NaNoMongering 13: Verbosity, Velociraptors, and Villainy, Part II

Now that I've bored you to death with The Great Saga of Agent's Epic Word Count Which No One Cares About Except Her, let's move on to–

Part II: Velociraptors

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer in possession of a large word count must be in want of a little editing to root out the insanity that inevitably crops up.

In this case, raptors.

I don't know why they're there. It seems that when I'm stuck for words or inspiration, I skip the mad gunman, and go straight for the raptors. Maybe it's my innate inability to take my world seriously enough that I can resist lampooning it even as I write it.

Anyway, the damn things pop up everywhere. First, there's Oscar creating them all the time in his dreams, because he's scared of them.

Now enter Aurana Lockhart, which, combined with the presence of other humans and table corners, spells disaster. She is a confirmed node of disaster. Chaos accumulates around her like detritus down a clogged drain. Poor Aurana, she can't help it. It is not her fault that Ethan's mother's pet bonsai velociraptors escaped when the Lord Protector came for a visit. Nor did she know that they are let out of their cages at night, when she decided to go for a midnight stroll. Nor is it her fault that Ethan thought an assassin was at the door, and sent a knife whizzing at her head. (She never liked that hat anyway.)

It is her fault that the butler's wig is now acting as a throw pillow in the raptor cage, and that Ethan's best telescope is in shambles. Never say that she doesn't possess weapons of mass destruction when she has her iniquitous parasol and handbag of doom in her hands.

Too bad the raptors don't like her.

Her worst enemy is an evil behemoth named Rupert, The Scourge of Mailmen. The particular pet of Ethan Brooke, Rupert can smell deception a mile away, and has a mean streak the size of Texas. Needless to say, Rupert the Scourge of Mailmen is totally on to Aurana's little masquerade, and loves to torment poor Aurana when no one is looking. Like many arrogant genius mad scientists, Ethan unfailingly picks on the flaws of other humans, but is persistently blind to the...imperfections of his special pets. It is a little known fact to the others that Rupert knows the secrets of the universe, including the ending of this story. He knows what Aurana is, even if Ethan doesn't.

Too bad Rupert can't talk.

Aurana, watch out for the---

*glass breaks*

Ethan's mother never liked that very ugly and very expensive old vase that holds the Ashes of Asvarth anyway.

NaNoMongering 12: Verbosity, Velociraptors, and Villainy, Part I

Part I: Verbosity

I'm not sure about the "Rightful King Hiddleston" bit, but Tom Hiddleston (if this is a real quote) is right.

I'm back. Oh, I'm back with a vengeance!

Travel back in time to the end of Day 11...

I have no idea how it happened.

Actually, I know exactly how it happened. The last bit just went by so fast...

After a busy Sunday, I finally sat down at 9:30 in the evening on Day 11, and slowly squeezed out a few painful, diahrreal words. Three hours later, I was only 1k richer, of butt-numbingly boring dialogue which in no way advanced the plot, and was sure to put the reader to sleep. Still another 1k behind my minimum goal for the day (20k), I was ready to throw in the towel.

Then I turned to Twitter in a last ditch attempt to salvage my NaNo-ly dignity, and word warred with a fellow NaNoer who happened to be online. It was only one 15 minute session and one 10 minute session, but this put me over 20k.

After that, my OCD, and the need to round off things I had left off in the middle, took care of the rest. Oh, I don't actually have OCD. It's just that when I look at my daily word count and total word count, I have an obsessive need to round it off at the nearest ,000 or ,500 mark. It especially bothers me when I am within 250 words of the next thousand count. When I'm in my stride, this often means that I often overshoot my goal when I try to pad on a few more words to hit the mark.

...Enter OCD again. Rinse and repeat.

The rest is history.

Present, End Day 12...

Wrote 3k more through a combination of word sprints, word vomit, and padding with random bits to cross my OCD marks.

I am now at 25k, the halfway mark, 3 days ahead of the NaNo goal, and 1k ahead of my goal.

Woo. Fucking. Hoo.

Camp NaNoWriMo, Day 5

[Picture removed]

Link here

I was procrastinating by searching for inspirational pictures, for Dark Arcana. There are actually several planets in the Elemental Alliance (real name TBD), so the number of scenes I could show would be numerous. As it is, none of the pictures I found were right. This one was the closest, and at that, it is more symbolic than anything else. It sort of looks like a combination of places from the planets Hydron, Erebus, Acheron, Helios, Kairos, and Meervane (names TBD).

In other news, The Fires of Ozan sort of barged into Dark Arcana. I tried splitting them back up again, but it didn't work. It seems that the revolution that was brewing in the Fire Palaces of Hydron was really engineered by Khronos, and that it was all really a front for his invasion... I do believe that the huge project that the scientists on Helios are working on, ostensibly for the Hydronian rebels, is really funded by Khronos... 

Oh, and, unbeknownst to Khronos, the scientists have an insidious little side project going on themselves, which is to upset the balance of the elements, and release the Big Scary Evil Thing that lies at the center of the universe. Of course, like all story scientists, they do it in all ignorance, because they think it is for the good of humanity. Silly scientists! :-) And, of course, Oscar, Hermeticus Octodyne, and the governments of the Alliance hear of it, and of course they think that naturally, Khronos must be behind it too! Little do they know that while Khronos enjoys power, he doesn't want destruction. He's quite an enlightened Darth Vader!

Character-wise, it will be interesting to see Ozan and Oscar butt heads. Ido have to change Ozan's name, however, because it is too similar to Oscar. In terms of cast, I now have a pirate princess out for revenge against Khronos and Hermeticus Octodyne (Claire), Khronos, Ozan, Big Evil Thing, Hermeticus Octodyne, and the demons inside Oscar, who sometimes act as Oscar's multiple personalities. Much stepping on each other's toes should ensue!

A city in either Amberian or Dark Arcana...or both.

I found this picture too. It was on some random site, so I have no idea who made it. That tower looks like a Nocharen Sideas incursion station from the Amberian idea. Okay, so that has nothing whatever to do with Dark Arcana, being a different story altogether. However, Dark Arcana and Amberian are actually set on the same worlds, so it could work. The spaceship and the guy are too futuristic looking for Dark Arcana, since Dark Arcana takes place before the Amberian stories. ...And if you are familiar with Amberian, and especially with my temporal paradoxes from hell, you will know that this is a loaded proposition, since Amberian has a LOT of time travel! 

In terms of the stories themselves, the city looks a lot like Erebus...specifically, it is almost as if Khronos made Erebus by stealing bits from 19th century Engleter (and various other places and times), welding them together, and transplanting them to Erebus...

In fact, I almost feel like Khronos and his works were part of an early effort of some huge project that will be revealed in Amberian...

Khronos...not really.

And this guy seriously reminds me of Khronos....even if he looks nothing like him. Khronos is a giant brass robot. This one is too futuristic, but...I think it is the face, and the theme. Khronos also has no face, and he is one of the most powerful elemental manipulators in the world. Some even say he can spawn new worlds...

Key inspiration words to remember: sacred key, talisman, spirit matrix, Nocharen Sideas Queen/King