Plot Constructing!

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Over the past year and a half-ish, I've written very short, very rough beginnings to stories. Just this week, I finally connected that all three could be used in the same world, at the very least, and possibly the same story. My problem is finding something to connect them all into one plot. Here are the four characters' POVs that are actually written and some notes for each. (Keep in mind that most of these were written over a year ago and that they are very rough.) There are also two magic systems that I created, one for Ts/Daron and one for Argisen. I think they can be combined with a minimal amount of work.

 

Magic Systems:

From Ts/Daron:

3 Types: Mental, Physical, and Internal

Internal magic heals a body very fast, but also causes extreme hunger. Ts is one of these.

Mental magic allows the mind to process much faster but also fatigues easily. Daron is one of these.

Physical magic causes a body to be able to be enhanced with speed and strength, but these age quickly.

 

From Argisen:

3 types: Sunsoldiers, Sunscholars, and Sunrunners(tentative names). They are explained in his POV.

 

Ts:

POV:

Ts had embraced death once before, but this time, he was going willingly. He had set off into the Forest of Dr early that morning, searching for the pool he knew existed in the center. As the second sun, Rn, reached its peak, a fact Tscould only notice by the faint glimmer directly above him, shining through the leafy canopy above, Ts scaled a tree to scout for the legendary waters. The small pond was said to be able to kill any beast or cure any disease. The trick was knowing which it would do for you. Ts only was able to hope that the water would decide to kill him, for he couldn't be cured of the only disease he could contract: sadness. He saw sunlight reflecting off in the distance and he began to climb down the tree. Almost immediately, the roots pulled out of the ground and began waving wildly, beating the trunk mercilessly. In imitation, the surrounding trees took up the solemn rhythm. Ts hugged the branch he had been hanging on before this unearthly drumming had begun. A root flashed in the corner of his vision. Ducking his head, Ts tried to dodge the tip, but he had been too slow. The edge had cut his cheek. More and more roots began slashing towards him. One smacked the branch he hung onto and Ts frantically tried to keep his grip. To no avail, he slipped and fell from his high perch in the air. 

 

Notes: Ts comes from the land of those with Internal magic. They are immune from just about every disease. Ts, for a reason I don't know yet, is very depressed(a death of someone close maybe?) and can't get over his sadness. He is attempting to commit suicide from these "legendary waters".

 

Daron: 

POV: 

Daron slashed his sword, spinning to dodge and ducking from the incoming blows. One of his enemies' sword glinted in the light of Rongu, the second sun, shining in through the single window in the large room. Daron, sweaty and dusty, registered this fact instantly and he blocked the almost-deadly swipe with his own blade. He stabbed forward with his sword in his left hand and slipped a dagger into his right, throwing it at his opponent to the side. Both weapons hit their mark. The gear-powered dummies bent over in simulated death. Daron heaved a deep breath, pulling his helmet off when he heard footsteps from behind. Quickly, he ducked behind a dummy and tried to shimmy out of his forbidden armor. 

"My Ronuit, your father has requested your presence immediately. Ah," the servant sighed, "You know you aren't supposed to be here, Daron." The Ronuit of Dregoni sighed from his place behind the combat dummy and stepped out from his hiding place. 

"Yes, Usef. I'm going now. You won't find a reason to mention this, will you?

 

Notes: Daron is the crown prince in the land of those with mental magic. In his land, scholars are revered and soldiers are very low on the social ladder. Daron loves combat, though and enjoys fighting. He practices in secret, but his steward(Usef) knows and reports to his father. His father assumes it's just a youthful fancy and that he'll grow out of it.

 

Argisen: 

POV: 

He was in the arena. A rager was running toward him. A swift stroke of the sword and a deft swivel of the hips blocked the blow. A thrust with the knife; blocked by claws. He was knocked to the ground by the force. The rager leapt. He rolled. Claws raked his back and pain split his spine. 

 

Argisen awoke from pain running in veins down his body. The scars almost burned. Once he was fully awake, the pain faded quickly. The pains were only memories and dreams. Gladiating took a heavier toll on the mind than it did on the body, rather than the opposite. A Gladiator dealt with awful dreams of death and pain. The scars may heal, but the hellish memories didn't. 

 

Argisen stood up, stiff joints aching. After so many years, the scars accumulated and the stiffness increased. He washed his face with Sunwater and felt his stiffness and pain subside. He felt his strength increase as the water bathed his face. Argisen drank some of it as well and it rushed through his body. The Sunblessed were people who, when they drank Sunwater, it increased their capacities. There were Sunsoldiers, like Argisen, who would have their bodies strengthened by the water. Sunrunners were blessed with speed and dexterity. Sunscholars would have their minds enlightened and quickened. Some, like Argisen, hid their abilities, preferring to keep it a secret. Others flaunted their abilities. Sunblessed had to drink or bathe in the Sunwater daily to get the benefits. Argisen, finished with the water, put it away in a hidden cupboard and continued to get ready. 

 

Putting on his light armor\~||, Argisen prepared himself for the day. Blood. Fury. Rage. Death. He had to confront those things now so that he wouldn't freeze up in the arena. He imagined the worst possible thing he could think of and then focused on it; bathed his mind in it. He imagined the blood and the death and knew it was awful, but knew he would have to face it. He was so used to this ritual that he performed it even today, when his battles would be different. 

 

Argisen was ready. Today would be different than most. Today he wouldn't fight the Ragers. Today he fought a worse creature. One who was ruined and corrupted. His long, heavy blade at his side, Argisen left his house and headed towards the city center. He entered the Derenium, named for one of the chief judges long ago, entering with a nod to the guards. They knew who he was; everyone in Kreneon knew who he was; Argisen, the Gladiator Politician. 

 

Never before had one so privileged as a Politician's son ever chose to become a Gladiator. Those were slaves and captive soldiers slated for death. Argisen had decided that if he ever wanted to lead the people, he would have to know even the lowest of them. Only when he had gone as low as he could, only then could he rise and lead the people. He had been good at it too. No Gladiator had ever survived more than a few years, and those were the famous ones, butArgisen had shattered all those records over and over. He had lasted fifteen years in the pit of the arena. He still fought in the arena most days. 

 

Today was a special day though. One that Argisen had dreaded. He had battled the worst beasts he had ever seen, and yet this worried him more than those battles ever had. Today he would have a battle of ideas and a battle of words with a snake. Hyrenes had been a politician his whole life. He knew how to confuse and he knew how to slip lies and tricks into everything he said. Argisen thought directly. Everything was straightforward for him.

 

Notes: Argisen's is probably the most succinct POV so far. Almost everything about him, that I know so far, is explained in those paragraphs.

 

Kahad: 

POVs: 

Post-Vigilante: The hand let the mask fall. The mask which had rarely parted with the face for years. Its resounding clunks rang out in the empty dark. Rain filled the scars gouged in the face of the mask, whose twins lined the face of the man. The face which now turned towards the ground. Wet, dark hair hung to curtain the face from the world. A feeble barrier. Years of blackness had shown that the world was darker than any night. The mask had been a shield as much as an empowerment. The man of the mask had fallen. Kahad was only a man, and now he accepted it.

Kahad walked away from the mask. Behind him, in the dark rain, it stared lifelessly into the sky.  Raising his head, Kahad looked up at the city of death. There had been a time when he had thought it was the city of dreams, but the illusion had vanished and now he saw the truth of Al-Sarim: darkness never fades. When the sun rises, darkness doesn't fade, it only retreats to hidden corners, lingering, spreading again as the sun falls. Kahad had been the sun. He had struggled to remove the darkness, and he had learned that simple truth of darkness's pervasiveness. He had failed.

~~~

Flashback from Pre-Vigilante: Kahad laughed and spun his staff about, dummies falling left and right. The thrill of fighting surged through him, keeping his energy high. Kahad's Hayid, Benghar, smiled. A small smile, but compared to his typical straight mouth, it was enough to split Kahad's face into a large grin.

"Hayid, can we duel now?" The training fighter asked his master. Everyday he asked, and everyday the answer was the same. By now, the silly ritual was as much a joke between student and teacher as it was a sincere request.

"Soon," the response came. Kahad nodded, touching his fist to the center of his chest in respect.

"Soon," Kahad repeated. Putting the ohmud back into the stack of its brothers, he put his shoes on and left.

~~~

Flashback from Vigilante: The Sheyyah struck, jumping out of the dark corner, using the ohmud to sweep the killer’s legs out from under him. Sheyyah drew his jagged knife and stabbed. Once, twice, more. When the struggling ended, Sheyyah stopped.

Sheyyah drew his knife out of the body. Removing his mask, Kahad saw dark blood. Blood. That blood was Kahad's fault. Kahad had killed. He had drawn a man's life out of his chest with his own hand. And he knew Al-Sarim was better for it. That was the worst part.

~~~

Post-Vigilante: Kahad struggled to part from his identity as Sheyyah. Sleeping at night no longer worked for him. He took short naps throughout the entire day, never quite feeling rested, but never very tired either. The rush of attack filled his mind, but never got to invigorate his body again. Kahad spent some days pacing the roads of Al-Sarim, ignoring the evil that surrounded him.

 

Notes: For the current story I have in mind and am beginning to write, I am thinking of trying out a different structure than typically. First off, you need to know that the main character, Kahad, was a vigilante type hero who now is giving up on hope and trying to go back to a normal life. That's the "Present" timeline. What I want to do is have three different timelines going throughout the story: One, the Present, where Kahad is dealing with dejection and trying to establish a regular life. Two, the Far Past, about Kahad as a young man, growing up and learning and training. This will end with him becoming a vigilante. Three, the Recent Past, the stories of Kahad as a vigilante up until he decides to give up.

Sheyyad is his Vigilante name which means something along the lines of Little Sun.

These POVs jump around a lot, I know. They won't actually be in this order.

 

World:

On this world is a supercontinent shaped roughly like a donut. The main landmass is a thick ring of land surrounded by ocean. In the center of the ring, there is a large water mass(possibly with a resource-rich island in the middle). There are two suns that this planet revolves around and the sun is a big part of all the cultures there. The landmass is divided into at least seven different nations who are constantly squabbling over land. The borderlands between each nation are very fluid and diverse. With constant wars over the border, nationalities and ethnicities along the border have merged, while in the center of each nation, the bloodlines are mostly pure.

 

So what I need now is some type of plot or motivation for these characters to connect. Any ideas?

 

Edit: fixed spoilers

Edited August 1, 2015 by Mailliw73

[18th Shard he/him]

Maybe connect the two magic systems somehow - one has people who can enhance their physical, mental, and internal characteristics, and one that has water that enhances people's physical, mental, and speed/agility. Maybe make a new Sunblessed that is healed by the water, and a new Ts/Daron kind that enhances speed/agility at the expense of... something. Hmmm, immune system strength? hydration?

 

Anyways, somehow one group absorbs energy from Sunblessed water, and one directly from the Sun, but the second lose something when they do so. Or they can all do the above, but many don't know about Sunwater.

 

This allows you to geographically bring them together, maybe have them accidentally interact.

 

Just some ideas. See what fits your head!canon.

Edited August 1, 2015 by 18th Shard

[ThirdGen]

As a general rule, I'd prefer to first spur your own creativity.  This will be your opus, after all.

 

What do you want to see that you haven't seen before?

 

Focus on an aspect of the characters, world, or story.  Is there something like this that you've been dissatisfied with in another work?  What was wrong with it?  What would be better than it?

 

You can transform the material as well to better understand it.  What if a character was in a TV show, or game, or an opera, or an ancient poem?  What would they be like in that circumstance?  Does anything from that also work in the prose version you want to write?

 

You could also try an Oblique Strategy: http://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.html

 

There was a point in my writing when I similarly had trouble moving from setup to the bulk of the plot.  Some strategies that worked for me in that instance:

 

- Write a short prequel.

- Watch, read, consume more.

- Listen to people, try to understand how they live their lives.

- Expand your reference pool.  Something trite to one person/genre can be a revelation used differently in another.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Maybe connect the two magic systems somehow - one has people who can enhance their physical, mental, and internal characteristics, and one that has water that enhances people's physical, mental, and speed/agility. Maybe make a new Sunblessed that is healed by the water, and a new Ts/Daron kind that enhances speed/agility at the expense of... something. Hmmm, immune system strength? hydration?

 

Anyways, somehow one group absorbs energy from Sunblessed water, and one directly from the Sun, but the second lose something when they do so. Or they can all do the above, but many don't know about Sunwater.

Hmm, I like that a lot. Now, I'm not sure how some nations would've gained the ability to directly absorb it from the sun. Any science-inclined people want to take a shot at it?

 

As a general rule, I'd prefer to first spur your own creativity.  This will be your opus, after all.

 

What do you want to see that you haven't seen before?

 

Focus on an aspect of the characters, world, or story.  Is there something like this that you've been dissatisfied with in another work?  What was wrong with it?  What would be better than it?

 

You can transform the material as well to better understand it.  What if a character was in a TV show, or game, or an opera, or an ancient poem?  What would they be like in that circumstance?  Does anything from that also work in the prose version you want to write?

 

You could also try an Oblique Strategy: http://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.html

 

There was a point in my writing when I similarly had trouble moving from setup to the bulk of the plot.  Some strategies that worked for me in that instance:

 

- Write a short prequel.

- Watch, read, consume more.

- Listen to people, try to understand how they live their lives.

- Expand your reference pool.  Something trite to one person/genre can be a revelation used differently in another.

Thanks, ThirdGen! I'll have to try some of these out. I do have a general idea for the character arcs, I'm looking more for an overarching plot that would wrap all these characters together.