Chapter Seven

The past week I had some computer problems. On Saturday my old desktop computer refused to start up. Luckily I had started working almost exclusively on the new laptop and could continue writing. Still I was pretty busy on Sunday running diagnostics software and the like only to learn on Monday that my hard disk was a goner. I still don't know whether any of the data will be recoverable. While this won't affect my writing (everything is on three different disks, well two now), I might have lost some game related materials.

But back to writing. I finally finished the first draft of chapter seven yesterday, proofread and corrected it till a few minutes ago now.

This chapter introduces Sveinn, a young Nórdsk knight, brother to Hein who was killed in chapter one trying to rape Estiell (the protagonist). I essentially try to show how this nobleman changes from well meaning and just to hate-filled and vengeful. The story starts on a drakkar off the coast of Skjulstein, ashore Sveinn's uncle baron Haraldr brings the young knight the sad news. From there, the young knight heads to Hoykonnge and his brother's grave. Here he participates in the interrogation of three suspects and/or witnesses. By the end of the chapter, Sveinn is entirely convinced Estiell lured his brother into a trap and he swears revenge.

Tomorrow I should start writing the first interlude. It will probably deal with the dark elf queen Tindûfinn living in the distant east who receives news of her invading hordes. Originally, I had not planned any of these interludes, but it seems like a logical choice and a simple means to introduce those pulling the strings behind all the events in the Gatelands.

After that, I will start work on chapter eight, the second Estiell POV chapter. If all goes well I can tell more about the interlude and chapter next week.

Chapters Five through Seven

Well, the last week hasn't been a good one for writing.

I planned to write chapter five, but after writing a brief chapter synopsis I decided the POV character Kantaa was superfluous. Essentially I only needed him specifically in one scene at the end of book one (assuming it's indeed a trilogy). Otherwise, he was very similar, but less likeable and defined, to Uinhbren the POV character of chapter six. In the end I decided to scrap not only chapter six, but the entire character and all chapters based on him (I just realised I'd have to alter the prelude too as it showed Kantaa the barbarian shaman...). Still I will leave his chapter slots open in case I change my mind.

So, after taking that decision I decided to start work on chapter six. Uinhbren is a ranger from the Marches (formerly Borderlands) and set out to scout out goblin settlements in the Auld Forest the previous year. Having been wounded he was forced to winter in a hidden valley inhabited by the barnhilde or perriain (formerly named warrows, but I changed the name as I'd forgotten I had been inspired by Dennis L. McKiernan's work). Chapter six was supposed (sic) at that point, showing the ranger leave the hidden valley, giving short flashback information explaining how the barnhilde sent him on a quest in return for their hospitability and help. But I realised this would at best be a short chapter with very little necessary information. Instead I decided to merge chapter six into the future chapter fifteen. That will mean more flashback, but a generally better flow.

That was the situation I was at yesterday when I started writing the synopsis for chapter seven. This introduced Sveinn, a young nobleman and knight. He just returned from an expedition against the Caerpictians to recover some stolen relics. As he arrives in Skjulstein, he is called up to his uncle Tósti's castle to hear some bad news. There he learns that his younger brother Hein was killed by a witch some two weeks earlier. In short, this chapter will introduce my main antagonist and provide a countering POV to Estiell's chapter one. I have 1697 words of this chapter written so far and plan to continue tonight or tomorrow.

While I had all that trouble with chapters five and six I finally found a digital version of my old Kemenfae map. As I needed to mark down various locations I decided to create a new map (just the Gatelands, not the entire world). The following is an extract showing the territory mentioned or covered in book one.


Note, some of the place names are still likely to change.

I'll return to writing chapter seven now.

Chapter Four

I finished proofreading and correcting chapter four today. It deals with Beleghír an aredhel noble. The aredhel are the eastern hill elves whose queen rules over all the so called mornedhel or as they call themselves theninedhel. Beleghír is leading a host of elves (aredhel and talathedhel), orcs, goblins and wargs south of the former enedhel (or nyrnedhel) forest.

At the start of the chapter he recalls his failure to take a city (Gwybodae's hometown) by storm early in the campaign and how that might reflect on his reputation. Then a goblin scout is brought to his tent and reports discovering a human army a few days to the south.

That evening, Beleghír holds council and decides to attack the humans despite their numerical superiority. Next comes the battle in dense forest, somewhat inspired from the battle at Teutoburg Forest. Though in this case, the aredhel field a well organised force as well as wild charging troops similar to the ancient Cheruskan warriors of Arminius. The humans on the other hand are a pretty mixed force of knights (12th century technology etc.), huscarls and levies. I went into some debt to describe the aredhel formations, followed by wild melee and finally a tour of the battle field after the elves' almost complete victory.

Following are two drawings of elven swords as used by the aredhel. You might recognise these as kopis or falcattas. The pommels are supposed to represent elven steeds (unicorns) the traditional mounts of elf queens.


After the battle, I show Beleghír arguing with one of his subordinates...

Finally, there is a brief siege of a medium human city (Erikskisket, where fiery Eirik's corpse (the legendary Nórdsk king) rested for serveral days before it was taken back to his homelands . The following is a sketch of castle Beleghír will order to be erected near this city. Note it's a variant of the motte and bailey type.


In a later chapter, Estiell (the protagonist) will arrive at this castle, which will still be under construction, and meet with Beleghír in the hopes of finding a settlement to end the ongoing war. Maybe I will use this location again in other chapters.

I also started preliminary work on chapter five today. Mostly I wrote a rough outline. This will most likely be a short chapter and I might even cut it at a later time as I'm not entirely certain the POV character will be needed.

Chapter Three

Since last week I finished Chapter Three of my trilogy. It's tentatively called Slain and is the first Gwybodae (a human warrioress) chapter. Three other characters appear in this chapter for the first time. Adúlfr a Nórdsk hirdman, his fourteen year old granddaughter Frídda and a sixteen year old serving maid named Gydda.

The chapter plays in the port city Eirikshavn, the current capital of the Nórdsk kingdom and therefore also the seat of the Hegemony.

I drew some map sketches for this chapter. They were not really necessary, but made my writing somewhat easier.

First there is Eirikshavn castle, sitting on a promontory above the town and bay. The following was a first rough sketch and some of it has been superseded already. Note the compass is incorrect, south is indeed down.



The second sketch represents the second level of the castle's keep and living quarters. These supersede the same parts of the image above.


I also drew a sketch of the floor plan of one of the inns (the Dripping Wyrm) appearing in the chapter.

The unfortunate part about these three sketches is that I almost certainly won't need Eirikshavn castle or the inn in future chapters (actually the next Gwybodae or Adúlfr chapter will still start at the inn, but that's about it).

Lastly I thought it might be a good idea to upload a world map. I created that image a few years ago. The Trilogy uses only the northern most continent where the map is centred. Many place names have changed since, some will likely change in the future.


I'll start work on Chapter Four later today.

Writing

Hmm. I think it's about time I posted something here. This will be my first step into blogging and I don't really expect much of it. At least it should be cheaper than a psy.

So I took up writing again recently.

Some twenty years ago I first thought of the Fantasy world of Kemenfae, at the time it was little more than Ray Feist fan-fiction. Since then I learned of that author's dislike of fan-fic (which I fully respect) and spent some time developing an entire world instead of the single continent I had planned. First ideas about the plot appeared around the same time. But when I sat down to actually write about this world I was stuck and I mothballed all my material.

Roughly eight years later I went to college in the US and took a creative writing class (in truth to be near to the girl I loved). After a while, I wrote a few Fantasy short stories and was astonished to find my teacher actually liked it. You can imagine my surprise when I recently learned he'd actually written a few published short stories in the Dragonlance world in addition to the western novels he'd told us about. In any case, this class and my almost simultaneous discovery of on line role playing (text) urged me to start writing again. Unfortunately I found my earlier design of Kemenfae and its cultures unsatisfactory. So instead of writing my stories I redesigned the world.

A few years after that I remembered all the fun I'd had writing. This time I'd learned from my previous experience and started writing right away. I finished a few short story drafts introducing myself to characters and cultures. I also joined an online writers' workshop as I had returned to Europe recently and was no longer submerged in an english-language culture. But again, after a few weeks of writing I despaired over my apparent lack of talent and threw the towel once more.

Almost exactly three years ago I once again fell hopelessly in love. As a gift for her birthday I started to write a short story about a beautiful, shape shifting unicorn (her) and an ugly warrior (me). Soon I realised this story neatly fit into my world of Kemenfae, so I quickly rewrote it and a new story line evolved. Through sheer coincidence I had stumbled over the fitting ending of the trilogy I had so long envisioned. I never sent the girl her story and half forgot about her.

It should be noted that all those years, even when I was not writing, I kept developing Kemenfae. It had become fairly alive in my mind and it's history seemed almost as real as that which I'd studied back in college.

Since my return from college I had never really managed to make a living. I never got a decent diploma out of my studies and for some employers I was under-qualified, for others over-qualified. So I just spent ten years in politics, running for office, participating in day to day brain storming, co-founding the local peace movement etc. In all those years I couldn't afford to maintain any of my hobbies and interests. Then, late last year I was told I might be eligible for welfare. So I applied and after some tribulations I ended up with a thousand euro income I had never expected. This might seem like nothing much to some, but to me it's a fortune.

So this January I started subscribing to magazines, buying games and books of all kinds. I spent about a month reading Fantasy and Science Fiction non stop. When I finally ran out of books I started writing again.

Kemenfae was by now fully developed so I could start with writing right away without bothering about research or anything of the kind. Still, I felt pretty weak concerning writing technique and grammar. So I started slow, writing a couple of short stories I might try to publish at some point. Within a week I wrote some fifty double spaced pages of such stories. I realised I'd desperately need some feedback, so I rejoined the mailing list I'd been on twice before. Overeager and feeling this list might be too slow for my needs, I also joined a fantasy writers' website. Lastly I asked two friends and an English teacher I knew to take a look at my current writing.

Early last week then I started work on my actual trilogy. The Gatelands. In those two weeks I wrote the prologue and two chapters (the first I'd already partially written five years ago and I was astonished it actually read nicely, though I ended up changing the chapter's structure). I have roughly fifty double spaced pages (some twelve-thousand words) finished now and will start work on chapter three tomorrow.

So where I stand now I hope to write an average thousand words a day. Today for instance I wrote slightly less than two-thousand words and proofread a chapter draft. Two days ago on the other hand I only managed some six-hundred words. So it varies daily, I just hope I'll keep it up at this overall pace.

But I've rambled long enough now, time to post this then.