Swords and Sausages

Just when the kingdom falls into disarray...

... two troublemakers make it worse.

Swords and Sausages follows the daily lives of two bumbling rogues, Tor and Silver, as they make their way through a world where things aren't quite right.

Or, as others have described it:

“Tales from the days of old, if your days of old had less than competent tiger rogues, cow barbarians, and other silly things.” — Mark Stanley, Freefall

“A bounteous romp of a comic, about two charmingly bumbling rogues. Guaranteed to make milk come out your nose. Even if you weren't drinking any. You should probably get that looked at.” — The Nai, Ark World Galleon

“It's like Monty Python meets furry.” — Kaiserneko, on Kirblog

The World

Vale Valley
Chapters 1-5 & 9. Vale Valley is wedged in the middle of the Eastern Kingdoms.  Situated in geographically unstable terrain, it rains on Sundays, and river runoffs bring finger-gnawing carp into the castle-town's well waters. The King is said to be an avid fisherman, but despite having successfully caught wave after wave of bad luck, he has yet to be seen fishing on Sundays.

The North Highway
Chapters 6-7. The only artery linking Vale Valley to the rest of the continent. Toll-free, and therefore poorly maintained.

A Hamlet
Chapters 8 & 10. At the crossroads between Vale Valley, Sevenshore Brynn, and Redstone Keep, they pledge alligence to no one and have a very successful tomato harvest.

Sevenshore Brynn
Chapter 8. At the western shore of the Eastern Kingdoms, Sevenshore's populace are primarily seafarers. However, a recent breakdown of trade agreements have led them to expand their influence inland. Their military are called Bluecloaks. They think the Redstone folks walk funny.

Redstone Keep
Chapter 8. On the eastern shore of the Eastern Kingdoms, the inhabitants of Redstone Keep are mechanically-inclined engineers and intellectuals. They think the Sevenshoreans smell weird.

The Ancient Battleground
Chapter 10. A great battle took place on this ill-fated patch of land north of Vale Valley, which ended in a giant explosion when a magic spell went awry.

The Main Trio

Tor
Panthera tigris. Rogue number one. Rather lucky.

Silver
Vulpes lagopus. Rogue number two. Rather unlucky.

The Sheriff
Panthera leo. Sheriff of the Vale Valley city guards. At odds with Tor and Silver.

More Characters (In order of appearance)

City Guards
Canis lupus. An order of wolves keeping the city in order. They've also recruited a cow.

Barbarians
Bos primigenius. Free-range herds roaming the countryside in search for greener pastures.

Pigeons
Columba livia. They seem to have an agenda.

Mrs. Gryphon
Panthera haliaeetus. A large, predatory creature reigning the skies north of Vale Valley.

Hunt and Peck
Panthera haliaeetus. The younglings Mrs. Gryphon apparently has a problem keeping an eye on. (Hunt is the girl, Peck is the boy.)

The Bluecloaks
Capra aegagrus. Army of Sevenshore Brynn.

The Redstone Army
Meles meles. Armed forces of Redstone Keep.

Cless
Panthera pardus. The "leopard guy" who just wanted a battle-axe. Primary stat: strength.

Terese
Leopardus wiedii. Unarmed fighter. Primary stat: dexterity.

?????
Macropus rufus. A skilled swordsman. Believer of the Prophecy. Primary stat: strength.

?????
Vulpes vulpes. An archer. Primary stat: dexterity.

Kiela
Felis catus. A traveling mystic who tells bad fortunes.

?????
Varanus fantasia. The young guardian of an important sword.

Even More Characters (Than you can shake a trout at)

The King
Panthera leo. He controls the horizontal and the vertical.

The Queen
Panthera leo. She controls the kingdom.

Captain of the Guard
Panthera leo. She's in charge of the Vale Valley royal guards.

Russel
Canis lupus familiaris. A baker.

Dehnys
Odocoileus virginianus. A cooper.

Altaea
Urocyon cinereoargenteus. A merchant selling questionable items.

Warren
Capra aegagrus. Runs a travel agency.

Swords! Sausages! And other 'S' words! (The story behind the comic...)

I've always had a desire to create a fantasy comic book or novella, ever since picking up David Eddings' Belgariad series when I was 14 (that's 15 years ago, as of this writing [2011]). I toyed around with various scripts through high school but forgot about it after going to college. Then, World of Warcraft came along in 2004 and I was bit hard by the fantasy fiction bug. I decided to write new scripts and develop several new characters: I yanked Tor out from College Catastrophe (since he was introduced very late and didn't fit in with the rest of the cast) and found him a companion, Silver, who resided in my sketchbook but never made the step out. The Sheriff is the upstanding, straight man lion who gets caught in Tor's and Silver's antics.

So why did the development take so long? As it turned out, I was trying my hand at traditional high fantasy, which was stupidly complex and I kept writing into corners. Plus, I was getting bored of the writing -- a bad sign. A breakthrough came when I needed to produce 5 'semester final' pieces for a technical illustration class in art school -- at the time, I was burned out and couldn't be bothered to research new material, so I pulled out Tor and Silver just for kicks. I drew them in various comedic situations, and then it clicked: I was way more adept at producing comedy stories than any other genre. So it's back to the drawing board (and word processor). The first episode was drafted in 2006, and I've re-embellished it several times since. Then I waited some more until my art style and process stabilized (including the transition of going digital). The comic finally made its online debut in June 2011.

Yup... all this just to bring some silly JPEGs to your screen :)

FAQ (Frequently anticipated queries)

  • When does the comic update?
    Every other Sunday. Subscribe to one of these services to get notified: RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Fur Affinity, DeviantArt, Weasyl, and Comic Rocket.
  • Will there be an S&S book?
    Yes! As of October 2015, the first S&S book has been published and is available for sale via my online store and Rabbit Valley Comics.
  • I have a story idea for S&S. Do you take submissions?
    Due to copyright and attribution concerns, I cannot accept any outside ideas. Kindly refrain from sending them in. Sorry! :(
  • May I draw fan art?
    Yes, I only ask that you keep it within the PG-13 rating.
  • May I write fan fiction?
    I would prefer not, because writing a fanfic would require a deeper understanding of the S&S world and its characters than what I've revealed thus far.
  • How do you draw the comic? What software do you use?
    Aside from the initial rough sketches, everything is drawn digitally in the computer using a Wacom tablet. The line art is done in Clip Studio Paint, the colors in Paint Tool SAI, and layouts in Adobe Illustrator.
  • Where and when will you announce future contributor pictures?
    Contributor pictures are reserved for Patreon supporters. Sign up today!