Young Writers Society

Oh, what I meant was the academy splitting up AS A RESULT of these tensions between the Outlanders and the various cities.

Okay, uh, ya'll.

We're talking a revolution here. We're talking a revolution of entire other countries and people who don't know our characters at all and therefore have no sympathy for us, especially since there has been consistent public execution in the Academy for centuries. They have their own worries to worry about which are a lot easier to handle than overthrowing an entire civilization. It's not as easy as a few deaths here and there and then we got a revolution.

People are passive until given a true personal reason to fight. For a very long time, if I'm not mistaken, the Outlands have been putting up with Daria's nonsense, and as far as I see there hasn't been any true upset. Yes, the Outlanders hate the Darian Empire, and there is true resentment in the lands closer to the Empire, but that is not enough to go through war, especially if it might mean that their families might die in it. Whatever cause we come up with, it has to exceed the value of those lives. So it better be some pretty darn good reasons that we come up with, good enough that complete strangers will throw down their lives for it.

This is starting to sound Hunger Games-y.

I'm honestly very up for the revolution idea, but like @Craz said, we will have to make a really good reason as to why the people decide to rebel.

This probably won't be enough, but how about several settlements get completely destroyed, and they execute some of the Outlander Knights and trainees unfairly? Also many Outlanders in the Outlands get hurt/killed. I'd love to get more ideas from you guys.

How about this: The empire wants to expand its fancy settlements into the Outlands, and in this process, destroy many houses and kill off resisting families. Do y'all think that's a reason good enough to rebel?

First post is done! Also please look at the NPCs to help me add on to those characters for the things I haven't added yet..

Okay, so @SpiritedWolfe brought about a very good point. We have yet to say that there is something that can block people's powers. So here it is:

It is a metal called burnell, named after a person named Burnell, who discovered it in what is now the Burnell Mine. This is the only place where burnell can be found, which makes it rare; this means that the Darian government monopolizes it and heavily guards the mine to make sure it only falls into the hands of the people they want it to.

Burnell blocks people's powers, regardless of how powerful they are--depending on how powerful and how adept at controlling the ability one is, one's power can be weakened or completely blocked by either being in close proximity to burnell, or having contact with it. Though the stronger people may still have a little power while near it, everyone's power is unusable when the metal touches the person.

So basically, it's really rare and expensive for people to have outside of the government, and even more rare in the Outlands, though some of the larger settlements managed to get their hands on some, if they really wanted it. Burnell is usually used to line buildings/rooms and placed in handcuffs; they may be hidden in something if someone wants to keep another person from using their power.

So, would there be burnell in the academy? Or will they just keep it on hand for training just in case if something happens?

Also wondering if they wouldn't give some to students like Zee, whose pres are unpredictable and volatile or whether they'd only give it to him if he was over a specific rank (seeing as he'll be near the bottom I assume they wouldn't want to waste it ok a student who might die)

I don't think they would give it to students at all. The academy is fiercely competitive and the students probably wouldn't hold back in sabotaging their friends.

But they'd have it in the screws of a bus? All a student would have to do is unscrew one of those to have some burnell.

So basically, there will be burnell in the academy (though that is not the only place that has it), and I'm actually considering adding in that if the academy students misbehave (like have a little scuffle), they will be required to wear burnell bracelets that they can't take off by themselves for a certain period of time, as a warning of death if they do it again. Otherwise, the students are not prohibited in using their powers, but there are rules they must follow, or else they will be somehow punished.

Also, certain parts of the academy have burnell lining the rooms, such as the auditorium or certain training areas, etc.

If some of the students are having trouble controlling their abilities, they might be given burnell bracelets as well, if they are seen as a big danger to other students. It would be seen as a sign of shame, and the ones who aren't' wearing them would avoid them, so their own power wouldn't be cancelled out or weakened. These instances of getting bracelets, though, must be approved by some of the higher-up administrators of the academy.

As for sabotaging other students, it is officially against the rules. However, if you aren't caught and no one reports you, you can get away with it. Even if the instructors know it's happening but never witnessed it and never received a report, most of them would just let it go.



Anything to suggest?

That's true, @Lael, I thought there would be like, heavy guard duty on the buses, and scanning devices at such an advanced, prestigious academy, but I'll change it.

Update: Changed!

@Desdemona there would be high security and such, since it's futuristic, but anyways, I feel like screws would be outdated or perhaps not as widely used anymore. There are going to be cameras and monitor droids/people in a load of places, though.

Alright, I gotcha! Thanks for giving me the heads up, @Lael Is the change okay?