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Janette Morgan
Jafar's Hourglass
Joined: 02 Aug 2005
Posts: 382
Location: Jafaria, Population: Hourglass.
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 Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 3:07 pm Post subject: Anybody up for a challenge? |
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I was playing with the plot generators at Seventh Sanctum when I suddenly had an idea. It's an experiment, really. The premise is this: I gather a set of plot elements with a particular significance, one which I keep to myself. Your task is to write a story, long or short, full or outline, featuring all of these elements in any way you see fit. (If you do figure out the significance - which probably isn't as hard as I'd like it to be - you're not allowed to tell anyone else, in order to keep the system in order.)
The purpose of this exercise is just to see how different people express the same ideas compared to the original expression. At the end of the challenge, I'll explain the significance of the plot elements to anyone who might not have gotten it earlier.
The elements are as follows:
Plot:
(1) The story must start at a wedding.
(2) The story must involve a key.
(3) A character must die.
(4) A character must be arrested.
(5) The story must have a negative magical element.
(6)There must be a great surprise.
Characters:
(1) An innocent (or maybe not-so-innocent) labourer who gets caught up in it all.
(2) An important person, affected by the magical element, who greatly wants to be loved.
(3)A rogue who wishes to gain a more respectable position.
(4) The bride.
That's it. The rest (there's still quite a bit) is up to your imagination. If you figure out where these elements come from, you can PM me and we'll laugh about it together. 
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"I will keep a permanent marker on hand in the event that I have to make an emergency seal." -If J Were The Alchemist
Avatar base by Angy(-chan) at Yume Studio. |
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Nez
Eccentric Papyrus Jockey
Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 2617
Location: Bellevue, Ne
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| Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 9:41 am Post subject: |
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I'm sorry that I'm not working on it. It's just I have school. Not to say that I'm not thinking of one.
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Nez
Eccentric Papyrus Jockey
Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 2617
Location: Bellevue, Ne
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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I've got something. I think I've might have just skated by with fulfilling the requirements.
This is very long, because it is a sequel to some of the stories I've been writing, so some parts may not make sense without me telling you. PM me if any of this confuses you.
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The Boys From Albion: The Iron Key
Dramatis Personae
(Marion) Noah Jackson, a carpenter; a Boy
Jonas Froud, a blind witch and Jackson’s cousin; a Boy
Arthur Lee, an accountant; a Boy
Alice Henson, Froud’s 17-year old charge; an honorary Boy
Melissa Grendler, a singer, Lee’s betrothed
Daisy, Froud’s mastiff
Weath Ciples, a half-faerie
Dick Dadd, a Lord through marriage
The Pwca, the de facto King of Scead
Auberon, one of the Rulers of the Tylwythen Deg, the Faerie Host of Albion
This is the fifth story in my “Boys From Albion” canon, but the second to be summarized. I’ll bring you up to speed as to what happened in the stories that are related to this one.
#1- The Boys From Albion
After the death of her parents during the Plague, 10 year-old Alice Henson is placed into the care of her father’s apprentice, Jonas Froud. As she lives with him, she comes to terms with her parents’ death. However, obstacles to living life peacefully test her, Froud, and the remaining Boys, Jackson and Lee, in the form of a group of corrupt soldiers who try to take advantage of the town recovering from the Plague and Auberon, the King of Faerie, who has a history with Froud.
#2-The Boys From Albion: The Girl From Albion and the King of Scead
Trouble starts when 13 year-old Alice meets Weath Ciples, a man who knew her father when he was younger and begs Alice to help him retrieve something that was stolen from him. After at first refusing and then being pushed down a well by Weath, Alice is transported to Scead, a land in between the world of Man and the world of Faerie, where, accompanied by a child version of Weath, she must find what was stolen from Weath, even if it means crossing the Pwca, the powerful and enigmatic King of Scead.
#3-The Boys From Albion: The Silver Mask
After preventing Froud’s courtship of a shrew, Alice, Jackson, and Lee face yet another hardship, this time Froud’s mysterious abduction. The trio, along with Froud’s mastiff Daisy, follow clues that takes them out of the Islands of Albion and over into the mainland, where they run afoul pirates, goat herders, and a seminary for assassins.
#4-The Boys From Albion: The Stories My Fathers Told Me
A prequel where Jonas Froud, Noah Jackson, Arthur Lee, and Linus Henson tell true stories about their pasts to Linus’ three year-old daughter Alice. Stories that were included:
Why Cats Smile- Henson learns the hard way about impatience and disobedience when his master sends him on a seemingly nonsensical quest.
The Seal Skin- Jackson’s blind attraction towards a Selkie maid after finding her seal skin threatens the lives of him and the Boys, especially when a monster from the sea comes to reclaim his mate.
Jonas and the King- Froud recounts the events that lead to the lost of his eyes.
The Circle of Stone-Lee tells of a meeting between him and a mysterious woman in a variation of Arthurian Legends.
Setting: Summersleigh, Albion, a nation of islands reminiscent of The United Kingdom; the Autumn of 1617
The Story:
The Boys are celebrating the marriage of Arthur and Melissa, when soldiers come and arrest Noah for his desertion from military service eight years ago. After he is hauled off, Alice and Jonas decide to cut them off to Kingsmouth and plead for his innocence. Despite objections from Alice and Jonas, Arthur and Melissa come in Noah’s cart, along with Daisy who isn’t as young as she once was. However, unknown to the Boys and friends, the soldiers do not take Noah to Kingsmouth to be prosecuted, but instead take him to the castle estate of Lord Richard “Dick” Dadd, who Noah recognizes as the leader of the soldiers that not only had deserted military but also temporarily seized control of Summersleigh. Dick had married up since his defeat at the hands of the Boys and townspeople and now strives to move up the ranks, but fears that Noah would tell of his desertion to ruin his chance at social climbing. So, having used his newfound power to pull the strings of local law enforcement, he has Noah lowered into an oubliette (which is actually the very deep cesspool outside the castle with a bunch of cages hanging over it).
Meanwhile, the others arrive in Kingsmouth, only to find that Noah is not there. Still determined, they decide to have Daisy track him down, using one of the boots that Noah left in the cart.
Back at the “oubliette”, Noah meets Weath Ciples, a fellow prisoner who was sent down for breaking and entering, and the two develop a plan to escape (which involves them climbing up the chains of their cages). They pull off their plan and make their escape, but not before Noah throws Dick down the cesspool. They run until they encounter Daisy and soon the others. Alice, to the others’ surprise, recognizes Weath and it is not a very happy reunion, as she still feels a grudge towards the man, who has become enamored with her. It doesn’t go any better as Weath tells her that the Pwca, who had been locked in an iron box since she left Scead, is haunting his dreams and that his servants are in search of the box’s key, which he has on him in a small bag as cold iron burns the skin of those of Faerie blood. Alice knows that if the Pwca, Weath’s father, was to get out, he would seek his vengeance, even on his children. Weath offers her the key, but she reluctantly takes it. After all, the Pwca had tried to rape her in the last encounter.
The party retires into an inn. As the newlyweds attempt to celebrate their wedding night and Alice tries to get some sleep, Jonas talks to Noah about Alice. He knows Alice is growing up and also that since his kidnapping two years ago and being restored back home, he is in love with her and, despite the age difference, he wants her to stay with him. This does not bode well with Weath, who overhears the conversation. He wants Alice to himself and not simply out of lust, but that he wants a soul. As a half-faerie, part of his soul is Hell-bound and only way he can be saved from certain damnation is to earn a soul by joining with a human through love. However, he sees this as impossible now that another man is in love with her and that she’s not returning her love either. Then he receives a message from the Pwca’s shadow, saying that he will help Weath receive a soul if he returns the key. Weath is appalled by the request. The messenger vanishes from the man’s shadow, leaving Weath paranoid.
As Weath hides out in a room and the entire inn keeps smelling something disgusting, Alice is having trouble sleeping. The reunion is bringing back memories that she had since suppress. Melissa walks in, irritated by the difficulty of trying to have intimacy with her husband. The two women talk, Alice revealing the feelings she has Jonas and also the regret for roughly rebuffing Weath. Jonas starts acting strangely. The Pwca’s shadow has taken over Jonas’ body and steals the key from Alice, after feeling her up. Alice and Weath chases after Jonas and the Pwca’s shadow, which uses the witch to open a portal to Scead. The portal closes behind Jonas and the Pwca’s shadow, leaving Alice and Weath. Weath opens his own portal with the aid of Arthur and Alice goes in, resolved to save Jonas and taking his staff with her. Then Noah comes through the door, saying that they should leave. Lord Dick, smelling extremely ripe, and his cronies had found him and they hold Melissa and Daisy at gunpoint. However, seeing that they can’t leave or otherwise trap Alice and Jonas in Scead, the group fights off the smelly lord and his men.
Noah, Melissa, and Daisy fights off Dick and his men, when Dick grabs Melissa and threatens to kill her at gunpoint. Then Daisy leaps up and bites Dick on the throat. The gun goes off. The lord is brought down. However, as Melissa pull Daisy off, Noah holds a knife to Dick’s bleeding throat. He says to the lord that twice he was given a chance to kill him, but has let him live.
“If you try to hurt my family again, I will kill you. I promise.”
The cronies carry their leader off, when Daisy falls, her heart finally failing her. And, making matters worse, Weath was shot and is being poisoned by the bullet.
Back in Scead, Alice finds the box wide open. Her fears are confirmed that the Pwca has escaped and that Jonas is in danger. To her surprise, she finds Auberon shortly. He had only appeared to her once before and that when she was ten. He says that he wants the Pwca is torturing Jonas and that he had done it once before, when he had kidnapped him. Alice is appalled and demanded that he explain why he didn’t protect Jonas since he wanted to take her godfather away years ago. Auberon avoided answering, saying that Jonas hasn’t gotten long under the Pwca’s torture. Alice runs, calling out to Jonas. She finds him, strapped to a tree by briars and very weak from the scratches covering his body. She cuts him down and holds him against her. She says that she loves him and that she will protect him this time.
However, she then feels something grabbing at her throat and is forcibly jerked away from Jonas. Scarred by iron, the Pwca is out for her blood and begins to strangle her. She struggles, but the ancient faerie is very strong. Then the Pwca is ripped off of her by vines. Alice looks up and sees Jonas, leaning against his staff for support. However, the Pwca regains his footing and pushes Jonas off balance, breaking his witch’s staff. Alice then punches the Pwca, but the faerie retaliates, scratching her. He raises his hand, but it is impaled to a tree by Jonas, using the remains of his witch’s staff. The Pwca curses and spits as the two humans drove the last piece into his chest. The Pwca is immobilized, but he says that his son dying and laughs.
Alice fears that the portal will close and the pair runs. Weath, on the other side, continues the spell, despite being in so much pain. Arthur keeps on going. He doesn’t want to fail them either. The pair finally comes back, narrowly passing through the closing door between worlds. However, the elation is short lived. Weath dies on the floor, but not before seeing Alice and smiling. But the loudest and most agonized screams came from Jonas when he finds out that Daisy, his faithful and protective companion, has died.
Meanwhile, the Pwca, still trapped with the staff through his chest, sees Auberon. The King of the Tylwythen Deg smirks at the former co-ruler of Faerie.
"I should have known you've betrayed me. I thought you hated the chit too."
"Yes, but then I realized I hated you more."
Auberon leaves, the Pwca laughing.
Many weeks later, as the snow is falling, Jonas sits outside, grasping a newly carved staff and thinking. Alice comes by and tells Jonas about work. She has been living away from Jonas for a while and managing a bookkeeping firm. Jonas tells her that he doesn’t know where to go from here. Noah is planning on going overseas and aiding the new colonies and Arthur and Melissa are traveling together all over the Albion Isle. He regrets not having a plan. Without a word, Alice kisses him and he kisses back.
Jonas Froud and Alice Henson- lovers. |
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