Involuntary hiatus

A couple of days ago I went to start up my computer in the morning and: nothing.  I’ve had computer crashes before, so I tried all the tricks I know.  Still nothing.  Telephone tech support wasn’t helpful.  My local computer repair service did their best, but it still didn’t help.  I finally found a place to send my computer to for repair, but it’s going to take a couple of weeks.

Now, I have a travel laptop that I can use to do critical things and I have backups of essential things like financial documents, but all my fun stuff is on that computer, all my AFR images and the text of Father’s Shield.  Until I get my main computer up and running again, I’m afraid AFR and Father’s Shield will have to go on hiatus.

I haven’t missed a comic since I started posting AFR weekly.  I’m proud of that.  You all keep coming back every week; the least I can do is have a new joke for you.  But there’s nothing I can do now but wait, and it’s frustrating.  I’m sorry.  I feel bad about leaving you all in the lurch.  I will get back on track as soon as I can.

Thanks for being patient.  If all goes well, I should have the newest comic and chapter for you in a couple of weeks.

AFR #310 – Our bodies, our elves

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His inner dwarf is getting in touch with his outer troll.

Chapter 4: A point of view

The continuation of Father’s Shield. Go back to Chapter 3 or check out the main page for the story here.

There was a growl from behind Korina and she felt something with stiff fur surge over her shoulder. A gray blur barreled into the scaly creature. The two tumbled away in a whirl of fangs and claws and blood. Elice and Tam stopped short. Korina blinked and managed to get to her feet. There was a sudden horrible shriek, then a puff of purple smoke and the creature was gone. In its place was a shaggy gray wolf which licked dark blood off its muzzle and turned its yellow eyes on the orc.

The orc growled some menacing-sounding words and began to conjure another ball of fire in his hands, but he was caught up short when an arrow came sailing out of the gloom under the trees across the river and struck him in the arm. A figure moved out of the shadows onto the river bank, nocking another arrow to a short curved bow.

It was unmistakably an orc woman, but very different from the orc on this side of the river. Her skin was a dark leafy green and her clothes were stitched together from pieces of leather and hide. Her dark hair was pulled back in a thick braid, threaded through with feathers and tied with a leather thong. She held her sinewy body tense and trained the arrow on the male orc, spitting a few angry words at him in their language.

AFR #309 – How the other half lives

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End of expansion blues got you down?  Time for an adventure on the other side!

Chapter 3: Fire and Shadows

The continuation of Father’s Shield. Go back to Chapter 2 or check out the main page for the story here.

Korina paused, her fists raised, while her eyes adjusted to the light. The walls of the alley were uneven and full of loose stones and chipped mortar. Some decaying wooden crates were piled against one wall. The tatters of what might have once been a tunic were snarled on the rough cobblestones. A rat glared at her for a moment before going back to gnawing on a moldy bread crust. She took a cautious step into the alley, peering around for signs of life.

The clatter of a pebble against the wall behind her made her suddenly turn her head, even as she realized, a moment too late, that it was the wrong direction to look. There was a groan of shifting wood and the stack of rickety crates tipped onto her, knocking her to the ground.