Saturday, January 31, 2009
Plot Summary of Series 1
Series 1 deals with the worlds of Eray and Jindaria and a war faced by both of them, war from the Demon Empire on Jindaria. Anarasorian, an Erayic, must unite the worlds against Usor'an the Demon King. In secret, Usor'an is after a secret weapon: the angels, the last traces of an extinct civilization on a third planet. If Usor'an controls the angels, he can end the worlds.
Plot Summary of Series 2
This is a basic outline of the plot for series 2.
There are two planets: Eray and Jindaria, in a steam-punkish 1650's technology era. On Eray, there is the Higharc, who are a republic. Jindaria is ruled by monarchs. Their civilizations are too different and war becomes inevitable. Anarasorian, a celebrated hero from a previous war with an evil Jindarian empire, the Demon Empire, is desperately mending the damaged diplomatic ties between these two planets. He has two children, Mhaldin and Fenera, who share minds. The Higharc believes it can profit off a war with Jindaria, but first Anar has to be taken from the picture. They kidnap Mhaldin and demand Anar leave politics. The kidnapping triggers the long awaited war between Eray and Jindaria: the All War. The Higharc did not perform the actual kidnapping however. They had a bandit lord named Yuel kidnap the boy. Yuel is collaborating with demons in his other dealings. When Anar doesn't capitulate to the Higharc's demands, Yuel tries to have Mhaldin killed. Mhaldin is rescued by a demon and taken to a demonic city where a demon, who wants him to join demonkind, installs various machines into his body. Among them are weapons. Mhaldin's father recovers him and takes him home.
Blaming himself for starting the All War, Mhaldin believes he has a greater purpose to fill. His sister, with her magic powers, is swiftly becoming a hero in the All War. Her non-violence combined with her healing magic makes her loved by her allies and respected by her enemies. He joins her in the war. Furious that Anar has still not left politics, a member of the Higharc, a man named Haulk, has Yuel send assassins after Fenera. Fenera is almost killed and Mhaldin hunts Yuel down. His quest for vengeance is extremely violent. In the end, he captures Yuel and takes him home to torture him to death.
Angered that Yuel is not given a fair trial, lawmen try to take Yuel from Mhaldin. Angry, Mhaldin kills a lawman and goes into exile. With no family who will accept him, Mhaldin joins the Usor'an (the main villain) and the Demon Empire, where he gains prestige. When the demons ally with the Higharc, Mhaldin murders their leader and takes her place, but makes the assassination look like the work of the Higharc. He leads the demonic army against the Higharc, thus reaping vengeance for his kidnapping. He gets out of control and attacks everything on Eray. Fenera and Anar realize they need to defeat him.
Thus, side by side, with her father, Fenera battles her fallen brother for the future of not only Eray, but Jindaria too. Deep inside, she knows what drove him over the edge and is confident he can be brought back to the light. But is she right?
There are two planets: Eray and Jindaria, in a steam-punkish 1650's technology era. On Eray, there is the Higharc, who are a republic. Jindaria is ruled by monarchs. Their civilizations are too different and war becomes inevitable. Anarasorian, a celebrated hero from a previous war with an evil Jindarian empire, the Demon Empire, is desperately mending the damaged diplomatic ties between these two planets. He has two children, Mhaldin and Fenera, who share minds. The Higharc believes it can profit off a war with Jindaria, but first Anar has to be taken from the picture. They kidnap Mhaldin and demand Anar leave politics. The kidnapping triggers the long awaited war between Eray and Jindaria: the All War. The Higharc did not perform the actual kidnapping however. They had a bandit lord named Yuel kidnap the boy. Yuel is collaborating with demons in his other dealings. When Anar doesn't capitulate to the Higharc's demands, Yuel tries to have Mhaldin killed. Mhaldin is rescued by a demon and taken to a demonic city where a demon, who wants him to join demonkind, installs various machines into his body. Among them are weapons. Mhaldin's father recovers him and takes him home.
Blaming himself for starting the All War, Mhaldin believes he has a greater purpose to fill. His sister, with her magic powers, is swiftly becoming a hero in the All War. Her non-violence combined with her healing magic makes her loved by her allies and respected by her enemies. He joins her in the war. Furious that Anar has still not left politics, a member of the Higharc, a man named Haulk, has Yuel send assassins after Fenera. Fenera is almost killed and Mhaldin hunts Yuel down. His quest for vengeance is extremely violent. In the end, he captures Yuel and takes him home to torture him to death.
Angered that Yuel is not given a fair trial, lawmen try to take Yuel from Mhaldin. Angry, Mhaldin kills a lawman and goes into exile. With no family who will accept him, Mhaldin joins the Usor'an (the main villain) and the Demon Empire, where he gains prestige. When the demons ally with the Higharc, Mhaldin murders their leader and takes her place, but makes the assassination look like the work of the Higharc. He leads the demonic army against the Higharc, thus reaping vengeance for his kidnapping. He gets out of control and attacks everything on Eray. Fenera and Anar realize they need to defeat him.
Thus, side by side, with her father, Fenera battles her fallen brother for the future of not only Eray, but Jindaria too. Deep inside, she knows what drove him over the edge and is confident he can be brought back to the light. But is she right?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Peoples: The Servants
These are the battle-fodder of the demonic army and are by far the most common type of demon. Despite this they appear the least often of all the demon species and lack any sort of influence in the Demon Empire. They are the workers, fighters, and mobs wielded by the kings of demonkind.
Physically, servants look like a scrawny man with no hair, bright red skin, pointed ears, tiny horns of ivory, sharp claws, and a rat tail. They are slightly shorter than men but some can grow to be much bulkier. They are no very intelligent albeit smart enough to take orders. Their vocabulary is limited and their voices are soft and hissing. Baby servants are born from pools of servant saliva and refuse. Their demon masters have perfected these "spawning pools" and built lake sized pools that churn out hundreds of the creatures every week. This, coupled with the fact that servants do not need to eat, ensures that their population is in the tens of millions, even in lean and hungry places within the Demon Empire. Unsurprisingly, their wicked masters take to dining on their flesh if food is unavailable.
They behave like rats (causing some people to call them rat-people). They breed in massive numbers and live in shadowy areas, ruins, or other places that people don't bother to chase them out of. If a demon warlord wants an army, all he needs to do is look in dark places and he'll probably find a nest of servants. Servants are a disorganized society, having no leaders of their own. Instead, they follow whatever powerful destroyer catches their attention. Their loyalty to these leaders is unshakable. They are smart enough to learn some bits and pieces of the demonic honour code, thus earning them the trust of the empire.
Unless given weapons, servants will fight with their claws or whatever they can pick up. Servants have gone into battle waving sharp sticks, rocks, bones, and furniture. When they are armed they are given cheap, simple weapons that are capable of being mass-produced. Then they are thrown into battle, showering on the enemy in wave after relentless wave of scuttling bodies. In book 3, a typical servant warrior carries a buckler, a short axe, and wears a helmet made of a metal plate beaten into a rough bowl shape with studded leather armor.
Poor fighters, it is said that one soldier can take down five armed servants all on his own. A squad of men working together can kill a swarm of them. But the bastards keep coming. In the story, the servants are an enemy for the heroes to kill in large numbers, without resorting to the "Stormtrooper Effect" thus the story is more believable. If I want to bring on the pain, the socrighters or destoryers make an appearance, but if it's going to be a heroic RPG moment then the servants will swarm forward.
Here's a quote about them:
"We don't really think of them as members of the empire. They're more of a tool to be used, and expended, for greater gains. We regard them with as much dignity as a musketeer gives his ammunition. Well, actually no. A musketeer has only so many shots."
Physically, servants look like a scrawny man with no hair, bright red skin, pointed ears, tiny horns of ivory, sharp claws, and a rat tail. They are slightly shorter than men but some can grow to be much bulkier. They are no very intelligent albeit smart enough to take orders. Their vocabulary is limited and their voices are soft and hissing. Baby servants are born from pools of servant saliva and refuse. Their demon masters have perfected these "spawning pools" and built lake sized pools that churn out hundreds of the creatures every week. This, coupled with the fact that servants do not need to eat, ensures that their population is in the tens of millions, even in lean and hungry places within the Demon Empire. Unsurprisingly, their wicked masters take to dining on their flesh if food is unavailable.
They behave like rats (causing some people to call them rat-people). They breed in massive numbers and live in shadowy areas, ruins, or other places that people don't bother to chase them out of. If a demon warlord wants an army, all he needs to do is look in dark places and he'll probably find a nest of servants. Servants are a disorganized society, having no leaders of their own. Instead, they follow whatever powerful destroyer catches their attention. Their loyalty to these leaders is unshakable. They are smart enough to learn some bits and pieces of the demonic honour code, thus earning them the trust of the empire.
Unless given weapons, servants will fight with their claws or whatever they can pick up. Servants have gone into battle waving sharp sticks, rocks, bones, and furniture. When they are armed they are given cheap, simple weapons that are capable of being mass-produced. Then they are thrown into battle, showering on the enemy in wave after relentless wave of scuttling bodies. In book 3, a typical servant warrior carries a buckler, a short axe, and wears a helmet made of a metal plate beaten into a rough bowl shape with studded leather armor.
Poor fighters, it is said that one soldier can take down five armed servants all on his own. A squad of men working together can kill a swarm of them. But the bastards keep coming. In the story, the servants are an enemy for the heroes to kill in large numbers, without resorting to the "Stormtrooper Effect" thus the story is more believable. If I want to bring on the pain, the socrighters or destoryers make an appearance, but if it's going to be a heroic RPG moment then the servants will swarm forward.
Here's a quote about them:
"We don't really think of them as members of the empire. They're more of a tool to be used, and expended, for greater gains. We regard them with as much dignity as a musketeer gives his ammunition. Well, actually no. A musketeer has only so many shots."
Thursday, January 8, 2009
All about one of my characters: Vashuss
Simple and inexperienced. Malleable and naive. Confused and twisted. Vashuss is a minor villain in book 6 onward, making an appearance near the end. He is (at least, he appears to be) a metal centipede the size of a small elephant with a big head. He is supposed to be a mindless killing machine in the service of Mhaldin. Vashuss was gifted to him by Usor'an to serve the boy as his mount. Vashuss is supposed to have an artificial mind, which accounts for his gullibility.
Vashuss says very little, speaking through a free moving holographic projection that has its own voice. In this was, Vashuss essentially has two bodies. His centipede-like metal body had twelve long, flexible limbs that pull him along quite nicely. Because he is a machine he is treated likewise, shown no friendship by Mhaldin and worked nearly to death.
The truth is, Vashuss is not a machine but a hyper-intellectual infant who is stored inside the machine's giant head. Vashuss controls the machine with his mind. Mhaldin does not know it, but Vashuss is actually his bastard son, the mother of whom is Usor'an's daughter. This is significant because now Fenera's nephew is the main villain's grandson. She thought fighting her brother would be bad.
Vashuss says very little, speaking through a free moving holographic projection that has its own voice. In this was, Vashuss essentially has two bodies. His centipede-like metal body had twelve long, flexible limbs that pull him along quite nicely. Because he is a machine he is treated likewise, shown no friendship by Mhaldin and worked nearly to death.
The truth is, Vashuss is not a machine but a hyper-intellectual infant who is stored inside the machine's giant head. Vashuss controls the machine with his mind. Mhaldin does not know it, but Vashuss is actually his bastard son, the mother of whom is Usor'an's daughter. This is significant because now Fenera's nephew is the main villain's grandson. She thought fighting her brother would be bad.
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