More writing thoughts
Nov. 12th, 2004 08:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyesTrying to figure out how to avoid the Gandalf-plot-hook cliche in my story. I have a few ideas, but none ofthem are really panning out.
Alri is visiting relatives on a colony, when, on a walkthrough the woods, she discovers a priest being attacked by somehting supernatural -- not a common occurance, since her home universe is pretty mundane, if you ignore the psi powers. She rescues him, and establishes that he had no clue what happened -- to the point where he couldn'tsee his attacker, despite the fact it was positioned right in his line of sight. He also thinks the magic Alri pulled (told ya there would be comic spoilers) was a hallucination.
Here's what's really going on. This is the universe where Riki suceeded in the comic. There is a universe where Riki failed and Delwyn suceeded in his plan. This pissed of the Spirits majorly -- Delwyn had severed the tie between Hinoiri and Hinode. Since the Spirits had set up the system so that Hinode could leech magic from Hinoiri to help feed them and their offspring, the Sprites, they were facing a massive famine. Using the calling and gate mages --pretty much unwillingly -- they mounted an assault on Hinoiriand managed to depose Delwyn. However, that didn't let them recreate the setup they lost -- they needed a great deal of energy to reestablish the gradient, since it is working against equilibrium.
From raiding Ravi's mind, they learn about Elise's theories on universe travel. They try it--and end up in a sort of centerpoint of the local universes. Think of it like the control desk, or the only gravitationally stable point in a complex system. It is here where they learn about the other universe -- and Riki, who has a bond with all six of their counterparts. The scholars running things hypothesize that someone who controls power that high up -- and in a balanced way, using all of a universe's magical elements -- theorectically can be used as a key to tap into the power of the creator. They also learn about the failsafes put in to stop this --a small number of people are born with latent abilities to stop the abilities of gods and spirits (which need a catchy name).
Anyways, the Spirits send agents into Alri's home universe to snatch Riki and do as much damage to the group of spirit-nullifiers as possible. They manage to suceed in getting Riki, injure three of the god-nullfiers, and send the fourht into a comatose state. It will be Alri's task to find the three god-nullfiers, find a replacement fourth, help them activate thier powers, and then confront the spirits.
Problem is, how the hell do I do this without having some ofmy more cosmically-aware minor characters lead them around by the nose? I don't want to have Arianna show up and info-dump all of this. I was toying with her only telling them what she thinks they need to know at that moment, but then I play into the Issue of trust -- why should Alri and company believe her? Perhaps I should wait until Alri gets to Daryn (and discovers Riki's state) todoit, but how doi get her to take the priest with her, since he is an Important character?
Alri is visiting relatives on a colony, when, on a walkthrough the woods, she discovers a priest being attacked by somehting supernatural -- not a common occurance, since her home universe is pretty mundane, if you ignore the psi powers. She rescues him, and establishes that he had no clue what happened -- to the point where he couldn'tsee his attacker, despite the fact it was positioned right in his line of sight. He also thinks the magic Alri pulled (told ya there would be comic spoilers) was a hallucination.
Here's what's really going on. This is the universe where Riki suceeded in the comic. There is a universe where Riki failed and Delwyn suceeded in his plan. This pissed of the Spirits majorly -- Delwyn had severed the tie between Hinoiri and Hinode. Since the Spirits had set up the system so that Hinode could leech magic from Hinoiri to help feed them and their offspring, the Sprites, they were facing a massive famine. Using the calling and gate mages --pretty much unwillingly -- they mounted an assault on Hinoiriand managed to depose Delwyn. However, that didn't let them recreate the setup they lost -- they needed a great deal of energy to reestablish the gradient, since it is working against equilibrium.
From raiding Ravi's mind, they learn about Elise's theories on universe travel. They try it--and end up in a sort of centerpoint of the local universes. Think of it like the control desk, or the only gravitationally stable point in a complex system. It is here where they learn about the other universe -- and Riki, who has a bond with all six of their counterparts. The scholars running things hypothesize that someone who controls power that high up -- and in a balanced way, using all of a universe's magical elements -- theorectically can be used as a key to tap into the power of the creator. They also learn about the failsafes put in to stop this --a small number of people are born with latent abilities to stop the abilities of gods and spirits (which need a catchy name).
Anyways, the Spirits send agents into Alri's home universe to snatch Riki and do as much damage to the group of spirit-nullifiers as possible. They manage to suceed in getting Riki, injure three of the god-nullfiers, and send the fourht into a comatose state. It will be Alri's task to find the three god-nullfiers, find a replacement fourth, help them activate thier powers, and then confront the spirits.
Problem is, how the hell do I do this without having some ofmy more cosmically-aware minor characters lead them around by the nose? I don't want to have Arianna show up and info-dump all of this. I was toying with her only telling them what she thinks they need to know at that moment, but then I play into the Issue of trust -- why should Alri and company believe her? Perhaps I should wait until Alri gets to Daryn (and discovers Riki's state) todoit, but how doi get her to take the priest with her, since he is an Important character?
