December Newsletter

Hello all,

The project has been going great and this month has seen some pretty huge developments. For starters, I’ve written about five chapters as of now (All in their very very early stages) that introduce the character arcs of Jasper, Ander and Rhanna. Each of these chapters I’m sure will go through heavy development in the coming months, but right now I’m writing hard to pump out a first draft so that I can at least have something with a beginning and an ending to work with.

Each story arc has a protagonist (obviously) and an antagonist. In Jasper’s POV, the antagonist is his brother Harwin. This is an example of man vs. man. For Ander, the antagonist is more supernatural, an army or a force from the Northlands that is both beyond his understanding and beyond his ability to fight. For Rhanna the antagonist could be a variety of things, it could be her struggle with herself and her guilt, or her lack of strength, or it could be an evil man sent to bring her back to her captor’s prison; I still have yet to decide what to develop. Once I give you all more context for the overall plot this all might make a bit more sense, but obviously I cannot do that as of now since it all is so subject to change.

Next update I plan to give a chapter by chapter summary up until whichever chapter I have reached by the end of January. Reaching chapter ten is my goal. For now, please enjoy some quoted text from Chapter three of Ander’s Point of View.

*****

“The Punics glared at Ander, and the younger of them began speaking rapidly in Punic. The blue-eyed tried to remain calm, “You don’t have to kill us, I told you we are leaving this place, never to come back.”

Ander wished no ill will upon the men in truth, but he was immune to empathy. It was one of the unfortunate traits that he’d picked up fighting in the frigid Northlands. His heart was as cold as his steel.

“Come or go,” Ghenn muttered. “We’ll still be here, the Outposts will never fall.”

Two Kethans took a man each and they followed Ander outside of the human circle. A naturally formed rock outcrop was a few feet away and Ander approached it, his booted feet crunching on muddy snow. He took the younger one first as a courtesy, and he tried to be quick and painless. He ended the boy’s life by quickly running the blade’s edge against his neck.

Ander had to credit the older Punic, the man was strong-hearted and didn’t falter as he was shoved towards the outcrop and forced to kneel beside Ander. His sword rose and fell.

There was no cheering as the last of the Punics fell dead into the cold, their blood mixing with mud and ice. The Kethans grunted, it was always this way in the North. Do what you have to do and try your best to sleep when the nightmares come.

Ander cleaned his sword in the snow and sheathed it, it would rust if he left it that way for a long time, but it would suffice until he could properly oil and scrub it as part of his nightly ritual inside his warm tent. Ghenn clapped him on the shoulder wordlessly as he made his way back towards camp. The rest of the men spread out or went their respective ways, each on his own errand. Ander couldn’t relax however, his mind was restless. What had the two Punics observed? It was true that the raids had been decreasing in past months, and if there was ever a time for raiding this was it; in the middle of fall. Where was Gortal the Fearless, Chief Ivtar, the Nevveine and Velx the Butcher? Their mighty armies had come to be an expected thing, a ravaging force and each time they came they took a bit more territory and made the court back in Keth more nervous. But, they weren’t here this year. Could there really be such a mass exodus of people based merely on legends? And if the Punics were frightened of something, wouldn’t the less hearty peoples of Eldaria be utterly stupid to ignore it? The words of the blue-eye spoke again in Ander’s mind, “My people are leaving this place, something is coming, many travelers past the Northern Hills and something following behind them that is terrible, we have heard the legends and seen the signs.” He felt sure he would have the same dream again tonight, that terrible dream.”

*****

Thanks so much everyone, hope you had a merry Christmas.