Artesia (comics)

Artesia is an epic fantasy comic book series authored and illustrated by American artist Mark Smylie. Artesia is also the name of the heroine of the cycle. Smylie has described her as a "Pagan Joan of Arc", to use a popular reference, while noting that the closest historical model is the Irish Queen Medb. Themes in the series include feudal politics, intrigue, and power struggles, complex mythology and world history, and strong female characters.
Currently the series is composed of four "books": "Artesia", "Artesia Afield", "Artesia Afire" and "Artesia Besieged". Each book is composed of six episodes, or fairly American standard comic book-sized episodes. Each book has been followed by an annual compendium including short stories and details of the history, geography and mythology of Artesia's universe. The books together constitute part of a cycle called "The Book of Dooms". Smylie has said that it would take 22 books to tell Artesia's story in full, but that at least 7 will be completed "hell or high water".
"Artesia"'s first two books were published by Sirius Entertainment. After that point it was published by Archaia Studios Press, which was founded by Smylie.
In 2005, a role-playing game set in the world of Artesia was released. It uses the Fuzion role-playing system, and is called "".
Artesia.
Artesia is tall and beautiful. She is highly intelligent and sexually open. It is strongly hinted throughout the series that Artesia (and most, if not all, of the other female characters) is bisexual. She has a keen understanding of war and strategy. She possesses an enchanted sword of an unknown magic type from outside the Highlands and it will inflict wounds on otherworldly creatures that cannot otherwise be hurt by mere steel. It contains five magical runes; the smith Hymachus believes it to be 800 to 1,000 years old and possibly made by the legendary armorer Brage.
Artesia was born in the Middle Kingdoms to Byron and Argante, the witch of An-Athair. Her mother began teaching her the tenets of witchcraft at an early age. Artesia was raised in the predominant religion of the Middle Kingdoms, the worship of Islik and his father, Helios, the Sun King. She also had two younger brothers, Stjepan and Justin.
As a young girl playing in the forest, Artesia found the body of a female warrior who had been killed by bandits, but who had slain all of her attackers. She took the dead warrior's sword, which was an enchanted blade, and practiced with it secretly, desiring to be a warrior like its previous owner.
Ultimately, her mother was discovered and burned as a witch by the Witch-Hunters of the Knights of Saint Agall, a military order. Her father was unable or unwilling to intervene and she fled to the Highlands of Daradja, near the ancient citadel of Dara Dess. There, she became the concubine of King Branimir (Bran the Wolf) and learned to use sex as a tool. She also converted to the Highland religion, worshiping the Goddess Yhera, becoming a priestess. Acting on her desire to be a warrior, she seduced Ulin, King Bran's commander, into training her as a soldier and a commander. She thus succeeded in becoming one of Bran's most capable war-captains. King Bran had six other concubines that Artesia refers to as her sisters.
As time passed, King Bran became alarmed at Artesia's growing confidence and popularity, especially as the Highland tribes were a somewhat matriarchal society and Dara Dess had long been ruled by a line of female warrior-queens. Bran decided that Artesia had to be killed to safeguard his throne. He sent her company out to fight a neighboring king, King Alexus, in the hopes that his champion would kill her. Simultaneously, he invited the Knights of St Agall to assist him in disposing of her as a back-up plan, which was needed when she survived the battle against Alexus’ champion. This was Bran's fatal mistake.
By inviting the Knights of St Agall into the Highlands, he agreed to convert to their worship of Helios and Islik, an act that cost him the support of many of his followers, devout adherents of Yhera. Additionally, Artesia was aware of the plot through her witchcraft and was able to kill the two assassins sent to dispatch her. While some of her company remained loyal to Bran, she raised the standard of revolt and was joined by the Highland tribesmen, allowing her to defeat the combined forces of King Bran and the Knights, pushing them back into the Citadel of Dara Dess and besieging them.
When one of her brothers, Stjepan, arrived with word that the Thessid Empire had invaded the Middle Kingdoms, Artesia attempted to negotiate with Bran, but was rebuffed, causing most of his remaining forces to desert. It was also discovered via Artesia's magic that Bran's men had murdered his concubines. She was able to gather the spirits of several of them and bind them to hers to prevent them from being devoured by otherworldly creatures. Supported by the other Highland Kings, her army then stormed the citadel, killing Ulin before Bran was betrayed by his guards, allowing Artesia to mystically bind his spirit to this world before beheading him. His head remains on a spear in the throne room of Dara Dess, there he will see everything and one day, report on what he has observed before his spirit will be released.
Artesia's position as both a witch and a priestess of Yhera gives her magical abilities that allow her to see visions and cross dimensional planes, see through the eyes of a crow and bind the souls of her sister-concubines to her. She can enter rooms magically and eavesdrop on the conversations held therein. She is attended in battle by three she-demons (Mormo, Dimidce and Charize) who assist her at critical moments and she can summon spirit-guides to escort the dead to the after-life. She can also prevent the dead from entering the after-life if she so chooses. Her magic is shown to be strong enough to break the magic of the Thessid sorcerers in several instances.
In the immediate aftermath of her victory over Bran, Artesia does not claim the title of Queen of Dara Dess in spite of her captains insisting that she do so. Ultimately, she agrees to accept the crown as it increases her status in the Middle Kingdoms and helps her in her dealings with her allies to counter the Thessid invasion. She leads the Highland army, bolstered with contingents from the other Highland Kings, into the Middle Kingdoms to fight the Thessids.