Chris has created a new character to add to the novel: "a rogue-ish human who plays both ends against the middle to make a living, but isn't overly ambitious." I think this is an excellent idea! By his very nature, he's a complex character whose moral ambiguity will keep our readers guessing and expand on the theme of betrayal that I started with Moxie and Cy.
Please tell me all you can about this character so I can stay true to your ideas as I write him in. What are you picturing in your head? What is his personality? Appearance? Male or female? Name, age, family, social status? What are the flaws and strengths in his character? How does he play both ends? And which ends? We have several: the upper class magic users seeking to crush steam technology, the government trying to maintain order, the upper-class people trying to use steam technology to their advantage, the poor rebels who are stealing the steam technology and altering it with magic to fit their own purposes, or anything else along those lines that you would like to use. Is he, for example, feeding information about the poor rebels to the rich while also helping the rebels steal steam technology? What skills does he have?
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Plague is caught up in what Moxie promised to the sidhe for his help in reviving Cy. He suggests two ideas. I put a poll on the right side of the screen. Please vote on which path you would like our story to take. Plague's first idea is that Moxie promised to continue replacing parts of Cy with steam-built parts in order to remove his "essence of fey." The effects of this idea on our story are:
1) The sidhe who helped revive Cy is the minion of the person to whom Moxie made the promise. (He can't be the receiver of that promise because he didn't know that Cy was part fey until he started using magic on him.) Who is the person to whom Moxie made the promise? Why does he want to remove Cy's "essence of fey," and why Cy? How does this tie into Cy's murder? Presumably the "master" is not the one who wanted Cy dead; indeed, he has a vested interest in keeping Cy alive. Why? And is Cy a special case or are there others that they're experimenting on? If there are others, is Moxie involved in them? Does the master want to wipe out all fey or just hybrids? And why would he not simply kill the hybrids? Next you have the minion. He couldn't have known who Cy is because he didn't know that Cy was part fey. So how does the minion fit in? Is he now disillusioned with his master or employer and will he turn against him?
2) Moxie and the "master" had to believe that they could force Cy to keep replacing parts. Cy, of course, would venomously oppose this. How did they think that would work? And then there's Moxie. It's plausible that she would "repair" Cy once to save his life if she truly loved him, but you wouldn't sentence someone you truly love to a horrific life of having his body parts replaced. Therefore her love must not be true love, but obsession. Moxie becomes a villain, not an ally, although she could turn into an ally later on once she starts to understand what real love is. The other result is that Cy will seek to escape and prevent these replacements from happening, and that will become a central part of the story.
Whether we go with this as the promise or not, I have to say that I love the idea of that parts of Cy's natural body continue to be replaced with steam-built technology throughout the story. It plays in very well with our nature vs. technology theme. Even if it's not Moxie's promise, I think we should still use the idea. The replacements could be forced on Cy because the magic can't sustain his natural body (since he should be dead). His extremities could start dying or rotting, and then he and Moxie would be seeking a way to save himself throughout the story.
Plague's second suggestion is that Moxie promised to manipulate Cy's memories in order to coerce him into, or out of, some task of which only he is capable of performing. It has to be "into" because otherwise they could have just not revived him. So what is this task and why is Cy the only one who can do it? This option requires that the sidhe knew that Cy would have memory problems. Either a) he created those problems though magic, which means Cy could find a way to reverse the effects, or b) other people have been revived in the same manner and had the same problems.
Please vote on which option you prefer.
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A while ago, Plague as said: "There's a war on the way steam vs magic. Both sides would imaginably be fueled by the the politicians, manipulating the two sides to their benefit... This could be a great way to introduce that steam dragon. they've been building it since things started getting heated, and eventually they get it completed. Would the main characters be involved in helping find the necessary parts to finish it? Would Mixie be directly involved with the build? For that matter is she directly involved with such a faction period?"
Would anyone like to expand on this?
(And sorry, Plague. I just realized I used Moxie instead of Mixie. Would you like me to change it?)
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Plague also decided that "the earth elementals live underground, and are going to be near, or at least nearer to the steam engine... That [is] going to make the magic they're using a lot stronger... The remergence of steam technology up top is going to end up syphoning some of that power from them, distributing it more throughout the world. This loss off magical power for them could very well be why one, a few, or even a number of them have headed to the surface. Investigating these changes in their power."
Anyone want to develop a gnome/earth elemental character for us?
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If I haven't mentioned any comments or ideas that you've had in this or other posts, please let me know. Your ideas are valuable and I don't want to miss them by accident! If you have any other ideas, or if you'd like to develop Cy, Moxie, the sidhe, or any other characters, please feel free to do so. Thank you!
The character I had in mind would be a man who used the symbiotic nature of steam tech and magic to his financial advantage, but now is having second thoughts about his decision. He's seen both sides of the coin now and really doesn't like what he sees. He's looking for one big score so he can walk away and actually do something meaningful with his life, but he knows that is a bit too good at procuring the hard to find, intricate steam items that make the system work. He's a black market dealer with many connections and no real friends. He despises the rich and the republic, longing to walk away to some place quiet and relaxing; with no danger and no backstabbing. I could even see him helping Cy should he choose to escape his torment; even finding parts that might help him deal with his situation.
ReplyDeleteHis personality is one of rugged and tough on the outside, but a decent man on the inside. No romances or ties to hold him down as he's a free spirit. As for appearance, I had nothing in particular in mind, but in his line of work, it would probably need to be non-descript so he isn't recognized by authorities easily. Or he could use disguises, either way. I would say he would be in his early thirties; young enough to still do the job, but old enough to be tired of doing it and want out. His family is dead, killed in a steam plant explosion (they lived close by). The plant paid him compensation for his loss, but in money, which made him bitter toward the rich. He would have to be cynical of anything the wealthy told, but still WANT to believe in something. Not really a tortured soul, but one with hopes that get constantly dashed. His role in playing both end against the middle took some work, but I think I have a plausible idea. He is paid by the those same wealthy magic users to steal key, and highly expensive components to steam tech from other wealthy magic users. One corporation might hire him to steal a hard-to-find gear or linkage which another would pay him to steal it back. He also occasionally works for the steam workers who need a specific gear or part that would improve their situation, and for them, he works for free because he sympathizes with their plight.
As for names, I really hadn't considered it, but as I was going over his personality, the name Auggy stuck in my head. But then I got an idea that might add some humor to his role. His name might be Augrum, but people call him Auggy and he hates it. But that's just me.
I've come up with an idea that may come out to play throughout the book. Perhaps in the beginning of the book, the steam engine powering the steam magic isn't fully powered yet. Then you could have scenes about the engine getting more powered by the gnomes. As the engine get's more powerful(too powerful?)it begins to change the nature of non-steam things(people, animals, normal objects).
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