I am like Bobby once was (and still is?); I very much enjoy the concept of fantasy stories and I love to write them. Why?
Because in fantasy, we can have MAGIC! And demons! And dragons! My three favorite things!
And if we have magic, there are so many more ways to completely destroy people, and so many more reasons to do it!
But I absolutely loathe exclamation points, so I'll stop using them now. I'm giving myself a headache.
I have been developing my idea on how it should work, and I came up with a little synopsis of a short story to help explain it. I am parting with a little piece of myself now, since fantasy is, well...fantasy, so please be as soul-crushing as you can possibly be. That's the only way to make it better.
Here we go:
There lived once a great sorceress in an unnamed land where to be fluent in the ways of magic was of little consequence to one's political and/or social reputation. This sorceress devoted her life to magic, and so she was renowned as the best, and people came to her for guidance and wisdom.
But what she forgot, what they all forgot to take into account was that magic isn't free. One's power cannot simply grow and expand for all eternity. There are limits.
We are all human. We are all weak and vulnerable, and we have no natural powers. We must manipulate our souls in order to perform this thing called 'magic,' and when we do this, we damage them. The soul can only withstand so much before it crumbles.
Yes, constant strain WILL make the soul stronger, but to a point. As previously stated, one's power cannot simply grow and expand for all eternity.
Our sorceress began at an early age, so her soul strained itself in an effort to expand itself faster to keep up with the rate of progression of her own talents, and so, by the time she reaches her twenties or so, it has done all the developing it can do, and she has reached her limit. When this happens, the soul is only there as a life force, maintaining spiritual functions. It is defenseless, and it is susceptible to corruption. A demon spirit notices this and devours it, and she is unable to do anything about it because she is so weak. The demon now has control over her every move, and it can call its own powers into being; it doesn't neer HER power, all it needs is a vessel, which it now has.
At first the people, trusting of her judgment and reputation, follow her possessed form without question. But the demon, who had no use for sentimental values, begins killing off people that had at one time been friends of hers. The people begin to suspect. When they finally come to the conclusion that she is possessed, they confront her, and the demon, having completely sealed itself into her body, is unable to escape. She is executed by having a metal rod run through her head and down her back, because the demon would have been able to heal any other physical injury. The body had to be permanently secured, then left to decay naturally, lest the demon find a way to escape. The rod cut off his ability to control her form and fixed her in an immobile position by passing through the brain and the ground. He is trapped, and his campaign to destroy the land is dismantled.
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So what do you think? Good? Terrible? The worst thing you've ever read? Should I expand on this and make it an actual short story or, more likely, a novel(la)? Do tell, please.
I think that this could make a very interesting story, Mary! I like the idea that overusing magic could actually make one weaker, because typically stories have it going in the other direction. The one thing that I would suggest (and feel free to disregard it if it's not so much your style) is including the sorceress' feelings about her possession. I don't know what point of view you intend to use, so that might be easier said than done, but I think seeing what she thinks about it all could be interesting. Does she feel her possession happening and try to resist? Does she ever realize the things she's done under the demon's influence? Does she ever feel guilt? Or does the demon possess her mind so thoroughly that she thinks entirely evil, villanous thoughts?
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, it could be interesting to explore the demon's point of view, although I could understand that that may not make quite the point you intend to make.
Just some ideas! Overall I think it is a very interesting concept, and I would definitely like to see the finished product if you decide to develop it.
The demon completely devoured her soul; there's nothing left of HER except her empty shell, which he used for his own evildoings. But your ideas were thought-provoking; when I write this, there will probably be a million different versions, all with her being in varying stages of emotional intactness, so I will keep your advice in mind. Thanks!
DeleteI like the twist that magic comes with a price. Your idea reminds me of the Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk. Have you read it? In her novels magic equals physical pain.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I like your creativity in having it be her soul that's actually injured, but I wonder how you'd portray her soul's decay. Will people think she's always been a sickly child or does she hide it from everyone? Does she know what's happening? I would think that as she uses more magic and injures her soul, she would feel some indication of being hurt. Or does she recognize what's happening and her lust for social power is too great to alter her course? For this particular story to work, you'll also need to nail the time frame. For this sorceress to perform magic and for society to be founded on the magical skill of a practitioner, wouldn't magic already have to have been in existence and, more importantly, used to such a rate that other people would have suffered possession? And then wouldn't that make the people suspicious of her and her impending possession? I would also wonder how the people would manage to injure the sorceress to the point of death when she has such a vast source of power at her disposal.
Well, I hope my endless parade of questions help. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres and I would love to read a short story or even a novella based on this idea.
[I wonder how you'd portray her soul's decay.]
ReplyDeleteI keep telling myself that I'll have lots of fun with that part because it's basically like taking a human mind and breaking it down until there's nothing left, but I've failed at developing anything similar to that every time, so I have no clue. Weakness is a fun thing to imagine in my head, but when it comes to describing it in words...I just get this feeling that I should start working on my animation ablities.
[Will people think she's always been a sickly child or does she hide it from everyone?]
With reputations it's all about a front. After a point, she puts on a mask so that the general public won't suspect anything. How can they trust her if she's always so weak?
[Does she know what's happening?]
I haven't decided on that yet. Technically, anyone in my little brain land who goes into magic knows that it is costly, but then, since she started as a kid, there are two ways it could go: one, she could not know due to her own ignorance and just be completely confused with why she's so lacking of energy all the time, or two, she could know and just assume that's part of the growing/expanding-one's-power part, and also due to her own ignorance she could just assume that she will expand her power for the rest of time and blah blah blah, that whole I-will-be-unstoppable spheel.
[I would think that as she uses more magic and injures her soul, she would feel some indication of being hurt.]
Since the soul is really just an essence of being, the only real symptom I can think of is extreme mental/physical exhaustion, which can be dealt with by spending most of one's time after such soul-straining sleeping. Perhaps post-strenuous depression*? The thing with that, though, is that if she spends her time being depressed as a result of her soul slowly deteriorating due to excessive magic use, she won't be so inclined to be as successful as I originally intended her to be. I am open to suggestion on that one.
[For this sorceress to perform magic and for society to be founded on the magical skill of a practitioner, wouldn't magic already have to have been in existence and, more importantly, used to such a rate that other people would have suffered possession?]
I could also build the society around the idea and put limits on everyday magic use, which would make her the exception that proves the rule. Since she is 'the best' her soul is the weakest, thus most susceptible to consumption by demons and her physical form subsequently susceptible to possession.
[And then wouldn't that make the people suspicious of her and her impending possession?]
If I make it as described in the last question response thingy, then said instances of possession would be few and far enough between that they would only be taken into account by learned scholars and historians. The general populus tends to not know much of anything, much though I hate to say it.
[I would also wonder how the people would manage to injure the sorceress to the point of death when she has such a vast source of power at her disposal.]
This is the problem with any story dealing with uncommon powers. If the characters have such powers available to them, then how are they able to be defeated by the ones who overcome them? I'm still working it out, and hopefully I'll be able to come up with an acceptable scenario.
[Well, I hope my endless parade of questions help.]
They did, very much! Thank you for the endless parade; I tried to respond to most of the questions, and I hope I answered them sufficiently enough to help you understand a little better what was going on in my head when I came up with this idea.