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Fred Thread 1
Chatterbox: Crowd Sorcery
Fred Thread 1
Fred Thread 1
One way I develop a plot for a story is by asking myself intriguing questions that help me fully imagine my characters and their world. Your creative thinking about the questions I’ll post from time to time will spur our thoughts in new and surprising directions as we adventure together down the road toward a finished story.
Some of my Fred Threads might focus on characters you’ve created on the other threads, to encourage you to expand on a good idea. And, in time, I will be posting parts of my draft of the Cricket story for your comments.
But for my first Fred Thread, here’s a question to get us started:
There's an abandoned road, overgrown by weeds, leading straight out of town to the north. Why is it there? Where did it once lead? Why is it abandoned? What's at the end of it now?
submitted by Fred Durbin
(April 23, 2014 - 10:13 am)
(April 23, 2014 - 10:13 am)
The road leads to a Door. This Door leads to the Forbidden Realm where the Lost People live. The Lost People once lived among us, but overtime they have shunned technology and the depravity of what it's led to, and exiled themselves far away from us, building the Door and preferring to live with their candlelight and horses and no computers. No one visits them, and they never come to see us, because it's tabooed by tradition. Every renagade who tried to pass the invisible wall through the free-standing Door has been driven mad, and many have died in the attempt to breach the barrier.
The only shaky knowledge we have of their existence is the flight of the Tarunisus, who they have befriended long ago. Perhaps that is why we have made technology so important to our culture, for we have lost the ability to communicate with these beings from long ago. But the Tarunisus fly over our kingdoms often, and they would not fly if their most ancient of companions have died away.
The people in the Far Northern town of Norgast are known to having once entertained a Tarunisus.
(For a definition of a Tarunisus, see the entry I made in the Fantasy Dictionary).
This may not make any sense, but I hope it's interesting! This whole idea of us all writing a story of the magazine is really cool!
(April 23, 2014 - 5:49 pm)
The north side of the town is forgotten. It is forgotten by the rest of the town, the rest of the town's inhabitants, and even by the people who once lived there, whom, I might add, are nowhere to be found. Why? Why all of this forgetting? Because of the road. This one, simple, forgotten road.
The road is like a river, flowing down into the town, feeding it disease. The disease to forget. Forget everything.
For the select few whose minds are strong enough to have vague recollections, and their curiosity gets the better of them, they find a barren, vacant road, evidently once well traversed though no longer. They feel a strange pull to go, to see farther, to find what is at the end. Their feet begin to move forward, and their wills are no longer their own. As they walk, the more they forget everything they are leaving behind. And everything that they are leaving behind begins to forget them. The evidence that they existed begins to fade. Only basic things, such as their homes and beds and clothes remain. Writings, sketches, meals, gardens, any other physical form that must have been created or done by someone fades away. They fade from people's memories. They fade from the world.
As they walk, they begin not to notice their surroundings. It is warm, and comforting. It is happy, and you feel as if there is no reason to leave. Then the path ends. To someone who wasn't under the spell, it would look like a vacant field. But if you are inside the spell, it is a pool of light. Pure, untouched, beautiful. Once you step inside, there is no leaving. You are encased and frozen. You are still alive, but you are a prisoner of time. It is like amber, slowly encasing an ant. Yet you are alive, but unaware. You can still feel that gentle, soothing caress. That warm blanket, and something... something you can't define, but it's the most wonderful thing of all.
So... yeah. If that makes any sense. Taday!
(April 23, 2014 - 9:39 pm)
Once upon a time there was a small town called Ayesbury, straight to the left of Queenstown, straight to the right of Runswick, both of them well-known and large towns. But Ayesbury was small and went unnoticed, but for good reason. Many years ago, a werewolf had attacked Aysebury. It was slain, naturally, but not before killing Wilvin Ehmann, the local magician on the north road. The magician's ghost haunted the end of the road, casting ill-fated curses at passersby. And so the citzens of Ayesbury became afraid.
Houses residing on the north road were dismantled in a matter of hours and reappared as far away as they could go from the fated road. Men, women, and children, took considerable detours around it, often arriving late at their desired destinations, learning the new route, but being forgiven when they told the person waiting the reason of their lateness. Dares were told to go to the road, and declined. People came up with ludicrous ideas of protecting yourself from the spirit, like weaving a dog's fur through your hair, and rubbing yourself with a snake's eye lotion, and were beleived. The road became overgrown with weeds and vines, as though Mother Nature herself was trying to protect people from the phantom.
Ayesbury lived on, but as it did, so did the ghost. Nobody knew how to get rid of it. As Ayesbury became deserted, many of the inhabitants going to try their hand at the, "land of the free" the town itself became old and decrepit. The houses were overgrown by ivy and vines, the once neatly grown gardens overflowing into others nearby, and the only sounds, once full of shoes clicking against road, people talking, and sounds of livestock, was only the wind. But the ghost of the town of Ayesbury (as it came to be called) lived on.
I hope that it is alright that it sounded like a fairy tale!
(April 25, 2014 - 6:00 pm)
SO CREATIVE!!
(November 2, 2014 - 2:27 pm)
Woah! That's awesome!
Hrrr
(May 2, 2014 - 7:49 am)
Woah! That's awesome!
Hrrr
(May 2, 2014 - 7:49 am)
It was once a passage to the Rainbow Bridge, which leads from Earthgard to Skyhide, but now it is abandoned to only the weeds because of a rise in the dark magicians and pirates who have corrupted the Skyhiders and so no one from Earthgard wishes to go to Skyhide, and no one from Skyhide even remembers that Earthgard is so poor, and still believe that the ruling system is stable. At the end of the road and the start of the Rainbow Bridge, there sits a guardian, to make sure that Skyhide is safe. His name is Felemir Noidrog, and he is the last of the wakened tree spirits. The Skyhiders have forgotten about him, but for years he has been the main thing that keeps the elves and the fairies from entering the human lands and wreaking havoc with their endless war. He is the basis of the legend of the Green Man, and his face is carved on evil-warding amulets.
(I've tried to weave in the ideas of other people and find ways that they can all fit together in the eventual story. Everyone's ideas are great!!!!)
(April 25, 2014 - 6:09 pm)
Once long ago, when the sky was still blue, and magic lurked at every corner, there was a road that led to the directions of the Way. The Way was once an ancient path, where individuals would travel to find their heart's desire. The road led on through seas of demons, woods of foliage, and deserts as dry as the air around it. This road was there for a reason, to mislead greedy organisms to their heart's desire, only until they realized that the road would never end. Most died on the trail, while others were driven to madness and despair, as their hopes drained away, leaving them empty, cold, and so unlike themselves they became dangerous to the ones around them. They were lost to the power of the Way. Seeing that this road was dangerous, a group of brave souls traveled the road in order to rescue those who traveled it before it was too late. Most were driven insane instantly, since their souls were so pure, but as the group dropped in numbers, the mission was discontinued, and they never found their way home. Some people say that they still haunt those roads, because the nearby villagers sealed the entrance, and they are yearning to break free. This abandoned road never ends, and as it lies before you, what will you do now?
(April 25, 2014 - 8:41 pm)
The road is cursed. Or, at least, it is rumored to be cursed. Exactly three hundred years ago, when the town was built, the people built a road out of town to the north. They didn't need a north road. To the north of the town, it was just wilderness, and the road petered off, leading to nothing. Things kept happening. First, it rained very hard, and without warning, causing a nearby creek to overflow its banks. The north road was washed away, but only the north road. Everything else in the town was untouched. They rebuilt the road, but a fire destroyed the town. The few survivors had no idea how the fire started, but they knew it started in the bakery-- the northernmost building in town. Almost everything in the town was destroyed. Almost everyone in the town was destroyed. But the north road, this time, was untouched. The survivors rebuilt the town, but they did not rebuild the north road. "It is cursed," they whispered. They let the road become overgrown and abandoned. It still leads pointlessly into the wilderness. Nobody talks about the road, and nobody dares build on it, until...
(April 26, 2014 - 8:16 am)
There's an abandoned road, overgrown by weeds, leading straight out of town to the north. It is never traveled along, ever. Though unlucky souls who do not know that the road is not to be touched are not seen for many years, and even when they do come back, they have grown to look older than they should be, and have a slightly crazed expression. It you were ever to ask these people where they have been, they will look at you and say nothing at all, but with scared eyes, walk away as fast as possible without looking back. Yes, the townspeople had legends about what could be at the end of the road, tourture chambers, ghosts, etc. However, if you did end up venturing down this foreboding path, all you would find is a run-down old house. It is the kind of house shadowed in mystery, but begging you to come closer to learn the many secrets it possesses.
(April 26, 2014 - 8:19 am)
(This goes off my character in the first thread. I copied and pasted it, so sorry if it's in a weird format. I don't know why it does that.)
Fable
slipped outside, unnoticed, into the charcoal night. The weight of
the prophecy dragged her down. It made her feel better to know that
she had a purpose coming to wherever her feet would lead her. She
knew she did. She always had a reason. You see, many people are
always too busy to notice the small things. Not Fable. Fable always
noticed everything.
And sometimes the small things were the biggest, or most important,
things.
Today
Fable's feet were attracted to what was known as the “Weed
Pasture.” She nodded in respect to her feet. As always, she knew
that they were right. She had a feeling that she needed to do
something here. For a second she forgot the prophecy, and let her
mind take over. She remembered the map she'd been studying, the map
of this very town itself. Her eyes had stopped a moment over this
exact spot, for it seemed to be...missing
something. That was it. There was something that was supposed to be
here that wasn't.
Fable
got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the weeds. She only
winced once, when a weed scraped her cheek. The blood seemed to
comfort her—to push her forward. Once again, she knew
that there was something there. She didn't know how she knew; not
exactly. She just knew.
Closing her eyes, she pushed forward. She kept crawling like that for
what seemed like hours, until finally she clonked her head on
something metal. Opening her eyes, she studied the wooden doorway
that was in front of her. She would've backed up to look at it at a
better distance, but she couldn't—for she was corralled by weeds on
all sides.
Suddenly,
Fable realized with a start that the “Weed Pasture” was really a
road; a road so overgrown with weeds that no sensible person would
dare to enter. No one except Fable.
Why
was it so overgrown with weeds? The question haunted Fable the whole
night. Eyes illuminated by the moonlight, Fable knew there could only
be one answer. This door was part of the prophecy. She only had one
choice—to open it and see what was on the other side...
(April 26, 2014 - 9:01 pm)
You're an awesome writer, Madeline!
(July 6, 2014 - 4:27 pm)
The mysterious road leads to a dangerous ravine, where creatures dwell, the remains of an evil army who attacked the land several years ago. Their opposition is still around, much to the townpeople's joy. Their leader, Adam, will still describe the creatures, if you ask him to. 'Dark blue,' he will say, 'with tentacles. And voices so annoying, you would stab yourself so you didn't have to listen to them.' He nearly lost his amulet in the fight. He was so enraged he ordered his lieutenant to put so much TNT under them that they would be trapped in an unescapable chasm. It is said they are simply waiting for an innocent person to come to the river they live in. Then they will convince him or her to help them attack the world, and this time, they will not lose.
If ONE PERSON gets the references I hid in here, I will FREAK OUT.
This is kind of a fanfic, but hey, I'll see what you think.
(April 29, 2014 - 5:44 pm)
Skydoesminecraft obviously :p
(May 2, 2014 - 3:09 pm)
It is not really a road, but a Limious: a creature that disguises itself like a road that leads nowhere. If people ever take the road, when they turn back, its mouth opens up and eats them. If they try to flee it chases them, captures them, then puts them in a stomach for agonizing long slow dissolving. People learned not to take the "road". Limousines cannot move after they settle or pick a place to pretend to be a road, so it is stuck where it is.
(May 1, 2014 - 2:54 pm)