327: She Came, She Saw, They Conquered

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Dear Patrons,

Step inside into our hearth of darkness, my fellow Culinarians. Isn’t there nothing cozier than the crackling sound of the fire with a nice cup of warm hot cocoa, or tea, or whatever preferred beverage of your choosing, while the heady aroma of that sizzling too-slender roast imbue the air with its meaty succulence? Never mind all that commotion coming from outside. Oh, no no no…. Nothing we can do about that at all. It’s just the weather and it’s a little stormy tonight. And as we sit around powerless kicking and screaming, all we can do is to turn of that TV, put away that phone, and step closer towards the pile of wood, reach out for one, to add another piece to the fireplace. And back to your soft cushioned chair you go.

First quick note, as I’m working on the visual graphics of the NOMENCLATURES OF BUTCHERY, I will say ahead of time there will be further edits to some of the terms and names, so don’t put those terms into cement just yet.

Second, here’s an update of the Zodiac table, with the ones at the top of this list for whom this update would be the most relevant. I’ve noted a general trend towards more Asian girls and more “live” subjects for which the project MISSING IN JAPAN would be the main conduit. Again, my priority lies with how the stories are told.

• AQUARIUS: Current main backer of the DOOMED RAIDER project which is heavily featured in this update. Thank you for your continued patronage.
• PISCES: Tagged along with the DOOMED RAIDER too where I make some pivots towards making the main character look like one of the girls who was requested.
• CAPRICORN: You are seeing the beginning stages of the MISSING IN JAPAN project begins with a simple sketch. More to come soon!
• SCORPIO: KONGREGATSIYA: LADY ON A TRAIN. This update hopefully will tide the patron over for a while as it’s touching on some similar themes requested, mainly what one does with the disembodied head. But I shall be returning to the head-centric spy-themed story in the near future.
• VIRGO: Done up a sketch of a portrait for this very lovely patron. It’s still in the beginning stages, but I’m starting to get a bit of an idea now of how to tell that story.
• LEO: I’ve cleared up a bit of confusion of how I read the backer’s request and it made it much easier for me now to ideate. On to the VANISHING TRIANGLE for which the backer’s scenario fits the most!
• LIBRA: I might make some updates soon re: MISSING IN JAPAN in the coming updates as I’ve received some usable references.
• SAGITTARIUS: I’m working on a particularly ambitious set of sketches which I should be touching on soon next month. Like the project with “KD” and the examples you see for this DOOMED RAIDER evisceration scene, there may be multiple layouts for this setting to make up for the wait.
• ARIES: As the backer of multiple projects, this update will be a rare break from Aries’ projects as I gear up towards fresh batch of artworks next month.
• GEMINI: PAINTED BIRD IN LOST CARCOSA. Look to an update very soon in the next one or the one after, at the least the complete colored version of the butchered and splayed out scene. Soon, I will focus on scenes on how some of the parts are cooked, particularly the hands and feet.
• CANCER: As I finish up on the “KD” celebrity request, this spot has been vacated and opened up for future requests.
• TAURUS: Not much this update but there’s a cyberpunk themed story I’d written years ago that I’ve been meaning to revisit. It’s also touching on a theme that’s rather prescient at the moment.

And here are a couple of updates for patrons at the APOSTLE tier:

• SATURN: Sadly, I have a feeling this patron has moved on in RL due to health issues and this spot has been vacated.
• NEPTUNE: Paused the contribution as I still owe this backer something for the TOURIST project.

And with housekeeping out of the way, on to the show.

From last update’s epic LÉGION IMPOSSIBLE, we return to a place a little more familiar to us, a nice little escapist jaunt back into the forest of Central America, back to about two years ago before the Great North American Eclipse of 2024. This is the story of the DOOMED RAIDER. This update will be a companion piece to past updates 192: Ancestral Memories of Lost Cultures, 308: Tales from a Podcast, and 316: Fate of Coyolxāuhqui. While 305: Black Sun Blood Moon had such a “badass” title, it’s a pity I didn’t use it for a story-based update. I might actually do a re-issue of that update with more artworks and a fuller short-story, though this update’s title isn’t too bad either. We return to “Episode 2”, excerpt from the “Tales of the Vanished Podcast” run by members of the Doe Patrol which is a direct sequel to update 308: Tales from a Podcast. I am also trying something different as I know perhaps some of you might be annoyed with the “redactions”. In the newsletter, I will unredact the names so that you will have a better reading experience especially if some of you are using the text-to-speech function.

Finally, for those who live on the West Coast of North America or near-abouts, look to the early morning skies on March the 3rd, for you will see another Blood Moon that gets a mention in this story!

Bon appétit!

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. 

I. DOOMED RAIDER

— Transcript from episode 2 of a True Crime Podcast —

On the 11th of March 2024, three young adventurers disembarked from a private jet in Mazatlán, Mexico. They were headed towards a great mission of discovery.

If successful, these remarkable women would open a new chapter in Meso-American studies. However, things did not go as planned as they found themselves at the center of a new enduring mystery, for they had vanished without a trace!

What happened to the Mazatlán Three? What happened to the C████ Expedition? Welcome to the Tales of the Vanished Podcast. Follow us as, I, Zacharias…

And… I, Beth…

… explore strange circumstances surrounding cases of missing persons around the world. We have uncovered some eerie connections causing us to ask…

… could they all be connected to a larger global conspiracy? Is there a secret cabal causing the disappearances of these young women? What are their fates? Where are their bodies. We only have theories.

So let’s dive in.

— intro music —

Image 1-2: (2 complete colored artwork variations)

In part two, we explore the background of these women of the Mazatlán Three, beginning with the leader of the expedition herself, Miss L███ C████. Who was she? What led her to Central America, braving the cartel-infested region in the large forest wilderness expanse of the Sierra Madre Occidental where she and her companions were last seen? Later on in future episodes, we will meet her traveling companions S███████ and A█████. We will take a rare peek into our mystery heiress’ early years. And through all this, perhaps we could find clues that may link her past to her future.

Image 3-4: (2 complete colored work variations)

L███ A█████ C████. Born on Valentine’s Day 199█ to R██████ and A█████ C████. Straddling the edges between the Millennials and Gen Z, L███ was quite unlike any other girl in her class. While others might gravitate towards social media, pop culture, sports and all the fun stuff, young L███ was very much an independent spirit whose hobbies reflect an old soul, out of place, and out of time. She was a bookworm who delighted in the reading of old journals, writings from turn-of-the-century British explorers and dictionaries of long dead languages. The world of ancient scrolls, desiccated mummies, weather-beaten temples and broken stone heads sculptures were just as familiar to the modern world of computers, cell-phones and airport security check lines.

With her early years still shrouded in mystery, one of our sources, an insider who claims to know the C████ family himself has told us that L███ had been enrolled in an exclusive private school for the gifted. Not much is known about this school and any inquiry into this period of her life has come up empty. We suspect that it’s possible that she may have also been home-schooled up until her first documented arrival into the public sphere at the University College London. There, she met her future fellow expeditioneers S███████ N██████ and A█████ E████. 

Image 5-6: (2 variations colored works of a similar scene)

We’ve managed to track down one of her schoolmates at UCL and according to this source, she was mostly private but is frequently seen in the library delving into old journals and codices. This source added that he had only seen her in the company of two other female friends, frequently enough that this group had been given a playful nickname by their peers…

… The 3L’s.

What does he mean, Zacharias? And I already know the answer. Men can be such pigs that it is tempting enough to make me want to be an “L” too.

Not all of us are like that, Beth. And when we asked what it meant, with a playful tone our source replied, those Lovely Library Lesbians. I’m sure he meant it facetiously and regrets this later on once he found out about their misadventure. We all were once young, silly and not very P-C.

In kindergarten, yes, but not in college!

Well, this co-host agrees, now, let’s move on. Her parents. Of whom not much is known about her mother, A█████ and we are still researching on details that might turn up in later episodes. But L███’s father was an interesting sort of character.

R██████ C████ comes from an aristocratic line with ties to the Freemasons, the Explorer’s Club, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and even to famed occultist Aleister Crowley. L███’s childhood must have been quite interesting.

R██████ had been an accomplished explorer and archaeologist. A renowned polymath with various skills, his eclectic career ranged from being a published author, navigator, medical practitioner and a concert-level pianist. He would have been knighted into the Order of the British Empire if it weren’t for a scandal that ruined his reputation.

So what happened?

Not long after his daughter L███ was born, his wife, A█████ went missing under mysterious circumstances. While en route over Tibet to meet R██████, A█████’s plane had experienced difficulties and crashed into the side of a mountain in the cold desolate Himalayan Range. R██████ had set off on an expedition to find the wreckage but ultimately returned with the sad news that his wife and the rest of the crew had perished. He could not recover their bodies as he had barely made it out alive himself in the harsh freezing weather. As proof of death, A█████’s wedding ring was the only item he brought back with him. A█████ was officially declared dead and an empty casket private ceremony was held with only the wedding band inside.

That’s so sad. Soon after, rumors swirled around the C████ household that A█████ was in the process of leaving R██████ with baby L███ to begin her new life with a new boyfriend when tragedy occurred. However, this were merely rumors and old news clippings that we’ve managed to find read much more like a gossip column than actual news.

Another significant rumor claimed that R██████, stricken with grief, turned to forbidden magic to try to bring his wife back from the dead.

Another mentioned that he had indeed found his wife’s remains in the mountains, but as he was stricken with hunger, he had resorted to cannibalism to stay alive.

Also uncorroborated. In summary, it is said he went mad in the mountains and did not come back the same person. At the end of his young life, with rumors hard to shake off and his reputation in the gutter, in 20██, R█████ C████, filled with despair, was found dead, bearing the hallmarks of suicide.

And to L███, his lone child, all his wealth and legacy of his name to whom it was all bequeathed.

And here we can now take a short break to introduce our new sponsor. Our first! Do you need a secure VPN? Look no further,…..

— fast forward —

…

…

… aaand… we’re back!

Before we move on to the next chapter which is L███’s childhood, let’s delve a little deeper into some questions we have about her father of whom we talked about before the break.

One such question remains… there is very little detail surrounding R█████’s suicide. There was some mention of a gunshot wound, and another article mentioned poison. The same articles both mentioned that he was found slumped over his desk but differed by who found him. One mentioned his daughter, and the other, his butler. Why the discrepancy?

We still don’t know for sure and bad record keeping couldn’t be the sole reason. Our insider has brought up a good point that his body was quickly cremated after and the autopsy report had shown signs of forgery, making us question if it is possible that he might have faked his own death to avoid financial ruin and to protect the inheritance that would be passed down to his daughter, L███. There certainly is a motive for that, especially if rumors of occult practices are true. This in itself is a whole other story that would need a whole new podcast series.

Indeed, Zacharias. Another question remains regarding the marital situation between R██████ and A█████. Our insider says, yes, those rumors were true and she was seeing another man at the time of her disappearance though he could not confirm if that really played a part into the accident although it certainly was plausible.

The third unanswered question was the claim that R██████ may have found the wreckage the first time, but when follow-up expeditions had been organized to recover the bodies, R██████ had conveniently forgotten how find the site again, claiming disorientation because he was too weak and was trying to stave off hunger and survive.

What do you think, Zacharias? Do you think he was telling the truth?

For a famed explorer, one might suspect that this is highly suspicious. To this day, this incident is considered a local legend around the area and to this day, there are still occasional expeditions organized by truth-seeking adventurers hoping to be the ones who solve that mystery. It isn’t unlike our own mystery that this Podcast series is based on, Beth?

You’re right, Zacharias. And from what I gather, similar expeditions have been set up to find the Mazatlán Three but are too few and far between, cartel presence notwithstanding.

In the end, so many questions. So few answers. And now, with the sole heir L███ considered among the missing, what is to be of the family fortune? After all, she is the last of her bloodline. Without a body or proof of death, the inheritance hangs in limbo and the C████ family legacy will finally be cut short. 

One sensitive question has to be asked. I don’t want to be a feminist, but one has to admit, that some men are a little… you know… pervs… was she really daddy’s little girl who wanted to grow up like him, or was there something more sinister that happened between them?

What are you saying, Beth?

I’m just saying, what if she was abused as a child? We know that childhood trauma sometimes runs through rich people especially those with mysterious family background and long lineages.

That there’s a bit of some Oedipus Complex going on? Or Stockholm Syndrome, or that R██████ learned from the school of V for Vendetta, that a tempered steel builds a stronger blade?

Spare the rod, spoil the child. That sort of situation. It’s clear that L███ is a strong young woman in a profession dominated by men, you know… explorers, adventurers, and the like… maybe she bore a huge chip on her shoulder? Not to be like her father, but to be better than him instead. She resents him so much that she’d want to escape from his shadow, to be so superior to his legacy that it’d be replaced by her own. That would be the best kind of victory over a parent, don’t you think? To actually live and realize your parent’s dreams and succeed where they failed?

Image 7: (1 updated and improved previously published complete colored work)

You think she hates her dad that much. Well, I’m of the theory that she looked up to him. But what do I know? What we know is there’s a lot we don’t know. And again, with the mother, the plane crew, the father, the daughter and her two friends, we ask… what’s with all the disappearances?

And this is why we picked up this story in the beginning, and found it so interesting that we’ve decided to do a whole series on it.

Next week on the show, we had initially planned to dedicate the entire episode into L███’s traveling companions S███████ and A█████ until one astute listener brought up a cosmological angle and asks if the disappearances and the timing of the North American Eclipse was connected in any way. In April of 2024, a Solar Eclipse was followed by a Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse a year later in March in 2025, and in the coming days, another Blood Moon Eclipse would occur on March the 3rd, 2026. Could that be a reason the three adventurers decided to head to the area, perhaps by some astrological purpose as the ancient Maya and Aztecs were known to observe the procession of the celestial bodies for ritual purposes, including human sacrifice and cannibalism?

Image 8: (1 complete colored artwork)

One such example, include the fairly recent excavation at Tecoaque, in the suburbs of Mexico City, where a massacre of Spanish and Cuban settlers happened at the hands of the Aztecs where one-by-one, each individual had been brutally sacrificed according to the special holy days.

Image 9: (1 complete colored artwork)

What horror it must be to be one of the captives, hearing the cries of your loved ones, smelling the feasts cooking over the fire, knowing your fate is about to come soon.

That’s disturbing! We’ve been in contact with a college professor who had provided us some good insight into this and we hope to have him on soon on this show.

Because of this, the timing of the Great American Eclipse of April 2024 could not be ignored. . 

And we did look it up, three rare astronomical events in the same region, three years in a row. What are the chances of that happening?

Image 10: (1 previously published completed colored artwork)

And three women missing. Coincidence? We know that there is currently some upheaval around the region with recent instability flaring up, and if this is true, could it be that one or more of the captives could still be alive? There’s still a few days left until the Lunar event in 2026.

So you’re saying that there’s still time to save at least one of them if one were to mount another expedition into the Sierra Madre Occidental?

Perhaps! So, we’re calling anyone out there who might be brave enough to go do it. You might save a life and be a hero!

And that’s our show for today. Tune in next week for more about the cosmology angle and perhaps a bit on the background on the other two companions. Or shall we push that to the episode after, Zacharias?

We’ll see, Beth. Right now, we’re still a little new to this podcast thing and changing things around on the fly, so don’t hold us to that yet. What we just want to do is to point the spotlight on these missing women. For so long, young women like the Mazatlán Three have been forgotten. Their voices need to be heard!

You’re right. We thank you for listening. Please like and subscribe, and donate if possible. Links and transcripts are in the show notes and we appreciate your support!

Goodbye!

Bye!

— end credits and music —

II. DOOMED RAIDER: SUPPLEMENTAL & BONUS ARTWORK

I hope you like that little story vignette. Here are some extra artwork that is part of the DOOMED RAIDER project that are either sketches and works in progress of previously published artwork, along with concept sketches for future artworks.

Image 11-13: (3 works in progress of a previously published artwork)

Image 14-18: (5 colored/shaded works in progress of one scene)

Image 19: (1 black & white sketch)

Image 20-27: (8 previously published complete colored work)

III. BONUS WORKS IN PROGRESS

A “gift box” presentation of celebrity “KD” for the HALL OF FAME project.

Image 28-30: (3 colored works in progress of one scene)

Here’s a black & white initial sketch for CAPRICORN’s story arc for the MISSING IN JAPAN project.

Image 31-32: (2 black and white sketch & ink)

The following are loose artworks of various parts for future storylines, one COLLANT CUT (formerly Pantalon Cut), another a PRAIRIE CUT (formerly Hoofless Tailleur Cut) and finally the SPLIT CHANDAIL CUT.

Image 33-35: (3 works in progress)