New Here?
The Kingdom of Idenau is a place of magic and curses and endless adventure, of ghosts and demons and talking fish, where gods act but don’t speak, and where an army of villains still can’t defeat a single hero. It’s the setting of The Fourth, a comedy-adventure that parodies fantasy stories from the viewpoint of the big baddie, and Heir of Silverskull, a pirate tale about living with a legacy you didn’t ask for.
We’re Courtney and Victor, partners in life and creativity. Thanks for checking out our comic! Idenau and its various stories have been running on this site for over a decade, and it can be a little confusing for a newcomer to know what’s going on, so hopefully this page can clear a few things up AND spark your interest!
Heir of Silverskull
If you’re new here, chances are you’re curious about the currently-ongoing comic! Heir of Silverskull is a sequel to things that happened in the main story of The Fourth- HOWEVER, it is also an independent story that requires no prior knowledge or reading to enjoy. You can consider it a spin-off; a briefer standalone project to be enjoyed by people who might be intimidated by the much larger and older archives of our other work. The events of The Fourth’s pirate arc are recapped within HoS itself, and it’s a much deeper exploration of Goldgills and his crew as characters than we got before. So don’t feel like you’re missing anything if you simply jump in here, and if it’s the only part of Idenau you engage with, that’s perfectly fine!
If The Fourth is a story of perpetual failure in spite of your best efforts, Heir is about dealing with the aftermath of what ought to have been a happy ending. It’s a deeply personal and special story to Courtney, who is handling it mostly by herself, and is hoping to explore a number of themes and establish some character growth over its runtime. But you’ll just have to read it to find out where it goes!
Read Heir of Silverskull from the beginning!
More information on Heir and what to expect from it
The Fourth
Our story centers on the accursed Lord Tiberius Skärva the Fourth and his schemes to defeat Blank, the chosen Hero of the Gods. At Skärva’s side are his best friend and henchman, Derk, as well as Lorelei, a mysterious little girl with unusual power. We also focus on one of Skärva’s many minion teams, the efforts of whose workaholic of a leader get them involved with their lord’s schemes to an uncommon degree.
The comic begins by introducing some of Skärva’s typical schemes, but after one too many humiliating defeats, the bulk of the story consists of his efforts to go over the Hero’s head and confront the power of the gods at its source.
The Fourth started back in 2011. Since that time, the story and art have made a lot of progress! That does mean that in order to make sense of stuff, you’ll have to start from the beginning. Courtney apologizes for the… um… less-polished state of her art at the time, but hopes you’ll enjoy seeing her skill evolve along with the plot! Check out our archive to get started.
Chapter Zero
If you’re looking to get into The Fourth proper, the best thing you can do is read Chapter Zero first! It’s a prequel that provides its own standalone story, and we intended it to be an introduction to the characters and world, with stronger writing and art than we were able to offer when we first started this comic. That being said, Chapter Zero is in itself a bit old now and is in the process of being cleaned up a bit. If you like Chapter Zero, then you can go straight to Chapter One!
The World of Idenau
We’ve always wanted to show how the mechanics of a video game would function in the real living world of its villains and heroes, and therefore we employ themes you’re familiar with. But while we always intended our comic to parody common fantasy and video game tropes, we’ve put a lot of effort into bringing our world and its characters to life. Idenau (ID-uh-now) has its own religion, holidays, and history, some of which can be learned through our encyclopedia entries and Q&As, some of which can be pieced together from the story itself, and much of which has yet to be revealed. This extra info is relevant for both The Fourth and Heir of Silverskull.
Keeping up with the Comic
We are currently updating every Monday, ideally at midnight central time (USA) when it becomes that day, although occasionally we’re a bit late due to life circumstances! You can follow Courtney’s Twitter to be notified of updates.
Age Range/Content Note
Our comics are largely appropriate for all ages and contain no explicit/NSFW material; however, there is occasional depiction of blood and injury, usually via swordfights.
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We really love talking to our readers, and try to respond to the comments here as much as possible. We also love to answer questions – although we don’t want to give future plot points away! If you’re enjoying the comic, let us know – and tell your friends!
