| Crystal Keep Outline; Outline and first draft, probably. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 31 2013, 07:46 PM (19 Views) | |
| Khan | Oct 31 2013, 07:46 PM Post #1 |
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Chronological Order: 1. Begin with team of scientists looking for artifacts from the ancient Xarnic civilization that used to call the Dyer Mountain Range home in centuries past. Team consists of a several geologists, archaeologists, and one anthropologist, as well as their supplies and sleds pulled by two-headed canines. Give a small background on the climate, the tribe, what they expect to find, mention subtle references to a King that ruled the Xarnic people in their golden age. 2. The scientists go out farther than anybody else has gone. Tucked between a few peaks on a summit lies a large, shimmering palace made of crystal and ice. There even appears to be ruined walls surrounding the summit by the crystal keep. They conclude that the structure doesn't look like the more recent Xarnic ruins they have found, it looks far more esoteric and ornate, but decide to go down and check anyway. 3. The scientists enter the summit and walk to the palace. The entrance appears to be shut. They uncover an inscription on a pedestal out front written in the unusual Xarnic language, but the anthropologist manages to translate it. It's some cryptic curse for those who enter the keep of the crystal king. The team isn't moved by ancient curses and decides to use a controlled detonation of blasting powder to blow open the door that is frosted shut. They store their equipment and canines out front and enter; minutes later only the anthropologist returns (time runs much faster in the keep), ragged and worse for wear. He takes some supplies, leaves the rest, and uses the dogs to return back to civilization. 4. Several months later, cut to a middle-aged man named Earl Kilgore living in the small town of Vaarlen and struggling to find ways to feed his family by performing odd jobs. At the end of a shift cleaning the manure from a farmer's animal pens, Earl goes into a pub to try to drown out a little of his feelings of being overwhelmed; the heavy taxes to help support the wars with neighboring countries are eating heavily into the income of many residents. The pub is full of druggies, prostitutes of both genders, and sad/angry men. There he sees the insane anthropologist from before drunkenly ranting absurdities and obscenities from the bottom of a bottle. Earl sympathizes with the poor sod, and asks what happened to him. The anthropologist tells him of the expedition, but doesn't go into much detail about what happened inside the keep more than vague warnings. The anthropologist mentions the rare finds and what they hoped to learn, but warns to stay away from the keep and anything to do with it, and Earl, being a poor man, doesn't plan on going there. The anthropologist drinks a bit with Earl and then wanders out into the street, warning anybody who will listen about the keep. 5. Earl returns home to his wife and son who greet him lukewarmly, his wife doesn't like it when he drinks. They've also been out working together for some craftsmen. He goes to sleep after a long day. In the morning, he quickly gets up and goes out onto the town to look for work. There he sees a posting on a board of the Erisian Eye, amid the normal job listings is an offer for a team of skilled individuals to go out and recover some artifacts in exchange for a hefty sum. Earl immediately remembers the drunk's warnings, and is conflicted over whether it is worth more to his family for him to be safe or for money to take care of them. He follows the instructions to the local town rich guy's castle estate just to see what is up. 6. The wealthy man is living in a literal castle, make subtle comparisons between the architecture in the castle and the crystal keep. He is an avid collector of trinkets and cultural items from history, he finds them very quaint. The wealthy man does not care about people or knowledge or many common desires so much as he does his collection of knick-knacks, which he will spare no expense or life to attain if they are worth it. His wife takes advantage of her husband's love of trinkets by living vainly, hedonistically, and cheating on him with various men; they're married mostly for status. The man's been getting bored lately with the lack of good finds. He meets the small crowd of interested workers in the courtyard of his castle, his wife is there too, high on something, but quickly leaves to go do something droll. The wealthy man explains to the crowd the recovery mission, their supplies, and more importantly their reward if they finish the task, and survive. The reward is enough so that Earl can take care of his family for a long time, he decides to take the mission if he can. Show Earl signing up among a few other men and women. The anthropologist comes at the end and loudly denounces the expedition between gulps from a bottle, but is thrown out by the guards. 7. Cut back to Earl returning home and telling his wife about the expedition. She is ambivalent about the matter between the money and safety, but ultimately decides in favor of him going so they don't have to work as hard later down the road. Saying that they'll manage when he's gone, probably. Earl goes to sleep, and then the next morning says goodbye to his family as he returns to the castle. The expedition boards winged beasts to get to get to another part of the continent where the Dyer Mountains lie. 8. The team touches down a short distance away from the keep, due to unusual increased blizzard activity and high winds blasting the area. They walk the rest of the way, carting their supplies on sleds, talking aboot what their expectations are, what they're going to do with their cut of the reward. Eventually they reach the entrance of the keep and notice the warning slab out front but can't read it. It's night now, and the team unloads their equipment out front into a camp. They then prepare to enter. 9. The team enters the keep, into a huge, beautiful vestibule. Chimes and elegant ringing echoes softly in the background. The corpses of the former team are frozen like statues surrounding the double doors on the opposite side. After a few moments o' pondering, Edited by Khan, Nov 3 2013, 05:54 PM.
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7:58 AM Jul 11