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siarven · 6 years

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Dreams and Shadows

AKA my current fantasy WIP novel of too many words even though it’s not even done.

Other projects I’m working on

Status:

First Draft done. Second and third drafts abandoned half-way through because they were stupid. Currently on the fourth draft, the one that might actually be worthwhile!

Wrote the first draft during NaNoWriMo 2014. 93,734 words. At first it was called Dreamweaver, then Dreamweaver and Shadowdancer, and then I shortened that because it sounded stupid.

Now the total wordcount that I’ve invested in this stupid book is in the 500K words area, and the current approved words are roughly 75K. It’s probably going to be two books if I can’t get myself to write less ô.Ó

The world (called Aelaris) is a mix of steampunk and solarpunk and fantasy, it has three intricate magic systems, and is also set after an apocalypse that pretty much wiped everything from the face of the earth. So while it’s been about 500 years since then (and the world from before was technologically incredibly savvy, on the brink of wrecking the whole planet) almost nothing from that world has survived except sealed-off ruins and mouth-to-mouth told legends. The technology that society does have nowadays is a wild mix of magic-, steam- and solar-powered machinery. Most of the continent is ruled by the Empire of the New Dawn, a conglomerate of different tribes who subjugated each other after the fall of society. The Empire grew so strong mostly because they managed to find out how to control the magic-users who started popping up everywhere after the apocalypse. Nowadays children with magic potential are found by a procedure called the Testing, which every child reaching age 4 has to undergo. If they have potential, they’ll be whisked away to be trained and raised (and indoctrinated) seperately, and they’ll only see their parents twice every year afterwards. The only reason why the Empire still exists and almost nobody is able to oppose them is because their grip on the Asim (magic-users) is absolute, and brutal. (It’s one of my meanest magic systems yet, because it makes the user HIGHLY addictive, usually kills you before you turn 25, and only a handful in the Empire know how to make the fluids used...) Maybe I’ll make a post about Asim-Magic in the future!

Synopsis:

The lives of two siblings, Ava and Ben, are thoroughly disrupted when Ben has a life-threatening freak “accident” that leaves him in a weird coma-like state, and nobody knows exactly what happened. Ava’s whole life up until that point has been revolving around Ben so this comes as quite a shock, especially since their parents aren’t exactly healthy or well-functioning either, and nobody knows how to cope with this possible loss since Ben was always the one holding the family together. Ben, meanwhile, “wakes up” days later in a sort of In-Between-World and remembers nothing at all. Now he has to find a way to return before the living give up on him, and Ava has to help her parents reconnect and learn that pushing everyone away when they only want to help is probably not the best plan. And maybe there’s a way for her to help Ben, even if she isn’t quite sure if he’s still there. It’s a good thing, then, that the family cat is a lot more than she seems! Also includes a bunch of tiny dragons, some ancient entities, a former pirate queen, a few monsters, a whole bunch of pigeons, and a demon who may have something to do with the accident.

Characters in this story include:

The Nichols Family

- Elizabeth “Liz” Nichols, a clockwork engineer/scientist who loves science more than anything and is kind of bad with people but tries very hard, most of the time. She connects with Ava over their shared love for knowledge and science and loves both her children and her husband very much. She’s incapable of properly conveying those emotions. I’m so sorry, Liz.

- Jonathan “Jon” Nichols, a children’s book artist who never got over the loss of his oldest daughter, Elinor. He’s depressed since a few years because he feels responsible for losing her, and he feels responsible for not connecting with his wife like he used to, and he feels bad for failing his children, but mostly he feels empty and lost and all those burdens are slowly but surely drowning him. The only light in his life are Ben, Ava, and Elinor, when she visits. What am I doing to this poor man???

- Elinor Vika Nichols, the oldest daughter, 15, who was taken by the Asim (the “magic-users”) at age four because she had potential abilities herself. She is allowed to see her family twice every year and lives at the Asimdrium during the rest of the time where she’s trained. The Asim are controlled by the Empress and basically the reason why the Empire doesn’t fall apart, and why the society works the way it does. [And the magic-system(s) and all that are very complex, I think I’ll make a new post for that specifically when I have time. Suffice to say using this sort of magic also kills you, slowly. Most Asim live only between 20 and 25 years.] I’m so sorry, Eli.

- Benjamin Alec “Ben” Nichols, the middle child (and oldest one, after Elinor got taken). He’s basically the reason why the whole family hasn’t broken apart yet. He more or less takes care of both his father and his little sister while excelling in school at the same time, because he thinks it’s what people expect of him. And now he’s practically dying. Poor baby, he just needs a break! What am I doing to him?!

- Ava Elyssa Nichols, the youngest daughter, 8 years old. Her whole life basically revolves around Ben, she’s afraid of the darkness and the monsters it holds, afraid of her parents fighting (which hasn’t happened in a long time but still) and sleeps in Ben’s bed at night because she knows that he’s the only one who can keep the monsters away. She loves her parents, too, and connects best with her mother because she also shares her fascination with sciency stuff. And now her whole life has collapsed because Ben is suddenly gone and Ava doesn’t know how to cope with that.

Others

- Kiyera Sy, a 57-year old woman who has given up on life after losing both her lover and son. The only thing that keeps her going is taking care of the city’s abandoned pets and carrier pigeons. She spent most of her life as a pirate queen fighting the very empire she now lives in. One day I might will write her story.

- Amelia Chastner and Niall Cohen – the best friends of Ava who have to put up with so much shit but still love Ava and only want to help, bless them. Amelia is also bad with people so she’d probably get along perfectly with Liz, and Niall is a people person. Nobody knows why he chose Ava. Also, they hate each other but they are willing to put up with that shit to help Ava. If only Ava would see that!

And now before we move on to the OTHERS, here’s a general overview of the worldbuilding so you understand at least the basics of it beforehand :P

There’s a group of creatures known as the Ellariel. They’re remnants of an older world that has been destroyed millennia ago, the last survivors so to speak. They live in a sort of In-between world which they cannot leave because they can’t survive outside of it. Ellariel are practically immortal but this has been so long ago that there have been more than ten generations in between the original survivors and now. The only two original Ellariel are the creatures watching over this world: Viridaeya, Goddess of Creation, and Ruienn, God of Destruction. Both chose their names themselves, based on the powers they would embody when they chose to Ascend, to properly fulfill their tasks. When the first and second generations had died and only the third remained, the Ellariel broke into two subgroups: The Natah and the Nanaël, mostly because there were a few incidents and it was generally decided that they were too powerful, so each Ellariel chose for themselves which of their Gods they would follow, and which power they would choose over the other. The results were mostly balanced because back then they still knew about the importance of balance.

Since the Ellariel who are alive now are from the fifth to the tenth generation they never got the chance to choose between Creation and Destruction, being born into their role, which is a sore point for many of them.

They can’t leave the In-Between spaces or influence the physical world so they bond to a human child which can do that for them. Every child is chosen by both a Nanaël and a Natah, though, because humans can decide between creation and destruction so the Ellariel aren’t capable of influencing directly, they can just hope that their chosen human will act for them. Every child therefore has the potential for magic, it’s just that some have more and some less. Also, the Natah and Nanaël have formed into regulated pairs, so that they either work very well with each other (like Azrae and Iuri) or try to cancel out each other’s influence (like Mikaën and Luzire).

Ellariel and Affiliated include:

- Fiyare, a 500-year-old once-human Guardian who is trying to protect the Nichols family. She’s kind of failing, though. Badly. She’s also best friends with Mikaën.

- Alasayr, a demon and once-human, who is responsible for all of Ben’s problems (maybe not all but at least most of them). He is Luzire’s right hand.

- Azrae, a Natah who chose Ava; They’re the Protector of the Realm of the Fallen (and Guide of those on their way there). They fall on the nonbinary spectrum and prefers they/them/their but is also all right with she/her.

- Iuri, Ava’s Nanaël. She’s also known as Lady of Fire.

- Mikaën, Ben’s Nanaël. He’s the leader of the Nanaël but has sort of given up since every child he’s chosen during the last 300 years was either taken or killed by the Asim. He only chose Ben because Fiyare told him to, and he trusts her wisdom.

- Luzire, a Natah who strongly dislikes being forced into roles she hasn’t chosen herself. She’s also completely bonkers and wants to destroy the universe. Since she and Mikaën are partners in choosing children she’s Ben’s Natah. At least she’s imprisoned ever since she brought on the last apocalypse and even though she’s not quite as imprisoned as everyone seems to think she is still in there and hasn’t found a way to escape yet. Alasayr works for her only because she isn’t powerful yet to get access to her other friends.

#dreamshadow #about the novel #wip novel #writing projects #siarven writes #ava elyssa nichols #ben alec nichols #fiyare #worldbuilding

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