Arthur's Quest - A peek into the creative process

[wiseheart]

This post will be full of spoilers, so, in the unlikely case that you intend to read the story, you shouldn't look behind the tag. On the other hand, if you don't mind being spoiled and love to discuss different aspects of a story, you're welcome to look.


So, I've finished Chapter 06 today, and the story has already taken a few interesting turns.

Canon characters I have included so far are (not counting the main cast, of course):
- Morgause - well, sort of; she isn't really active or whatnotand will probably be killed off, eventually. Morgana needs to become a person of her own, not just Morgause's puppet;
- Isilder, the Head Druid;
- Hunith;
- William (the farmer boy who posed as Arthur in "The Once and Future Queen");
- Lancelot;
- Gwaine;
- Sir Leon;
- Elyan;
- Percival;
- Alice;
- Gilli;
- Sir Godwyn;
- Princess Elena of Gawant;
- Geoffrey of Monmouth;
- Sir Owein and Sir Pellinor, the two young cockerels who fought the Black Knight and lost - I decided that they didn't die but had been lying in magically enchanted sleep between life and death ever since... and yes, I even came up with an explanation how that happened, even though that explanation probably sucks; Owein has also been identified with Sir Owein the Bastard from the legends;
- Branwen - the maid Lady Helen presumably kills in the pilot episode; I simply assumed that she recovered after Helen's magic had been broken, because I needed a familiar face in the castle;
- Alis, Beatrice, Cathryn and Rowena - all female characters who appeared chiefly in "The Witchfinder"; I promoted them to castle servants, for the abovementioned reason;
- Sir Bedivere - it is only mentioned that he somehow got lost when they hunted the Questing Beast; I assumed that he was injured and came away with a stiff leg, becoming Uther's cup-bearer;
- Sir Alynor - the highly successful knight from "The Once and Future King", where the assassin Myror killed him... well, badly injured, in my little AU;
- Sir Geraint, who had the common sense to retreat when he saw that they had no chance;
- Gregory, Captain and weapons master of the Castle Guard;
- Morris, one of the castle servants;

Characters borrowed from the Arthurian legends and twisted around to match the requirements of this story:
- Sir Erec of the Marshes, who here is the brother of Tristan du Bois' wife and half-brother of Lancelot;
- Sir Kay, who is the son of Tristan du Bois and the foster son of Sir Erec; he is, by default, Arthur's cousin;
- Gaheris, Agravaine and Gareth, who will soon be revealed as Gwaine's half-brothers;
- Sir Bors and Lionel, Lancelot's cousins, who are the younger brothers of Sir Leon here;
- Sir Orilus, the Duke of Lalande;
- Lady Itonje, his wife, sister to Sir Geraint and Sir Erec;
- Sir Erec, brother to Sir Geraint and Lady Itonje; supposedly injured during the Great Dragon's attack and still recovering;
- Lady Enide, his bride;
- Lady Cunneware, wife to Sir Geraint and sister to Sir Orilus
- Sir Yvain the Valiant, half-brother to Sir Owein the Bastard;
- Sir Girflet;
- various other knights were also introduced but had no role whatsoever so far, so I won't name them just yet;

Original characters:
- Benet, a journeyman blacksmith, working for Elyan;
- Zulfiya, the apothecary's apprentice; a character loosely based on "Robin Hood"s Saracen girl, Djaq;


A character list has been created and added to the Database of my Otherworlds fantasy and horror Yahoo group; unfortunately, only group members can see it. Currently, it contains 67 characters, but there will be more, eventually. I'll post another entry about what mythological/mythical/fantasy elements I have added to the series' quite convulted mix.

Comments

[artemis10002000]

I can't afford to procrastinate right now, so I'll just bookmark this to read it later, but I just had to remark on how organized you are. It never ceases to amaze me.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

The truth is, I need to be organized. Otherwise I would never be able to get anything written. I simply have too many irons in the fire at the same time.

Besides, this is just the character listing. In the next post I'll list the mythological elements included in the story, and that is when it will get really complicated.

[artemis10002000]

Sounds intriguing! ^^

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It's up now. Of course, since I've posted it, I came up with a bunch of whole new ideas, mostly for the mythology, but I can't really discuss them just yet, because that would practically kill the suspense of the story. So, they are rather plot events than real mythology.

In any case, there is one idea I can talk about without spoiling anything. The Fallen Kings belonged to the House of Don (Sun god = fire & air) and to the House of Llyr (Sea god = water & earth), respectively. The sons of Don are great warrior Kings. The daughters of Llyr are powerful enchantresses. Albion can only be united in peace if the last son of Don (=Arthur) marries the last true daughter of Llyr (=a princess with inherited magic).

I presume you can understand why that could become a serious problem?

Also, the children of a Don warrior and a Llyr enchantress are blessed. However, the children of a Llyr warrior and a Don sorceress are considered an abomination. And we do have such a cursed child in the show...

[artemis10002000]

I presume you can understand why that could become a serious problem?
Oh yes, indeed! So that will become a plot point in this story?

And we do have such a cursed child in the show...
Uh, you talking about Mordred? Sorry if it's a dumb question, but my knowledge about Arthurian legends is truly close to zero!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

So that will become a plot point in this story?

Yes. I don't know how much you've seen from Season 3, but I've made the changeling princess (Elena) a daughter of the House Llyr - just not an enchantress. Which, IMO would explain why Uther would want Arthur to marry Elena, of all available princesses. And why she's called a princess, while her father isn't called a king. I assumed the had the Llyr heritage from her mother.


Uh, you talking about Mordred? Sorry if it's a dumb question, but my knowledge about Arthurian legends is truly close to zero!

Yes, but it's the Mordred of the series, not the Mordred of the legends, where he's either one of Gawain's brothers or, the more popular version, the child of Arthur and Morgan, born from incest. I gave you a rather... interesting parentage here, I'm sure you'll appreciate it.

In any case, I wanted to explain why a child of the peaceful Druids would turn out a vengeful, murderous monster only a year later. Sure, there was Alvarr's influence, but that wouldn't have been enough.

Quite frankly, I didn't find Morgana's sudden turn to complete evil convincing, either. And since I'll be working with evil!Gwen in this story, perhaps I'll eventually redeem Morgana, although the way there will be long and thorny.

[artemis10002000]

I've only seen the pilot episode of season 3.

*nod* The version of Mordred's parentage I'm familiar with is the Arthur/Morgan version - which they, of course, couldn't have used for the show.

I was rather disappointed by how they continued Morgana's storyline, actually. I liked her descent into evil in the first season since they did it so slowly and I thus found it believable. I never really got her change in season 2 - yes, there were several decisive moments, but even put together, they just didn't add up to such an immense betrayal of not just Arthur but everyone she has ever known and loved to me. Then, by the opening of season 3, they suddenly had her a cackling witch brewing evil concoctions in a cauldron in a cave. While I appreciated the irony and bow to witch fairy tales, it just wouldn't let me take her seriously as a villain.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It's only getting worse during Season 3, until she becomes this scheming, evilly smirking, homicidal beast. Such a waste of an interesting character. They should have shown her change at a much slower pace, keeping open for her the possibility of turning back.

Besides, she's just a puppet for Morgause, so yeah, it's hard to take her seriously. Morgause is all this planning and scheming witch "We must bide our time" and such, and Morgana just wants to kill everyone, all of a sudden. Her reign as the Queen of Camelot was particularly cheep and trashy.

[artemis10002000]

Ugh, not looking forward to the rest of season 3 in regards to Morgana then, between the attempts to kill Arthur and evil smirks.

I'm certainly going to take a look at the lists when I have the brain power, though I don't know if it'll suffice for actually *helpful* comments. My brain is pretty much reduced to "pretty" and "not pretty" from the stress. Ugh, seven more weeks of hell ahead of me!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Your comments are always helpful, because they make me rethink my concepts that tend to get horribly convulted at times. So, while I'm trying to explain them to an innocent bystander, they might eventually get some sense at the end of the process.

Whence come the weeks of hell?

[artemis10002000]

I'm already in them, actually. It'll last until 1st week of July, then I have to be done with lots of stuff.

Yeah, I know that feeling. When you just list it in your head, it all makes sense, you only notice the gaps when you try to explain it to someone else or write it down in a linear, organized manner.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Poor you! Is the stress work-related or uni-related?

I'm currentyl in the write down in a linear manner phase. I've just set up a notebook, with one page reserved for each chapter, and I write down the characters in order of apprearance and the basic events that happen in said chapter. Starting on the other end of the notebook, I'll write down the various concepts of the mythology, like the endless wars between the two main Houses of the Fallen Kings, the Celtic roots of the Old Religion, the practices that are actually even older, the family backgrounds of the various characters (like Cenred and his twin brother) and so on...

[artemis10002000]

Uni-related, actually. There will be work stress as well, but it looks currently like that'll just be the usual quarterly insanity, I don't even count that anymore XD

Oooh, that sounds very intriguing! and like a lot of work...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It is. But it's also very useful. I've already discovered a continuity error I was about to make in the next part, so it's good I started organizing myself.

I do it in several of my fandoms. Torchwood, obviously, or else I won't be able to keep my various alternate universes apart. Cadfael for the opposite reason, because there continuity is very important. And for the Umbar story, because the political relationships are so complicated there that I wouldn't be able to see through them otherwise.

[artemis10002000]

I should really get into the habit as well, especially since I have this nasty habit of abandoning my originals for a year or two at a time. I just can't find the discipline. Fortunately, I don't have any fanfics so big that they would require such meticulous planning.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Heh! For the Alternate!Voyager series I have this notebook, where the changes in the plot ideas are marked in different colours, and I even put on the date when I made a change, or else I'd forget where I started from and where do I intend to arrive.

Not that it helped the series much, but still...

[artemis10002000]

betrayal of not just Uther, I meant

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know what you mean - although she did betray Arthur, too. Season 3 seems to be a series of clumsy efforts to kill Arthur one way or another - while in the beginning Morgana did her best to protect him. Not very convincing, really.

Once you have some time to waste, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the plot elements listed in the most recent post. I know, I'm terribly selfish, but you always ask so interesting questions, they help me to figure out things for myself.

I think I'll credit you as creative consultant. ;)

[artemis10002000]

Oh! Now I remember from where Owein's and Pellinor's names were familiar to me! I had been wondering about that ever since you sent me the first draft of chapter 1.

Zulfiya has caught my interest, based on who she is based on :) Will she be a Saracen girl like Djaq? That sounds like it would be a very interesting story and provide a fun outsider's perspective on Albion!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

To be perfectly honest, she's the one character I haven't figured out yet. I just loved her in the handful of Robin Hood episodes I actually got to see (still haven't found the rest, grrrrr!) and wanted her in the story as a love interest for Elyan.

So far, the only thing I've thought of is that her father was a healer in a land beyond the southern sea and was brought to Albion as a slave. How she got away from their owner, who that owner actually was and how she became the apothecary's apprentice, I still have no idea.

[artemis10002000]

Hmm, I dunno, if you make her the daughter of an escaped slave, you would have to fit slavery into your world building as well. While not free people (ugh, the English term just keeps escaping me!) are canon due to Gaius, actual slavery of people from other lands would probably be a wholly different matter - different tradition with different historical background, I mean.

I think them being free people who ended up in Albion could be interesting as well, though how that would work would depend on what century you're putting your story in - what with BBC Merlin's mix-and-shake approach to history, I reckon several centuries are free game. It might even make her culture pre-Islamic, which is really interesting, too.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

In one episode of Season 3 (I can't remember the title at the moment), Arthur and Merlin are captured by a slave trader named Jarl. So yes, slavery is actually present in the show.

But I could have them shipwrecked in Albion, too, I'm still not finished with Chapter 17 which marks Zulfiya's first appearance. We'll see.

Can you give me any pointers on pre-Islamic culture? I'm not familiar with it at all!

[artemis10002000]

I don't know much about it either, I only read some tidbits about it when I studied Islamic mythology for my demon summoner story. I checked Wikipedia and Merlin might be too late for that, though, Islam already became prelevalent in Persia during the 7th century. So you're probably talking Umayyad Caliphate, which got to Spain in the early 8th century. Which would mean Zulfiya wouldn't even need to be from an Arab country, her family could have lived in Andalusia, which would make it easier for you to get her to England regardless whether as slave or shipwrecked :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's fantastic, thank you! It's much more plausible than bring the Holy Land into the game - which, like every other aspect of actual religion, is missing from the show. Not that I mind the lack of religious platitudes, but it's not easy sometimes to place things in the right context without it.

[artemis10002000]

Yeah, bringing the Holy Land into the show when apparently Christianity doesn't exist (or at least hasn't reached England yet in their AU) would get complicated. I'm no expert on Al-Andalus, but Sicily under Emperor Friedrich had a sizable Saracen population as well, so I have to study them a bit. Thus, ask away if you wonder about something for her or her family's background. I might be able to provide you with helpful Wikipedia keywords, at least.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Will do! Finding the right keywords is half the business, and I generally suck at finding them. Thanks.