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karriezaiAerlun and Daemien’s stories, at least at the beginning, run parallel. Each story has four parts. They live worlds apart, but their lives echo each other in many ways. (It is important to note that neither of them have names for the entire first part of the story. Aerlun has many names he calls himself, from Sharp-Eyes to Fingers to Thief, but no birth name. Daemien is known in his ‘home’ as Ilek, but he hates it. Casella started calling him Ilek because he was repeating it over and over when she found him, but he learns later that it means spirit wraith, and he was screaming it because spirit wraiths just killed his family.)
So I have a problem. Aerlun and Daemien not having true names for all of the first and much of the second parts of the story isn’t so bad, I think, since it’s in first person. The trouble is that I intend to write their stories in one book, staggering their chapters. So the chapters will need to start with a designator of who the chapter is about… but I don’t know what to use for the beginning. For Daemien, I could probably use ‘Ilek’ since that’s what people call him, even if he doesn’t feel it’s his name. Aerlun, however… I could start chapters with whatever name he feels fits at the time, such as Sharp-Eyes or Adder, but I feel like it’s a bad idea so early on in the book. Readers could easily get confused as to whether it’s one character or several they’re reading about. Perhaps I could start his with ‘Fledgling Whip’ or something. Thoughts?
As another note, if I write the chapters staggered the way I want to, since there will only be four parts, the part names would be changed to fit both Aerlun and Daemien well. In other words, there wouldn’t be a Capture and a Captivity; these would be the same part, but I would choose a name that suits both characters.
Aerlun
I. Capture
His story begins on the street, making his way however he can—stealing, scavenging, working the rare job for a meal. At story opening, he is being tracked down by Silk, and no matter how he tries to hide or slip away into the shadows, Silk always seems to catch up with him… until finally Silk corners and captures him.
Silk gives him his options: training to become an Obsidian Whip or being handed over to the city guard for theft. Highly skeptical, he chooses the life of a Whip.
Part one chronicles the beginning of his transformation from a realistic street thief into a Whip blinded by the message of a higher purpose.
II. Initiate
This part of the story starts with Aerlun’s initiation and choosing his name. After deciding beforehand on a unique name, thinking to follow in Silk’s footsteps rather than choosing a name like Thief, Shadow, or Whisper, he learns that Silk’s name is no more unique than anyone else’s. Having never encountered silk, he hadn’t realized the meaning of Silk’s name. He considers going back to an old name from his street days—Adder, Sharp-Eyes, or Fingers, perhaps—but eventually realizes that Aerlun is his real name now. Nothing else fits.
Part two goes through his secondary training. It shows that he has become wrapped up in the preaching of the Obsidian Whips, as well as that he has become infatuated with Silk. And it illustrates his skill as a Whip, and the general tone of dislike he receives from higher ranking Whips.
III. (No Title Yet)
Plots among the Whips begin to become clear; Silk realizes Aerlun’s infatuation with him and uses it to his advantage. Aerlun gets deeper and deeper into what Silk’s been up to for years, and he starts feeling conflict between Silk’s actions and the belief system he adopted from the Obsidian Whips.
It ends with the make-or-break point; Silk pressures Aerlun into coming on a mission that pushes him too far. Aerlun decides he has to go to Ashing, the commander of the Whips, or perhaps the empress herself. But Silk’s been prepared for that.
IV. (No Title Yet)
Ashing has a problem. Silk came to him in a preemptive strike against Aerlun and told him much of what he had been up to—except he said that it was Aerlun who did it all. But Aerlun, who was only a few minutes behind Silk, burst into the room in the middle of Silk’s explanation and told Ashing everything he knew about what Silk has been doing…. The argument got pretty heated and people outside the chamber heard large portions of it, making a quiet disposal of the problem almost impossible.
Ashing knows who’s telling the truth with almost absolute certainty, but leaving either one of them would cause serious trouble. Besides, very few of the other Whips like either one of the two, though for very different reasons. And so Ashing sentences them to a duel to the death, the winner facing exile from World’s End, which is something of a lose-lose situation. And so both of them leave on the first ship out of World’s End. But Silk constantly jabs and needles Aerlun, furious at their situation, until he pushes Aerlun too far. Late one night on the deck of the ship, Aerlun attacks Silk out of anger, and the fight spins out of control. Silk ends up dead. The ship’s crew enslaves Aerlun.
Daemien
I. Captivity
His story begins on the run from a life of captivity, tied to the woman who claimed to have rescued him as a toddler. While running from Casella, his captor, he witnesses a family of chameleons’ deaths at the hands of spirit wraiths, the same creatures that killed his own family when he was a toddler and forced him into Casella’s ‘care’.
He returns to Casella, feeling irrationally guilty, as if some curse on him brought the chameleon family to harm. Back in the human town of Crossings, in his ardent avoidance of Casella, he gets to know the Bear, a blacksmith moving upwards of middle age. The Bear is gruff but kind, treating people the way their personalities warrant without regard for their age, gender, race, or anything else.
Part one chronicles the beginning of his transformation from a stubbornly helpless captive of Casella, refusing to use his innate magic just to spite her, into an independent young man who understands that his magic is his heritage are his to use as he pleases.
II. Successor
This part of the story starts with Daemien asking the Bear’s true name and, on a whim, if he could use it since the Bear obviously isn’t. Amused, the blacksmith agrees, but nothing comes of it; to everyone in Crossings, Daemien is Ilek, and that won’t soon change. The Bear has convinced Daemien to learn to control his magic, and Daemien has also gotten to know a pair of kids whose father trades with chameleons and shifters. Daemien has both shifter and chameleon blood, and the kids have learned a lot about the two races from their father, so they are able to teach Daemien about his heritage.
Part two chronicles Daemien’s coming into his own, learning about his heritage and mastering his innate abilities. It also chronicles great tragedy: the loss of Daemien’s friendship with the kids who knew about his heritage when their father leaves them for a chameleon woman and the Bear’s death. When the Bear dies, Daemien has no one left. He truly adopts the name Daemien and decides to leave Casella once and for all.
III. (No Title Yet)
Daemien joins one of the exploratory trading caravans that have been traveling north into shifter/chameleon territory. He does it to learn more about his heritage, but he learns much more. He learns about the nature of the human Black Coast Empire. He learns about the undercurrent of politics and discrimination. The caravan leader is a good man, but there are those in the caravan who want to seize opportunities to enslave the shifters, chameleons, and mixes of the north to sell as novelties.
True, the races in the north have very different customs, but Daemien—and the caravan leader—believe that they can learn to coexist and make more of a profit through trade as equals than through enslavement. But then the caravan leader is found murdered, his body hung from the branches of a skin thief (that’s a shifter-chameleon mix, like Daemien) communal tree.
IV. (No Title Yet)
In the aftermath of the murder, Daemien quickly realizes that the shifter-chameleons aren’t to blame. They have many odd customs and have done several things that seem detestable to the humans, but they have always owned up to it. This time, they vehemently refuse that they killed the caravan leader. It doesn’t take Daemien long to realize who must have done it: the caravan leader’s loudest, most obnoxious rival in the caravan, a man who wants to enslave shifters and chameleons and who is also, conveniently, second-in-line for command.
But when Daemien tries to do something about it, the vast majority of the caravan members either don’t believe him or don’t care. He threatens to tell the shifter-chameleons, who would certainly retaliate, but the new caravan leader stops him. So he says that he’ll leave them in peace if they just let him go, but the man refuses. Pulling out the contract the illiterate Daemien signed to become a part of the caravan, the man announces that Daemien has broken contract and is consequently enslaved. So are all the shifter-chameleons of the village for their supposed ‘murder’ of the old caravan leader.
So I have a problem. Aerlun and Daemien not having true names for all of the first and much of the second parts of the story isn’t so bad, I think, since it’s in first person. The trouble is that I intend to write their stories in one book, staggering their chapters. So the chapters will need to start with a designator of who the chapter is about… but I don’t know what to use for the beginning. For Daemien, I could probably use ‘Ilek’ since that’s what people call him, even if he doesn’t feel it’s his name. Aerlun, however… I could start chapters with whatever name he feels fits at the time, such as Sharp-Eyes or Adder, but I feel like it’s a bad idea so early on in the book. Readers could easily get confused as to whether it’s one character or several they’re reading about. Perhaps I could start his with ‘Fledgling Whip’ or something. Thoughts?
As another note, if I write the chapters staggered the way I want to, since there will only be four parts, the part names would be changed to fit both Aerlun and Daemien well. In other words, there wouldn’t be a Capture and a Captivity; these would be the same part, but I would choose a name that suits both characters.
I. Capture
His story begins on the street, making his way however he can—stealing, scavenging, working the rare job for a meal. At story opening, he is being tracked down by Silk, and no matter how he tries to hide or slip away into the shadows, Silk always seems to catch up with him… until finally Silk corners and captures him.
Silk gives him his options: training to become an Obsidian Whip or being handed over to the city guard for theft. Highly skeptical, he chooses the life of a Whip.
Part one chronicles the beginning of his transformation from a realistic street thief into a Whip blinded by the message of a higher purpose.
II. Initiate
This part of the story starts with Aerlun’s initiation and choosing his name. After deciding beforehand on a unique name, thinking to follow in Silk’s footsteps rather than choosing a name like Thief, Shadow, or Whisper, he learns that Silk’s name is no more unique than anyone else’s. Having never encountered silk, he hadn’t realized the meaning of Silk’s name. He considers going back to an old name from his street days—Adder, Sharp-Eyes, or Fingers, perhaps—but eventually realizes that Aerlun is his real name now. Nothing else fits.
Part two goes through his secondary training. It shows that he has become wrapped up in the preaching of the Obsidian Whips, as well as that he has become infatuated with Silk. And it illustrates his skill as a Whip, and the general tone of dislike he receives from higher ranking Whips.
III. (No Title Yet)
Plots among the Whips begin to become clear; Silk realizes Aerlun’s infatuation with him and uses it to his advantage. Aerlun gets deeper and deeper into what Silk’s been up to for years, and he starts feeling conflict between Silk’s actions and the belief system he adopted from the Obsidian Whips.
It ends with the make-or-break point; Silk pressures Aerlun into coming on a mission that pushes him too far. Aerlun decides he has to go to Ashing, the commander of the Whips, or perhaps the empress herself. But Silk’s been prepared for that.
IV. (No Title Yet)
Ashing has a problem. Silk came to him in a preemptive strike against Aerlun and told him much of what he had been up to—except he said that it was Aerlun who did it all. But Aerlun, who was only a few minutes behind Silk, burst into the room in the middle of Silk’s explanation and told Ashing everything he knew about what Silk has been doing…. The argument got pretty heated and people outside the chamber heard large portions of it, making a quiet disposal of the problem almost impossible.
Ashing knows who’s telling the truth with almost absolute certainty, but leaving either one of them would cause serious trouble. Besides, very few of the other Whips like either one of the two, though for very different reasons. And so Ashing sentences them to a duel to the death, the winner facing exile from World’s End, which is something of a lose-lose situation. And so both of them leave on the first ship out of World’s End. But Silk constantly jabs and needles Aerlun, furious at their situation, until he pushes Aerlun too far. Late one night on the deck of the ship, Aerlun attacks Silk out of anger, and the fight spins out of control. Silk ends up dead. The ship’s crew enslaves Aerlun.
I. Captivity
His story begins on the run from a life of captivity, tied to the woman who claimed to have rescued him as a toddler. While running from Casella, his captor, he witnesses a family of chameleons’ deaths at the hands of spirit wraiths, the same creatures that killed his own family when he was a toddler and forced him into Casella’s ‘care’.
He returns to Casella, feeling irrationally guilty, as if some curse on him brought the chameleon family to harm. Back in the human town of Crossings, in his ardent avoidance of Casella, he gets to know the Bear, a blacksmith moving upwards of middle age. The Bear is gruff but kind, treating people the way their personalities warrant without regard for their age, gender, race, or anything else.
Part one chronicles the beginning of his transformation from a stubbornly helpless captive of Casella, refusing to use his innate magic just to spite her, into an independent young man who understands that his magic is his heritage are his to use as he pleases.
II. Successor
This part of the story starts with Daemien asking the Bear’s true name and, on a whim, if he could use it since the Bear obviously isn’t. Amused, the blacksmith agrees, but nothing comes of it; to everyone in Crossings, Daemien is Ilek, and that won’t soon change. The Bear has convinced Daemien to learn to control his magic, and Daemien has also gotten to know a pair of kids whose father trades with chameleons and shifters. Daemien has both shifter and chameleon blood, and the kids have learned a lot about the two races from their father, so they are able to teach Daemien about his heritage.
Part two chronicles Daemien’s coming into his own, learning about his heritage and mastering his innate abilities. It also chronicles great tragedy: the loss of Daemien’s friendship with the kids who knew about his heritage when their father leaves them for a chameleon woman and the Bear’s death. When the Bear dies, Daemien has no one left. He truly adopts the name Daemien and decides to leave Casella once and for all.
III. (No Title Yet)
Daemien joins one of the exploratory trading caravans that have been traveling north into shifter/chameleon territory. He does it to learn more about his heritage, but he learns much more. He learns about the nature of the human Black Coast Empire. He learns about the undercurrent of politics and discrimination. The caravan leader is a good man, but there are those in the caravan who want to seize opportunities to enslave the shifters, chameleons, and mixes of the north to sell as novelties.
True, the races in the north have very different customs, but Daemien—and the caravan leader—believe that they can learn to coexist and make more of a profit through trade as equals than through enslavement. But then the caravan leader is found murdered, his body hung from the branches of a skin thief (that’s a shifter-chameleon mix, like Daemien) communal tree.
IV. (No Title Yet)
In the aftermath of the murder, Daemien quickly realizes that the shifter-chameleons aren’t to blame. They have many odd customs and have done several things that seem detestable to the humans, but they have always owned up to it. This time, they vehemently refuse that they killed the caravan leader. It doesn’t take Daemien long to realize who must have done it: the caravan leader’s loudest, most obnoxious rival in the caravan, a man who wants to enslave shifters and chameleons and who is also, conveniently, second-in-line for command.
But when Daemien tries to do something about it, the vast majority of the caravan members either don’t believe him or don’t care. He threatens to tell the shifter-chameleons, who would certainly retaliate, but the new caravan leader stops him. So he says that he’ll leave them in peace if they just let him go, but the man refuses. Pulling out the contract the illiterate Daemien signed to become a part of the caravan, the man announces that Daemien has broken contract and is consequently enslaved. So are all the shifter-chameleons of the village for their supposed ‘murder’ of the old caravan leader.
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