ZOMG ZYLAA NaNo

[Zylaa]

I am so sad that I couldn't think of another word with a Z that could fit in the title. >_> ANYWAY

Unlike last year, I have one idea that I am almost positive I'm going to write. Almost all of what I have so far came to me as I was sweeping off the dining hall porch at camp (it's a big porch >_>). As such, I have been dying to write down any of this for months already. ^____^ I can't wait 'till NaNo.

My idea!

SPOILER: Click to show

Rill (placeholder name) has always known she's adopted. Given that she's the only gold-haired member of the family, and her mother still keeps her sketch of the mysterious lady who dropped off the infant Rill one night, it was kinda hard to miss.

Unfortunately, this means she's also the only one in the family without any magic. Everyone else has a little bit of talent for Earth, enough to help with the family business, but Rill has nothing. And in a country where only the magical have any power or respect, this is a problem.

Rill becomes increasingly fed up with her country, and by her teenage years has realized that the only thing she likes about the government is that they keep the necromancers in line. That doesn't even count, really, since knights do that.

So when she gets an offer from an ex-knight to join an undercover rebellion that promises to change the country and finally grant justice to those without magic, how can she refuse?

The organization (which needs a name) is wired into the black market from other countries, all of which are more tolerant of those without magic. Among these devices are a few channelers, objects that allow those with recessive magic to actually use their powers. These are highly, highly illegal in this country. Rill is tested, the same as all others, to see what powers she can give to the organization... turns out it's quite a lot. So much that, despite her raising the suspicions of the city knights in her first week, she is quite readily accepted on missions.

While on these missions, she learns harsh truths... like how rebels can't be honorable. Rebels have to kill. And when they sack the village of the mysterious woman, Rill learns quite a few more uncomfortable truths, about both her past and her present. Armed with this knowledge, and her own channeler, Rill chooses to follow her own reckless idealism. And idealistic allies are found in the most unexpected places...

I've got a few epic scenes and epic characters planned out. Oddly none of these are mentioned in my plot summary. >___>

Excessive amounts of world info will be coming as soon as I get another little chunk of free time. =D

[Rikku]

Zealous? Zulu? Hang on, I'll fetch my oversized dictionary. *does so* Zany? Zarathustra? Zareba? Zebra? Zebu? Zircon? Zeitgeist?

... 'nyways. I have a weakness for stories about rebels, and stories about magic, so I shall be watching this eagerly for future developments. =D

[Zylaa]

=D Excellent! Glad you approve.

My only concern with this story is that it's too long for 50k words. What I've written is not even half the plot. XD But this just means I have to be focused this year and not do what I did last year, where the MCs played card games and dominoes for several pages. >_>

[Zylaa]

I was going to do a characters list, and then realized that my main character has no personality whatsoever beyond my usual "Female. Witty." description. This is a recurring problem for me. So her personality is somewhat spur of the moment and subject to change. =D Without further ado!

Dramatis Personae

Rill: Raised by a lower-middle-class family, she's led a sheltered life, thriving on stories of glory, history, great magical feats, and wicked necromancers. Nonetheless, living without magic has given her a cynical, indignant air, and she secretly prides herself on her ability to wittily critique society. Only to her friends, though-- she knows better than to irritate others, especially since most everyone else she knows has magic. This makes her think that she is quite the expert on the injustices of the world. Determined to make her way in the world by any means possible, she's sure than any opportunity to change the country will be better than her current job at the butcher's (a job that only the non-magic hold).

Lara: Rill's infinitely more world-weary friend, who does not even secretly cherish those childish clear-cut stories of knightly heroism. Older than Rill by a few years; met her in school when Rill was 7 and Lara was 9 (school doesn't divide by age, it divides by learning level). Lara followed her outrage at the oppressive government to the rebellion first, and she is the one who first introduces Rill to...

Tom: An ex-knight and member of the rebellion, who are calling themselves something vaguely symbolic like the Sons of the Slaves. He didn't like the rigid structure of the knights, and either left or was kicked out for insubordination (depending on who you ask). Tall, Dark, and Snarky, he's never met a person he wouldn't insult.

Bryce: The subject of swooning schoolgirl's dreams, he's one of the youngest knights (18), and his talent is already legendary-- not at all hurt by his good looks. Determined to see that justice is carried out, and has all the might of the empire backing his actions.

Joseph: Head of the Dream element's ruling family. A Machiavellian ruler who can read the minds of anyone he chooses, even some necromancers; this gives him a rather distinct advantage in holding power and understanding human motivations.

Adimel: Would be a Machiavellian ruler if she had any political power. Instead, as the unofficial leader of the necromancers hidden throughout the city, she must use her considerable talents as a strategist, manipulator, and necromancer to achieve her ends.

Alya: A member of the ruling Fire family, and a close friend of Rill's mother. Bribed to kill Rill at birth by the rulers of the Family, but honors Rill's mother by delivering Rill to her adoptive family instead. Must then vanish from the Family's reach. Genre Savvy and frankly glad to get a chance to get away from the Family.

Sonia: Rill's mother

Other characters, as-of-yet-unnamed: Rill's parents play a minor part, as will her half-brother. Rill's various adoptive family members. The leaders of the Fire Family, and probably other elements' Families. The leader of the rebellion, other rebels.

[Ginz ❤]

Your plot sounds really awesome! I do think it's better to have something that might be too long, instead of too short. ^_^

As a side note, when I read "Carver" I immediately thought of Gunnerkrigg Court. XD

GO ZY-ZY! =D

[Deleted]

I feel I have a problem with all my female characters sometimes. >.< Any leading or semi-leading characters seem to fall into the 'defiant, fiery, and capable' categories. *headdesk*

This looks great though. The plot summary, if I think about it, kinda reminds me of the Bartimaeus Trilogy (only those with magic get respect), and Geneforge (only makes sense if you've played enough of any of the games to know what the Geneforge is), but the story is clearly, clearly different from both. Just paying compliments. ^^

Also, this world seems pretty cool, and in this case the minority main character looks like she'll work very well. ^^

[Zylaa]

Thanks guys! And yeah, Michelle, I came up with the whole plot very happily in one afternoon, and a while later suddenly realized "Holy cow, this is a lot like Bartimaeus. Dangit." XD I love those books, but completely unintentional.

And now for more background information!

Relevant Parts of the World
This is set in the same world as all my other stories, but the first one to be set in this country-- In fact, before this novel, I thought of this country as "lots of human sorcerers, epic magic school," without any other grounding. XD Anyway, what I've developed so far about this country:

GOVERNMENT: The country is divided into seven states, one for each element-- Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Light, Dark, and Dream/Thought. Each state is ruled by the noble family of each element-- the most skilled sorcerers in the realm with a few centuries of tradition. The families are always under the head of the oldest living member. However, there are two positions of ultimate power available in the family-- one as State head, and one as a member of the Ruling Council in the state capital. The family head decides which family member gets which position (and can of course appoint themselves).

HISTORY: The country directly to the south, Owl's Point, has been established for thousands of years as the heart of civilization, ruled under the wise and powerful Owlfolk. Naturally, the Owlfolk were rather uppity about this, and sick of the discrimination, many of the human mages rebelled. The resulting magic war was pretty epic. Anyway, it ended in the creation of this country, and the humans were finally free to discriminate among themselves instead.

HOW MAGIC WORKS:
This is almost exactly copied and pasted from last year's NaNo thread. This is the benefit of using the same world as a setting. XD
[spoilerhead=Magic System]
Yes, of course I use a magical world. ^_^ The magic system for this world is basically elemental, with the following main powers: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Light, Dark, and Dream. Elements can combine or divide to form lesser powers (e.x. Air + Water = Weather control, Earth + Fire = Metal)

Magic users are likewise divided into categories.
-- Sorcery is the most basic form, where the sorcerer can manipulate/create/etc. the raw element with a thought and a wave of the hand. The most powerful form of magic, arguably, since simply blasting fire out of your hand is pretty cool. However, it can also be granted to some non-magical people through magical artifacts, potions, rituals, etc. (details in Genetics section).

-- Witchcraft is the manipulation of magical objects to produce spells. As these items are all very expensive, only the wealthy can legally afford it; as the only wealthy members in this country are already sorcerers, it isn't much help to those without magic.

-- Psychics are known, although not common. By contact with a person, they can look into that person's futures, which are many and varied. Think the 'bloidal family tree except even more complicated. Depending on the skill of the psychic, they can follow individual possibilities of a person's life, their interaction with others, et cetera. The major handicap is that once tuned in to a life thread, it takes several seconds to pull away. Whenever a psychic comes to the end of a life thread, reflexively they attempt to see past death-- which is impossible-- and the attempt can cause sickness or death.

-- Tseers (short for Thought-seers; name may change) have a sixth sense-- or seventh sense, if you count seeing ghosts as the sixth sense. Tseers, merely by looking at an object, can see all thoughts about that object. They see other's impressions, judgments, emotions, and memories, dating back years or decades or even a hundred years in the case of dragons. Naturally, this gives them tremendous power and insight into other peoples' lives, actions, etc. Tseers are very rare, and are marked by an eye-shaped birthmark on their forehead which is somehow key to sensing thoughts. By covering this mark up, Tseers can pass unnoticed through society and also walk around without the hassle of seeing past memories as well as the obstacles of the present moment.
-- Animals with magical powers but no evidence of sentient thought are known as elementals.
-- Sorcery is controlled by genetics, but witchcraft is a talent anyone can learn, albeit a difficult one.

Life, Death, and Magic
All of the elements combined are necessary for life: thus, magic is equivalent to life in Araman (the world). This means all sorts of fun and interesting things can happen with rituals involving living people or even blood; this also means that anyone with a dead bone can stop magic. Bone charms are used to protect against malignant spells, and the stronger the spell, the more bones must be used.

This is what makes necromancy interesting. Necromancy is a well-known talent, although the number of necromancers is relatively few compared to the number of magic users. Necromancers can bring back spirits who are still on the spirit plane, the home of all souls who have not completed some vow they made in life. If necromancers have a full skeleton, they can summon the spirit back to reanimate the skeleton, which will be able to walk around as a sentient entity, although one with transparent ghostly flesh.
Because of their prolonged contact with the spirit plane and death, Necromancers are immune to all but the most powerful magic. This is why they are widely feared by magic users around the world, and imprisoned in this country. Some necromancers are still able to turn a tidy profit by providing contact between waiting souls and the family and friends they've left behind.

Other random elements vital to the magic system:
-- A porous, translucent stone called kipstone has the unusual property of magically reacting with whatever material is placed into the pores. This can be used by both magic users and those that don't use magic.
[/spoiler]

And my ultimate nerdy achievement, for those interested...

SPOILER: Click to show

Sorry, but you'll have to understand the basics of genetics to understand what the heck I'm talking about here. I'm not sure how easy it is to pick up on with no knowledge of biology.

Anyway, sorcery use is controlled by seven different genes, one for each element. There are two different alleles for each element, simply magic or non-magic. The magical trait is recessive. However, people with only one magic-allele can still use that element's powers if they possess certain magic-enhancing artifacts. For every combination following this, the capital letter will represent non-magic and the lower-case letter will represent magic. These are the basic genotype/phenotype combinations, using Air as an example:
AA- Cannot use air magic
Aa- Cannot use air magic, except by aid of magical device
aa- Can use air magic

However, the genes do not operate entirely independently. The first six elements can combine, after all, to form combination magic. Air and Water powers combined, for example, create Storm. All other combinations of elements that are not direct opposites also create complimentary magics (Fire + Earth = Metal is the other very useful one). In this case, even with only one magic allele for each gene, the individual will still be able to use the power, although not as much. Again, sample combinations for genotype/phenotype, this time using Storm (air and water).
AA WW -- No magic
Aa Ww -- Lesser Storm magic
Aa ww -- Water magic only; Can perform some storm magic by aid of magical artifact
aa Ww -- Air magic only; " "
aa ww -- Greater Storm magic

When a magic user has opposing elements, though, they cancel each other out. If a person has, say, both alleles for using Dark magic, but has one allele for using Light magic, they can still use Dark magic, but it's weakened. Using that as an example:
LL DD -- No magic
Ll Dd -- No magic; the artifacts for people to use both light AND dark magic, or any opposing element, are extremely rare, although they do exist.
ll dd -- " "
Ll dd -- Can use Dark magic, but weakened.
ll Dd -- Can use Light magic, but weakened.

Dream magic has no opposing element, so no worries about that. Dream magic has another wrinkle, the T-seer abilities, which are tied in to a very rare mutation of the can-use-dream-magic allele. This allele is the most recessive.

The other gene controlling magic... or lack thereof... is the necromancy gene. Necromancy works on the same principle as an element does:
NN -- No necromancy
Nn -- No necromancy
nn -- Can use necromancy.

However, since necromancy is antimagic, an individual cannot use necromancy unless they have no other magical allele whatsoever. Even if they just carry one element's gene, they will not be able to use necromancy. The presence of a necromancy allele, by contrast, only slightly weakens magical powers, and slightly more with two necromancy alleles. This is why there are so few necromancers. The allele for can-use-necromancy is almost as common as any elemental magic allele, but the overwhelming number of magic users and carriers in the general population wipes them out.

Ironically, this means that the northern country that has systematically executed magic users as evil also has the highest concentration of necromancers in the world.

[Craig]

I didn't read all of this, but what I did read was pretty cool. ^_^ I think you've got a good plan, Zylaa. I'm sure you'll put together a great novel.

[Elcie]

Wow that is so awesome. =DDD That sounds like a really, really fun NaNo. ^_^

[Rikku]

... I wish I was a homozygous recessive magician. D= I could go up to people and say, 'Ha! I am a homozygous recessive magician and you are not!'

And am I just making this post as an excuse to gleefully use words picked up from my high school Science class? Yes. Yes, I am.

That said, that's a nice, structured magical genetic system you've got yourself there. ^_^

[Zylaa]

Thanks Elcie, Craig, and Rikku! =D I wish I was a homozygous recessive magician/sorcerer/whatever I end up calling them too. It would be EPIC. Your use of high school Science terms warms my heart, as this is basically all I took out of high school Biology. XD

Anyway, I have a question for all of you reading this-- who do you think are the ultimate "good guys," and who is the ultimate love interest? And guess before reading the next paragraph, since that may bias your guess. XD

I've noticed in a lot of books, just from reading the heavy-handed foreboding description you can tell things like "Oh, so the supposedly kindly government is secretly stealing away small children and sacrificing them to evil spirits. How shocking." </sarcasm>. Also, I have only once seen a book where who I thought the love interest was ended up being someone different. So I'm trying to make it an actual surprise.

[Zylaa]

Following a conversation with my friend, whom katanal and I once deemed the Ultimate Evil of our friends, he has requested that I name the main villain after him and give him an epic evil monologue/fight scene. So the character formerly known as Endemas will now be known as Joseph. Because Joey doesn't have an ominous ring to it.

Also I need to plan an evil monologue for him now. ^_^

[Chao]

Great idea. It sure does sound like more than 50k words, but who cares? If your muse is up to it, you'll write 50k or more in November and simply continue writing it after NaNo ^^

As for the Z, one of the suggestions posted by Rikku would fit the underground organisation in various ways, this being 'Zeitgeist'. It implies the need and want for change as well as the fact that outside the country society as already developed a more tolerant standing.

[Zylaa]

Oooooh yes, Zeitgeist would work perfectly! Now I just need to figure out if these rebels would know that word (my world has a complicated relationship with Earth).

Today I figured out Rill's half-brother's personality! He is going to be a total flirt, very wry and witty. Along with this development, I figured out many more witty banter lines from the first scene of the novel and the first scene where Rill's half-brother is introduced.

Also, I realized that I've forgotten to include a vital part of Lara's existence! Lara, being down on her luck, and also an excellent actress, takes her first job for the rebels as an inexpert pickpocket. She targets those people the rebels want to take down, but, clumsy as she is, the target is often able to catch her. She then uses her abundant feminine wiles (and strategic bursting into tears) to win the heart of the target-- after all, she is so clearly the Innocent Waif with a Heart of Gold just waiting to get out of the city. They agree to help her and meet her in some out of the way location to give her the money she supposedly needs. Then she kills them.



Also, I felt like you hadn't gotten enough infodumping on exactly how magic worked, so I decided to give another try! *shot*

Srsly, though, this one is shorter and a lot more relevant to plot.

More Magic Mechanics:
Sorcerers can do things: Manipulate their element or create it. This means that, for example, if a water mage wanted to get someone soaking wet, they could either create water from the air and shoot it at the person or magically pick up the water from a nearby river and move that water to hit someone.

This is an important distinction in the book since a whole lot magic-canceling people will be fighting sorcerers, and I don't want the sorcerers to be totally helpless. So the way that magic cancellation works:

Picture a person with a bubble around them. Within that bubble, no magic works. If the aforementioned water mage created water out of thin air and shot it at the person, the water would just return back into air as soon as it reached the bubble. However, if the person picked up water and magically threw it, they couldn't move it any more past the bubble, but thanks to physics, the water would keep moving forward and hopefully hit the person.

If the water mage wanted to be really creative, they could fill some container-- say, a heavy box-- with created water, and then fling the water-- and in turn the box-- towards the necromancer. Once the box passed the anti-magic rim, the water inside would vanish, but there would still be a large heavy box hurtling towards the necromancer.

These principles will come into play quite a lot during fight scenes.

[Chao]

Aren't strategic bursts of tears one of the womanly wiles?

If you are not sure your rebels would know the word 'Zeitgeist' simply scramble a few letters, like 'Zeistgeit'. You'd still know the meaning of the word, yet it's a complicated version and would fit the complicated relationship with Earth.