Fully Aware - Where did this come from?

I've always been into fantasy growing up, and along with my sister we read an awful lot of Dragon Lance, and Forgotten Realms, and others like it. To be honest, it was my sister that got me into it, and at that point I read an awful lot, much more than I do now.

A friend of mine recently asked me about some of the old books that we used to read, one called "Kendermore" within the Dragon Lance Series. I remember it being a great story, and it was stories like that, which inspired me, and made me want to be able to write by myself. I must admit, I should probably read those stories again and remind myself of exactly what happened. Maybe it'll inspire me again to improve upon my own writing as I continue to get better.

I guess those books based around a Character called "Tasselhoff Burrfoot" if I remember that correctly, were the most inspiring, and for years after wards I spent my time writing short stories and trying to make my own characters. I made my character "Raslin Icewind" years ago, my first real character that I used in several stories, in which he always triumphed over his enemies. Yet, I always wanted more, and as I got a bit older I made him more realistic, with his own issues and beliefs, strengths and weaknesses and more. He's changed a lot over the years, probably waiting for me to get better with my writing.

He began as an elf, but quickly became human when I realized I didn't want him to appear as perfect as the general description of an Elf goes, it was at this point I gave him a stronger personality, and removed him from his perfect background, into something that felt real, something that had its problems that made him the way he was. Only thing is, I continued to change that about him, until one day I met a friend on a writing website, who included her own character, and our characters became close friends and went on adventures together. It was at this moment, Raslin finally became the character I wanted him to be, and my friend helped me find him. He's not changed since, for about five years now, and his story, will eventually be my Prequel to Fully Aware and how he comes to meet Ayithe.

So, this is where Ayithe appears, I had found Raslin, but I wanted to experiment, and while I'd previously written with other characters, they were always male, and besides Raslin, always pretty perfect. So Ayithe was someone I wanted to change with, and she unfortunately suffered because of that, she goes through some terrible things, she gets beaten, embarrassed by friends, looked down on by those around her, and in the original short story of Fully Aware she was raped.

I shared my original short story a lot, and I was impressed with the response, apparently it was good! So once I had improved with my writing again, I went back to Fully Aware, with Ayithe and decided there was so much more to her, and really she was probably the strongest character I've ever written about, because she had to over come so much. The short story of Fully Aware is nothing like what I've done now, its improved, much bigger and better and maybe a little more forgiving during that same scene which I used for the short story, for Ayithe has so much to get through in the long run.

Fully Aware, brings Raslin and Ayithe together for the first time, in a more real story. A world I felt they were destined to be in, and be part of a big adventure, that wasn't about just killing the big baddie, but about how they cope/survive in a world that isn't easy to live in. Fully Aware, is about Ayithe's story, her life and how it changes drastically when she leaves home. Most importantly, Fully Aware is also my first story, and has helped me learn as I write it, and the challenges that I've learned the characters must sometimes go through to become who they are.

Not only that, but the world that they live in, creating the world was, and is, a massive task, one which I have enjoyed greatly. I'm still creating Carnus, its a big place, and isn't touched upon much by Fully Aware, which is based in a break off part of the world Toltheria. The old map I made is still sat in one of my earlier posts. But, as I've planned more stories, Carnus will come into play with the next in the series. I do hopefully soon, plan on showing a more detailed view of the world this story is based in, I'll try for my next post.

Working Hard...

While I've not posted recently, its not because I've not been writing, I just haven't had the time to post. Plus I changed my mind on the next character stat I was going to post up.

Currently doing a lot of work on Chapter 7 & 8, mainly on seven as I don't like moving on until I'm happy with everything. Currently it's all going very well and I'm still excited about getting this finished, although I must ensure that all these scenes that I've been looking forward to, are as good as I see them in my head.

At the moment, I feel like I have more notes than anything else, but that's just because I'm ensuring I don't miss all my impotant points within the story. Currently, I'm releasing some more information on the myterious Descient, and pushing Ayithe's character forward, because by this point shes still chasing and searching for more, but I want her to realise shes taking more risks because of her own choice, rather than being carried by her companions.

Meanwhile I have another character profile, to explain the Character Descient, but without giving anything away that's central to my story.

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-Character Sheet Descient-

Name: Descient

Age:  ???

Sex:  Male

Race: Darkling

Alignment: ...A secret!

Description:

Eye Colour: A mix of red and orange

Hair Colour: None, Descient has no hair

Clothes: None

Full Description:

Descient is a Darkling and therefore his body is vaguely similar to that of a Knine and he moves on his four legs. He has no fur at all and appears like he has been burned and scared but it is actually his natural skin. Merging patterns of red and black from his toes to his face to create his skin colour and his ears are merely holes in the side of his head. His face is somewhat the same as a dog, long with red eyes and a large jaw for biting with a lock tight gip when closed. His entire body is almost pure muscle, designed to fight under the most extreme circumstances it needs every muscle to get through dangerous situations and bring down his prey.

Darkling Skin

Darkling's have lived as any other animal for years, they often live amongst the trees in forests of any sort and have therefore developed a natural resistance to some of the weathers affects. Their skin has become water proof and does not take in the cold, their inner warmth does not escape unless they relieve pant as they do not sweat. A Darkling is resistant to fire meaning they do not burn easily but will react like any other creature and over heat, and will avoid it.

As a result of this the skin has become highly adaptive and tuff. It now acts like light armour from any attacks it may receive. Although it hasn’t got any real defensive qualities from weapons, a Darkling relays on his abilities of attacking to make up for its lack of defense.

Race Details

Darklings perfer to live in the forests, the sheltered cool environment is suited to them staying out of the sun and out os sight. The Darkling is the most feared creature of the known world, while not the biggest or the most powerful known to man, the Darkling is highly adaptive, and relies on Stealth and Intelligence to survive.

 Darklings are a fearsome sight, and with the natural ability to mimic voices and call the names of
 their prey, including humans, it is the creature of nightmares. All humans are brought up on the stories of how Darklings will call you into the woods and eat you for breakfast.

Generally, very little is known about them as they remain hidden within the forests and overgrowths. It is the mystery that keeps them feared, especially as those that see them rarely return alive.

Night shifts...

Ugh...working Night Shifts at work took it out of me a lot and I've neglected posting anything for a while. Which is pretty bad of me, but I've not stopped, so the important thing is I get on with this.

While I put things together for a better post next time, for now I've been updating a lot of the earlier chapters while I worked through Chapter 7, I found myself amending things slightly to make sure that the decisions that Ayithe makes seem appropriate to who she is. I did this because if I felt like it was't explained properly, then others are going to think the same, therefore it had to be amended.

Granted, it doesn't change the actual story, it just helps make the characters more real, as I'm sure no one wants to read a story and not understand a characters point of view, its frustrating when you see those films on tv and someone does something totally out of character.

So while I get on with those improvements I'm going to prepare my next post, which I'll make more frequent, and the next one will contain a character profile.

Chapter 7: The Eyes

Well, last week I finished chapter 6, and moved onto Chapter 7. It's been a strong start actually, with some extra time I've managed to put into it. I've tried to end Chapter 6 on some uncertainty now that I've introduced a new character to the story you'll help bring the story together and answer some questions about Descient.

Because of the merging of two chapters as I mentioned in my last post, I already started some work on Chapter 8. While I'll obviously be continuing with work on Chapter 7 first, it was something I wrote out a while ago and deicded to go over and update properly. So strangely, Chapter 8 atm is about 1000 words more than Chapter 7. I think part of its because I'm enjoying writng the scenes that are all coming up, it gets me excited that I'm reaching conclusions and progressing the story much faster than when I first started this.

So while I work hard at these next few chapters, I'm going to post up some more information about the Characters within Fully Aware and hopefully attain some extra interest about whats going on in this story. The information is up to date, and these are what I use for keeping track of my characters and their features, this way I never make the mistake of saying they blue eyes and then brown later on in the story.

I hope these may give some more insight into the story without ruining anything.

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Character Profile 1: The Main Character

Name: Ayithe Solete

Age: 23

Sex: Female

Race: Human

Alignment: Good

Occupation: Fighter

Personal Goal: N/A

Description: 

Eye Colour: Blue

Hair Colour: Brown with Blonde Streaks

Clothes: Darkling Skin full attire.

Full Description:

Ayithe stands about 5’6, an average height for a woman of her age. She is slim and slender yet slightly toned, although far from being noticeably muscular. Her hair is long and reaches down to her shoulders, while being mainly a light brown a few blonde streaks manage to make an appearance. An aqua blue colour fills her eyes; almost a slight tint of green can be seen merged within the sea of blue. The remainder of Ayithe’s facial features fit her face proportionall, small and almost delecate, but striking to the eye.

Ayithe’s style of clothes is unique and choosing to wear animal styled clothes from creatures no-one else dares to wear. Her favourite is made from Darkling skin; the creature’s tuff hide is like leather banded amour but stretches freely allowing easy movement for Ayithe during combat situations. 

This attire composes of her low cut top around her chest and shoulders, that also cuts off to reveal her belly button but wraps around her back to connect up her pants, all made from the same black and dark red hide material of the Darkling. The attire ties up at the front across her chest, while also ties up neatly along her right hip with a strong lace made from the same tough hide. Her boots are no different, wrapping up tightly to her feet and lower legs only with slight folds at the top  that spilt the design with a striking red that marks the underside of the Darkling skin.

Equipment:

Diskblade x2: The Steel disk blade is an oval, ringed shape and has a bar for holding it across the middle that is laced with leather for holding. The whole outside of the ring is the blade and is very sharp for cutting through the air and for slicing into the object it is thrown at while hte inside remains smooth. It can be used for throwing or battling in close combat, and when thrown the blade is very accurate/stable now allowing the wind to affect any balance of the disk blade when thrown. 

Wrist blades: These are hidden on each arm under the medium sized bracelets that she wears on her wrists, where the bracelets themselves proceed up her arm but stop before they reach the elbow. The steel wrist blades are not able to be seen by the naked eye when consealed within the brace. This gives the impression that these are simply large arm bracelets, but when drawn out of the bracelet these become powerful short swords directed by her arms movement. This can also be used as a surprise attack weapon, the power of the outwards projection when released can often catch out an unsuspecting opponent. The wrist bracelets hiding them are made from gold and silver with a pattern of a dragon on each one. The rest of the bracelet is smooth, shiny, and very strong and is also good protection when needed to block anything.

Skills:

Extended combat training: Ayithe has grown up through years of training and discipline, her style has taken its own uniqueness and she has learnt how to move her body in various flowing movements and therefore she is a strong but beautifully structured composition. This also means she is very flexible and athletic, causing her to be a worthy opponent in any situation and has a keen taste for battle.

The Soul Dragon

The Soul Dragon is a dormant but powerful being, Ayithe has only recently discovered its existence within her, and knows nothing about it or how it got there. As time progresses Ayithe shall learn to release the Soul Dragon from within her, but until then she must gather strength and the method to release it in all its glory. The further she matures with the Soul Dragons power, the more power it can release to her.

Family Relations:  Mum: Mrs Areia Solete. Dad: Mr Thorne Solete. Brother:  Arckry Solete

Chapter 7 Approaches...

Well its been a while since I've posted on here, which is bad of me since I said to myself I'd post more consistantly. However I've been very busy and haven't had the time to post.

Right now, I'm right at the end of chapter 6, with only 3 more Chapters to go and I'm really excited to get them written as quick as possible as it ties up the reasons why everything has spiralled out of control for Ayithe.

I've spent alot of time writng up notes and pre-writing my story in my note book while on the bus and waiting for work to start, (I have a 2 hour journey to work) this is because I've been unable to reach my PC, but when I have reached it, I could write up my work much faster as I had most of it written up beforehand. So as I reach the end of Chapter 6 I'm going to post up some quotes from the story atm.

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Chapter 4 quote from Ayithe to Gier during an altercation:

"You've always been the same Gier...two faced, arrogant and selfish. I'd never trust you..."

Chapter 2 quote from Descient during Ayithe's Dream:

"You can trust me Ayithe..."

Chapter 6 quote from Ayithe to Raslin:

"I don't know if I believe in fate Raslin...but I know something...I know I dreamt of you before you saved me on that ridge...Maybe you were meant to help me, maybe that's your journey, because I would never have gotten this far without you."

  Chapter 5 quote Descient to Ayithe during an altercation:

"If I were going to kill you, I'd have done it by now, you're fear of me is irrational."

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The chapter listings look like this now:

Chapter0: Leaving Home
Chapter1: Broken changed Forever
Chapter2: Descient
Chapter3: Pushed to the Edge
Chapter4: A Lost Soul
Chapter5: The Trust
Chapter6: Intrusion
Chapter7: The Eyes
Chapter8: Death & Betrayal
Chapter9: The Soul

 I removed some stuff that structured the story better, and therefore removed a chapter. I did this a little while ago and its much, much better. So as I progress towards the final chapters I'll try give more better updates and get it completed much faster. Expect another update sometime soon.

Where is Fully Aware Currently?

Well, I was supposed to be update a little earlier, but I have been rather ill, but I did get back on track as quick as possible.

Firstly I'd just like to state some information on exactly where I am now. In terms of progress to first draft, I'm about 70% complete on Chapter 6. I've not actually touched it this week either since I'd not been well and wasn't of right mind, so I've been working well on it. The rest of the chapter is outlined and waiting to be filled it as soon as I get the opportunity.

One thing I noticed was the more I've been writing this the better my first draft is getting without me actually meaning to do so. The point of my first draft is that I get the story all written out in a full draft rather than just an outline and bullet points. It was only afterwards that I planned on going over it and improving on the writing and spelling mistakes that I know are there.


However since I've been getting into it a lot more, it makes me want to add more too it, which is a really great thing, and means there's less to go over when I finish up the first draft.

An even bigger however though, is that I have been going over the first chapter "Chapter 0: The Beginning." and improving what needed to be improved upon, especially after I realised how much better I'd been writing the later chapters. Chapter 0 was a far cry from how well I've written Chapter 6, and it made me want to go over it sooner than orginally planned, hence why I said I would give up an update with how it looks today.

I've also been updating my character sheets, I don't know if this is something that a lot of writers do, but when writing and planning all of this, I spent a lot of time creating the world and its people and how the world works. One way of doing this was to create character sheets, I did this to ensure I had all my key information and I wouldn't forget it. I couldn't imagine how embarrassed I would be if I forgot the colour of a characters hair and then they changed from blonde to black or something like that.

My character sheets work like this:

Name:

Age:  

Sex:  

Race: Human

Alignment: Neutral

Occupation:

Personal Goal: To...

Description:

Eye Colour:

Hair Colour:

Clothes:

Full Description:

Equipment/Weapons:

Skills/abilities:

Family Relations: 

This has worked pretty well for me, expecially when I've gone back over my work and added more, because this way I haven't forgot anything and I always know what I'm talking about. Another important feature of this is so the characters are not two dimentional. Every character has emotions, opinions and personal goals. It's definately important for me to ensure that characters have their own goals and storyline regardless of if it features as a main part of the story.

I decided on the next update that I could share some of these with you so you can see some of the characters within the story. Granted, I'm going to remove some of the information such as "Personal Goals" as I don't want to ruin everything.

Anyway, here's a small section taken from the beginning of "Chapter 0: The Beginning." which basically introduces Ayithe to the reader.

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Chapter 0: Leaving Home.

            The spring sun beat down upon the proud and expensive town of Rium, sat comfortably in the north of Toltheria on the edge of the infamous Great Forest, and West of the mountain range that shrouded the Dragons Basin on the other side. Designed and built to host some of the most influential people in all of Toltheria, Rium was an expensive place to live and left no room for anyone of poor means. Ayithe, a young woman who had grown up in Rium most of her life, was preparing to leave for her first adult journey. Her older brother was also leaving, not for the first time, but now partnered with her for the trip around Toltheria as they visit the various towns and their people. More experienced than his younger sister, he would be her guide looking after her like he had been doing most of his life.

Her families proud fighting tradition was something she had spent her whole life training for and only now, after finishing up at Rium's fighting academy did she have her first opportunity to leave and experience her first tour of Toltheria before seeking out even further venture over Carnus in the far future. Her family renowned for their skill and yet modest attitude had high hopes for Ayithe and her brother Arckry, she had a lot to live up to. It had been a busy day preparing for tomorrow, but for now Ayithe could relax, only the thought of grabbing some fruit from the market place lingered in her mind.

Ayithe was to meet her brother within Rium's marketplace, having left him while he talked to friends she casually walked down the long paved residential road towards the shorter but wider open area of the marketplace. Knowing all of Rium like the back of her hand she calmly veered off the main road and down some small back allyways that would eventually help her to arrive at her destination. Stroking her soft fingers along the wooden fence beside her, old as it was, it still stood strong and sturdy, the large wooden beams and panels locked together, seemingly laced together with cobwebs old and new. She liked the feel of wood, and Rium's grand buildings were built from the finest trees in Toltheria. Stopping only as she reached the carved out stone posts that signified the change of the local to the market area.

Her crystal blue eyes immediately browsed the eventful stalls before her, and a light breeze blew back her healthy long light brown hair allowing the sun to catch the slight tints of blonde that hid inbetween sea of brown colours. With no clear direction in her mind, she simply followed the layout of the stalls, shaped into small walkways to direct the traffic of customers as they passed through. Walking with a slight sway of the hips, her movement would easily catch the eye of any young men that passed her by. Yet, she had no desire to grab herself a man during this time, her confidence and belief in herself however, was forever powerful and on show. She paused by the first fruit stall, a large array of fruit from inland Carnus littered the stand from the ground up. It was only then she considered the idea of a bag, bringing with her only the clothes that lay upon her she couldn't carry much.

The tight attire she wore pronounced her beauty and sexual shape, wrapping around her firmly and showing off the natural curves of her slim but shapely figure. Made from a creatures skin known as a Darkling, rare and expensive it showed more than just her attractive shape. The Darkling is a dangerous and feared creature of Toltheria, its dark skin formed from two colours, an eye catching blood red and a shadowy black that merged together like the sea and the sand to form a striking and indistinguishable fabric tougher than any other form of pelt. It fit neatly around her upper torso while wrapping comfortably around her breasts that sat ever so slightly on show the low cut front. Leaving her belly on show, the attire continues below wrapped round her hips and down to her ankles, stopped short only by the boots that comforted her feet from the same material. The dark blend of colours were a deliberate match to her beauty, she wanted to be noticed, and enjoyed the attention. The whole attire was laced together at key points while her belt latched over her hips held space for her weapons and money pouches.

Usually this was all she ever needed, but being prepared to live away from a single home, she needed to ensure she had a better utility for carrying her items that she would be travelling with. The store owner, not a local but a traveller who came in for a few days each week to sell his fruit that arrived from the port of the capital Canden. Quickly finishing with his previous customer he latched onto Ayithe's fruit intrigued eyes and stepped into view.

"What is one looking at purchasing today madam?"

Looking for something alternate to what she would normally buy Ayithe picked out a lime green fruit that looked like a flower pod. Giving it a slight squeeze, it felt juicy and it wasn't something she had seen before.

"What is this?"

"One often calls it a Dragon Purse." He explained expecting a sale. "Soft and green outside, but a fiery red on the inside."

The name was just as intriguing as its appearance, anything labelled with the name dragon was often expensive and certainly not common.

"I'll buy one to try, then if I like I'll come back for more."

"Five silver coin please." He asked holding out the palm of his hand.

Ayithe dipped into her belt pouch and dropped five silver coin into his hand, even with the knowledge that five silver coin for any fruit was expensive, she did it anyway, used to the cash flow that stemmed from her parents. Stepping away from the stall, she looked down curiously at the fruit and its bizarre shape, tempted to take a bite and see what it tasted like. It felt smooth, much like the common peach, but its unusual appearance made Ayithe wonder exactly where to start. Dipping her teeth directly into the peak of the curved fruit, she cupped her second hand awkwardly to help protect the falling juice that immediately poured out from the fresh and surprisingly juicy Dragon's Purse fruit.

Literally slurping and licking the sides of her mouth the catch the delicious juice inside. The sweet flavour was refreshing and even thirst quenching, it's cool temperature suddenly reminded her of the warm sunshine that beat down during what was a beautiful day for being outside. It rained a lot all year round in Toltheria so day's like today were welcomed by the many and enjoyed while it lasted. The inner of the juice abundant fruit was indeed a bright fiery red and it drew Ayithe's attention away from the many pedestrians around her.

Yet, it was a surprise to Ayithe as a large metallic shoulder bashed into her and knocked her boorishly to one side. She clinched onto her expensive fruit almost dropping it in the process of being barged to one side by the impolite brute of a man. Ensuring she had a firm grip of her fruit first, she then turned to him ready to shout as her temper at being knocked began to rage with annoyance.

"Excuse me!" She shouted loudly to provoke a response from the man while staring angrily at the back of his large stature.

"Excuse me?" The man exclaimed in surprise to her disgust.

Standing with a group of familiar friends, they paused staring towards her while he turned slowly as if to dramatically and arrogantly raise his prestige above her. His board stature helped significantly by the unnecessary extra armour that he wore over his expensive casual wear. Knowing full well who she was, and enjoying the fact he was going to get a rise out of an ill tempered Ayithe. He stared down at her with his pretentious brown eyes and laughed sarcastically while rubbed his hand through his rough blonde hair in a jaded manner.

"Gier..." Ayithe muttered with a thick repulsion towards him.

"Are you not sick of just getting in my way all the time?" He said mockingly.

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Hope you like it. :)

End of University...

Well, I've reached the end of my university course and it's certainly been a busy time lately, leaving me little to no time to continue with my writing. It's a shame I had to spend so long away from it, but at least I can get deeper into my writing again.

While I've been busy I also noticed an advertisement and signed up to Dargonzine. They write short stories under the world of Dargonzine, which is kind of similar to my own writing as it is. I hope to keep up with writing for them also, as I believe it will help me in the long run as I continue to write Fully Aware.

Click to Enter Dargonzine

Above is the link, and while I've only joined recently after I spotted the advertisement and didn't want to miss out I've still got plenty of reading up to do. Meanwhile I'm going to begin my first project under them, and keep it also updated on here.

In terms of Fully Aware, I'm finishing up Chapter 5 before I move completely onto Chapter 6, which is exciting for me as I've spent a long period of time on Chapter 5 due to University work loads taking up my time.

At least now I know I can give you some more important updates quicker than previously possible. In my next update, I plan on Updating Chapter 0 into a full Draft and taking a section of it to post up on here so you can see exactly how its looking, and hopefully involve some interest that I feel I lost during these busy few months.

So keep an eye out for next weeks update!