NovMo25: Soul Watchers

Snoink's Nano musings<3

AHHHH NANO PREPWORK YEEEEEEAH.

Okay, so obviously this is going to be kind of crazy because I'm adapting Swan stuff to non Swan stuff and obviously some of the plot mechanics/lore from Swans has to be adapted to be different, otherwise it's just kind of... annoying I guess.

SO.

SOULWATCHING

This should be a dangerous kind of ability where someone can see into a soul and see someone for who they really are and who they have the potential to become. This is both a valued ability but also a feared ability and those who are Soulwatchers are kind of treated on the fringes of society, really, because of this, and are loved as much as they are hated. I always want this ability to be both natural (you can be born with it) and also learned, in a way. In fact, I think it would be great if there was a technology developed that would try to replace the Soulwatchers.

Actually... let's make that a thing. Soulwatching technology. Have some steampunk vibes in it YEAH.

Soulwatchers should have some sort of weird eyes that distinguish them which makes kind of... I dunno, marked in a way? I want it so that they have kind of... black eyes which are kind of freaky looking because it looks like their whole pupil is taking over their eye... DUN DUN DUNNNNNN. So like. I want to

Also I want to make it so that some are better at it than others.

- I want Lucian to be great at it. Like, legitimately people fear him but also they neeeeeed him because he's too good at it, haha. So like. He's going to be protected, even when things get bad. Also, his eyes are black all the time, just because he can't turn it off like others can. (See Damien)

- I want Adelphina to only be good at it in bursts... like, she has just enough of it to be feared, but also it's not enough to make her more valued. Maybe more like in dreams or something? That might be good! Normally, her eyes are normal looking, BUT occasionally they'll turn black when she sees something.

- I want Damien to be a decent soulwatcher too, and that's the reason why he likes to drink. Because it deadens his ability to soul watch and he doesn't want to be one.

- Dahlia doesn't have it at all.

DAHLIA AND ADELPHINA

YES. TWINS!!! Mwhahahhaa. Since I'm a twin, it might be fun to do something like this?

I want to make it so that one of the reasons why nobody considers a contender to the throne, even though she's a twin and has just as much claim to it that Dahlia has, is because of the soul watcher thing. Like, really. She can't friggin' win here. This is one of the reasons why she is a ball of frustration. Also, I want to point out that Dahlia doesn't really think she can do this queen thing and she is stressed out that her twin can't help her in this case.

I want them to have a nice sisterhood where they lean on each other but also like... they get annoyed with each other and they can't understand where the other is coming from. So more realistic than the outright toxic relationship between Solea and Alainna, hahaha.

Dahlia is stressed out because the throne is coming to her and that means she has to choose the right person as a king, and she feels slightly mad that her sister is kind of ambivalent to her plight.

Whereas Adelphina is grumpy about her label as a soul watcher, which essentially bars her from any future ruling her kingdom, while being leaned onto by her sister simultaneously. And also she is resentful that, even though she is not considered a part of court, because she is a Princess, she still has no say in who she is marrying. After almost being married off to someone she can't stand, she begs to marry Lord Lucian instead, since she at least knows him, since he's her childhood best friend. Still, that complicates things and she's not very happy about that.

RADIANCE

OH BOY. This is the thing I really need to iron out, hahaha. <.<

Okay, so about what the Soul Watchers see... they see RADIANCE. Great souls emit great radiance and not so great souls kind of have that feeling of darkness that you can fall into. Soulwatchers are prone to falling into this darkness because they are exposed to things that should probably not be exposed. The trick is, putting in power people who have enough radiance that the darkness is not so bleak.

Damien gets drunk because of that darkness... he is exposed to more poverty and more misery and there are some dark things he sees.

Lucian also is exposed to the darkness because of being in court and having to filter out the shadier types. And Lucian sees everything, darkness and not.

Adelphina doesn't see the darkness too much, though she understands and is able to emphathize with both men because of the little she's seen. Still, it doesn't have the same draw to her because she doesn't see the darkness so much. What she has seen is the radiance, which is also amazing. Dahlia has that radiance. So does she, though she wonders why, hahha. She can see enough radiance to figure out intuitively who to trust and who to avoid.

So one of the things the girls have to do (when thinking about marriage, etc.) is to always marry someone who is radiant. Otherwise, the kingdom will be overcome by darkness. There is a monarchy here and the right to kingship (or queenship!) is considered divine, but what solidifies this feeling of divinity (beyond just hearsay) is that radiance. If that radiance portrays itself to everyone, that is considered a divine sign and perhaps a sign of royalty.

I sort of want the darkness to be a physical thing... like demons creeping out and taking over people, hahaha. Like, it starts off with just kind of cracks in the slol oul. But when it gets darker, demons come out of those cracks. That's one of the reasons why the Soulwatchers can eventually go insane.

Hahaha, this sounds horrific. LET'S GOOOOO.


THE INVASION

Okay, so I want to start off in a ballroom (I want my ball scene!!!) and Lucian and Adelphina are talking and also, there's a soulwatching demo about to star with some dudes who are selling some courtly stuff.

THEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG.


1. Ballroom Shenanigans
2. The Vendors
3. Poisoned Punch
4. Runaway
5. The Drunk
6. Till Death Do Us Part
7. Bad Accounting
8. Homesickness
9. Tavern Connections
10. The Princess's Suitor

...this is probably all I'll be able to get to for Nano, hahaha.

Several people have asked me, what would have happened if Solea chose the first path in Book 1? This is sort of what I had planned. Though, I've tried to change it up enough so that the story is its own thing!

I spoke before about having a new technology being introduced that changes everything? I thought about it and want it to be:

ELECTRICITY.

Like. People think they can replace Radiance with Electricity. Because visible radiance can glow and electricity can glow! And... I dunno, lol. It might be a funny thing though to have something which we take so much for granted being used here as a novelty item.

“You look radiant tonight, princess.”

Even without looking, Adelphina knew it was Lucian and that he was smiling when he said that, his lips curled in a half-amused, half-gentle expression. She turned to him and saw his face exactly as she imagined, though his black eyes carried a different expression that she couldn’t altogether place. A hungry look, she decided, though she was not upset. Still, she smiled at him, gesturing to the seat next to her. “Do you tell all the ladies that, Lord Lucian?”

“Only if it’s true.” He sat down, swiping his hand through his dark hair, and gestured around him. Were it not for his black eyes, which looked strange, as if his pupil had taken over his iris, he might have been handsome – a thought that made Adelphina cross. He gestured to Adelphina, grinning. “Since you were sitting alone, your radiance was especially noticeable. It brightened up this shadowy corner that you were hiding in with so much light that I couldn’t help but visit.”

Adelphina smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Like a moth to flame?”

Lucian laughed. “Are we soul watchers that obvious?”

“A bit.”

He laughed again, leaning back with a satisfied expression on his face, and gestured around him. “So why are you hiding in the dark corner, anyway?”

Adelphina glanced around at the gleaming wooden dance floor, full of even more polished dancers whirling about, and winced. “I always hide in the dark corners during balls,” she said, flipping her hair back and trying to seem nonchalant. “I thought you would know by now, given how often you seem to find me during these tedious events.”

“Still, I thought you would be in the ball, given the exhibit.”

Adelphina smiled thinly. “The exhibit? You mean my sister?” When Lucian frowned, she nodded to her twin sister, Dahlia, who was standing by the dance floor, looking shy, while half a dozen princes talked eagerly around her. Even Adelphina, who was not a very good soul watcher at the best of times, could see tendrils of light curling up from her as she smiled at them. Radiance, Adelphina thought, smiling wistfully, watching how her sister’s light seemed to spread throughout the room. Supposedly, she had the same light – at least Lucian said so. But Adelphina couldn’t see it. Whenever she was in her room, she always had to light a candle to see anything.

But things were different with Dahlia. She lit up the room so brightly that even the blind could sense her radiance. It made Adelphina as proud as she was jealous.

Normally when she brought up Dahlia, Lucian would rush to console her that her radiance was just as bright — a suggestion that Adelphina always doubted. But this time, Lucian only sighed impatiently.

“Oh stop! I’m talking about the vendors who are coming to do the demonstration,” Lucian said crossly. “Electricity. Artificial radiance, they call it, that even non soul watchers can see. Your father had me meet up with the vendors beforehand and asked me to come to this ball to judge their demonstration, just for that reason, to see if the product lived up to all the hype. He seemed excited about it.”

Adelphina made a face. “Well, he didn’t care to tell me about it,” she muttered, thinking about her father. “He’ll bug you about all the things that have to do with soul watching and ignore me, even though I'm the closest soul watcher he knows.”

She stopped abruptly, tears coming to her eyes, while Lucian watched sympathetically. He knew the whole rant, of course. He had been one of her closest friends growing up. Her father, as soon as he saw her eyes turn black and realized she could soul watch, panicked and brought in Lucian – a boy about five years older than her from a prestigious family of soul watchers who had an extraordinary ability to soul watch without going insane. Then her father had insisted that they keep company with her so that they might teach her their secrets so she could learn how to avoid that inevitable spiral into insanity.

It didn’t matter, of course. Her ability to soul watch was so pathetic that it was nearly worthless. She was able to see her sister’s radiance, of course, and sometimes the radiance around her parents. Also, if she had wine, she could see a little more than usual. Still, it wasn’t too bad. The doctor who had examined her eyes had proclaimed that he didn’t think it would interfere with his life and pronounced that she would have a good, long life like everyone else.

Still, her father was terrified anyway. Though she was the oldest twin, he replaced her as heir to the throne with her sister, Dahlia, and had her sent her away as a girl to Lucian’s family, where she only saw her father when he invited the family for official matters. Then, when she came of age, he accepted her reluctantly in court and allowed her back into the castle.

Lucian shrugged. “You shouldn’t be upset with him. You’re his daughter. He sees you as a whole person, not just a soul watcher. Besides, you’re not that great of a soul watcher. That’s why he asked me, not you.”

“Still, I can see radiance.”

Lucian snorted. “You can’t even see your own radiance!”

Adelphina glared at him.

“Anyway, ever since he asked me, I’ve been looking up articles about electricity too,” Lucian said. “It looks exciting. Revolutionary, even. Supposedly, it works by having energy go through these little metal strings. Wires, they call them. Supposedly that energy is what caused the artificial radiance. Best, it doesn't come with a shadow!”

Adelphina flinched. “Radiance without a shadow? But that's impossible!”

Lucian grinned. “That's what they said!”

Adelphina bit her lip. “But how does it create radiance, of all things, with little metal strings?”

Lucian shrugged. “I suppose we’ll find out today.”

Adelphina glanced at Dahlia, who was dancing with a prince she didn’t recognize. As they danced, she watched Dahlia’s radiance wrap around them both until they both dazzled. “Whatever this new thing is, I doubt it would ever shine brighter than Dahlia.”

“Or you,” Lucian said. When she glanced back at him in surprise, he grinned. “You were hoping for a compliment, were you not? You’ve been fishing for one all night.”

“Oh, shut up,” Adelphina murmured, slumping down.

“Cheer up, princess,” Lucian said with a laugh. “I’ll get you some punch.”

Adelphina flinched, suddenly feeling anxious. “Not the one with alcohol! That turns my eyes black, and my father hates it when that happens.”

“Don’t worry, I remember,” Lucian said, winking. “Besides, I need to have the same punch, otherwise your father will grow angry with me for becoming a dullard.” Then he shook his head and laughed. “It’s so strange! Alcohol dims my ability, not increases it. For most people I know, it’s the same. You’re the only soul watcher I know who has it the opposite. Funny, isn’t it?”

Adelphina made a face. “Yes, funny.”

Lucian sprang up. “One moment!” Then he strode off, waving for a waiter. As he walked, Adelphina thought for just a moment, she could see a strand of radiance come off him. But when she blinked, it disappeared.

“This box is the box that will soon change the world!” he cried. “Allow me to demonstrate.”

With that, one of his younger companions flipped up his coat tails from his over-sized suit and jumped on the bike, cycling as fast as he could until the bicycle seemed to rock back and forth in its restraints. There was a hum from the box. And then, to Adelphina’s astonishment, the orb at the top of the box, lit up.

Adelphina blinked.

It was not radiance. The light was constrained only to the orb and kept flickering as the man on the bicycle slowed down in exhaustion. Still, it remained lit.

The crowd gasped in astonishment.

“There’s a candle in there!” someone from the crowd cried out. “Or a gas lamp.”

At the charge, the man grinned and threw open the door to the box. Inside were wires, a spinning contraction that almost reminded her of the insides of a mechanical watch, and nothing else. “No fire!” the man said, gesturing. “Nothing flammable! Only radiance – for everyone.”

“Ladies and gentlemen!” he cried in a nasally voice. Then, glancing below, he made a quick bow and said, “King and princess!”

Adelphina immediately stiffened. Princess was singular – she was ignored again. Still, her father didn’t seem to care. He only beamed stupidly at the vendor, peering anxiously at the machine.

Then, when Adelphina slumped down, she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw Dahlia wink at her. “That’s the problem with being twins,” she said, her eyes sparkling. Everyone treats you as a singular unit!”

But before she could think about that, the door flew open and more sunlight came in. She winced, temporarily blinded, and hid back under the blanket.

“Damien! Don’t you dare hide!” a rough woman’s voice said, shaking her roughly. “It’s time to wake up. Rise and shine! I brought breakfast for us.”

Adelphina froze, suddenly terrified that this woman was here. Frantically, she tried to think of what to do. But before she could, the woman ripped off her blanket.

“Damien–” she began, then her eyes grew wide. For a moment, the two women only stared at each other in shock. Then the other woman threw the blanket to the ground and demanded, “Who are you?”

Adelphina shrank into the wall, suddenly feeling naked in her undergarments and petticoats. “I can explain,” she began to say, frantically grabbing some of the blankets from the lump behind her and wrapping it around her chest, only for the lump to suddenly groan. Then, to Adelphina’s horror, the lump of blankets, which she had slept next to all night, shifted, revealing a man hidden underneath. She flinched, startled, and stared at him.

He blinked at the woman sleepily, then turned to Adelphina. Suddenly his eyes grew wide. “You?” he managed to blurt out, his eyes unfocused and bleary.

Blushing, Adelphina grabbed another blanket, wrapping it around her waist, but as luck would have it, it was the same blanket around the man. He yelped, pulling back the blanket and wrapping it back around his waist – but not before Adelphina realized he was only wearing his undergarments too.

The woman suddenly shrieked. Then, before Adelphina could prepare, she launched a bowl of piping hot porridge at the man’s head. The man ducked, but porridge still splattered on them both, fragments of hardened clay shattering at the impact of the wall.

She ran away after her family was attacked and hid in an "abandoned" house. XD

When she said nothing, Damien sighed and rubbed his forehead again. “Well, if we’re married, I suppose I should introduce you to my home before I go for the day.”

Adelphina suddenly frowned. “You’re going somewhere?”

Damien nodded. “To work,” he added when she stared at him, confused. “Otherwise, we won’t have any money.”

“Oh,” Adelphina said, blushing. Then, when he frowned at her, she said, “Money is nice.”

He stood up, adjusting his undergarments self-consciously and glancing back at Adelphina, as if afraid she might say something. Then, when she only looked away, embarrassed, he strode across the room, put his clothes on without a word and coughed. At the cough, Adelphina looked up at him and saw he was wearing work clothes which somehow made him look dirtier than before.

“It’s not much,” he muttered, adjusting his sleeves and pulling out a comb from his pocket and swiped it through his hair. Then he glanced at Adelphina sympathetically and put it on the table. “I’ll leave it so you can use it for your hair,” he said, glancing at Adelphina. “I suppose you’ll clean up while I’m gone?”

“Of course,” Adelphina said, shrinking under the blanket and suddenly feeling even more self-conscious.

Damien smiled, looking relieved. “The soap is over here near the cupboard,” he said, grabbing a bar and dropping it on the table. “Just fill the pot of water and use that to bathe. I have a towel over here you can use to wipe yourself clean.”
She stared at him. “Don’t you have a bathtub?”

“Yes, of course,” he said, then pulled out a small tub that she recognized as a laundry tub. It even had a washboard in it. He set aside the washboard and took out a towel, hanging it on the side of the tub. “You can use this,” he said. “It’s normally my towel, but since we’re married now, I suppose we can share, until we can afford another one. Just hang it up when you’re done so I can use it tonight.”

“How am I supposed to fit in that?” Adelphina demanded, staring at the tub.

Damien suddenly laughed. “You don’t, silly. Just use the towel and wipe yourself off.” Then he paused, making a face. “Or do you not know how to bathe at all?”

He looked so alarmed at the idea that Adelphina couldn’t help but feel humiliated. “Of course I know how to bathe! I just never used such a small tub before.”

“Just checking,” Damien said mildly.

Adelphina looked up, her mouth too full of potato to say anything. Fortunately, Damien leaned back and nodded. “It’s very good,” he said. “Though, I wish there was something to drink. Maybe one of your world-famous ales you’ve made?”

“I have just the drink,” Harriet said, springing up. A moment later, she came back, holding a mug full of frothy white liquid.

Damien blinked. “What’s that?”

“A filling glass of milk.” When Damien stared at her, she smiled and said, “This morning, you were so hungover you didn’t even know if you were married or not. After that, you didn’t expect me to give you a real drink, did you?”

Damien slumped down. “Thank you,” he muttered, shoving the milk aside.

“From the way you talked earlier, I thought you were together,” Adelphina said, biting her lip, hoping that she would change the subject. To her satisfaction, Harriet turned bright red while Damien looked annoyed.

“I told you already,” Damien said, stabbing a potato with his fork. “Soul watchers make poor husbands. And I am a soul watcher. Marriage isn’t in the cards.”