[Attn: Writers who wanna write for Eberron] Plot workshopping?

Just the intro. best I'm giving.

The dream came to me every time I closed my eyes.

The day was bright; the sky clear and blue. The leaves on the trees were a beautiful bright shade of green. Little white wisps floated by on the wind. It was perfect. Or it would have been, except for the gray, almost lifeless, shifting mass of pilgrims solemnly migrating along the dirt road. As bright as the world was, these figures seemed almost the opposite. Their very presence was a dulling effect that the rest of the world couldn't overcome.
In the middle of this solemn march, beautiful, long, auburn hair was lifted and blown about on the wind, mixing with the gentle wisps. Standing at an average height, the young lady of whom the long tresses belonged was a splash of color amidst the mass of travellers. She had turned into the flow of traffic, the wind now at her back blowing her hair over her shoulder and to form a backdrop on the left side of her face, and gazed sadly back upon the world being abandoned. Two children, a young dark-haired girl of six, and a blond boy of four, danced about her, pulling on her hands.
"Settle down, children. Cerille, hold still," she said to the girl. "Jofsha, you too."
My wife.
Naareise.
"Where are we going, mother?" Cerille asked innocently. She was such a precious child. I wish I had been able to watch her grow up, but I had been away on duty.
Naareise sighed softly, as she slowly turned back into the recession march. Even as she moved, she would sneak a casual glance over her shoulder, desguised as a flick of her head to get a stray hair out of her eyes.
"We are going to Jenave. It isn't safe to be in Vornal any more. Breland is near, and it isn't safe at home anymore. Soon there will be more battles. I don't want you anywhere near it."
"Ahh," Jofsha started. "We'll be fine. Daddy will protect us." The last time I saw Jofsha, he was just turning 1 year old. I wonder how he actually looked.
The procession stopped. The world had gone dark, as if the sun had chosen to stop shining. Even they grey pilgrims were bright in this darkness. Naareise had also stopped. Her hair, carried upon the wind, was blowing forward past her cheeks. She slowly turned, once more, back towards the place she once called home. The trees, the buildings, the pilgrims behind her, were like shadows. The horizon was bright white.
The world hadn't gotten darker. There was just a light brighter than even the Silver Flame. And it was growing, covering the landscape, devouring the shadows into its all encompassing light. The small town of Vornal was no more. Even the trees turned to dust. Then the last pilgrims in the procession vanished into the light. But it wasn't sated. This new force wanted more. It reached for the long tresses of auburn hair riding upon the wind, mixed with gentle white wisps.
 

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I am reminded of when ENWorld was new, and Daemonforge was the setting we were trying to popularize. In Asgard magazine we had serialized pieces of fiction, which went for about four issues. I was writing one, and another fellow had the other; I wish I could remember his name.

Anyway, I was amused to discover that, after we had to cut the stories short and end them, that he and I were basically planning the same villainous plot.
 

Maybe I'll post my complete idea - or even the synopsis - after August 31. But for now, most of the plot circles around the main character (a kalashtar) having repeated 'dreams' after a life-saving surgical intervention (not giving details) made to him during the Last War's final years. He then sets off to find the source and the meaning of these otherwise 'impossible dreams', and so he goes through a whole quest (along with his old comrades) with many revelations and intrigue and such.

I'll probably go for 4 - 5 characters.

And I wonder how far we can stretch and bend Eberron's premises. I mean, like 'dreaming kalashtars' and other ideas that slightly wander away from what the books tells you.

My best piece of advice is to stay within the contest's main premise: "the effects of the Last War in the lives of people".

Cheers!
 
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Y.O.Morales said:
Geez, mine was also starting with a dream. Guess I have to push it back a few pages.

Not necessarily. I doubt that either of you would be the only one starting with a dream. You're better off just writing the story the way your instinct told you to, without worrying about what other people might be submitting.
 

Remember, there are only so many unique ossible story plots. The trick here is to try to make the story itself as interesting as possible.

Just curious, as I've already shown, I'm doing a dream basis as well, how many people are. Looks like, what, 4 so far.
 

Pants said:
- The victim was a dragonmarked half-orc member of House Tharrask who was carrying *something* important enough to be murdered over.

I like your story idea, but I have a question. Now, I haven't got the campaign setting in front of me at the moment, but I seem to recall something about half-orcs not manifesting the dragonmark. Maybe I am thinking of something else, who knows? I'm not even sure the half-orc needs to be dragonmarked to make your story work.

In any case, as I said, great idea :) . I wish I had as much energy as the rest of you. I don't think I can put anything together in time, though I have ideas aplenty.

J.
 

I too like the 'hardboiled detective' motif, and yeah, the lightning rail is a great place for a fight.

I'm on a big dreams kick myself. Heck, the storyhour I'm writing is called "The Mother of Dreams." But if I could compare the story I have in mind with something, it'd be The Magnificent Seven meets Ocean's Eleven. The Magnificent Ocean? Seven-Eleven? Hmm.
 

josie_m70 said:
I like your story idea, but I have a question. Now, I haven't got the campaign setting in front of me at the moment, but I seem to recall something about half-orcs not manifesting the dragonmark. Maybe I am thinking of something else, who knows? I'm not even sure the half-orc needs to be dragonmarked to make your story work.
Orcs can't manifest dragonmarks, but half-orcs can.
 


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