What is August Rye?

August Rye is the title of a comic world and story that I've been building for the past several years. While it's not off the ground yet, it's getting fairly close. The story has a fairly well-grounded world built for it and has central characters and themes... now I just have to find the time to sit down and do it!

The story is in a modern, American setting, starting in a fictional metropolis called Finn City. It also explores another realm attached to ours, named, affectionately, the demon world. The demon realm holds many monsters - some from our legends, and some that have never been heard of before. Demons come in all sorts of species, with strange powers and ridiculously long lives.

Though there may have been a time where the demons were indifferent to humans, after the disastrous vampire wars, the demon world has become a much more dangerous place for them. Some demons even come into our world to wreak havoc, and so many humans took up the tradition of demon hunting centuries ago to defend themselves and their homes. In the modern day, the Dreamland Operation, based in Finn City, boasts themselves as the most effective demon hunting organization in existence. Two years prior to the comic storyline, they began training a young girl named August Rye, and she's set to become one of the most notorious demon hunters in history.

Not much else I can say rather that that, because that would take forever, and I have to keep some secrets, right? For now, have a peek at the bios of some of the characters, along with their design sheets:

August Rye
The title character, the story centers around August's unusual adolescence. A native of Finn City, August is a trained demon hunter from the Dreamland Operation (D.O.) with an arrogant attitude and a sour temperament. She's worked for two years as a loner, and does not take well to the fact that she's been forced into a partnership with...

Billy Bay

A teenaged boy who recently moved to Finn City from New York the year before, Billy had a fateful encounter with August during one of her patrols on Halloween. After being attacked by a demon and assisting August rather splendidly with taking it out, he's given a job offering by the D.O. to be August's demon hunting partner. He tries to deal with her temper the best that he can; after all, she does have to train him.

Hibbs Cavier

The great-great grandson of the demon lord Galeo Cavier, Hibbs spends his time learning how to be a great leader and effective diplomat for the demon realms. He has an encyclopedic knowledge about the various demon races: their abilities, their locations, their beliefs, and their politics. Hibbs is also a childhood friend of August's, and is an invaluable friend and resource to her and Billy, much to the chagrin of the rest of the D.O.

Beanie Little

Beatrice Little, or "Beanie Baby" as her classmates call her, is a teenage volleyball player on the school varsity team. Charming and ranging somewhere in the vicinity of "pretty cute," Beanie enjoys an acceptable amount of popularity in the school, including the passing affections of Billy. Despite her charm, Beanie hides the signs of a troubling home life, and is living in the shadow of two rather accomplished older sisters.

The Reaper

Famed in the demon world for being one of the eleven demon lords, the Reaper is the designated antagonist of the first story arc. He is claimed to be the master of death and the keeper of souls. August, as a sort of self-challenge, has targeted The Reaper for the hunt, believing that if he is defeated, that death itself would be completely eradicated.

Cheshiredame

The archvillainess of the second arc, Cheshiredame is the latest addition to the gallery of demon lords, and also the quickest to ascend to power. Her encounter with the Reaper as a human gave her incredible powers - and was also rumored to have damaged her human mind. The ex-babysitter now serves to effectively torture rebellious and badly-behaved children, and to devour the souls of the adults who didn't learn their lesson the first time.

April Barley

The fourth and last archvillain in the story, April is a human sorvex - a limbo-lingering soul that has been torn into two parts during the process of separating from the body. Sorvex must feed on the pieces of souls to survive, which are shed from the living by a change of heart, personality, or temperament. April has taken to feeding off of August's shed soul during her adolescence, which might have been a bit more than April could chew...