Original IP · Two-Part Fantasy Comic
Mask of Fjorn
The mask hides the man. The oath reveals him.
The Inheritance
A daughter follows the legend of her missing father and must decide whether the name he left behind represents a lie, a promise, or something worth becoming.
- Origin
- February 20, 2024
- Form
- Two-part fantasy comic
- Current Status
- Book One and Book Two scripts complete
- Recognition
- Runner-up in the Negative Space Comics Script Competition
- Eric Serviss’s Role
- Writer / Illustrator / Character and World Designer
The Search
IN SEARCH OF A LEGEND.
Astrid has inherited little from her father beyond a name, a trail of contradictory stories, and the consequences of choices he made before she was born.
Her search carries her through ruined estates, abandoned keeps, old battlefields, and communities shaped by the legend of Veslyn Fjorn. Each place supplies another fragment of the truth—but the public hero celebrated across the Vaulted Vale bears little resemblance to the father who abandoned her family.
Astrid is not simply trying to discover where he went. She wants to understand what kind of person could protect strangers, inspire armies, and make promises in public while leaving the people closest to him to survive alone.
One Story · Two Perspectives
A FATHER’S SIN, A DAUGHTER’S JUDGMENT.
The story took approximately nine months to shape. The central challenge was deciding how much each character should reveal, when the reader should understand the truth, and how the same history would change when seen from opposite sides of one family.
Book One presents the public legend: a doppelgänger steals the identity of Veslyn Fjorn and gradually becomes responsible for the promises attached to the name.
Book Two shifts the center of gravity to Astrid. Her investigation reveals the private damage concealed beneath that legend and forces the man behind it to confront the daughter he never knew.
The two books are not competing accounts. Together they expose the distance between reputation and responsibility.
The Central Symbol
A LIE, AN OATH, AN OBLIGATION.
The mask begins as a practical disguise. It allows an opportunistic shapeshifter to borrow the authority of a celebrated hero.
But the identity comes with a promise:
The word of Veslyn Fjorn is an unbreakable oath.
Repeated throughout the story, the phrase changes meaning each time it is spoken. It begins as performance, becomes public expectation, and eventually turns into a standard the wearer can no longer escape.
By the time the mask reaches Astrid, it no longer belongs to one man. It represents the difference between claiming an identity and accepting responsibility for what that identity demands.
The Moral Engine
IF YOU CAN BE ANYONE, WHY NOT BE THE HERO?
The doppelgänger’s greatest ability is also his deepest weakness. He can escape any identity before its consequences become uncomfortable.
Holgrim refuses to let him disappear so easily.
A farmer, soldier, and man of uncompromising honor, Holgrim recognizes that becoming Veslyn Fjorn could be more than another deception. If the doppelgänger can assume any face, he can also choose the person he is trying to become.
That challenge transforms the stolen identity into an obligation. Years later, Astrid confronts the same question from the opposite direction: not whether she can wear the mask, but what she is willing to carry with it.
Building for Comics
WORDS MADE VISIBLE.
Once the two-part structure was stable, the project expanded into visual development.
The mask, seasonal covers, character silhouettes, armor, weapons, creatures, and environments were designed to support the emotional roles already established in the script. The fantasy world was not built as decoration around the story. It grew outward from the characters and the decisions they were being forced to make.
Astrid needed to read as observant, guarded, and adaptable. Holgrim needed to carry honor before he spoke. Veslyn Fjorn needed to function simultaneously as a man, a disguise, a legend, and an accusation.
Every design had to communicate more than occupation or allegiance. It had to reveal what each character believed the mask meant.
Professional Review
AN ENCOUNTER WITH REALITY.
Book One placed runner-up in the Negative Space Comics Script Competition and received a professional editorial review.
The feedback praised the script’s visual clarity, tavern-tale atmosphere, defined character motivations, themes of honor and deceit, and its ability to establish a complete opening arc while building anticipation for Book Two.
It also identified practical refinements: several crowded panels, a few abrupt transitions, and presentation details requiring editorial cleanup. The conclusion was not that the concept needed to be rebuilt. It was that the script was close enough to production that the next useful step would be professional editing, a stronger pitch package, and presentation to an artist or publisher.
Current Status
READY FOR BATTLE.
Both halves of the story are now written. The core cast, visual language, central mythology, and final confrontation are established. The Mask of Fjorn has been added to the queue of projects working their way through SirViz Creative. Visual development continues, and the original graphic novel is destined to reveal its secrets to the world.
THE WORD OF VESLYN FJORN IS AN UNBREAKABLE OATH.
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