Having failed to redimension this illustration without ruining it, I resigned myself to crop it for this page. To admire the original version, click here! Lar is a friend I met on the Internet . . . a long long time ago. I had first gotten in touch with him about the Amber illustrations he displayed on his website, but, along the years, I ruthlessly forced him to draw five of my own characters: the daring Dangel, the playful Peter, the mysterious Dear, the radiant Aïstr, and finally Pierce, whose pride is here betrayed by each single stroke of a skillful pencil.