The Beginning of the End
This weekend, I started the beginning of the end.
Because The Confluence of Jewels is the last book in the series, it's important to me to make sure that the loose ends that have been straggling along are tied up. By this, I mean the side stories - not the Jewel Keepers' quest.
It's important in writing a complex story, to have side stories of the people around your main characters. Sometimes they interact with the main characters. Sometimes they have their own story arcs.
In my case, I have several side stories to wrap up. First, the former Keepers - parents to one of the Jewel Keepers in the current quest - have been away from home, helping to keep one of the evil gods at bay, while the Jewel Keepers do what they need to do. In today's writing, the six mages who had traveled to Marjiba to keep an eye on Zyr made it home to Glenfall, in Comhar, where they lived quietly since their own quest in Reunion.
Second, there are mage academies in Comhar, in Glenfall, and in Sodales, in Larchmont. These two mage academies have had a profound role in training many of the mages in both Reunion and in Jewels and Gods. Now, it's time for the older generation - Kircha's grandfather among them - to turn over the leadership of the academies to a younger generation, to train the next generation of mages.
Third, there are other mages we've met along the way. As this will be the last book in this world - as far as I know right now - we need to revisit all the mages whose stories we've been following - some over all six books - to make sure they end up in a finished place. Though some will have small plot tentacles that may or may not ever be resolved.
Finally, Lovro is a healer mage from Larchmont Academy. He's the one who figured out how to heal Adrienne of god's magic, which allows Greysen - her mate and the Skenorite Jewel Keeper - to rejoin the quest. Doing so introduce a new concept in magic - joint magic. In joint magic, several mages come together to work a single spell. In this case, the magic was to heal Adrienne, led by Cara, a young mage from Glenfall Academy. The story of Lovro needs to be wrapped up. He's going to be the one to codify joint magic, by writing a grimoire on the subject - grimoires are how mages learn, along with practice and training. As I wrap up that story, which I haven't done yet, I'll name two other forms of magic - different from everyday magic. One of those is familiar magic, which is magic done by familiars. We haven't seen a lot of this in the trilogies. But it's happened a few times. The third is bonded magic. This the magic Sorcha and Aidan used to defeat evil in Reunion. It's also the magic that Ava and Nolfa, in Jewels and Gods, use. It is important to show these more spectacular forms of magic because they play a role in the final magics of the Jewels and Gods trilogy.
So, today's writing started to complete some of these side stories. Once finished, the tying up of these side stories will signal to the readers that the trilogy is coming to an end.
And allow the final chapters of The Confluence of Jewels to focus solely on the Jewel Keepers' quest to quell the evil gods once and for all.
Because The Confluence of Jewels is the last book in the series, it's important to me to make sure that the loose ends that have been straggling along are tied up. By this, I mean the side stories - not the Jewel Keepers' quest.
It's important in writing a complex story, to have side stories of the people around your main characters. Sometimes they interact with the main characters. Sometimes they have their own story arcs.
In my case, I have several side stories to wrap up. First, the former Keepers - parents to one of the Jewel Keepers in the current quest - have been away from home, helping to keep one of the evil gods at bay, while the Jewel Keepers do what they need to do. In today's writing, the six mages who had traveled to Marjiba to keep an eye on Zyr made it home to Glenfall, in Comhar, where they lived quietly since their own quest in Reunion.
Second, there are mage academies in Comhar, in Glenfall, and in Sodales, in Larchmont. These two mage academies have had a profound role in training many of the mages in both Reunion and in Jewels and Gods. Now, it's time for the older generation - Kircha's grandfather among them - to turn over the leadership of the academies to a younger generation, to train the next generation of mages.
Third, there are other mages we've met along the way. As this will be the last book in this world - as far as I know right now - we need to revisit all the mages whose stories we've been following - some over all six books - to make sure they end up in a finished place. Though some will have small plot tentacles that may or may not ever be resolved.
Finally, Lovro is a healer mage from Larchmont Academy. He's the one who figured out how to heal Adrienne of god's magic, which allows Greysen - her mate and the Skenorite Jewel Keeper - to rejoin the quest. Doing so introduce a new concept in magic - joint magic. In joint magic, several mages come together to work a single spell. In this case, the magic was to heal Adrienne, led by Cara, a young mage from Glenfall Academy. The story of Lovro needs to be wrapped up. He's going to be the one to codify joint magic, by writing a grimoire on the subject - grimoires are how mages learn, along with practice and training. As I wrap up that story, which I haven't done yet, I'll name two other forms of magic - different from everyday magic. One of those is familiar magic, which is magic done by familiars. We haven't seen a lot of this in the trilogies. But it's happened a few times. The third is bonded magic. This the magic Sorcha and Aidan used to defeat evil in Reunion. It's also the magic that Ava and Nolfa, in Jewels and Gods, use. It is important to show these more spectacular forms of magic because they play a role in the final magics of the Jewels and Gods trilogy.
So, today's writing started to complete some of these side stories. Once finished, the tying up of these side stories will signal to the readers that the trilogy is coming to an end.
And allow the final chapters of The Confluence of Jewels to focus solely on the Jewel Keepers' quest to quell the evil gods once and for all.
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