The Alchemist Tuesday arrived in no time. The days leading up to it were a blur of work, relaxation outside The Suppression, cooking, and sleeping. The excitement of meeting the alchemist was all Rienna could think about. They rode into town again on the horses, following the road towards the nobles' district. Instead of continuing into the neighborhoods, they turned and began towards a large building in the distance that was the university. As they got closer, they entered a

Secret Society It had taken time, patience, some pleading, a little bit of magic, an excessive amount of frowning, and three long days, but finally, finally, Rienna broke off a piece of clear crystal the size of a beetle. Without Xia being able to hurl the crystal into other objects with impossible force, it had been a fair amount more difficult than splitting the purple one. With malicious happiness, Rienna placed the crystalline shard in the locket around her neck and cha

Darkest Forest A restless night and gloomy morning later, Rienna found herself standing in front of a tall dark tree and its equally creepy brethren. She thought back to her encounter with the witch and what Måren had said about how she practiced necromancy. She imagined how Trusten must prefer capturing children due to their youthfulness. She swallowed hard as she peered into the darkness. The caravan had disappeared into the woods not half an hour earlier. And while there d

Hammering a stake into the cliff's edge, you clip your harness to a new rope. Shuffling towards the edge, you sit down on the edge as the snow around you slides off the edge and falls. You lower yourself onto the cliff wall and begin sliding down the rope. As you get to your partner's harness, you see that it looks like it was attacked; a large slash cuts the side of the harness in half. There's a trail of red leading to a cave, as you go to take a closer look, I realize it i

Wanted They gathered food and supplies from nearby shops, then prepared to travel back to Trilliah. Rienna figured she'd let Mæri know about the caves and ask her for directions back to Vieryen. They traveled along the lake again and reached Mæri’s house just a couple hours before dusk. Despite having hiked all day, Rienna was feeling much better and could tell her magic was about halfway replenished. Xio in one hand, Rienna raised an arm and knocked on the door. A moment lat

Chapter 31: Storm on the Water As Rienna built her boat, her mind slipped in and out of consciousness. Sometimes, she would look up at the crystal sky and see Xio peering down at her. Sometimes, she was in the middle of binding pieces together when she blacked out and would see a fuzzy image of crystal panes all around her. Her boat was made of fallen wood and giant leaves. She wasn't very sure that it would work, but hopefully, in the dream world, it would be okay. With Aya'

In the last article, we talked about worldbuilding. Now that you have built your world, you have to figure out what you want to tell with it. What do you want to talk about, comment on, criticize, or make your reader think about? The plot is what lets you tell the story you want to tell. It is the events of your world and the ultimate effect on it. Your plot should be divided into points, events, or actions that move it subtly. An example of a plot point is your characters ne

Part I Opening your eyes as a blue glow illuminates the inside of your tent, a shrill noise like tearing paper, the door flies open, and the hair on your neck stands as the frigid air fills the tent. The warm glow of the morning sun contrasts with the snow-covered ground. Glancing around the tent, you notice that your partner has already left. Stepping out of the tent, you feel yourself sinking into the powered snow from the night before. Donning your goggles, the world shift

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Phillip K. Dick, but from the perspective of the sheep I wish my coat were real. Not the pretty-looking cotton stuff that stays looking good in the smoky-gray of a San Francisco morning post World War Terminus, not the factory-lathed fibers that were made to never catch dust, but real wool. Warm and comforting, sometimes stinky and tangled, but real. I want to feel the warmth and chill of normal weather patterns, eat grass and clover tha