Lux Aeterna
Jul. 26th, 2011 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
norcumiSometimes I get ideas, and they haunt me. Tayda did, and never mind the lack of comic skills, I could never settle on a solid story, so I kept telling the same scene in different hats and hoping I could get to the end of the page somehow. One day I'll pin that story down and tell it.
Last few days it's been the torch... thing. More ideas keep percolating through, and I want to poke at it and see what happens. I don't know what to call it; my first instinct of "Alone in the Almost Dark" doesn't seem to fit the new plot threads I have. It's good for the first part, chapter or what have you, but not the matter as a whole. "Lux Aeterna" has flirted with my brain some, but it also doesn't fit later ideas and it seems to be popular as a musical title, and none of the stuff YouTube has been polite enough to cough up for me fit in the least, and I'm disinclined to tread on naming trends. Maybe "Eternal Light" in some other language, but that's also flaky, since why am I presuming ancient Sidhe in some fantasy world spoke Norse or the like?
I keep looking at this idea for a braided novel (I think this is a braided novel? Google has been somewhat unhelpful in defining this term for me), which fits my compulsion to tell bite sized stories but also caters to my obsession with stories containing a greater scope.
Mind, I'm now starting to get weird flashes of how might I be stealing from Inuyasha, but hopefully no more than any other source. There's also Beauty and the Beast and possibly other fairy tales dripping through there. -_-
Details (admittedly missing a lot of plot developments and emotional threads, this is to try to get the damned epic out on paper and hash out a vague outline)
* part 1: The Warrior becomes imprisoned, as described here
* part 2: Pre-teen, early teenish girl fleeing local rowdies into old hills, stumbles upon The Warrior, who is reasonably happy to slay (mmm, violence with lots of description) the few who follow her. Nether of these folks understand each other, and with her responsible for the deaths of these dudes, due to her lack of social status, she obviously can't go back. Well crap.
* part 3: 20 odd years down the road, two brothers from a neighboring kingdom come riding through. They seek the Priestess they've heard of, an obscure shrine where the Torch of Knowledge shines e'er bright and the resident Lady talks to the old Gods. They, er, have a bit of a disputed inheritance problem, y'see, being the two youngest sons of a minor landholder, and the contracts that say they get the money are in an old tongue, and what with the plague next door killing off most everyone, they kind of need a translation now, prettyplease. The younger (smarter less practically drowned in Chivalry down to earth type) is a little surprised that the shrine they've heard of seems to be a hut with a nice garden near a defensible hill (is that a... door carved into the hill...?), not to mention that the 'priestess' seems to be a mature peasant woman without attendants. Sure, she's prettyish, and all, but what scam is she running?
Well, by now the lass from part 2 and The Warrior have managed to learn each others' tongues reasonably well, and yes, she can translate, now get the hell off my lawn. But by the time the elder son goes haring back to the estates, the younger (who let's face it, isn't THAT young and no more than a decade younger than said "Priestess") is more interested in her, and this set up, and NO it's not a "my what a lovely idyllic place away from the crowds and you are beautiful perhaps in body but certainly in spirit" bit of tripe. There should be elements of.... hmmm. Not an arranged marriage, but an arrangement of convenience? With potential interest for more?
* part 4: Since Part 2 Lass and Part 3 Dude actually got on well enough to have kids, and THEY had kids (yes with outside folks it's not that kind of novel), this segment deals with a Newcomer to the shrine. Still not sure if it's a guy or gal, but either way it's a fighter of some sort, a mercenary. There's a small but growing community here, and the ancient Lord's Hall has indeed become a *cough* shrine where *cough cough* wisdom of the ages is dispensed because hell, everyone needs to make a copper or two and The Warrior doesn't mind having some company and scamming some coin out of non-locals.... well, why the hell not? The Merc in question has seen enough such scams to recognize one when they see it, but there seems to be substance to the sparkle here. Also, The Merc has their eye on one of the local priesty types, and everyone's scenting a marriage in the near future.
But The Warrior fascinates The Merc. He's this sometimes listless dude, trapped in a cavern that's been redecorated over the years, and there's company whenever he wants it, and he looks less emaciated (having, you know, managed to subsist on more than magic for the last generation or two). But there is no spark. The Merc swaggers in one night, a little drunk (genuinely only a little!) talking of old battles. They rouse The Warrior some, until The Merc challenges him to a fight. And gets totally pwned. And suddenly the spark is there, and The Warrior realizes he's been missing something, and agrees to train The Merc.
*part 5: It's been at least two generations since The Merc. This is where the stories turn to more of The Warrior, who is sitting in his hall one night - and the torch goes out. Barely a sputter and the whole thing collapses into shards from a now empty sconce. After a cautious, "holy shit" moment, The Warrior ventures outside. There's a small, mortal village there. The stars shine bright above (but o, they are not quite right! They are not as they should be! How long, indeed, has it been?!). This strange light, this strange place, and he is... free? He is, of course, challenged by one of the local guards - nice lad, taught him some of those moves, always was weak on the left side, very easy to disarm like so.
And what does one such as he do, now that he is free?
* part 6: It's been at least another generation, and The Warrior is getting restless. The shrine still exists, and there is still a village there (and wise women and men continuing to dispense good advice and the like under the guise of holy words), but this is not enough. Especially when word of War abroad begins to trickle in - war, and a great, one might even say inhuman Fighter who obeys a foreign conqueror. In deed, it sounds much like one The Warrior laid low, a great victory for his Lord, shortly before his imprisonment began. It sounds like a good reason to go abroad himself.
* part 7: From the perspective of someone young, much like the Lass in part 2. In The Kingdom Abroad, they watch at The Fighter continues to slaughter their way at the head of the army, conquering and destroying - and then The Warrior steps in to challenge him. It is a strangely formal duel, waged on the plains between armies, and the like has not been seen for centuries, if ever. Some say these men are not mortal, but gods, here to wage war for stakes of the entire universe.
Some, however, say that The Fighter embraces the sword that slays him.
Not that it matters much. The army behind him presses forward, flowing around The Warrior that none dare engage, a rock in the middle of a tidal wave that continues to slaughter.
* part 8: The Warrior knows a chain of command when he sees one. He follows The Fighter's path back to a - crypt? quarry? mountain? A place where the man of legend has lain insensate for centuries. His wounds healed, slow but sure, and he emerged years ago to slaughter his way forth, screaming in ancient tongues and looking like the dead risen. Several old timers talk of their fathers' retreat before this carnage, and the brave, wise man who stopped it all. An odd man, looking somehow ageless and strong, who spoke in the same tongue which somehow tamed the fiend. Tamed him, and took him to the local king.
* part 9: Facing and slaying the king - already called The Immortal. He, as it turns out, is not. His alchemist, however, finds this all very amusing before revealing himself to be the one who Tamed The Fighter - and to be The Warrior's Lord.
* part 10: The Shrine of the Light has heard of foreign wars, and sees more and more refugees. Given their location near the border (a border which creeps closer by the day) and their reputation, they brace themselves. When The King - the Lord - rides in at the head of an army, The Warrior dispirited and... somehow not whole - by his side, several realize the truth. They call him out - a Betrayer, a puppeteer, not a lord but one who abuses the fealty of those about him. And in the end, it is one of the priests/priestesses - from the line of The Lass and The Dude, with the blood of The Merc and sheer damned determination, with ghosts whispering in their ear - who steps forward, out of the gates. They are serene and poised, carrying an ostentatious pillow bearing... something... and a white flag. It is the iron sconce they throw from the pillow to The Lord, who bats it away into The Warrior's face. And it is that which breaks the spell - it is unclear if it is the ties that bound him for centuries, resonant magic breaking new bonds. It might be the blood of generations of allies and friends brushed across the metal. It might simply be the shock of having a metal thing smacking one across the face.
But it is The Lord's head which meets the ground, and the rest of the body a few beats later. And with his death, so goes his hold on the army, who are far from home and have seen more slaughter than any of them ever wanted.
* part 11: an epilogue, of children playing at being Heroes, Swordsmen, and Priests in a small, safe village. The Warrior disappeared when it seemed that the countries were stable enough. Some say he sleeps under the hill, behind a now closed door. Some say he died, gloriously in battle. Some say he died, peacefully in his sleep, here in his town. But there is a small shrine, near the base of the hill, with an ancient metal sconce is attached to a wall. When one goes there, one can sometimes hear laughter, and distant voices in ancient tongues. If one engages in swordplay there, it is said that one is... educated, somehow, learning new moves and finding errors are smoothed away.
But it is a quiet, peaceful place full of life and opportunity. And War does not come here, for this is His Village, His People. Perhaps He would return, and come again should they be threatened, but none dare to find out.
.... ok, I'm not sure where half of that came from. Especially at the end.
Now if only I could get myself to sit down and actually WRITE half of this. O_o
Last few days it's been the torch... thing. More ideas keep percolating through, and I want to poke at it and see what happens. I don't know what to call it; my first instinct of "Alone in the Almost Dark" doesn't seem to fit the new plot threads I have. It's good for the first part, chapter or what have you, but not the matter as a whole. "Lux Aeterna" has flirted with my brain some, but it also doesn't fit later ideas and it seems to be popular as a musical title, and none of the stuff YouTube has been polite enough to cough up for me fit in the least, and I'm disinclined to tread on naming trends. Maybe "Eternal Light" in some other language, but that's also flaky, since why am I presuming ancient Sidhe in some fantasy world spoke Norse or the like?
I keep looking at this idea for a braided novel (I think this is a braided novel? Google has been somewhat unhelpful in defining this term for me), which fits my compulsion to tell bite sized stories but also caters to my obsession with stories containing a greater scope.
Mind, I'm now starting to get weird flashes of how might I be stealing from Inuyasha, but hopefully no more than any other source. There's also Beauty and the Beast and possibly other fairy tales dripping through there. -_-
Details (admittedly missing a lot of plot developments and emotional threads, this is to try to get the damned epic out on paper and hash out a vague outline)
* part 1: The Warrior becomes imprisoned, as described here
* part 2: Pre-teen, early teenish girl fleeing local rowdies into old hills, stumbles upon The Warrior, who is reasonably happy to slay (mmm, violence with lots of description) the few who follow her. Nether of these folks understand each other, and with her responsible for the deaths of these dudes, due to her lack of social status, she obviously can't go back. Well crap.
* part 3: 20 odd years down the road, two brothers from a neighboring kingdom come riding through. They seek the Priestess they've heard of, an obscure shrine where the Torch of Knowledge shines e'er bright and the resident Lady talks to the old Gods. They, er, have a bit of a disputed inheritance problem, y'see, being the two youngest sons of a minor landholder, and the contracts that say they get the money are in an old tongue, and what with the plague next door killing off most everyone, they kind of need a translation now, prettyplease. The younger (smarter less practically drowned in Chivalry down to earth type) is a little surprised that the shrine they've heard of seems to be a hut with a nice garden near a defensible hill (is that a... door carved into the hill...?), not to mention that the 'priestess' seems to be a mature peasant woman without attendants. Sure, she's prettyish, and all, but what scam is she running?
Well, by now the lass from part 2 and The Warrior have managed to learn each others' tongues reasonably well, and yes, she can translate, now get the hell off my lawn. But by the time the elder son goes haring back to the estates, the younger (who let's face it, isn't THAT young and no more than a decade younger than said "Priestess") is more interested in her, and this set up, and NO it's not a "my what a lovely idyllic place away from the crowds and you are beautiful perhaps in body but certainly in spirit" bit of tripe. There should be elements of.... hmmm. Not an arranged marriage, but an arrangement of convenience? With potential interest for more?
* part 4: Since Part 2 Lass and Part 3 Dude actually got on well enough to have kids, and THEY had kids (yes with outside folks it's not that kind of novel), this segment deals with a Newcomer to the shrine. Still not sure if it's a guy or gal, but either way it's a fighter of some sort, a mercenary. There's a small but growing community here, and the ancient Lord's Hall has indeed become a *cough* shrine where *cough cough* wisdom of the ages is dispensed because hell, everyone needs to make a copper or two and The Warrior doesn't mind having some company and scamming some coin out of non-locals.... well, why the hell not? The Merc in question has seen enough such scams to recognize one when they see it, but there seems to be substance to the sparkle here. Also, The Merc has their eye on one of the local priesty types, and everyone's scenting a marriage in the near future.
But The Warrior fascinates The Merc. He's this sometimes listless dude, trapped in a cavern that's been redecorated over the years, and there's company whenever he wants it, and he looks less emaciated (having, you know, managed to subsist on more than magic for the last generation or two). But there is no spark. The Merc swaggers in one night, a little drunk (genuinely only a little!) talking of old battles. They rouse The Warrior some, until The Merc challenges him to a fight. And gets totally pwned. And suddenly the spark is there, and The Warrior realizes he's been missing something, and agrees to train The Merc.
*part 5: It's been at least two generations since The Merc. This is where the stories turn to more of The Warrior, who is sitting in his hall one night - and the torch goes out. Barely a sputter and the whole thing collapses into shards from a now empty sconce. After a cautious, "holy shit" moment, The Warrior ventures outside. There's a small, mortal village there. The stars shine bright above (but o, they are not quite right! They are not as they should be! How long, indeed, has it been?!). This strange light, this strange place, and he is... free? He is, of course, challenged by one of the local guards - nice lad, taught him some of those moves, always was weak on the left side, very easy to disarm like so.
And what does one such as he do, now that he is free?
* part 6: It's been at least another generation, and The Warrior is getting restless. The shrine still exists, and there is still a village there (and wise women and men continuing to dispense good advice and the like under the guise of holy words), but this is not enough. Especially when word of War abroad begins to trickle in - war, and a great, one might even say inhuman Fighter who obeys a foreign conqueror. In deed, it sounds much like one The Warrior laid low, a great victory for his Lord, shortly before his imprisonment began. It sounds like a good reason to go abroad himself.
* part 7: From the perspective of someone young, much like the Lass in part 2. In The Kingdom Abroad, they watch at The Fighter continues to slaughter their way at the head of the army, conquering and destroying - and then The Warrior steps in to challenge him. It is a strangely formal duel, waged on the plains between armies, and the like has not been seen for centuries, if ever. Some say these men are not mortal, but gods, here to wage war for stakes of the entire universe.
Some, however, say that The Fighter embraces the sword that slays him.
Not that it matters much. The army behind him presses forward, flowing around The Warrior that none dare engage, a rock in the middle of a tidal wave that continues to slaughter.
* part 8: The Warrior knows a chain of command when he sees one. He follows The Fighter's path back to a - crypt? quarry? mountain? A place where the man of legend has lain insensate for centuries. His wounds healed, slow but sure, and he emerged years ago to slaughter his way forth, screaming in ancient tongues and looking like the dead risen. Several old timers talk of their fathers' retreat before this carnage, and the brave, wise man who stopped it all. An odd man, looking somehow ageless and strong, who spoke in the same tongue which somehow tamed the fiend. Tamed him, and took him to the local king.
* part 9: Facing and slaying the king - already called The Immortal. He, as it turns out, is not. His alchemist, however, finds this all very amusing before revealing himself to be the one who Tamed The Fighter - and to be The Warrior's Lord.
* part 10: The Shrine of the Light has heard of foreign wars, and sees more and more refugees. Given their location near the border (a border which creeps closer by the day) and their reputation, they brace themselves. When The King - the Lord - rides in at the head of an army, The Warrior dispirited and... somehow not whole - by his side, several realize the truth. They call him out - a Betrayer, a puppeteer, not a lord but one who abuses the fealty of those about him. And in the end, it is one of the priests/priestesses - from the line of The Lass and The Dude, with the blood of The Merc and sheer damned determination, with ghosts whispering in their ear - who steps forward, out of the gates. They are serene and poised, carrying an ostentatious pillow bearing... something... and a white flag. It is the iron sconce they throw from the pillow to The Lord, who bats it away into The Warrior's face. And it is that which breaks the spell - it is unclear if it is the ties that bound him for centuries, resonant magic breaking new bonds. It might be the blood of generations of allies and friends brushed across the metal. It might simply be the shock of having a metal thing smacking one across the face.
But it is The Lord's head which meets the ground, and the rest of the body a few beats later. And with his death, so goes his hold on the army, who are far from home and have seen more slaughter than any of them ever wanted.
* part 11: an epilogue, of children playing at being Heroes, Swordsmen, and Priests in a small, safe village. The Warrior disappeared when it seemed that the countries were stable enough. Some say he sleeps under the hill, behind a now closed door. Some say he died, gloriously in battle. Some say he died, peacefully in his sleep, here in his town. But there is a small shrine, near the base of the hill, with an ancient metal sconce is attached to a wall. When one goes there, one can sometimes hear laughter, and distant voices in ancient tongues. If one engages in swordplay there, it is said that one is... educated, somehow, learning new moves and finding errors are smoothed away.
But it is a quiet, peaceful place full of life and opportunity. And War does not come here, for this is His Village, His People. Perhaps He would return, and come again should they be threatened, but none dare to find out.
.... ok, I'm not sure where half of that came from. Especially at the end.
Now if only I could get myself to sit down and actually WRITE half of this. O_o
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Date: 2011-07-28 01:24 am (UTC)