Hello and thank you for your time to read this post. I'm working on a fantasy lovestory set in an alternate 18th century France where magic exists and has influence on the politics and history. The male protagonist is a retired sorcerer who needs to leave his dark past behind him and make amends with his victims; the female protagonist is a former court lady who hates the social restrictions for women and looks for a purpose in life. They fall in love, marry and then have to make this marriage work. One of the challenges they face is the birth of their son. One of the others is a large fight in which they get involved. It might be part of the alternate version of the French Revolution or they might be targeted by an enemy of the sorcerer - I'm not sure yet. But there will be some of attack specifically on the family. Anyway - they really have trouble keeping their infant child safe. The measures they can take to protect themselves consist of dark magic and living with a coven of witches that perform orgies and summon demons on a daily basis. Not a good environment for a toddler. In my former drafts this was not a problem, because I thought the child would come later, when things are safe again. But the happenings around the birth became important, character defining and plot driving scenes and are not simply a "babies ever after" event anymore. It simply doesn't make for a good story arc anylonger. Now I'm as helpless as my protagonists. I'll be happy for input and suggestions on how to solve this problem. Thank you in advance.
So, you're right, none of those is a great environment for a toddler, but that might add to the tension. I'd suggest going with the dark magic, mostly because it will add to the character arc of the male protagonist. He used to use dark magic, but doesn't, but now something has driven him to need it again. It raises a question in the reader's mind: will he use it just this once, or will he go back to his dark ways? Some things to consider also are why he used dark magic in the past and is there 'good' magic that he can tap into? Is it the person, the reason for the use, or the specific spells that make it dark? See if you can manipulate one or any of these to fit your needs, if applicable. If he hasn't completely turned away from using his skills, why not? Is he out of practice? There could be a few other ways to keep the child safe, but these make the most sense to me with the given information. I really hope it helps!
Thanks a lot for your answer. I was already afraid, people were going "WTF is this shit?" and closing the thread again, because nobody wrote anything. ° There is "good" magic, but it's very limited. Basically, magic exists in three levels, that historically developed out of each other and also kind of "stack" onto each other in skill level: 1. mundane magic (aka. Alchemy and Potions) 2. spellcrafting and -casting (constructing spells from both alchemical and ritual ingrediences and storing them in amulets), and 3. demon summoning (which is also done by crafted spells but needs additional skills.) The summoners are powerful sorcerers who are both rare and have to pay a hefty personal price for their skills, so that only monarchs and other rich/influential parties can afford their services. (There is still stuff to work out, e.g. relationship church - mages, or how many non-summoning mages there are and what they are doing.) This particular mage worked for the king of France and he used magic to win wars, put down rebellions and deal with political intrigues at court in the interest of the king. He was practically a highly-prized henchman. Demons need to be brought into this world by the summoner's magical power and then need to be controlled by his/her will. They feed of emotions and are only driven by instinct, not capable of rational thought. Therefor the rational human mind can subjugate and control them. And human emotions are practically "leaking soul". If you have emotions while summoning, the demons will eat those up and slip through the "cracks" into your soul and eat that up too, what kills you. So, to be a summoner, a person must forgo all emotions. Or rather, learn to control them very well, particularly during a summoning. But they train that for years, every day, every minute, so they can't really switch it off. That, of course, means no compassion, no friendships, no romantic or sexual involvement, etc. They are, in some aspects, raised to be sociopaths. Think evil Vulcans or the Jedi philosophy of no attachments driven up to eleven. The guy's motivation to abandon dark magic was that he didn't want this life anymore, but rather wanted to marry the female MC. He still can use the first two steps of magic, but demon summoning would be super risky for him now. But their (main) enemy will be a summoner, so they are at a great disadvantage. I already kind of know how the evil guy can be overcome in the end and it's not a nice end. (Hint: He's eaten up by his own demons.) But before that, they are attacked in their house and have to flee, while having a tracker spell on them. And the more emotional a person is, the "brighter" they appear for the mage casting the tracker. A trained, seasoned summoner can become invisible by suppressing his/her emotions, but a frightened baby stands out like a beacon. The male MC comes up with an idea to hide his wife: He creatively use a slave spell, that has the side effect of including the enslaved person's "aura" of emotions into the caster's aura. If the caster now suppresses his emotions, he can hide the "slave" too. But this spell hurts a lot, at least for a few minutes. And if the caster is not careful what he says, everything that remotely resembles a command produces the urge in the "slave" to execute that command. It's highly uncomfortable. I just thought I could make the spell not hurt so it could be applied to the baby too, but it would water down the original purpose of that scene: I wanted to create the conflict that the male MC needs to do something to his wife, that he would have done in his earlier life without hesitation, but never wanted to do again. Sorry for the lengthy exposition, but I'm still hoping to come up with an idea and/or recieve input from others. Thanks for reading.
What you've explained would add quiet a bit to the character arc of both MCs. The wife would more than likely push the male protag into suppressing his emotions and turning her into his 'slave' to save the child. As a mother, I would! I think what you've described is going to be your best bet. Each of the characters have reasoning's for their why and the male protag has a background in it. Powerful connections between antags and protags are the ones that the characters are the most alike. They have just taken different paths to get where they are. For example, the movie 'The Guardians,' I believe it is. Both Jack Frost and Pitch Black want the same things. The difference is how they go about attaining those goals. It sounds like you have set up something that can work much in the same way. If both characters can do the same things, bury emotions to summon demons, then the stakes are raised. It might be, and should be, harder for the protag to do so, for various reason you establish. But in the end, the protag needs to figure out a way to have the antag reveal his emotions (which should be similar to the protag's) so that he can be eaten by his demons. If I understand correctly, your protag is only at level 2, but could possibly be level 3 if he wanted. So, after all that being said, you've already set up a reason for the protag to use his dark magic. There could be some trial and error, but if it parallels the antag, you have not only set up great external motivation and conflict, but internal as well. What you've described has nothing to do with witches and orgies Good luck!
This story sounds like the most epic fantasy re-telling of "Baby's Day Out" I've ever heard. Is it serious or is it a comedy?
Haha, I've never heard of that movie before. It's serious, not comedic. So you mean, I should omit the pain factor and build up the conflict just from the "slave" part so that the baby can be included? Because, technically, hiding the wife is not the problem, It's just very unpleasant and emotionally charged for both sides, but it's what happens in the end. That scene is actually written already. But hiding the mother is not enough, when the baby is around. Hehe. Well, traditionally only males were taken as apprentices by older (also male) mages. Remember, this is a society before feminism. (And also a young adult pupil of the opposite sex could become a problem for the emotional steadyness of their master/mistress.) But as many girls as boys are born with magical powers and they are also the same powers. No gendered magic. So, women started summoning too, but instead of fighting against each other for the hegemony like the male mages do, they banded together in a kind of sect. And they also used another approach to making demons do their bidding. You see - some of these demons are a TAD bit more controlled and intelligent than the rest. With those you can make a kind of pact that you give them opportunity to feed as often as you can and in exchange they don't eat you. Compare it to training a dog to not eat a treat right now and then getting rewarded by another treat if he's a good boy. These demons are called "hand demons", because they are "at hand" when you need them. The male MC also has one (which fed off people the summoner wanted to kill) and it's the only one he dares summoning now, but its power is limited. The witches ONLY work after the hand demon principle and the orgies provide the emotional food for their pets. ^ ^ The couple (now family, in the recent draft) flees to them, because a) there is a protected place and b) the leader witch owes the male MC something. He has no friends, but he has this one favour he can collect. This is an interesting take. Because right now the enemy is the complete opposite of the male MC. He ALSO uses the witches approach, which sets him apart from every other male mage in this world. I thought that since the male MC has been set up as the most powerful monarch's mage it would be not credible to come up with a guy who's his equal from out of nowhere. But one who is something the male MC has not encountered in this form before, that made more sense. But what you're saying is an interesting thought. I might reconsider. By risk of dying and having his family killed after him, yes. Uh, yes. That never was the question. The problem is, how do I keep the baby safe during all this fighting. Sorry, if I didn't communicate that clearly enough. No, it was not one of the first plot points. It's a later one, but maybe I'm simply bad at making good story arcs. ^ ^ And it's supposed to be only one part. After they defeat the big bad (and whatever problems arise with him) they go back to enjoying a more peaceful life. Thank you When I'm describing things to another person, I sometimes notice loopholes or aspects I haven't thought through completely, so it's really helpful.
This sounds very interesting. As some women can use magic, does the mother help fight too? If not, is the male MC protecting the mother, protecting the baby? Or are they both fighting off the antagonist whilst the witches protect the baby? (At some points) Could the witches help look after the baby if they are both fighting? Can a demon look after a baby? The intelligent ones? Don't want to sound stupid, but if they have a deal...could they be of use to protect the baby? Then if he's got a time limit to get back otherwise the demon eats the babies soul/emotions? Let me know how your novel is going. How far along are you? Would love to give it a read
Hi! So, the mother can not use magic. Only few people are born with that. She has learned operating guns in the time between them leaving the court and getting into the fight. I have not decided yet how much time will pass, but I suppose around 2 to 3 years. She is not a super, but a decent markswoman now, because she practiced often. I suppose her contribution to the fight will have to do with guns and/or with quick thinking in the right moment. Her husband would rather she stayed safe, but she wants to and probably will be forced to help him, otherwise they can't win. Leaving the baby with the witches could work to an extend, but it's not ideal. I suppose, when the mother joins the fight, she'll have to make that decicion. The witches can probably care for it, but they are not the best people to leave an infant with. Even if the mother is still there, this place is not good for babies. No demon would be able to watch the baby. It's not possible for several reasons. How far along... hm. I can't say. Some parts are already pretty well worked out, others do not exist or do not work anymore. I still have a lot of work in front of me. ^ ^
No friend would be able to protect that child. They are not random targets, but attacked specifically. Either they kept the existence of that child secret, which would mean locking it into a sound-proof cellar (not recommended) or the first thing the enemy does is abducting that child. Today I had the thought, that they should have planned in advance and thus have an ace up their sleeve, but now I need to come up with that ace. ^ ^ The entire hassle comes from the fact that I changed the order of things happening. It worked out ok before, but now I am stuck. :/
Is it not possible to keep the location of the child secret? You know, like in Sleeping Beauty, the fairies hid the child away. That could be the ace up their sleeve? You are right that as a mother, your character would most certainly have planned something in advance of the birth to protect her child. Alternatively, failing all else, can't they just take the child with them? Makes for slightly awkward and very difficult story-writing, but may add a realistic side to things. Newborns spend most of their time sleeping and breastfeeding - and you can breastfeed whilst baby is snuggled up in a carrier, which means you can easily feed the baby on the go.
