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.