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Cassael's Lament - An Eberron Story (Updated 5/1)
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<blockquote data-quote="Anti-Sean" data-source="post: 2535281" data-attributes="member: 11797"><p>Thanks! Although I have to admit to cringing at the words 'fan fiction' placed next to each other, especially in relation to me! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I never thought I'd see the day that I'd sink so low! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I know they weren't meant with any malice, though.</p><p></p><p>Well, this seems like a good time for a bit of explanation.</p><p></p><p>I'm not currently in a game, and no one I game with has any plans to run a campaign set in Eberron, so I'm actually gearing up to DM for the first time several weeks for now so I can get my fix! I was excited by some of the elements of the setting as details were announced, and enjoyed it after it was released, but it didn't quite 'click' for me at first, for some reason. I picked up the book a few months later and gave it a good, solid read, and I was hooked. As so many others have said, plot hooks and campaign ideas burst forth from almost every page. The setting really feels alive to me. I've been consistently impressed with the suppliments, as well. It's probably a good thing that I'll be DMing, since I have sooo many different character ideas I want to try!</p><p></p><p>There were a few factors that lead up to me writing this story, a lack of gametime among them. The warforged are one of my favorite aspects of the setting. I lurk much much much more than I post, but I pretty much devour every thread about warforged. Two in particular that really resonated with me were a discussion about warforged druids here, and a thread on the WotC boards asking if warforged could love. The wheels in my head started turning, and a few weeks later, I realized that I had to get the ideas out of my head somehow. A story hour seemed the best way to do it.</p><p></p><p>I'll confess that I had absolutely no idea about the story whatsoever when I began writing. I had a few themes that I knew I wanted to explore, and a few set pieces that I thought would be fun, but that was it. I had to go out of state this past weekend, and I was able to solidify a general story arc and most of my ideas during that time, after the first two chapters had been written and posted. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Those first two chapters are very late in the story, but I didn't really have a story yet, per se, and it seemed like as good a place to start as any. I figure if a story in Eberron starts off on the lightning rail, on an airship, or in Sharn (preferably in front of a corpse), you're doing something right! I tried to make the jump backwards in time in the third chapter obvious enough to people unfamiliar with the Galifar calendar without explicitly calling it out. I'll try to make things like that a bit clearer moving forward.</p><p></p><p>This is the first time I've written anything in ages, probably a good ten years or more, and its already the most substantial body of writing I've produced yet. (The last stuff I wrote was some sappy, crappy teen angst poetry waaaaaay back in the day. Oh, the shame!) <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> The first four posts total about 6,000 words. I'm enjoying the hell out of it so far - it definitely gets easier the more you do it! One worry I have is making sure that I give each character a distinctive voice and personality. I had originally planned on four main characters a la a standard adventuring party, but I had three that felt strong to me, and couldn't come up with much for the fourth. Three also seemed like an easier number to handle comfortably at this point, too <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Two other things that I've worried about so far are dialogue and pacing. This is the first time I've really done dialogue, and it's been interesting so far finding ways to identify the different speakers without resorting to he said/she said, or reams of dialogue without and description/narration. As far as pacing goes, I can be incredibly terse or incredibly verbose, usually at one extreme or the other. I'm trying to balance all that out while leaning towards a punchy, pulpy, Two! Fisted! Action! feel, while still allowing for plenty of character development, interaction, and thematic exploration.</p><p></p><p>I can't say enough about how much I love warforged. They allow for an incredibly deep exploration into the human condition. What does it mean to be sentient? To have free will? What does one do when the purpose they were created for is no longer necessary? How do the 'forged define themselves now, as individuals and as a race? Hopefully this story will give me a chance to play with some of those ideas without turning into too dry of a philosophical discussion.</p><p></p><p>Again, I can't thank you enough for all your kind words, Funeris! If no one ever read the story, or if people chimed in to heap derision on it, that'd be alright with me, because I'm writing this for myself. I do remember that day long ago in kindergarten where they taught us to share, though, and I'm glad that you're enjoying it as well!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Anti-Sean, post: 2535281, member: 11797"] Thanks! Although I have to admit to cringing at the words 'fan fiction' placed next to each other, especially in relation to me! :) I never thought I'd see the day that I'd sink so low! :) I know they weren't meant with any malice, though. Well, this seems like a good time for a bit of explanation. I'm not currently in a game, and no one I game with has any plans to run a campaign set in Eberron, so I'm actually gearing up to DM for the first time several weeks for now so I can get my fix! I was excited by some of the elements of the setting as details were announced, and enjoyed it after it was released, but it didn't quite 'click' for me at first, for some reason. I picked up the book a few months later and gave it a good, solid read, and I was hooked. As so many others have said, plot hooks and campaign ideas burst forth from almost every page. The setting really feels alive to me. I've been consistently impressed with the suppliments, as well. It's probably a good thing that I'll be DMing, since I have sooo many different character ideas I want to try! There were a few factors that lead up to me writing this story, a lack of gametime among them. The warforged are one of my favorite aspects of the setting. I lurk much much much more than I post, but I pretty much devour every thread about warforged. Two in particular that really resonated with me were a discussion about warforged druids here, and a thread on the WotC boards asking if warforged could love. The wheels in my head started turning, and a few weeks later, I realized that I had to get the ideas out of my head somehow. A story hour seemed the best way to do it. I'll confess that I had absolutely no idea about the story whatsoever when I began writing. I had a few themes that I knew I wanted to explore, and a few set pieces that I thought would be fun, but that was it. I had to go out of state this past weekend, and I was able to solidify a general story arc and most of my ideas during that time, after the first two chapters had been written and posted. :) Those first two chapters are very late in the story, but I didn't really have a story yet, per se, and it seemed like as good a place to start as any. I figure if a story in Eberron starts off on the lightning rail, on an airship, or in Sharn (preferably in front of a corpse), you're doing something right! I tried to make the jump backwards in time in the third chapter obvious enough to people unfamiliar with the Galifar calendar without explicitly calling it out. I'll try to make things like that a bit clearer moving forward. This is the first time I've written anything in ages, probably a good ten years or more, and its already the most substantial body of writing I've produced yet. (The last stuff I wrote was some sappy, crappy teen angst poetry waaaaaay back in the day. Oh, the shame!) :) The first four posts total about 6,000 words. I'm enjoying the hell out of it so far - it definitely gets easier the more you do it! One worry I have is making sure that I give each character a distinctive voice and personality. I had originally planned on four main characters a la a standard adventuring party, but I had three that felt strong to me, and couldn't come up with much for the fourth. Three also seemed like an easier number to handle comfortably at this point, too :) Two other things that I've worried about so far are dialogue and pacing. This is the first time I've really done dialogue, and it's been interesting so far finding ways to identify the different speakers without resorting to he said/she said, or reams of dialogue without and description/narration. As far as pacing goes, I can be incredibly terse or incredibly verbose, usually at one extreme or the other. I'm trying to balance all that out while leaning towards a punchy, pulpy, Two! Fisted! Action! feel, while still allowing for plenty of character development, interaction, and thematic exploration. I can't say enough about how much I love warforged. They allow for an incredibly deep exploration into the human condition. What does it mean to be sentient? To have free will? What does one do when the purpose they were created for is no longer necessary? How do the 'forged define themselves now, as individuals and as a race? Hopefully this story will give me a chance to play with some of those ideas without turning into too dry of a philosophical discussion. Again, I can't thank you enough for all your kind words, Funeris! If no one ever read the story, or if people chimed in to heap derision on it, that'd be alright with me, because I'm writing this for myself. I do remember that day long ago in kindergarten where they taught us to share, though, and I'm glad that you're enjoying it as well! [/QUOTE]
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Cassael's Lament - An Eberron Story (Updated 5/1)
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