"They Were Here" (DD4, Chapter Three, Pages 39-42)

Last week, while Alexandra was arguing with the miserable Vignelli, a strange green mist drifted into the harbour. The men of The Cordelia watched as it swept over their decks and through their hatches. Then, grappling hooks dug their claws into the railings.

(Reminder: all the posts with actual finished pages are sorted under the "DD4" tag.)

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And so concludes Chapter Three! With a big, threatening ship sailing into harbour and overwhelming The Cordelia. Who is aboard? Will Alexandra actually get to meet them? Will she find her mother? Will she be able to apologize? And if the new ship was so easily able to navigate around the mole, how will the rest of Vignelli's defences hold up against these invaders? Such questions are the domain of Chapter Four.

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Since Chapter three is complete here, it's time to start serializing it publicly. That starts this weekend! I am raring to go because if I start this weekend, I can time it so the final update gets posted on September 19th, or International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day! How could I possibly turn down a confluence like that?

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With colouring complete, I've made another pass on the chapter's text, squashing things like the non-English-isms that reader J Banana commented on in an earlier post - things like "mum" or "mother" instead of "mom."

Thank you to friend Dik for suggesting a segue between Vignelli and Alexandra's chatter about dancing and the topic of the lights. The version I posted here earlier did not include Vignelli's line about "moths."

Eagle-eyed readers will find a whole number of little differences like that between the pages I posted here and the ones that end up on DelilahDirk.com. I've also added revisions like the one below; consensus seemed to be that the cut-off balloon needed a little extra emphasis to in order to look intentional.

Details, details, details. Always fiddling with details.

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Upcoming over the next several weeks:

• Let's talk about book-making plans.
• Remember that second of the two covers we voted on? SKULLMIST? I'm finishing that up.
• Of course, it's time to start pencilling Chapter Four.
• I'm hoping to sneak in something a little different, too. :)

As always, Dear Reader, thank you for your continuing support of this project. I've loved building to this point, and I'm so excited for the intensity that Chapter Four is going to bring. If you enjoyed the way that Chapter Three unrolled, I think you're really going to like what happens next.

Until next week,
I remain,
The distant sound of gunfire in the mist,

TC