Next Alpha
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Slower than I want; mainly due to work.
However, it gives me lots of thinking plotting time for the finish up. I am assimilating ideas/complaints from alpha read, thinking about how to spruce up earlier stuff and how that affects the last chapters.
So while not much typing progress, there has been plotting progress.
In particular, more thoughts about Ruiden and Talarius, more thoughts about Tiernon & Torean and how that may shape things.
Also more thought on Net and when he enters the picture which is in the last 20%.
Also more on Exador & Ramses and their interactions.
Big thing is still working out details on the timing of the siege.
[quote=Malacai;4164]Honestly, I feel like Ruiden probably never talked before. After all, nobody that Talarius knew knew that Ruiden was sentient, and I think Talarius would mention it somewhere, perhaps in a report or in confidence, that his sword could talk.
As for Ruiden’s personality, rather than child-like, I feel like it’s someone intelligent but simple who just had their worldview challenged. He lived all these years as an anti-demon sword, made by the greatest smith and used by the Forces of Good. Now, though, he finds that his maker/father is also friend with demons, that some demons are good, and that he was made in the Abyss. Thinking about him, I feel like he would be trying to leverage his sharp calculations to make sense of this new information, especially when Talarius talks to him and tries to get his input as well. They are actually very similar, even if Ruiden is smarter and less indoctrinated, while Talarius is more charismatic and socially adept. (Though, being more socially adept than a sword shouldn’t be that hard.)[/quote]
Excellent points. I need to go back to the beginning and reexamine all of his dialogue after the battle.
And then there is the “demon slaying” vs “D’Orcs” they really are the same thing. This should be as shocking to Ruiden as it is to Talarius. In Ruiden’s old world, D’Orcs were good because they worked with/for his dad. Demons were bad because they made his dad mad, caused him problems. But D’Orcs and Demons are made the same way.
Except? How much/what distinction does Ruiden make about orcs and humans, they are fleshy beings to him.
As for a time extender for the Nysgard fight. I would think you could have some of it being now that they know they are building up that the citadel of light in Nysgard plans to try maybe so old lync they had with the base of mount doom in Nysgard to see if they can get any help. This might lead into some very interesting talks cause Hilda’s parties true mission is to only bring back Talarius and not really get involved.
So they way I would see this playing out is first a scene with Talarius back training with Tom’s people and him a Ruiden having mental conversation about the good times Talarius had training with others and some of the conversations maybe leading him into realizing these people are good people and that really Orcus/Tom is allot better person. Maybe Ruiden suggest that he go ask Tom for a position there in Nysgard to help train the people.
This would start putting Talarius on the path of becoming someone who wants to stick with Toms cause he can do some really good work and save lives while keeping to the true faith of Tiernon. So Tom agrees.
Now they get the call from the citadel of light asking for aid and agree to talks when Hilda’s party shows up with them and there becomes now the conflict and might give you some more time for those forces to build up before the last battle.
My thoughts if this happens is that Hilda and here party makes the demand that Talarius must be returned and Talarius is the one who refuses saying he has work to do here in Nysgard forcing Hilda’s group to stay and fight the Chaos so that they can figure out this whole mess afterwords.
But then like mentioned afterwords they are celibrating the victory and maybe Hilda’s party is there with them and now realizing maybe Tom/Orcus is not the Evil he has been made out to be when Ruperts party gets attacked.
Although Talarius would have known that Ruiden was sentient since Ruiden moves on his own like a partner with Talarius, they would have practiced together and worked out strategies.
I just don’t think Talarius knew he was this sentient. I think he suspected Ruiden of having the intelligence of a horse or hound or something like that.
Volund periodically goes to check in on the monitoring D’Orcs in the Tataurus control room, yet Tom needs the wand of orcus to actually get in
Good point on the torture, need to clarify that better.
Lilith uses it for punishment, not information, it is the “fear of punishment” that keeps the demons in line etc. They tell her the truth because if they lie, and are discovered to have lied, they will be severely tortured.
Ahh, but you see, there is the trick with this “book”
As I’ve often said. “Demons of Astlan” is one really really huge book simply broken down into smaller chunks.
So the question for each “book” or volume is what part of this really huge story gets presented in this particular volume, which is presented later, which is never told and which is spun off to side books?
In other words, it’s all those books! ](*,) So yes, it’s all those things, it’s just what shall we see in this “window” or installment.
I would honestly argue that it was probably too big of a scope to start out with; and that’s also probably why it sat in limbo for a very long time.
No one knows what happens to KoC’s after ‘death’ it is believed they do reform but…
Commanders of Chaos and knights Commanders do not seem to have bodies other than their suits of armor which are used to contain “Chaos” whatever that is. There is speculation that they are more like golems or elementals than “people” Commanders of Chaos seem to behave more like people, and on some level can be reasoned with, despite not talking. KoC’s generally attack first, last and always.
If you somehow open the visor you see Chaos and it can drive some people insane.
This raw energy, after the first few was sucked up by doom as raw energy. Not sure where the animus would have went, if there was animus particularly without much mana around.
I suppose they might make their way “home” eventually, but it would take them along time. At the very least they would need to wait until after Tom returned things to normal to collect enough mana to flee.
What I can say is that not even Lilith knows the answers to these questions.
As far as Lenamare, yes it could be amusing, but I think once rumors get back to him that he was the demon’s patsy, possibly his warlock. That will be even more amusing.
Tom does not like Lenamare. he really does not want to have anything to do with the guy. So my thought would be that the more Lenamare is not in the picture, the better for Tom, he has enough on his plate. Why invite the frustration of dealing with such a jerk.
The place to play with the link between summoned and summoner would probably be Tizzy and Gastrope. However, understand that all of these are “bindings” not links.
That’s actually a big difference, bindings are “one way links” The wizards have gone out of their way to make sure that the demons can’t use the bindings in reverse.
Typically the best thing that can happen is that a demon tries to reverse the binding and the binding breaks/shatters. This would be on purpose as a failsafe. That being said…an animage demon could probably do some nasty.I would not put a binding on an archdemon or higher, unless it was pretty well tested by others and even then….
Yeah maybe some lenamare planning his grand escape or just various lower non mages who don’t know what’s happening questioning the council.
And even then he’s so uptight…well to paraphrase Ferris Bueller if you stuck demon weed up his bum, you’d end up with crystal weed…
It would probably take a lot.
Actually, to be fair, he has probably used DW and is probably very experienced with it as a tool. He is also good enough that he would put up one hell of a fight.
The thing to keep in mind, much to Exador’s frustration, Lenamare has been able to go toe to toe with Exador, an archdemon that is thousands of years old…
Of course, if Tom wanted to really piss off Exador, he could threaten to do exactly what you suggest…
As for the time skip…I would love to do that, and may do it for some…but here are the problems.
Inferno is getting new passengers and then moving on. As you might have noted, Melissance & her boy toy have talked their way on board (and of course the boy toy is actually her husband in disguise at the request of Asmodeus and Lilith) so there is definitely some story advancement there…but I can get a day or two out of contract negotiations…
Teragdor etal can stand apostle training, and really, they are all dreadfully killing time, because they literally aren’t going anywhere as the undead army approaches. (other than back to Fort Murgatroid for bits)
Rupert and Fer Rog are on a pretty long journey, so that’s not a big problem. Similar for Ragala and Farsooth (who we have not seen in some time, but he’s doomalogue hunting as well)
Tal Gor is the problem. He is at that big funky place on the map, at the heart of which is the Astlan Doomalogue, they are within a day of it. The Nimbus is overhead, circling as are alvaran patrols. There is going to be interaction, sure I can probably kill a day or so but…they are going to run into each other one way or the other and then we have stuff happening…and that’s where I fear running out of room….
Ok,
So this weekend has been a huge bust for writing.
I have/had this big website/production server migration thing and while we had new servers “ready to go” and old servers “ready to wind down”
The final data transfers, upgrades, fixes and testing ate up most of my time these last 3 days….like 6+ hours per day. It was a migration of 5 old servers to 4 new servers with about 70 websites/databases and 50 ftp sites, plus several dozen other data pipes to third parties. Tomorrow I’m going to be in “emergency crash mode” as business users start trying to use the new system and things, of course, will not work perfectly.
I’m chugging forward this evening with the book, but the next alpha probably won’t be until at least Thursday, maybe Friday. Hoping to get the last 20% in and done so I can go back and make the changes you guys are suggesting.
T-A-G
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