Month: November 2019

Busy day, but there is always ten minutes to write:

Chapter 6

Aleida’s mission is a difficult one. He must figure out where the brother is being kept and arrange for the brother to be freed, using the bribe and message she’s given to him to deliver to his captors. he has everything in a sealed box. This chapter he tells them of what she gave and what he plans to do.

His plan is pretty basic. His background in dealing with people and money and his intelligence from staying at home and at school while most others were drafted into the profitable business of wars (more on this another time) leads him to a level of understanding of many of the people and places he feels they may encounter. He wants to stay away from small towns, because towns of few people have a strong connection and mistrust of outsiders. Everyone knows everyone else’s business relatively quickly.

The group encounters a trader and buys a map and some supplies from the man (more of the world building here) and they make campe for the night around a small fire and read the map together, the ends of it weighed to the floor by rocks. Ikrivain suggests they go to the nearest city and learn of the criminal element and from that learn where special prisoners are detained. He suspects nobody would know who Aleida’s brother is, but they would know where such a type of prisoner would be detained.

During the encounter with the merchant they noticed the man had a daughter and wife and the daughter had been ill. That evening they are attacked by a small girl who looks like that girl but is bloodied and deranged and appear almost dead herself. They are able to subdue her after she nearly kills Thea but Ikrivain, who himself is overcome by the rush of magical residue quickly fading into sickness earlier that evening (magic used nearby) is able to react and pull the girl off and Thea’s sister stabs the girl dead.

They go back to find the merchant and discover he and his wife are dead and their caravan tossed.

Planning a novel in a month is serious business. Writing one in a month is nuts. Now planning one in ten minutes a day over the course of a month? I like that challenge. So, here we go with day 8

Chapter 5

Aleida has started to become more and more stressed as the unit pushes closer to the border in a series of skirmishes designed to press the enemy towards the pincer of two armies. She’s being manipulative, but Ikrivain cannot seem to recognize it. He’s falling for her and by now he’s willing to prove himself to her.

His entire life has been about being protected and now he has a chance to protect someone and he is going to take that chance. She reveals the problem. Aleida has within her the same ability that is within him…

<This is where I am having some problems with the plot–I want her to convince him to cross the border on a dangerous mission to rescue someone. So, here it goes>

Aleida’s brother was captured by the forces on the other border. She knows he is not a good person, but the longer he is in captivity and the longer they torture him, the weaker she grows. She reveals that she convinced their lord to bring them here because she wanted a chance to get her brother. However, now she is too weak because of whatever they are doing to him as a way to oppose the Horde’s magic.

It is convoluted and complicated, but all he hears is that her brother is captured across the border and this was their only way to get close. He must now decide whether to cross the lines and try to rescue her brother from captivity in the other realm, though doing so could mark him an outlaw.

He decides her life is worth it and in the dead of night he gathers his things and begins to head over to the other lands. It is not long before he realizes he is being followed. He’s made a friend in Marek and his friend won’t let him go alone. The twins are also along for the ride, for they can find no greater pleasure than the mystery of this mission. They now Aleida and they serve the same master as she, but they have no real allegiance to her. They are here out of a quickly budding friendship.

Marek is an axe wielding savant. He claims to be of 18 turns but it is likely he is at least one year younger than his claim. He is smart in terms of combat and tactics, but doesn’t know as much of the world as he suggests–more evidence of his youth. His size and physical maturity do however lead to him being seen as an adult. When he first joined the forces he was quite the loner, but over time he developed many friends. He’s been in the service for over two years now and almost all those friends are dead.

Marek is a trouble magnet. The number one source of trouble he attracts is his sometimes lover, Esme.

Esme and Thea are twins of twenty turnings. They are both skilled fighters though Thea is a marksman while Esme is very talented at working a spear. Esme has loved Marek for over a year though he drives her insane, leading to numerous break ups.

This is the crew that Ikrivain finds himself attached to. He’s bunked up with Marek, which leads to him meeting the others.

I’ve been talking with my students about the B-story and the importance of secondary characters and I realized that I don’t really have any in this swirl of a story here. So, I am ready to start developing those secondary characters and that B-story. This puts me another chapter behind but that’s okay–we will clean things up tomorrow and the next day. For starters I believe the lead has a name now. Folks, meet Ikrivain.

Our protagonist is a dark skinned boy of barely 22 years. He is old by the standards of many in the forces and far too old to be a signifier in the army. I’ve decided to use the roman standard for troop formation. He has held the job only a short time. Until then he was the jobless son of a career soldier. His father kept him safe and at home and, while he trained the boy into manhood, had no aspirations for the boy to fight. His mother decided to send him to war rather than have him be the man of the house. She had someone else picked for the task and with he, the only son, gone. She could join her house with that of another wealthy man in the town and be cared for. His father died on the field of battle. He was the XO to the commander of several units and his son was placed in this unit as a favor to the family. His actions, however, brought disgrace to his commander and that will come back to haunt him later in the story when that commander’s own surviving son, the once XO, Fendrel deicides to count him a traitor and seek revenge.

Three other characters, Marek and the twins Thea and Esme will join him on this journey of his. I will speak of them and the on and off again relationship between Marek and Esme tomorrow. One other character I want to build is Aleida. Ikrivain is going to fall in love with her early in the story and volunteer for this mission as a result of falling in love with her. Though the b-story will see him and Thea begin to grow close and he will have to choose between his service and feelings to Aleida and protecting Thea. Who knows what choice he is going to make.

Finally, the issue of magic is becoming more a beating drum in this story and I believe we will learn that magic is hurting a percentage of the population and driving them into a certain madness. I want to connect magic use with the proliferation of zombies. I am not certain how it will work, but the reveal ought to come near the end and signal another phase of the story…

The unit moves to the slice of borderland where the horde is waiting. This army has been pushed into a corner and on both sides of the border there are forces waiting to destroy them. The strategy is for the protag’s unit to be at the head of the left flank and push through the force and meet up with their opposite number, forming a large flank attack that will be able to stop retreating members of the horde. They are likewise tasked with making sure the magic user does not escape and to that end their opposite number has a magic user of their own.

This is a bit of a combat heavy chapter with the team fighting the horde’s perimeter guard in a battle through the woods and then holding ground as another unit fills in behind them, building that chain to success.

Some Thoughts:

1. I am indeed starting to lose the thread of this thing. I originally started with the idea of a soldier with special gifts who is tasked to deliver a message to someone in an allied foreign land but his delivery threatens to upset the alliance and he has to fight through people trying to stop him to deliver the message, finally choosing duty over morals and honor.
2. Somewhere around day 2 I lost the thread of that story and got caught up in figuring out how to get to that start point. I feel like I need to find my way back there and chapter 5, when they’ve neared the border, could be that moment.
3. It could also be that he is already on this mission and I could backtrack and add a chapter where someone gives him the mission and inserts him in this unit as a way to get him closer to the border in a time where this horde is a real problem.
4. In truth there are too many subplots and no actual plot advancement.
5. These are All Tomorrow’s Problems.

The third chapter finds us following our protag into his new assignment. He is disoriented and is being introduced to a new collective of people. We learn about his place of birth by learning about where the other people come from. He is being introduced to people who have no interest in him save for one woman who keeps looking at him. She is with the others and does not appear to have a high rank but he discovers she is important.

We learn about the rank system here and how it differs from unit to unit as well as how each of these different forces that comprise the bulk of the national army are actually independent units who serve different lords and represent different tribes. This is something he knows but he is surprised by how far east this unit has come from as it is unusual for groups from this region to range this far. They should be at the other border between the five realms but they aren’t. They are here to get action and because they are known for their aggressive nature. They also have a magic user. He doesn’t feel them because they are not here presently, but that makes the unit more valuable and its leader, the lady, more important and influential.

Following the raid they are given orders to push forward with several other units (including his old one) and finish the push to take the mage from this upstart barbarian horde that has been ranging between two kingdoms. Their opposite number from the other region has pushed down and trapped them. This means they will be trying to end the threat and show out to their opposite number who’ve been maintaining a ceasefire for an extremely long time.

This is where the full plot begins to develop. The woman wants to task him to cross the border and perform a mission for her.

Going back to chapter two. I’ve decided on a change here. Now the first in command will fall as a result of the actions of the protagonist. His second will use this as a justification to kill the protagonist. He will call upon the men to hold him in place so he can slay him, but the men, saved by his actions, will slow roll the effort and allow him to gather a broken blade. Once he arms himself they will step back and demand that the new commander earn his justice.

The two fight and the fading magic is weakening our protag quickly, yet he is able to better this fop of a commander. He disarms the man, not noticing a crowd has gathered. Other officers stop the fight and pull him away. instead of being arrested an officer amongst the group pulls him aside and says, “This man has earned his stay through battle and blood. Whatever his crimes against his unit they are forgiven. What say you men?” The unit nods in appreciation. The commander suggests that he wont allow this man to stay under his command which leads to a joke about how the commander couldn’t handle him to begin with. This further angers the commander but in the presence of other unit leaders he knows not what to say. The other unit leader offers to take the man.

The protagonist (needs a name soon) goes with this man and finds himself among the mans unit. They discuss the incident and he asks why he threw up the banner. He says I saw you draw your banner and thought to draw ours. the hesitation allowed us to brace for the attack. They talk about how he knew though it seems the protag doesn’t really want to reveal how he knew. This amuses the man. He offers to introduce him to someone who could use his service as he has no need for the man’s services at present.

End Chapter.

Chapter 2 begins in the aftermath of the battle. Our (yet unnamed) protagonist has survived and moreover he’s caught the eye of a woman moving about the battlefield with the main body of officers. There are people all over the place policing the wounded and gathering weapons and armor. She find him policing bodies under the orders of his superiors. She pulls him off the duty line and addresses him.

She is studying him as they speak. She doesn’t come out and say she knows what he is, but she does explain that she witnessed what happened when he raised the flag and asks about the incident. It leads to a conversation which ends in her asking for him to be assigned to her. His new commander (old one died) balks at this but another officer steps in and says that her word is bond.

Backstory:

What is happening here is the establishment of the major players. I want to build a sense of who the people are in charge of this force and who this (woman?) is and what her role is. This is the part of most stories where they either start turning towards a story that goes somewhere or falls apart and falls into madness. I’m not sure about this one. It will need some real TLC tomorrow to get back on track. A lot of unanswered questions and cliches here.

We enter the story mid battle. There is a war raging between a horde of what appear to be barbarians and the armored legion. The legion appears to be winning the battle. We see the scene from above and it is unclear who our protagonist is. He resolves himself shortly, a flag bearer for the left flank. He sees something–feels more than sees– and tries to raise his flag to worn his group but his commander forces the flag down and tells him to never give orders without his heed. moments later a horde of beasts (of some sort) comes crashing through the flanking woods and crashes through their ranks. There is much destruction and the army, once winning is now facing loss. Someone cries that this is magic and from the main body of the force a counterspell is prepared.

Our protagonist fights to remain alive amidst the onslaught and in the madness he feels a sense of power filling him and it is such power that keeps him moving and fighting and strong enough to survive when others die. The counterspell hits and scatters the beast horde and the soldiers are able to turn the tide and win the battle. It is at this point that the main body of the force rides in and someone notices him.

That notice ends this chapter.

Some Thoughts:

1. It seems the kernel betrayal for this story will be a familial one. This person who sends our hero on the mission does so as part of a larger exchange to have her own brother released from captivity. Notes of Henry the V to be sure, but every great work borrows and I argue that this may be quite good, though not at all great.
2. For every channeler like our yet unnamed protagonist there are ten who are his opposite. When magic is cast it is drawn up out of them and turns them into something ugly and terrible. Not sure how to work this but once a certain amount of magic is cast the tide tips and the ones afflicted become sickened in a new and terrible way–perhaps a zombie way?

For the next month I will be participating in NanoWrimo, the National Novel Writing Month event. I will be working on multiple pieces of writing. Some are covered by NDA and cannot be discussed here, but this space will be extra useful. I will be attempting a never before Ten Minute Novel!

I am working to decide if I am going to do the prose on the blog, the outlining, or aspects of both. We will all see how it turns out together. My hope over the long term is to chart the progress of a novel on a blog and use that as a teaching tool in the Your Year to a Novel vein. This specific novel is being developed as I write. I am starting from scratch in tonight’s blog.

So, what are we writing?

I want to try a fantasy. I have a vision in my head of a world where magic exists only as a clunky mechanism whose cost is so extreme that few dare to practice or engage it.

Our protagonist is a channeler, one that can use magic within his body but without external effects. These are rare people. They are often known as ‘the touched’. This is a world that believe is Gods and is torn in their understanding of magic as the will of certain Gods on man and in influencing certain outcomes.

The plot is simple: Our protagonist is enlisted to send a message across enemy lines to a spy high within the enemy army. That message, which our protag does not quite understand, will trigger an assasination which will trigger a retaliatory attack, which his ‘side’ is prepared for and will defeat easily, thus launching the two sides into a war they’ve been avoiding for almost 800 years.

I’m not sure about the time frames here, but I like that the protag is behind enemy lines and dealing with the reality of a nation of people who are much like him but absolutely nothing like him in some ways. I also think that his triggering the assasination will also cause him to want to stop it, fail, and then want to try to expose this lie that shapes the war.

Tomorrow it begins…