#kerridon

An excerpt from the upcoming chapter of my Steampunk AU, Kerridon.

“Remind me again who I have to thank for this shit show?” Dacris, one of Lerki’s unwilling helpers for the night, asked in a way that promised pain to whomever was responsible.

“Tundra.”

Thank you for the ask!

I am currently in a full re-write of my fanfiction Kerridon. There is no specific part I’m anxious to get to, I just want to get all the rewritten bits done.

This is a micro prompt I wrote featuring Ghenha. Canonically, she’s a foul-mouthed dwarf who lives in Illthdar. For this, we turned her into a deb for @guardians-of-las-vyxen‘s spau story. The idea is that, as a dwarf, she’s “deficient”, so needs to hide that by walking on stilts. The story is a steam punk, so between the tech and the flouncy dresses she just about pulls it off. Voon is another character from Illthdar, who makes clockwork toys as a hobby. In Kerridon, he’s still good with his hands, but helps the resistance movement by crafting parts of their weapons.  Sidenote: Voon has a crush on Ghenha and she’s aromantic asexual, so that’s never gonna happen.

Ghenha hurried through the foggy, cobbled streets of Kerridon, one hand clutching the hood of her cloak to stop it flying back and revealing her identity; there were plenty who would pay to learn the daughter of a high ranking merchant had such a secret.

A firm knock at the door drew Voon from his stool where he was tinkering with one of his latest designs. Reaching to hold the bell with one hand, he opened the door with the other to let his customer in. The girl was a regular, and he was always prepared when she arrived. Miss Frobedan rarely had more than a few minutes to spare before rushing off back home again, but those few minutes were precious jewels to him.

“Have you finished them?” Her voice was mellow, despite the urgency cutting her words.

“Of course,” he replied, closing the door and going to collect what she came for. He passed under the large clockworks, heading to the rear of his workshop to find the artificial legs the petite debutant needed; her mother was adamant Ghenha make a splash in society and being the correct height was part of it. “Here we are, Miss,” Voon said, returning with the legs.

Ghenha craned forward, her corset creaking against the strain, to examine Voon's workmanship. “Bejabbers, that's fine,” she said, her lips curling into a smile. “I'm sure my mother couldn't object to them.” Her sudden frown made Voon tilt his head.

“Something wrong?”

“Not with the legs,” Ghenha said. “Seems wrong to trick men into thinking I'm not what I am.”

Voon gestured for the little woman to draw back her skirts so he could fit the legs, earning a dark look from her. “I need to check the fit,” he explained, as he began to strap them on. “Up you get.”

“Oh fop doodle!” she yelled, taking wobbly steps like a newborn deer. “This doesn't feel right, gaddammit!”

“It would shock your family, Miss Frobedan, to hear your language.” Voon laughed and helped her out, then set about tweaking the workings so the legs moved more naturally. “Remember to put oil on them after every use, else you will be creaking like an old woman.”

Ghenha nodded seriously. “Thank you, Mr Chrysocolla.” She took the wrapped legs and rushed out of the door.

Happy Storyteller Saturday Sunday!

I don’t particularly think I have any real strengths in writing. There is a lot I need to work on. I’m a slow writer and I tend to shut down entirely when I come across a scene that isn’t working. The best way to handle that would be to keep going and come back to that scene later. In reality, I just stop and muse over that scene for weeks (or months) until I figure it out and only then do I move on. I have lots of issues like that, which makes my updates sporadic.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of my wip Kerridon

The city of Kerridon is the shimmering jewel at the crown of the industrial revolution. It’s home to the greatest creators, alchemists and inventors of the age, a place where dreams become reality. As long as you stay in the wealthier district, anyways. Beneath the city’s mask of luxury and opportunity, corruption is festering. Kerridon has become a breeding ground for the booming slave trade market, a business that is kept alive and lucrative by the rich and influential. With things slowly spiraling out of control, a new group of vigilante have sprung up in an attempt to fight back. Whether or not they will succeed remains to be seen, but they’ve certainly given the city something to talk about.

Kerridon is currently a fanwork of the Illthdar: Guardians of Las series written by Rachel Garcia. ( @illthdar​ ) It’s set in an steampunk-inspired alternate reality where anything that can go wrong, has gone wrong.

The story goes that Queen Nythria liked yellow roses. That as a young girl, she used to pick them, delicately pulling off the thorns before placing them in her wild and curly hair. It was hard to find roses in those days, dark as they were and so full of war and strife. It was a world unbefitting of a girl with flowers in her hair and softness in her heart....

Thank you!

The only real ship in Kerridon right now is Scyanatha and Seth. Everyone else either hasn’t met yet or are still in the pining stage. We haven’t seen a lot of Seth and Scy yet, but I think the best thing about them is that they’re solid. They know each other well and they have each other’s backs. Their situation isn’t ideal, but they’re fighting so one day they can be together in the open.