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History brainstorming


Darkniciad
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Just doing a little brainstorming on Saggitariad.  He's one of the companions in the Nobles by Deed series who hasn't had much exposure at all.  I think he only has a single line in one chapter of Danica plus a mention in another.  He's also the character who had the least development in the game.  I never really figured out where I wanted to go with him.  This is as much notes for me as anything, but feel free to comment.

 

I'm tempted to write a short story about the fall of Northreach ( which I need to remember is the name of the Duchy that I established in Danica 18.  I keep calling it Mithas, after the knights who held sway there. )

 

So, Northreach fell in 990 by the timeline I have established.  All of my characters are hitting 18 at 1042-ish in the timeline with the exception of Darkni, who is older.  That puts Saj born in 1024.

 

Think I'm going to have his father get a late start and be 34 before having him.  That works out to his dad being in-womb at the time of the fall.  So, it would be Saj's pregnant grandmother who fled Northreach.

 

Doing that, an interesting twist would be for Saj's dad to have a young bride.  That's another potential short story.

 

That only puts Saj's dad in his late 50s at the time the companions lead the rebellion in Egoria.  The way aging works in my world, he would be perfectly fit for a campaign of that nature, and most certainly would have participated.  I could have him injured in some way beforehand, but I'm leaning toward him helping to rally the exiled knights once Saggitariad asks the Knights for aid.

 

The Knighthood had become political and disconnected from the populace around the time of the fall.  Serfdom had become common, for one thing.  I'm thinking that in exile, they've become even more so.  The reason Saj's dad and the older knights don't end up in control once Egoria is retaken is because the young rally around Saj to return to the Knighthood's roots of honor and protection.  Without the power that already holding the land would provide, the older knights have to defer, and quite a few come around to the new way of thinking.

 

I have to keep in mind that nobody other than Thakkor can have an established relationship at the time of the rebellion in Egoria.  Christi says in Blackhawk that everyone was making passes at her except Mindblind, and Thakkor because he was already married.  So, I need to keep Saj's eventual wife out of the picture for a while in any history stories.  Her name is Carol Darkholme, by the way.

 

Sounds like a knightly surname, so a good point to meet her would be at the time Saj is rallying the knights to help retake Egoria.

 

One thing I've always had in my head for telling Saggitariad's history story that coincides with Merchant Princes, Casting, and Lowborn is a scene from Chrono Trigger.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEOQWsVBDSk

 

That's about the best video of it I can find in a quick search.  It's the Telepod scene at the beginning, and you'll probably have to expand it to theater mode to read the text.

 

Odds are that when the story comes out, you'll know exactly where to start playing that epic Chrono Trigger theme in your head.  It's not going to be time travel, but I'm absolutely going for that selfless rush into unknown danger.

 

Just getting some thoughts down as I muse.  May expand this in days to come, as I'm beginning to think Saggitariad is the next companion who's going to get a history tale.  This also has some ties to the sequel to Blackhawk Hall, because Ari's barony borders Northreach.

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  • 10 months later...

And...  Rethinking.

 

I honestly don't remember what Saj's wife was named.  I need to dig up the character sheet.  Carol was actually Darkni's wife in the game, as evidenced by his character sheet, which I've scanned and added to one of the "about" pages.

 

The more I think about it, the more I like that name for the character I'm building for Saj's wife, though.  I don't believe Darkni's wife has ever been named, so that would free me up to give her whatever name I like.  Neither of these women had a role in the game like Devan, Christi, and Alicia did, so I'm not really going too far afield by giving them some real character and backstory.

 

In thinking about telling the story of the assault on Normandal and Egoria, I realized I don't have a thief in the party.  There wasn't one in the game.  I dealt with locked doors and such via magic and brute force.  For purposes of telling a story, having one makes more sense, though.

 

I don't want to use Raven.  But, Mindblind's connection and friendship with her gives him the knowledge to deal with the underbelly of society.  So, he could find someone when the group needed a person with skills of questionable legality.

 

Enter Carol.  The way the story is developing in my head, she's a thief of generally noble nature.  Born in Ferrartene, her parents were acrobats and burglars with a particular scheme of casing marks by masquerading as the nobility or other wealthy people.  Carol was brought up in the family business, and has their skills, including fighting with daggers, a short sword, and the martial arts.  She's no ninja, nor is she a master of the dagger like Raven, or as good of a thief, but she has a wider skill-set.

 

Because she's used to the charade of wealth, she knows how to move in polite society.  I like that for once they become the nobles of Egoria.  I also love the idea of a knight and a thief ending up together.  It makes for interesting possibilities in the blooming of their relationship.

 

So, her parents miscalculate on a job, and end up getting killed.  Many people know her face, so her cover is blown in Ferrartene.  She takes what coin and supplies she can and flees into Egoria, where it's less likely the authorities will cooperate with those in her home country than somewhere like Freeland or the Protectorates of Armand.

 

I picture her history story starting in Leonar ( the capital of Egoria ) at eighteen like everyone else.  Don't know if I'm going to have her be a virgin or have some experience from living on the dodgy path.  The latter seems more likely, though she's probably had nothing but unsatisfying, hasty sex.  Someone she meets in Leonar will be the one to show her what good sex is.

 

With that history in mind, I'll most likely start with a short set in the same vein and time period as King Thakkorias.  Fresh new rulers, trying to learn how to handle the reins of power and settling into a relationship that doesn't involve being on the road and fighting battles all the time.

 

This all popped into my head today, and I've been working outlines an such for most of the day.  Now, with the brainstorm recorded, I can finally try to get back to what I was writing LOL

 

Her story may even emerge before her husband's, because I keep running into roadblocks with him, while her story is clearer in my head.

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