Plotting/Planning - Chatbox Summary

Ruthie and Corinne wrote:[20:10:59 02/07/10] @ Dan : Here's the plan: We get captured, the Reapers take us to the castle and imprison us, we break out (with Grannie and Cyrus' help) and steal the swords that let us kill all the Reapers. That'll be the beginning of the Enders. Haha. I made a funny.

[20:11:21 02/07/10] Ruthie : shouldn't the swords be enchanted ?

[20:12:55 02/07/10] Corinne : So you want Cyrus/Grammie/Eva to not be captured, but we go after you all and help you get out, or are we in the pickle with all of you too?

[20:13:21 02/07/10] @ Dan : I was thinking enchanted swords too.

[20:13:38 02/07/10] Ruthie : OK, the group is captured, taken to the castle, where they escape into underground catacombs

[20:13:58 02/07/10] @ Dan : Yeah, C/G/E won't be captured so they can rescue us.

[20:14:51 02/07/10] @ Dan : Bye. Smile

[20:14:53 02/07/10] Ruthie : Bah, what my 2 yr old niece says Smile

[20:15:11 02/07/10] Corinne : Hey, I say bah.......

[20:15:34 02/07/10] @ Dan : Wait, Corinne is Ruthie's 2 year old niece?

[20:15:37 02/07/10] @ Dan : That doesn't make sense . . .

[20:15:45 02/07/10] Ruthie : noooo!!!!!!!

[20:17:31 02/07/10] Corinne : You all get captured why?

[20:17:44 02/07/10] Ruthie : they are outnumbered by Reapers

[20:17:56 02/07/10] Corinne : and why do the Reapers want them?

[20:18:26 02/07/10] Corinne : Has anyone posted anything about the reason?

[20:18:29 02/07/10] Ruthie : perhaps to use them in an evil ritual to take over the world??

[20:18:50 02/07/10] Ruthie : or they don't want them meddling in their dastardly plots

[20:21:02 02/07/10] Ruthie : OK, main story points:

[20:21:13 02/07/10] Ruthie : Ghosts bother villagers

[20:21:23 02/07/10] Ruthie : next morning, one villager is missing

[20:21:41 02/07/10] Ruthie : search parties go after the missing person

[20:21:54 02/07/10] Ruthie : they are intercepted on the way by Reapers

[20:22:39 02/07/10] Corinne : Right, and one of the first things Dan said is that the Reapers want to get rid of a curse and they take the lives of the townspeople in order to get rid of it?

[20:23:16 02/07/10] Corinne : oh, and then Angie edited it

[20:25:17 02/07/10] Corinne : but it's not that much of a change. She said that the bad ghosts take lives in order to get closer to "living" (I guess getting rid of the curse) but the good ghosts must get one artifact in order to be put to rest, so they trade otherworldly artifacts for earthly artifacts

[20:25:48 02/07/10] Corinne : The otherworldly artifacts are what stump me. I'm not sure what she's thinking of.

[20:27:59 02/07/10] Ruthie : hmmm... they could need to have both a human life and something material, like gold, or some other pure element

[20:28:09 02/07/10] Corinne : Maybe to make things simpler, the townspeople find whatever the ghosts want, but they get a year added to thier lives in return?

[20:28:11 02/07/10] Ruthie : to become live themselves

[20:28:53 02/07/10] Corinne : how about the ore that is around the town? (if we stay by a mountain like Dan wants)

[20:29:59 02/07/10] Corinne : the Reapers were cursed a long time ago, and they never knew how to break the curse, but they get a hint from their curser and they go after the townspeople

[20:31:08 02/07/10] Corinne : the curser may want to take over the entire world so he/she/it cursed the bad ghosts and is now making them do the dirtywork of eliminating everyone?

[20:32:20 02/07/10] Ruthie : who would the curser be? Like someone of importance in the town, or someone like a Mage?

[20:32:58 02/07/10] Corinne : someone like a mage.

[20:33:19 02/07/10] Ruthie : so, a mage cursed the Reapers

[20:35:03 02/07/10] Ruthie : the Mage is not too easily appeased

[20:45:47 02/07/10] Ruthie : wait- the goodghosts have that something that the Reapers want to use, how about?

[20:46:31 02/07/10] Corinne : uhmmmmm when a person dies and becomes a good ghost, their image is outlined in silver? haha

[20:46:47 02/07/10] Corinne : their images are made out of silver

[20:46:57 02/07/10] Corinne : gaseous silver

[20:47:07 02/07/10] Corinne : the kind that the Reapers need

[20:47:27 02/07/10] Ruthie : something like that Smile

[20:47:33 02/07/10] Corinne : OH normal weapons can't harm Reapers, but Reapers can physically harm us, right?

[20:47:52 02/07/10] Corinne : and is magic allowed?

[20:49:00 02/07/10] Ruthie : hey, the silver could also be their undoing, if stabbed with it.

[20:49:19 02/07/10] Ruthie : so the villagers need types of swords like that Smile

[20:49:44 02/07/10] Ruthie : and lady maeve's abduction was really bait to get the other villagers up there

[20:52:16 02/07/10] Corinne : sounds good. Reapers die if attacked with silver

[20:52:32 02/07/10] Ruthie : Reapers have been cursed by mage

[20:52:51 02/07/10] Ruthie : the only way they can break it is if they get a human taken in their stead

[20:53:08 02/07/10] Ruthie : Reapers abduct Lady Maeve to get other villagers

[20:53:30 02/07/10] Ruthie : they only die if attacked with a specific silver

[20:53:37 02/07/10] Ruthie : (what should it be called?)

[20:53:48 02/07/10] Ruthie : like redemption silver?

[20:54:19 02/07/10] Ruthie : good ghosts hide special silver that can help Reapers break curse

[20:54:46 02/07/10] Ruthie : so in a way, the Reapers need the silver, but if it touches them then there dead

[20:56:17 02/07/10] Corinne : okay, I have an idea, but it would have to go along with the good ghosts being made of the silver

[20:56:51 02/07/10] Ruthie : hmmm... they could just be protectin the silver from the Reapers

[20:58:01 02/07/10] Ruthie : it could be from Cair Castle.. in the catacombs underground

[20:58:39 02/07/10] Corinne : the good ghosts, I mean. where did they get the silver? and did they know for a long time that the Reapers would want it? Are we still going to say that the Reapers just learned that they needed lives and the silver to break the curse?

[20:59:26 02/07/10] Ruthie : maybe these ghosts have been around for a long, long time, and they have been warring with each other since

[20:59:57 02/07/10] Corinne : why is it all at cair castle?

[20:59:58 02/07/10] Ruthie : both sides could have been cursed,

[21:00:13 02/07/10] Ruthie : but the good ghosts don't want the Reapers to get the silver

[21:01:02 02/07/10] Ruthie : Cair castle could be where it all started, when the good and bad ghosts lived when they were human

[21:01:29 02/07/10] Ruthie : the bad ghosts split up, and as their curse, they are forced to live forever, until they find the silver.

[21:01:41 02/07/10] Ruthie : The good ghosts stay to keep the reapers from getting silver

[21:01:50 02/07/10] Ruthie : No, I don't think so

[21:01:56 02/07/10] Ruthie : I think it is just ruins

[21:04:04 02/07/10] Corinne : okay, so when all ghosts were alive humans, they all lived as castle cair. then the mage cursed them and the curse caused them to be ghosts?

[21:04:19 02/07/10] Corinne : *at

[21:06:04 02/07/10] Ruthie : well, he cursed the Reapers

[21:06:32 02/07/10] Ruthie : the good ghosts decided to protect the humans and silver from ever going into reaper hands.

[21:06:37 02/07/10] Corinne : so the Reapers were called the Reapers when they were alive?

[21:07:14 02/07/10] Ruthie : no, don't think that will work,

[21:07:27 02/07/10] Corinne : okay, so why did he only curse certain people?

[21:08:22 02/07/10] Ruthie : The reapers did something horrible, like what happened to Satan, he didn't approve of God's ruling, so God cast him into Hell... for some reason, this is where this was headed for me :I

[21:08:45 02/07/10] Ruthie : they might have been disloyal, or were very rebellious

[21:08:49 02/07/10] Ruthie : to the Mage

[21:08:55 02/07/10] Ruthie : so he cursed them

[21:10:08 02/07/10] Corinne : okay, the mage ruled over all humans at cair castle and a certain group of people did not like the ruling, so they rebelled and the mage cursed them to be a ghost clan called the Reapers. he told them that the only way to break the curse is to get the silver from the cair castle catacombs and take the lives of the living. Then he allowed the good people to guard the silver when they died and turned into ghosts.

[21:11:03 02/07/10] Corinne : are we going with the idea that the silver acts good or evil depending on who is in control of it?

[21:12:51 02/07/10] Ruthie : Well, the silver basically has very complicated properties, it can both take and give life... it doesn't matter who is holding it.

[21:13:08 02/07/10] Ruthie : I don't think the Reapers should be told how to break their curse

[21:13:18 02/07/10] Ruthie : they might figure it out on their own

[21:15:11 02/07/10] Corinne : okay. the Reapers were turned into ghosts and were not told how to break the curse and rest in peace. they already figured it out on their own before our story began, and now they are after the people and the silver. how did they figure it out?

[21:16:03 02/07/10] Ruthie : they could have found the Mage's spell-book in the castle, so they made their base of operations there, and planned their next move

[21:17:11 02/07/10] Corinne : did the mage die at some point?

[21:18:16 02/07/10] Ruthie : most likely

[21:18:26 02/07/10] Corinne : and left the spellbook?

[21:18:34 02/07/10] Ruthie : probably before the story began... mentioned in prologue?

[21:18:58 02/07/10] Ruthie : he might have left it where he thought no one could find it.... orrrrr

[21:19:04 02/07/10] Ruthie : GREAT IDEA!!!!

[21:19:14 02/07/10] Ruthie : HE LEFT IT AS A TRAP FOR THEM!!!!

[21:19:24 02/07/10] Ruthie : TO LEAD THEM TO THEIR OWN FATE!!!!!

[21:19:27 02/07/10] Ruthie : HAHAHAH

[21:19:33 02/07/10] Ruthie : YESSSSS!!!!

[21:19:44 02/07/10] Ruthie : sry... overzealous

[21:19:55 02/07/10] Corinne : heh, and what is their fate?

[21:20:23 02/07/10] Ruthie : to go up in flames maybe... burn into ashes on the spot

[21:20:35 02/07/10] Ruthie : or something more dramatic than that

[21:20:39 02/07/10] Ruthie : lol

[21:21:16 02/07/10] Corinne : so the mage left his spellbook in cair castle for the Reapers to find and as soon as they find it, they burst into flames?

[21:22:04 02/07/10] Ruthie : no, as soon as they perform the ritual, they burst into flames Smile

[21:22:17 02/07/10] Ruthie : he had found a way to get rid of them

[21:22:34 02/07/10] Ruthie : since he knew they would never rest until they were alive again

[21:23:26 02/07/10] Corinne : ooooooooooh soooo he leaves the spellbook that the Reapers look at and find the way to break the curse, but as soon as they break the curse, they burst into flames?

Angie wrote:Wow that is really good stuff!

Jsut some clarifying questions..
[1.] So, the Reapers are kidnapping people to help them find the silver?
[2.] But the people don't know where it is, but the good ghosts do, and they protect it?
[3.] Do the good ghosts know that the Reapers are destined to die when they find the book anyway?
[4.] Can the good ghosts join the Reapers? Like, there could be some plausible reason for doing so?

eLIZabeth wrote:Well, I do like the ideas... basically, the search party that went down by the river gets captured by Reapers, right? Ok, got that. And then the rest of us have to rescue them before the Reapers force them into finding the silver or doing whatever stuff which they need to break their curse, but really breaking the curse is what should happen because it will be their own destruction? Umm... rewind, please! I love all the ideas you guys threw in, but I think we shouldn't have the Reapers dying after the curse is broken. They should maybe become all-powerful afterwards, or something, which would give the rescuers more of a reason to have to rescue the captured before they die helping the Reapers. Is that at all clear?

Corinne wrote:Alrighty, if I remember correctly, the Reapers need the silver in order to break the curse. They also need human lives that they can take. They take one human's life, and one Reaper can live again (with the silver, of course). We could also add that when a Reaper becomes a human again, they could become all-powerful and very difficult to kill.

Corinne wrote:Only the good ghosts and the Reapers know where the silver is. So far the Reapers could not get to the silver, but....okay, here's an idea...the Reapers cannot get to the silver because the good ghosts are too powerful. Since the Reapers need human sacrifices anyway, they get some of those first and find out that they become more powerful when they take someone's life. Then they try to get the silver and they are more successful? Oooor the Reapers take the hostages to the guarded silver in order to be tortured. The Reapers believe that if the good ghosts see their friends being tortured, then they will let the Reapers get the silver in order for the torturing to stop?

Corrine wrote:The good ghosts were told by the mage that cursed them that the Reapers' curse would be broken if they obtained the silver. The mage says that he does not want the Reapers to break the curse, so he puts the good ghosts in charge of the silver.

Corinne wrote:I also remember Ruthie and me saying that both the good ghosts and bad ghosts were cursed, but I don't remember why the good ghosts were cursed. Maybe the good ghosts aren't cursed, but they stay around to protect the silver/people? They can rest when they get their artifact.

Corinne wrote:The part about the Reapers being destroyed when they break the curse:
It was Ruthie's idea, but I think I know where she's going with it. At least, this is where I'm going with it.
The Enders work really hard to stop the curse from being broken and there can be epic battle scenes and whatnot, but in the end, something really terrible/dramatic happens and the Reapers finally get the silver and the lives that they need. Then once the Reapers are about to unlock the power of the silver, the Enders are hopeless and can only yell, "NOOOOOOOOO" and there is a bunch of tension and we all think that this is the end! We failed! We're going to die when they become human, *scary noises* DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUH DUH DAAAHHH~ And then there is silence......

AND THEN THE REAPERS BURST INTO FLAMES ***~

The Enders are flabbergasted. The good ghosts are flabbergasted. Then OH NO THE MAGE APPEARS IN GHOST FORM. He congratulates us for helping the Reapers die, but the Enders are confused. Why didn't he just kill them in the first place? Apparently the mage wanted them to suffer as Reapers and he wanted them to suffer trying to find the silver and once they finally think they've won, they suffer some more.

But all of those people were sacrificed! What's with that?
The mage says that there must be sacrifice in order for there to be peace.

Heh~ That's how I saw it.

Sarah wrote:Hey sounds good to me. I think the missed the part about the swords. Do the Enders find them in Cair Castle? And btw, I think the good ghost should be called the Haari That's with a long "a", and the double "a" is purposeful.

And my character Rita doesn't fit entirely with the whole shmeel, so I'll just kind of work her into what you guys are trying to do here. Possibly have her find the swords ( which are where again?) and then have her deliver them to the Enders because she wants the Reapers just as dead as the Enders do.

Amy wrote:I'm re-posting this here to have plot questions hashed out:
(It is also in the main writing thread)...Thanks, Enders!

I've been thinking about a scene with Lady Maeve pacing, it becomes icy cold, spirits begin swirling and hissing "Silver, must...have... sil..ver..." (they think she might have the silver because she's rich.) She knows immediately that NOW is the time her father was talking about on his deathbed when he gave her an ornately-carved box and told her never to open it unless someone was ever taken by Reapers...(it could have something we need for the plot in it, for example, liquid silver in which to dip swords or just special swords to with the other silver...or even a powerful good spirit???) to go with the book from the library and whatever else is needed...She could write a ransom note to Lord Talbot telling him to bring the box, seal it with her seal, and it is delivered in a ghostly way OR the ghosts could have her look into a mirror and see her beloved,...
>
Lord Talbot could receive the scroll, OR see Lady Maeve's image in a pool of water, begging him to bring the box...he could gallop to his estate, join the rescue group, bringing a couple of his men or friendly ghosts if characters are needed...should I write these scenes? Does it work or how should I tweak it to fit the outline/plot?
@everyone: Amazing story going on! Very vivid images and excellent action sequences! Thanks for the synopsis, Dan...the outline really helps keep things on track...please let me know if/when and how much of these scenes I should write...

Ruthie wrote:*claps excitedly and jumps up and down* yay!!!!

The Apple Guy wrote: There's a face for that.

Angie wrote:Hmmm wow this has definetly progressed since I was here last!
Ruthie, your idea is really good. I think if we go along those lines it could really work!
Umm.... so, I was just wondering, is there a way Fiona, as a good ghost, can fit into this somehow? I hate post spoilers, but.... I was gonna have her go get Reapers tattoos in order to masquerade into the castle. Do you think she could meet up with Rita and they could work together?

What does Haari mean? I like the sound of it, but do you think we should have it match Reapers more?

Angie wrote:So.... are the good ghosts cursed?
How did the Reapers find out about how to end the curse? 'Cause it must have been lately... maybe from Lady Maeve?
And how does holding the villagers ransom threaten the ghosts?
I think we have a few more kinks to work out...
How about this...
Maybe Cair cursed all the ghosts for their greed, but told them the silver would be their salvation.
Kinda open to interpretation, don't you think? So the leader of the good ghosts thought, "Oh no, this will break the curse and bring us all back to life, and the Reapers are too evil for that, so let's hide it." And the Reapers thought, "Oh no, the Good Guys took the silver, how are we gonna get it now?" Of course, if they knew then, the Reapers would have done this then, but... does that sound plausible at all?