Well I've been really frustrated for a while now. I've had a vague idea for a world I wanted to write in but I just couldn't come up with a story. With some encouragement from Ladyhawk, I eventually decided that rather than starting a novel, perhaps I'd write a short story to get some stuff sorted out about the world as a whole.
Now it's not very good. And the poetry at the end is not only not very good, it's actually very not good.
Oh and it's meant to be a cautionary tale told by an old man who's educating a handful of the village young 'uns.
"He ran. Not knowing where he came from, nor where he was going, he ran. He knew it was foolhardy to be abroad during the Eclipse. Why hadn't he listened? Why had he insisted on going out into the merciless dark?
Blindly he ran. Ahead of him was nothing but the blankness of the Eclipse's dark embrace. Behind were the blackpelts, the devil-dogs, the hunters in the dark. The beasts who made the Eclipse a weekly nightmare for the peoples of Norbayne. Nothing could be seen.
Deafened he ran, the baying of the black hounds drowning out any noise in the unnatural night. For twelve hours the Eclipse would run its course. Every week, families would lock up their dwellings all over the world and retreat to safe, sanctified places where the demons could not materialise.
Senses numbed in the cold and dark, he ran. The scholars said the hounds were spirits of the world, angered by the civilisations which had risen. His very blood ran chill in his veins as the blackpelts closed in on their prey. He was tiring, panic giving way to bone-deep weariness as the power of the hounds worked upon him. None could escape them. They were tireless, they were cunning and they were fast.
Defeated in the end by his weak heart, he fell. The dogs drew close around him and the air filled with bloodthirsty howls of triumph.
You see children,
This world was theirs before it was ours,
Death comes for us all, regardless of vows,
So take what you can and fear the shadows in the dark,
For every arrow loosed hits its destined mark,
The Gods watch us all, or so they say,
So stay in your homes, out of the way,
The hounds cannot get you if you beware the Eclipse,
For the sweet maiden in the sky has poison 'pon her lips."
Anyway, maybe I might be able to get my act together regarding the big actual story, which if I do it, I'll flesh this thing out and have it as the prologue.
I do think however that it would be a good setting for an RPG but that's discussion for another time.
