Fate is a series with a bit of a story. A few years back, I created the Dragon Chronicles. Due to my general ineptitude as a writer, it massively failed. I've uploaded every proof I wrote to Notebook, and they share a common theme - they are terrible in every way. I at first thought it was the writing, so I rewrote it multiple times and even refreshed the entire cast (hence The Dragon Chronicles and The Dragon Chronicles (old)). But, at a point, I realised the basic concept was not planned and had zero structure. I hadn't created a plot, just a loose outline of what was to be. There was no central theme across the books, so it needed to go, to be replaced with an actual series, rather than a Random Events Plot. I had to go back to the drawing board. Two concepts.
Mortal. An urban fantasy about life beyond the breaking of the masquerade, it evolved to also encompass the investigation into the masquerade by an unknown character, and also the investigation into his investigation afterwards. At a point, the character became Anthony Prescott, a reporter with a name recycled from an even earlier series*, who was then recycled to be a part of teh swaghouse. As one can probably see, I'm very good at stealing shit from myself. Anyway, he was actually folded into teh swaghouse before I abandoned the series (oh yeah, I abandoned Mortal), so the Mortal concept involved the other swaghouse members. After a few pages, I hit abort on it faster than...I was going to make a joke here but I couldn't come up with anything. I have the pages still, and I think they're uploaded.
The Spire of Worlds. Even less defined, this one was a series built around a pivotal point: the hero was a Decoy Protagonist who fails in the first book. The rest of the series was set an unspecified time into the future, approximately a century, as another person tried to be a hero while battling public opinion of heroes.
So, after taking a look at the two options I had, I decided to work on Fate.
*That series is the Keyholder, and I'll elaborate some other time when I feel like it turns out I already elaborated on it in the description of the universe, so there's that.
Overarching Plot, Simple as Possible
95% of the populace are born with magic. It's commonplace in society. The other ~5% can only gain magic through 'the Dark Magic Rituals', practices involving sacrifice and dooming a soul to Cessation of Existence. Naturally, this is very bad and illegal. However, unknown to people, the cosmic battle between good and evil is raging on, and these sacrifices give more power to evil, Mystic. The King, born without magic, feels that his reign is not enough and doesn't want to fade into the pages of history. He wants to gift the people with magic so that everyone can have the opportunity he missed and he can be remembered. No Big Bad behind him, no manipulation, he genuinely believes this is good, and to be fair, he is a pretty good guy. He is resigned to the fact that performing the ritual will stain his hands with blood he can't wash clean, and he is ready to accept a life of damnation to help the others. His low self-image makes him feel like this is his only option to be remembered. Tragically, people actually do have a high opinion of him, he just can't see it through his own self-pity. (Jesus. I told myself I needed to develop the flat character that was the King, as well as the reason the series is more than 1 book long. I wrote that up and turned him from Flat Character to Tragic Villain in 2 minutes.) To stop the main characters from interfering, he marks them for arrest and ramps up his security. They must find a way to defeat him before he causes the end of the universe. To do this, they need to find several items as well as the help of the God of Light, Azmuth.
Outline
Ignore all the strikethrough, as I have once again decided that my past writing is c r i n g e and that i need to rewrite it. tb;dr: those three names below are friends from a small town who meet an incognito war hero which inspires them to travel the world with him.
Cloud on the Mountaintop, Martyn West and Sai Galanodel are three friends from a small town. (It's not a country town though, it's on one of the most travelled roads in the country.) One day, Cloud gets an interesting patron at the bar he tends. His name is Tomas Sarkin, a war hero, going under the alias of Reynald Priward (Cloud's original, indev name). He was the hero of the Battle of Lightsville, and was once an adventurer before retiring. He now tries to keep a low profile and avoids his fame. However, the three discover his identity, and the next day he shows up again. The three talk to him when he leaves, and ask him about his stories, particularly Cloud due to his Tabaxi curiosity. The stress of the three bombarding him causes him to collapse (probably a heart attack, man's old). Cloud gives him a room in his inn until he recovers, while asking him about his stories. Tomas responds with reluctance and an obvious attitude of wanting to put it behind him and move on. After enough pushing from Cloud, he snaps and berates him for his foolish fantasies of war and glory, saying that he was no hero, and that his story was nothing. He talks him down about the dangerous world he hadn't seen, telling Cloud that adventuring was no place for a child and that he should never have anything to do with war. Cloud leaves with an Armor-Piercing Response, and Tomas apologises the next day, and tells him to gather his friends for a story. The four gather later that evening, and Tomas speaks about his life. He starts by talking about his early days. He was a Level 1 Fighter with the Noble background before the DM killed off all his party and he ditched the session. He grew up comfortably until he had a trip into the countryside. He saw the world for the first time, and it marked him with a sense for adventure. A few weeks later, he left his family to explore. He explored for years, keeping a compendium of the things he saw on his travels. And now, he wants to settle down and go back to a more quiet lifestyle. Cloud asks about Lightsville, and Tomas tells them about "some kind of anarcho-syndicalist commune" which was causing trouble. He happened to be around the area, so he went in to see what was happening. When the army came to collect taxes and such, the people launched a prepared attack on him, set up defences and took Tomas hostage. The Siege of Lightsville begun, with the King's army held out but not wanting to use typical methods for fear of hurting the hostage. The siege lasted for a few months, by which time the army and Tomas had both formulated seperate plans. When the army broke down the gate, Tomas seized the confusion to fight through the villagers and hold the leader at swordpoint. He was hailed as a hero, but he doesn't agree, viewing his actions as unheroic and the whole conflict as pointless, saying that anyone would have done the same. That was the last thing he did before retiring as an adventurer. Cloud asked him if he still had the journal, and he told them that he'd been looking for someone to give it to for 15 years. He takes it out of his bag and puts it into Cloud's hands, assuring him of the immense responsibility he now carries. Cloud is in awe, and promises that he will protect the journal with everything. The next day, Tomas thanks Cloud for housing him, and tells him he will leave first thing tomorrow. Cloud goes to talk to his friends as soon as his shift is done, and brings up the journal, which he read last night. They discuss Tomas' unlikely visit and their curiosity. Cloud brings up the fact that they're all unlikely to move out of town and see the world. They then agree on something and part. The day after that, Tomas comes down to get a drink and finds one of Cloud's staff tending the bar during his shift. He leaves his tab and walks out the door to find Cloud, Martyn and Sai together outside the door, bags packed. Tomas is surprised, but they tell him they wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world. Tomas is about to tell them not to get their hopes up as he is retired, but he stops as he sees something in their eyes that reminds him of himself and makes him feel younger. Hopping up onto the coach he hired, he holds his hand out to the kids and declares his retirement over. The kids take his hand and climb onto the coach towards adventure.
From here until the end of the book, I'm not writing a summary. You may think it unfair, but the truth is the rest of the book is a Hobbit-style Random Events Plot. That is, rather than a full random plot, it's episodic. The Hobbit has an interesting plot that I always thought was the best way to show an adventuring group. In the book, every chapter has a new group that they meet. One chapter has the eagles, one has the wargs, one has the goblins, one has Gollum, one has Beorn, you get the idea. This kind of plot was supposed to open the Dragon Chronicles (before I realised the series was stupid), with Stada and Conarr (it hurts to write those names) going on a happy sightseeing adventure before they suddenly decide to assassinate the king. Who knows, maybe I can redeem that series one day. Anyway, the rest of the story up until the end features random encounters with eccentric personalities. It's kind of like a TV show, say Star Trek. In every episode of Star Trek (before Discovery and Picard made a serial show and made the whole thing shit as well), the crew find a new planet or have some new trouble aboard. They do something, solve it and then keep adventuring. This is what I'm going for with the first book, at least. In between these adventures, there are the campfire scenes. These are essential parts of the series. In these scenes, the characters, away from a town where they can stay, set up a campfire and bivouacs. They sit around the fire, eat, and most importantly, talk. They reflect on their experiences, talk about stupid stuff together, contemplate their navels with Ice-Cream Koans and Fauxlosophic Narration (sometimes ironically, sometimes seriously), and generally act like the 12-year olds they are. Frequently these campfire scenes serve as exposition and worldbuilding, where they ask about things like how magic works and the like. It also gives more depth to the characters, as they explain their history, their motivations for adventure, and talk about their skills. Of course, this is fantasy, and what isn't inspired by my favourite fantasy series Eragon is inspired by D&D. So, we've got two pillars, but we obviously need the third, combat. Fights aren't every chapter, but they do happen. Bar brawls, bandits, there are several fights that happen. The party:
- Cloud is a rogue, and eventually becomes a thief.
- Martyn is a fighter, and eventually becomes a Champion.
- Sai is a druid, becoming Circle of the Land (if you wanna be real picky, Circle of the Land (Forest)).
- Tomas is a fighter, and is already his subclass, a Battle Master.
I suppose they shouldn't really have classes, just personalities, but I guess it helps. I mean, Cloud and Sai are actual characters I played, so they already have classes, but whatever.
Towards the end is where shit happens. Here, some serious Cerebus Syndrome kicks in and the series moves into an overarching plot. The rest of the book alludes to strange going-ons around the country, with stories of dark rituals and eccentric behaviour by the king. People are becoming displeased with his rule, while he locks himself in his castle for days on end. It comes to a head in the last chapter, where they come into the capital. They are amazed by the size and opulence, but this is subdued by a foul mood over the townspeople. In an inn room, they discuss what's happening in town and whether it is related to what they've heard about the king. Cloud jumps behind a bar to earn money and talk to the locals, while Martyn and Sai go looking for something about the king. Cloud learns that the rituals being spoken about are dark magic-gaining rituals, and that the king appears to have been diving into study. He appears more and more tired and weary with every day, and the townspeople fear a revolt or an indisposition. Martyn and Sai learn that the castle security has been ramped up, and the group believes that the king is doing something about gaining magic. They decide that it needs to be investigated further, and resolve to break into the castle (Tomas does, the others are doubtful but decide to follow him anyway). They find a setup for the rituals larger than any before, and realise that they are being performed on a massive scale. Sai reveals with dread that a setup this size could gift a fair part of the population - to be precise, about 5%. The King is attempting to give everyone magic by committing mass murder. Just then, the king enters the room, sees them breaking in, and calls for the guards. While they are arriving, the King tells them that he has to do this, and that he will not allow them to interfere. The guards appear in large number and the group flees the palace. They run out into the night and into a world turned upside down, now wanting them dead.
END BOOK
God damn. That was fun to write. In about 3 days, I created the king's character as an unwilling antagonist, gave the story an overarching plot, and actually wrote something good. Overall, with a lot more planning, I feel much more confident that this won't be another Dragon Chronicles, and that I can actually write a book. Well, that's fun, time to work on the pages (characters, locations, items).