An Unfound Door, Chapter Eleven
Apr. 24th, 2024 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingThe errant knight Caelif rides to Faloren Castle from the south. Through Caelif’s eyes, the reader sees the castle city, which was once grand but has fallen into decline. Caelif enters the castle and is greeted by Agnes’s cousin Galien, with whom he shares a professional and romantic partnership. After they sleep together, Caelif admits to Galien that he believes Fhiad to be the demon he fought and defeated. Galien assures Caelif that Fhiad is no danger to Agnes, and he confesses that he’s far more concerned with who may have abducted her in the first place.
.
At the beginning of An Unfound Door, Agnes leads a demon through the woods. She’s tired and hungry, and she’s started talking to the demon, complaining that she’s not cut out to be a princess. Unfortunately, she is 100% correct.
Agnes’s cousin Galien, who is a duke, would be perfect in her position. He’s a born politician, and he would make a good king. Like Fhiad, Galien went to university in Cretia, where he met Caelif. Caelif works as Galien’s courrier and fixer, as he’s willing and able to travel freely.
A bit later in the story, Agnes tells Fhiad that Caelif works for her as well, as she’s been asking him to sell the treasures of the royal family in Cretia, a last-resort strategy facilitated by Galien. In another story, Galien would be the villain, but he and Agnes actually get along well and care for each other a great deal. Agnes had intended to renounce her royal status so Galien would be next in line for the throne, but her plans were complicated by her father’s ill health and her own abduction.
Hopefully some of the odd bits at the beginning of the story are starting to make more sense. For example, the hero who rescued the princess from the demon has been working with her for years. Caelif trusts Agnes, and he understands her reasoning when she says she wants to bring the demon back to Faloren. Caelif went off after Agnes at the request of Galien, who has a strong suspicion regarding the guilty party but is hesitant to say anything for reasons that will become clear later. Galien knew where to find Agnes because he already has a good idea of her abductor’s motives.
What I want to do with this novel is take the broad archetypes of the initial scenario – a princess walking through the woods with a demon boar, who turns out to be a cursed prince – and gradually add more layers until the reader finally understands exactly how and why these characters arrived in that situation. So the story is something like a mystery that the reader solves along with the characters.
I usually write chapters from the point of view of Agnes or Fhiad, but this is one of the two chapters narrated from Caelif’s perspective. What I’d like to achieve with Caelif is to give the reader a sense of the story being set on the edge of a much larger world. Despite not being a great princess, Agnes is doing her best for the kingdom of Faloren, but she doesn’t have to. The world is wide, and there are better places for her to be.
If anyone is curious, Caelif’s name comes from Caelifera, the scientific name for the sub-order of insects that includes grasshoppers. This is about as close as I’m going to get to indicating that this character is influenced by Mr. Link Legend of Zelda. I am writing the tired 30yo Link I want to see more of in the world, and no one is going to stop me.
.
At the beginning of An Unfound Door, Agnes leads a demon through the woods. She’s tired and hungry, and she’s started talking to the demon, complaining that she’s not cut out to be a princess. Unfortunately, she is 100% correct.
Agnes’s cousin Galien, who is a duke, would be perfect in her position. He’s a born politician, and he would make a good king. Like Fhiad, Galien went to university in Cretia, where he met Caelif. Caelif works as Galien’s courrier and fixer, as he’s willing and able to travel freely.
A bit later in the story, Agnes tells Fhiad that Caelif works for her as well, as she’s been asking him to sell the treasures of the royal family in Cretia, a last-resort strategy facilitated by Galien. In another story, Galien would be the villain, but he and Agnes actually get along well and care for each other a great deal. Agnes had intended to renounce her royal status so Galien would be next in line for the throne, but her plans were complicated by her father’s ill health and her own abduction.
Hopefully some of the odd bits at the beginning of the story are starting to make more sense. For example, the hero who rescued the princess from the demon has been working with her for years. Caelif trusts Agnes, and he understands her reasoning when she says she wants to bring the demon back to Faloren. Caelif went off after Agnes at the request of Galien, who has a strong suspicion regarding the guilty party but is hesitant to say anything for reasons that will become clear later. Galien knew where to find Agnes because he already has a good idea of her abductor’s motives.
What I want to do with this novel is take the broad archetypes of the initial scenario – a princess walking through the woods with a demon boar, who turns out to be a cursed prince – and gradually add more layers until the reader finally understands exactly how and why these characters arrived in that situation. So the story is something like a mystery that the reader solves along with the characters.
I usually write chapters from the point of view of Agnes or Fhiad, but this is one of the two chapters narrated from Caelif’s perspective. What I’d like to achieve with Caelif is to give the reader a sense of the story being set on the edge of a much larger world. Despite not being a great princess, Agnes is doing her best for the kingdom of Faloren, but she doesn’t have to. The world is wide, and there are better places for her to be.
If anyone is curious, Caelif’s name comes from Caelifera, the scientific name for the sub-order of insects that includes grasshoppers. This is about as close as I’m going to get to indicating that this character is influenced by Mr. Link Legend of Zelda. I am writing the tired 30yo Link I want to see more of in the world, and no one is going to stop me.
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Date: 2024-04-26 05:38 pm (UTC)