The Weight of Scales (Ch.1): Unfamiliar Territory (Pages 1-9)

A young woman sat on a blanket beneath a tree that overlooks a man-made pond. A sketchbook rested open in her lap.

She sketched a new duck drawing. Looked it over. Unsatisfied, she rubbed out the pencil with a kneaded eraser. She lamented her terrible luck and art-block that she was suffering from.

The sound of thunder rolling as the portent of an incoming rainstorm interrupted her depressive moment.
She tried to leave, but fate did everything in its power to redirect her via a convoluted chase for her car keys.

She was led to a clearing in the more wooded area of the park. There, she finds a man  wearing a bunch of medieval fantasy garb lying on the ground unconscious.

The woman did her best to asses the situation (with only a mild amount of panic). Just as she started to make a plan of action, the man woke up!

He was obviously wary of the strange woman looming over him, and reacted coldly at first, but quickly realized the woman wasn't a threat. He apologized to her for his rudeness and she offered to help him to his feet.

The man declined the help and attempted to get off the ground by himself. As he moved to stand the muddy ground caused him to slip and fall right back down.
 Now filled with embarrassment, the man admitted he needed her help after all.

She helps him up and the two introduced themselves to each other. An unseen magic thread passed between them.

(I didn't have a character model sheet for anyone yet (2024), so they look a bit wonky for a while. I promise I get better as the art goes on. This is also before I made a title card for the series.)