#rychilla

It's been a month since my last update, and an eventful one, writing-wise.

Book 3 is currently titled What One Does For Hate. I was trying to avoid an 'x of y' title, as I'd used these for the previous two books in the series. I've finished plotting it out, twice. It does use the idea of someone committing a mass poisoning in order to cover up some specific poisonings. But after finishing the first outline, I realised that some aspects of the plan and the person behind it inadvertently sent a message I didn't want to send. So I reworked it to avoid that. I now have an outline I'm happy with.

The rework of the plot also allowed me to develop another character who will go on to become a series regular.

(Art by Rait Visual Works. Image shows an elf with blue-grey skin, yellow eyes, pointed ears and short honey-blonde hair. She is wearing glasses, a tunic and skirt, with a pair of boots.)

This is Saybelryn Bamsay, known to her friends as 'Saybel'. She's a wetland elf from the neighbouring Jaleshi Republic. In the original plan, she was the former head steward for the killer. She had a couple of smaller scenes, mostly near the end when the killer used Saybel's trust in her to evade the town guard.

Now, Saybel is a merchant who was hired by the merchants' guild to help ease trade with the elves. She has a much more active role in the plot. This case will shake her trust in her fellow merchants.

In the next book, she brings the client-of-the-week to Yaetherim, as they're one of her friends and she knows Yaetherim can help. Over the course of this case, she helps the investigation. At the end, Yaetherim realises he needs someone to do the paperwork for his office, and that Saybel is looking for a job away from the merchants guild. So he hires her as his office manager.

As far as writing goes, I've already got the opening scenes of chapter 1 written. I had been considering this mass poisoning idea for a while, and I'd actually already written the opening scenes of the first chapter. These were going to be the same regardless of how the plot worked out. But this was done a few months ago, so I've gone through them, tweaking them slightly to support the romance subplot between Yaetherim and Naeliya. Once I've finished going over these, I'll continue from where I left off.

A commission for for @rychillacases; an illustration of a scene from their novel! Fairy detectives Yaetherim and Naeliya meet in a tavern to discuss a case.

Was a fun opportunity to tackle some fantasy-style characters 🙂

Thank you for asking!

💜 - Where are you in the writing process?

This is for my third novel, What One Does For Hate. I've just finished outlining it, and am about to start writing.

❣️- Hardest scene to write?

I've not written any yet, so I'll reply with the scene that was hardest to plot out. This story is a fantasy/whodunnit, and the murderer is a former noble from a neighbouring nation. Her former head maid also lives in Alkentoft, the town where this takes place. In fact, this is one reason the killer moved there.

At this point in the story, the detectives know who the killer is. But the former head maid is the only one who knows where she is. I had to have a reason for the maid to betray her former employer. But that particular bit wasn't working. After trying a few times, I realised I needed to develop the maid's character a bit more.

By the time I'd finished, I had my answer. The maid is loyal to her former employer (they parted on good terms), but she has a strong moral code. In fact, she got the job as head maid by revealing her predecessor's embezzlement. So in this story, her former employer manipulated her by saying people were after her, leaving out that said people were the town guard. The maid doesn't take too kindly to this once the truth is revealed.

Job hunting can be murder.

Yaetherim thought he had no further business with the College of Mages. But they have further business with him. It's a simple ask, for his assessment of which apprentice to promote to mage. He did catch the mage who murdered another fairy, after all. Turns out the Arch-Mage would rather not have another murderer working at the college.

But while assessing the candidates, a fire breaks out. When the smoke clears, one apprentice lies dead. Amongst the ashes rests evidence the fire was more intentional than it seemed.

As more misfortune befalls the college, Yaetherim and the town guard seek to find who is behind it. Hopefully before someone else dies.

--

Hi all. It's been a couple of years since I last did a regular writing update, so I've decided to start them once again.

Embers of Doubt, my second novel, was published in December last year. Since then, I've been plotting the third book of the Rychilla Cases. It's taken me a bit longer than I expected, as I had a few ideas. One revolved around corruption within the town guard. Another started with Yaetherim being hired to investigate an outbreak of mass poisonings, non-fatal, with no apparent connection between them.

After playing around with both ideas, I went with the mass poisoning one. The way I had the town guard corruption planned didn't quite work within the setting, but I was able to combine elements of it with some of my rough notes for book four, so we'll be seeing that plot line there.

Once I'd worked that out, my next problem was figuring out the killer and the motive.

Before I go any further, I should explain how water is sourced in the Kingdom of Rychilla. Rivers run across the kingdom like cracks in a pane of glass. It's abundant but not safe to drink. So it's filtered with waterkind magic. This filtering is done by hand, as runes aren't precise enough. When the filtration is done, it leaves behind a poisonous black liquid called toxicant.

(This was in my worldbuilding from the start, as the mass poisoning was my original idea for book 1, A Pinch of Distrust, before I pushed it back to book 3.)

My initial idea for the story was that one of the water filterers had been deliberately leaving toxicant in the water to get revenge against a bad manager. But this was too obvious and lacked something. I kept this as a red herring, but came up with a different motive and killer. I don't want to give too much away, but the killer arranged the mass poisoning in order to cover up one or two deliberate murders, committed with a larger dose of toxicant. After all, people are falling ill all over town. Chances are there would be some deaths amongst them.

Yaetherim's brother, Naeviol, will also be playing a role in this story. He's the apothecary in their home village, so Yaetherim asks for his help. Naeviol arrives to help, but he's also worried about this new private detective thing Yaetherim is doing.

With that all worked out, I was able to finish the plotting. I've got a couple of tweaks to make. Then I'll be able to start writing.

One other thing I've found is that my imagination works best if I 'change gears' every couple of weeks. So I also have a couple of novellas on the go. These are also part of the Rychilla Cases, but are smaller interquels that take place between the novels.

The one I've almost completed sees Naeliya taking on a case of her own, investigating how stolen goods ended up for sale at the merchants' hall. She's lived vicariously through Yaetherim's cases, now she's got one of her own. This leads into her character development in book four. However, I wrote this when the romantic pairings between the characters were a bit different, so I need to update it to match the current ones.

The other, which I'm still planning, is built from a discarded subplot from book 3. During the poisoning investigation, Yaetherim meets the crew of the riverboat Kolina. One of them is a fairy who was raised by Rychillans after being found alone in an abandoned section of the forest. This plot didn't really fit in with the rest of the story, so I'm going to flesh it out a bit and make it a novella. It's a cold case, as it happened 17 years ago.

Both novellas take place concurrently, which is why Yaetherim isn't able to help Naeliya with her investigation. (He also knows she can do it.)

Here's the cover reveal for 'Embers of Doubt', book 2 of my fantasy whodunnit series. It'll be releasing on the 12th of December.

"Yaetherim thought he had no further business with the College of Mages. But they have further business with him. It's a simple ask, for his assessment of which apprentice to promote to mage. He did catch the mage who murdered another fairy, after all. Turns out the Arch-Mage would rather not have another murderer working at the college.

But while assessing the candidates, a fire breaks out. When the smoke clears, one apprentice lies dead. Amongst the ashes rests evidence the fire was more intentional than it seemed.

As more misfortune befalls the college, Yaetherim and the town guard seek to find who is behind it. Hopefully before someone else dies."

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Original Work Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s) Characters: Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character(s), Original Male Fairy Character(s), Original Female Fairy Character(s), Yaetherim (Fairy), Naeliya (Fairy) Additional Tags: Fantasy, Steampunk, Fairies, Fluff Series: Part 1 of Rychilla Cases Fics Summary:

Rules: Pick a character from your WIP, and have them answer these 15 questions, then tag 15 people!

Thanks to @isobelcreates for the tag. I know it's been a while, but I've finally gotten around to this. I've decided to do it for Yaetherim, the primary MC of my series.

1: What is your full name?

"Yaetherim of Riala Village, South Alken Forest."

2: What does your full name mean?

"Well, the village and forest parts are self-explanatory. They're where I grew up. As for my actual name, the 'Yae' part means I've got florakind magic. All we fairies have a prefix like that, except nokinds."

3: What are your other names/nicknames?

"There's a small amount of people who can call me 'Therry'. I'm also known as 'The Inquirer', although that's more of a title."

4: What’s your gender?

"Male."

5: What’s your sexuality?

"Haven't really thought about it that much, to be honest."

6: Where are you from?

"Riala Village, South Alken Forest. It's your typical fairy village. You know, buildings built around and in trees, with rope-and-board walkways between them. We're like one big extended family in there, more-or-less. At least, that's how humans would describe it."

7: How old are you?

"23. I know, just over a tenth of what a fairy lives."

8: What is your magic form/what species are you?

"I'm a fairy, thought the wings were a bit of a giveaway. As for magic, I've got florakind magic. When I first got it, my skin turned bark-brown, hair and eyes turned green and my wings became all fibre-ish. Like the shell of a coconut. Pretty much usual for a florakind. It's not a 'form', though. This is just what I look like now."

9: What does your human form look like?

"Human form? I'm a fairy, 12 inches tall. Couldn't even approximate a human if I tried. If you mean pre-magic, I don't really think about it any more. Probably similar to younglings and nokinds. Blue wings, can't even remember what my eye or hair colours were."

10: What’s your aesthetic?

"Aesthetic? I've heard the Rychillans use that. Must be a human thing. I guess, whatever I need to fit in for my current investigation? To be fair, my scars are a bit distinctive, but blending in helps. When that's not an issue, usually just a simple shirt and shorts woven from leaves. And a belt, of course. Not only does it hold a florakind crystal, but also the sheath for my dagger."

11: Who’s your best friend?

"Tough question. I've got a few friends in Riala Village, and some in Alkentoft, too. That's the nearest Rychillan town. As for a best friend, I can't say one. It'd have to be both Charlys and Naeliya. They've both been there when I needed it, and I'd do the same for them."

12: Would you ever get a piercing/tattoo?

"I've got nine scars, not counting the hole in my wing. I'd say I've been pierced enough. As for that hole in my wing, it was patched up with airship fabric shortly after I was attacked. Tattoos are a Rychillan thing, too. They have those terax marks they wear along their arms. I'll leave those to them."

13: When are you happiest?

"To be honest, when I'm in a kitchen cooking. There's just something about it that helps me get my thoughts in order while working with my hands. I also end up with food I can share with my friends. Comes in handy, too. On one investigation, I was able to pose as a caterer."

14: What’s your biggest secret?

"Between you and me, I cannot work with the Riala Village Council. They consider political convenience more important than lives. Their inaction's gotten blood on their hands, of one fairy and two Rychillans. That's why I do most of my work in Alkentoft, the nearest Rychillan town."

15: What was your first impression of [insert name]?

Karis Relinda

"That she's focused and uncaring. Not really that surprising, she's a veritor. Being one of the most senior officials in the town guard would call for a degree of detachment, I guess. But I've seen her when she thinks noone's around. Just once or twice, and only by accident. I suspect there's more to her, yet she doesn't want to show it."

**

As a bonus, here's some art of Yaetherim, by Ocho:

Tags: @jaimistoryteller, @adayforducks, @agateskittles, @hklunethewriter, @inanauthorsworld, @jay-centauri, @essawrites, @gettingitwrite, @lottieiswriting, @maigoth, @merigreenleaf, @pherryt, @renee-gracie, @samanthawritesstuff-blog, @siarven