16 réponses à ce sujet

[Housecarl]

Hello, I've been working on a fanfiction for awhile now, and it's very, very low fantasy. It's focusing on a fisherman who signs up to the Arl of Denerim's guard, and fights at Ostagar.

My idea behind it is that it will focus on the gritty, unholy elements of fighting the blight; while the Warden goes off and does all these heroic things, the average soldier is still, desperately, trying to hold back the Darkspawn and evacuate civilians.

I don't intend to make Wulfric a great hero, and he will lack the fighting ability of, say, Sharpe (in most situations), but I really want to convey the feeling that luck and experience decide alot of things.

So, here's the questions:
-How long should I say the Blight lasts? (From Ostagar to the defeat of the Archdemon)
-Should I make it a Squad-story, with several other characters, or just focus on Wulfric?
-Should I include a romance plot?
-How far can I stretch his luck?

[Raven Wallencraft]

Sounds like a great story angle. In my humble opinion, the blight lasts abut 3-4 weeks. A squad story would be interesting, but focus on the protagonists perceptions of events. Romance, definitely, though not at the expense of dealing with the dirtier side of war... maybe a romp with taven 'professional' or maybe through saving/meeting a lady during the campaign. Seems very interesting to me. Good luck with it.

[DreGregoire]

I believe the most agreed upon time of the blight from Ostagar to Archdemon defeat is one year or there abouts. But you could figure this out yourself by figuring out time and distances and how much time the warden and party spent in different areas.

If you make it a squad-story you would have a wealth of characters to bring in and out of the story, sometimes this is good if you aren't looking on getting too deep into those characters, but you may want to still focus on a specific few.

Romance plots are always fun or just a turn in the straw is nice. Romance sells I hear. LOL.

You could stretch luck pretty far. I mean how is it that your character avoids getting sick but so and so of your squad had to be killed because he became tainted.

Sounds like a fun story to write

Modifié par DreGregoire, 16 février 2011 - 10:18 .

[Addai]

Sounds like a great story. Personally I could see this as a lone sort-of-hero on a journey type of plot. Like the novel Cold Mountain, if you're familiar with that. It depends on what tickles your fancy and what you think your strength as writer is. Are you good at creating an odd cast of characters that are interesting even though they come and go? Or do you want to see your protagonist develop in a deeper relationship, or show how his existing relationships are affected by his becoming a soldier, or make a Band of Brothers type story?

Modifié par Addai67, 16 février 2011 - 04:52 .

[Housecarl]

I'm probably going to go with one year via time frame.

And I'm good at dialogue and description, but when it comes to moving the plot along quickly, I tend to fall flat.

I like the idea of Band of Brothers, definitely, and I could get some real variation. My real problem right now is how Wulfric survives Ostagar.



Thanks for the advice so far! All awesome!

[KSuri]

Wulfric could have fallen on the field but ended up buried beneath a bunch of his brethren and was over looked by the Darkspawn as they pushed onto and past the Tower of Ishtal. It's gross but I knew a guy growing up who was a Vietnam vet. Lost his whole squad to the VC and was "missed" because he'd been knocked out by a grenade that landed nearby, injured, and was thought to be dead or close to it. He woke up several hours later under a pile of his friends and made his way through the jungle to (eventually) find US troops holed up in the jungle. To hear him tell it you got a very good idea of what it was like to be covered in mud, blood and the viscera of your friends. He was also half crazy from the experience and fevered from the beginnings of infection. He wasn't quite right 30 years later but he said things about how he killed VC while he was looked for a safe place. Scared the crap out of me.

Modifié par KSuri, 16 février 2011 - 05:44 .

[Housecarl]

KSuri wrote...

Wulfric could have fallen on the field but ended up buried beneath a bunch of his brethren and was over looked by the Darkspawn as they pushed onto and past the Tower of Ishtal. It's gross but I knew a guy growing up who was a Vietnam vet. Lost his whole squad to the VC and was "missed" because he'd been knocked out by a grenade that landed nearby, injured, and was thought to be dead or close to it. He woke up several hours later under a pile of his friends and made his way through the jungle to (eventually) find US troops holed up in the jungle. To hear him tell it you got a very good idea of what it was like to be covered in mud, blood and the viscera of your friends.

I think this could definitely work. The idea that immediately springs to mind is that not all of the bodies on top of him are dead; that's unlikely. But don't the Darkspawn eat the dead?

[KSuri]

They couldn't eat everyone right away. And weren't the Darkspawn pushing toward Lothering. Who's to say the Archdemon wasn't giving them direction to gather what they needed to resupply and keep moving. I haven't played "Return to Ostegar" so don't know how many are lurking around. Even if there is only a small contingent hanging back at Ostegar with the main body driving into the Bannorn I think your hero could still make an escape.

[Addai]

Housecarl wrote...
I think this could definitely work. The idea that immediately springs to mind is that not all of the bodies on top of him are dead; that's unlikely. But don't the Darkspawn eat the dead?

They appear to eat them.  Morrigan says she thinks they are eating corpses, and the ogre in the Tower of Ishal appears to be eating his kills.  The devs have said they don't need to eat, so maybe it's just a vengeance thing or it's an instinctive memory of when they did eat or something like that.  You could show us your theory in your story. 

[Housecarl]

That makes sense. I'm thinking of something along the lines of him sacrificing another survivor for his skin. I really want to convey the idea that in truly crap situations, it's usually the ruthless guy who gets out alive. Thanks again, that's clarified a fair bit!

[KSuri]

Just be careful that you don't make him difficult to like from the get go.

[DreGregoire]

So you definately want him to have been in the Ostagar battle? Because another option might be that he/they were on a scouting mission in the wilds when it went down. There were survivors of the main part of the battle, not sure they wouldn't be considered deserters or cowards though unless you come up with a good reason why they escaped. Could your person or troop been tasked with guarding the other gates? Just some more ideas, not trying to change your mind or anything

Modifié par DreGregoire, 16 février 2011 - 08:37 .

[DreGregoire]

Oh did the original Arl of Denerim make it to Ostagar? I can't think if it was him we heard rumors about or somebody else. I suppose even if it was him he could have sent troops on ahead to join the Kings Army.

[Housecarl]

Yep, Vaughan's father Urien died at Ostagar. And I've got Wulfric at Ostagar, learning a harsh lesson, if only so that later on he can say, legitimately, that he has been in a large battle; something to distinquish him.

[Housecarl]

Another question: in the actual cinematic, it's pretty clear that the Warriors at Ostagar eventually break off into individual combat. But my belief would be that, well, it isn;t how you would fight a numerically superior foe. Infact, virtually no large scale battles end up like that. Even in unorganised armies, it's usually down to lines of battle. Not being at the front would mean Wulfric could survive, atleast for a time, and experience the hell of a pitched engagement.



Is this alright?

[KSuri]

Cinematic=Dramatic. I would lean more towards keeping with conventional tactics and having him somewhere that wasn't taking as much heat but still involved enough to give him the opportunity to survive and the experience of actual battle.

[Housecarl]

Okay, I've certainly got the first chapter ready. Read through, checked, may go over it one more time just in case.



But what's puzzling me is the title. The first thing that pounces to my head is simply 'Dog Dirt'; it contrasts with all the others out there, and it really conveys a feeling of grit and yet lowborn humour. But is it a decent title?