the mishmash

A WIP INTRO : DELIVERANCE

genre: fantasy status: outlining/idea dump themes: devotion/faith, gods/higher powers, magic, brotherhood, companionship, love for humanity, seeking a greater adventure pov: third person limited

SYNOPSIS

Velvet Ko, while faithful and dutiful, seeks excitement outside his responsibilities as another youth in a long line of shrine attendants. His work takes him all over his city, Ayari; he can’t help wondering about lands beyond the rice fields. Luckily, his Companion, a magical manifestation of an imaginary friend, named Kida keeps him grounded during his rounds. As much as he yearns to explore beyond, he is fiercely dedicated to the Ayari Shrine. Adventure seems to find Velvet before he can steel himself to leave the city. Via mysterious messenger, he receives a vague letter from his older brother, Vai. But Vai has been missing for years since his entry as a solider into the Imperium and Vel isn’t so naive to believe a suspicious letter. In any case, Vai believes there's something evil rising at the head of the country and it's spreading. Now, he wants Velvet to help him at the Royal Capital.  A victim of enticement, the young attendant seizes the opportunity and dives headfirst into the mysteries of magic, the Royal Capital, and the patron goddess his city was dedicated to: Amoyari. There's something otherworldly stirring, and it's calling for Velvet.

CHARACTERS

Velvet Ko: At 18 years old, he’s the head of the youth at the Ayari Shrine. An incredibly hard-worker and has a fierce devotion to Amoyari, the Goddess of Mercy. He strives to embody her spirit - mercy, compassion, love - in every day he lives, even if he seeks to escape the stagnancy of his life. Kida: Velvet’s Companion. Most children grow out of evoking their Companion as they grow older, but Vel has kept him around since he was 5. While a part of Velvet’s conscience, Kida enjoys joking and teasing Kida at every moment. He is both Velvet’s impulse control and his enabler. Vai Ko: At 19, Vai joined the Imperial as a healing officer while Velvet was only 11 years old. Only two years later the shrine received word he had gone missing during a skirmish with foreign officers at the border. Velvet remembers him as very kind and down to earth. Chihara: The mysterious messenger who brought Vai’s letter to Velvet. She refuses to leave Velvet alone until he agrees to meet with the supposed Vai at the capital. Strange and somewhat impersonal otherwise.

EXCERPT

It’s always crowded at this time of night. People are pushing, not past each other, but together. Students dressed in clean white uniforms press for the arcades, laughing with their heads upturned to the sky. Weary farmers skirt the edges, speaking in deep rumbles as they look for a bar with vacancy. Couples argue, kiss, share a fizzy bottled drink. Not always in that order, Velvet muses.

He navigates the street as he has a thousand times before. He’s positive if he closed his eyes he could find his way without any problem. Just feeling the movement of bodies around him, the distinct tingle of magic through his bound palms, and the cobblestones pressing into his socks is enough to guide him.

Kida’s voice whispers in Velvet’s mind. “I know you’re trying not to think about it.”