Local Loser Does a Lore Dump

by Ali Khalil·20 views·Updated Apr 4, 2023

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Count how many times I say "I suppose" lol

Audio TranscriptAuto-generated

Hi.
Um
the time is now
3 55.
Um
And I'm going to try
to explain
the thoughts and ideas I have for my
novel map,
um which I have probably spent
way too much time working on
at this point.
But um
I feel like it would just be
easier to explain it
and try and like
articulate my thoughts than to try and just like
shove a whole bunch of uh
notes and shit at you guys. Um
Of course, I'll still upload
like all the notes and
visual aids and stuff anyway, uh on the blackboard. So um if you prefer to
just go through that, read it and skim it and you don't want to listen to me,
sit here and ramble for
God knows how long, I mean, I don't know how long this is gonna take.
I don't, I don't have a script in front of me or anything.
I mean, I have my notes but I'm not really gonna,
this is sort of just kind of
off the cuff,
I guess. Um
But anyway, if you got time to kill,
then grab a snack
and kick back
and bear with me for
a little bit
because I'm about to go for
Omega level nerd here.
Um
I'm not quite sure how much of this will even really make sense. But uh
we're gonna try,
we're gonna try.
Uh OK,
so
hold on.
So
working title of the book
Paradise Lost.
Um
I guess we'll go in more depth on that later probably.
But anyway,
so a bit of background info
um
on like just kind of the
world we're dealing with here.
Um
So basically outside of like
our reality, right?
Um There is like this race of like super
angelic cosmic entities uh that are called the aspects.
Um And they're, they're angelic in the sense that like,
you know, they got wings and halos and stuff. Um And you could say they're,
you know, for the most part, very heavenly, I guess, but um
they're not biblically related.
So, like,
they don't have a God, they don't have a creator.
Um
They don't share
uh Well, not all of them share uh
the names, I suppose uh as they're referred to in the Bible.
Um
uh They just simply manifest in this way.
I'll just say they just kind of manifest as uh
angels as we would, I suppose, see them.
Um
Yeah, they follow no God, no creator.
Uh They are born instead
from the collective consciousness of humanity.
Um And I do mean humanity specifically
um more on that later.
Uh They're ancient, but only as ancient as mankind itself, um
they exist across all dimensions, universes, timelines, what have you.
Um
And their main
purpose, I guess is to defend humanity from alternate cosmic level threats.
However,
this only extends to versions of mankind
that are incapable of defending themselves.
Um
And not many naturally appear as humanlike
though they all can if they want to,
but
the more of an affinity
they have towards humans,
uh the more human they'll end up looking.
Um So just to give an example here,
this uh right picture right here that I'm pointing out, I hope,
um that's kind of like,
I suppose what a normal aspect would look like, or at least in its natural form.
Um
And of course it doesn't have any wings but I guess like it could
extend and retract them as it so chooses. But this is just concept art.
I mean, like, you know, it doesn't,
you know, I might think of something else. But,
um,
so, yeah, what else? Uh they, for the most part
believe themselves to be
superior to humans.
Uh Some see themselves as caregivers and like parental guardians, I suppose.
Uh Others see themselves as kind of like overlords, which is pretty, um
not great.
Uh And this sort of like superiority complex also makes them like,
ironic because like,
they actually end up exhibiting some pretty human characteristics, like,
you know, they develop relationships and stuff like that.
So, I mean,
they think that they're superior but they end up like, you know,
kind of mirroring the people that
pretty much creates them. So,
um
the reason why they choose to defend humanity, mostly,
they mostly defend humanity to maintain their own existence because obviously,
like humans are the reason why they exist.
Um
and their powers uh since they draw their power and their existence from humans,
um
they have a
non-negotiable rule
because of this to never interact with or reveal themselves to mankind.
Um That'll probably be elaborated upon later.
Um
And also, yes, this is important aspects are immortal but they can be killed
uh when one dies. However, a new one uh sort of
gets born or manifest to take its place, but it's not the same
persona as it was before. If that makes sense, it's kind of like,
like a white memory sort of deal,
I guess.
Um
This picture right here uh is kind of like what's um
I
don't know why I have that here. I'll explain that later too, but hold on.
Uh
All right, we're moving on, I guess.
So, the aspects, right? What they're called, um The aspects are divided
into two groups
and group number one, they're called the virtues
and group number two,
they're called the vices.
Now, the virtues
are born in this place called the meadow of light, which is, yeah,
that's what this place is right here.
Uh on the left.
Um Yeah, so they're born in this place. Called the meadow of light,
which is a realm bathed in clouds and stars that
houses the city of Chrome
where most aspects choose to live.
Uh Virtues
as the name implies, represent all behaviors,
values and ideas that we normally consider to be desirable or good
in the traditional sense.
So things like justice, patience, truth, courage, stuff like that.
Um
And I'm on the
counter end of that,
we have the vices
and the vices are born in this foggy looking place here on the left,
uh called the Valley of Shadows,
um which is a place to void of any color.
Ignore this picture. I know it has color,
um devoid of any color,
logic or comfort.
Um However,
most aspects born there choose not to remain
there because it's a pretty shitty place.
Um But the few that do remain there only do
so uh out of the sheer wickedness of their nature,
it's like a really,
really bad advice would probably just stay there because it's a really a
really wicked vi I suppose.
Um
And as their name implies, vices embody uh all concepts,
traits and fears that we generally consider to be wrong or bad.
Um So things like pain, cowardice, uh disgust, ignorance,
uh Just whatever bad thing you could think of in the book really.
Um
Also apologies for my
whispering. I don't know how
um
clear eye sound but my
roommate's sleeping. So I don't wanna, you know,
anywhere.
So Yeah, the aspects.
Um,
they don't obey any creator
but they do govern themselves.
There is this council, we'll call it,
uh, a 44 of them, four of the strongest uh aspects. So, two
virtues and two
uh vices, the two strongest virtues and the two strongest vices. Yeah.
Um,
and they sort of preside over
the affairs of all the lower ones that rank beneath them.
Um,
and they also make like
executive decisions such as like
who to fight. Uh They make changes to rules, I suppose.
Um And they deliver like punishments to like any
aspects that break or defy the rules naturally.
Um
Also this picture here on the right. Um That's just an example of what like a human
like aspect would look like, like one that would, you know,
have a pretty large affinity towards humans,
like it would just appear more human like, I suppose.
So. Yeah, that's just another example. Um I guess of what one could look like.
Um
One little note about uh the meadow of light
that we saw on the last slide and the Valley of Shadows here is um
So like,
how do I explain it? Like they're,
they're like spatially linked to each other
in the sense that like
the aspects can sort of like cross between them, like freely and at will.
So like, there's not, there's not like
there's not like a journey
one would have to go through to get from one to the other.
Like, you're just like,
you're just kind of in one or in the other and you just kind of can, like,
rift between them if that makes any sense.
At least that's how it is for aspects, you know? I mean, who knows? Maybe,
maybe I'll throw a mortal in there and we'll see what happens to them. Who knows?
Um,
oh, yeah.
So,
hold on.
So, like I was saying, they don't,
they don't have a creator,
but they do govern themselves.
Uh And they have a council of four.
So I took the liberty of drawing this
little focus. I took the liberty of drawing this little
oh man,
it's mirrored. Fuck.
OK. Well,
yeah, I'll try it anyway, whatever.
So
it'll focus
goddamn it.
OK?
So I tried on this dan
hierarchy situation here.
Um
oh my God,
what is going on here,
whatever?
Uh
uh
There we go. OK.
So,
so OK, so
here the virtues here on this side,
you know, the devices here on this side.
And at the top of the virtue list is hope, hope is the
strongest virtue
uh followed by life.
And then life would like after life, like the next strongest would be like
justice, truth.
And then after justice would be like patience, wisdom, valor.
And then after truth would be like
fate, joy and tolerance and stuff.
And then they would like, you know, descend into like more like lower ranked ones,
like ones that like, aren't super
um
like talked about, I guess, or like super revered or something like that.
And then
on the vices side,
you have like despair
and death um which would like give way to chaos.
Uh And then chaos would give way to things like regret
lies. Um
For
you get like pain, hate,
disgust, ignorance,
cowardice, and war, I guess.
Uh doesn't like set in stone or anything like that.
The only part of it that is set in stone
is that
so
hope,
life,
despair and death.
That's the council of four.
So the two strongest virtues are hope in life and
then the two strongest spices are despair and death.
So they make up the council of four.
Um and they
basically like rule over the aspects, they tell them like what to do and shit.
Um
uh One little caveat to that I suppose is that um
hope, the, the virtue of hope is like
the strongest one like out of all of them, like he's stronger than life,
he's stronger than despair, stronger than death.
Like hope is like hope is like,
even though like they're on a council and
they like share equal power or like authority,
I suppose,
like everyone just kind of listens to what hope
says because hope is just like that guy basically.
Um
So yeah,
uh what's next?
Oh And by the way, this council of four,
like they're called the Council of four.
But like they're also known as like the sheriffs, like they're called the sheriffs.
So, like hope is a sheriff. Life is a sheriff, um,
despair and death or sheriffs.
Uh, and it's possible that,
you know, the positions of the sheriff can be
moved around, you know, who knows? Maybe one will rise up to take his place.
We'll just see.
Um,
ok, so this is just kind of talking about like, their
powers and abilities, I guess. Yeah.
Um
So the way it works is um
the more uh virtue is loved, praised or respected,
um the stronger it gets
and conversely, the more ice is hated, feared or admonished, the stronger it gets.
Um And the spectrum of power and strength
also works via like proximity.
So let's say like,
um
they're uh let's say like when they're in the world,
a city or a room full of like that particular trait,
uh they can feel it and get stronger or weaker from it.
So like, let's just say, for example, like,
um
let's say justice goes to like a world or uh like
an earth where like there's no justice for whatever reason.
All right. Well, then justice is gonna be like weak as shit.
Like it's basically gonna be like
immortal at that point,
like he'll have no strength of power because there's no justice around basically,
like he'll still be justice and like, he'll have justice powers or whatever,
but like he's not gonna be as strong as if you were
in a world full of justice basically.
Um
So
yeah,
um
what else? Ok. So
each aspect
has distinct control and Dominion
over their respective trait.
Um And they are each imbued with a trademark
signature ability that like reflects what their trait is.
Um So, for example,
the aspect of patience might be able to manipulate time,
like you could like
slow it down or speed it up or whatever to, you know,
like symbolize that he is like patient,
like with like time isn't like a factor to him basically.
Um Whereas the aspect of anxiety which is a vice uh might be able to instill like,
I don't know, like debilitating paranoia um into somewhat for short if,
if they wanted to, I guess
um
the aspects are unable to use their powers on
other aspects when they're in the middle of light.
Um or the value of shadows.
Like, so when they're in those realms, they can't, their powers don't work,
they're so strong and stuff like they can fight, I guess if they wanted to.
Um But they can't use their powers on each other when they're outside though,
like their powers can be influenced uh on each other, I suppose.
Um The only exception to this are the sheriffs, the sheriffs are strong, so strong
that um powers don't work on them,
I guess. So, like their powers are pretty absolute, I suppose.
Uh However,
if one becomes a sheriff then like they would become an exception to the rule too.
So it just depends.
Um
of course, like beyond their powers, I said,
like they're pretty like superhuman entities, I guess.
So they have
superhuman strength, speed, um agility, dexterity, resilience, um perception,
whatever.
Uh
Yeah, so like they would like just
one shot a normal person, I guess,
uh if they,
for whatever reason got into a fight with them.
Uh
OK.
So that's basically the
like background prologue info.
Um
I'm, I'm kind of been experimenting with an idea of like a prologue, like kind of,
you know,
hinting at all of this but not obviously outright
saying all of this and like explaining like,
uh because this is all the reason why I'm
explaining all this is because this is what the,
the main character is like.
This is where the main characters from. The main character
is an aspect. Basically, he's a uh he's a vice but we'll talk about
him later. Um
So,
yeah, so
if I get enough time, like maybe do a prologue, that'd be cool. I know. But
anyway,
um next up is the
setting, like the actual setting of the,
of the setting of where I want the book to
mainly take place the novel to mainly take place.
Um
So
let me uh let me bring back the slides.
Hold on.
Yeah. OK.
OK. Cool.
So
the setting,
uh this story takes place in the fictional Sister Cities of mortar
and
peel
um
which are both uh
steampunk. Like, well, I prefer the term ma
punk because it's like
steampunk plus magic. So mau
punk but like steampunk, I guess works too.
So they both like steampunk, I cities, I suppose. Some mortar and p
so what are the differences between them?
Um
Peel is the uh above ground, like sort of aristocratic society um with an overall,
like better quality of living.
Um They're led by like houses of nobility uh who
um like the, like the,
the leaders of the houses are elected onto a senate like republic.
Uh and they're called the proxies.
So like the government basically is like, they're called the proxies basically.
So like instead of senator or a proxy,
um
and then
peel,
peel
places a heavy emphasis on things like innovation,
um technological advancement
uh progress. Uh Basically,
um
it has a reputation of being the most advanced city uh in this world.
Um
And the proxies, I guess a little bit more of the proxies.
Uh they're a bit of a mixed bag, but
the thing that kind of sucks about them
is that they limit certain forms of like expression
pretty much because they're so big on like innovation and like technology and like,
we gotta be like the most advanced and stuff,
we gotta be like number one smart stuff like that.
Um
So like, you know, you can't wear specific colors,
like you're limited to a specific color palette.
Um Only high art is allowed like you can't
like be really experimental or creative with art.
Um
And uh specific forms of dissension,
like if you try to like speak out against any of this stuff,
like you can be punished or fined or something like that.
So
not a super
free giving society
despite it being a better one to live in. Technically.
Um
oh
oh and the rules in this city uh are enforced by these dudes called the law bringers.
So the law bringers are basically like
the cops of
sel
um
and mortar. But
yeah, so they're the cops and they're kind of shitheads because like,
they let the authority sort of like get to their head.
Um Not all of them are bad as we'll see
because some of the characters are like good ones.
But um
for the most part, like, people don't really trust them,
uh especially the people of border because like,
you're just corrupt, I suppose.
Um
And so
this is just a picture of like a steampunk city. Um I don't think this is what like
would like
maybe like a, a district or a street. I don't know. But it's just you get the idea.
Um
And then,
so that's
peel, yeah, that's
peel
and then mortar.
So mortar is the underground, uh sort of neglected society.
Um And it's plagued with things like pollution and crime.
Um,
now, instead of proxies,
mortar is ruled by these people called Light Barons,
um who exhort who exert control through like fear and gang violence.
Um,
and Mortar has like a much worse quality of life. Uh But
I mean, if it's any consolation, I guess, like, expressions unrestricted,
like you can, like, be whoever do whatever,
um, say whatever, pretty much like anything really goes. As long as you just,
you know, pay respect to the,
to the blight barons basically as long as you follow their rules,
um,
uh, instead of innovation and like progress.
Uh, more places pretty high emphasis on survival,
uh, and greed, of course.
Um,
and, uh, Mortal or Mortal mortar is just kind of like always under the thumb of peel,
like
peel, peel
people sort of like view mortar people as like second classes and like,
they're kind of, um,
pretty rude to them. They think they're like filthy and stuff like that.
Um,
on my neck.
Uh,
yeah, so
mortar
people kind of feel like, you know,
ignored by them.
Uh, however, mortar also supplies peel
with things like metals that they need to like create stuff.
Um, but most importantly, mortar is the source of the primary,
uh, resource that both these cities use, which is called Clint stone.
Um,
and, uh, glints stone is like a really,
uh, you can just think of like a pretty rock. I don't have a picture for it. Sorry.
Um,
it's like a,
how do I explain it? It's just kind of like a really volatile
substance that is magic properties.
So you kind of have to, like, be careful around it, I guess because, like, if you don't
handle it you might
blow yourself up something like that.
But, yeah, it's called glints stone.
Um,
thing about glints stone is, uh, it can actually be,
uh, well,
peel uses it to, like, function like,
like fuel their machines and stuff like that and create new
ones and like do a bunch of like cool and shit.
Um
But uh in mortar,
a glints stone can actually be reprocessed
into this drug like elixir called Glimmer.
Uh And the thing that glimmer does is it
actually gives you like temporary like magic powers.
Um
But the cost of it is,
is it like fucks with your head so you can like kind of lose your like sanity
and like mental health or something like that.
So you're not supposed to like abuse it but like a lot of people in order do because,
you know,
sell the drug. So,
um
to the point where like glimmer is kind of like a,
like a, like a crisis for border,
like a lot of people are just kind of losing their minds because they're just,
they can't stop using glimmer pretty much.
Um
So yeah, Peel
views themselves above the people of mortar.
Uh and the people of mortar for a long time, they've been demanding.
Uh So the way it kind of like,
um,
I guess politically works is like,
mortar is sort of just like this other district, their sister cities,
but it's just like, treated as like a district, like a separate district of peel.
Like, it's a part of peel.
Like peso
is like the,
um, the representative, uh,
I suppose, city, like, uh, for the rest of the world, I suppose.
But, um,
mortar has like, been demanding for like, its own sovereignty.
Like they've been kind of wanting like independence
from peso so that they can like kind of
make the glint stone like their primary export and not have like peso,
just keep like buying it off of them,
I guess.
Um
uh So yeah, that's been going on for a while.
Uh oh One little thing I forgot to mention is that the,
the blight barons typically like bribe the law bringers uh who like
the law bringers will eventually like occasionally come over to
um mortar and just kind of like dig around
and like make themselves feel superior because again,
like most of them are pretty shitty.
Uh But the blight barons will like bribe them and
make deals with them so that they don't like,
you know, technically get in trouble for breaking the law, I guess.
Um
So yeah, uh
one other thing I wanted to,
so I'll bust out the diagram again because I'm such a good artist. Um
So,
I mean, excuse the poor artistry. But
uh
so
the way I kind of see it in my head
is like,
uh,
so, like, over here
you have, like,
peel basically where it's like, above ground and like,
you know, it's like, uh,
you know, they have like, they get like sunlight and shit and like,
they're all happy and they're, you know, kicking it up
every day.
Um, they got like, you know, blimps and stuff going in and out, uh, trading
with other nations or stuff like they got like docks and
stuff and then there's a bridge that connects the two,
uh because there's like a river in between them.
Uh And then over here on the other side, you have uh mortar
and the way mortar is, is like,
it's like a descending like spiral city like it goes underground,
right?
Um
And so like, yeah, like it's just kind of like,
it just gets like worse and worse the further
down you go because it's like the more toxic and
uh less sunlight, obviously. So like
the real, like people down in the bottom of the barrel, like just unfortunate.
It's just like they live right here.
Um
And this little line here, this is like a,
this is just kind of like a shaft towards the mind, the minds of the bond.
This is where they take the glints stone from.
Um
And like, yeah, that's a pretty nasty place there too. So,
uh,
so that's kind of
how it visually looks in my head but, um,
I guess you don't really have to worry about that.
Uh,
what else? Let's see.
Oh, yeah.
So that's,
that's like the gist of like, where I want the story to take place,
at least for book one.
Um,
however
I do plan on, uh,
if the story goes as far as I
think it could.
Um,
and I kind of see it as being like a,
like a multi book thing.
Um, because like, the world
technically is like a, like a full planet obviously.
And the world itself it's called
a
t
the planet. It's called like the world of a,
I guess and,
and
Peso are just two little cities that are in
a,
um,
now the thing about
a,
uh is that
it's known to the aspects as terra
derelicts, the aspects call
a
t terra
derelict,
which means it's neglected by them. Like they, they see it as like a shithole place.
They don't really know anything about it
as for why that is, I'll come up with something I don't know yet.
But, um,
I just think it's important to have that world
be like foreign to them even though they,
like, try to, you know, keep tabs on every,
you know, world
that has humanity on it, at least,
um,
at least the most important part is that
the main character doesn't know anything about it.
So, yeah, so, like, for, for, I have to come up with a reason, but, like,
basically a artha has to be like this sort of like blind spot for them, I suppose.
But anyway, a Gart is, itself is a pretty,
pretty, pretty gnarly place, I guess.
It's got like, different biomes, uh, environments, cultures, like races.
I might have to come up with like, some weird wacky
races, I guess. But, um,
and stuff like that, some of which resemble,
you know, things for certain, I mean, you know, it's,
you can only get so creative with fictional cultures, I guess.
Um, but then like, you know, some of them are pretty crazy, you know, like,
like cultish maybe even.
Um,
and so, like, you know, you got, like,
you got like
desert
city here,
underwater city here,
um,
float floating city here,
uh, just shit like that. Like, you know, you can get pretty goofy with it, I guess.
It just depends.
But the plan
is to just have, um,
book one just focuses on the modern and
el arc
and like everything that happens in those two cities
and just kind of the main character's effect he has on those two cities.
Um,
and then he, like, sets off to, like,
explore the rest of the world and like, meet new people and like,
we get exposed to like, those sorts of stories that are contained within and,
yeah, that'd be cool if I get that far.
I mean, maybe even beyond who knows, I can give you,
uh,
finds his way back to the meadow or whoever he gets kicked out of, I guess.
Yeah, that'd be cool.
But, uh,
that brings us to,
ok.
God,
what is it like? Damn sorry. 30 minutes? Oh,
I'm sorry.
Anybody's
watching this, if this even gets uploaded. I don't know.
Anyway, um,
that brings us to characters,
um,
bonus points for anybody who knows who that is. But,
uh, this isn't who
the main characters is just kind of like the first person I think of. But
um so the characters, so the main character of the story
is uh
the um
the aspect of cunning
and uh or more accurately,
he's a di devices of lies
uh and trickery and manipulation, just deception.
Like he's just, he's a liar like he just represents,
he embodies the physical manta manifestation of lies.
This is what he is.
Um
the thing about him
is that he's like obsessed with humans and like humanity
more so than like any other aspect for whatever reason. Um
You know, maybe I'll come up with the reason, I don't know.
But he basically just like he can't get enough of them, he just studies them
and he thinks just so fascinating.
Uh And so he observes them, like
with like a magnifying glass,
a triple quadruple magnifying glass like for thousands and thousands of years.
Um
He's so curious about them that he actually ends up breaking the forbidden rule
and inadvertently reveals himself to them.
Um,
and, uh, this goes south, he gets caught
and this, of course, makes the counsel for the sheriffs pretty upset.
And so what they do is they decide to punish him,
decide to banish him to a
T since. Oh, you love humans so much. Well, why you go live amongst them
and we'll see how you like it.
Uh, and maybe you'll learn your lesson or something like that, kind of like a,
you know, parent giving their kid a stern, uh, spanking something like that.
But
so he gets banished to a
t,
um, a world which of course he knows nothing about. Um,
and
not only is he punished by having to live there but
what they do to make it even worse for him is they
clip his wings, they, uh, take his halo.
Um, they, like, he, they siphon his strength like he's not strong anymore.
Like he's basically just,
uh, like a guy, like a normal guy.
Um, and he's mortal so he can technically die if he's not careful,
uh, which they don't really care about because of course, if he dies,
he can just come back as like someone else knew, which they might even prefer.
Uh,
but yeah, so he's mortal alone.
Um, no strength, no power. Uh, the exception though
is that, uh, he still has his signature power, like his, like, special ability,
I suppose.
Like I was talking about earlier,
uh, because that's like fundamental to who he is.
They can't, like, take that away from him, I suppose.
Or rather they probably just chose not to, I guess,
um, or forgot about it. I doubt they forget about it.
But, you know, he, he has the power,
which is what the power is because he's the vice of lies
is it allows him to essentially make
anyone, uh, he chooses
believe what he's saying.
Like, genuinely, like they, like,
he basically can make people genuinely believe he's telling the truth.
Um
No matter like what he says, pretty much
so.
Yeah. Uh What else?
Oh,
I mean, yeah, I just forgot to mention like,
so because he enjoys humanity so much like he thinks are so cool and fascinating.
He has like a pretty big affinity with him.
Um He's gonna look pretty human, like, like he's like,
like really human, like I suppose like more than any of the other aspects too. Um
So uh
but I already mentioned that, I mean, yeah, he's,
he's a human looking guy, he's a
pretty fellow. But um
so
the thing is, is though
even though he's like really into humans, like
he doesn't really, it's not from a place of like
love or admiration or anything, it's more so just like
genuine
um curiosity
and because he's an aspect he still has like that really crazy,
like superiority complex that I mentioned earlier.
Um
And so what he does is like because he gets banished um
he like,
uh hates, he, he grows to hate the aspects and the rules,
he thinks the rules are stupid and he thinks that they should be allowed to, like,
interact with humans and like,
you know, whether it be to save them or rule them res subjugate them.
Like, he just thinks that like,
their ways are antiquated and stupid.
And so,
you know, like a stubborn child, um, he decides to like,
make the best out of this punishment, but he's not really gonna regret it.
So because he realizes that he still has his signature power,
he decides that he's gonna like use it to basically like
forge his own
paradise
uh out of the world of A
T.
So he's gonna like, try and just kind of,
you know,
systematically, like,
take everything down and like build it back up the way in his image supposedly.
Um So yeah, it's a pretty ambitious um
goal that I've set out for him, but
I think he can do it
if he uh
meets the right people.
I think
so. Um Oh, one last thing I forgot to mention. Um
So
when they banished him to
Agatha,
they put like a hex on him.
So he can't like, he physically
cannot reveal to anyone on a cart, like his true nature of like what he is
because I guess that would defeat the purpose. Um
So every time he tries, like he like either forgets about it or like it, like,
it actually causes him like,
physical pain but he can't tell people that he's an aspect
or like what he is or how he's able to do this
crazy power thing. He just has to like,
lie about it basically. Um,
and then, uh,
yeah, as far as, like, personality, I don't know. I mean,
I'm kind of debating between making him, like,
I don't know, super charismatic and playful,
um,
or super like just
edgy. Uh Well, probably not edgy because that would be lame but, and cringe but uh
I don't know.
Uh I basically, I mainly want him to feel um
scary
because at least scary for everybody he interacts with or unsettling because like,
they know
they know that like he's like
thumbs off about this guy. He's like a
bit of a
bit of an enigma. This one, like
I can't really put my finger on him. He looks kind of
sinister,
but uh I'll figure that out.
Um
So then
that's the protagonist basically
uh moving on to the
deuteragonist or his uh
would be partner
said my ginger ale.
Um
OK,
so the deuteragonist,
uh her name is Bloom,
which is a nickname. Um her real name is Caldera.
Uh But the reason why she um
she's the name,
she has like her own to like
separate backstory that like, I haven't really thought out super yet, but like,
I kind of want there to be the idea like that she's had her own whole story, like,
already happened before this and like, now, like,
now it's like
the main character story, but whatever.
Anyway. So her name is Bloom, but her real name is Caldera.
She is born in mortar so she's in like the underground, like, shitty city.
Um, and she was orphaned at a young age.
Um, and she's kind of like,
kind of like a unhinged
gun for hire. Like, she's just kind of like, not fully all there.
She's like pretty unstable, violent.
Um,
but uh, you know, not
unreasonable, I guess. Um,
she has a pretty bad unhealthy relationship with glimmer,
which is the drug I was talking about that gives you magic powers, but she only does.
So she only
like uses it because it like,
um because the nature of her work, she's
pretty much like a mercenary, I guess if that, you know,
makes it easier to understand.
Um
But yeah, so all that glimmer usage is also kind of why she's like,
not super fully all there.
Why she's pretty,
excuse me, it's pretty unstable.
Um
But the thing about her is, um
so she likes to tinker. She's a bit of a tinkerer. So the thing is so like
I know I said peel
is like the
peel is
like the,
the, the technological, like innovative one like world,
like the geniuses and the students and all that shit.
But um
mortar is sort of like a dark reflection of the pest.
So like it has
part of what makes it such a tragic
city is like, it has its own fair share of like,
like geniuses and prodigies just so that they don't have
access to the same resources that the kids in like p
will do. So like they have to like, make do with scraps.
Um
So that's kind of what bloom is
in a sense is like, she's also like, uh she's, she's a tinkerer.
Um And so she makes her own like weapons and stuff that
she uses and sells um in her pretty dangerous line of work,
I guess.
Um
uh So, yeah, she's, uh, I, she's pretty young, um,
like I wanna say like late late teens,
I,
but um
kind of like forced her to grow up uh as a place like that would,
I suppose.
Uh And she has like pretty bad trust issues which
uh will probably make sense as I explain more characters.
But, um,
let's see, she has no close connections or people she can rely on. So she's like
her anymore at least.
Um
And uh, so that makes her pretty much
alone, which is like kind of what
sets her up to
be um
partnered up with the main character, I suppose
because he just kind of stumbled,
they just kind of stumbled upon each other like fresh off of his uh
descent, I suppose.
Um I keep saying, I suppose a lot or am I stupid anyway.
Um,
oh, but her number one hate,
uh, is being bored.
That's like the thing she, like,
I guess the thing she fears most, she just hates being bored.
So she's always, like, trying to do something.
Oh, she, she doesn't even really work for the money.
So it just kind of works because it's like
a way for it to happen to her.
Uh, the one thing she's good at, I guess,
which is just causing a bunch of destruction.
So,
yeah, that's her.
Um
I don't have any more visual aids because I, I
guess I got lazy. Um
I don't have
good uh
good possible depictions of what the rest of these characters can look like. So
the rest of this is just me explaining some of the characters.
So I'm just gonna keep going.
You can keep staring at the picture of this
person.
Uh Also bonus points if you know who that is.
Um
So the next character is this chick called Tephra.
Uh Tephra is actually Bloom's estranged older sister.
Uh And they kind of had a schism between them and so they're not really on good terms.
Um However, uh
yeah, so Tephra works as a law bringer and peel.
Actually, she was born in mortar,
but she actually ended up working as a law bringer and
peel.
Uh thing is she's not a shithead though. She's one of the good ones.
Um
because she's like, no, she knows what it's like to, like, you know,
grow up like dirt poor and mortar.
Um,
and growing up in mortar that made her, like, pretty strong, pretty tough.
Um, I wanna say she's probably like
one of the better law bringers too, but she's not like a bad one.
She's like a pretty good one.
Um,
and, uh, yeah, she had a falling out with bloom, uh, but she's still, like
Loki kind of loves her even though like,
um
she feels like she has to stop her, I guess.
Um
And uh she thinks that she can like, Fix Bloom basically. So,
uh
she managed to climb out of the gutter thanks to her partner, which I will
uh talk about in a sec.
Um
And, and her main belief is that she can change the way things are between Mort and Pil
from within the system.
So, um she wants to like,
kind of put in a good word, I guess all by herself for the people of war, which is like,
kind of like also an ambitious dream, but like she believes in it.
So,
um the next character is uh Tere's partner.
Uh And this is a dude named Markham,
name is Markham.
Um He's also not a shithead albeit like
he's, uh he's pretty wary of um
mortar, like, like, and the people from mortar,
uh like he's like, initially, like, he's like pretty distrustful of them,
but because of Tephra, like, he warms up to them and like,
he realizes that there's not really like
a difference between them.
Like, he just thinks that he realizes like the truth and like,
how unfortunate of a situation it is.
Um
But Markham, uh he's a law bringer, right? But he's also more of like a,
like a detective investigator type. Like he's not like, he's not really like a,
you know, you're under arrest type person. He just kind of, he's more into like
solving crime cases, I suppose.
Um
There I go again and I suppose
it's fucking,
it's 4 30 bro
in my life. Uh
Let's see.
Yeah, so
I haven't really gone into the detail with this part too yet, but um I wanted to be the,
the case where like
he was saved by Tefra
um
which like subsequently why he vouches for her to like get
a job and like they end up getting partnered together.
Um
But, you know, maybe I'll come up with that later.
Uh Mark, I'm his best friends with a dude named Carver
who is the next character I'll be talking about
now, Carver is uh he is born in
Peel.
Uh He's an innovator, uh innovator, genius prodigy.
Um
And he comes from one of the houses in nobility that
I was talking about earlier when explaining what Peel is like.
Um And this actually gives him and by extension, Mark,
like a lot of resources to like get their work done.
Um
And he his goal or ambition is to use glints stone,
which is like the energy source that they both, that both cities profit off of, uh,
to basically just like, flat out better the lives of everybody.
And he thinks he thinks like, he can also maybe use it to.
Um, and when I say everyone, I mean, like everyone, he thinks he can use it to, like,
also, like, in a way like mend the rift between water and
peel and like, you know, help them out and like give them like clean air or whatever.
Um
uh but
the proxies who are in charge uh won't
let him because they're all like profit driven.
Like they wanna just keep using like
the technology and the gold stone as like an export.
They don't want it to like go towards the people of um
uh mortar and they certainly don't want mortar to become its
own city so that they can have it for themselves.
Um
Now Carver uh is mentored by a proxy himself and this proxy, his name is Rothenberg.
Uh Rothenberg is like I said, Carver's mentor.
Um and he's like the one good proxy.
And the reason why he is a proxy is because Rothenberg is like,
considered to be the smartest guy in all of peel.
Like he's like
the genius, like he's um
uh
I'll probably have him like, make some
really crazy invention that everybody uses like every day of their lives. But
basically, you need to know is that he's, um,
the, the, he,
he's so smart that they just felt like they had
to give him a spot on the council basically.
So he's a proxy because of how smart he is. But
because of that, he's, like, pretty ineffective and for the most part, complacent,
like,
he doesn't really seem to care as much about the problems between
Border and pencil as like the rest of the characters do,
but he recognizes that they're there,
but he just doesn't really know what to do about it because
like he's intelligent but he's not like wise, I guess is a better way of putting it.
Um
Yeah. So
what else? Oh, give me a second here.
Ok.
So that's um
that's uh
that's the p side of things moving back over to the mortar side of things.
Uh
So I'm excited to figure out what I wanna do with this character. But
um
next character is a dude named Jackass.
Um
So Jackass,
he is uh
one of the blight barons. He's actually like the top blight baron that I mentioned.
The people, the crime lords that rule mortar. So he's a blight baron
uh with a very fitting name. Basically, he's a real jackass.
Um He hates the
people. Um I'm gonna call them here.
I'm gonna call him, this is fresh off the dome right now.
I'm gonna call people from
are p
and people from mortar are
mortars
So p
light and mortar
boom
makes perfect sense.
Um
So yeah, Jackass hates the pests lights.
Uh He's also very greedy.
Um
And he is,
uh coincidentally the biggest advocator of making
uh Mort its own sovereign state.
Uh But like he goes back and forth between thinking like,
well, he goes back and forth between it being reasons for greed,
like because he wants a glint stone to himself or for like thinking like,
that's genuinely what's best for the people of a mortar.
But,
um,
it starts out with greed.
Like he wants its own,
he wants it to be its own city so that he can have more Glint stone basically.
Um,
and, uh, he primarily runs his empire
off of
a sling
slinging, slinging glimmer.
Like he basically is like, the reason why there's, like,
so much of that shitty drug stuff on the streets is like, that's like his main, uh,
product.
Um,
and, uh,
oh, yeah, he just, uh, he does a lot of business with blue, like anybody ever needs,
um,
uh,
killing or,
like, security for whatever.
Uh, they hire Bloom and Jackass often usually is the top dollar.
So he does a lot of business with Bloom.
Not always directly but, um, yeah, he, he gives her what she gets or what she wants.
So,
um.
Mhm.
The next character is, um, Dicky or no, not diggy digi. Yeah. Digi,
uh, I don't know my own characters.
So, next character is Digi
and Digi is Jackass's right hand man.
Uh Digi is actually an ex law bringer
who uh actually like defected
to mortar.
Um And he did that mainly out of greed,
I guess you could say because he realized
that there was more of an opportunity for him
funny enough uh in mortar.
Um
But him, his ex
status
like gives him and Jackass an edge over the other blight barons because he has like,
I guess insider info
and like, there's still people in the force who like recognize him and like,
you know, kind of
um help them out, I guess because like, they're also like all bribed and shit.
So like, they don't really care.
Um
Thing about digi is he has like beef with Bloom.
Um
I don't know why yet.
I just think it'd be funny if like, Jackass wants to keep hiring Bloom, but like,
he's like, no dude, like she's bad news. So like
I need to figure out what their beef is but yeah, I want them to have beef. Um
He also has a brief history with Mark um or at least
Markham recognizes him and uh they have some tension too between each other. Uh like
the good or bad side of the law
then uh let's see what's next. So the next character um
I don't really know what I wanna do with this, these next two characters, but
we'll see.
So the next character is this
dude named Philo.
Uh Filo is um
a close childhood friend of Tefra.
So, like they kind of grew up together
um
uh in mortar.
Uh And he also was actually because they were sisters. Um
He's, he was a close friend to Bloom's too
but because of like
the path that Bloom went down, like they're not really friends anymore.
Uh And the reason why that is, is because Filo is actually like a pretty decent
guy. He's like one of the only
decent guys left in more to the city.
Um,
because everybody else was just so like, dejected,
uh and like gave into the
despair of it.
Um But he's still like, you know,
optimistic, I guess.
Uh
he's actually a tinkerer like bloom.
Uh So he likes to build stuff like whatever he can get his hands on,
but he doesn't build like weapons and stuff, obviously,
like he tries to build stuff that
uh helps people out. I guess
he's not, he's uh also not as gifted as bloom.
So like he's, he's pretty good, but like bloom is actually like
bloom is like pretty much a prodigy in her own, right?
Uh If, if she was like, if she was a
elite, she'd be like,
you know,
smarter than Carver probably.
Um
uh So yeah,
just kind of helps out the needy
um and mortar.
Uh Eventually I think what would be,
would be cool is if he meets and partners up
with Carver because they kind of want the same thing
to, like, use technology to, like,
bring everybody together,
I guess.
Uh,
and that this last character, um,
uh, this last character, I,
I don't know. I mean,
well, we'll see
that character's name is Raith or
his name, his name is not Raith, but like, he's, he's called The Wraith, I guess.
Um,
and he's basically just like a serial killer. I be real with you. Uh
He's a serial killer who Markham is after, he's like, been tailing him
uh
for like his whole time since I think even before Tephra,
like joined the force or whatever.
Uh And Raith is a serial killer
who uh nobody knows if he's from mortar or
peel,
but all he knows that he, like mainly goes after and terrorizes the peel
lights.
So people think he's from mortar because he probably has like a uh a
grudge against them or whatever.
But um he's killed some mortar
mortars
too. So, like, I don't know, he's just like, kinda like a wild guard.
Um
The only distinguishing characteristic about him is that like,
he has like this weird obsession with um
like art and uh poetry. So, like every crime scene he leaves like a home,
I guess, should be funny or cool. Not funny. Cool.
Uh Not even cool when I sing.
Um interesting to
uh
you know, come up with one, I guess for every crime scene that they visit.
Um So Yeah, that's Raith.
Uh, but I don't really know what kind of
role he's supposed to have
in contrast to the main character.
I mean, the main character will, like, stop him himself or find a way to use him.
That'd be cool.
Um,
so, yeah. Uh, so those are basically the,
like,
main characters. I'm not sure if that's too many or if it's, uh,
um,
or if any, ever I'll be able to, like,
direct enough attention to everybody or how it's all
gonna come together because I kind of want,
I kind of want some of them to like, go on their own little
narratives.
Whereas, like the main character is like in the back, pulling all the strings,
like by the end of it, like, it's revealed that like,
he's actually like the one tying everything together
and then there's like the big climax and stuff and shit just like hits the fan. But
um
I also plan to
maybe include
some of the other aspects like the aspects are there.
But I don't know if I want that to be like, just straight up characters yet.
I might include
uh truth a little bit because truth is like
the direct um
rival I'll say of lies. Uh And they definitely have history together
uh because like, why wouldn't they?
Um So maybe like, truth shows up at some point.
Um
But
I was kind of thinking of like saving the aspects for like
much later maybe like a final confrontation between like all of them would be cool.
Um
Other than that, the main
idea is that
the main character lies, we'll just call him lies for now.
Um
So the vice of lies, like he gets cast out
and he lands in
peel or mortar and
peel.
Um
and he lands at like the height of tensions between the two cities
to the point where like he realizes that like, maybe he can
incite a revolution, so to speak.
Um And like be the spearhead of it
and then like kind of like fill the power vacuum
after it's uh over and like that kind of gives him the,
the means to like set out and then like begin his um
conquest of the rest of the world
now that he's like proven to himself that he can
like actually do this by like disassembling a society.
Um
But now he's gonna do that. I don't know
that's part of the magic.
Um
But yeah,
so that's uh
that's what I've got so far.
Yeah.
Well,
I need to go to bed man.
But anyway, if you
watched all of it preach
you
for that.
Um
I, I
don't know how pre
video works.
This is my first time trying it, it's pretty cool,
but I don't know if they'll be able to like put it in 1.5 times speed.
I would recommend doing that.
Uh If not or you know, u D U but I will, I will try and upload
most of what I just said. So you can just read it instead. But
I want to try this because I think it
um
for me personally, it's a bit easier
just kind of like uploading everything and hoping for the best because like,
you know,
but of course, I mean, you know, it was also fun.
I mean, it was fun, like doing all this stuff. So,
we'll see. But
I guess we'll talk more about that workshop.
So, uh, yeah,
that's it. See you.