Princess Quest Chapter IX: The Battle of Brickborough

[Sandy]

It is finally here, after three months of planning and a week of taking photographs and making them into comic screens, I have finished the ninth and last chapter of my Castle photocomic, Princess Quest!

By reading on, you will find out what happens to Princess Beatrix, her guardian sir Brickheart and his squire Rod, their elven guide Hawke and the zany Wizards Zanzibar as they face off the hordes of the undead that have taken over the royal city of Brickborough. Will the aid of the Mother Dragon be enough to defeat death itself? What about the rest of the cast? It's all here, now, for you to experience with your own eyes!

To remind you of how things have come to this, here are links to all the previous chapters:

Chapter I: Chivalry

Chapter II: Legends & Legacies

Chapter III: Fellowship

Chapter IV: Passings

Chapter V: Memories

Chapter VI: Spellbound

Chapter VII: The Green Prince

Chapter VIII: Dungeon & Dragon

The profiles of the multitude of characters features in this comic can be found here (they are updated with information concerning this chapter, so please read the comic first to avoid spoilers):

Who's Who in Princess Quest

I'm extremely proud to present you the final chapter of this pet project of mine that has been going on for over half a year. Please note that there are 50 screens in the comic, so it will take you some time to read it through. I sincerely hope you are not disappointed by the ending!

This is the bittersweet end of Princess Quest. Many unanswered questions and uncovered secrets were left behind. But fear not, for the legend will continue on this spring in Queens' Quest. You will get your answers - and more questions - then.

But before that, please tell me all your comments, suggestions and feedback on this comic! Hold nothing back, for I need it to really take Queen's Quest to another level.

[strider406]

I have read all your comics and they are all fantastic! The amount of work you put into them is great. Keep up the good work.

[lego maniac]

Good comic I read it since you started it but i am so clumsy that I lost my password

it has some sort of mistery

I love it

[WhiteFang]

Sandy, I will like to take a moment and give you my congrats to your conclusive ending of Princess Quest. The amount of effort and time which you have devote to deliver to our community and sharing these innovative and creative storylines occuring this vivd comic strips.

In this chapter, there are certain twists which I have not expected such as the death of Brickhart, the mysterious twin sister, Ogle's true form and etc. Those are good additions which spice up the story. However, I could see that you have tried to finish up this chapter as soon as possible, by reducing or cutting down or unneccessary scenes such as the combat in the courtyard and the battling dragons. Don't be mistaken. You have done an impressive job, and I truly enjoyed all chapters of Princess Quest. I supposed you are quite witty to leave an open ending conclusion, which could allow you to continue a sequence in the future, if you have plans to do so.

[Dwarvenlord]

Awesome! A great end for your epic Lego strip! Very funny end ^^ i didn't expect ogle would chance in that way

But i have a few questions:

What happens with the evil wizard Noland?

What's the floating realm? Did that come in one of the other episodes?

Wasn't Brickheart supposed to be turned into an undead one when the scythe hit him?

[Sandy]

Thanks for all the comments! I'll try to answer the questions you ask as soon as possible. Here's some answers:

However, I could see that you have tried to finish up this chapter as soon as possible, by reducing or cutting down or unneccessary scenes such as the combat in the courtyard and the battling dragons.

So you're saying that this chapter wasn't long enough? I didn't really cut anything, I wrote a screen-by-screen script and then photographed and made the screens accordingly. But I understand how some scenes may have seen too quick for you. I'm just not very keen on battle sequences in general (like in the movies or books), so I don't spend much time on them on purpose.

What happens with the evil wizard Noland?

What's the floating realm? Did that come in one of the other episodes?

Wasn't Brickheart supposed to be turned into an undead one when the scythe hit him?

You can see Noland's corpse on the ground in the screen where the other Zanzibar decides to clean up the throne room. When the Devil's Iris lost its power, Noland became just a corpse like the others, since the Dragonstone was the only thing that kept him alive. He was the first "victim" of the corrupted stone, so to speak.

The Floating Realm hasn't been mentioned before, but it's the home of the High Ones, Minerva's people (who have been mentioned once as the owners of the yellow Dragonstone). Maybe reading Ogle/Minerva's profile in the Who's Who topic will give you more insight on the matter.

And as for Brickheart, he didn't die right away from the scythe's blow, but only after the dragons had exhausted each other's powers. Thus the Devil's Iris didn't get a chance to affect him. I probably should've made that more obvious...

But thanks for the questions, I really like how you've been such an observing reader!

[Pencoin]

I'm sorry to say this wasn't the best, many of the twists just weren't good, they were unexpected bu not-wanted, if you know what I mean? Also more Dragon-Fighting would have been good. It was still really good though, and many times better then what I can do. Also can't wait for Queen-Quest.

Got a feeling where you got Minerva from. Am I right?

[GloriusShadow]

Well,it was good but very messy.

Wasnt she supposed to battle Noland?

Sorry but this isnt the best episode.

Way too much happening to fast-

[Dwarvenlord]

You can see Noland's corpse on the ground in the screen where the other Zanzibar decides to clean up the throne room. When the Devil's Iris lost its power, Noland became just a corpse like the others, since the Dragonstone was the only thing that kept him alive. He was the first "victim" of the corrupted stone, so to speak.

The Floating Realm hasn't been mentioned before, but it's the home of the High Ones, Minerva's people (who have been mentioned once as the owners of the yellow Dragonstone). Maybe reading Ogle/Minerva's profile in the Who's Who topic will give you more insight on the matter.

And as for Brickheart, he didn't die right away from the scythe's blow, but only after the dragons had exhausted each other's powers. Thus the Devil's Iris didn't get a chance to affect him. I probably should've made that more obvious...

Thanks for clearing that up, Sandy! I must've overlooked the corpse of Noland when i rode the strip so are you probably making more of these stories? Sweet!

[Sandy]

I'm sorry to say this wasn't the best, many of the twists just weren't good, they were unexpected bu not-wanted, if you know what I mean? Also more Dragon-Fighting would have been good. It was still really good though, and many times better then what I can do. Also can't wait for Queen-Quest.

Got a feeling where you got Minerva from. Am I right?

Aww, sorry that the twists I put up weren't to your taste. I tried my best to give hints in the earlier chapters (except for the twin sister thing, that was for the sequel). Do you want to specify what twists were unpleasant surprises?

You have no idea how difficult it is to photograph two dragons above the settings - I couldn't have done it without my boyfriend's help. But I guess they could've been featured in more screens (I just don't know what they would've done in those, except pose in different positions).

But no, that wasn't the Minerva I got my inspiration from, although I know about that one too. The original Minerva is a Roman Goddess whose emblem was an owl (she was known as Athena in Greece). But the character herself is all mine.

[Pencoin]

Thanks for the feedback. I did like the twin-sister thing, but maybe if they had mentioned a secret in a early one, so you would forget but when this came you would remember. Also his death wasn't expected at all, if it was built up a bit, it may of made more sense.

Also for the dragon battle, theres no shame in using one of these: http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30359b

Anyway, Great Work!

Edited January 5, 2009 by Pencoin

[Francis Marion]

Great work, Sandy!

I've been a fan of PQ since the beginning, I just don't believe that I've posted at all in the past eight installments.

This is a suitable way to end the story, and I look forward to QQ (Queens' Quest).

However, I do agree with others in the statement of how rushed the final chapter seemed, but as I stated before, it was possibly the only way to end it without going well into spring with PQ.

Well, now that the somewhat serious aspect of it is over, I have one question:

Who is the real Zanzibar?

[Sandy]

However, I do agree with others in the statement of how rushed the final chapter seemed, but as I stated before, it was possibly the only way to end it without going well into spring with PQ.

I was actually contemplating on splitting this chapter into two, but then the first part would've been all battle and the second part all exposition. I myself kind of like this hectic, frenzied atmosphere this chapter has going on - everything in the chapter besides the coronation happens in a matter of half an hour, you see?

Well, now that the somewhat serious aspect of it is over, I have one question:

Who is the real Zanzibar?

No one knows, not even the Wizards themselves. They're such old coots, both of them. But I guess we will find out if the doubleganger spell ever gets reversed.

[Inertia]

hmmm... Some very very interesting twists here, especially Ogle's transformation into Minerva... Is she an Elf or another kind of creature all together? It was sad to see the death of Sir Brickhart, but excitibg hear she has a sister, albeit a witch sister. At least Mother Dragon's brother is okay, Dragons shouldn't have family fights!

Your photography is excellent as well as your set design, I can't wait for Queen's Quest!

[Sandy]

hmmm... Some very very interesting twists here, especially Ogle's transformation into Minerva... Is she an Elf or another kind of creature all together? It was sad to see the death of Sir Brickhart, but excitibg hear she has a sister, albeit a witch sister. At least Mother Dragon's brother is okay, Dragons shouldn't have family fights!

Your photography is excellent as well as your set design, I can't wait for Queen's Quest!

Thanks! I actually took photos of the settings I used for this chapter, and I intend to show them off in a separate topic in a few days.

As for Minerva, she is a High One, a separate race from elves, known for their pale skin and floating cities. They were given the yellow Dragonstone (which they call Fallen Stars), while the green one went to the elves (later moving on to the Dragonwarriors), the blue one to the ogres (later taken by the trolls) and the red one to the dwarves (later corrupted by an evil force and finally taken by Noland when he was resurrected.) Hmm, I wonder if there are even more jewels like those in the world...?

Anyway, Minerva was trying to collect all the Dragonstones before Fabuland stopped her (read all about it from her profile), and now it seems she has three of them.

[I Scream Clone]

Fantastic work on such a massive undertaking. Always great photography and a fun story.

Thanks for putting a female lead character up in a tale of wizards and knights, and bravo on putting in such a large amount of effort and sharing it here.

Cheers

[JimBee]

Wonderful work, yet again, Sandy!

I have waited quite a while for the last installment if Princess Quest, but it turns out that it was worth it. The finale was excellent to read, just as the other chapters have been. One of the best aspects in these comics with your writing is the sense of chivalry and that medieval vibe, in my opinion. It really felt like the story was going at nice, smooth pace, and the character development was great (good idea on the "Who's Who" topic). The pictures, captions, speech bubbles, MOCs, backgrounds and special affects all show how much time and effort you've put into PQ, and it really paid off. You deserve many big congratulations for doing this comic.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Very well done, Sandy.

As for my feedback, I only have minor points that you could possibly improve on. I felt that the story was rushed at some points, especially with the action. I know you said that you didn't really like to make those action scenes, but I still would have liked more of them instead of a caption saying what was going on (like during the dragon battle), and showing a different area of the scene.

Two thumbs up, though! :thumbup: I'm really looking forward to Queen Quest.

[Zepher]

Okay Sandy, I feel I have got to give you rfeed back, and lots of it, so sit tight and get ready for lots of compliments and lots of constructive critism.

Fist off, I'm very happy that there was a sequel, becuase rthis leaves a lot to be resolved, and such great characters deserve more air time!

Okay, so, a few things...

First about this comic in paticular. This is the grand finale, and I feel it was very rushed, sadly. I felt that Noland should of... done more. He didn't really take a lot to defeat, just some off stage fighting. And Beatrix didn't really fit either, she just shopped off her father, and then waited for Noland to die.

I am happy that you had the guts to kill someone off. That's always important! I'm also glad you choose who you did.

The series as a whole was good, though some of the parts were not. I felt there was a little to much of everything squezzed in, maybe one more comic would of given you some more time over all.

I really always am a sucker for the little political things that go on. The Bley beard part was cool ,and I liked her remeeting thedwarf that gave er the sword.

I feel like there's even more I could say, but... well. maybe later.

Also the builds got steadily better, which is great!

Over all, fairly good conclusion, can't wait to see more!

[Teddy]

Dear Sandy,

thanks for posting the last chapter. I really enjoyed reading your story.

I like the MOCs you made as a background for your story line.

The miniature town was a real nice touch.

Kind regards,

Teddy