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Hmmm....

So we have heros in mind, and I have the skeleton of a plot to outline some things on, but now we need a story, or rather several stories, which in turn means we need antagonists.


I'll submit one, if the two people that bother to check this sub forum don't mind:


This character cannot follow my plot line because he is only meant to be submisive to the main plot, and move it along at times. Thus he is only an antagonist in some respects, though he will not cause any of your characters harm except by indirect means of changing policy of the district under his control. Nevertheless, he shall be called Tulip [italian] Hammer [/italian]* and he shall control a catholic district without a gauntlet, and thus without much power in this world (in the world bellow the hell, the nature of things walks upsidedown.)

...I cannot decide what he will do yet but I do want him to obtain some means of power after the district of the four leaf clover is swallowed by the mist (oooo it could be that that district was in possession of a gauntlet before the tragedy and that he obtained it first before anyone else could obtain it. He would, of course, have to find some way to prove it was not he who was responsible for summoning the mist on the village in light of that motive - as any magic is possible, in essentiality.)

To be brutally honest... I think I understand the plot okay, and then you post something. Which causes me to become COMPLETELY confused. And then I just wait for other people to discuss things with you hoping that the ensuing conversation allows me to understand what you're getting at. But lately, that hasn't been happening so much...

The main reason I'm confused is because you try to express an idea without giving it a permanent idea so that others can build on it. Which makes you phrase things funny. Then I get all kinda of baffled as to what you're getting at. So then I say something and then you go "No. No. No. I meant [confusion], which is obvious because I used the word [weird phrasing]. See?" .... Not really, no.

Dunno if anyone else is doing as much "o.O" as I am half the time. But yeah...

Personally I think you should start a separate thread and start the story. Then this thread can be used to discuss what's going on. To the point that the entire post can be changed, if need be. Debate and detail and hack out the beginning until the story basis is officially worked out and characters have been established. At which point, the story can start chugging along at full force with this thread used for mostly plot discussion and character interaction.

These are my thoughts. Have at ye.

((btw, this is by far the oddest my avvie has looked. o.O But I think it looks cool. ^.^))

Heh but that's what this thred is here for: to establish a story. I have your story, vixen, and yours galadonsfire, and I'm waiting on your's lidless, but none of you have really given me any feed back on the story I've contributed. No one has told me what they like or dislike, and no one has suggested that I add anything (short of little bits of magic I was able to pull from your initial story post, vixen.) I've worked my way through an entire set of mechanics, and set a few things up so that you can build off of them if you wish - many things, in-fact. That has been the extent of it though. So far we only have my suggestion for a overall plot, my mechanics, and the skeleton's of characters you all have submitted.

I suppose this could do with some reorganization though. I think I will go and create another thread which outlines what I want the story to be about, what I want the themes to be, what I want the setting to be, and what the general synopsis of the story is. That's all I have though. The fact of the matter is that we don't really have a story. We still have a lot more to fill out.

This new thread will be used to organize our thoughts and briefly outline the intro to the real story, but we cannot have a story till I know your characters and what you guys want for them in the story. This, as you have suggested, may be discussed here. Additionally, in the new thread, I shall outline topics which I think must be touched upon in order to get things moving. Should we make any headway with these topics, I will record them in this story thread for display.

Once I have completed the new thread, I shall move what we have decided, or what I have suggested, to either the new thread or another thread for magic and science in the world we are making, as that may become combersome after a while, seeing as magic usually is created for neccessity.

[As for the way I organize my arguments: I am terribly sorry about that private message, vixen, it was a product of sleep deprevation and an inability to make up my mind on certain things. I should have cleaned up the message so that it was more comprehensible. Also, I'm sorry if any of my posts on here confused you; basically I've been using the thread to think, which can look quite unorganized, and create a lot of tangents.]

[Thanks for the suggestion vixen]

So I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and throw you guys the things I've been thinking on all night at work. You can either agree or disagree. But you should debate, argue, and compromise. ^.^


History

Any person can do magic as long as they know the rules. Learning those rules arn't as easy to stumble upon, however. So, those who do learn magic would obviously choose someone to teach their magic and follow in their footsteps. Since magic is a secretive thing, it's a magic user's second nature to hold secrets and spells of great power. Sometimes, they die before passing those on, or just care not to pass them on to seem that much more powerful. So, magic can be lost and learned at any time, but none is written down for it should all remain secret.

However, magical predecessors have families and sometimes those result in magical families and then evolve into magical communities. As these communities grew, so did a sense of being and place. Slowly, these people moved from being people who used magic, to magical people. "Witch" and "Warlock" being derogatory terms made up by the non-magical people. These communities slowly became defined by a common term "Spellcasters", and felt they were seperate from "humans". This was a natural development as people noticed that a child of two magic users had a natural talent for magic and found it easy to learn, use, and cast (especially on accident). A kind of second nature.

This realization became the big obsession. If the Spellcasters kept to their own people, eventually they would produce a generation adept in magic that doesn't require years of learning and sacrifice (as all spells require some sort of sacrifice). Or at least, that's the plan. So great Spellcasters of the world got together and devised the first plan in implementing their brilliant idea. First, build a city for Spellcasters only, that no human should have access to. It can provide a haven for those who wish to help the cause of magical offspring, plus a center for growth for the magical community. It is divided into sections of general life style based on the world regions. Politically, it is a UN of sorts for the Spellcasters. One section is devoted entirely to the growing religion of the Spellcasters. [I believe it shouldn't be a Catholic section, but a section that it devoted to religion, as that is a major basis in a large community. What religion that is can be debated. Or made up.]


Conflict

As a separation grows between the Spellcasters and the humans, people quickly forget that they're all the same. Humans see magic as evil and kill the "demons" who use it. Spellcasters see humans as inferior and push to form enough of a basis across the world to stand up to the overwhelming human population. This causes an underlying hatred between the two groups and thus creates the "superior race" issue. But the main conflict isn't between the these two groups. Spellcasters are a people based on secrets and hiding themselves and their practices is second nature and humans arn't really a threat to them on a whole. Especially not with their hidden city as the power base.

The problem is that the Spellcasters themselves are split. While half believe in keeping to their own, the other half argue that they should not. Many people are quickly forgetting that humans are not different and can easily learn magic. As that happens, the extremest group for the "pure Spellcasters" go about hunting those humans who do learn magic or learn anything about their community. It's a threat to the belief that they're pushing on the people. The other side sees the downfalls in the plan. Obviously, eventual inbreeding is a threat. More so, is the growing hatred for humans. If the Spellcasters grow in enough numbers, they will eventually see their hidden community as a cowering community and demand their place on normal soil. This could cause a war that the general population of both sides may not recover from. If the Spellcasters choose to remain hidden and create larger cities in places where "things should not be" and "place cannot touch" as the first city is, then it could cause serious effects the the Earth's stability.

The secretive ways of the Spellcasters and the growth of the Catholic church has caused a great division between the two groups during their development as a people. They arn't capable of integrating into each other's lives easily and it gets harder as time progresses. Trying to integrate now could kill off most of the Spellcasters in an ensuing Witch Hunt called by the Catholic church. So the community has good reason to stay hidden and build up enough of a foundation to protect itself considering how outnumbered they are. However, the protection of their secrecy is being threatened by the extreme group for "Un-pure Spellcasters" by them recruiting non-magical people to help with their cause. One slip of the tongue or one "come to Jesus" meeting later, and the Witch Hunt could be in full force.

It isn't about which side of the argument is right. But simply that there is one. The main problem are the extreme measures being taken by each side.


City & Characters

A Spellcaster's name is important. Someone else knowing another person's true name has power over them. That was the main reason that humans would change their names when they began using magic. But those now born in the magical community have only one name to be know. Some collect nicknames to use as a trump card later in life, but their official name is recorded by the district they live in. This gives the policing force the ability to control what happens in the districts, no matter what their strength and abilities and no matter the offending person's strength and abilities. Otherwise, there would be no true order amongst the people. (A specific policing force per district and a "high council policing force" for the policers themselves and those in high ranking positions that could be suspect of bribing their own police and the like.)

As this is a community based on secrets, there isn't much in the way of a newspaper. Most news is through hearsay, and important mandates are posted on large stone tablets placed strategically in each district so they will be easily accessible to all inquiring people. (A few or so per district.) Each district also has its own main school(s), but one inparticular is most recognized for its academic inclination. (No specifics on that, just that there is one.)

So we have some open ideas for characters. A few policers, a head of district, teachers, students, shop vendors, and so on. Supportive characters can be controlled by all writers, but their intentions must be discussed in this thread. Especially is the character's creator has a fond attachment or specific personality attached to them. This gives more room for large story installments and flexibility with plot progression.


Afterthoughts

I just wanted to push things along and start progressing the idea. I'm fully prepared for Nova to start going "But that's not how I planned it!" Or someone else going, "Psht. What kind of conflict is that?" To which I'd respond, "Better than the blank stares we've all been giving the conflict issue thus far!"

...Yeah. >.> Hope everyone got through all that.

... Nova... sweety... uhmm.... You didn't understand a thing I wrote. o.O

Sorry about not replying for so long, I have been keeping up with everything that has been said, just not saying anything... Yeah.
I'll post my story some time between the writing of this message and Wednesday, hopefully.
Acctually, in all honesty, I'd prefer that my character be an antagonist, but if that wouldn't fit, I won't push for it. Either way, I'll have something for you guys soon.