Young Writers Society

Please. It's part of your contract to do so

Well, what points are we allowed to contribute on? I mean, you obviously have some idea of where you want this to head. Some things I'd like thoughts on:

What kinda ship is it that we are all on? Is it a feared, well-known slave ship that deals in exotic and foreign slaves; pleasure slaves; labour slaves; etc. How big is it? It's size will limit the number of characters we can have and how many can participate, which in my opinion, is a good thing. Small number, greater concentration of effort.

Slavers: Would it be okay to have a few people operate as the captors? It might be more interesting to have a well-rounded opponent that can react to our own inventiveness/strategies. Obviously, we don't want to make it so difficult that its impossible to escape, merely difficult enough to be interesting and to make our enemies more then cardboard cut-outs.

Freedom: Is eventually guaranteed, no? Assume we escape; assume someone cares enough to hunt us down; then we have a prolonged and in-depth story, yes, but who's to say we should all stay together when it happens? Can we go solo at that point?

Weapons: Are obviously going to be out of range, not at hand, etc.

Clothing: Most likely tattered/destroyed/replaced.

Characters: As you've mentioned and we've discussed, must be suitable, not only to be taken as slaves (its highly unlikely any slaver will go after powerful individuals that put them at risk in someway. They are, at heart, mercenaries, so unless they've been specifically commissioned to find a certain someone, and have the wherewithal to actually accomplish said capture --highly, highly unlikely -- make your character believable.) but also for sea-travel.

Some creatures and mythical races simply won't be able to held on ship - seize and weight mean quite a bit - and others might be attuned to certain elements and thus sicken and die, when seperated from their natural habitats. Think on this. Be careful.

Those limitations don't mean you can't participate; your character could already be at the slave compound we're heading to. It might actually be good to have someone there, to set up the place.

I like the contract. It has style!

Also, to add to Jiggity's comprehensive list of questions: when do we begin?

Charlie

I believe we can start posting any time, if your character has been approved.

Jig--

The Antagonist: The person that is paying handsomely for you lot is a well known figure in the criminal underworld--so well known, in fact, that he's well known for being absolutely ambiguous. Few have seen his face, but everyone knows his deeds. To answer your question...yes, the slave ship you are on is well known and impressive.

With the new applications I received today, we are officially FULL. I will accept no other applications, other than those I've asked to revise. A full list of writers is listed below.

Slavers: I'm not leaving that option open; I have certain exceptions for very specific reasons, but as a general statement, no one will be playing the slavers. If you look at the range of characters we have, we already have an eclectic crew ranging from good to purely selfish--we're going to have plenty on our hands with the in-fighting, let alone having the slavers tossed in the party.

Freedom: Is guaranteed. The Slave Ship is the beginning to a story, not the setting of the story itself.

Weapons: Will be taken care of. You currently have nothing.

Clothing: Only what is on your backs. Read: not much.

Characters: Characters that aren't human have been incorporated into the story, and special preparations have been made to ensure that they remain secure on the ship. If a character has been approved, the matter has been taken care of.

Post away! Introduce your characters! I'll be posting within the hour...so should you

--D

Haha, I'll have those modifications done real soon, Dono, sorry I'm so slow!

Seating Arrangements:

Labor Slaves (Slaves that will be used for manual labor and construction): Group cells, shackled wrists.
--Group includes Jiggity, FinalFreedom, Insomnia, Lord Anzius, Dreamer, Kittykat

Love Slaves (Selected female slaves): Group cells, unchained.

Exotic Slaves (anything outside the core races, or with magic/abilities): Individual cells, shackled in place.
--Group includes Kitty15, Light_Devil, and OverEasy

Also note that any prisoner with magic/power is wearing a collar that dampens them.

Buscador! wrote:shackled wrists.

Meaning we simply have our wrists trapped behind our back but can still move around or that we're chained together, and are thus in a fixed position?

Wrists shackled in front of you, individually chained.

A question tall authors--please read and respond, it is rather important to the planning that I put into creating the plot.

Do you have any ideas of whom your character would like to befriend? Any escape plans, things you'd like to see, specific character interactions?

Looking like Deaven and I are befriending each other; he just snatched a key.

Was thinking that “Bob” would play a key role in escaping at the docks, but also considered the possibility of speeding things up a bit and getting free before we land. Once we dock we’re delivered to the people taking us to our new masters, if not directly to the masters themselves, right? Which would make escaping tricky unless we broke loose on the way to the master’s place. But then, if we left then, we would be on solid land and it would draw out the story and allow for our would-be enslavers to follow us easier. So maybe try to escape after we get on land, but before we’re delivered to our new home.

Open to anything, though.

As for who my character would like to befriend, "Bob" is high on her list, but she's open to anyone else as well, not wanting to shut out her options.

Yeah, about that.

I tried to make it clear in my post that it would be both insane and impossible to take over the ship while its sailing; not only do they have numerical advantage. they are healthier, have weapons and know how to run a ship! A bunch of slaves don't and as you pointed out in your own post, we don't even know where we are.

So, no, escape isn't an option and...

Anzius - a couple of points I'm confused about. Isn't your character supposed to have been a slave most of his life? So, an unskilled, middle-aged guy who by all rights should have absolutely no spirit - and is cold, patient, intelligent (according to your profile) left is suddenly an inspired, noble guy who defied the guards, stole a key, was whipped near senseless but is still up and talking without apparent pain about escaping.

A) Being whipped is a really, really painful experience you're unlikely to come out of still conscious.
B) In slave-conditions, it is almost 100% certain that the wound would get infected and eventually kill you
C) Why would they bother to save a middle-aged slave of apparently rebellious nature?

Also, the girl that was injured. I believe you took previous mention of a moaning woman too far - and if I'm not mistaken, we were all referring to Videl, who wasn't injured so much as merely suffering from overly sensitive hearing or a hangover. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Videl is now in a completely separate part of the ship as a love slave. Which makes the past couple things...impossible. I'm just a little confused as to what's happening.

My character has no intention of befriending anyone. However, should an appropriate rescue plan in which he has to lay only minimal part for maximum gain be proposed, the others will probably find him willing.

Here is how he will feel about the other characters should he meet them, based on their general personality:

Lissa: He will respect and revere her. Her sarcasm will make him feel a tad uncomfortable as he feels a lady should have no need for such barbs but he will quite easily fall into the habit of bantering back and forth with her, checking himself every now and then to assure his comments remain harmless and never callous toward her.

Ballow: Elias will dislike him. He will enjoy tormenting and matching wits against him but he will dislike him for his youth and 'bubbly' attitude.

Eamon: Elias would respect this character who is not only doing well for himself but he's a prankster and just the right sort of guy to talk or gamble with. Elias would spend time bantering with him.

Bob: Elias would be the type to make fun of his silence and his foolish endurance and willingness to work hard.

Videl: Elias would respect and revere her. He would find her attempts to seduce him amusing and perhaps comment that he is already as under her thumb as is possible if she should try. He would not show any sign of liking her in a sexual manner and would treat her the same as he does most women: with willing kindness, playful banter and a refusal to hurt or injure them in anyway.

Galea: He would treat her as he treats any woman but in general feel neutral toward her personality wise.

Machavell: He would have no feelings for or against this character other than some respect for the willingness to do anything for personal gain.

Kester: This is the sort of character Elias would over look at first but possibly grow curious when he sees him acting in tense situations.

Deaven: Elias would appreciate his patience and control.

Shirin: Elias would dislike her timidity as it suggests ill treatment which would give him cause for anger. But he would not probe into what situation may or may not have caused it and he would guiltily resist an urge to protect her most of the time.

Anzius - a couple of points I'm confused about. Isn't your character supposed to have been a slave most of his life? So, an unskilled, middle-aged guy who by all rights should have absolutely no spirit - and is cold, patient, intelligent (according to your profile) left is suddenly an inspired, noble guy who defied the guards, stole a key, was whipped near senseless but is still up and talking without apparent pain about escaping.

You have only read the other profile... Remeber, we have two of them: The master and the public.

Right?

I'm afraid the general consensus points to it being irrational and impossible to storm the ship at this moment. Plus, factor in the fact that we do not yet know each other's names very well; how organised could a mutiny be if we're still unfamiliar?

I'm going to post the guard reclaiming the key now, so lets work on building up relationships and factions within the slaves themselves. It is too early in the storybook for any huge plot leaps.

Also, if anyone wants help with scathing dialogue from Machavell, PM me or get me on MSN: blain_is_a_pain@hotmail.com . If I've wrongly portrayed you character, PM me about this because I will certainly PM you if Machavell is written too kindly !

If you have any problems with this, speak now or forever hold your peace....

Charlie

To follow Heather's example:

Elias: Shirin would probably be less likely to fear him, if just because his wings put her at ease (as she's always been drawn to animals, including birds). His nature might intimidate her, though, leaving her with mixed feelings.

Lissa: When she's near-catatonic, Shirin would obviously have no problem with her, but when she starts with the barbs, Shirin would probably be terrified of her.

Ballow: As he's not fully human, she would be intrigued, but again, his loud personality would turn her off.

Eamon: Intimidated, and totally suspicious. Shirin has an innate distrust of charm, especially in men.

Bob: She would probably be drawn to him, if just becaue of his calm and general quiet.

Videl: Shirin would probably dislike Videl a lot, if just because of her seductive nature.

Galea: Because Galea is relatively unemotional, Shirin would feel drawn to her more than most of the others.

Machavell: His obnoxiousness would make her acutely uncomfortable.

Kester: Again, his quietness and unemotional nature would make her more comfortable with him than many of the other, louder characters.

Deaven: She would dislike him for being a slave, because of her own fear of slavery.