The Bookwyrm Writes Things!

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

So, I like to attempt to write fantasy (and sometimes sci-fi). I am especially good at coming up with worldbuilding, and create beautiful worlds for stories to take place in. However, I am not so good with characters and plot, meaning many of the things I write end up trailing off awkwardly after a few chapters.

So, this leaves me with a few snippets of attempted literature that I can share with you! This thread will contain a bunch of things I've written, and many of them will be part of (or at least related to) my Connected Universe.

This first one is actually very recent: I wrote it over the last week or so. It's not done yet, so I'll post the rest of it later.

Some friends and I have been trying to write a story together. I did most of the main worldbuilding. We each have a main character that we're in charge of, and this is the first scene featuring my character. Kind of a backstory, not officially part of anything yet. 

Tell me what you think!

Spoiler

Rayen stood in the foothills of a mountain, overlooking a forested valley.

A forest of this kind was fairly common in the eastern portions of Mechalon. The trees on this continent had grown to imitate the technology that was so widely used by the people who lived there. The wood of their trunks had grown as hard and as strong as metal, and now their smooth surfaces shone with a distinct sheen. Their leaves had strange shapes that seemed unnaturally symmetrical, and they glowed with a pinkish-orange light. The light from the leaves was bright enough that a person could see as clear as day, despite the fact that the sun had set several hours ago.

The most distinctive feature of the trees was their branches, however. The trees were known as bladecaps. Their symmetrically growing branches were lined with deadly sharp edges, enough that warriors had sometimes used their branches as a weapon in a pinch. Luckly, the bladecaps had no fruit, so no one but the brave—or stupid—would actually go climb in them.

The forest was beautiful. The ambient light from the glowing leaves illuminated the forest and the area around it, creating a beautiful and mystical aura.

It was a shame that it would soon become a battlefield.

Rayen surveyed the area with his eyes. His glasses, which doubled as his tactical visor, gave him heads up displays that were projected into the lenses. It would temporarily highlight portions of the terrain and give him useful information that could be beneficial to the battle ahead.

Kalra, his second in command, walked up beside him. Her black uniform was similar to his own, with patterns in blue and red that signified they were part of the Icefire army. The pattern of those blue and red lines was shaped into the rough outline of wings on the front and back of the uniform, marking them as part of the Dragonwing unit, of which Rayen was the commander. The ranking badge over his heart marked him as such.

Kalra was a powerful fighter. Her sword and shield were strapped to her back, and the shield glowed slightly with orange light along its grooves and contours. The sword had the same light, though it wasn’t visible, considering it was sheathed. She was tall, about half a head taller than Rayen, and quite muscular. Her black hair was pulled into a tight bun, and her blue eyes surveyed the valley. Though she wasn’t a Techwielder, like Rayen himself, she was still an incredibly capable warrior and smart captain.

“See anything that could help us out today?” she asked.

Rayen nodded. “Look over there.” He pointed to a small cliff that rose over the forest, to the left side of the small valley. As he looked at it, it was outlined in orange in his visor, and tactical information began to appear as if hovering in the air to his view.

“That cliff could turn the tide of battle for us. Biolon controls this valley right now, as you know.” Kalra nodded, and Rayen continued. “Once the battle starts, I’ll lead squad one over there, climb up the path, and capture it. Biolon probably realizes the importance of that cliff, so we’ll most likely meet some resistance.”

Rayen turned off his tactical visor by tapping the side of his glasses’ frame. “You and Esyra will lead the rest of the unit through the forest, and wait until we can give sniper support to push through fully. Our unit will re-group once this part of the valley is captured, then we’ll continue on to the rest of the army.”

Kalra nodded. “Solid plan. You can let us handle the nitty-gritty details for the op.” She turned and looked backwards, to where the rest of the Dragonwing unit was camped, hidden in a smaller area surrounded on all sides by small hills. Soldiers walked around, chatting and preparing for battle. The temporary camp was interspersed with tents and collapsible structures used for various purposes. There were a few large artillery vehicles and transports that surrounded the camp.

It was these artillery units that Kalra brought up next. “How do you expect to get the artillery through the forest?” she asked. “The trees aren’t going to let our ground vehicles through.”

Rayen nodded. “We’re going to have to capture this part of the valley without the support of on-site artillery. We can use hovercraft, but otherwise, we’ll have to wait to get our tanks through.” 

“I see.” Kalra nodded, then smiled confidently. “Well,” she said, putting her hands on her hips, “we’ll get to see the looks on their face when we utterly thrash them without the help of our amazing machinery.”

Rayen smiled. “Don’t get too confident, Kalra. We haven’t won yet.”

Kalra laughed. “Oh, please. With you leading us? Those Biolon scrappers won’t know what hit ‘em.”

“If you say so…” Rayen replied, but he was still smiling.

“Go have them break camp,” he continued. “We’re marching within the hour. I’ll explain the strategy to them as soon as they’re ready.”

“Yessir!” Kalra saluted, holding her left arm across her chest so that the three extended fingers on her left and touched her right shoulder, then jogged down the hill and to the camp.

Rayen chuckled to himself. Then he turned and looked back at the valley, running through his plan one more time in his head.

All of the soldiers in the Dragonwing Unit were very loyal to him. They followed his orders without question, trusting his judgment and forgiving his mistakes. He had climbed in the military ranks rapidly, despite his young age, and was now the commander of one of the most well known units in Mechalon at the age of seventeen. Soldiers and officers in other units would sometimes think it unfair for someone so young to have a position so high, but no one in Dragonwing questioned it. 

He was close friends with all of them. And, more than once, his decisions had sent those friends to their deaths. It was hard. Unbearably hard, but Rayen had learned to cope. They had trusted him, and gladly laid down their lives for their friends, family, home, and ideals. They wouldn’t have blamed him, and would have forgiven him if they’d been able to say so. Rayen knew these things logically. Many of his troops had told him so themselves.

That didn’t stop the guilt from creeping into him.

Rayen sighed. Hopefully this battle would be one of the better ones. He turned and walked down to the camp, where his troops were waiting for him.

 

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

I like it and I'm rather curious to what they can do. And I have an idea, what would it do to Rayen if Kalra died in the battle? Assuming you don't have any major plans for her.

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

1 minute ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

I like it and I'm rather curious to what they can do. And I have an idea, what would it do to Rayen if Kalra died in the battle? Assuming you don't have any major plans for her.

Don't worry, Rayen will have experienced enough trauma by the time the scene is over...

Also, sadly, I probably won't get to share much more of how this story goes. I would need my friends' permission for that, and I'm not sure how comfortable they'd be sharing. Because I'm writing this specific scene alone, I can share it. And I will finish this scene, at the very least.

Afterwards, basically all of what I share will be independent projects.

[That1Cellist he/him]

It is very interesting, I'm mostly just curious about the trees. What would an economy look like if you could farm and harvest those things? Do they still glow once they die? If the trunks are as hard as metal, could you harvest it and use it as a substitute? I think I had other questions, but I can't remember them right now.