Now, whenever Kestrel employs the rhetorical device called the "tri-colon crescendo"--as he does in the first three panels here--you know someone's in for a metaphorical beat-down. Unfortunately, as the last panel shows, it's usually Kestrel who gets beaten. Not exactly the reaction there he was expecting...

     Still, that'll bring us to the end of Act IV of "Nom de Plume." The fifth and final Act start with a click of the "Next" button above and will carry us through to the story's conclusion in about a month and a half.