The character poll (when it saw fit to load for us) was informative and, at least to me, a little surprising. Here are the most popular characters according to you, the button-pressing public.

1. Ess (22%)
This was actually really gratifying. Maybe it's just me, but it's unusual that I find the main character of a series to be my favourite, so I'm glad that Ess is the favourite overall. Note how I'm quietly ignoring the possibility that hers was the only name anybody could remember...

2. Tryphosa (13%)
I knew Tryphosa had a few fans, but she finished higher up than I expected. Which is good, because at one point I worried that I was overusing her and that maybe people didn't like her as much as the others.

3. Gatamache and Belanidi (12% each)
I expected Gatamache to do pretty well, being our mascot and all. But Belanidi was the biggest surprise of the poll for me. Now I feel bad for not using her in as many comics as I could have...

4. Melanippe (11%)
So it isn't just me, then! In the interests of full disclosure (what am I, the BBC?) one of those votes was mine. I needed to check the poll was working, honest!

5. Eutropia (10%)
Wow, the slaves did pretty well in this poll. There hasn't been much Eutropia in this chapter, but the next one will hopefully remedy that...

Rounding out the poll we had Hippolyte (7%), Ekphobippe (5%) and Androdameia (4%). Pantariste, Kerasi/Berikoko and Sappho all got one vote each, and there was a mysterious vote for 'Other'. No votes at all for Cyrene, Deinomache and Hypsipyle. Well, Hypsipyle's a bit-part character, and Cyrene hasn't given anybody much of a reason to like her yet. Deinomache is actually my brother's favourite character, but he didn't vote, so neeeeeer.

And the merchandise I was talking about? Things are afoot, so watch this space.