Opening Scene - I seriously need a title generator
This was not the first door to a sealed vault that Victa had tried to enter. It wasn't the first to stump her either. But it was the first to ask for a key.
Victa squatted at the immaculate monolith, somehow untouched by the moss that had covered and consumed the surrounding ruins. She didn't read the old script that surrounded it, she was no archaeologist, nor scholar. Just an opportunist trying to make her way in the world.
An observer could easily have missed her. Her dull gray clothing seemed to blend into everything, forests, cities, and everything in between.
The light of dawn crept over the horizon, illuminating the ruins just southeast of the Sky's Memory. Those towers to north had been rebuilt and reflected the light of a rising sun that had not yet reached Victa. She stood now in the ruins of an ancient fortress that had fallen during the Death War, or perhaps even before. What she did know was that this one was different from the other vaults she'd raided. Three holes, probably for three keys, though the mechanism on the other side didn't feel like anything she had ever cracked before.
For vault doors, the best solution was usually to solve the key or riddle. If that didn't work, look for an alternate entrance, opened up or weakened by decay. The third option was an assault on the door itself, which often worked if the door wasn't magically shielded like this one was.
She copied the inscriptions above the three holes. There were people who might know what it said. Then she picked up her light travel pack and moved on, back north toward the rebuilt city. The morning air was still and cold, tainted by the smell of decay. There was light drops from the overcast sky that threatened to turn into snow. Victa moved quietly, not wanting to disturb any of the denizens of the ruins, living or not.
She passed rows of bunkers that had long since been opened and raided. She saw corpses in some of them and did not stop to check to see if they were truly just corpses. She'd encountered plenty of undead, and most simply left her alone if she left them alone. She'd heard about times when that was not so, when they moved in legions across the land, two eras ago.
Victa passed more rows of bunkers and homes. Some still untouched. She would return with help, especially if she could find someone who could read the text above that door. She knew there was something great inside, not that she would admit that it was more than just a hunch on her part.
She passed more homes and bunkers, mostly overgrown with moss, paused to examine an odd structure that she suddenly realized was a dock of some kind. She shuddered to think of what must have happened to remove a lake from this place.
Travelling was easier beyond the edge of these ruins, but she had long since learned that it was all ruins, all of it, the whole world, as far as she could tell. It was only a matter of asking how old. There was not a place that had not been built upon by human hands, ground to dust, then build upon again, until some calamity brought it down. No stone so old that it had not seen the touch of minds with plans and ambitions.
Up ahead the towers of Sky's Memory came closer, with dozens of airships docked and others arriving and departing. The city sprawled below with gate-less walls not designed to be crossed from the ground. There were ways in, of course, but most people left and arrive by airship. Too many other nasty things out here in the wilds.
Then the sounds hit her. Shouting, voices amplified to announce and direct those below. As she reached the walls the words became clearer: "All with combat skills report to the towers. Everyone else lock or barricade your doors. An undead horde is approaching the city walls."
Aside from the voice, the air was still. No movement here, outside the walls. Perhaps the absence of the sound of birds and animals should have tipped her off. But now what could she do? Join the guard? She was already outside, and her fighting abilities did not play well with others. She was good at not being seen or noticed, but didn't know if those abilities would apply to beings who didn't use their eyes to see or ears to hear.
An airship passed low overhead, close enough that she could see the odd assortment of recently conscripted soldiers aboard. It followed the walls, staying close, and she decided to follow it, quietly, while looking for a way to enter the city.
A fire rumbled in the back of her mind, white noise that she found easy to ignore as she had heard it for years now. But she knew it was there, an anger that always burned, that never let others come close for long, an anger that had kept her alone and safe for years, burning away anything that threatened her as friend or foe. A fire that would almost certainly be unleashed before this new sun set.
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There's my first attempt, no edits. Over the weekend I rolled up a new world, story, lore, everything. I took the plot map and expanded the details into an actual plot all the way up to the ninth and final chapter.
Normally I would just leave things be and let players make choices for their characters as the story progresses, since the Chaotica system is designed as a game more that a story telling engine. In this case I rolled up a couple dozen characters, picked a few that I found interesting, and pushed them through the plot tree. What you'll read here is the result, but the plot is already complete, not that I can't change it.
The whole process is great for making me aware of the flaws and benefits of my system. On the bright side, I was able to create a whole new fantasy world, lore, history, nations, locations, and lots of creepy crawlies, with the push of a button. Cool beans.
But writing the first scene was a bit tricky. I could have started there, just placing a character in a random location, and described what they did, that's how I would have started if I were telling the story out loud. But that would be less of a story, and more of a random series of events. I don't have a lot of micro events going on, and with Victa by herself, there's no one to talk to yet to try my conversation chart.
I should probably make a title generator too, but I don't want it to be all formulaic, where it feels like Harry Potter books. I'll think about it and see what I can come up with.
Comments, plot predictions, and suggestions are welcome. And of course, please contact me in Facebook if you would like to have classes or game sessions with me. Yes, classes using this game, or others, usually for learning English, Spanish, or writing. Either personal or profesional accounts are fine.
