The Elf's Prisoner is in its final stretch of completed chapters right now. As a NaNoWriMo project, there came a point where I just could not word anymore. I did what I could, but the well was drying out. I was also starting to hit the point of multiple subplots starting to get out of control, much like previous works like The Soul Blade. Considering that The Elf's Prisoner might be a third of the way to completion, that's frightening.
This is a Jyslyn chapter, obviously. Jyslyn made the decision to go check the shady part of Silver Trailings. She has reason to believe the mystery dark elf she saw is part of the conspiracy; the knives found in two dead bodies were of dark elf manufacture, so someone had to be providing the weapons. Jyslyn believes that she is best suited for the more shadowy parts of the mission, leaving the others to stay in the light. Her goal is atonement. The catch, though, is that she isn't that much more suitable. She's coming from a position of power through her family, and any dealings with the darker elements back in her home were through having clout, not wheeling and dealing. Nyssa, though Jyslyn doesn't realize it, is more suited thanks to her experiences.
One goal I set myself for this chapter was to not go heavy in dialogue. There was action to be had, so the action had to be front and centre for a change. A little scenery also helped. Jyslyn is skulking about, which is something she knows how to do, and investigating, keeping an eye on her quarry. The young man is, indeed, the same one who found the body and the same one who Sessarine promoted by eliminating his boss earlier.
I hadn't considered any of Jyslyn's family to be involved in the overall plot. Yet, when I needed a dark elf connection, I went to the ones who had already appeared in the story. However, it's Jyslyn's younger brother that's caught up in the conspiracy and not her sisters. Valenza is too busy taking over her mother's position and quashing rebellion. Tereska is occupying herself with making sure her older sister decides to not remove competition. That leaves Biala. He's younger, male, and not as likely to kill Jyslyn on sight.
That explains why Biala and not his sisters, but why choose Biala at all? Conservation of characters. I introduced Jyslyn's siblings, so I had better make use of them somehow. I knew Biala was going to be linked soon after I introduced him, though I didn't know how then. With him available, I didn't have to work out a backstory for a dark elf with no connections to Jyslyn. I can up the drama just by having her brother be involved.
Friday, politics in an epic fantasy, in The Elf's Prisoner Chapter 35.
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, hiatus week.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, the anti-adaptation backlash.
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