The Opening to the Fan-Fic I'm Writing

Post » Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:06 am

This is the opening of my first fan-fic, tell me what you think!

The Dream(prologue)

They stood at the border of Black Marsh and Morrowind, staring intensely over the border at their neighboring province of Morrowind, an army of Argonians, from every tribe from across Black Marsh. The Agecephs with their needle like faces, the Paatru with their toad-like features, the winged Sarpas, the giant snake-like Nagas, and even the Archeins who had sold their own kind into slavery were there. They all stood at the border, as one, as brothers, the Hist uniting there bodies and minds. Just then, a large, dark red Argonian made his way to the front of the waiting army.

"The time has come, my Brothers! The Ministry of Truth has fallen upon the Dunmer's precious "Red Mountain"! They are weakened, scattered, and panicked, there is no order in their province. Now, is the time to strike! Strike back at them for the centuries of enslaving our race! Strike back for treating us as the dirt beneath their boots! Strike back against those who would have us call them "Master"! My Brothers, it is time to invade Morrowind! For our Ancestors! For the Hist! For Black Marsh!" and with the end of his speech, the massive army let out a roar, the likes of which none had ever heard, and charged into Morrowind.

They killed and slaughtered all who stood in their way in a divine fury of vengeance, and those who were not killed, were chased to the borders of their own province and forced to flee. Those who were left, were kept as prisoners of war. This went on for five months, until the whole of Morrowind was purged of the Dunmer. It was then that the large, dark red Argonian assembled all of his troops to the destroyed Dunmeri city of Vivec.

"We have won, my Brothers! We have driven them from their homes, we have slaughtered their armies, we have taken Morrowind! We have showed them the power of the Argonians and the Hist, we have showed them that we are not slaves, we are not less than them, we are their equals!" the dark red Argonian looked around at his cheering army and raised a hand; "No, we are not their equals, we are their superiors! We have bested them, and now, Morrowind belongs to the Hist! Long live Black Marsh, and long live the Hist!" The mass of Argonians resumed their cheering, and the large, dark red Argonian looked around with pride, they had finally achieved their revenge on the Dunmer.
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Michael Korkia
 
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Post » Tue Dec 06, 2011 9:13 am

First thing I notice: "OMG WALL O' TEXT." In its current form it's rather difficult to read - breaking it into a few paragraphs would help immensely.
Second:
...and even the Archeins who had sold their own kind into slavery were their.

It may seem like a nitpick, but issues like http://www.wikihow.com/Use-There,-Their-and-They%27re are entirely too common. Please bookmark that link so you may help others correct their mistakes as well. (pun intended ;))
Likewise,
...and those who were not killed, where chased to the borders of their own province and forced to flee.

http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/weregloss.htm

The thing that stands out most about your... intro, I suppose? is that it just doesn't seem to have any narrative flow or tension, or even set up for such things. I'm not really sure how to explain that properly, except that in its current form it feels "dull."
Step 1: Gather Argonians at border.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Conquest! (5 months pass)

My guess is, your "full" story is setting itself up to follow this red Argonian in the wake of Morrowind's conquest? If that's the real focus, then perhaps it would be best to begin with something directly from his perspective - a flashback to one (of many, we can assume) conflicts as they stormed Morrowind, maybe. Or remembering the way they began, as per the first lines up there.

War is a bloody, terrible mess, with losses on each side. Even if you're staunchly pro-Argonian and see every Dunmer as a slave-owning sonovabich, as an author you have to realize that this simply isn't the case. Did the Argonians feel shame or regret as they cut down women and children? Did they mourn their losses as surviving Dunmer tried to stand against them? Know that even in the wake of Morrowind's geographical catastrophe, no people will simply roll over and die as invaders come to take their lands. They'll try to fight back, to protect their weak, wounded and helpless, to help the latter escape and survive whenever possible.

For added flavor, I'd suggest doing some homework on http://www.imperial-library.info/content/translation-dictionary, the Hist/Argonian) language, to help make your war-leader's speech (and his followers') more authentic.

Finally, please take these criticisms with a grain of salt, and in the manner for which they are intended - constructive advice to improve your writing :) The conquest of Morrowind by the Argonians has massive story potential, and even though I'm not really a fan of Dunmer or Argonians, I'm interested in seeing your take on it.
Provided of course, you flesh it out a bit more. ;)

Also, if you get some time, I'd enjoy hearing your feedback on http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1251160-the-fall-of-the-void-consolate/ thread.
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laila hassan
 
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Post » Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:29 pm



Thanks for the criticisms, always good to have your flaws pointed out so you don't get full of yourself, lol. As for the "wall 'o text" I only have notepad, so I just copied and pasted from there. As for the mix up of the different "there"s and "were", facepalm on my behalf, I'm usually so good with those kinds of things. Also, it seems to kind of jump into things and lack narrative is because it was gonna be a dream/flashback kind of thing, with the protagonist waking up right after that. Memories from his past life kind of thing(The Infernal City suggests that Argonians are reincarnated after they die and retain some memories from their past lives). I will take a look at the Jel though, see if I can fit any of their language in there.(edit: not a lot of words in Jel, but I can probably use them later in the story)

Edit: Although, I may want to make an account of the war after this after hearing you say that.
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Laura Mclean
 
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