November Newsletter

Hello once again everyone. I'd first like to thank anyone who read the last newsletter. I truly appreciate the support that I've been given both in person and in responding emails. During the length of this project I'm working on, I hope you stick with me and enjoy the ride. I'm trying to make it as exciting as possible!

UPDATES:

The month of November has been a busy one for me, and I haven't been consistently meeting my daily word goals. That's a major bummer, but all is not lost! The work I did was good, and everything has developed in colossal amounts compared to where I was in October. The focus of this newsletter is on the main characters of the project, but before we get to them I'll give a cursory look at the progress I've made so far in other areas.

Plot

• I actually have some semblance of a plot!
• I should say, I know the events of Eldaria (the world in which everything takes place) on a large scale over the course of the year or so in which the story will occur. So I know, for example that there are four prominent countries in the heartland of Eldaria. These countries encompass an area roughly a third the length of the united states (3000 mi in total so 1000 mi across). To the Northern border of these countries are the Whisperwind Mountains, and past that, a great and powerful evil is amassing that will change the world radically when it comes.
• Over this month I've developed many of the more specific parts of these world events, the circumstances surrounding them and how they affect populations as a whole.
• Next steps for developing the project in the plot area are to find out what these events mean to the 4 main characters, and (more importantly) what these 4 characters mean to these events.

World Building

• I've done a substantial amount of thinking about magic and largely drawn no conclusions *sadface*
• I've developed the origins in the known world and explanations for the most prominent geographical features in Eldaria. More in this vein, the mysterious creatures and alternate races have explanations and origins as well (I will probably delve deeper into this in followup newsletters).
• Finally, I've made a map of political country boundaries to better give an idea of relative distances.

Character

• Now to the exciting stuff!

There are four POV (point of view) characters. This means that in the narrative of the project, reading their accounts will sound like 4 separate and distinct voices. The reader will hear the world through the ears of each character, see it through their eyes, and will have exclusive access to the character's thoughts.

The four POV characters are Jasper, Ander, Rhanna and Verald.

Ander

• Pronounced (An-dur)
• Ander is a captain in a country called Keth
• He is technically of noble blood, but nobles draw distinctions between high and low blood. Ander is considered a lowblood.
• There are two primary fronts for war in Keth, one is in the North fighting Punic barbarians (very savage and brutal fighting) and the other is to the South, fighting the civilized Belmorans. Ander previously fought on the Southern front, but found it devoid of both honor and glory. He crossed blades with an allied Kethan highblood in a duel in a dispute over hostages. Due to his victory and the subsequent death of his dueling partner, he wisely relocated his military career to Punia where he became established as a barbarian fighter and not one to cross lightly.

Jasper

• Jasper is a point of view character, but he is also the prospective main character of the whole project
• Jasper is a noble in a respected Belmoran House, his father is the captain of the Belmoran King's personal guard
• Jasper has always been a bit disfigured and thus has been the butt of his older brother Harwin's frequent abuse. He is the shame of the family to a large degree and has thus led a troubled life. His mother died not long after his birth.
• Jasper is special for supernatural reasons, he is possessed of a set of mysterious and commanding wings that for no apparent reason sprout miraculously from his shoulders when he falls and seem to disappear when he walks

Rhanna

• Pronounced (Rah-nuh)
• When a city rebelled in the Belmoran region and declared itself free, Belmoran troops captured the city after a short and violent siege. Rhanna's family were co-conspirators in the scheme and thus were mostly slaughtered. Rhanna however was spared as she was supremely beautiful and thus was taken back to Belmora to be gifted in marriage to a vassal who found favor with the crown.
• Instead, Rhanna ran from the court life, cutting her hair short and stealing the clothes of a servant.
• She didn't succeed very well on her own, and would have perished had it not been for the intersession of others

Verald

• A man who on the outside seems to be very easy going and relaxed, Verald is actually incredibly mysterious and nobody seems to know his story
• He is the leader of a crew of thieves and thugs who operate in the Cunic Wilderland.
• He is also a member of a crafted race, created long ago in ancient times, thus he has mysterious powers and is connected in unpleasant ways to the growing evil past the Whisperwind Mountains in the North.

Thank you so much for reading this newsletter, more is definitely to follow. The story is still obviously heavily in the works but I'm excited with the progress I'm making. Peace be with you.