Young Writers Society

A note for all you cool cats out there looking for something RIVETING and AMAZING and FRESH: James Alineau Phiric is now on our character roster, so read up about him!

Later on, you can expect a post incoming roaring by how he came to be and why he is where he is doing what he's doing. I'm excited, you're excited. We're all excited about James the master swordsman.

Bear in mind that this will come while we're still traveling by airship in the main narrative to get to Praetoria, and our first combat between Councilman Guellan and the crew will take place on the ship at high costs.

Let's just say I'm PMing Rydia about losing something precious to her kith.

i'm a mess of excitement

THANK YOU SO MUCH LUMI AND I'M VERY HAPPY TO JOIN
hopefully you like James
because I adore all of your characters

ZOEY GOT BRANDED OMG

I've started working on my post! I'm hoping to finish it at lunch time or on the commute home but if not, I'll get to it tomorrow morning for sure.

Also, just read James's character profile @soundofmind and he's a perfect fit for Astrid the group! I can't wait to see how they all interact

HAHAAHHAAH I totally thought the same thing @Rydia, not gonna lie

I'm excited to see how they all interact too!! Super excited for your post!! : D

Apologies for the delay, commuter's internet is particularly bad this week but if I get back at a reasonable hour tonight I'll post it then and if not, tomorrow's the weekend

That was absolutely delicious! (And I won't lie, it was my first instinct to burn the book, too...)

OH! And you deffo get some SB credits for that post! I will count the engagement with Gregor as part of Guelan's party, so an extension of Guelan. Hopefully we'll land soon enough to start getting to the Tuatha de Danaan (Danu) so that third point is redeemable.

OR once we cross into Praetorian waters, there could be aerial Danu that attack the ship to bring it down, since that's what we want. There are a lot of ways this could work. One of which involves Guelan becoming the fabled god Dullahan, who was, er, headless...in some retellings.

RYDIA that was such a good post aaah. COME ON, ASTRID. YOU CAN SAVE GREGOR

Awww, thank you both, you're super sweet <3

@Rydia --> I've read over how Astrid thought about and treated Gregor in your post heavily, so I'm going to hope you approve of how I handle the remainder of the scenario in an upcoming Valon post.

(Let's just say she's getting a big buff...)

(I mean, everyone will see at the end of the post in meta notes what they gained from the fight, bringing back a little D&D into the story just for kicks and giggles. )

I'm sure you'll handle it beautifully but if you have any questions then hit me up <3

LUMI!! That was such an intense post!! I loved it!

The D&D funsies I promised with the last post! You don't have to use these, but I had fun making them. It helps me keep track of power progression as we get up there!

Recent level up power adjustments for Level 15, which is where James is starting out.

Valon has learned Scorch, a passive ability that leaves a stacking burn on any enemy who is attacked by Valon, either by spell or melee attack while Burning Aura is active.

Astrid has learned Manipulate Sanity, which may be used to control undead or render the less constitutional living feeble-minded.

Ziafar has learned Aetherial Mist, which carries out a twofold ability. For any enemies in the area, their sense of mana detection is rendered blind, and attacks are likely to miss. For allies in the mist, mana is restored gradually for up to 20%, as well as a slight spell power increase.

Zoey has learned Faeflight, which allows a swift flight over moderate distances in an incorporeal form. During this time, she may launch a stealth attack on an enemy, granting that single attack 200% damage.

James has learned Earthshaker, a two-target attack that uses both swords to crack down on two enemies at once at 150% strength. If both enemies are not hit, a large cone of upturned earth damages all nearby enemies for 70% strength.

Complete Floaters

I need all to respond to this eventually...because beginning at the end of this chapter and moving forward, the B-Story cast is expanding, beginning with James' little sister, Larrel.

After speaking about her story at length with @soundofmind, we've agreed that she'll have agency on the hinted-upon military movement from the Northern Alliance against Espergale. I want her to have at least two teammates with her who are "not NPCs" in the way you typically think of them...while still being free-for-all, as well as the responsibility of all.

How will all this affect our story progression? Every so often in our posting cycle (say twice per cycle) we will cut to Larrel and crew, and have a post or two dedicated to what they're doing, OR instead have more frequent half-entries as I recently did with Valon and Tynan split between the airship and Howlengale. I believe I'd prefer the latter.

If anyone would like to create the characters with fresh ideas in your heads, I'd welcome them with open arms--but I have one rule: they must be female. They may be human, elven, or a feline race from Yliev. I'd prefer one to be a druid and the other a water & ice mage, whether or not she fights like Valon or Ziafar is up in the air.

Any takers?

Next three posts would be nicely courtesy of Astrid, James, and Valon for the confrontation and party-up. But remember: this moves slowly and all involved understand that.