Fiction – Page 8 – Leibniz Clockwork

May 1, 2021June 26, 2021

Batholith

Good word. Similar to a massif, but formed of individual plutons that accrete into a single mass.

Kageran is on a batholith from the Arsae colliding west into Treveriane. The subducted plate, the Arsae, released volatiles under the Treveriane that caused igneous intrusions not far from the boundary. Some time later, the subduction largely stopped and the two plates stuck together. Erosion has begun baring the deep granite, but there is still a thick layer of oceanic sediment from when the Arsae was underwater.

March 6, 2021April 18, 2021

Hector and the Fairy Godbear

“That’s it!” yelled Mom. She forgot she wasn’t yelling. “You’re grounded. All of you. For two weeks!”

“No!” we cried.

I couldn’t be grounded. I needed to go outside! It wasn’t even my fault.

But Dad looked at Mom and said, “You’re really taking one for the team here, aren’t you?”

Mom blinked at him, and then she squinted.

Dad said, “Finals start on Monday. You’re locking the kids in here with us for two weeks during finals. I support you no matter what, but I give Scantron tests and you give essays.”

Mom stopped squinting as her eyes opened very wide. She turned a strange color of white and pink.

Dad turned to all of us. “Change of plan, kids. You’re banished on pain of death. No one is allowed inside between school and dinner for the next two weeks.”

No! I couldn’t be banished! If I had to stay outside, I’d die. It was cold. There could be bears.

February 26, 2021March 2, 2021

Hector and the Fairy Godbear bit

“Do they have any weaknesses?” I asked the mystic ferret. “Are they scared of anything?”

“Yes,” said the mystic ferret. “They’re scared of being trapped in a burning house with a pack of hungry wolves while someone throws chainsaws at them.”

“Okay,” I said. “I have a plan.”

But everyone else said, “No.”

They didn’t even listen to my plan!

February 11, 2021February 28, 2021

Nilo

He was the last elf to visit goblin lands in friendship, say the goblins.

The elvish take on the matter has a certain amount more nuance.

February 9, 2021February 28, 2021

Nilo

It is said Nilo heard the song of the storm, and with hammer and anvil forged from thunder a chariot of the sky.

January 22, 2021February 28, 2021

The Nine

So I’m now a chapter ahead, and I’m not sure if this idea will pan out. I’m trying a few different things.

The first, obviously, is holding off until I get something working. This is actually much more pleasant for me, because it lets me play with ideas for a bit without putting them down too early. It’s also how I do books.

The second is a change in feel, which I’m not sure how to describe. I’m just doing something different in the way I think going in.

The third was I reread the whole fic and rediscovered a whole bunch of really interesting little subplots. I normally go Setting > Characters > Plot, and previously I’d been skipping on the Setting and going straight to the Characters. That doesn’t work for me, and I’ve known this for a while. But I get impatient. I had been thinking, ooh, but if I just jump right into it, I’ll get done faster!

Have you seen my update history? ‘Faster’ ain’t happenin’.

Fourth, I checked out a copy of the Silmarillion (mine is inaccessible due to Covid issues), and I’m rereading it. I love this book. I love the gravity to it. I love the writing. I love the feel, the texture of the words. It doesn’t really have characters, but instead of bothering me, that intrigues me. It leaves all the characters there for me to create, manipulate, and watch. It’s like my own Minecraft.

Anyone who hates Minecraft has no joy in their soul. That is a wonderful game. I should reinstall Minecraft.

But similarly, I don’t play MC for Frank (or whatever his name is. I never cared). I don’t read the Silmarillion for Feanor.

January 16, 2021May 7, 2024

St James Lowlands

The St James Lowlands are a protrusion of continental crust stuck to the Fhysay oceanic plate. To the west of the Fhysay/Arsae subduction zone lies the St James subcontinent, called the Hashash (Icelands) in Whitehall and Morrun Vie (Vanishing Land) in Thangrodom. In Tharsi, it is the Hurror (Suffering Cold). The subcontinent effectively makes the Doon plateau.

Extending some five hundred leagues north of the plateau in a wide teardrop shape, the lowlands are broad alluvial plains. Mostly flat, the highest point of the lowlands is about two hundred feet above sea level if one eliminates the Doonish foothills. Some few islands lie off the coasts, almost entirely runoff and sandbars. In the winder, the west side of the lowlands is often icelocked. The east side is occasionally icelocked, but the prevailing currents swing wide north around the teardrop, sheltering the east. This creates polynya north of the goblinmounts where immense numbers of arctic wildlife, walrus, penguins, seals, etc. shelter from the winter.

Not in all years does this polynya form. In particularly cold winters, ice will push as far south as the Invedeletch coast. This is a 1% event, but results in immense hardship for the aquatic animals. Such freezes are called ‘Dyings’ by goblins.

January 15, 2021February 28, 2021

Fhysay/Kahserach Boundary

The north coast of the goblin lands is an oceanic seacrust/seacrust subduction zone where the Fhysay crust is subducted under the Arsae crust. The obducting Arsae crust is pushed up, forming the goblinmounts themselves. This is a young and highly active boundary. The mountains aren’t tall compared to the neighboring Doon, but are extremely steep. Strong upthrust lifts them constantly, but strong weathering from the northern winds and storms cuts them down at the same time. The result is a rocky, barren mountain range with deep erosion cut valleys. There are relatively few signs of glaciation at lower altitudes and northern extrema, but at higher and more southerly peaks, glaciation is extremely common. Mountains that border the Shaggheritach are often horns, separated by U-shaped valleys unlike the Vs further north.

December 28, 2020February 28, 2021

The Nine

I’m writing myself out of plot. I see it happening, and when I review other people, I see them doing it. Now I’m doing it too.

I always try to note that, that some corrections are easier said than done, etc. but it is weird to see myself doing something I point out in others. Ah well. C&C is one of the best ways to learn.

December 27, 2020February 28, 2021