It's been too long since I've posted a project up here, so here's a thing!
This is the general timeline/outline of the novel project I've been working on for the past year.
1: Initialization of the Maelstrom Skirmish
Setup of geopolitical strife and breakdown of economic crash.
Instead of accepting bankruptcy (and a hostile takeover), the US launches a thermobaric (all the destruction of a vast nuke, none of the radiation) weapon at Asia (who holds all the debts), and one is launched in return. (Called the Blacklight, which creates a radioactive self-cohesive cloud that causes insanity, possibly through large scale empathy. Whatever it does, it makes large cities into deathttraps) (why does this not start WWIII? No idea)
A scientific facility named Arkencrad is populated as an evac shelter.
2: Global warming reaches a point of obvious no return. The international announcement that the world will be dead in several years is called “The Revelation”
Groups flock to churches and to science for solutions and hope
Clean technology kicks into high gear, too little too late
3: Magic is discovered by Arkencrad staff
The akashic field is discovered
The co-processor system is built to harness and refine the magic into something usable
Three people sacrifice themselves to complete the system as translators between human casters and the field
Everyone quickly learns magic, and The Ritual is planned
A great pilgrimage to Arkencrad is made, and the ritual works
Everyone in the facility and the surrounding area dies immediately. Everyone who was further away but casting feels the backlash, many begin dying
4: Reconstruction begins
The Blacklight cloud is discovered to have changed, and begins destroying technology with EMP effects, and behaves erratically, making meteorologists who can track and attempt to predict the storm's movements highly important.
Magic users begin to develop mental issues (dementia). The church, revitalized in the wake of the Revelation, and stating the damage being caused by it as sufficient proof, successfully makes casting mildly taboo. Any attempt to ban or induce sanctions on training is dissuaded by the historical necessity of Life day and the ongoing reconstruction projects that could not be completed without magical means (Ecology, mainly).
Governance begins to reconstruct, but in a decentralized manner.
The shadows begin to move, and while at first it’s imperceptible, over time it becomes obvious. Since no ill effects are discovered about the shadows, it just becomes another quirk in a weird new world.
5: The Kadson experiments
The first publicly noticed Malady shadow attack results in the death of Kadson, and a swath of dead shadows surround the scene.
As police investigate, they run across a very carefully prepared report on the dangerous nature of the shadow creatures, and a comprehensive plan to fight them. The report also contains all the necessary information on how magic works to safely cast.
As police investigate, they run across a very carefully prepared report on the dangerous nature of the shadow creatures, and a comprehensive plan to fight them. The report also contains all the necessary information on how magic works to safely cast.
Also in this collection are a series of videos and unsent letters. The videos contain the record of his experiments, which were horrific and inhumane. Kadson preludes the series with an explanation of why they were necessary, and the plan for his death. He asks the police that watch the tapes to send the letters, as they are apologies to the families and friends of all who he killed, and for them to follow his program for creating guardians against the shadows and increasing the safety for all in casting. He says that they were sacrificed, himself included, to provide a better future, and that their sacrifices should not be in vain.
The police, though sickened, agree to spread the results and send the letters, and cover up the experiments.
6: The Great reconstruction
Following the info dump from the Kadson experiments, magical researchers are able to heal many of those who were broken by casting.
With a massive resurgence of magic users, much of the church begins upping its attempts to stop the casting, but a second faction forms that takes the role of magical and spiritual guardians (alongside the secular sects).
Magical creature creation takes off as a viable research field for replacing extinct species, along with construction, reforestation, and several other career tracks.
The guardians form an extensive global network to fight off malady shadows.
7: Asher’s sister becomes a guardian, and subsequently dies
While on a basic mission for the guardians, the sister of Asher encounters a much higher level monster than she can handle. She sacrifices herself to destroy it.
Asher decides to become a guardian, and make sure that no one has to face one of those things again. This becomes an obsession, and he eventually researches ways to get rid of the Maladies once and for all.
Asher creates a spell that would stop the shadows (either through crashing the magic system, or using every magic user as a processor). He has the full support of both branches of the church, many of the guardians, and most of the populace. When the time for the spell comes, however, it becomes obvious that there will be a terrible side effect (destruction of existing magical creatures? Death of all magic users? Reduced lifespan of all humans?), but in his obsession he refuses to stop the spell.
Ashers mentor interrupts the spell, turning herself into a local co-processor and locking him within her mind (physical or mental lock only?) The sealing of Asher is a divisive event.
As a side effect of her co-processing, all shadows cease to form in a large area around them (20 miles?), and magic is safe to cast within that radius.
8: Asher returns, and grieves his mentor
Years later, his mentor dies of natural causes. Asher is released, and mourns his mentor.
While he was sealed, he explored her psyche, and realized the foolishness of his obsession. He also mastered magics incomprehensible otherwise, using dream logic and understanding underpinning mental connections that could be used to cast.
After returning to a world still tormented by shadows, and understanding why they had ceased while his mentor was enspelled, he gathers a party to escort him to Arkencrad (which has been a dead zone since Life Day).
9: The journey's end
No technology can approach most of Asia, as the backlight clouds come from and return to the point above Arkencrad.
Asher uses his powers to get them close, short-teleporting them across the vast wastes into the city. The base camp that was built on Life Day is filled with beings that were once the participants. Now they are glitchy after-images, going about their tasks and activities in an infinite loop, and have built an entire fractal city out of their camp. They are terrifyingly hostile if disturbed, but will eventually return to their activities.
The entire Arkencrad facility is filled with these. No idea how the party makes it through them.
At the core, Asher discovers the co-processor system, and that one of the three people that had become the embodiments of magic had been overloaded, and had become permanently brain damaged. He removes the body and lays it to rest, before climbing into the chamber himself, and becomes the new co-processor. Magic is fixed, and the world is safe for another day.
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Also on the project docket is a plan with Jake (a great friend of mine) to build a 3d exhibition space with projection walls and motion tracking. Plans will be forthcoming. Eventually. Probably.
