Wren Lorus was, despite her name, anything but birdlike. She was short, probably no taller than Cerryn's middle brother Julius, who stood just over 5 feet tall. Wren's hair was black, curly, and trimmed just above the nape of her neck, a style that was not common for women of the confederacy. Cerryn knew that there were a fair number of female questors, but she'd never met one, and had imagined that they probably looked like the Vendarian Guardian statues she'd seen at the temple, long haired and armor clad rather than short and bulky. Her face was square and hard, her patchwork skin was darker, more scarred and tougher looking than seemed possible. Though the questor was muscular, it was apparent that she had what Cerryn's mother would call "an embarrasment of blessings", a feature that seemed particularly out of place on the squat warrior. Cerryn's attention was drawn to the livid scar that ran from slightly behind the ear down to the base of her chin. It was ragged and raw, barely healed, and looked more torn than sliced. She shuddered as she tried not to imagine what had caused it.
In developing Cerryn's past and fleshing out Imperfect Hope, I'm introducing a lot of detail to the questors of the Eagles Forge Monastery. Wren Loren is an aide to the questor general who has come to Whiteport looking for the questor-candidate shown to him in his visions from Valnar. Two children, typically aged 9-11, are chosen each year (Cerryn is 8) and are brought to the monastery to begin their training. Wren, as a senior female questor, will act as a mentor toward Cerryn during her early training at Eagles Forge. Confederacy (and pre-confederacy kingdoms) traditions hold that only rarely will a child shown to the questor-general turn down the honor, and that the parent's opinions are not heard. Part of the conflict I'm tossing out early is that Cerryn's father, the Baron of Bruils (and confederacy council-member) would keep his daughter out of the monastery (he's politically/matrimonially motivated). Cerryn's mother, though she'd much rather keep her daughter out of the questor's life, recognizes that pitfall of trying to create an exception for her own daughter.
I'm laying the groundwork for events some 15 years down the road that will lead to the political embarrassment of the baron that will provide the framework for Min's manipulation of the council later on. The Baron, though nominally a good leader of his realm, has a blindness toward the effects of favoritism, and later on will attempt to influence the path of Remy's career. The resulting scandal will force the baron to resign from the confederacy council, and bring his (rather more easily manipulated) brother into the council where Min will take advantage of him.
A lot of this background/subplotting I'd only just skimmed over in the original Imperfect Hope outline, I'd mentioned a scandal, but had done nothing to detail the players/events that led up to it. I'd only just started fleshing it out as I started deepening the characters around Cerryn's early age. By tying Cerryn's, Remy's and Baron Nallory's tales together, I'm hoping the story will feel more "real". I've other background items that are coming forward into the story, presenting opportunities to draw the reader into the tale more deeply, such as why Randir fears the Il'cha bonding so much, and why the walls he puts up between himself and Cerryn cause her to react in the manners I'd put forth already in the first draft. Having shown her reactions to her brothers similar actions years past, her actions should now make sense without paragraphs of explanation.
If I show the causes clearly enough.
If the causes are memorable enough to be remembered.
If I... Stop with the IF's already. Write, Jim, and worry about the details later.
Anyway, lots to work on. I'd wanted to comment more on the previous weeks posting, and may still later this week (musings on who's reading and why), but for now...
CLear skies,
Jim
In developing Cerryn's past and fleshing out Imperfect Hope, I'm introducing a lot of detail to the questors of the Eagles Forge Monastery. Wren Loren is an aide to the questor general who has come to Whiteport looking for the questor-candidate shown to him in his visions from Valnar. Two children, typically aged 9-11, are chosen each year (Cerryn is 8) and are brought to the monastery to begin their training. Wren, as a senior female questor, will act as a mentor toward Cerryn during her early training at Eagles Forge. Confederacy (and pre-confederacy kingdoms) traditions hold that only rarely will a child shown to the questor-general turn down the honor, and that the parent's opinions are not heard. Part of the conflict I'm tossing out early is that Cerryn's father, the Baron of Bruils (and confederacy council-member) would keep his daughter out of the monastery (he's politically/matrimonially motivated). Cerryn's mother, though she'd much rather keep her daughter out of the questor's life, recognizes that pitfall of trying to create an exception for her own daughter.
I'm laying the groundwork for events some 15 years down the road that will lead to the political embarrassment of the baron that will provide the framework for Min's manipulation of the council later on. The Baron, though nominally a good leader of his realm, has a blindness toward the effects of favoritism, and later on will attempt to influence the path of Remy's career. The resulting scandal will force the baron to resign from the confederacy council, and bring his (rather more easily manipulated) brother into the council where Min will take advantage of him.
A lot of this background/subplotting I'd only just skimmed over in the original Imperfect Hope outline, I'd mentioned a scandal, but had done nothing to detail the players/events that led up to it. I'd only just started fleshing it out as I started deepening the characters around Cerryn's early age. By tying Cerryn's, Remy's and Baron Nallory's tales together, I'm hoping the story will feel more "real". I've other background items that are coming forward into the story, presenting opportunities to draw the reader into the tale more deeply, such as why Randir fears the Il'cha bonding so much, and why the walls he puts up between himself and Cerryn cause her to react in the manners I'd put forth already in the first draft. Having shown her reactions to her brothers similar actions years past, her actions should now make sense without paragraphs of explanation.
If I show the causes clearly enough.
If the causes are memorable enough to be remembered.
If I... Stop with the IF's already. Write, Jim, and worry about the details later.
Anyway, lots to work on. I'd wanted to comment more on the previous weeks posting, and may still later this week (musings on who's reading and why), but for now...
CLear skies,
Jim
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