an opinion on these two; at the moment, she simply views them as rather boring adults who don't appear to think much of her magic.

===Berard===
''Beh-RAHR-d : 28 year old criminal''

Berard worked with Lei'ella in Strathwood's law enforcement also as a thief catcher and, unbeknownst to her, it was his influence that helped her receive employment. Citizens were always reluctant to give out information, and Berard felt that a young and pretty girl would help to loosen their tongues.

However, the young Lei'ella did not much like the man and his somewhat unconventional methods of policing - usually involving the beating of innocents. She also disagreed with his attitude towards the da'kor, which he felt were no better than horses or dogs and should be treated and used as such. As much as she hated him, they worked well together and Berard became the only person Lei'ella really knew.

Asking Lei'ella to marry him when she was 18, he quit his job when she refused and instead found easy money in the underworld activities he had previously helped to stop. Men eager to watch fights were quick to bet on the new idea of man versus da'kor. Although many young da'kor were also initially keen to participate, most are now captured from their homes and are forced to fight against their will.

Berard ran a series of da'kor fighting rings, which eventually led to his demise.

====Current relationships with other characters====

*'''Acheron''': Berard realised Acheron is an atypical, weak da'kor, and saw it as an opportunity to not only make a good profit in his fighting rings, but as an excuse to trail around after Lei'ella.

*'''Lei'ella''': He still had feelings for Lei'ella, despite her rejection, and went easy on her whenever they meet. He was a little jealous of Acheron getting to be with her.

*'''Varden''': Berard didn't really remember Varden all that well; he just knew that he was a sneaky thief, and never realised that Varden knows both Acheron and Lei'ella.

===Shiara===
''She-AAH-rah : 18 year old elf''

Shiara is a young elf whose best friend Kayn'dar disappeared many years ago under unusual circumstances. Despite her feelings for Acheron, she refuses to give up hope of seeing Kayn'dar again. She's kind and caring, but never really certain of her feelings.

===Kayn'dar===
''Kay-IN-dahr : 18 year old elf''

Kayn'dar vanished twelve years ago at the age of six, taken away by a mysterious dark mage. His current whereabouts are unknown, indeed, no one is even certain that he is still alive. As a child he had a tendancy to disobey the rules and frequently found himself in trouble.

==External links==
*[http://www.seraph-inn.com/ The Seraph Inn - Inverloch]
*[http://www.gomanga.com/manga/inverloch.php Seven Seas Entertainment's Inverloch webpage]

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