How to Read This Page
Each column in the tables below represents one character (or "entity" like the priestesshood or Foreignland) and their development arc through the stories. The same color is always used for the same character, so you can easily follow just one character's storyline. The top of the page is the oldest parts of the story; as your down the page, time "progresses" to the later parts of the story.
The page is divided based on which novel (or novel-to-be) the plot points take place in, plus backstory appearing prior to the first novel. The backstory will not necessarily be included per se in the novels, but bits and pieces may be revealed as makes sense during the stories.
Backstory
Premise
See the culture page for world-building details.
Ancient History
| Priestesses | Foreignland |
|---|---|
| (Q: did they create the magic within people, somehow?) | |
| witch hunt to kill magic-people; survivors found their own "realm" where the rest of the stories take place |
Beyond Living Memory
| Priestesses | Kaitadh |
|---|---|
| co-rules (while flesh) with Masiri, a tyrannical half-spirit | |
| disappointed that Masiri was not The Guide who is prophesied to lead The Child's spirit to them | becomes a spirit when Masiri is overthrown and killed; vows to regain power "one day" |
3 Generations Ago
| Priestesses | Maurik | Kaitadh |
|---|---|---|
| influences culture to hate half-spirits like Masiri; begins taboo punishable by death | ||
| begins tracking half-spirits, looking for The Guide; they are wary of accepting any half-spirit because of Masiri | discovers something (Q: what?) about Kaitadh | |
| warns Maurik to stay quiet "or else" | ||
| tells someone (Q: who? to what effect?) about Kaitadh | ||
| murders Maurik's wife and daughter | ||
| attracts Maurik's son to his cause (susceptible because of Maurik's overprotecting him) | ||
| kills his own son in a rage (can't stand his son's betrayal) | ||
| becomes a spirit (Q: why? → to channel energy into sustaining his daughter's ghost) |
1 Generation Ago
| Priestesses | Rordechin | Maurik | Kaitadh |
|---|---|---|---|
| notes Izelle's birth and survival (because they have been monitoring all half-spirits since Masiri) | banishes Izelle's mother to cover up that her child is a half-spirit | constantly haunted by daughter's ghost, whom he expends energy to "maintain" | (Q: why doesn't he know about the priestesses' list?) |
Novel 1: Flesh and Spirit
Synopsis
In a world where anyone can wield magic so long as they sacrifice their corporeal form, the ancient balance between flesh and spirit is being disrupted. A young woman finds herself in the middle of a magical epidemic, somehow tied to one ruthless man's quest to return to power.
| Priestesses | Izelle | Andir | Drei | Rordechin | Maurik | Kaitadh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "kills" Andir's Shadowed daughter | daughter becomes a Shadow; spirals back into drinking like when his wife died | records girl's memories for free; is especially haunted by his own daughter's ghost | convinces Hagan he is Masiri's descendant, deserves to rule, and can do a better job than the current High Council | |||
| sees Drei as another "daughter" to save from becoming a Shadow | caught giving energy by Izelle, who becomes her new guardian | |||||
| learns about the Org, which is taking the Shadow epidemic into own hands since the High Council is doing nothing | studies guilds, since I&A told her she had to become an apprentice with one of them | |||||
| loses her clinic due to sabotage (Q: was Jacava put up to it by Kaitadh or the priestesses?) | a "witch" tells him his fortune (Q: what does she say? Are witches like Foreignland's Blessed?) | introduces Izelle to a priestess friend looking for a new apprentice | ||||
| destroys a book; is "punished" by having to listen to the bookbinder moan about it | directs Hagan to rabble-rouse the crowd about the High Council's ineffectiveness | |||||
| argues with Andir about whether Hagan is right | joins the Org; volunteers to round up bound spirit gems for them to sever and "weed" the supposed spirit overpopulation | |||||
| plants scenarios for Izelle to begin suspecting that she is "different" from others | becomes curious about more frequent fadings | preps for her apprenticeship with the Messengers guild | ||||
| stops a fight at the temple when men try to collect unbound spirit gems for Hagan's "drive" | ||||||
| begins to wonder about her ability to feel spirits | secretly helps the Org collect bound spirit gems | |||||
| takes Drei to the poor quarter to see what becomes of addicts | explains to Andir the euphoria and escape she feels when giving energy | |||||
| Jacava drives her back into giving energy | ||||||
| catches Drei giving energy and slaps her | ||||||
| wants to meet Kaitadh (the Org's "advisor") to learn if her suspicions about the epidemic are true | helps the Org sever spirits; confesses about his secret activities to Izelle | |||||
| figures out that severing spirits cause Shadows | learns that his actions with the Org cause Shadows, the very thing he was trying to stop! | |||||
| devastated, he leaves the city | leaves the city with Andir to break her addiction | |||||
| Back on the Farm | ||||||
| first real birthday celerbration with Andir's family | ||||||
| fails to save niece's kittens | helps Andir rebuild barn; cares for niece | |||||
| Priestess Training | ||||||
| "interviews" Izelle | cryptically told that she is "flesh and spirit", that Rordechin can tell her what it means | is nervous when Izelle tells him she's studying with Ticha (Q: why? did she help with the birth? → because the prophesy speaks of a half-spirit who will Guide the Child to them, so when she gets the opportunity to hide the existence of a half-spirit, she does so) | Kaitadh tells him that half-spirits have the unique power to bring the dead back to life; wants his wife and daughter back, even if it means betraying Izelle | knows that an adult half-spirit has survived, but doesn't know who | ||
| finds out she is a half-spirit from Rordechin | talks with his informant (Q: about what?) | |||||
| reads history of Masiri; is very afraid she'll become a "monster" too | helps Izelle practice her magic; wants her to be able to bring his daughter back to life | learns about Izelle from Maurik | ||||
| Escape | ||||||
| discovers Kaitadh's plot (Q: how?); flees the city | comes after Izelle | |||||
| Finale | ||||||
| betrays Izelle for Kaitadh's promise to bring his daughter back to life | ||||||
| kills Kaitadh | sacrifices herself (Q: why? how?) | |||||
Novel 2
Synopsis
TBD: Something about the High Council forming a half-spirit army to invade neighboring regions and the priestesses looking for their Chosen One.
| Priestesses | Izelle | Andir | Rordechin | Foreignland | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gathering Half-Spirits | ||||||
| makes plans to raise a half-spirit army against Foreignland (Q: why does he want war? Regain "homeland"? Restore family prominence? Rescue daughter?) | ||||||
| searches for other half-spirits; believes they're going to a "special school" or "secret orphanage" or something | ||||||
| tells Izelle that she is The Guide of prophesy, meant to draw people together through her connections to them | struggles with not wanting more bonds, since its puts others at risk; but the priestesses tell her it's her destiny and a good thing; also, Masiri wants the bonds so they can be drained | |||||
| Discovering the Blessed | ||||||
| wants to assess Foreignland's magical "arsenal" to see if they can be convinced to defect, or else if they can be defeated | ||||||
| ordered to spy on Foreignland; travels there under the disguise of bodyguard to a "diplomat" | ||||||
| festival celebrations inadvertently reveal the existence of the "Blessed" | ||||||
| learns Foreignland's Blessed have weak magic | ||||||
| joins Andir to study the Blessed | ||||||
| (Q: Is her mother one of the Blessed's attendees or something?) | ||||||
| captures I&A for learning too much (Q: what shouldn't they know? → Blessed are mistreated, held captive and their magic used by the rulers) | ||||||
| magically kills a man to save Andir's life; frees some Blessed, now that their guard is dead | ||||||
| convinces some Blessed that they will be accepted for who they are where he comes from | ||||||
| The Child | ||||||
| Shinadh conceives, using Drei's spirit that Izelle "guided" | (Q: the Blessed have their own prophesy of a child born to a spirit mother?) | |||||
| learns that Drei has been "reborn" | ||||||
| uses Izelle's connections to sustain Shinadh's corporeal form | ||||||
| discovers that her connections are being used without their knowledge; doesn't like being used, but the real problem is Masiri's reaction to being used: she needs to make them pay | ||||||
| learns about Masiri tainting Izelle; expels her from the priestesses | ||||||
| devasted to be expelled from the priestesses | ||||||
| The Child is born; they hide her from the High Council (and tainted Izelle) to raise in safety | ||||||
Novel 3
Synopsis
TBD: Something about a war between regions and the Chosen One.
| Priestesses | Izelle | Andir | Drei | Rordechin | Foreignland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| raises The Child to fulfill their prophesy (Q: to do what?) | wants to "free" all magical people from being anyone's pawns | wants to raise Drei and rescue her from her prophesy-role | feels confusing memories of her previous life | wants to regain "homeland"? Or control all magical people? | war! Their Blessed have been "stolen" |
