Young Writers Society

The wyrmeweald. A harsh frontier where dragon-like creatures, known as wyrmes, rule supreme. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the tiny skitterwyrme to the majestic and intelligent great whitewyrme. The weald is a dangerous place, and not just because of the wyrmes. Weather is unpredictable and storms of great ferocity can come out of nowhere. And yet, there are those who venture into this unforgiving place to seek their fortunes. For the weald has many riches, from spectacular jewels and vast amounts of metal ores, to the wyrmes themselves, which can be used for any number of things. Wyrmeoil is good for lamps, and wyrmepelt leather is unmatched by anything.
Those who would exploit the weald and strip it of its resources are known as kith. Not all humans of the weald are kith, however. They are the kin, those who have bonded with a great whitewyrme and now ride with them. More often than not, kin are orphans or abandoned, who are chosen by their wyrmes for protection and friendship. Kith and kin are mortal enemies, for the most part, and are constantly at each others' throats. As the kith encroch even further into the weald, conflict increases steadily, until it is nothing less than all-out war. And behind it all, waiting for their chance to strike, is another group, the keld. The keld are those, both kith and kin, who have chosen to go, quite literally, underground. They are haggish and twisted and quite often cannibals. They seek to wipe both kin and kith from the weald so that they alone may rule and propagate.
As violence spreads and the weald becomes a battleground, which side will you choose?

Kith: The kith are your typical frontier-people. They are toughened travelers, who traverse the weald, trapping and looking for jewels/mines. They are generally heavily armed, with pistols, crossbows, and hackdaggers. Kith don't usually travel in groups, although when they do, it is never with more than 5-7 people. Around the weald, there are several small settlements, known as scrimshaw dens, where kith gather to barter and sell and rest from the road.

Kin: Kin are those who have bonded with a great whitewyrme. This usually happens at a young age for both wyrme and kin, and when the wyrme first moults, it fashions its shed skin into a skin-tight garment for its human rider, called soulskin. Soulskin is pearly white, just like whitewyrmes, and is virtually impenetrable. Wyrmes also fashion their kin lances out of pines that grow high on rock stacks in the weald. Wyrme and kin travel from place to place, never staying put long.

Keld: Keld are feared and abhorred by both kith and kin. They live in caverns below the weald, where they practice evil sciences and keep stunted wyrmes as pets. Most keld are cannibals and though they sometimes trade with kith, the price is always high. They hate kith and kin, and wish to wrest the weald from them.

The wyrmeweald: The weald is essentially a desert, quite like the American southwest (think southern Utah/New Mexico). However, the weather is much harsher, with the summers being sweltering and the winters being deadly cold.


Profiles (One character per person)

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Kith, Kin, or Keld:

Appearance (At least 100 words, please):

Personality (100 words as well):

History (At least 150 words):

Weapons (if kith or keld; kin just have kinlances and their wyrmes):

Other:

Rules

-no god-modding
-no mary/gary-sues
-romace allowed, but no sex...no one wants to know the details
-Violence will definitely occur, but please, not too gory


I think that's about it...PM me with any questions!
Have fun!

Name: Nathaniel Blithe

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Kith, Kin, or Keld: Kin

Appearance: Nathaniel is tall and lean and has long red hair that he lets hang loose. He has green eyes and lots of freckles. His soulskin is highly polished and fits his body perfectly. He still has his kith clothes, however, as he has only become kin recently. He has several scars all over his body, the most noticeable of which runs from his left eye to his left ear. His wyrme, Ascal, is female, and although she is small for her age (she's 17) she is incredibly strong.

Personality: Nathaniel is a nice person, and easy to get along with, even though he is kin and almost never speaks to kith or other kin. Because he only became kin about a year ago, he still speaks out loud well, although he prefers to speak with motions and in the mind with Ascal. He is very protective of friends and will do anything to keep them out of danger. To some extent he sympathizes with kith, although only those who are not wasteful. In other words, he doesn't automatically kill them on sight.

History: Nathaniel was born on the plains, far from the wyrmeweald. He and his parents travelled there when he was but seven, and both of his parents died within two years, leaving him to fend for himself. He got taken up by an abusive pair of kith who used him as a lure to trap the bigger wyrmes for butchering and organ harvesting. When he was 14, he tried to run away and was caught. The two kith were about to kill him when Ascal, who was preening on a nearby rock stack, saw what was happening and pounced on his abusers. She killed them, and has protected him ever since. They have a kind of "home base" in a cave, where they sometimes sleep, and Nathaniel keeps his kith clothes, for old times' sake.

Weapons: Pure black kinlance.

Other: Up for love, possibly

Oh, do I love storybooks I may still change some facts since this is pretty rough.


Name: Maya/Myra (not sure which one yet...) Summers

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Kith, Kin, or Keld: Kin

Appearance (At least 100 words, please): Maya/Myra is a short, dainty girl with a small and slim frame. She has dark brown hair that reflects gold and red in the sunlight and dark olive green eyes framed with thick lashes. M usually wears her hair in a loose high ponytail to keep the heavy locks out of her eyes. With lightly tan skin and a dash of freckles on her nose, M gives off an impression of a sweet young girl.

Personality (100 words as well): To make up for her dainty appearance though, she puts up a hell of a fight. Never one to compromise, M tends to be defensive, bullheaded and explosive as if all the fiery temper of a tiger was stuffed into her small body. Get on her good side though, she can be as pleasant as she can be scary. Usually, she's an earnest person who wants to convince everyone that she's just as good as anyone, that size can't hold her back.

History (At least 150 words): M grew up beside a lake so she is a very good swimmer. Raised by her mother (father was never mentioned) all her life, she had little social contact except for the rare visits in town to restock supplies. Her mother was a sweet women though her health was terrible and even if they both denied, she was getting worse everyday. M didn't have a stereotypical best friend that stood up for her so she gradually learned to harden her heart to protect herself. There were neighbours though, like the occasional immigrants, farmers, and antisocial lumberjacks, but of course, other than a few awkward hellos, everyone kept to themselves. Her childhood evolved around survival and her mother.

Weapons: M takes her small frame to advantage by being a quick and nimble fighter. Her wyrme's name is ______(deciding). He is an average sized, conservative and dark navy wyrme with slender wings and legs built more for speed than strength. In fighting style he's alike her though their tempers and personalities are worlds apart.

The kinlance is long, thin and almost ice-like (pale, pale blue).

Other: romance is an okay

Thanks for posting...I'll probably leave this open for another week or so, so just finish your profile up between now and then!

*Dibs on a male kin. Will post profile shortly.*

*What about magic, do they have magic?*

Name: Winter Kilgraid

Gender: male

Age: 19

Kith, Kin, or Keld: kin

Appearance (At least 100 words, please): Tall and slender, some would say scrawny, he has a golden tan from spending so much time in the sun. His ink black hair is normally kept military short because it's curly and Winter hates that. His eyes are an luminous silver color, deep, beautiful and entirely alien. They are piercing, seeming to see right into someone's soul.

Winter has tattoo-rings of winding briars around his thumbs, the mark of a forest guardian. This boy is built for speed and stealth and it shows, not strength. There is a jagged scar winding up his left arm. He's left handed and often wears a pair of goggles.

Personality (100 words as well): Proud, wild and intelligent, as fierce and deadly as the season he was named for. Winter has a reckless kind of courage and a quiet disdain for authority. The wild child of the kin, he goes his own way. But make no mistake if one of the other Kin are in danger he'll be the first to come riding to their rescue. Winter's strength of heart is matched only by his near all consuming loyalty.

Despite the hostililties between Kin and Kith, Winter has a soft spot for children. More than once he's found an orphaned Kith child and brought them to a settlement where they will be safe. This is something the Kith are aware of so they tolerate him more then most Kin, despite the pranks he and his partner often pull on them.

History (At least 150 words): Winter was born in a Kith settlement and the entire village paniced when he was born. The superstitious villagers claimed that his unnusual eyes were a sign that he was 'devil-touched'. He was cast out of the settlement as a new born and found by an unbonded Whitewyrme. This whitewyrme took him home where Winter bonded with her newly hatched son. She raised Winter alongside her son.

When the boys were about twelve and out exploring together a group of Keld came to the nest and slew their mother. The boys have been on their own ever since, and have made it their mission to wipe out the Keld.

Weapons (if kith or keld; kin just have kinlances and their wyrmes): He's Kin so his lance, and his partner. Question, what about when their on foot? Lances are far too unwieldly to be used unless mounted. His lance is as white as his partner's scales.

His wyrm, North is as white as new fallen snow with light blew eyes. He's a large wyrm but sleekly built with a truly massive wingspan. Like Winter he favors speed and stealth over strength and it shows in his appearance.

Other: Up for love and he's straight. His partner's name is North.

There is no magic...wyrmes can breath fire, and they are venemous, but that is the extent of their powers. Other than that, humans are humans, and wyrmes are like big lizards, with wings.
Also, on the ground, kin are dexterous enough to use their lances and also hand-to-hand combat...

I'm going to leave this open for another three days or so...

*Since no one else has made a Kith I've decided to make a secondary character.*

Name: Lore Kilgraid

Gender: female

Age: 23

Kith, Kin, or Keld: Kith

Appearance (At least 100 words, please): Short dark brown hair, a tan or dusky complection, and slanted light green eyes. Lore is slender with a boyish figure and slightly below average height. She wears clothing designed for battle and survival. Almost always wearing camoflouge and is never without at least six different weapons.

Personality (100 words as well): Lore has an adventurous personality, and that's an understatement. She has a horrible case of wanderlust and is constantly searching for new things. She also has a strong belief in the power of nature and a boundless curiosity about the world. A loner by nature she will often spend weeks at a time on her own in the wilderness.
Unlike other Kith she doesn't hunt, track or search for valuables. Her talent for drawing and her keen eye for detail along with her travels has made her one of the most sought after mapmakers, guides, trackers, and explorers.

History (At least 150 words): Lore's childhood was fairly normal up until her little brother was born. After he was abandoned her parents took Lore and fled the settlement where they were now shunned. Rather then settling down in one place they travelled constantly, much to young Lore's delight.
At the age of ten Lore was already an accomplished woodsman and survivor, they stopped in a newly established village. One that had been founded by new arrivals from the plains. Lore was fascinated by the stories of a world outside the wyrmweald. From this was born her lifelong dream to find out what was beyond the wyrmweald. To explore the horizon's horizon.
Not long after her parents were killed in a rockslide and Lore was left on her own. But she was talented and they had taught her well. Lore survived and is now one of the most preeminent explorers in the entire weald.

Weapons (if kith or keld; kin just have kinlances and their wyrmes): She carries a pair of revolvers, a rifle, a short sword for close combat and numerous daggers about her person. She also has a long bow and knows how to fashion her own arrows if she runs out of ammo.

Other: She lacks the Kith distrust of Kin and has occasionally bargained for a flight from them to help her draw more accurate maps. Lore has always wondered what happened to her little brother.

Looks good...I'm going to create another character as well, although I'm not sure if it will be kith or keld...

Name: Jesse Tallow

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Kith, Kin, or Keld: Kith

Appearance: Jesse is tall, but not particularly thin. He's strong from travelling the weald. He has sandy hair, which he has chopped short. He has piercing green eyes and has the beginnings of a beard. His clothes are rough and well-worn, but sturdy. He has a thick trench coat for winter and lighter clothes for fullsummer.

Personality: Jesse is a typical kith. He is tough and occasionally violent. However, Jesse is not in the weald to seek his fortune, or, rather he has already made is fortune. He makes his trade and livelihood by trapping and hunting wyrmes and selling their valuable pelts, organs, and bones to other kith in scrimshaw dens. He is a skilled killer, both of wyrmes and of other people, having been attacked several times. His attackers never lived to tell of it. He hates kin and has made it his duty to kill as many as possible, along with their wyrmes, not the least because great whitewyrmes are the most valuable of any wyrme.

History: Jesse has always lived in the wyrmeweald. He was born in a scrimshaw den, and was raised on the road, travelling with his parents, searching for fortune. His parents did find fortune, of a sort. While trying to steal a great whitewyrme egg, a kin pair killed them for their transgressions, leaving the eight-year-old Jesse an orphan. From that moment forward, Jesse was determined to exterminate all kin from the weald. In fact, he made a deal with a keld, Redspindle, to supply him with bloodhoney, a liquor that heightens strength, senses, and intelligence. The price, as with all dealing with the keld, was high. He brought three innocent kith to the keld and sold them for the bloodhoney. Now, supplied with the liquor, he hunts wrymes and seeks out kin to destroy.

Weapons: A crossbow and several long-bladed knives.

Other: Up for love

*Is this thing starting or what?*

I was hoping that some more people would join, but I guess we can just start...I can't do it now, as I have to go to school, but if you want to start us off, you can. If not, I'll make the first post tonight

Nathaniel,

I breath in deeply and yawn, smelling the clean air of the high weald. I roll over, and my kinwyrme, Ascal, snuffles and tightens her coiled tail, trying to find my warmth. I laugh softly and pat her flank. She grunts and opens her yellow eyes, raising her head to observe me. I pull back the hood of my soulskin and smile at her.

"It's high time we were on our way," I say, turning to pick up my kinlance, "The thaw's starting, and the kith will be out in droves. We don't want to be caught here when they come..."

Ascal yawns, "I know that, but surely hordes of kith aren't just going to spring out of the ground and attack us?"

I laugh, "Let's just get moving, Ascal."

"Fine," she grumbles, getting to her feet and shaking out her wings.

We both climb out onto the ledge that lies just outside of our cave. I climb on Ascal's back, and we prepare to take off.
Just then, I see two things: a lone kith, standing down the cliff, aiming a crossbow at my chest, and another kin pair, flying towards us.

Winter Kilgraid:

He let out a whoop as North burst through the cloud cover and they were above the storm. Around them the clouds spread out in an endless sea of white. Winter's heartbeat picks up in anticipation as North folds his wings and plumets into a groundscorching dive.

The clouds rip pass Winter's face as they descend, picking up speed. Soon their among the storm cloud, sheets of rain beating against his face. Lightning forks around the pair, giving North's pale scales a luminescent glow. The boom of thunder half deafens the brothers.

Seconds before they crash into the unforgiving earth North flares his wings, turning their suicidal plunge into a gentle ascent as they rise back up into the sky.

"There's nothing quite like flying is their Winter?" North asks him.

Laughing, Winter slicks back his rain soaked hair as he answers him. "No, it's the most incredible feeling in the world."

North arches his head proudly and the pair of the scan the horizon, ever watchful for approaching danger or excitement. The Whitewyrm is the first one to catch sight of the other kin pair. The drake is female, and relatively small her attention largely focused on something on the ground.