There is a magical fantasyland. The magical fantasyland is in danger. It needs heroes. Luckily, there is a prophecy, declaring that together, a prince and a priest will destroy the evil in the world and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. So the prince and priest depart to fulfill their destiny, traveling across the world and bringing an end to evil wherever they walk. They are the chosen ones.
Too bad this ideal prince and priest don't actually exist.
The land is called The Golden Lands, a continent and bunch of islands formerly united under an empire. As in, five hundred years ago. The islands to the south are embroiled in civil strife, as rebels in a minority ethnic group demand rights and attempt to slay the royal family. The war sends waves of refugees to the continents, and constantly threatens to drag the rest of the continent into it. Desperate for peace, the people of the Golden Lands turn towards prophecies of brave heroes who will save the world from war forever...including one of a chosen prince and priest, who find themelves thrust into a conflict far beyond their comprehension.
The prince is Ebley, formerly Prince Ebbulon vae-Tenabrae-Marhoun of the tiny northern kingdom of Marhoun. Except he ran away four years ago because he was terrified of having to take up the burden of leadership, and has since worked in the southern port city of Inata as an errand boy for a shipping company. The priest is Novice Razhum, a cynical and powerful telepath who turns to religion not for spiritual reasons, but simply because only constant meditation and the rigor of an ascetic life can block out the riot of thoughts that constantly assaults him. Pinned as the "Chosen Ones" who will save the Golden Lands, their travels through the war-torn islands makes them question whether there is even a side worth supporting (since both commit atrocities on the same scale), and whether two people with no experience at all, with nothing but a prophecy backing them, can end such a deep-seated conflict. And there are hints that the prophecy may not even be true...
Tl;dr: Two "chosen heroes," who really aren't very heroic or chosen, do their best to act heroic and chosen.
It's more complicated than that, of course, and doesn't entirely center around Razhum and Ebley--I intend this to have an ensemble cast, with only a little more emphasis on Razhum and Ebley than the other characters (and there is no technical protagonist beween them), but that's the basic thrust of this five-novel story. Born as an attempt to defy/subvert the traditional "chosen one" type of story.
At this point in time, most of the worldbuilding and characters have been consolidated (though I still need to finish the damn map), and I've plotted out the entire first novel, The Lawful Scepter. Which is the name of the Mac Guffin that the plot revolves around. And I've done a heckuva lot of (fugly animu...)sketches of the characters. If I can get a scanner, maybe I'll post them. And I definitely need to scan that stupid map.
More plot/character/worldbuilding details forthcoming, and I'll continue updating this with my progress. When I'm finished with the first part of The Lawful Scepter, it will probably end up in Advanced Critiqes.
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