I realize that some people might not find all this character development as interesting as the big conflict/tension battle scenes, but I assure that they are important. For the battle scenes to be full in all their glory we need to have some ideas what these protagonists are like--why they are battling and in all these situations. And while they might not be as interesting or exhilarating to all of us (though I probably personally find these scenes more interesting than the battles), these are dearly needed for the course of the story to continue well... Besides the which, if I didn't have such scenes, I wouldn't be able to invent awesome characters as Monty. Then again, perhaps all of you like these character development scenes and I'm just preaching to the choir... in that case, let's just get on to the story.
Part XIV: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Date: Amanela 16th, 114 A.U.
Bong. Bong. Bong
The bells of the Great Cathedral slowly poured out a slow long peal that moved throughout the Central cavern of Araelia. Astrid closed her eyes, unwilling to see the dead body of her great grandmother anymore.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
Her great-great-great-grandmother had lived to a ripe old age of 187, old enough to have seen the great calamity and collapse that followed the Great Upheaval. She had been a wise mentor to Astrid, and they had been very close. Astrid had confided some with her great-great-great-grandmother about the whole issue with Oldin and Marlin and the man who threatened her and such, and she had just listened; she had already been unable to talk at that point. But it had still helped Astrid to be able to talk about it. And now she had finally died after struggling against the paralysis that had taken over her body.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
Astrid felt a tear slowly run down her cheek but she didn’t look up. Most of her family was there, and some of her grandmother’s friends that were still alive. A nice small funeral; exactly how things were done at Araelia. At least she would be given a final resting place where she would be in peace, outside of the troubles of this life.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
Astrid shook her head and looked up. The rest of her family were paying their last respects to the body before leaving. Astrid looked at the body as her family members left. She almost wanted to go over, to bid her ancestor one last farewell. But what good would it do? She was dead, and would soon rot in the ground. What point was there in bidding her farewell? She was already gone. Same with burying her. It was just a lifeless body, a corpse of what it once was.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
Astrid stamped her foot; if her brother had known her thoughts he would have accused her of being too pragmatic. Maybe it was her pragmatism that caused her to have such a hard lump in her throat. Biting her lips, Astrid moved to exit the sanctuary of the Great Cathedral.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
“Really, Astrid, I don’t see how you can just view her as a corpse,” her brother, Monty, was saying. “I mean sure, she is that, but her spirit still lives!” They were at the reception after the funeral, and Astrid was once again getting into a long theological debate with her only brother, Monty.
“And I don’t see how you can believe in the Great One,” Astrid said. “I mean, really. If there was some god watching over us and protecting us, why have we received so little knowledge or instruction from him other than rambling prophecies?”
“But you believe in the prophesies!” Monty said, laughing.
Astrid pursed her lips, a bit frustrated. “Only because they’re something to hope in,” she said. “I mean, let’s look at this realistically.”
“Yeah,” Monty said. “I mean, look Astrid. For all you claim on always being realistic, you don’t always act in conformity to what you claim. You love the festivals, the Remembrance Ceremony…”
“Like I said, they’re something good to hope in,” Astrid repeated.
“You know what your problem is?” Monty asked. “It’s that your too stubborn. You claim to be one thing and will be resolute in that, yet you also stay resolute in your practices which don’t conform to what your claim.”
“And your problem is that you don’t take life seriously enough,” Astrid said. “I mean, really, at least if I will temporarily stop taking it seriously, it’s only for a time to try and refresh myself from the truth.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Monty said. “Your view of life is so cold and hard that you need something to escape to. You act as if we’re in some dark dystopian future.”
“We are!” Astrid protested. “We have been for the past one hundred and fourteen years.”
“But not as much as you claim,” Monty said. “Yes, we have to live here in hiding, but, because we’re a secret, the elves have left us alone. It’s your worldview that prevents you from seeing life for how it really is and that keeps it hard and cold for you. You wouldn’t be able to live if you didn’t escape from it every once and a while.”
“Your point being?” Astrid asked.
“Why believe in such a cold dark worldview when there is something better offered?” Monty asked. “It’s like choosing to sit in a cold dark room when you could go to a warm beach, where you can relax and realize what a great place you’re in.”
“Your warm beach is all a façade,” Astrid responded. “It seems all nice and all, but what does it offer after death? Nothing.”
“Well at least before death it offers a hope that you can trust in, unlike with you,” Monty said.
“No it doesn’t,” Astrid said. “It has all these moral rules and regulations and stuff that you have to follow.”
“But… but Astrid,” Monty said. “You like rules? You hate it when there aren’t any rules and where everything is disorganization and chaos! Remember what happened the last family reunion?”
Astrid thought back to the last family reunion—overall a state of chaos do to a lack of planning and responsibility from certain members, including Monty. Astrid shamefully remembered the night where she really lost her temper about all of it—a scene that she’d try to block out of her memory.
“These moral rules and regulations that even you will like didn’t just come out of nowhere,” Monty said. “They were given to us by one greater than us.”
“Someone who just left us to die in the grim dark future,” Astrid said. “Xavier was the last prophet, and while I live to get lost in his prophesy and hope that it’s true, really… you’re too much of an optimist, Monty.”
“Well at least what I do is consistent with my worldview,” Monty said. “While you openly admit that you contradict your own worldview.”
“I have to,” Astrid quietly said.
“Aye… that you do,” Monty said and paused. “Anyways, are you going to eat your dessert? If not I’d love to take it.”
Astrid nearly choked on her mouthful of water in laughter. “We go from a deep discussion to one about food?’
Monty shrugged. “Best to change topics at this point,” he said, putting his fork into Astrid’s dessert. “Anyways, you know me. If you’re not going to eat your dessert fast enough, you’ll have to share with me.”
Question of the Week: Of my four current main character (Flek, Astrid, Zarien, and Jroldin), which do you think is the most flat (aka, boring and predictable with an unclear peronsality) and who do you think is the most round (interesting and unpredictable with a clear personality)?
Part XIV: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Date: Amanela 16th, 114 A.U.
Bong. Bong. Bong
The bells of the Great Cathedral slowly poured out a slow long peal that moved throughout the Central cavern of Araelia. Astrid closed her eyes, unwilling to see the dead body of her great grandmother anymore.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
Her great-great-great-grandmother had lived to a ripe old age of 187, old enough to have seen the great calamity and collapse that followed the Great Upheaval. She had been a wise mentor to Astrid, and they had been very close. Astrid had confided some with her great-great-great-grandmother about the whole issue with Oldin and Marlin and the man who threatened her and such, and she had just listened; she had already been unable to talk at that point. But it had still helped Astrid to be able to talk about it. And now she had finally died after struggling against the paralysis that had taken over her body.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
Astrid felt a tear slowly run down her cheek but she didn’t look up. Most of her family was there, and some of her grandmother’s friends that were still alive. A nice small funeral; exactly how things were done at Araelia. At least she would be given a final resting place where she would be in peace, outside of the troubles of this life.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
Astrid shook her head and looked up. The rest of her family were paying their last respects to the body before leaving. Astrid looked at the body as her family members left. She almost wanted to go over, to bid her ancestor one last farewell. But what good would it do? She was dead, and would soon rot in the ground. What point was there in bidding her farewell? She was already gone. Same with burying her. It was just a lifeless body, a corpse of what it once was.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
Astrid stamped her foot; if her brother had known her thoughts he would have accused her of being too pragmatic. Maybe it was her pragmatism that caused her to have such a hard lump in her throat. Biting her lips, Astrid moved to exit the sanctuary of the Great Cathedral.
Bong. Bong. Bong.
“Really, Astrid, I don’t see how you can just view her as a corpse,” her brother, Monty, was saying. “I mean sure, she is that, but her spirit still lives!” They were at the reception after the funeral, and Astrid was once again getting into a long theological debate with her only brother, Monty.
“And I don’t see how you can believe in the Great One,” Astrid said. “I mean, really. If there was some god watching over us and protecting us, why have we received so little knowledge or instruction from him other than rambling prophecies?”
“But you believe in the prophesies!” Monty said, laughing.
Astrid pursed her lips, a bit frustrated. “Only because they’re something to hope in,” she said. “I mean, let’s look at this realistically.”
“Yeah,” Monty said. “I mean, look Astrid. For all you claim on always being realistic, you don’t always act in conformity to what you claim. You love the festivals, the Remembrance Ceremony…”
“Like I said, they’re something good to hope in,” Astrid repeated.
“You know what your problem is?” Monty asked. “It’s that your too stubborn. You claim to be one thing and will be resolute in that, yet you also stay resolute in your practices which don’t conform to what your claim.”
“And your problem is that you don’t take life seriously enough,” Astrid said. “I mean, really, at least if I will temporarily stop taking it seriously, it’s only for a time to try and refresh myself from the truth.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Monty said. “Your view of life is so cold and hard that you need something to escape to. You act as if we’re in some dark dystopian future.”
“We are!” Astrid protested. “We have been for the past one hundred and fourteen years.”
“But not as much as you claim,” Monty said. “Yes, we have to live here in hiding, but, because we’re a secret, the elves have left us alone. It’s your worldview that prevents you from seeing life for how it really is and that keeps it hard and cold for you. You wouldn’t be able to live if you didn’t escape from it every once and a while.”
“Your point being?” Astrid asked.
“Why believe in such a cold dark worldview when there is something better offered?” Monty asked. “It’s like choosing to sit in a cold dark room when you could go to a warm beach, where you can relax and realize what a great place you’re in.”
“Your warm beach is all a façade,” Astrid responded. “It seems all nice and all, but what does it offer after death? Nothing.”
“Well at least before death it offers a hope that you can trust in, unlike with you,” Monty said.
“No it doesn’t,” Astrid said. “It has all these moral rules and regulations and stuff that you have to follow.”
“But… but Astrid,” Monty said. “You like rules? You hate it when there aren’t any rules and where everything is disorganization and chaos! Remember what happened the last family reunion?”
Astrid thought back to the last family reunion—overall a state of chaos do to a lack of planning and responsibility from certain members, including Monty. Astrid shamefully remembered the night where she really lost her temper about all of it—a scene that she’d try to block out of her memory.
“These moral rules and regulations that even you will like didn’t just come out of nowhere,” Monty said. “They were given to us by one greater than us.”
“Someone who just left us to die in the grim dark future,” Astrid said. “Xavier was the last prophet, and while I live to get lost in his prophesy and hope that it’s true, really… you’re too much of an optimist, Monty.”
“Well at least what I do is consistent with my worldview,” Monty said. “While you openly admit that you contradict your own worldview.”
“I have to,” Astrid quietly said.
“Aye… that you do,” Monty said and paused. “Anyways, are you going to eat your dessert? If not I’d love to take it.”
Astrid nearly choked on her mouthful of water in laughter. “We go from a deep discussion to one about food?’
Monty shrugged. “Best to change topics at this point,” he said, putting his fork into Astrid’s dessert. “Anyways, you know me. If you’re not going to eat your dessert fast enough, you’ll have to share with me.”
Question of the Week: Of my four current main character (Flek, Astrid, Zarien, and Jroldin), which do you think is the most flat (aka, boring and predictable with an unclear peronsality) and who do you think is the most round (interesting and unpredictable with a clear personality)?
RSS Feed