The Return: In which I skirt the issue of my negligence of duty and post, of all things, a poem

I haven't been here in a long time, nor have I worked on the idea I promised myself I'd continue to work on.  I've finally reached a balance in school, where my interest in the course is matched by the level of difficulty I'd expect from a college class.  That is to say, I'm finally learning stuff, and it means actually doing work and keeping on top of things.  Unfortunately, that's rather harmed this story idea, as I now find myself very detached from it.

I've contemplated putting it aside and moving to a new project (perhaps going back to an old project and reading it with new eyes; a novel, yet highly unlikely prospect), or just gritting my teeth and pushing forward.  However, in thinking of this, I did what I do best, and got completely sidetracked by other thoughts.  I got to thinking about the parts of my past that I am grateful for (though few, they shine), and I got to realizing that I hadn't just left the bad stuff behind, but some really good things too.  People, for the most part.

I haven't written a poem in, oh, five years.  There's a long story behind it, which I may put on here one day (short story: was expelled, thought insane).  I've always veered away from poetry ever since.  The following is, I suppose, a poem, in that it isn't presented in an essay format.  I hate writing poems; they feel like I'm just slopping crap together and passing it off as actual work.  Also, I'm horrible at making rhymes that work to get my message across.  So, don't look for rhymes or any actual poetic aspects; shit, I was actually pretty proud that I followed a line structure.

It doesn't have a proper name, but if you want, you could call it My Friend:

We walked for awhile, talking little, saying much

There were laughs, and sighs, and quiet nods

The scenery mattered little, for it always changed

A park, a forest, a lonely road, a familiar room

It was not where, but what; not when, but why

We were two interpretations of the same idea

Each independent, each unique, yet akin

Master plans and sinister plots were hatched

The problems of the world solved with ease

We were as foolish as we were intelligent

He was an attentive ear; a wise mind

A moral guide; a creative aide

Time robs us of much, slowly stealing away

I didn’t notice what I’d lost until I looked

Not gone, but veiled in nostalgia

I still walk, often alone, thinking and imagining

It’s never the same

Explanations, leading into ranting about agribusiness

So I've been neglecting this blog a little more than usual (if a little over two months worth of sporadic writing can be considered a standard), but I have good reason.  First and foremost, the end of spring quarter is here, and since I actually care about these classes (mostly), I've put much more effort into them then is usual (see: any effort at all).  I've also had two presentations for two separate classes, just received a take-home final in Logic (written in a way that, had I been given this at the start of the quarter, I would have sprinted to administration begging to withdraw), and have two other, fun-filled finals to look forward to.

But, more importantly, I have just completed 9 pages of rough draft quality story.  That's right, the first run-through has officially begun.  And, to my surprise, I don't despise it; quite the contrary, I actually feel like it's a legitimate start to a real book.  The only problem is it's only 9 pages so far, and I don't seem to be going at a very steady or swift pace.  However, it's 9 pages more then I had, and (dare I say it) the first work I've made that shows I may make it as a writer.  Halle-fucking-lujah.

On an unrelated note, in regards to my presentation in Environmental Science, I'd like to take a brief moment to soapbox.  Boiled down, it works out like this: The body requires nutrients to survive.  Lack of nutrients leads to a deficiency, and the brain will crave the nutrients missing.  Cravings lead to overeating, which is a major factor in obesity.  With me so far?  Now, studies show that food grown today has lost anywhere from 30% to as much as 80% of the nutrients it once held, with declines occurring in as short as twenty years.  However, the caloric count remains unchanged.

Now let's put this all together.  Lack of nutrients=cravings=overeating=obesity.  With the standards we use to grow food, our fruits, vegetables and grains are lacking in nutrients.  Therefore, by a logical jump, it's possible that the methods used by corporate farming could be actively harming people.  And that leads to the problem: So far as I can tell, I am the only person on the face of the globe working on this right now.

That's right.  In the entire world, there is not a single available source detailing this.  What's more, the research on the lowered nutritional value of food is hard to come by in its own right.  People think genetic tampering, or pesticide use, and they think either horrible diseases or over-hyped rubbish.  But, in reality, it's affecting you, me, and everyone, and they don't even have to tell us.

I don't know if that pisses you off, but I sure was, and I still am.  What do I plan to do about it?  At the moment, I don't know.  I have considered digging further, pulling facts, and actually trying to make a case of this, but at the very least, I wanted to put this out there, for anyone and everyone to know: Agribusiness, or corporate farming, or whatever you want to call it, is not working for your best interests, but theirs.  Shit, Archer Daniels Midland is has subsidies on its ethanol production; that means you and I pay for their profits with our taxes.  And they posted a $500+ million dollar profit last year.  And, for every buck they made, we paid $30.

I won't demand you to do anything, especially since I'm lucky enough if you read this far anyways.  But I plan to tell everyone I know what I found, and even if you don't want to look into it yourself, let the people around you know what's going on.  These companies, ADM in particular, pay tons to lobbyists and politicians to ensure that this information never reaches your ears.  Tell a friend, or a family member; hell, tell the person on the bus if you're feeling social.  Just spread the word.  Maybe someone with a little more knowledge and a lot more credibility than me will hear about this, and start serious work on this.  Like I said, there's less than half a dozen solid reports out there, and only a single recent one.

Anyways, I'm done ranting and raving, so until next time, go do something else.

Big Ideas, Little Trimming

Ok, yes, I did miss a day immediately following my declaration to post daily.  But, in my defense, this post was in development since yesterday; it's a very weighty post, with a big impact on the plot.  So, since I like to post at least a semi-polished version of the idea, I waited until today to actually put it up.  Hopefully that excuses my missed day; if not, I don't especially care.  Oh well, moving on.


I had an interesting idea the night before last.  I was going to explain it outright, but then I worried whether I'd explained this aspect yet, so I wrote a couple paragraphs giving some background to this idea.  Then I actually looked at the blog, and saw that I'd given said explanation already.  I say all that as a way of showing what a tangled mess this blog is becoming, and to act as a reminder to put up a definitive status update on the idea soon.

Anyways, back to the idea.  This one piggybacks on the notion that the Collective is gathering artifacts and using their power to banish the gods from the planet.  This action was originally conceived as happening during the start of the stagnation of the free will period, thus well after the Great Decline and the collapse of the Church of Destiny.  However, as an alternative, perhaps the Collective was started by a group of individuals who somehow managed to free themselves from the destiny prison the gods had implemented.  If this were so, it stands to reason that their actions would be their own, and unnoticed by the gods or the Children of Fate.  Said freedom may even stem from the artifacts themselves.

What would happen is this group would begin searching for more artifacts, while recruiting more members to their cause.  Thus, being known as the Collective; on the surface, it seems to be simply a name for a group of people, but it also accurately describes their mission.  Eventually, the Collective would amass enough artifacts to counteract the will of the gods.  However, before this event happens, it is possible, through a level of destiny beyond even the gods' influence, that one of the Children of Fate would disobey the gods.  This would anger the gods, but also awaken them to the truth; they would become aware of their selfish actions, and would wish to mend their mistakes.

However, it would be too late for the gods, and they would become aware of the Collective's plan only when it was well beyond stopping.  The gods would also see a flaw in the plan of the Collective; a unexpected consequence of their action that would leave mankind exposed to a greater threat.  When the Collective banished the gods, the artifacts were changed; by using the power within them, the artifacts were connected with the gods once more, and were altered to reflect the desires of the gods.  Thus, the artifacts each became charged with the power of foresight.

If the new power within these artifacts were discovered, the owner would gain the power of foresight.  Should an individual claim the artifacts, they would easily be able to win over the Church of Destiny.  With the Children of Fate in one hand, and complete knowledge of the future in the other, any man who claimed the artifacts would become an unstoppable tyrant; with a period of destiny already strongly established, it would be nigh impossible to stop any such dictator, and, should he utilize the artifacts wisely, he could very well live forever.

It was for this reason that the gods demanded the Children of Fate kill themselves; not out of hatred or spite, but out of love and mercy.  The gods had blessed the Children of Fate, and did not wish to see them corrupted and turned into puppets of a tyrant.  It was with great sadness that they ordered their followers to die; all save one.  For the man who had defied the gods had proven himself to be a man of strong conviction, and the gods hoped that the blessing would be passed down through his descendants, and live on for future generations.  Now, in the modern times, there is a man, posing as an average fortune teller, who can truly see into the future.

And that's all I have to say about that topic for tonight, and possibly for a good while.  I won't lie, I haven't shown all my cards yet; there's certain things I've yet to reveal, and things can always change due to a spur of the moment idea.  I don't know why I feel like keeping secrets, since I'm not actually telling the story here, but I feel like I shouldn't just tell all right now, and I trust my instincts.

On an unrelated note, it looks like the Returners are gonna soon be leaving this story.  If you don't remember what I'm talking about, I don't blame you; they were one of the starting ideas, were discussed in an early post, and have yet to be mention/updated since.  They were a neat idea, and the Atoners are still a (somewhat) viable concept, but things are growing in depth and quality, and as these ideas flourish, they take up more room, room the Returners is taking up.  So, unless ideas strike me soon, everyone's favorite homicidal-salvation zealots will be moving out, and the Atoners may follow shortly after.

And, with that, I believe I shall call it a night.  I did try to make an opening for the story last night, but it seemed forced.  Though it feels a bit like procrastination, I can honestly say that I feel the idea is still in development, and thus writing proper will not commence yet.  I sincerely hope it's not just laziness, and I dread that it's lack of ability that's limiting the actual writing of this story.  However, the idea is still relatively new compared to some of the crap I've worked on in the past, so I can't help but feel like I'm doing pretty well so far.  Then again, what the hell do I know.

Kicking Things Into High Gear

I'm wondering whether I'm stretching things out too long between updates.  For the most part, I tend to work on the story on the day I update, and since it can be a week before I put something up, that means I've wasted 6 perfectly good days that could have been used to further the story.  At that rate, I won't have the thing finished until I'm 40, and that's entirely too long to work on one lousy idea.  Therefore, I'm shifting things into overdrive, which is now to be considered the new normal.  I'll be posting something every day, and shame be upon me if it doesn't further the idea.

Today was spent on hashing out the plot in a very, VERY rough fashion; so rough, I'll have to spend tomorrow working through that to get it up to par.  But, on the other hand, there's at least a rough story evolving, and if that's the case, then I may actually start writing before the new month.  What that means for this blog is that things will probably change around.  I may start using this as part update list for the story, and part random idea dump.  Just to clarify, I don't plan on posting any chapters, pages, or paragraphs on this blog until much later, if ever; if you want to read it, you have to wait until it's at least been rough drafted, proofread, and edited, and then only if you ask me.

But like I said, the plot is coming together; it seems a little cliche to me, but it also fits, so I don't feel too awkward about it.  Plus, there's lots of room for change, in case any part ends up sucking out loud.  I guess you could consider it a rough outline; I honestly don't know the terms for these things, nor do I especially care right now.  But anyways, I hope to have a nice, clean outline by the end of the week.

That's about it for today.  Unfortunately for anyone who's been reading this, things will probably be getting even more informal starting tomorrow; I hate to admit it, but it may actually turn into a real blog.  If you feel like jumping ship, I don't blame you; if I hadn't resolved to see this through, I'd have jumped a month ago.

Main Characters & Rambling

The more I think about this idea, the more things I discover.  It may sound weird, but it really is a discovery process, as though the completed book is resting in my head and I am slowly analyzing every aspect of it until I understand it.  There's already a pretty beefy theme of destiny vs. free will throughout, well, the entire damn idea, but the more I think about it, it really comes down to what a person does during those times that's important.  There's a positive and negative to both parts of the cycle; it's up to the individual to decide what part they want to play in the grand scheme of things.  If the world is a stage, as Shakespeare wrote (and Rush masterfully paraphrased), then I like to believe it is the most unique play of all; one where the actors are allowed to write their own script, and play whatever they wish to play.  But enough pseudo-intellectual trash, for there's much more important things to cover, such as the main character of the story.

That's right, there's a tentative main character for this trainwreck.  Now, as I may have mentioned in the past, I am absolutely terrible at two things: Names and protagonists.  Tell me to make a setting, and I'll throw out a thousand ideas a minute.  Ask me for a supporting cast, and I can have twenty behind-the-scenes players ready before you can inhale.  But if you really wanna stop me in my tracks, ask me to describe my main character, and I turn into a bumbling idiot.  Better yet, ask what the main character's name is; if I don't cry or run away, I probably didn't hear you properly.

However, that is not the case this time.  Beyond all hope, I have the rough concepts of a main character in mind.  I do mean rough; name, age, family history, background, and overall everything aside from what he's like is entirely up in the air still.  For a placeholder, his name is currently Isaac (There are many ways in which this is corny; if you share a birthday with me, you can guess why), he is between 18 and 20 (currently 19 as a placeholder), and is, if the name was no indication, a male.  Physical description is as follows: nil.  That will wait until much, much later; for now, I want to get who he is down first, as opposed to what he looks like.

He's a very naive individual; very trusting, and with a very large heart.  His desire to help others is his greatest asset and weakness.  And, since a character being described as naive and overly trusting necessitates a betrayal, there will be a point in the story where he finds that things have gone rather pear-shaped, and what was once black and white has gone many shades of gray.  This leads to the all-important jading of the character, and that's where things start to get really, really important in regards to my views on this character.

First and foremost: I am an optimist.  At least, most of the time; I am prone to pessimism from time to time, but I generally think good about people, life, and everything.  The main character, in a fashion, follows this; he is a very optimistic individual towards the start of the book, and the betrayal will be a heart-wrenching tragedy for him.  However, the important part for me is that, though he's hardened by the experience, he doesn't lose his optimism.  Sure, he'll be slower to trust people, and take great caution in choosing his actions from then on, but he'll still choose to do what he feels to be the right thing, no matter how strong the opposition.

I personally believe that a great many wrongs in the world are allowed to continue because people refuse to take a stand.  I don't blame them, and I can't pretend I'm not one of them; there are plenty of times when I could have helped someone and chose not to.  But the world isn't just a cold, heartless place; there really are people out there who do kind things for the sake of doing kind things.  And for all the corruption and waste that occurs across the globe, there's compassion and generosity as well.  It's something easily forgotten, and hard to believe sometimes, but it's there, if you look in the right places.

The main character is one of those people; he set out on a foolish journey to save the world, he got tricked, and still resolved to save the world.  And that's about it for this note; I didn't expect a serious tone, but hey, what can ya do?  I've come to learn that I really have no control over what I write; any attempts to edit or change what first pops out on the page often leads to disaster and swearing.

A rambling post, even by the standards of a rambling blog

I wish I could say that I've got something new and awesome to post, but I don't.  As I expected, my focus has almost been completely lost, and the ideas that were so prevalent and easy earlier are old and used.  The biggest problem at this point is the setting.  I can't really move forward on a plot unless I know what to include; do I need to account for cars, or guns, or lack of sanitation?  How would the story differ depending on the era?  On the one hand, doing a modern-ish setting makes problems for the fantastic aspects of the story, and causes the story to become too gimmicky in my eyes.  On the other hand, going the straight ye olde times route makes it seem like fantasy fan-wank.

The real problem is accuracy.  I'm no master of history, and I would feel like a tool if everything is mismatched and wrong, even from a purely sensible manner.  In a modern setting, such things wouldn't be as problematic, but that feels like a cheater's way out.

Now, artifacts.  Introduced them last post, and should probably explain them a little more here.  Ok, let's not lie, make them up as I type here.  Artifacts are physical manifestations of the power of the gods.  Think like a battery; the energy is stored within, and with a little work it can be utilized.  This shouldn't be easy, though; making an artifact, even at the peak of a destiny period, should require a great deal of power.  Artifacts are hazardous and difficult to create; a single mistake could spell disaster for the creator and all in a general vicinity.

Each artifact is created with a purpose in mind.  Much as a staff or wand would channel power for a mage, the artifact absorbs the power necessary for the action desired.  However, unlike the staff, the mage uses a burst of power to seal the power within the object, trapping it.  Then, the mage must carefully enchant the artifact so that energy may flow in through the barrier at will, but only out upon command.  Finally, the mage must cast a spell of regeneration upon the artifact.  These steps are exhausting, extremely difficult, and must all be done in one attempt.  Few mages ever build up the mental fortitude required to even seal an artifact, let alone the stamina to sustain it.

Though an artifact is easy to ruin in creation, once completed, it is nigh-indestructible.  The spell of regeneration ensures that any damage done to the artifact is repaired, and the special creation of the barrier allows the artifact to draw energy from the living earth, constantly recharging itself.  Only a mage with a strong will and great determination can break the power of an artifact, and only a group of magi can do so safely.

Anyways, I may as well talk about the main characters now.  The first one is rather plain at the moment, since he's a main character created by me.  His friend is a little bit different, but more or less in the same boat.  So, for the time being, we'll leave them be and focus on the individual they meet.

This particular individual makes his living as a fortune teller.  Being a period of free will, business for any fortune teller, soothsayer, or seer tends to be poor, and customers skeptical and scarce.  However, this man has a distinct advantage over his peers: he actually can see the future, at least to a limited degree.  Able to see a rough approximation of the near-future, this man tends to wander from city to city, using his skills for quick profit and then fleeing before things get too dicey; quick profit often including pickpocketing, conning, and back alley gambling.

I think the main character will have to be a bit of a do-gooder and a blind follower for at least the first part of the story.  I kind of like the idea of him going into this big quest with no motivation, and then realizing it when shit hits the fan.  I think a few good plot twists for the main character are in order; things that someone hardened by life would notice, but would be missed by someone who thinks everyone who seems nice really is.  In a best-case scenario, it wouldn't be until the climax that the main character discovers who's good, who's evil, and who's simply in it for themselves.

I don't know why, but I've always been interested in the struggle between the evilly heroic and the heroically evil; that is, those who would do horrible things to achieve good results, and those who would do great things to achieve evil results.  It should be brought up about mid-story that this sort of conflict could be occurring between the Collective and the gods; both sides are selfish and wrong, only the side that wins benefits, and the people suffer no matter what.  It's an idea that sprang from Lockhart City, and it won't be the focus of the story like it was there, but I think it could make an appearance, at least as a possible scenario.

I think what I need to do is study up on European history (suddenly, the crap I ignored/skipped in high school seems mockingly relevant) to really get a grip on where the story should be set.  There will be differences, what with the introduction of magic changing inventions, but I think there will be a good deal of similarity to actual history in the end result.  At least, I hope so; if the thing comes out looking like a fantasy wonderland, I may just break my hands, cut out my tongue, and bash my head against a wall until my brain is no longer capable of ideas.

Hopefully everything above makes sense; like all my works, I failed to muster the necessary give-a-shit to proofread or edit it.  Another of my flaws, but that's to be remedied another day.

The Revelation: In which several things are discovered mid-sentence, and the feeling of hopelessness swiftly abates

Crap, I've gone far too long without a post.  That will not do.  As the first post of the month, I wish I had something strong to start with.  But, in reality, I've almost exhausted the background information at this time.  There's a great big nefarious group known as the Collective I haven't mentioned much, but, to be honest, they're commies on steroids, and they don't need much more explanation then that.  They're living in the south in the story, they push north every so often, and they're more or less scary as shit.

What I'm struggling with right now is focus.  Put bluntly, the story is slipping away.  It always happens; I get involved in something, work hard on ideas for about a month, and then I just lose it, like a balloon at the fair.  One moment I have my hand wrapped tightly around it, and then, before I know what happened, it's floating away.  The longest I've made it was 1/3 of a story, in semi-rough draft.  It's currently living in a 80-page college rule spiral notebook, with a little spillover into a second, mostly-empty notebook.

I'm having difficulty keeping the goal in sight, so I'm going to do the one thing that seems the most alien and uncomfortable to me: I'm just gonna spill the whole thing right out here.

More or less, it's an adventure story.  The world is fucked up, and it needs to be fixed.  Does this mean finding the gods and restoring them?  Or taking down the Collective and freeing mankind?  Or both?  Or neither?  I don't know yet.  Better yet, when does this story take place?  I switch between medieval and modern, and I really can't choose which would fit better.  I have one, count 'em, one character created for this whole shebang: A semi-major character, a seer and possibly a reborn Child of Fate.

I haven't decided the setting yet because, in all reality, it could be both.  The story is pretty universal, and would tuck in nicely to either timeframe.  As for the timeline, all it would take is a few hundred years or so of padding to fix up the difference, and in a story about times of stagnation, I think a few hundred years can only help.  So, that's my biggest obstacle at the moment.  Also, the inclusion of an idea I worked on pretty hard at 3:00 in the morning about six months ago and now can't find, involving artifacts of the gods and the different powers they hold.  I'm not certain whether I want to take the whole idea over, or the idea over in any way at all, but it crept into my mind yesterday, and now it's stuck there.

Basically, it's the idea that the gods were able to create physical manifestations of their power on the planet; similar to how a mage would channel their energy, but without dispelling it in the form of magic.  If these exist, then there are sources of magic left in the world, though finite, and some of the more "civilized" magic arts could be practiced by those with the luck and ability to find such artifacts.

Now, if this is the case, then it is obvious that the Collective wants them all.  I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the blood mages work almost exclusively with the Collective by this point, and as all blood mages are the remnants of all old schools of magic, they would of course be interested in these relics of power.  And, since the Collective is patently evil, there must be a nefarious plot behind why these artifacts would be desired.  Perhaps they could be used to rule the entire world?  Or maybe they can use their power to keep their Leader alive for all eternity, and rule not just the entire world, but the entire world for all eternity.  Or, here's a real kicker, maybe the Collective is using the artifacts to keep the gods away.

Holy balls, I wish I'd had that idea earlier.  It almost fits like a glove.  On the one hand, the gods used the power of men to keep themselves alive and prevalent; now, men are using the power of the gods to keep the gods away.  I swear I didn't have this idea until that previous paragraph.  This blog is already showing itself to be a good idea.

Anyways, if the Collective is indeed collecting these artifacts (on a side note, if this plot element does indeed survive, I must come up with a better name for the Collective; it was meant to refer to the collection of different nations and people who make up this great and mighty supernation, but now that there's actual collecting going on, it really seems pretty lame), then of course the main characters will be trying to stop them.  Seems a little Scooby Doo-ish, but shit, I'm not Dickens.

So here we are, now with artifacts and the possibility of a counter-movement against the gods, and suddenly the idea seems less stale.  Thank you blog, and thank you any people who managed to read through this junkpile of narrative structure.

A Wizard Did It

It's best to start any writing out strong, which is why I've decided to stray from the topic of the post, which was magic, from the get-go and just talk about the project in general.  I actually created a rough timeline for the history of this particular idea.  It started off looking to be about four or five lines long, and suddenly overtook an entire page, and it still isn't finished.  Well, it's close to finished, but it will bleed over into another page, and that surprised me quite a bit.  I blame the Collective, which most likely makes little sense to you right now, since I haven't gotten around to talking about them yet.  I think.

Nope, I checked, no mention yet.  Well, they're pretty important, and I'll talk about them next time.  Probably next time, since they're pretty crucial to, well, just about everything.  Also, I would like to take this time to predict that such semi-organized posts will probably not last much longer, as the wealth of spontaneous information will eventually dry up, and I'll actually have to put effort into the idea.  Basically, just a cover-my-ass statement so when I get stuck in a rut, I don't look like I'm just jerking off.

Shit, now I'm supposed to talk about magic.  I won't lie, I haven't put too much thought into magic yet, and I may never do so.  Simply put, most magic is not applicable to this particular story.  Magic, at least in the confines of this idea, is derived from the gods.  Since the gods are not present, the great majority of magic is not either.  So yes, the ability to summon fireballs and magical portals and all that crap was available in the history of this world, but is gone now.  Except for blood magic, but that's an entirely different bag of worms.

I probably didn't explain blood magic very well last time, since I didn't really try, or want to.  But this time is different, because I plan on trying.  Damn this post is very half-assed; if I were smart, I'd just delete it and call it a loss.  But, that's what we're trying to fix with this whole experiment, so shitty post it is.  Anyways, this paragraph sucks, time to get a little more serious and start fresh.

As stated previously, magic is derived mostly from the gods.  However, every human has a degree of power within themselves.  It is this latent power reserve that allows humans to utilize magic.  Theoretically, all living creatures have this power, but no animals have ever been recorded using magic.  This power is independent from free will and destiny, and will lie dormant until tapped.

In the past, mages knew very little about this power source.  Though they knew mankind had some special quality, they believed that it was a link to the gods, and that all power flowed through the link into humans.  The mages learned to channel many forms of energy, using various tools and devices.  The most common were the staff, the wand, and the tome, but many different items were used for different tasks.  The act of channeling took time and energy, and often weakened the magic, but it was necessary, for the alternative was horrible.

The human body was not meant to project magic.  It can channel magic fine, but casting spells from the physical self would cause extreme pain and nausea, lasting for hours or even days, and would leave terrible side effects.  Spells cast from the body itself were more powerful, though a mage casting in such a fashion would often cut years or even decades off his lifespan with every spell cast.  Mages would only cast magic from their bodies at the utmost need, when death seemed the only other alternative.

There were rudimentary ways of using another human being as the focus of casting, but these ways were primitive and evil.  All involved death, and often called for mutilation and torture.  It is from these barbaric acts that the term blood magic was coined.  Those who practiced blood magic were either insane or monstrous, and was considered a forbidden school of magic.  However, the collapse of the Church of Destiny would drastically change these views.

When the Children of Fate died, the gods left the planet entirely.  Though some latent power remained for a time, it was clear before long that the old ways of magic were soon to be lost.  The mages scrambled to find a new source of magic, but all efforts failed.  However, as free will grew, the wise came up with increasingly innovative ideas.  In the second year of the Great Decline, the mages turned to the study of the human body, using Atoners as human guinea pigs.  It was a win-win deal: the mages were able to test on a living subject, and the Atoners were gifted with death, after only a small deal of suffering.

They soon discovered the latent power hidden within all humans, and were amazed at the potential it presented.  However, the power was limited to the human body; it could not be channeled into any nonliving vessel, and required physical casting.  The mages began working on ways to limit the physical injury incurred from physical casting, but no solutions were found.  Finally, with a degree of reluctance, the mages began work on modernizing the sacrificial rituals once forbidden across the globe.  Blood magic returned to the world.

The mages discovered how to enslave other humans, and how to make them into zombie-like followers.  Then, by etching marks of power into their skin, the mage could use the human as if they were a staff or tome.  The mage would channel the power through his slave, and the magic would cast from the slave, causing no harm to the mage.  Of course, the slave would suffer all the pain, but the slaves were often too stupefied to notice.  It soon became a common sight to see a mage walking with several slaves on chain leashes, the marks and ciphers tattooed or carved into their skin, with the mark of ownership placed on the forehead.

Well, that's a little better.  And, though I could go on, this page is acting very laggy, and it's making it so that the text won't keep up with what I'm typing.  So, due to annoyance, that's all for tonight.  Lag can go suck it.

Continued Exposition: The Anarchy Edition

As you could probably tell, this is so far just a big dump of setting and history.  As I stated previously, this is the history of the world in which the story will take place.  I must admit, the story itself has not progressed beyond the scope of a couple neat ideas and one or two scenes.  But, in all reality, that's how I roll: I take an idea, I work up the backstory to a ridiculous height, and then I try and squeeze a story into it.  It may seem like a bad process, but trust me when I tell you that it is.  Anyways, to the two or so individuals who would even trudge this far into the mess, I suppose I should continue on.

Imagine waking up tomorrow morning and hearing on the news that every priest in the world died overnight.  That's what happened to the Church of Destiny.  There was not a single Child of Fate that resisted, and in the morning, their bodies were found sprawled in their churches.  The people panicked; riots broke out, and everyone was convinced that the world was coming to an end.

Many of the former followers of the church would eventually form a new religion, and call themselves Atoners.  This religion was formed as an answer to the mass suicide by the Children of Fate.  The Atoners stated that the Children of Fate were showing humanity the true path to salvation; that life was a punishment, and that only through death could a person be pardoned.

Every Atoner church differed from the other, for there was no cohesive bond between the churches; rather, they were separate entities all formed under the same idea.  Some were more radical than others, and amounted to little more than suicide cults.  However, several of the institutions would flourish, and last until the modern day.  It is from these churches that the Pardoners originated.

The Pardoners were extreme Atoners who believed that simply accepting death or even killing one's self was not enough, and that only by saving the people from their punishment could a person truly do good in the world.  Pardoners will kill as many people as possible, by any means available, until they are caught.  Few Pardoners are ever arrested, however, for they insist on fighting to the death, or, if they are captured unaware, do all that they can to kill themselves.

It is also during this time that blood magic was reinvented.  Blood magic had previously been the following of the mad, for it required the caster to either conduct extremely difficult and elaborate ceremonies to do any real magic, or to sacrifice their own bodies; an incredibly painful process, and one that often killed the mage, sometimes after the first casting.  However, with the return of free will in such a reckless fashion, the great minds soon discovered a solution.

By experimenting on willing Atoner subjects, the mages found that the power of blood magic, unlike the other magical forces, did not derive from the otherworldly, but from the human body itself.  With further study, the mages learned that a blood mage could use any living creature to channel power through; what's more, they also found that the subject need not die, and could be an independent individual from the blood mage.

With this, the art of blood magic returned, and soon many blood mages could be seen across the world, often with a train of senseless human slaves, each one with the markings on their forehead to prepare them for easy summoning.  As the age of free will lingered, and the other magics faltered and failed, blood magic endured, and became the only practical magic in the entire world.

So, yeah, just a couple more huge ideas to put down, clarify, and work into this whole mess, and then I'll actually be out of stuff to catch up on.  Ideally, that would mean time to work on the plot, but we'll see what new crap pops up from now till then.  Anyways, it's still rolling around in my head, which is always a good sign.  Next update will probably clarify magic up a little bit, since it seems confusing as written and I'm the person who's supposed to understand it.  But, for now, it's that, and that's the best I can do tonight.  Morning.  Screw it; time is relative.

The Gods, the Children of Fate & other poorly-named concepts

Before I start this entry in earnest, I feel I should share a little something about myself.  I am a perfectionist when it comes to names.  Whenever I create an idea, and start working it around in my head, the first thing I get stuck on is the fact that I can't come up with the right name for the people or places or organizations.  It's not simply making a name up, though; to me, these people and places are real, and I'm simply trying to remember what their names were.  I demand not only that it be a fitting name, but that it ring with a degree of familiarity; that when you see it, it's obvious that it would be named as so.  I say that because I won't be able to keep my goal of constant updating without listing some sucktastic rough names for concepts.  I say all that so I can say this: Forgive the stupid names.

The gods were created when the world was young.  They did not create the world, but were given charge of it.  Likewise, though they were formed alongside the planet, they are not of the planet; for this reason, they cannot take physical form, or make any direct physical contact with humanity.  The gods are nameless, though they are given many names by countless religions, and, though all religions may worship them differently, they draw power from any and all worship, regardless of belief.

The gods are forever linked with destiny; their power over mankind is in their ability to lay out the fates of all men, which is only possible in destiny-strong periods.  Thus, during these times, the gods enjoy considerable power and control over the world.  However, the inverse is also true; during times of free will, the gods are impotent.  This, of course, did not please the gods, for their lack of power frustrated them.  It was for this reason that the gods first enlightened the Children of Fate.

The origins of the Children of Fate are unclear, but it is known that they stemmed from a small, extremely loyal religion, chosen for their devout dedication.  The chosen people were gifted with the ability to foresee the future, so far as the gods allowed them.  With this gift, they would be able to steer the course of destiny and keep it straight and true.  Knowing the future as they did, these people were able to keep the period of destiny from waning, and prolonged it for many hundreds of years.  They called themselves the Children of Fate, and began the Church of Destiny.

Though any person could be a member of the Church of Destiny, only those chosen to see by the gods were called the Children of Fate.  They were sent visions by the gods, and in these visions they were shown action they must take to keep the path of time from deviating and spiraling down towards free will.  The gods would also show the Children of Fate exactly how they would achieve their goal; thus, by following the instructions of the gods, they were fated to succeed.  The gods also sent down messages slandering free will.  The Church of Destiny called such times periods of anarchy, and proclaimed that the path of the gods was the only true path. 

The Children of Fate kept mankind in order for almost four hundred years, prolonging the influence of the gods to nearly three times the average length.  However, things were far from perfect.  Corruption and greed began to eat at the many empires of the world, each ordained and protected by the gods.  The petty conflicts and arguments between rulers slowly rose tensions, until the threat of war loomed constantly in all corners of the world.

Seeing this slow decay, a member of the Children of Fate made a most unexpected decision: he defied his orders and allowed destiny to slip ever so slightly.  The name of his man is unknown, and any trace of his motive long lost.  However, the repercussions of his actions were felt worldwide.  The gods were not only defied, but the refusal would eventually lead to the downfall of destiny once more.  Thus, the gods sent a final vision to each Child of Fate: To kill one's self, immediately and without hesitation.  Faithful to their gods, each member of the Children of Fate complied, and the Church of Destiny collapsed overnight.

And to think, even with all that, it's still hundreds of years worth of history to go before I even get to where the plot starts.  Not to mention random ideas popping into my head constantly; some have worked their way into this, while others have no place whatsoever in this setting, but are still neat, and like to take up my valuable thinking time.  As I said at the start, the names are more or less placeholders, in the hopes that I come up with something better.  Depending on how much caffeine I pump into my system, I may very well have another update tomorrow.  Who'd have thought, two updates in two days!

Destiny & Free Will

The big idea behind this particular story is the struggle between destiny and free will.  However, it's not your simple shouting match about which one exists and which one is absolute hogwash.  In this particular story, both destiny and free will are real powers, opposite forces that wax and wane throughout history.  It's similar to the ocean; when destiny is growing, free will is diminishing, and vise versa.  They are natural periods, and both have different and profound effects on humanity.

Periods of destiny are the times of heroes and legends.  It is during these times that great deeds are done, and grand empires are erected.  Kings and emperors rule, and though conflicts arise, the world enjoys relative peace and prosperity.  As the power of destiny grows to its strongest, the world becomes truly marvelous.  However, once destiny has peaked and begins to descend, the cracks begin to appear.  Heroes, once protected by their fate in life, begin to die off.  The noble kings and emperors are replaced by less heirs, and the people are treated poorly.  The world falls into madness.

It is at this time that free will takes hold.  During these times, great minds make new discoveries in science, and the knowledge of the world grows in leaps and bounds.  They are times of democracy, when the people are equal and united.  New ideas are abundant, and the people are wiser than ever.  However, as with destiny, free will ultimately peaks.  During the descent, the people grow apathetic and lazy; with no drive or urges to motivate them, they do not actively seek to better themselves.  Evil individuals begin to rise up once more, and seek to enslave all the world.

As could be expected, it is at this time that destiny begins to swing back into action, fate is restored, and the world turns back to destiny.  And on and on this cycle goes, like the tides, forever.  Or, at least, it would go on forever, except the story mainly deals with what happens to the world when the cycle is broken.  The particulars shall come at a future date.  So, for now, that is all; not all that there is, but all I'll be putting down to letter and form tonight. 

Ab Initio

I made a decision at the end of last year to be more consistent and committed to my writing.  11 days into the new year, I have finally taken steps towards this.  This blog is nothing more than an idea dump; maybe in the future it will become a medium for other things, but for now it's just a place for me to post the notes and rough passages that have passed my scrutiny.

This is about half for me, and half for a select group of people I know.  You're more than welcome to read on if you wish, but the audience for this blog is really quite select, and I won't harbor ill will if you find it incredibly boring and amateur; in all reality, I'd be shocked if you found it anything but.  I am not arrogant about my works, and putting my works out in the open is one of the most uncomfortable things I could possibly do.

Nonetheless, this is my project, and I intend to keep it updated at least once a week with any developments I may make.  Tomorrow begins work on an idea I had earlier today, and which has moderate promise.  But that is then, and this is now, and for now, I am through.