GOO!
So when Cheshire and Albrecht arrived at Donne's Stable, I had no idea what I was going to do. They needed supplies, and I didn't just want to skip to their arrival in Bath. They had just agreed to work together, they couldn't then just arrive at the next leg of the quest. I need time to build character and relationship. So they go to Donne's Stable, an Old West town in my fantasy novel (the swordfighter call-out for a duel on the street is something already introduced and will matter later).
So that's how the tinkers got introduced. I was bumming around with the bartender being a paranoid jerk and here arrives Puck with his funny accent.
Easy enough? Get Albrecht the mount he needs and move on.
...not so fast. What was supposed to be one chapter has turned into four. I had wanted to introduce religious/social orders that hunted demons in an older age when sorcery was more common. Now I have this little old tinker lady who can't speak a word of [English] pointing a finger and declaring, "Sectarian!" which I just love. Turns out the tinkers weren't gypsies that traveled around doing shoddy work. Once upon a time, they were the support for the sects that hunted demons. That's where their nomadic lifestyle comes from. Specifically, this little old lady's family used to make the armor and weapons for the sect Cheshire is descended from.
Fun enough. Gives me reason enough to reintroduce the tinkers later and introduces some world building.
And this morning, it also reintroduced Quintal's Fivefold Strategy from chapter 1. I mention in passing there that few people still remember Quintal. Well it turns out he was a childhood hero of Albrecht who ran around pretending to be the legendary swordfighter. He's desperate to learn the fivefold strategy and now he travels with a person that knows it all!
Success!!! But wait. No, Cheshire won't teach him. Why not? He promised his Uncle who had taught him. That was why the strategy was fading from knowledge. It's cursed! (not really cursed, just bad things happen so they call it a curse) When the knowledge is exchanged, one of the people will inevitably die by the hand of the other.
That's ridiculous! Cheshire's uncle taught him and Cheshire didn't kill him.
...
That's right! Cheshire killed his uncle!!! This last part just came to me a few minutes ago while I was trying to eat broccoli. (My wife put it in my lunch--she's trying to kill me!) The thought was so exciting and overwhelming, I almost shouted GOO! at my desk. I instead came here to write it down.
Onward! To adventure!
So that's how the tinkers got introduced. I was bumming around with the bartender being a paranoid jerk and here arrives Puck with his funny accent.
Easy enough? Get Albrecht the mount he needs and move on.
...not so fast. What was supposed to be one chapter has turned into four. I had wanted to introduce religious/social orders that hunted demons in an older age when sorcery was more common. Now I have this little old tinker lady who can't speak a word of [English] pointing a finger and declaring, "Sectarian!" which I just love. Turns out the tinkers weren't gypsies that traveled around doing shoddy work. Once upon a time, they were the support for the sects that hunted demons. That's where their nomadic lifestyle comes from. Specifically, this little old lady's family used to make the armor and weapons for the sect Cheshire is descended from.
Fun enough. Gives me reason enough to reintroduce the tinkers later and introduces some world building.
And this morning, it also reintroduced Quintal's Fivefold Strategy from chapter 1. I mention in passing there that few people still remember Quintal. Well it turns out he was a childhood hero of Albrecht who ran around pretending to be the legendary swordfighter. He's desperate to learn the fivefold strategy and now he travels with a person that knows it all!
Success!!! But wait. No, Cheshire won't teach him. Why not? He promised his Uncle who had taught him. That was why the strategy was fading from knowledge. It's cursed! (not really cursed, just bad things happen so they call it a curse) When the knowledge is exchanged, one of the people will inevitably die by the hand of the other.
That's ridiculous! Cheshire's uncle taught him and Cheshire didn't kill him.
...
That's right! Cheshire killed his uncle!!! This last part just came to me a few minutes ago while I was trying to eat broccoli. (My wife put it in my lunch--she's trying to kill me!) The thought was so exciting and overwhelming, I almost shouted GOO! at my desk. I instead came here to write it down.
Onward! To adventure!