Post by Trilly (18426 words) on Oct 1, 2011 22:48:11 GMT -5
I have my idea already, and it's much more shaped out than my NaNo was last year at this point. 
Mostly because I came up with this idea immediately after finishing my story last November and I've been sitting on it since then. So I'm pretty excited about writing it.
Since I'm a fan of lists, I'll mention that this story will probably be kind of like an amalgamation of X-Men, Locke Lamora, and probably some Assassin's Creed. :T
The setting is a sort of pseudo-Venice city named Fierezza, which is pretty much one of the main centres of civilization in it's little part of the world. It's a canal city and it's kind of owned by a few ridiculously wealthy families who have a number of alliances and petty little age-old feuds between each other that have grown steadily worse over the years. So city politics can be sort of cutthroat.
In this world, it's possible to be born with something called a "knack," which is a power or ability that is unique to you. Kind of like the X-Men. The difference here is that, unlike in the X-Men, being born with an ability in Fierezza is very much desired. A powerful knack is a sure way to prestige and fortune, which it goes without saying should be the goal of any good Fierezzan. So there are a number of not entirely nice people running around, and some of them have very not nice powers to go with it.
Prospero de Luca is one of these people. He's also the main character of the story.
Antonia de Luca-- Antonia is Prospero's older sister who is, as a woman, unable to inherit the family. She would have been a good choice for the job, though. She is focussed, intelligent and has a very-well rounded education, especially in the hand-to-hand combat areas. She has no Knack, but it doesn't slow her down in the slightest.
Giovanni Giovanni-- Gio is an assassin. He didn't really want to be one, but he has a fairly nasty Knack that gets him some fairly nasty jobs. He can make someone experience the sensation of pain without damaging them physically, which makes him useful for interrogations as well. He's actually not a bad guy despite this, and kind of worries sometimes whether he has some kind of hidden evil in him that would explain his talent.
Lately Prospero's popularity has meant Gio's gotten a lot less work. If there's one thing Gio hates more than his job, it's people who make it so he can't even do his job.
Fortunato de Luca-- Untrue to his name, Fortunato is in no way fortunate. He is Prospero's younger brother and became default leader to the family after Prospero ran away, but he is seen as a poor replacement in many ways. He's sickly and displays no Knack despite his lofty position, which in the world of Fierezza is nearly shameful. He may even lose his inheritance because of it.
I still need to work in some villains! Still so much more planning to do, and even more characters to come up with. Ah well, there's still a month yet.
Mostly because I came up with this idea immediately after finishing my story last November and I've been sitting on it since then. So I'm pretty excited about writing it.Since I'm a fan of lists, I'll mention that this story will probably be kind of like an amalgamation of X-Men, Locke Lamora, and probably some Assassin's Creed. :T
The setting is a sort of pseudo-Venice city named Fierezza, which is pretty much one of the main centres of civilization in it's little part of the world. It's a canal city and it's kind of owned by a few ridiculously wealthy families who have a number of alliances and petty little age-old feuds between each other that have grown steadily worse over the years. So city politics can be sort of cutthroat.
In this world, it's possible to be born with something called a "knack," which is a power or ability that is unique to you. Kind of like the X-Men. The difference here is that, unlike in the X-Men, being born with an ability in Fierezza is very much desired. A powerful knack is a sure way to prestige and fortune, which it goes without saying should be the goal of any good Fierezzan. So there are a number of not entirely nice people running around, and some of them have very not nice powers to go with it.
Prospero de Luca is one of these people. He's also the main character of the story.
In this happy little world, there lives a man named Prospero who made what should have been a stupid, throw-away gift into something quite profitable and altogether too dangerous. He’s a word thief. If he can anticipate the words a person will say, he can steal them right out of the person’s mouth, permanently taking away their ability to communicate them, but not their knowledge of them. It’s a rare ability but not obviously useful, unless one is willing to use this ability for somewhat more shady pursuits. And Prospero really is.
Fierezza with its many little wars provides a perfect backdrop for Prospero’s career--households will pay him to hunt down people who know secrets that they shouldn’t (and are not likely to keep quiet about), and once they are found, Prospero will steal the words from them, ensuring that they will never be able to spread important information to those who might use it. It’s a good set up for Prospero. It makes heaps of money, is less messy than an assassination and a lot more discrete, and he has and endless line of clients desperate for his assistance. He has some people to help him out on some of the more difficult jobs, but for the most part he’s totally self-sufficient. He’s very pleased with the set-up.
But these things never end well, and there’s an obvious flaw to this perfect lifestyle that Prospero has unfortunately overlooked.
Prospero has been hired by multiple sides in the inter-city war, and while he eliminates threats to his clients by silencing people, the secrets he steals can never be totally silenced. Namely, because after a job, he ends up knowing the secret. If he worked for just one side this wouldn’t be a problem, but it’s a well-known fact that he works for many.
The end result of this is that instead of a number of individuals with the potential to spread sensitive information, there is one single loose cannon in the city who knows everyone’s secrets. Unsurprisingly, this knowledge doesn’t go over well with any of the households, and for the first time, they actually find themselves in agreement with each other.
It’s time for Prospero himself to disappear.
Fierezza with its many little wars provides a perfect backdrop for Prospero’s career--households will pay him to hunt down people who know secrets that they shouldn’t (and are not likely to keep quiet about), and once they are found, Prospero will steal the words from them, ensuring that they will never be able to spread important information to those who might use it. It’s a good set up for Prospero. It makes heaps of money, is less messy than an assassination and a lot more discrete, and he has and endless line of clients desperate for his assistance. He has some people to help him out on some of the more difficult jobs, but for the most part he’s totally self-sufficient. He’s very pleased with the set-up.
But these things never end well, and there’s an obvious flaw to this perfect lifestyle that Prospero has unfortunately overlooked.
Prospero has been hired by multiple sides in the inter-city war, and while he eliminates threats to his clients by silencing people, the secrets he steals can never be totally silenced. Namely, because after a job, he ends up knowing the secret. If he worked for just one side this wouldn’t be a problem, but it’s a well-known fact that he works for many.
The end result of this is that instead of a number of individuals with the potential to spread sensitive information, there is one single loose cannon in the city who knows everyone’s secrets. Unsurprisingly, this knowledge doesn’t go over well with any of the households, and for the first time, they actually find themselves in agreement with each other.
It’s time for Prospero himself to disappear.
Prospero de Luca-- Prospero would have had a cushy life even if he hadn't become successful in his word-theiving ways. He's the eldest son of the de Luca family, one of the thirteen wealthy families that own the city, and his Knack would have ensured his future inheritance of the family property if he hadn't run away as a child to make his own life. His family is still furious years later, but that still doesn't stop them from occasionally hiring him to steal secrets from their enemies. He steals their secrets too, when the job demands it.
Prospero isn't the nicest individual, but he isn't completely awful, either. He is vain and manipulative and can be thoughtless, but he's never deliberately cruel and can even be outright personable around the very few people he likes.
Gina-- After Prospero ran away from home, his first order of business was to find a "lackey" to follow him around and keep him company. It had been a lonely childhood. His search resulted in him finding Gina, who was a half-starving street child at the time. She and her father had been on an overcrowded passenger ship heading to Fierezza when he took ill and died, leaving Gina to disembark alone in a strange new city with few possessions to her name. It is likely she wouldn't have survived if Prospero hadn't intervened, and as a result her hero worship of him hasn't quite diminished, although she does consider him to be a friend.
Gina is unusual in that she's probably the only person Prospero actually likes. She's sensible and intelligent, and she has a Knack that Prospero sometimes utilizes in his plans. She's a face-changer, with shapeshifting abilities that are limited to her face and neck. She wears a large trenchcoat to cover the rest of her body and occasionally wears gloves. To familiarize herself with different faces to use in her disguises, she often works as a portrait painter by the canal, although she has more than enough money to her name thanks to Prospero.
Rue-- Rue was late to move to Fierezza, although he visited several times in the course of his childhood. He is a member of a semi-nomadic, coast dwelling people whose main income comes from diving for saltwater sponges and pearls and then travelling around, selling them. On one of the occasions when he went with his family to Fierezza, he had the misfortune of meeting Prospero. They were both very young at the time, and for the day they knew each other they actually struck up a sort of friendship. Unfortunately, the end result of this friendship was that Prospero accidentally stole Rue's name and they parted on not very good terms. The name "Rue" was given to him later on, but he's still kind of bitter about it. Names are significant to his people, and his had been his father's.
Rue moved to the city after he discovered his Knack and is working as a gondolier. He can see events from the past, although the further back he looks, the harder it is. He also has a debilitating trigger for his Knack. He goes into a sort of coma whenever he tastes caffeine.
Prospero isn't the nicest individual, but he isn't completely awful, either. He is vain and manipulative and can be thoughtless, but he's never deliberately cruel and can even be outright personable around the very few people he likes.
Gina-- After Prospero ran away from home, his first order of business was to find a "lackey" to follow him around and keep him company. It had been a lonely childhood. His search resulted in him finding Gina, who was a half-starving street child at the time. She and her father had been on an overcrowded passenger ship heading to Fierezza when he took ill and died, leaving Gina to disembark alone in a strange new city with few possessions to her name. It is likely she wouldn't have survived if Prospero hadn't intervened, and as a result her hero worship of him hasn't quite diminished, although she does consider him to be a friend.
Gina is unusual in that she's probably the only person Prospero actually likes. She's sensible and intelligent, and she has a Knack that Prospero sometimes utilizes in his plans. She's a face-changer, with shapeshifting abilities that are limited to her face and neck. She wears a large trenchcoat to cover the rest of her body and occasionally wears gloves. To familiarize herself with different faces to use in her disguises, she often works as a portrait painter by the canal, although she has more than enough money to her name thanks to Prospero.
Rue-- Rue was late to move to Fierezza, although he visited several times in the course of his childhood. He is a member of a semi-nomadic, coast dwelling people whose main income comes from diving for saltwater sponges and pearls and then travelling around, selling them. On one of the occasions when he went with his family to Fierezza, he had the misfortune of meeting Prospero. They were both very young at the time, and for the day they knew each other they actually struck up a sort of friendship. Unfortunately, the end result of this friendship was that Prospero accidentally stole Rue's name and they parted on not very good terms. The name "Rue" was given to him later on, but he's still kind of bitter about it. Names are significant to his people, and his had been his father's.
Rue moved to the city after he discovered his Knack and is working as a gondolier. He can see events from the past, although the further back he looks, the harder it is. He also has a debilitating trigger for his Knack. He goes into a sort of coma whenever he tastes caffeine.
Antonia de Luca-- Antonia is Prospero's older sister who is, as a woman, unable to inherit the family. She would have been a good choice for the job, though. She is focussed, intelligent and has a very-well rounded education, especially in the hand-to-hand combat areas. She has no Knack, but it doesn't slow her down in the slightest.
Giovanni Giovanni-- Gio is an assassin. He didn't really want to be one, but he has a fairly nasty Knack that gets him some fairly nasty jobs. He can make someone experience the sensation of pain without damaging them physically, which makes him useful for interrogations as well. He's actually not a bad guy despite this, and kind of worries sometimes whether he has some kind of hidden evil in him that would explain his talent.
Lately Prospero's popularity has meant Gio's gotten a lot less work. If there's one thing Gio hates more than his job, it's people who make it so he can't even do his job.
Fortunato de Luca-- Untrue to his name, Fortunato is in no way fortunate. He is Prospero's younger brother and became default leader to the family after Prospero ran away, but he is seen as a poor replacement in many ways. He's sickly and displays no Knack despite his lofty position, which in the world of Fierezza is nearly shameful. He may even lose his inheritance because of it.
I still need to work in some villains! Still so much more planning to do, and even more characters to come up with. Ah well, there's still a month yet.
