Ben's NaNoWriMo Log

That's All, Folks! added Sep 23, 2005
Final word count: 53,731. I don't know if I'll ever go back and edit this thing. I have no problem with editing as I write, but I don't like going back and changing things I've already written. I'm pleased with it for the most part, though that may change if I decide to go back and read through all of it again. Comments and questions are welcome, either through comments here or email. Thanks for reading, if anyone actually does so.
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Finished, Sort Of added Sep 23, 2005
I have passed the magical 50,000 word mark, though there are still two chapters left to go. I probably could have finished yesterday, but I spent much of yesterday working on this. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish up the rest of the story even without the looming deadline.
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The Home Stretch added Sep 23, 2005
With only a few thousand words left to go, I've finally forced myself to come up with a title: The Legend of Black Sarah. Not the best ever, but it'll do. It actually looks like the story will go over the 50,000 mark by a few thousand words, but that's much better than falling short. I wonder if anyone's actually reading this?
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Over The Hump added Sep 23, 2005
I've hit the halfway point! Huzzah!
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Is That A Novel In Your Pocket? added Sep 23, 2005
I had to do some running around this morning, but I knew I would have some time to kill at my parents' place during the early morning. I had gotten a free 64MB MacAlly USB FlashDrive as a freebie when I bought my copy of Panther, so I finally decided I'd found a good use for it. I shoved a copy of the textfile and jEdit on the drive and away I went. I got Chapter 4 and the beginning of Chapter 5 done awhile sitting around waiting for the rest of the world to wake up. Current Word Count: ~4800
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Chugging Along added Sep 23, 2005
Chapter 9 puts my word count just over 10,000. Judging by my outline, at this rate I'm going to run out of story before I hit 50,000. This means I'm going to need to expand or, more likely, add a section to the outline. I'm not exactly sure where it's going to go, but I should reach a good stopping point by this weekend. I'm not going to have access to the computer on Saturday at all, so I'll use that day to brainstorm new material to add. I'm not worried about falling behind on word count, as I've been keeping up with my 2,000 word a day goal. That should give me a little wiggle room to have slack days. For anyone just finding this page, the category links in the sidebar will allow you to read everything in chronological order, with or without these notes.
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Beginnings added Sep 23, 2005
I got it in my head to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. I haven't come up with a title yet, but I'm sure something will come to me as time goes on. It's a fantasy novel, and I'll come out and admit it right away: it's the backstory of a character from my D&D campaign. Yes, I know it's lame, but I've had more practice writing character stories than anything else. I've omitted anything obviously D&D-related from the story, and i's set in a homebrew world. Most of the things that are being left out (elves, dwarves, monsters, etc.) are only present in the game to keep it in line with the normal D&D experience; I run a pretty humanocentric campaign. This is not to say that there won't be any fantastical elements in the story, just that you won't necessarily find them in any rulebooks. As I was never really intending to use this world for anything other than gaming, there are a few fairly obvious lifts from other sources. As it is, I doubt this will ever get anywhere near being published anyway, so I just won't worry about it. If you're interested in getting some background information, you can check out the campaign pages. Ideally, I should be including anything important within the story itself, so if you don't want to wade through all that stuff you don't have to. One of the main reasons I'm actually trying this is because I've been writing up the story of the current game as it progresses. You can read it here. Obviously, it's got a lot more D&D content, but I've tried to keep terminology out of the story itself. The novel is the story of Sarah Caldwell, who is the mother of Rachel Caldwell, one of the characters in the game. Up to this point Sarah has been an enigmatic background personality, and I didn't give much thought to her motivations until I started planning this story. I was having to come up with a lot of names when I was designing characters, and Sarah is actually named for a girl I dated very briefly in college. The "chapters" link will show the chapters in order, without comments. I've never been good at finishing things I try to write, so this is going to be a good challenge for me. Part of me is apprehensive about letting others read the story, let alone as it's being written, but another part of me knows that this sort of diary is a very useful motivational tool. Whether anyone reads or not, there will be a theoretical They who will see if I slack.
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Epilogue added Sep 23, 2005
It took some time to get the Just Reward in good enough shape to return to the mainland, but return it did. Though she had struck a devastating blow to King Alfred's plans, he remained on the throne. Blocked from any easy sources of income to fund his reign, Alfred was forced to make concessions to a number of factions in the kingdom. He had a skilled political mind, and managed to recover eventually from his initial setbacks. In time, he made other attempts to abuse the power of the throne, but Sarah kept close tabs on the goings on at court and did her best to counter his ploys and those of his cronies. Sometimes she acted directly, but more often than not she put her sizable fortune to work funding subtler opposition around the kingdom. Forced to keep his dealings clean and legitimate, Alfred became known as a good and just king, despite his own schemes. Sarah and Randall married, and had four children: Rufus, who joined the "family business" and became a daring pirate; Ursula, the rebellious one who became an honest merchant captain; Theodore, who took over the land-bound side of the family's operations due to a complete lack of sea legs; and Rachel, a free spirit who chose a life of random adventure over a career of any sort. Molly and Carathix stayed on with Sarah, though Carathix established a tower at Blood Tide Cove where he continued his arcane studies. Lars returned to the Wolf Pack, despite having enough money to easily retire. Alliardo eventually did retire, settling far inland in Averdane, where the reputations of old pirates made no difference to anyone. Alec succeeded Alliardo as Sarah's second in command. King Alfred had a son and two daughters during his almost thirty year reign. Shortly after his death, Sarah retired from her life of piracy and published an autobiography based on the detailed journals she had kept during her infamous career. Though it was banned by both the Crown and the Church, copies of the book continued to find their way to readers throughout Jal Kufri and Ahandria.
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Chapter 9 added Sep 23, 2005
Sarah opened her eyes as she felt a hand shaking her. Molly was silhouetted against the midday sun. "Come on, we need to get moving." She helped Sarah up into the saddle again. The stiffness in her legs made Sarah groan. "Don't worry," said Molly, "We should be in Coppergate in a couple of hours." There was no sign of pursuit, so the three travelers kept a slightly less grueling pace as they rode into Coppergate. The town was much like Silverwell in its construction, a collection of stone buildings nestled against the bulk of the mountains. They could see smoke streaming up from a number of chimneys throughout the town, far more than they had seen in Silverwell. "Coppergate is a mining town, like Silverwell once was," explained Molly. "They live or die by that single industry. The mine bosses are the unquestioned authority, though they do have a nominal mayor. It's a terrible place to live, but there's virtually no way to leave. The bosses don't pay anyone enough that they can afford to go anywhere else." "How long has it been since you were last here?" asked Sarah. "Five years." "That's a long time. Maybe it's changed since then." "Bah." Molly spat on the gravel road. "Nothing ever changes here. Nothing." Sarah gave Syphar a questioning look, but the wizard only shrugged. They continued in silence toward the town. The sun shone red from a pair of massive copper doors set into the granite town wall. Each door was over fifteen feet tall by Sarah's estimation, and nearly six feet wide. Rearing horses were embossed the gleaming doors, their hooves hovering over the road between. "Amazing," breathed Sarah. "They're just wood," muttered Molly. She shook her head. "Don't mind me. I just don't have a lot of good memories from this place. We should be able to pick up some extra supplies at the trading post and get on our way into the Gap before dark." They passed through the gate and into the town. There was little joy in Coppergate, if the people they saw in the street were any indication. The drably clad men and women walked slowly, eyes downcast. A few small children stared up at the riders as they passed, but the adults seemed to hardly even notice them. Sarah leaned over toward Syphar. "I think I can see why she's not thrilled about coming home again." The trading post was a large building near the center of town. It was in better repair than many of the small houses around it, with a fresh coat of paint on its plastered exterior. The three travelers dismounted, discussing among themselves what they would need for the journey through the mountains. "If nothing else, we'll need a lot of rope," said Molly as she fished a pouch of coins out of her saddle bag. "We may need to tie ourselves together during some of the steeper parts." "I thought the point of a mountain pass was to make it easier to get across the mountains," said Sarah. Molly smiled. "This is the easier way. If we were going the hard way we'd need the rope just to get up the mountain." She stopped at the door as she found a man standing in her way. "Excuse me." The man folded his arms across his chest. He wore a blue velvet doublet and breeches, though the fine clothes looked somehow out of place on him. A heavy broadsword hung from his belt. "I don't think these people have paid their taxes yet." Sarah noticed several other men nearby moving in their direction, similarly well dressed and armed. She glanced at Syphar, but his reaction was unreadable. "We're just passing through," said Molly coolly. "I don't want any trouble." "It's a passing through tax," said one of the other men. "Why don't we just pay them?" whispered Sarah. Molly kept her eyes on the man blocking her path. "I'm not giving a penny to these cretins or their bloated pustule of a boss." Sarah could see Syphar's fingers flexing, and the stone in his ring began to glow dimly. Before she could ask him what he was doing, she heard the sound of swords being drawn. Molly still hadn't moved. The man in the doorway held the point of his sword over Molly's chest. "You've got a dangerous mouth on you, little l-- ah!" Faster than Sarah could follow, Molly had drawn her rapier and slashed across the thug's knuckles. Her blade whipped around behind her head to parry another sword coming at her from behind before the first man's sword hit the ground. The other two swordsmen, who had been advancing on Sarah and Syphar, turned their attention toward Molly instead. She turned around, hooking one foot under the broadsword lying at her feet. As she parried another blow from the man who had come up behind her, she tossed the broadsword up into the air with her foot, catching it in her left hand. As the three men hacked and cut at Molly, Sarah began to feel frightened. She wasn't worried about Molly's safety; she seemed to be blocking every blade with hardly a thought. What chilled Sarah was the look in Molly's eyes. There was more than disdain there; there was hatred. It seemed like the men she was fighting could see it too. Sarah was no expert with a sword,but it seemed as though the attackers had become defenders fighting for their lives. "Molly," said Sarah, "we don't have time for this." Molly blinked. The mask of churning emotions fell away from her face. She slowed her flurry of steel, allowing her opponents an opportunity to withdraw. They backed away a few steps, then turned and ran. Molly tossed the broadsword on the ground, sheathing her own blade. She watched the men for a moment as they fled, then shook her head. "They'll regain their courage soon enough, and be back with friends." Syphar headed toward the shop, taking the coin purse from Molly as he passed. "I'll get what we need. Make sure the horses are ready to go."
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Chapter 8 added Sep 23, 2005
Sarah had never had any call to ride a horse in the past, but she was certainly willing to learn. Master Eldridge had gifted them with a pair of geldings, one chestnut and the other black. The stable hands had them saddled and ready in almost no time at all. Eldridge explained that they were students in his fencing school; they were expected to be well versed in a number of skills in addition to swordplay. "I can't thank you enough for your generosity," said Sarah. "I can't do anything to keep that bastard from taking the crown, but I'm happy to give him another reason to sweat." He turned as the stable door opened again. A dark haired woman entered, shutting the door behind her against the cold. The newcomer glanced at the strangers briefly, then turned to Master Eldridge. "You sent for me, Master?" She was half a head taller than Sarah and darker of skin, with deep brown eyes. She reminded Sarah a little of Lucinda, except that Lucinda had never been much for physical labor, while this woman had well toned muscle in addition to her curvy figure. She was dressed in doublet and breeches, with a sword hanging comfortably at her left hip. In her hand she held another sword, complete with belt and scabbard. "Ah, yes," said Eldridge. "Sarah, Syphar, this is Molly Tanner. She's one of my best students." "'One of'?" asked Molly, with a raised eyebrow. "As you can see, she doesn't lack for confidence." His face became more serious. "Molly, these fine people could use a guide who knows the way to Coppergate and through Elizar's Gap. They also might have need of someone who knows how to use a sword. It's a dangerous job, but I think you're up to it. I know you've been looking for a way to put your skills to use for a while." Molly smiled. "It would be my pleasure." Sarah approached Molly, her brow knitting with concern. "I want you to understand what you're getting yourself into. The King of Jal Kufri wants me dead, and I doubt he will spare anyone who helps me." The swordswoman glanced at Eldridge, who nodded. "A challenge, then. I like it." She held out the sword in her hand, looking back and forth between Sarah and Syphar. "And this is for...?" Syphar held his hands up, palms a few inches apart. Energy crackled between his hands like miniature lightning. "Ah, I see." Molly handed the sword to Sarah. Sarah buckled the belt around her waist, tightening it nearly to its smallest notch. The weight at her hip was uncomfortable, but she assumed she would grow used to it. She drew the blade free of its scabbard. The narrow, tapering blade had a single edge for most of its length, with a double edge near the needle-sharp tip. A simple hilt guarded her hand, sweeping over her knuckles to meet a heavy round pommel. The grip was wrapped with leather and metal wire and felt a little slick to Sarah's hand. She glanced at Molly's weapon; she could see where hours of practice had molded it to her hand. She slid the rapier back in its scabbard. "Thank you, Molly, Master Eldridge. I wish I had some way to repay you." Eldridge clapped her on the shoulder with a calloused hand. "Keep yourself alive." Molly found her own horse, which was already saddled and ready for her. As the four of them went out into the courtyard, a young boy came running up to Master Eldridge. "Men," he panted, "at the gate. From Skytooth. Looking for someone. Captain said to tell you." Eldridge frowned, scratching his beard. "That's not good." He turned to Molly, speaking quickly. "Take them out the East Gate and ride hard for Coppergate. I'll stall them as long as I can, and try to put them on the wrong road. I don't know how much time I can buy you, so make the best of it." Molly nodded and swung herself up into the saddle. She watched as the others mounted more slowly. "Do you ride?" she asked. "A little," said Syphar. Sarah simply shook her head. "All right," muttered Molly. "Just try to hold on as best you can. Raven and Brand are quick; not as quick as Lightning here, but they should be able to keep up." She patted the neck of her dun mare affectionately. Taking the reins in one hand, she turned her horse toward a gate at the far end of the courtyard and started toward it at a trot. Syphar followed behind on Raven. Sarah wasn't sure what to do, but, given commands to the contrary, Brand joined in at the end of their little parade. Once outside the courtyard, they meandered through the streets of Silverwell. Sarah paid little attention to the buildings they were passing by; she was too occupied trying to adjust to the unfamiliar rhythm of the mount beneath her. Leading a cart mule was about as unlike actually riding a horse as her old life was the new. They passed the East Gate without challenge, and soon found themselves on a narrow road winding around the feet of the mountains. The trot that Sarah was just becoming accustomed to began to accelerate, and before she knew it they were galloping through the night like leaves cast upon a rushing river. Taking Molly's advice to heart, Sarah leaned close to Brand's neck, grabbing handfuls of mane in addition to the reins. Her legs and backside were growing numb from the unaccustomed abuse, having quickly gone past soreness and pain. She kept her eyes open to mere slits, watching the road flash by beneath her. At some point Syphar had been able to summon a flock of tiny lights that swirled around them, providing barely enough illumination for the horses to see their way in the darkness. Sarah's world shrank to little more than the wind rushing past her and her hands holding on for dear life. When they finally stopped, the sun's rays could be seen reaching out from behind the mountain tops. Sarah practically fell from the saddle as Molly and Syphar came to help her down. They laid her down on something soft, and she knew no more.
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