Corpse Party: Depths of Despair "Reveal"

For a project I didn't expect to get very far, the Corpse Party fangame I codenamed "D2" in my last post is doing pretty well. In fact, the first draft of the main story and gameplay is all complete in the most recent demo!

Let me backtrack to some introductory information: I was introduced to the Corpse Party survival horror franchise a few months ago, and I was pretty much hooked from my first playthrough of the English translation of Corpse Party Rebuilt by the fan translation group Memories of Fear. Since then, I've played both of the English localizations of the commercial Corpse Party games (Blood Covered Repeated Fear and Book of Shadows) and either played or watched Let's Plays of several fangames like Corpse Party Zero and Corpse Party if. As usually happens when I get this into something, I decided to make a fan project out of my obsession.

Corpse Party D2: Depths of Despair is a fangame made in a strange blend of the styles of Corpse Party Rebuilt and Corpse Party: Blood Covered Repeated Fear. It's a linear exploration/adventure game with survival horror elements like both games, though it borrows characters and features like "Wrong Ends" (story-based game overs) from Blood Covered Repeated Fear despite being a continuation of the story of the original Corpse Party (seen in Rebuilt).

While I didn't expect much to come out of this game, I ended up being pleased enough by how it turned out to post links to the demo on the Heavenly Host Elementary School forums (a Corpse Party fan forum), and the fans there helped me shape the game into something I'm pretty proud of.

Since I haven't posted anything to this blog while working on the game, I thought I'd put up a post here to let anyone reading know what I've been up to. (I'm also trying to boost visibility to help me find an illustrator, but that's another story altogether!)

Anyway, that's more than enough backstory for now I think. There's some more information here if you're interested in the game. Though I'd suggest playing Corpse Party Rebuilt to get an idea of what's going on before playing the demo... the Memories of Fear site with that game can be found here.

As always, thanks for reading!

Belated Update

It's been a long time since my last post, so I decided to stop putting off writing something to explain what's going on. Basically, I've been too busy to get much done on my writing projects, but in a week or so I'll have a lot more time on my hands.

As for a status update on what projects are active, here's what's on the schedule once I wrap up the stuff I've been busy with:

Charlatan and the Elf:
It's been way too long since I've written something for this story, so I hope to get started on chapter 4 once I have time. I had some writer's block on how to progress the story before, but I've got some ideas that might help me get back on track. I can't really say much else at the moment...

Imbalance of Power:
This is a RPG Maker VXAce game I impulsively started a month ago when I was inundated with Fire Emblem games, but since I have a demo out I feel obligated to finish it sometime. I feel like the writing is kinda weak at the moment, but maybe I'll still be able to make something fun out of it. I've technically written 1/3rd of the total script of the game already, so it shouldn't take very long to get a full prototype together for an alpha release (though it will be some time before the fights are at all interesting).

If you want a peek at what Imbalance of Power is so far, check here.

"D2":
If things continue to be slow for the other projects, it's because I'm doing some work on this story. It's sort of a practice run for working in a genre I'm not used to. I'm not sure if it will ever be released, but since I can't ever keep completely quiet about any of my ideas I wanted to introduce it now.



I've got some other "projects," but aside from the above everything else I'm writing is on the backburner to help me focus. I don't want any of these projects to end up like my Eberron story "Secrets Unearthed" (which is going on its second year of not having any solid writing done for it aside from one character backstory).

That's all for now. Mostly just reminding people I exist.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter Three Draft: Confession

It's been a while since my last post for The Charlatan and the Elf, so I decided to take the time to edit this draft for public viewing and call it Chapter Three. It's only half as long as Chapter Two, but I didn't want to artificially draw out this scene (being the first climatic confrontation in the story) and didn't want to introduce more than one conflict to a viewpoint character in a single chapter.

The latter point brings up an important note: I'm experimenting with having Effie as a secondary viewpoint character. Savia's voice didn't really fit for this chapter, so I wrote it in Effie's head and I think it's a lot better. Whether I can juggle two viewpoint characters properly is yet to be seen.

Well, that's enough of an intro for a chapter delayed for weeks. Back to the story we left on a cliffhanger a long time ago:

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The Charlatan and the Elf
Chapter Three

Effie frowned, confused at Savia's matter-of-fact statement. Both of them were silent for a moment before Effie asked "What do you mean?"

Savia chuckled, which caused a knot to form in Effie's chest. "What else can that mean? I'm pretending to be a fortune teller. That makes me a fraud, a charlatan, whatever you want to call it."

There was no easy way to respond to that kind of revelation. Effie stuggled to keep her hands on the table although she desperately wanted to pull on her ears. She seemed to have a talent at making bad situations worse. How else could she end up indebted to some human thief the first day in a new city?

Something in Effie's expression, or maybe just the long silence after Savia's confession, seemed to tip off Savia that Effie wasn't taking this very well. "I know this seems like a bad situation, Effie, but I think we can help each other out."

Effie straightened out her clothes to occupy her hands, the knot in her chest tightening. This favor Savia was about to ask was probably the reason she was being so kind. Effie was starting to wish she didn't latch on to Savia like the desperate wretch she was, even if she was nice enough to offer a place to stay and food to eat. "How could I help you? You seem to be doing well enough..."

Sighing, Savia shook her head. "So far, maybe. But not for much longer if you start telling people stories of home."

"What's wrong about me telling people about my home?"

"You're a real elf" Savia gestured to her dice and jewelry. "For the past two or three years I've been the 'half-elf' fortune teller. If anything you say doesn't match what I've said... I'll be in trouble."

Effie suddenly felt trapped. Savia was between Effie and the door, and it was locked by a confusing mechanism anyway. The windows of the apartment were too small to escape through. If Savia planned on doing anything to her, there was no escape and no hope of help. Effie felt like the knot in her chest was trying to choke the air out of her.

"What are you going to do?" Effie gave up trying to resist pulling at her ears. "Are you going to cut my tongue out or kill me or something?"

Savia's eyes widened in what looked like genuine shock. "No! No, that first one is disgusting... and I really don't want to have anyone's blood on my hands. Plus, murder isn't going to get me out of trouble as much as give the Arbiter an excuse to stamp me."

"If you say so..." Effie said, not entirely reassured.

Savia sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm not trying to scare you, Effie. I really need your help to untangle myself from this mess."

Effie felt the knot in her chest loosen a bit when she saw that Savia was starting to look worried herself. Part of her suspected this was one of Savia's tricks as a charlatan, getting her victim to sympathize with her... and Effie supposed it worked, as she was able to take a deep breath and stop pulling at her ears.

"Do you have a plan?" Effie asked quietly.

Savia shook her head and frowned. "I'm not sure what to do... so far I've mostly just been trying to keep you from talking to anyone. But with the explorers going to Kilshan... it's really only a matter of time before people know the truth about elves."

"Right..." Effie agreed, not really seeing any way to refute that point. She wondered why Savia hadn't thought further ahead, but she didn't want to antagonize her host any further than she probably did with the comment about murder.

"The way I see it" Savia continued, "It's only a matter of time before someone picks up on my scheme and I get in trouble for it. I've been here too long to just pretend I never claimed to be a half-elf fortune teller. I might just have to skip town as soon as the explorers start coming back..."

Effie shrugged. "I don't know what you've been saying about elves, so I'm not sure I can help much... aside from keeping quiet I guess."

Savia clasped her hands together and leaned closer. "Well, I've tried not to get too detailed in my descriptions, but it's a lot easier to fool people if you can describe some things in detail even if the rest has to be left vague. It's a bit of a challenge, figuring out how much detail to put into a story to make it believable but still easy to remember."

Rubbing the back of her neck, Effie asked "Where did you say you learned these stories when you tell them to your..." Effie stopped herself before she said 'victim', suspecting Savia wouldn't like the connotation.

"In the business, a thief's target is called a mark." Savia offered. "And I usually tell my marks that I heard the stories in passing during my time on the road."

Effie stopped rubbing her neck and leaned forward, an idea forming in her head. "So you're telling stories that someone told you... that could easily have been corrupted or changed over time. What about your elven parent? What do you say about them?"

"I say it's my mother, who I never really knew all that well" Savia replied. She lowered her brow and seemed to examine Effie's face. "Why? What are you thinking of?"

"Well..." Effie tried to organize her thoughts. She hesitated for a moment when she realized she was helping an admitted charlatan keep her story intact, but realized that she didn't have much choice but to help her for the time being. "You've only told people stories you heard from others and never knew your only 'real' connection to elves. It seems to me that you could keep most of your story intact as long as you adapt it to what elves are really like."

"Perhaps..." Savia furrowed her brow. "But there's still people I've tricked that won't be as easy to convince if they hear I've suddenly changed my story, even if the new story is more factual."

"Which is why you'll need an elven 'relative' who only recently arrived that can explain the inconsistancies."

Savia nodded slowly. "Maybe. But even the superstitious people I work with are going to be surprised that a distant relative of mine happened to be the one elf who lives here."

Effie slumped down, not sure how else she could help. She started toying with the dice on the table. After a moment, she looked up at Savia. "Well, I can say I'm a fortune teller, right?"

"I do claim the dice only work for family, so if you're related to me it could make sense." Savia grinned, making Effie think she saw where this was headed.

"So we tell them that I discovered that I had family here in Carista and travelled here to find my relative, which would be you. Fortune telling and divination runs in our family, so that's how I found you so quickly."

Savia nodded. "That could work. We'll need an explanation for why neither of us can give more detailed fortune readings... I suppose we can start with the shared bloodline thing and work from there." Savia smiled at Effie. "Maybe we can make this work."

Effie smiled at the implied praise. She wondered if she should feel bad for coming up with a way to fool people into giving her money. It certainly wasn't honest work that Savia was involved in. A part of Effie told her that she should have gone to Biana, or even have stayed home.

Another part of Effie reminded her that staying at home and baking wasn't going to be a story worth the paper it was written on. The book she smuggled with her to Carista never mentioned castle servants or common craftswomen. Maybe it was a bit much to hope that her own life would be remembered like the legends told in books, but it would certainly be more interesting than being reprimanded for not seeing an empty oven.

Thinking of the kitchen overseer back in Kilshan reminded Effie of Arbiter Danito, and suddenly her excitement at being a thief started to fade. She couldn't exactly back out after offering her help to Savia, but it couldn't hurt to know what to avoid...

"Um, Savia?" Effie asked quietly.

"Your face has gone through at least four different shapes in the past minute" Savia teased. "What is it?"

"Could we go over the laws of Carista? I'd really like to avoid being 'stamped'..."

Savia chuckled. "Of course. I did promise you, after all."

Helarine BGEE Mod Beta Release! + April Writing Update

It's been a while since my last post, as I've been busy with other projects and the little I've gotten done relating to the blog isn't ready for public viewing yet. That said, I do have something to share now: Helarine for BGEE has been updated to "Beta version 1". My poor naming/numbering schemes aside, this new version has a few fixes and changes from the previous alpha version. In short, these changes are:

- Removed PC-initiated dialogue from the mod. Unless I actually give the player something to ask Helarine, this is just an empty list, so I took it out.
- Removed romance confrontations, the scenes where Helarine judges your life choices and makes cryptic comments about people that sound like your love interest dying horribly. These might come back in Shadows of Amn when Helarine can be more open on the people she's talking about, but as-is they just sounded silly. (This doesn't affect the romance-related banters she has with NPCs, though Dorn's no longer actually requires his romance conversations to trigger and was modified accordingly.)
- Added a new friendship track conversation to the end of the friendship track. A lot of the old conversations were changed to plot reactions, so this conversation was added to bring the non-plot related character arc to a smoother ending.
- Added banter accelerator scripts. These will trigger a banter conversation between Helarine and compatible NPCs within 2 in-game weeks of recruiting them for the first time and every two weeks after that for multiple-conversation NPCs (note the timer runs at all times but conversations only start if both Hel and the other NPC are in the party).

While I don't plan on adding much more content to the BGEE version of Helarine, I'd recommend letting me know of any bugs that show up on the BG forums thread so I can fix them.

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In other news, the Warlock BGEE kit is still sitting untouched on my hard drive after the last few futile attempts to get certain abilities to work properly. I hope to at least get a semi-working version done eventually, but it's not going to happen in the next week unless a miracle occurs...

As for the Charlatan and the Elf, I've started drafting chapter three, but it's proving to be a difficult chapter to write, being the climax and resolution of the first major conflict in the story and a setup for the next. That's a lot of pressure for one chapter, so I really want to get it right before I post anything. I'm also considering using Effie as the primary viewpoint character for this chapter (as opposed to writing another Savia chapter) to get a wider perspective on what's going on in the story, but it's been so long since writing the prelude featuring Effie that I'm pretty much re-learning her mindset. It also doesn't help that the easiest ways out of the conflicts presented in chapter three involve disrupting the entire concept of the story, which means I have to figure out a way to move the story forward in a way that makes sense AND explain why the characters don't take the smart/easy way out. Might take a while.

Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks for reading!

March Wrap-up

As those who checked in the past week noticed, Chapter Two of The Charlatan and the Elf was released without much fanfare. Since then, not much has happened here or "behind the scenes." I've been busy with a few non-writing/modding related issues and projects this past week, and haven't gotten much done. Here's the rundown for each project:

The Charlatan and the Elf
Nothing has been written since I posted chapter two, unfortuneately. I did come up with some ideas to keep the plot from being too drawn out, but they might not be applicable when it comes to that part of the story (I mean, the whole interaction with Savia and Effie in chapter two was way different than in my original plan). Hopefully I'll have some time for writing later this week, but I can't be sure.

Helarine/Warlock BGEE Mods
Helarine is pretty much feature complete for BGEE (I'm saving a lot of her backstory I planned to use in BGEE for Shadows of Amn), but I still need to do some busywork in making her banter accelerators work properly. So far almost half of her banters work properly in-game without waiting for the base banter timer that never seems to go off.

The warlock sorcerer kit I suddenly decided to make isn't going very quickly. Until I can figure out why I can't limit spells per day, it's basically an overpowered instant-win kit. I've got 3/9 of the special abilities working, though, so it's not entirely doomed. I'll probably split BGEE modding time between Helarine and warlock until they are both ready for open beta, then take a break from BGEE for a bit (aside from bugtesting) to work on The Charlatan and the Elf.

NWN Adventure Building Challenge
I ended up submitting something for March, but I didn't get as much time to polish it as I'd have liked. The module was called "Cave Defense" and involved a goblin (the player) placing traps and allies to stop adventurers from taking over Goblintown. I only got two levels done (and one doesn't have any enemies yet!) and a Hobbit-inspired bonus level (that I spent way too much time on), so it's not all that impressive, but it's better than what I did for Februrary in playability...

As for April, while I like the themes I'll really have to wait before committing to anything. I have a lot of stuff I have to do outside of writing and modding, and I don't want to have too much going on.

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Anyway, that about wraps it up for March. My biggest plans for April are to get more done on The Charlatan and the Elf (I really want to get to where Danito plays more than a cameo role...) and get working betas for my BGEE mods so I've got something playable without weird bugs. We'll see how well April goes soon enough.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter Two Draft: A Warm Welcome

The Charlatan and the Elf
Chapter Two

It was still early afternoon when Savia reached her apartment with the elf in tow. With so much time left until evening, Savia decided to begin the tour she was planning for Effie right away, only stopping at the apartment long enough for Effie to leave her sack of personal items inside the doorway before resetting both of the custom-purchased locking mechanisms.

Effie looked perplexed at the sight of the locks, one of which was difficult to see without the right angle due to its shape. "Your locks look a lot different than what I saw back home" she commented.

Savia considered whether she should be upfront about her reasons for the custom locking mechanism or brush off the question. If she didn't need to keep Effie quiet, she might have given an enigmatic reply and moved on, but she decided she could be honest if it would gain Effie's trust.

"In my line of work, it pays to have a healthy sense of paranoia" she explained, keeping her voice down in case any passerby got too curious. "Thing is, if I got the kind of fancy locks rich people usually have over their homes and put them on my little place, it would work like a beacon to thieves, which would defeat the purpose of spending so much on a lock."

"What does a fortune teller need to be paranoid about?" Effie asked, a hint of concern in her voice. Savia realized she might have been too honest, too early. She wasn't ready to reveal everything, so she'd have to divert Effie's attention...

"I'll tell you later, maybe after dinner." Savia gestured to the marketplace only a few blocks down from her apartment. "Why don't we see what's for sale today at the market?"

"Alright" Effie assented, her movements still cautious and hesitant. Savia hoped she could find Effie something in the market to distract her from the lock conversation.

While walking alongside Effie to the market, Savia noted that the elf was getting a few sidelong glances from curious passerby. Not liking the extra attention, Savia examined Effie as discretely as she could as they walked. The ears weren't quite as big a giveaway as most folktales suggested they would be, but Effie's outfit did stand out. It was a rustic dress that might have fit in with the clothing of women in Caristan villages but stood out in the city, where most of the women wore a shorter skirt over leggings that resembled those of the men.

"We should probably get you a change of clothes" Savia said matter-of-factly, hoping Effie didn't notice her examination.

"Why is that?" Effie asked, turning her head to look at Savia with a raised brow. "Is there something wrong with my dress?..."

Having arrived at the marketplace, Savia nodded at the people walking past them. "Look around. Dresses aren't worn in the city often except by rich people on special occassions. You look like a farmer or villager visiting the city for a day, and even villagers tend to keep an extra outfit for visits to the city."

"Oh." Effie frowned. "I don't really have much Caristan silver though..."

"I'll pay" Savia offered, seizing on the chance to further indebt the elf to her.

"Are you sure? We've just met..."

"It's not that big of an issue for me" Savia noted, pulling out a coinpurse and tossing it up a few inches into the air before catching it, the sound of coins clinking together noticable. "We're not going to buy anything fancy, just something to help you fit in better."

"If you're sure..." Effie trailed off, contemplative. Savia didn't like it when her marks thought too hard about her offers, but she decided to let Effie think. She needed to gain Effie's trust if she didn't want to be exposed as a fraud the moment Effie started telling stories of home.

"Something wrong, Effie?" Savia asked after a moment, aware that some people were beginning to take notice of them standing at the edge of the market.

"I'm just a little surprised. It seems like you humans are so much more helpful than elves. First Vinattio, now you..." Effie trailed off again. "This isn't like the stories I've read about humans. There were nice people in those, but also a lot of nasty people... it's hard to believe that I've been so lucky so far." Effie looked Savia in the eye, and she realized that Effie was starting to suspect her motivations. Maybe Effie wasn't as easy to convince as she had hoped.

"People are staring, Effie" Savia noted, making a subtle gesture toward the market crowd. "Why don't we see what we can find for you to wear, maybe get something to eat?"

Effie nodded, looking over at the crowd out of the corner of her eye. "Alright. I'd like to know why you're helping me when we get back to your place, though. I don't expect strangers to help people without wanting something in return."

Savia usually avoided anyone who could see through her ploys, but she felt a bit reassured that Effie was perceptive enough to sense that Savia had a plan. It'd be much easier for Effie to keep quiet if she knew what sort of people to be careful around. Of course, Savia still had to give her a good reason to keep her elven history to herself...

"Come, let's get you something to eat." Savia pointed out a stall on the far end of the market. "It looks like the baker has a few treats set out."

Effie shook her head. "No, thanks." She looked around, taking a few steps into the marketplace. Savia followed close behind, scanning the crowd to make sure people didn't pay too much attention to them. "Do you think they have any food that doesn't involve bread in any way?"

Savia suppressed a chuckle. "Perhaps the fruit vendors have something for you. Is there something wrong with bakers? I noticed you didn't like the idea of baking for Biana."

"Oh, that?" Effie shrugged. "I just want to forget about baking for a while. It's kind of a long story if you want it to make sense, though..."

Savia patted Effie on the shoulder. "A story I can look forward to for tomorrow, perhaps." She pointed out a stall selling fruit. "I've bought fruit from that man before, and it's always been fresh from the outlying villages this time of year. It should be a silver for two pieces." Savia pulled a coin out of her coinpurse and handed it to Effie. "This should cover that. While you take your pick, I'm going to look for something for you to wear."

Effie took the coin but hesitated before walking over to the stall. "Are you a tailor as well, or do your markets really sell ready-made clothing?"

"I can sew on accessories to my clothing, but not make anything new" Savia replied with a grin. "We do, in fact, have a small selection of clothing for sale in our marketplaces. It's not always a perfect fit, but the tailors charge less than for custom outfits."

"Things are a lot different here than back home." Effie took a deep breath. "Should I wait here once I get my fruit?"

Savia looked around, judging the crowd. She couldn't be certain no one would accost Effie, but she hoped she would be done finding a new outfit quickly enough. "This should be a good enough place. I'll be back as quickly as I can."

Leaving Effie to buy food, Savia began searching the marketplace for clothes that might help Effie blend in. She eventually found a decent outfit that fit the style of other Caristan women but was also tough enough to last on the road... Savia knew that she might be forced to leave the city one day and had a similar outfit. While it felt strange to be buying such an outfit for Effie, who had yet to commit to the kind of life Savia led, she felt obligated to prepare Effie for the possibility of life on the road.

Carrying the bundle of clothing under her arm, Savia headed back to where she parted ways with Effie. She stopped just a few stalls away when she recognized the ceremonial armor of the Arbiter of the Law. The Arbiter himself was standing only a few yards away from Savia, and her heart sank as she realized he was talking to Effie.

While there was a slim chance that Savia could have tricked the Arbiter into her scams like so many others, she avoided him because of the punishment that awaited her if he found out she was a fraud. A liar and thief would certainly get the Mark of the criminal just the same as a common pickpocket. Savia didn't want to risk that, and the man's serious demeanor suggested that she wouldn't have much of a chance of keeping her secret hidden from him for long.

Savia's instincts suggested that she leave Effie alone, at least until the Arbiter left. But as the moments passed, she came to the realization that he might learn something from Effie that could harm her even more than being recognized. Taking a deep breath, Savia decided to extricate Effie from the situation as quickly as possible.

"Excuse me, Sir Arbiter" Savia interjected as she approached, hoping she wasn't making the wrong decision. The man turned away from Effie and looked Savia in the eye with his own serious gaze.

"We were trying to have a conversation, miss. Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem, Sir Arbiter" Savia reassured him, feeling more and more uncomfortable under the man's gaze. "It's just that Effie here and I have somewhere we need to be, and I didn't want us to be late."

The Arbiter nodded slowly. "Right. I won't keep you or your friend any longer then, miss." He nodded to Effie. "Good day." With that he walked off.

Savia let out a breath she had been holding. She was glad the man hadn't questioned her about where she needed to be. With the tension in the encounter, she might have slipped in her explaination and drew suspicion to herself.

"Are you alright, Savia?" Effie asked, grabbing her by the arm as if to steady her. Savia flashed a half-hearted smile.

"I'm fine. Did he have anything interesting to say?"

"You mean Danito?" Effie shrugged. "When I told him I was new here, he said he was an Arbiter of law or something like that. Sounds important. What does he do?"

Savia decided to remember the Arbiter's name, now that she knew it. She never did get close with any forces of the law. "He judges criminals in our ward. Each of the other wards has an Arbiter of their own. Basically, when someone is caught or suspected of a crime, the Arbiter makes the final decision on guilt."

"And if he finds them guilty?"

Savia put down the outfit she bought for Effie and rolled up her right sleeve to demonstrate. "He's got a metal stamp in the shape of the Mark of the criminal. Each time someone is judged guilty, he presses this stamp into the inside of their right arm until the wound is deep enough to scar into the final Mark."

Effie's eyes widened in shock. "That sounds painful."

"I'm sure it is" Savia agreed. "After a criminal has three scars, if he or she offends again the Arbiter stamps them with the Mark of the slave. After that, the criminal is a slave to the city, which can mean a lot of things... most of them unpleasant."

"Um... could we go over the laws of the city tonight?" Effie asked, rubbing the inside of her right arm.

Savia nodded. Even if Effie did nothing but keep her mouth shut for her, the Arbiter could still consider Effie an accomplise. "Sure. We'll find some time to go over what I know."

The pair was quiet as they made their way back to Savia's apartment. Savia noted that there was still plenty of time left in the day, but suspected that she and Effie would need that time to come to an understanding about the arrangement Savia was planning. Still, Savia wasn't quite ready to reveal her secret, and to end the awkward silence decided to make some small talk with Effie.

"Out of curiosity, Effie, how old are you?" Savia asked, wondering how true the folktales of elven longevity were.

"Eleven" Effie responded. "Well, almost twelve, but eleven full years."

Savia stopped in her tracks and spun to face Effie. "Eleven?" she gasped, barely holding her surprise in enough to keep from drawing attention.

Effie frowned, clearly confused by Savia's reaction. "Why? How old are you?"

Savia collected herself before responding to avoid making a scene. "Twenty-something. I stopped counting birthdays after twenty-one."

"Really?" Effie asked, tilting her head and staring at Savia. "You don't look a day over twelve."

Savia shook her head and turned to start walking again. "I suppose the stories of thousand-year old elves are lies, then."

Breaking into a jog to catch up, Effie looked over Savia as they walked. "You have stories about thousand-year old elves?"

"For now." Savia scowled. "Not for much longer if anyone else finds out that you apparently age twice as quickly as humans."

The pair was quiet the rest of the walk to Savia's apartment. Savia had decided to think of how to win Effie's trust rather than attempt any more "small talk", and as far as she knew Effie was marvelling at how much older she was.

Once they reached the apartment, Savia unlocked the door and had Effie pick up her bag of personal items before sealing the door from inside. She led Effie to the small room she slept in, and pointed out the bed.

"I don't really have anything resembling a guest room, so you can go ahead and use the bedroom." Savia offered.

Effie frowned. "Are you sure? I said this before, but we did just meet today..."

"It's not a problem." Savia replied. "I can sleep in one of my chairs, and I'm sure I have an extra blanket somewhere."

Nodding hesitantly, Effie placed her bag on the bed and pulled out a few things. Savia noted that one of the objects was a thick book with a city sketched onto the cover.

"What's that?" Savia asked, a little curious at the familiar-looking sketch.

"Oh, this?" Effie held up the book. "It's a storybook about this city from hundreds of years ago. It's part of why I agreed to let Vinattio take me here." She let out a sigh. "Also, I technically stole it. I was never given permission to take it out of the castle..."

Savia shrugged, hoping to give the impression that Effie's supposed theft meant little to her. "I'm sure one book won't be missed."

"I hope you're right..."  Effie sighed again and put the book back down.

Savia didn't want Effie to be in a bad mood when she learned Savia's real profession, so she held up the new clothes she had bought for Effie in the hopes that would cheer her up. "Why don't you try these on, see if they fit?"

Effie looked at the clothes for a moment before accepting them. "Alright."

Savia stepped out of the room. "I'll give you some privacy while you change." She closed the bedroom door and moved to the main room of the apartment. She pulled an extra chair from the corner and set it across from her own chair at the small table in the center before sitting down. While she waited, she pulled out her dice bags and "talismans" and checked to make sure they didn't have any noticable flaws before she started carving a new set of dice. She put away the knife when she heard the bedroom door open and put the unfinished dice aside before turning to look at Effie.

Aside from her uncertain posture and movements, Effie looked like a native citizen of Carista. Savia was pleased in how ordinary she looked, having been worried that Effie's elvenness would show through even such a plain outfit. Effie looked at Savia with a hesitant smile. "Uh, how does it look?"

Choosing her words carefully, knowing that most women didn't like being told they looked plain and uninteresting, Savia responded. "It looks great on you. You'll fit right in with the other citizens now."

Effie touched the hem of her skirt. "I don't think I've ever worn a skirt so short before..."

Savia chuckled. "That's why you have the leggings. You might have noticed that some women here don't even bother with the skirt, since it's too reminiscent of old fashions for their tastes."

"I guess I'm used to a different kind of fashion, then." Effie noticed the empty chair across from Savia and gestured to it. Savia nodded and Effie went to sit down.

"What do you think of Carista so far?" Savia asked. "Good, bad, scary, exciting?"

Effie shrugged. "I've only been here for the better part of a day. I'm not sure I can make a judgement that quickly."

"Probably a smart answer." Savia replied, watching Effie's face. Effie had noticed the dice and talismans laid out on the table and was examining them.

"Is this what you tell fortunes with?"

Savia knew that each lie she told Effie would have to be explained when the truth came out, so she replied by saying "You could say that."

Effie looked up at Savia, clearly seeing through the evasion and probably curious at what Savia was hiding. Savia couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling she got when her marks saw through her lies despite the fact that Effie wouldn't be useful if she could be easily tricked.

"Is there anything about you that I'm allowed to know?" Effie asked after a few moments of silence. She quickly tried to salvage her confrontational tone by saying "not that I'm not grateful that you're offering to let me stay here..."

Savia sighed. No time left to butter Effie up... she'd have to tell the truth now or lie to Effie like she did to everyone else in Carista. Her instincts told her to keep her secrets to herself, but she knew that sooner or later Effie would cause her problems if left to her own devices.

"You deserve to know a bit about the person offering you a cheap place to live and free food." Savia acknowledged. She waved her hand over the dice and cheap jewelry laid on the table. "First of all, this is all fake. I'm not really a fortune teller."

Effie frowned and looked into Savia's eyes. "Wait, if you're not a fortune teller, what are you?"

Savia gave Effie a half-hearted smile. "A charlatan."

Status Update

It's been kinda quiet around here, thanks to some non-writing, non-modding stuff I've been busy with. I'm just popping in to say "things are still happening." For each project, here's what's happened since last time:

The Charlatan and the Elf:
Chapter 2 is almost fully written, but I wouldn't call it a full first draft when I get the last few hundred words down... there's a lot of exposition going on, and while it's kind of off to the side and thus shouldn't be too infodump-y I still need to make sure it all fits what I've said about the setting so far and where I plan to go while still giving the sense of verisimilitude. I'm also getting the feeling this story may turn into a novel/novella in length (something I didn't want to set in stone right away), as there's no way I'll get the pair of main characters into a room to talk about the Big Problems they have until chapter 3. I guess that's what I get when I try to portray an evasive, fast-talking conwoman slowly buttering up someone before spilling the secret that, "by the way, I'm a fraud and need you to keep shut or else!"

Helarine for BGEE
I only need to write two more conversations before the main content is complete for the Baldur's Gate segment of Helarine and I can move on to revising the other 7 conversations and planning out Shadows of Amn content. Honestly, I'm actually starting to regret listing "PC romance reactivity" on Helarine's planned features list. Aside from Dorn not having a real romance in BGEE (his romance can't be "broken" and his romance variable is attached to his creature file rather than global like EVERYONE ELSE), it's hard to come up with a way for Helarine to react to the PC spending a lot of time with Dorn and Rasaad. I may actually just repurpose Neera's romance reaction conversation for Shadows of Amn (which will mean a re-write, but a potent one, I think... a bit of Hel's backstory is hidden in that conversation) and have the whole set of core BG2 and BG2EE romances all get reactions within Shadows of Amn.

On the coding front, I recently learned how to trick the NPC/NPC banter system into doing my will, which means that players may actually *see* the 40+ banters I've written for Helarine soon. So far I've only got a few NPCs working with this (it requires modifying their scripts, and some NPCs don't start the game with their scripts attached), but the banters will happen a LOT more often after I finish the scripts.

Adventure Building Challenge
Just over a week left, and still nothing to show for it... The thing about the ABC is, I specifically joined to force myself to finish little modules to help build my confindence. Now the second month is almost over, and I've ditched all my ideas from month #1 for being too small compared to the stuff I playtested for the February challenge. (Snow Hunt and Siege of the Heavens really set the bar high, and even A Rare Vintage, which was unfinished when I tested it, was more interesting than what I had planned.) At this rate, I feel like I could only submit something if I slapped it together in an afternoon and tried to ignore the glaring flaws as long as it was playable, and I'd be too embarassed to submit such a module when there are people that actually spent the whole month with their modules...

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Anyway, that's it for this update. I hope to have chapter 2 of the Charlatan and the Elf up soon™, but I can't be sure that'll happen. It'll be up eventually.

Thanks for reading!

Update on Writing and Helarine v0.03 for BGEE

It's been a while since my last post, since I had to go through a bunch of intro stuff and post everything I'd already written for The Charlatan and the Elf and didn't have much to say after that was done. Since then, I've been trying (and failing) to make my NWN Adventure Building Challenge module work in a way that I like, but I think it's an uphill battle to figure out what I'm trying to do AND build it in just a month (with half of that month already gone). The whole reason I got into the ABC was to build and release stuff without going full perfectionist mode like I usually do, so I might table the current idea for a later month and try something else. I still want to get *something* sent in this time... it won't be the near-professional quality of some of February's modules (Snow Hunt comes to mind, as does Siege of the Heavens), but I want to get something done.

In The Charlatan and the Elf news, chapter two is being written. I'm trying to strike a balance between Savia's cunning/manipulativeness and Effie's intelligence. In chapter one, I specifically picked Captain Vinattio to show how Savia can manipulate people that don't think too hard about her claims, but Effie is a stranger in a strange land and smart enough to know that free food and lodging isn't really free. So I've got to move the plot to where it needs to be while still staying true to the characters, which is taking some time.

Anyone who plays Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition with mods might be interested to know that the latest version of Helarine is out now. Version 0.03 cuts her "friendship track" down to three conversations (from the original six), but that's only because the other three conversations are now unlocked immediately after certain plot developments. These last three conversations fulfill the planned feature of reactivity to a certain plot revelation (which I won't speak of here yet because it's technically a BG1 spoiler, though people who started with BG2 like I did knew this from the first line of that game.) In addition, a lot of bugs and weirdness has been fixed, including the party remove/rehire conversation bug and Helarine starting play with a 3700 gp item (now it's only 370 gp). There are also 9 new banters with other party NPCs, spread between Edwin, Eldoth, and Dorn. You can find the BG forums page here and the download page on BSN here.

I'm tempted to steal a page from Challseus' book and start ending each of my blog posts with my favorite pieces of game/movie music like he does his development journals for The Rose of Eternity, but I'm not sure how long I could keep such a thing up. The only real reason I thought of doing that is my current obsession with Fire Emblem: Awakening, and there's only so long I can link to Fire Emblem music before people stop caring (no matter how good FE music is). I suppose there's also the Walking Dead game, Valkyrie Profile, and Paper Mario music, but that's still a small list. Even if I do end up linking to music on a regular basis, it'll probably be related to whatever I'm posting (stuff I listened to while writing, "theme" music for characters, etc.)

Oh, just a by-the-way: The Charlatan and the Elf page with links to all the drafts now link directly to the draft in question (the page needs to load completely first, so there may be a bit of a delay). This isn't too big a deal right now, but it'll save a lot of time for anyone reading down the road (and save my time... I won't have to re-write HTML code to get things to work if I do it as I write.)

That's it for now. Hopefully more soon!

The Charlatan Herself: Chapter One Draft

For those who haven't notced yet, there is now a page for links to each post that contains a draft for "The Charlatan and the Elf"! (Look in the bar above the blog posts to find it.) Right now it directs you to the post in question and requires you to scroll down to find the draft, but if HTML code allows it I'll make it jump right to the draft in a later update.

In addition, the first draft of Chapter One is complete. Rather than ramble about it, I'll just let you read it below.

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The Charlatan and the Elf
Chapter One

Savia could feel the opportunity emanating from the hopeful, idealistic faces
crowding the docks. A fleet of ships was preparing to leave port for
adventures of every kind, drawing many to watch the explorers set off. If she
hadn't lived in Carista for the past few years, she might have thought that
the entire population of the city was here to see off the explorers. Even so,
it was impressive to see so many people excited about a single discovery.

The pickings were easy today, but Savia wasn't going to settle for small
change. She scanned the faces in the crowd as she gently squeezed through
whatever space she could find. There were plenty of crewmen and women saying
goodbye to their families, which were more trouble than they were worth. A
number of watchmen were forcing a band of slaves to the city onto the piers
and gangplanks, again too busy to be worth the time. There were plenty of
merchants and their children busying themselves with packing luxuries, but
even they weren't worth the effort today.

After looking over much of the docks, Savia turned and began to make a second
pass. There were more unoccupied marks on this return trip, but Savia was
holding out for someone exceptional. She was starting to worry that she was
setting her expectations too high when she found the perfect mark.

Stepping off the gangplank of his ship to converse with some wealthy
passengers, a captain with a finely tailored uniform and expensive hat stood
out to Savia. Even from a few yards away and pushing through the thinning
crowd, Savia saw his cheerful, guileless face and knew he was the perfect
choice.

"Sir!" she called to him once she was close enough to be heard over the noise
of the crowd. She noted with annoyance that the passengers hadn't boarded yet
and were glancing at her with confused expressions as the captain himself
turned to face her.

"Have we met before, lass?" came the captain's response. Savia inferred from
his tone that he was trying to be polite despite her sudden intrusion on his
conversation.

"You're heading to the island of Kilshan, aren't you, sir?" Savia asked,
knowing what the answer was and suspecting the captain knew she understood.
She glanced at the passangers out of the corner of her eye to make sure she
wasn't too unwelcome.

"Indeed I am, lass!" the captain answered. "Captain Vinattio, at your
service" he said with a bow, flourishing with his hat. Savia hoped his
politeness would hold out long enough, though such a display gave her hope.

"Before you go, perhaps you should have your fortune told so that you can
avoid as much danger as you can during your explorations?" Savia said as
elegantly as she could while rushing through the offer. She didn't want to
outstay her welcome before she had an answer, but she couldn't expect success
if she sounded insincere due to her haste.

Vinattio furrowed his brow as he considered the offer. One of the passangers,
a man with a deep frown etched into his face and an untrusting stare, shook
his head and gestured to Savia while adressing the captain. "Don't listen to
this girl. She only wants your money."

Not trusting Vinattio or the other passanger to speak on her behalf, Savia
interjected "I need the silver to get by, but I assure you that the fortune I
offer is worth the price."

Vinattio nodded, still thinking. The other passanger, a middle-aged woman
with a slightly chubby face that lent a softness to her features shrugged and
offered "It couldn't hurt us, and if our venture succeeds the price will be a
pittance."

"Well said" spoke Vinattio, coming to a decision. "I may have done things
differently had I known the dangers in my last voyage. Even a hint of the
future could be of great help."

"You won't regret this decision!" Savia exclaimed, hoping to keep the
untrusting passanger from cutting in again. "I just need a table to set up
on, and we can get started."

"Come aboard, then!" Vinattio invited Savia and the passangers to board the
ship. Savia was relieved when the passangers went their own way to their
cabins as she followed the captain to the back of the ship. Savia ignored
most of the crew; she already had her mark and wasn't going to be aboard long
enough to take any more on this ship before it set sail. She was also
suppressing her worry at Vinattio's comment about having been to Kilshan
before. She knew that others had begun to explore the island before, but she
didn't think she'd pick one who had as her mark.

A young woman intercepted them on the way to Vinattio's cabin, worry creasing
her face. "Captain! The food stores aren't enough to keep us for a trip to
Kilshan, let alone the return!"

Vinattio smiled at the woman. "Don't worry, Effie. We have some more barrels
of rations to load, and we'll find food for the return trip once we've
reached Kilshan."

"I hope you're right" Effie said, seeming to reach up for her ears before
rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm not sure if the elves are going to be
friendly enough to feed us, though."

"We'll manage, Effie" Vinattio reassured her, pointing to Savia. "I'm about
to get our fortune read. We'll not be going in unprepared."

"Alright..." Effied nodded slowly and crept away. Savia fretted about Effie's
comment about elves... perhaps she should reconsider using her usual method.

Once Vinattio had led Savia to his cabin she pulled her dice bag from an
inner pocket of her jacket and laid it on the table. She looked up at him as
he pulled two chairs and set them up for them. "You've met elves before?"

Vinattio nodded, smiling. "I have. The lass you just met, Effie, is an elf."

Savia felt a pang of worry, but ignored it and tried to keep calm. "That's
interesting. I'm told my mother was elven, but I didn't know her well." Savia
desperately hoped there was no distinguishing physical trait real elves had
that she couldn't explain away... there wasn't a drop of elven blood in her.

"A half-elf, hm?" the captain responded. "I wasn't aware we had any in fair
Carista. It seems I haven't looked hard enough."

Savia took each of the dice out of her bag and laid them in order. She
mentally rehearsed her explanations one last time before sitting in her chair
and looking up at Vinattio. "Stories say that these dice were created by an
elven king for looking into his future. But he was untrusting, and had them
crafted so only he and his descendants could use them. I'm not sure how true
that legend is, but they never seem to tell the future accurately unless I
roll them."

"Fascinating..." Vinattio whispered. "Does that mean you might be the
descendant of this king?"

Savia had to resist smirking at the captain's naivete. "Perhaps, but stories
of my anscestry aren't what you're paying for, and I suspect you wish to be
on your way back to Kilshan."

"Right." Vinattio nodded. "So how does this work?"

"First, ask a question that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. I'll
walk you through it from there."

Vinattio crossed his arms and lowered his head in thought. After a moment of
contemplation he looked up again. "What sort of dangers will we face in
Kilshan?"

Savia's mind started working as quickly as she could force it to as she
picked up the dice, rolled them onto the table with an unnecessary flourish,
and realigned them. She pointed to the rune on the first die. "This is an
ancient elven rune for 'fire.' One of your hardships will involve fire in
some way... are there many forests on Kilshan?"

"Yes" the captain answered slowly, clearly not sure how the rune on the die
applied to his life.

Savia was used to this early skepticism and hoped it would pass as she went
on. "At this part of the reading, the fire could be anything. It could be a
burning sail, a campfire sputtering out, a forest set ablaze... but let's
move on to the second die and try to narrow this down."

Showing Vinattio the symbol of the second die, Savia tried to come up with a
convincing narrative for the result. "This is the rune for 'elf' or 'person.'
This means that this fire... which is likely a physical, rather than
figurative fire from the clues provided, is going to affect one or more
people directly. This might mean that one of your crew might get burned, or
maybe injured by cannon."

"Gods forbid!" Vinattio exclaimed. Savia again had to repress a smirk as she
once more had the captain in her hands. Instead of stopping and possibly
losing momentum, Savia pressed onward.

"This third and final rune represents 'century,' or else a long period of
time. This injury... as that's what the evidence is suggesting... will linger
for a great deal of time, or else be felt for a long time by those who remain
afterwards."

"This is troubling news" Vinattio sighed and rubbed his temples. "We must be
more careful where there is fire or cannon involved... we will want to
prevent as much of this damage and injury as possible."

Savia felt the initial worry subsiding as she realized she was successful.
"Remember the runes in case they appear in unfamiliar ways: fire, person,
century. That way you'll be prepared for any shape the future takes."

Vinattio nodded. "I'll keep your advice and fortune to heart. In what manner
can I repay you?"

Before Savia could answer, the cabin door opened and Effie walked in with a
concerned expression. "Err, captain? Do you have a moment?"

Vinattio glanced at Savia. "May I have a moment for this?"

"Go ahead" Savia replied, confident that Effie wouldn't ruin her chances now
that Vinattio was satisfied with his fortune.

Effie took a deep breath as the captain turned to face her. Now that Savia
was paying closer attention, she did notice that the woman's ears were more
pointed than most of those on ordinary people.

"I considered your offer, but I think I'd rather not go back to Kilshan so
soon." Effie's face stretched in a conflicted, apologetic manner. "I'm sorry,
but I don't want to face the people I left behind so soon after running off."

The captain nodded. "I understand, lass. Here..." Vinattio stood up and
pulled out his coinpurse, counting out a dozen silver coins. "This should be
enough for food tonight and tomorrow. If you can't find any work by the time
that coin runs out, find my cousin Biana and ask her to take you in. I'm sure
she could use a baker like you."

"Thank you, captain." Effie made a little bow, and Savia found it hard to
tell if it was a foreign gesture or a poor imitation of Caristan bowing. With
that, the elf left the cabin.

Alone with the captain once more, Savia stood up and collected her dice,
packing up the bag and replacing it within her jacket pocket. "I should be
off before I become a passanger." Quickly calculating how much she could get
off the captain without arousing suspicion, Savia continued "two dozen silver
should be enough to see me through the week, even if work is slow after all
the explorers head to Kilshan."

Vinattio nodded in agreement. "I'm sure it would be enough, but I'll give you
an even thirty." He counted out the coins and handed them to Savia, who
slipped them into a coinpurse hidden within her jacket like the dice bag, not
adverse to a little extra coin.

"I wish you luck and safety, Captain Vinattio." Savia considered pulling out
one of her "elfstone talismans" ment to make marks think they have bought
just that, but she decided she should catch up to the elf as quickly as
possible.

"Thank you, miss-- I'm sorry, I never asked for your name! How rude of me."

"Savia" she offered. "Don't worry about it, you have an adventure to
undertake. Farewell." Savia gave a proper bow and recieved one from the
captain in return. The scam successful and the formalities done, she opened
the cabin door and left.

Savia paid little heed to the sailors as she walked to the gangplank as
quickly as she could without appearing to be in a hurry. Once back on the
docks, she looked around until she spotted Effie in the rapidly thinning
crowd, uncertainly making her way down the street.

Savia knew she needed to have a talk with this elf... it wouldn't do to have
a real elf saying anything that might contradict what she had been telling
people these past few years. Savia groaned inwardly, wondering why Carista
had to rediscover elves during her lifetime.

Pushing through the crowd as gently as possible while still gaining on the
elf, Savia was close enough to get Effie's attention in minutes. They had
left much of the crowd surrounding the docks behind, and Savia took the
chance to greet Effie.

"Hey, you're Effie right?" she said as calmly as she could, hoping she
wouldn't startle the elf.

Effie fliched a bit and turned her head to face Savia. "Oh, me?... Um, yes...
are you the fortune teller that was speaking with Captain Vinattio?"

"Fortune telling is one of my skills" Savia replied, planting the suggestion
she did other things, which technically she did, since she didn't tell
fortunes. "The name is Savia. Nice to meet you." Savia held out a hand,
hoping the custom of shaking hands wasn't foreign to the elf.

Effie hesitantly took Savia's hand and shook it. "Is there something you
wanted to talk to me about?"

"Very perceptive. I'm liking you already." Savia was exaggerating Effie's
perception, but it wouldn't hurt to compliment her before making the offer.
"From what I understand, you don't have anywhere to stay here in Carista,
excepting the captain's cousin's home. So I was thinking you could spend the
night at my place, at least for tonight."

Effie frowned with understandable skepticism and worry for someone who was
offered a place to stay by a stranger, so Savia continued on. "I'll pay for
food tonight, and show you around the city tomorrow, help you get acquainted.
If you don't like my home, you could go to Biana's tomorrow night and bake
for your lodging."

A surprising change came across Effie's face when the subject of baking came
up. "I'd rather not have to do any baking unless I need to." She studied
Savia. "Before I accept though... what do you want from me in exchange for a
place to stay?"

"For tonight, nothing but the promise to wander the city and talk with me
tomorrow. If you'd like to stay but don't want to work with me, I'm sure I
can find you something to do, and I'll only charge 2 silver a night. Sound
fair?" Savia had to resist holding her breath for the answer.

"Alright." Effie replied, much more quickly than Savia expected. "Why don't
you show me there, so I can put my things away?" She indicated a sack slung
across her shoulder that Savia had ignored before, suspecting the contents to
be personal items irrelevant to her offer.

"Right. Just follow me and stay close." Savia took Effie's free hand and led
her through the streets, holding her victorious smile in check just in case
Effie glanced at her face.

The "Big" Reveal

After two rambly posts hinting at but never really explaining anything about the story that inspired this blog, I think it's time to actually explain what it is I'm up to.

Basically, I really like reading/watching/playing fantasy stories (and science fiction, but that's another post for another time). Thing is, I've noticed that everywhere I look fantasy seems to be about grand adventures and epic wars/quests against some villain. One of my favorite books of all time, the Hobbit, is a quest to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim the riches of Erebor for Thorin and his company from the dragon Smaug. One of my favorite fantasy game series, Fire Emblem, is invariably about a prince/princess/mercenary starting from humble beginnings to lead an army against some antagonist or ancient evil (often both). While this is all well and good (and some of my own ideas fit that mold), I thought I'd try to make something different.

Another inspiration for this direction came from Limyaael's rants about fantasy cliches and tropes. While I never actually communicated with Limyaael, finding a link to her posts was incredibly helpful in coming up with ideas that didn't fit the generic mold of fantasy. The rant on "fantasy without magic" in particular happened to inspire the story I've been working on.

What is this story? Well, as I've seen other writers say: it's really hard to come up with an "elevator pitch" that sounds cool while still showing off what you're doing differently from everyone else. In addition, I'm focusing on a more "personal" rather than world-changing story, which means I have few examples among the generic fantasy pitches.

Of course, I promised I'd explain and so I will: "The Charlatan and the Elf" (working title) is the story of a conwoman "fortuneteller" living in a city based loosely on Renaissance Italian city states. Part of her act is the claim that she is a "half-elf" with mystical elven abilities from her ancestry, which combined with her wisdom to keep away from those who might not believe in such superstition has kept her alive and the money rolling in despite living in the same place for a few years. Unfortunately for her, an actual elf shows up in the city after the (re)discovery of the island nation where they have lived separate from humans for decades. The conwoman has been playing on many of the misconceptions about elves that built up over the years, and rightly suspects that this elf is a major threat to her work. In addition, an officer of the law is on to the conwoman's act and has access to knowledge of elves that could see her reputation destroyed. In an attempt to preserve her reputation and her main source of income, the conwoman recruits the elf to discredit the lawman.

As you may have noticed, the last paragraph had a lot of expostion lines that wouldn't take up nearly as much time to cover in the story itself. Just in chapter one alone (currently being drafted) almost everything in the paragraph above is explained or hinted at. The real story is *how* the conwoman deals with the elf and lawman, which is why this pitch (adapated from my notes) isn't really doing it for me.

An interesting note on the title: Originally, I created it just to have something to name the files of notes and drafts with (there is no such thing as an unnamed file on a Windows computer), but it's starting to grow on me. It looks like a title taken right out of a book of fairy tales, which I find ironic because it crushes in-setting fairy tales. It might eventually be changed, but it's not my top priority now that I realize it could fit the story well.

At this point, I'd like to put out some setting or character information to add some context to the pitch, but I think instead I'll just post my "prewriting stories" (which I'm considering using as preludes to the main story) and let those explain for me. After all, writing about writing is one thing. Actually demonstrating the stories themselves is a lot more effective (and less rambly!)

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The Charlatan and the Elf
Prelude One: The Arbiter

Danito stroked his beard as he examined the man held before him by two watchmen. "You are aware of the gravity of your situation, I assume?"

The man smirked at Danito. "I don't know about gravity, but I do know you always manage to show up at the worst possible time, Sir Arbiter."

Danito ignored the man's sarcasm, knowing better than to let the knave get the better of his emotions. "This is the third time you've been caught stealing in my ward. If you don't change your ways, the punishment will only get more severe."

"Maybe I'd rather be pressed into a ship's crew or thrown in the mines than look at your ugly mug again" the thief retorted, earning him a blow to the back of the head from one of the watchmen. Danito suppressed a sigh at the display of defiance.

"Things will go much more smoothly for you if you give up this life of crime and show respect to officers of the law." Danito reached into one of his pouches and retrieved the stamp that would affix the mark of the criminal onto the thief's flesh. "Felidan, roll up his sleeve and present his arm."

The watchman nodded to his comrade, who took the thief in both hands to prevent any attempt at escape. Once he was secure, the watchman pulled up the sleeve of the thief's ragged shirt, revealing two marks from previous offenses and an odd circlet of faded gemstones. Danito narrowed his eyes at the sight of the circlet, having not seen it the last two times he caught this thief.

"Is this one of your ill-gotten gains?" Danito asked the thief, indicating the circlet.

"Ah, this?" The thief chuckled. "Some girl sold it to me. She called it an elfstone talisman or something like that. Said it would make me luckier. She never mentioned that it would be bad luck!"

Danito furrowed his brow. "Do you remember anything about this girl?"

"Interested in some luck yourself?" The thief smirked. "I wouldn't pay the silver if I were you. But if you're overflowing with coin, ask around for the half-elf. She'll find you if if she thinks you're interested."

Danito made a mental note of the information. He'd have to take a look into this "half-elf". "I'll keep that in mind. Felidan, hold him still."

The thief clenched his fist as Danito stepped forward and pressed the stamp into the inside of his arm. The thief failed to hold back a grunt of pain as the stamp cut into his flesh and a trickle of blood oozed out of the wound. Danito held the stamp down for a few seconds before pulling it out. Once he was certain the mark was deep enough to scar into its final shape he pulled out a small cloth to clean the stamp. "Wipe the blood off and put a fresh bandage on the wound" he ordered the watchman holding the thief's arm.

The man busied himself with cleaning and bandaging the wound as Danito put the stamp away and stared hard into the thief's eyes. "In accordance to the laws of Carista, you have been given your final warning. Your next crime will see you a slave to the city."

"I've seen enough friends get dragged away to know what happens" the thief replied, none of his previous bluster remaining. "I'd bet what little I have left that we'll be going through that drill soon enough at this rate."

"This isn't pleasant to me, man" Danito reminded the thief. "There are ways to live that don't require you to break the law."

The thief snorted. "Yeah, get born to the Prince's family. I'd have done that if I could."

Danito resisted the urge to sigh. "I can't make you change, but I urge you to reconsider your line of work." He looked to the watchmen. "Release him."

* * *

Danito paid little heed to his surroundings as he walked with watchman Felidan back to the watchpost. He was aware of Felidan keeping a few paces behind him and the passerby going about their daily business, but he was deep in thought about the talisman the thief had been wearing. He had seen accessories of similar make worn by other citizens, but had never given much thought to them before. The thief's comment about the talisman granting the wearer luck struck Danito as curious and potentially worth investigating. At best, it would be an interesting discovery as Danito didn't have any strong belief in manipulating luck. At worst, the talismans were the work of a charlatan who would need to be brought to justice.

"Felidan" Danito called, gesturing for the man to come apace with him. The watchman obliged and turned his head to his captain curiously. "I want you to make a few quiet inquiries regarding the 'half-elf' over the next few days. If you learn anything, let me know as soon as possible."

"I'll get on it, sir." Felidan nodded. "Any idea where I should begin?"

"Start in the marketplaces" Danito replied. "If you see anyone wearing jewelry or accessories similar to the circlet the thief was wearing, ask them first."

"Sir." Felidan gave a quick salute. "Should I begin now, or do you still need me?"

Danito considered this for a moment. "Go ahead. I'd like to find out about this supposed half-elf as quickly as possible."

"Sir!" Felidan saluted again before turning and walking down the street to the nearest marketplace.

Danito continued his walk to the watchpost, keeping an eye on the people he passed in search of the talismans that could identify possible sources of information on this half-elf. He was nearly back to the watchpost when he stopped to think about what he knew of elves. According to the folk tales he grew up on, elves were long-lived mystical troublemakers. He was sure there were more reliable historical records of elves and their relations with humans, but he never had a reason to study such records.

With this thought in mind, Danito decided to put off returning to the watchpost and instead began to walk to the Prince's palace. With his rank as Arbiter of the Law, he'd be allowed access into the archives of Carista's history and could request records relating to elves be sent to his watchpost.

The trip went smoothly by Danito's standards. While some parts of the city became crowded and difficult to pass through at this time of day, he made good speed. He asked a few patrolling watchmen and watchwomen for reports on their patrols along the way, and everything seemed to be in order. Reassured that he wasn't needed in the immediate future, Danito presented himself at the entrance of the Prince's palace and was admitted upon showing his signet ring.

Once inside the palace, Danito made his way to the archives immediately. Just inside the door a scholar in the Prince's employ sat at a desk covered with scrolls, writing notes into a book as he read. The man looked up as Danito entered, narrowing his eyes as he approached.

"What brings an Arbiter of the Law so far from his ward?" questioned the man, a hint of disrespect in his tone.

"I may need to borrow some historical records" Danito replied as politely as he could manage. "Someone in my ward is claiming to be a half-elf, and I'll need to know as much as I can about elven history to determine if this citizen is honest or a criminal."

The scholar raised his brow. "Elven history? Carista hasn't had any contact with elves for decades."

Danito frowned. "Then perhaps this citizen is little more than a charlatan. However, if you could send any information regarding elves to my watchpost, I'll be able to clear up this matter more quickly."

"I'm very busy organizing a biography of the Prince's mother, but if I find anything I'll send a messenger to you." The scholar lowered his head back to his book.

Danito nodded, ignoring the manner in which he was dismissed. "Thank you. I'll leave you to your work." This said, Danito turned and left the archives. After exiting the palace, he made his way back to his watchpost. The trip went smoothly, with none of his watchmen needing any assistance along the way. His work with the thief complete and the investigation on the half-elf begun, Danito sat down at his desk in the watchpost and began drafting his monthly report to the Seneschal.

-----------------------------------------

The Charlatan and the Elf
Prelude Two: The Baker

Flour, salt, butter, water...

Effie sighed as she collected the ingredients for her pie crust, sidestepping around the other servants in the kitchen and trying to ignore their complaints once they noticed that their ingediants had been snatched up. For such a well-stocked castle, it was awfully hard to keep everyone supplied in the kitchen. Effie knew that the others would find someone else's ingredients unattended soon enough, so she never bothered to ask if they still needed them.

Flour in the bowl, mix in the salt, melt the butter and combine, pour the water...

Effie growled to herself in a quiet voice as she realized her water pitcher was gone. She grabbed one from a nearby table and went back to work. Just once she'd like to finish using her ingredients before they disappeared.

Mix the dough, roll it out, place it in the mold...

The pie crust dough ready, Effie looked around to find an empty oven. She set her eyes on one and carried the dough in its mold over, pushing past a number of bakers only to be intercepted by another baker sliding in a batch of pastries.

Frowning and muttering to herself about how this was a waste of time, Effie turned around and examined the crowded kitchen in search of another empty oven. Not believing that they were all full, Effie started to push her way through the crowd of bakers to each one, checking it before moving to the next one.

Certain that they were all full, Effie resigned herself to making another pie crust to keep busy. She set the old dough to the side of her table and began collecting ingredients for the next one.

Somewhere between snatching a bag of flour and looking for a pouch of salt, the thin overseer approached Effie and stared her down. "Why do you have dough just sitting, unbaked, on your table?" asked the overseer with her "disappointed" voice.

Effie felt her heart beat faster, knowing that she was in trouble and angry because it wasn't her fault. "All the ovens were full, so I thought I'd make another set of dough while I waited."

The overseer wasn't moved by the excuse. She frowned at Effie and pointed to an oven that Effie noted was empty. "What about that one? Are you too good to have your dough baked by it?"

Barely holding her anger in check, Effie quietly said "It was still full when I last checked it."

"If you say so" replied the overseer, with no indication she believed Effie. "I still expect all three pies done by the end of the hour. You wouldn't want to be the one who kept the King's court from their dessert."

Effie restrained herself from trying to make a snappy comeback as the overseer turned and walked away, another unfortunate baker in her sights. She felt the heat of her pent up rage in her cheeks, which caused her to keep her head down as she raced back to her first pie crust dough to get it in the oven.

* * *

Once her work in the kitchens was done for the day, Effie scurried off to her room as quickly as elvenly possible. Still upset over the overseer's reprimand, Effie pulled her storybook from under the cot she called her bed and opened it to a random page.

The stories were written in a language foreign to her homeland of Kilshan, though Effie didn't mind. The castle archivist who had lent her the book taught her a great deal of the language over the past few months, and Effie felt like she could carry on a decent conversation in the language if anyone else knew how to speak it.

Effie began to read the story she had opened to, mouthing the words quietly as she read to keep the pronounciation straight in her mind. She enjoyed the foreign sounds of the names in her storybook, with places called Carista and people named Rafio. They sounded so elegent compared to names like Kilshan and Effiag.

Effie was fascinated with the tales surrounding this place called Carista, which at one point was said to have a Queen that ruled for seventy years. Most elves were lucky to see the age of fourty, and thus Effie wondered at what the people of Carista did during their long years.

Hearing footsteps coming down the hallway of the servants' quarters, Effie tucked the book under her bed and pretended to have been lying down from exhaustion. There was a knock at the door, but no attempts to open the door, which suggested it wasn't the overseer or one of the guards. Effie stood up and walked over to open the door, curious who came to see her.

A middle-aged man with a forlorn expression on his face looked up as the door opened, trying but failing to flash a smile. "Effiag! It's been too long."

Effie smiled at the recognition of her father, but the expression on his face worried her. "Father!" She hugged him and invited him in before shutting the door. "What brings you here? I'm sure plenty of people are missing your pies back home."

Frowning even more deeply than before, Effie's father averted his gaze. "Your mother took ill a few weeks ago..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "She died of the fever earlier this week."

Effie felt a weight settling on her chest, and it took her a moment to respond. "How? How did she get sick?"

"There was a plague in our village last month, and she felt the fever near the end of the disaster" her father explained.

"Did... who else died?" Effied asked, certain she didn't want to know the answer.

Her father lowered his head, seemingly contemplating whether to answer. He looked up slowly with his response. "Morag died as well."

Hearing that her childhood friend had died, Effie shook her head and tried to ignore the crushing feeling in her chest. She grabbed her ears and pulled at them, turning away from her father so he wouldn't have to see her face if she couldn't hold back her tears.

"I'm sorry, Effiag." Effie felt her father's hand on her shoulder. "I thought you should know..."

"I... need some time alone." Effie responded after a moment.

"I understand." Effie heard her father leave the room and close the door slowly behind him, and she felt the weight on her chest grow heavier with each footstep she heard echo back.

Alone once more, Effie hurried to her bed and pulled her storybook out from underneath it. Book in hand, she grabbed her cloak and ran out of the castle through a servant's exit. She came upon a hill that she would retreat to when she wanted to be alone and curled up on the far side from the castle, opening her book again to the stories of Carista as the sun set behind her.

"What are you up to?"

In case you didn't see the archive of posts to the side, there's a separate introduction post that you may want to read first.

Like 75% of my blog posts, this one is as much for my own benefit as any readers who pass by. Only this time I'm being more obvious about it since I'm making a list of the writing projects I "officialy" consider myself to be working on.

The way I see things at the moment, I've got four total current projects. One of them is technically on standby, but I've put too much effort into it to drop it with nothing to show for it.

More of a game designing project than a writing project, my miniseries "Legends of the Deep" for the BSN "Adventure Building Challenge" does involve some writing, even if it is a bunch of near-stereotypes dropped in situations determined in part by the themes of each month's challenge. I never did get around to finishing Episode 1 for February's deadline, so I feel kinda obligated to try to get something *playable* done for March. If you own the original Neverwinter Nights and want to know what this ABC thing is all about, check out the BSN thread.

Another current project is my NPC (non-player character/companion) mod for Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, which adds the Doomguide of Kelemvor Helarine to the game. Since Requiem let me use his Doomguide class kit and Isandir made a custom portrait for Hel, I think it's only fair that I finish writing her interactions with the player and base game NPCs. If you want to know more about my overly ambitious plans for Helarine and what I am actually accomplishing, check out the main thread over at the BG forums.

My third modding project is the Eberron campaign "Secrets Unearthed" for Neverwinter Nights 2. This mod has a long, long, long history that started a year and a half ago while going through the "Villain Workshop" created by Rich Burlew and has gone through many changes. I think the one true constant of the story that was eventually renamed to the current working title is the antagonist, Kahlia. Ultimately, it's really *her* story, and I'll have to be careful not to overshadow the player with a character I've had almost two years to refine. This is an interesting project for me because of the many changes that have taken place over time (the jump(s) between NWN and NWN2 engines, the core gameplay, the story, etc.) While I think I've finally nailed a few things down, I'm still leaving this mod on the back burner while I work on things that I've made commitments to finish. (If you don't mind seeing my mind at work at thinking through this mod and aren't afraid to see weird conclusions and about-faces in ideas, my BSN blog is choked with the number of posts about it.)

Of course, there's also the reason I made this blog: my original fantasy story. I think I'll reserve my next post for this story rather than explain it here. There isn't much I want to reveal before I start posting the drafts (a lot of things are subject to change right now), but I think it'll be okay to post my prelude/prewriting stories to give an idea of what this story is about.

And that's enough teasing for now. Until next time.

An Introduction

This is a bit of an experiment for me. Aside from one attempt to make a modding blog a few years back (which fell apart quickly becuase the mod I was working on for the blog fell apart), I've mostly been using the BioWare Social Network's blog feature to make writing/modding updates (and apparently post weird things that make me wonder what I was thinking... nothing "bad", but I'm embarassed by my own work after a certain amount of time.)

Thing is, I'm attempting to move out of only really publishing fanfiction and game mods (though I still plan on doing such things) to having a place where I can also talk about my own original work with an audience that isn't sharply limited to a single community on a game developer's offical forum site. (Also because I can put a copyright statement at the bottom of the page without feeling weird. There's not much need for copyright statements when writing fanfic, since no writer of fanfic owns the copyright for the franchise they write for.)

If you guessed that this sort-of move (I still plan on updating my BSN blog on modding and fanfic stuff from time to time) was brought on by some progress on an original story, you'd be right. I'm finishing up the first draft of chapter one of an original fantasy story, which I'll hopefully have in a semi-readable state real soon. What kind of fantasy? I'll get to that in a later post, where I can talk all about the story (or at least what I'll publicly share at this point) without the information getting lost in an intro post.

For the one or two people curious why I'm using "Jackkel Dragon" as my name for most of the blog instead of my real name, I don't really have an answer besides "I'm used to calling myself this on the internet". Unless someone stole the name before I got to a site (which kinda scares me when this happens since I didn't think anyone else misspelled jackal the way I did), I usually try to take "Jackkel", "Jackkel Dragon", or some variant. Hopefully, if you see either of those names it's me. Hopefully. (This will cease to be true about five seconds after this goes live... or at least five seconds after someone finds this post.)

That's enough rambling for now, though. I'll post some links to my other work that I'm not too embarassed to show below to give some idea of what I've done before.

Finished Mass Effect Fanfic:
Exile
Eclipse

Finished Dragon Age Fanfic:
Broken
Friendly Fire
Diamondback Face
Confrontation

Unfinished (But Fully Playable) Dragon Age: Origins Mod:
Scars of War

Character Preview Short Story for WIP Mod:
Untrustworthy