In the fantasy series Sojourn, we meet the warlord Mordath. With his troll army (and his axe), he has nearly conquered the five lands of Quin. But in prequel issue 0, a rebellion occurs. Its leader, a man named Ayden (the figure in red in the upper right corner), shoots a fiery arrow that incinerates Mordath heart. Overjoyed, the people wish to make Ayden their leader. Instead, he declines this honor, and announces his intention to depart the five lands. But Ayden would not leave them without hope. So he pulls the magical arrow from Mordath's body, separates it into five pieces, and disperses it across the land. "If you ever need me again," he tells them, "locate the five pieces of this arrow, and I will come to your aid."
Many years later, Mordath resurfaces. Without a heart, he can no longer feel pain. Nor can he feel love, or take joy in any sensory pleasure. (He's even lost his hair!) So he does the only thing he can that will bring him satisfaction. He raises another troll army, and sets out to retake the five lands.
He looks quite different now: no longer dead, but not quite alive either.
When his armies destroy her town, and kill her husband and child, a woman named Arwyn vows to kill Mordath again. Accompanied by Kreeg, her loyal dog, she invades his castle. But using his magic, Mordath evades her attack, and casts her into the dungeon. There, she meets Gareth, a one-eyed swordsman with no ambitions beyond fleeing the castle. When Mordath visits their cell to announce that he will stage a public execution to make an example of her, Gareth picks a fight with his jailers. In the process, he steals a key from one of the troll guards. After unlocking their manacles, the Arwyn, Gareth, and Kreeg escape their cell.
Unfortunately for Gareth, Arwyn has no intention of fleeing. Driven by anguish, she has no desire to live beyond killing Mordath. But the trolls attack them, chasing them through the castle, until they reach the top of a tower. They are far too high up in the sky: what can they do but leap to their deaths?
A mysterious cloaked figure in blue (upper left) will come to their aid. She will convince Arwyn to see the bigger picture, and entrust her with the ancient bow of Ayden, preserved these many years. She will convince Gareth to see beyond his desire for a quiet life, and come to the aid of the land as well. She will tell them how Mordath was resurrected. Strangely, she doesn't need to convince Kreeg to join their quest: the loyal canine always knows the right action to take.
As for what happens after that, I don't know yet. That's where writer Ron Marz left me, with the trolls chasing after Arwyn, Gareth, Kreeg, and the mysterious cloaked woman. But already I'm hooked, and want to know more about the series. Thankfully, two more issues remain in From The Ashes, the first trade paperback volume in Sojourn, a series produced by CrossGen Comics between 2001 and 2004.
Already in his young career, Justin Ponsor was entrusted with coloring the covers for these issues. As you can see, there's a richness and depth to Greg Land's penciling, which Justin enhances with his coloring. They definitely say "Pick up this issue and check out this terrific high fantasy series!" But then, what else would you expect, from a colorist like Justin Ponsor?
Dragon Dave
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