#emberfell sequel

I’m going to discuss some couples that I’ve written about because I haven’t done that before. I’ll do this more-or-less in chronological order of when I started writing the story, and go into them to give explanations of relationships and how they’re explored. I’m only going to be discussing relationships involving the main character, but I might talk about others in a later post.

Uruz & Naomi - From my first writing, The East, Uruz is a young soldier who is the childhood friend of the princess, Naomi. The East probably has the weirdest setting of any of my stories (likely due to me being 14 when I envisioned it), being very... small. I won’t go into all that here, but the world was very small and so there wasn’t a huge divide between the monarchy and the populace (though, Uruz’s mother was a personal friend of the king). I didn’t write a ton of their interactions, so their relationship never really developed any kind of character. But Uruz always liked Naomi, and she liked him, and so he joined the army so he could marry her (marrying into the royal family required a certain rank).

Merrich & Angie - From my second story, Winter, which concerns a country (Enic) which has been locked in a supernatural winter for like, 800 years. The legend is that this was caused by a witch who now lives in the capital (which is in the inner part of the country, which is extremely inhospitable). Occasionally, adventurers go to try and kill the witch, but none return. By this point in my writing, I’d developed past simple “Boy likes Girl, their love is the main cause of their actions with each other,” and so these two had some major problems. They grew up as neighbors in single-parent homes, and when Merrich’s father was killed by wolves (preternatural wolves), he went to live with Angie and her mother. They grew to like each other in a romantic way, but they were both still young (like, 15, I think). Merrich decided that he didn’t want to raise a family in this horrible land, and so left home, breaking things off with a note (one of those “I gotta do this, forget about me, live your own life,” deals that I actually really hate as a trope, but this was a long time ago) and working on caravans for 4 years. Eventually, Merrich got up the courage to go after the witch, and so put out word that he was getting party together to do that. Of course, Angela shows up to the ad, now an accomplished magician. They have a very rough relationship, arguing and sniping at each other for the greater part of the trip, but that starts to fade after Merrich is killed by wolves, and then narrowly resurrected. They cool off after that, realizing (to the relief of the rest of the party) that there are more important things. I won’t go into all of it, but the last arc of the story is very taxing on everyone, and the two grow closer through adversity, eventually sharing a kiss at the center of everything once the villain is dead.

The Tactician & Idaea - This one is from Emberfell and is the most interesting, because it was entirely unplanned. The two have a very hostile relationship at first, with circumstances forcing them to travel together and Idaea not liking the danger that the Tactician (whose name I still refuse to reveal) and his group attract. She thinks only of her sister and is more than willing to disregard the personal desires of others in order to protect her. This leads to the two of them having private discussions on many occasions. The Tactician is a fairly arrogant person, one that unknowingly tends to think of others as not really being on the same level as him. These discussions, in which the two of them butt heads, breaks that down to some degree and he comes to be intimidated by her (in a good way, the kind that is mingled with admiration). Idaea comes to see the Tactician as not actually being as cool and haughty as he puts on, and sees the genuine emotions he has towards those around him. They never really have a huge romantic moment, though it slowly becomes clear that they care for one another. There is a scene right before the last leg of the journey where the two kind of awkwardly stand by one another and feel like they should say something, but don’t know what to say. Eventually, Idaea’s like “your face scar doesn’t look so bad” (a rather nasty scar he acquired late in the story), and he’s like “thanks” (because he’s actually been self-conscious about it) and they mutually agree to try not to die. It’s never explicitly stated that they end up together, but if you read the epilogue notes about what everyone does afterwards, you can piece together that they both end up in the same place, living with unnamed people. As I said, I never intended for there to be a relationship between these two. It sort of just evolved from their interactions and personalities (which is rare for me, since I usually plan everything out).

Mina & Ein - This one (from Emberfell’s sequel) is another weak relationship, mostly because I haven’t written much of it. And also, this sort of came into being as like “I like these two characters and think they would interact well.” The main impetus of their relationship is a mutual fascination. Mina is a terribly curious person and Ein is from a far away land and has powers which are little understood in Mina’s culture. The two are sort of “assigned” to hang out together and learn about each other’s cultures. They challenge each other in different ways, mostly Mina experimenting with Ein’s polymorphic abilities, and Ein trying to figure out and understand Mina’s obsessive-compulsive hangups and crippling insecurities.

Of the “Main 14″ (the initial 14 characters in Emberfell’s sequel) the second-least thoroughly thought out is Prince Halidon (second only to Talmen A’Bashara, whose personality right now consists of “old”).

Halidon Faerator Landolin-Cartwright Tellanor is the older of the two royal children, and thus the one charged with with protecting the other. He’s quiet and works hard, spending his days training and riding. He’s an accomplished fighter, good with a spear, though nothing exceptional. His main struggles involve the fact that, despite all his hard work, he’s constantly upstaged by preternaturally strong sister.

By tradition, he is his sister’s bodyguard, but there’s little need for him because A) Marethe is rarely placed in dangerous situations (before the start of the story), and B) Marethe is a better fighter. He works hard practicing his spearwork, she sleeps in and paints, and she’s stronger, faster, and healthier. She tends to save him more than the other way around.

He’s very devoted, though, and so doesn’t mind his lot. 

There’s something tragic about him, though. I haven’t decided what just yet. I don’t think he’ll die, but I think he’ll be grievously wounded in an act of self-sacrifice. It’s a fulfillment of his destiny, jumping in when he’s needed at last.

Timeline: (Parent’s Age, Marriage, Death) Rose (—, 19, 77) Alex (78) Mikal (23, —, 81) Jienne (25, —,78) Grael (28, 24, 66) Senara (80) Ieva (28, —,37) Ena (23, 25, —) Anden (—) Halidon (29, —, —) Marethe (32, —, —)

-19 - Rose is born. 001 - Rose takes the throne, marries Alex. 004 - Son, Mikal, is born. 007 - Daughter, Jienne, is born. 009 - Son, Grael, is born. 033 - Grael marries Senara. 035 - Grael and Senara become monarchs.   037 - Daughter, Ieva, is born. 048 - Daughter, Ena, is born. 068 - Rose dies, followed by Alex. 073 - Ena marries Anden 074 - Ieva dies, Ena and Anden become monarchs. 075 - Grael dies. 077 - Son, Halidon, is born. 080 - Daughter, Marethe, is born. 085 - Jienne dies. 089 - Senara dies. 092 - Mikal dies.

That’s a family tree/timeline I did in Senior Seminar (instead of doing Senior Seminar), because I had to plan out the royal family between Emberfell and its sequel. Alex, Senara, and Anden don’t have all of their age listings because they weren't born in the royal family and I don’t care so much that stuff for them.

The three numbers are Parents Age (when person was born), Age when Married (only applies to main-line descendants), and how old they were when they died.

There’s like, 16 or 18 tribes and I need to get all the names and relations written out so that I can keep the details straight.

Some aspects of their culture are widely shared, while others are specific to only one or two tribes. For example: Most of the tribes believe that people are reincarnated through different forms. Generally, everyone agrees that cats house the souls of those who are going to be human in their next life, and that people become this one specific type of tree (there’s no karmic system involved). No one really knows further back or further forward than that.

But then there’s one tribe that everyone agrees just goes back and forth between being crows and humans.

And then there’s one tribe that favors athleticism and contests of skill and strength, and they all wear drab, brown cloaks that they dye brilliant colors on the inside. 

One of the people from Emberfell who goes along is Autumn Antern. She's in her late teens and works hard as an assistant at the library. She keeps to herself emotionally, has a professional attitude and an organized mind. Her major hobby is reading (though, she reads more novels than Mina).

Her dream is to get married and have a quiet life, but she has a very low opinion of her own attractiveness. She doesn't so much compare herself to others as fixate on their attractive qualities to the point that she often feels inadequate in more than just physical beauty.

Despite this, she tends to be level-headed and (if not as observant as Mina) she certainly never panics.

Though she is of similar age to Mina, they aren't really friends. They just never hung around one another and Autumn only saw Mina as her boss' daughter.

The overarching plot exists and I've written some stuff in the early parts and early-middle, but nothing else. Most of everything is unplanned at this moment.

The Sequel is unusual because when I write it, I kind of just do whatever I want. Certain parts are needlessly complex, much of the early story is just character interaction and the main characters preparing for their journey.