@Gravy - can we please have this information copied into the Lore thread? For easy reference It is post #487, pg 20
New post made! https://www.writingforums.org/threads/it-began-in-a-tavern-official.177866/page-2#post-2047948 I wasn't able to fit in Hemios and Barnabas, but I hope they appear in the girls' journey.
I added the map information to the Lore Encyclopedia! Also, wonderful posts everyone! Sorry I have been rather busy this week. Hopefully things will calm down at bit. Still archiving stuff. Should I also archive the discussion threads, too?
Where is the Tavern located again? How many days do you estimate it will take the ladies to reach the other characters?
I am wondering if Katara is planning to go back to the Tavern. I think she will, if that's okay. Let me know!
No, I don't think so. What my entry established is that it is written in the scriptures that these three young women - the mage, the poet-scientist, and the lab rat - must travel the road to Cliffcross together. It will be a journey of discovery for all three of them. They will learn on the road from their experiences and from one another.
No, not at all. But now, she might have no choice. Also, I sent you the draft. I think I am going to send it to PS102 for Olive's characterization.
I posted! Hope you enjoy reading it! After talking to Louanne, I re-wrote to set the scene for the conversations to follow. I hope you will all take advantage of the camping set up! Thank you, Louanne for your help.
You're welcome! So now Katara, Olive and Ravenna have been thrown together on a perilous and uncertain journey. The three of them probably have big questions about what might be in store for them. The relationships among them are sure to develop and we should probably give some thought to what we’d like each of the girls to gain from those relationships, and what they experience on the way. How will they evolve as characters? How will they change over the course of this journey? We don’t have to answer these questions right now but it’s something to think about. I think I would like to see the bonds between them tighten, and they learn to rely on one another. Another plot line to be considered answers why Araspeth and the guards didn’t immediately chase after the girls. Maybe Gamma or another member of the Alphabet Society cast a spell on the tavern imprisoning everyone inside, at least temporarily. Or something else. That would make an awesome scene to write. But somebody has to chase after them. Maybe the queen can somehow get more information about Olive (from Roman?) and then send Hemios and Barnabas. And how does Dusca react to the sudden disappearance of her daughter? Maybe she chases after them too. Maybe with Nalki and Charin. That would be one way to eventually reunite Dusca and Barnabas. In any case I think we should take our time getting all these characters to Cliffcross, while not forgetting that Wren, Olten and Pria are already there. I wonder – @ps102 maybe you can help with this - can we add what we know about the fragments and the stoppage of time to the Lore Index?
Some discussions happened while I was gone—I had so much to do yesterday, I didn't check the forum at all. I'll do my best to respond now To do that, we'll need to establish their flaws as characters first. I already have a pretty good idea of what I want Olive to develop into. She's insecure and powerless. I want her to develop into more confident and powerful. Obviously, I don't want her to be the very best like nobody ever was, but I want Olive to be able to handle herself. When she achieves that, she learns of her true identity, and goes on to chase her dream. Her dream probably has something to do with music. Her power is just a means to get there, so it doesn't define her. That's obviously at the end of her arc, so I'll have to figure out what's in the "middle" of all that. As you say, the three of them should help each other get to the end of their arc. Regardless, if we can all define character flaws and what we want our characters to achieve by the end, it will very much help steer us into the right direction. This reminds me that our character sheets don't define these very important aspects. Interesting point. I'm not sure if the tavern is a good place to do that as it'd make Bossman and his tavern even more suspicious. Wouldn't he want to stay clean from that? I think his survival is important. He seems someone who is very capable of orchestrating from the shadows. The way I would handle this is by having Delta prevent the municipal mages from getting close. Delta is very powerful. She kills those who draw close to them from the shadows, and becomes an "invisible killer" who stirs panic into Araspeth's arrest operation. This would also make the queen more wary of the rising trouble against her. But we can also write the prison idea. Both would work! Only our writing ability is the limit. Very good idea! I can do that!
The queen will definitely do that when she learns that Olive receives the Angel Mark. The spirits, the gear fragments, and everything about Ether is talked about in the scriptures that have been mentioned a few times. The queen is very well educated on those (just like the Alphabet members are).
Okay, here is what is known about the fragments and the gear: The queen wants them — They're necessary to achieve her end goal. They're fragments of a gear — I'm not sure what the gear is yet. But I know that it was broken up into different fragments by those who feared its power in ancient times. The queen therefore wants more power, but power is far from her only goal. When removed from their location, the flow of time is disturbed — The reason behind that is unknown right now. "The Architect" constructed them — This is someone who is repeatedly mentioned in the scriptures, but nobody knows exactly who "The Architect" is. There is speculation but the true identity is a mystery long looked into. The queen has her own ideas. Those fragments exponentially increase the power of mages — This was established during the experiment logs that Barnabas was reading. It was also established that they have some serious side effects. In fact, the queen has him experimenting on them. She wants Barnabas to figure out how they can be used without the side effects. Scientific findings — Barnabas has established a correlation between mage power and side effects. The more powerful the mage is, the less side effects they experience. He speculates that someone who is powerful enough won't experience side effects. The queen is the most powerful person in the country. She trains everyday to be even more powerful.
I will concentrate on Katara. I know we've written her as a petty tyrant, but she really is a thoughtful young woman with a lot of questions. I hoped to show that side of her in the raspberry patch. Very good point. I was wondering how to involve Bossman in the way the plot was unfolding. We have to find a purpose for him. Great insight. This will help us figure out exactly how he will fit into the story. Oh, wow, this is a great idea! The Alphabet society is never very far from these three young women! Yes, the scriptures will make a very good plot device.
I wondered about this, too! I think giving some time for the camping and going to Cliffcross is the first priority. I don't want to add another plotline just yet. So, maybe after the girls reach their destination, we go back to the tavern to set this up. I will put these in the index! Ravenna isn't good at trusting people. I think that is her main problem as a character. I think we already know their flaws, if I am honest. Katara is a bit selfish, Olive is self-doubting and Ravenna is not good a trusting others. I think yes, having these characters overcome these issues is a good thing. But I wouldn't rush it. The first part of the adventure should be establishing roles- such as Katara's in charge of setting up camp, Ravenna does the cooking and Olive searches for food. And also, having the women learn to trust one another- we could have some more running away from the mage police or a run in with some bandits.
I'm thinking that it all has to happen at once, and they all arrive at the same time for the climax. We can work with this! Our writing goal is to figure out how the other two make Katara less selfish, Olive less doubting, and Ravenna more trusting. Totally agree. It will take several scenes. This is a big one. I like this idea very much.
