So...I'm waiting with anticipation to hear more of your efforts regarding NaNoWriMo 2010! With it coming up so soon, I've got ideas up the wazoo...so hear me out and everything'll be alright in the end...
Basic Plot A group of people are through various means (blackmail, bribery, persuasion, etc.) invited to take part in a government project called Project Dark Circle (from here on out henceforth referred to as PDC). Subjects involved would be given an experimental drug and have basically an out-of-body-experience while retaining consciousness OOB. However, PDC is actually run by a cult with relations in the government; they have actually knocked each one unconscious, opened an interdimensional rift and sacrificed them to Anathost, the realm of the dead. These "subjects", after regaining consciousness, must work together to try and find a way out of this malaise-ridden landscape before dying, or worse...
CharactersFrancis Giachetti (Frag) -- Convicted of double homicide, Frag received a sentence of life imprisonment at a correctional facility in Massachusetts. By participating in PDC, however, his sentence would be reduced to 25 years (Frag has only served three years or so). With the chance to go out into society once again (maybe to even kill...?), Frag jumped at the opportunity.
Dharma and Karma Sullivan -- Identical twin sisters Dharma and Karma are easily identified by the extreme differing of styles: Dharma wears mostly white and wears her hair in a long ponytail; Karma dresses in black (almost reminiscent of a goth) and lets her hair hang down, literally and figuratively. Dharma is also mute; however, the twins share a telepathic bond, disregarding the need for verbal communication between each other. Karma was persuaded to participate in PDC with the thought of consciously experiencing OOB; Dharma followed only because of the dependence she has on her sister.
Nixon -- Also known as the Arsonist, Nixon is a compulsive pyromaniac. He carries around several lighters and book of matches at all times, feeling some spiritual connection between himself and the flames he creates. Like Frag, he was freed from prison with the opportunity to reduce his sentence with his participation in PDC. However, he was found guilty of thirteen separate accounts of arson; miraculously, no one has been killed in any of his arson attempts.
Brian Metzger -- A concerned father, Brian has been looking for his missing daughter for nearly eighteen months. Strangely enough, through research into different kidnappings in the past, he made the connection to PDC. However, the cult began to notice his findings, and blackmailed him into participating in their experiment. Brian could not refuse their offer: PDC was holding his daughter captive for experimentation...but something did not add up to Brian...for eighteen months his daughter had been held captive by PDC...?
Twitch -- A man found in Anathost after the group regains consciousness, Twitch has no remembrance of any name or past he might have had. All that is apparent of Twitch is that he is a paranoid schizophrenic that seems to know a bit about the new world around them. Strangely enough, his cryptic mutterings about the shadows watching them and noting their progress seem to be coming true...especially when the group actually stops and thinks about it...he also seems to be infatuated with finding a group of blackened crystals somewhere in Anathost...
Kya -- A young woman found in Anathost after the group regains consciousness, Kya has no remembrance of anything to do with the past. She has given herself a name and claims to have been in Anathost for as long as she can remember. She finds that she does not age over time, remembering having always been like this. However, something about her makes Brian uneasy...according to him, she seems so familiar, yet so distant and alien...almost as if he knows her from somewhere already...
High Inquisitor -- Besides being an excuse to get my name in my own story, the High Inquisitor is a ruthless hunter of blood that will stop at nothing to collect it. Unbeknownst to the cult running PDC, he is collecting the sacrifices and running off with the blood spilled in order to gain power beyond his wildest musings. He carries a large execution-style axe and knows how to use it. Strangely enough, however, he has not found Kya nor Twitch before, yet is aware of both of them in Anathost...why does he choose not to hunt them? And what does his fate and bringing up of his own power result in for Anathost itself?
LocationsPlains of Dust -- Where the group originally finds itself after regaining consciousness, the Plains of Dust are aptly named: nothing but a wasteland of dust surrounds them, occasionally churning up some dust storm. This large expanse spans most of the central area of Anathost.
Bleeding Lake -- To the south lies a large expanse of water; this is the Bleeding Lake. Some shadows whisper of a large collection of forbidden lore kept at the bottom of the lake in a forgotten building, but none have been able to access the information successfully...
The Stitch -- The Stitch is a large gash in the land that represents a large scar. Bridges span the entire crag, but they are few and far between. Many say that at the bottom of the Stitch lie many sacrificial victims from ages past...
Infernae -- Infernae is a large volcano surrounded by smaller mountains to the Northwest of the Plains of Dust. It is also the headquarters of the High Inquisitor, being the heart of his forge. Some say that Infernae is not filled with lava, but with the boiling blood of sacrifices from ages past...and at some point the High Inquisitor will try and access it...
Scrying Pool -- This fabled landmark is said to have been lost aeons ago; however, whispers say that the location has been found once again. The Scrying Pool was once used to keep watch throughout all locations of Anathost, but was corrupted with the advent of a new phenomenon (Blood Crystals). Ironically, in order to recover what is left of the pool, it must be saved by the very corruption that tainted it...
Crystal Spires -- The Crystal Spires are a major outcropping of blackened crystals somewhere in the eastern part of the Plains of Dust. Some say that they do not exist at all, but are merely figments of one's delusions. However, the myths state that this is where the first Blood Crystals originated from. How the duplication of the Crystal Spires came about is unknown; only one denizen in the entire realm knows the art of crystal manipulation, yet the service comes with a steep price...
Important ConceptsBlood Crystals -- This resource is used as a personal power source by the few citizens that are aware of their existence. Utilizing the blood of a living being, a blood crystal will release immense amounts of energy, even to the point of distorting the physics of the world around it. However, massive amounts of blood are needed to utilize these to their full potential. The High Inquisitor is aware of the use and power of these blood crystals, using one in his immense axe to fuel his strength. Rumors speculate that he is also trying to acquire means to piece together one colossal blood crystal for reasons unknown...
Now that I'm getting further along with this (and my schedule is looking more and more free with each passing day), I have an extremely good feeling about this! Anathost is looking like a much more likely story to come about!
BRING IT ON, NOVEMBER!!!
Subject: High_Inq's NaNoWriMo 2010 Idea: The Anathost Chronicles 
Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:12 pm
